...[pic] Christian Relationships Unit 1: Worship 1. Preliminary concerns 1.1. Misconceptions about worship The first popular misconception is that ‘worship is singing’. We treat ‘worship’ and ‘singing praises’ as synonymous terms. We speak as if they are the same thing. To reduce worship to singing is to dilute the biblical concept of worship in a way that is grossly irresponsible. It reduces the richness of biblical worship to one of its components. Yet when many Christians today commonly speak about worship, they mean nothing more than ‘singing’. |When you think or speak of worship, do you automatically associate it with ‘singing worship songs’? Is this the common usage| |in your church? If so, how do you think this fault crept into your vocabulary? | | | There are probably many ways this misconception has crept into our language and our thought. One key factor is that we have tended to label Christian music as ‘worship’, and we often call the person who leads the singing in our churches ‘the worship leader’. Unfortunately, this has caused us to equate worship with singing. A second misconception is that ‘worship is something we do on special occasions’. Worship is what we do when we gather with God’s people. The activities that make...
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...If God is allowed everywhere on earth, then what makes schools different? Why should those who wish to pray be deprived the right? There are smoking areas in schools where people can stand and smoke, so why not make a prayer room in schools and colleges for those folks who desire to pray. Prayer is a good guide for students and it can make them feel great while they are getting educated in schools and they can make better decisions throughout the year. Prayer in school must be allowed in order to expose the youth of upcoming generations the diversity of different religious beliefs, thereby increasing cultural tolerance. Prayer is very significant for all the students and when learners start praying in school it can prepare them for being more...
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...rampant subject is because those on both sides of the situation have very strong and valid arguments. Every time there seems to be a sound solution, there is something else that challenges the peace the solution seemingly creates. When it comes to the issue of prayer being appropriate for the school setting there are those that say that it is not appropriate, those that agree that it is, and those willing to look for solutions to pacify both sides. To even come close to beginning to identify whether prayer is appropriate for school or not one must understand exactly what both these terms mean in a general sense. School is defined as “place of instruction…discussion” (Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary). This same dictionary defines praying as “to ask earnestly, entreat,…pray to a god or a saint” (Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary). Instead of being down right technical about the definitions and the arguments presented by combining both terms to commit the act of...
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...encourage relationships with the Divine, with sacred time, with sacred space or natural world, and a relationship with one another. Divine Different religions refer to the sacred and originating holiness by various names. Some of these names are Great Mother, Divine Parent, Great Spirit, the Holy, or the Divine. Perhaps, the most familiar term used is God. According to Malloy (2010), the term God carries the notion of a Cosmic Person, a divine being with will and intelligence. Although some religions believe only in one God and others believe in more than one, all religions still believe in having a relationship with the Divine. A relationship with the Divine means spending time with the Divine. A time with the Divine can be spend in various ways such as praying, reading and studying the Bible, Quran, Veda, or whatever Holy Books other religions study. A prayer is an outcome of a continuous relationship with the Divine. Believers pray because of the belief that God is always listening and that praying is a way of communicating with God. For example, Christians pray all the time. Not only do they pray for their own, they also pray for those who are sick and for those who are going through rough times. Although praying is mostly appropriate during...
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...How satan Stops Our Prayers. COMBAT IN THE HEAVENLY REALM by John Mulinde, Obsteig (Austria) Nov. 2000 www.DivineRevelations.info/COMBAT I want to share with you from a testimony of someone who was saved, someone who had been serving the devil. And when that man gave his testimony, it so challenged me, I did not want to believe it. I had to go ten days before the Lord in fasting, asking Him, "Lord, is this true?" And it was at that time the Lord began to teach me what happens in the spiritual realm when we pray. This man was born after his parents dedicated themselves to lucifer. When he was still in the womb, they made so many rituals dedicating him to serve lucifer. When he was four years old, he began to exercise his spiritual power. And his parents began fearing him. When he was six years, his father surrendered him to the witches to go and be trained. And by ten years, he was doing great things in the kingdom of the devil. He was feared by the normal witches. He was still a young boy, but he was so terrible in the things he did. He grew up to be a young man in his twenties with so much bloodshed on his hands. Killed at will. He had the ability to go out of his body through transcendental meditation. And he could levitate. Sometimes his body would lift off the ground and stay in the air. And sometimes he could go into a trance, and come out of his body; his body would remain behind, and he would go out into the world, this is called astro-travelling...
