Open Thread

This thread is for anything you want to bring up - I'll leave it open so if you think of something during the week you want to post about, you can go ahead and add it as a comment on this thread.

Go and Tell John ... What?

John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the one they'd been looking for, or should they look for another.  Jesus told them to go and tell John what was happening -- the blind were receiving their sight, etc.  The implied conclusion was that if that's what you're looking for, them I'm the one.  But if you're looking for something else, I guess not.

Suppose those disciples came to Tabernacle and asked whether we are the church they've been looking for.  What would we tell them to go and tell John that we are doing?  What should we be telling them?

Drawing the Line

Where do you draw the line about helping others, especially when you feel strongly that they are creating their own problems.  (For example, people using money to buy drugs or otherwise be irresponsible.)  Our Christian obligation to help includes meeting short-term needs and working for long-term improvement.  How do we tell when meeting short-term needs works against long-term improvement?  There are lots of different charitable activities that might, in some situations, facilitate the very behaviors we wish to discourage.  What is the Christian thing to do?

The Eternal Abode

I claimed tonight that nowhere in the Bible does it literally say that Christians will spend their eternity in "heaven".  Revelation describes the New Jerusalem as descending from God "out of heaven".  Some view heaven as a state rather than a place.  What do you think?

Do we have a choice?

Do people have a choice about whether to be saved?  What about other choices in life?  Some believe in predestination, others in free will.  What do you think.

First FTF meeting is today at 5:45pm in the Fellowship Hall

Welcome!

Welcome to the TBC Seekers weblog.  We will use this blog during the Discipleship for Life (DFL) class in the fall of 2010.  The class begins August 29th with our first Face to Face (FTF) meeting.  I'll set this up so that all who are in the class can post to the blog.  I'll also look into setting up a Facebook site as a companion to this blog.

This class is about open dialog -- asking questions about "what we've always been told" without feeling like a heretic.  I'll try to seed some discussion by posting some initial questions that often prompt a response like, "I've always wondered about that but was afraid to ask."  Don't be afraid to ask in this group!

We will consider whether to keep this group going after the DFL sessions are over -- if there's enough interest we can keep it going indefinitely.

Anyway, welcome!  I hope to see you FTF during our Sunday sessions, and see you online during the week.

Dennis