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Thanks for visiting my diary. I've been journaling since 1984 and have chosen to share some of my entries online. They are not all positive thoughts, but I hope that reading them might be a blessing to someone who needs encouragement.
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I think I want a good, slow review of Foundation Stones. For all the advantages group study offers--and there are many--there is one disadvantage that seems to plague me. I need flexibility. I need to be able to move ahead when I'm ready and take time to smell the roses when I need to. The main problem with approaching study this way is the tendency to get distracted during a slow period and put the study down. I am often guilty of just that, and it's something I'd like to find a way to counter.
Foundation Stones is a "basics of Christianity" course based on Hebrews 5:12-6:2:
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
I'm going to take things extremely slowly right now and give myself some pondering time. In the beginning, common fallacies are refuted. These are what I want to examine first.
. The length of time you have been a Christian is not an indication of the quality of your foundation.
Talk about common! Some people wear this like a badge of honor. "I've been a Christian for 15 years. ... And it's very very catching. But really this is just a safe way to avoid responsibility for my lack of spiritual growth... But ultimately, whether I avoid it or not growing is still my responsibility; and I suffer for every idle moment I spend bragging about how long I've "been a Christian." If I've been a Christian for 80 years and I still hurt inside the way I did when I was 12, what has being a Christian really meant for my life? Some part of me looks at a question like that and goes on to ask if I really can be a Christian if my life isn't changed by the truth I say I believe. Being a Christian isn't like having red hair. It's like a personality trait. If I am a friendly person, that will be evident because I will act in certain ways. The same thing is true of being a Christian. But it is also about much more than behaviors. In fact, behaviors alone can't make me a Christian any more than speaking English makes me a citizen of the United States of America. Trying to do Christian-looking things on my own (dead works) is just another display of pride, another way to avoid taking responsibility for real spiritual growth.
I got ahead of myself, but this is what came out tonight.
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