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...out to become religious people themselves. This is because they become influence by their parents. Their parents also usually have friends and relatives who also practice the same religion, so they are surrounded by religious influences. This could also be considered social pressure to join the religion. Once the religion chain is started, it usually continues throughout the generations, unless something very powerful happens that throws off the previous religious mindset of that person and inspires them to break the religion chain. So who starts the religion chain? Why would anyone start to believe in religion? If you were brought up in an atheist family, and have no association with religion, what would motivate you to start practicing a religion? Why would anyone start doing such a tedious thing? Practicing religion is time-consuming and requires effort, yet people still do it. Why is this? The answer is, because religion helps calm the human mind. Usually, people who are in need of something to believe in start practicing religion. Even atheist people have at least heard of Christianity and about Jesus. If an Atheist person were to be put in a life-threatening situation, such as a natural disaster, he or she would most likely start to pray to God. This is because harsh conditions and situations make people lose hope. They feel the need to believe in some kind of supernatural power that surpasses their own. They feel the need to rely on an existence higher than themselves...
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...things that we have been praying for and we wonder Lord are you listening to me? Some of us been praying the same prayer so long that we feel like maybe this is one He just isn’t going to answer. I stop by to let you know that He hears every prayer and it is how you are dealing with the situation that is affecting the answer. Don’t you realize that He told us that we have the power to speak things into exsistance. Take not that on the 3 P’s. P= I have taught you in my word how to first Pray P= I have given you the Power to speak over your situation P= Then after you have pray and authorized your power to speak, then you have to learn to leave it alone and Praise for the result. Some of us don’t want our situations to die. We get all the attention as long as we are going through. If the Lord make a way for my bills to be paid, I can’t hit up the mission department no more. If he heal me, then the mothers want come over and cook and clean for me no more You don’t want your situation to die because that is the only way your lazy self have learned how to survive. TELL YOUR NEIGHBOR LET IT DIE AND GROW UP! Saints be honest there are some that have been living off the church so long that they don’t know how to do anything else. There are situations that should be dead but when will you let them die. This might the only part that I directly address the youth and it is not for the youth per say, but it is for the parents. Parents you been praying...
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...John Gonzalez When I started reading this article of Bhutan I was amazed that it took the people of this country so long to get television. Mainly because the King of Bhutan finally welcomed the arrival of modern communications technology to his Buddhist kingdom in June 1999. They were the last country in the world to legalize television. The reason for that is their religion, they believe that don’t need technology. Bhutan is an interior country in South Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is surrounded to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim, while farther south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu. It’s a small country that no one dares to bother mainly because they’re so distant from everyone. Alexis Bloom is a journalist and documentary filmmaker and has been traveling. When she heard about that television was coming to Bhutan she was eager to go there and make a documentary about it. For centuries, Bhutan followed a policy of self-imposed separation and organized change, with a specific effort on the protection of its unique olden culture and paid little to no attention to the world around it. So far, Bhutan has been a country that numbers more monks than soldiers, and that cares more for general happiness than the national merchandise. But things could change quickly change. The almost...
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...They, of course could not answer the king and the king sent his captain of the guard to execute all the wisemen in the realm. When Danial first learned of the kings command, he did not panic. Instead he asked why the king had been so hasty. Daniel’s trust was firmly planted in God. He knew that as long as he followed God’s laws, the strongest power in the world could not kill him unless God allowed it. Placing his life in God’s hands, he went before the king to petition some time that he might plead with God to reveal to him the king’s request. God answered the ernest plea of His faithful servant and showed him the same dream as the king had had. As soon as he woke up, Daniel gave thanks to God. Even from the start, he took none of the honor for himself. We would do well to follow his example in this. Daniel was a man of action. As soon as he had finished his thanks giving to God, he immediately sought an audience with the king. “Going immediately to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to destroy the wise men, Daniel said, “Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the...
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...fulfill his duty and seek revenge for him by killing Claudius. The ghost reappears later in the play, since Hamlet has still not managed to kill Claudius up to this point, and reminds him to stay focused on fulfilling the commandment he has given him. The ghost claims that he has come back to whet, or sharpen, his request for the death of Claudius, which seems to have been blunted, or dulled, by Hamlet’s actions. Hamlets purpose has been blunted throughout the play in many ways, and he fails to quickly take action for avenging the death of his father. Hamlet is not sure whether he believes the story of King Hamlet’s murder, one of the reasons for Hamlet’s inaction. Hamlet thinks that, “The spirit that [he] have seen may be a and the hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape…” (II. 627-629). Hamlet thinks that an evil spirit may have taken the ghostly form of his late King and father and this causes him to have second thoughts on what this ghost has commanded him to do to Claudius. He thinks that there is a chance that Claudius may not have murdered his father, and that the ghost may just be trying take advantage of the situation to have Claudius murdered. He believes that, “Out of [Hamlet’s] weakness and [Hamlet’s] melancholy, As [the ghost] is very potent with such spirits, abuses to damn me” (II. 630-632). In his mind, Hamlet is thinking that his may just be a trick by an evil spirit to damn him to hell when he dies. This all causes Hamlet to delay his purpose when he...
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...to be a faithful follower of the church, however when I was 14 years old my life began to change forever. My family and I had recently moved to a town not too fare from Palmyra New York. My time in Sunday School was the worst experience of my life. Through the teasing and taunting of the youth of my class. The youth in my ward would exclude me from activities and call me names. I often wondered during that time of my life if the church was true. If the church was true why was this happening to me? Why were the youth the church tormenting me? My parents tried to council me without much success. I began to develop strong desirers not to attend church anymore. Fortunately my parents would not allow it. To this day I will forever be grateful for my loving parents who always tried to care for me and help me during my this time of great torment for me. Instead an arrangement was made that I would attend class with my parents instead. The lesson on the first Sunday that I attended was on the Restoration of the gospel. I had heard the story of the first vision dozens of times, however this time seemed different. When the teacher read “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and...
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...This past Wednesday, I was at the Hilliard church helping my cousin get ready for Girls' Camp when I got a phone call from my wonnnderful mom, who called to not ask, but TELL me that I'd be giving a talk this Sunday about the power of personal prayer. I'll admit, at first I was just a litttle irritated that the Bishop was asking me to speak when he HAS to know how much I hate sitting down and trying to write these things, & especially getting up in front of 100 people or so & talking about it. But I knew that I was gonna have to do it one way or the other, so I sucked it up & started thinking. After several days of procrastination, I started seriously organizing and writing my thoughts down at about...11 o'clock last night..? So, I'll try not to fall asleep up here. When I first plopped down in front of my computer, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about. So, being the Internet-dependent teenager that I am, I Googled all sorts of things that could relate to the topic, but I couldn't find anything that sparked my train of thought. Realizing that I was getting no where, I decided to stop frantically searching the web & actually have a personal prayer. 30 minutes later, while I was cleaning the running mascara off my face, I remembered this kind of weird experience I had with prayer. My dad's in the Navy, & we used to have to move around quite a bit, so obviously my brothers & I had to change schools a lot. Most of the time, we didn't transfer until a few...
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...Patriece Davis REL 331 Professor Wissel February 22, 2014 Word Count: 1558 Christianity “Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century C.E. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow him are called "Christians." Christianity has many different branches and forms with accompanying variety in beliefs and practices. The three major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, with numerous subcategories within each of these branches. Until the latter part of the 20th century, most adherents of Christianity were in the West, though it has spread to every continent and are now the largest religion in the world. Traditional Christian beliefs include the belief in the one and only true God, who is one being and exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the belief that Jesus is the divine and human Messiah sent to the save the world. Christianity is also noted for its emphasis on faith in Christ as the primary component of religion. The sacred text of Christianity is the Bible, including both the Hebrew Scriptures (also known as the Old Testament) and the New Testament. Central to Christian practice is the gathering at churches for worship, fellowship, and study, and engagement with the world through evangelism and social action.” (Patheos Library) There are so many different religions throughout the world, but Christianity is one of the most diverse of them all. Within...
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...Does prayer heal? Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creed, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of prayer such as petitioner prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and worship/praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one's thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit or for the sake of others. Yoga is also a common form of prayer. Prayer and Healing is a topic that has featured a lot on the minds of many people across the globe. This has led many researchers to conduct experiments with the purpose of proving or disapproving the idea that prayer contributes to an ill person’s healing. Thus, arguments regarding this topic have abounded with those supporting the idea that prayer contributes to healing advancing that prayer is not restricted by distance, it has a positive effect on life, and in the Bible, many people followed Jesus in order to receive healing. On the other hand, those opposing...
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...because I have been living here in Kuwait, as in point of fact, I had a chance to learn about the true Muslim culture, true believers of Islam, and I learned that Islam is not a new religion, but the original path of monotheism. I already knew what Islam’s faith is about: “There is no god but God”; that Mohammad was a prophet – God’s messenger; that Islam separates male and female, but I was surprised to learn that Islam is also about deeply Love and Passion to Allah-The Creator. According to Fisher (2005), “Islam is Arabic word which means peace, purity, acceptance and commitment. As a religion, Islam calls for complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God. A Muslim is one who freely and willingly accepts the supreme power of God and strives to organize his life in total accord with the teachings of God. He also works for building social institutions which reflect the guidance of God.” Mohammad’s life story is very important to Muslims because they consider Mohammad as a model of the teachings of the Quran. Prophet Mohammad was born in about 570 CE, and he considered by Muslims to be the last of ever living prophets who was born to restore the true religion. Fisher stated in Religions of the World (Sixth Edition (2005)): “When he...
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