Impact eVillage

Sunday: John 16:1-15, Acts 2:2-21, Psalms 118 and 145, Ezekiel 33
Mon: John 16:16-33, Acts 2:22-47, Psalms 106:1-18 and 106:19-48, and Ezekiel 34
Tues: John 17:1-13, I Samuel 1:1-18, Psalms 120,121,122,123,124,125,126, and 127, Ezekiel 35
Wed: John 17:14-26, I Samuel 1:19-28, Psalms 119:145-176,128,129,130, and Ezekiel 36
Thur: John 18:1-14, 1 Samuel 2:1-17, Psalms 131,132,133,134,135, and Ezekiel 37
Friday: John 18:15-27, 1 Samuel 2:18-36, Psalms 140,142,141,143,and Ezekiel 38
Saturday: John 18:28-40, 1 Samuel3:1-21, Psalms 137,144,104, and Ezekiel 39

Have a blessed week everyone. Please forward the link to this blog to any and everyone. It is a great way to discuss with people around the world how the Bible speaks to us.

Bible Readings for May 11 -- 17, 2008

Sunday, May 11 -- John 16:1-15, Acts 2:1-21, Psa. 118, 145, Ezekiel 33
Monday, May 12 -- John 16:15-33, Acts 2:22-47, Psa. 106, Ezekiel 34
Tuesday, May 13 -- John 17:1-13, I Sam. 1:1-18, Psa. 120-127, Ezekiel 35
Wed., May 14 --Jn. 17:14-26,I Sam. 1:19-28,Psa. 119:145-176,128-130, Ezek. 36
Thursday, May 15 -- John 18:1-14, I Sam. 2:1-17, Psa. 131-135, Ezekiel 37
Friday, May 16 -- John 18:15-27, I Sam. 2:18-36, Psa. 140-143, Ezekiel 38
Saturday, May 17 -- John 18:28-40, I Sam. 3:1-21, Psa, 137, 144, 104, Ezekiel 39

Daily Bible Readings April 27 thru May 3, 2008

Sunday, April 27 = John 9:24-41, I Pt. 4:12-19, Psa. 93, 96, 34, Ezekiel 19
Monday, April 28 = John 10:1-10, I Pt. 5:1-14, Psa. 80, 77, 79, Ezekiel 20
Tuesday, April 29 = John 10:11-21, Eph. 1:1-14, Psa 78:1-39, 78:40-72, Ezekiel 21
Wednesday, April 30 = John 10:22-42, Eph. 1:15-23, Psa. 119:97 - 120, 68, Ezekiel 22
Thursday, May 1 = Luke 24:36-53, Acts 1:1-14, Psa. 8, 47, 24, 96, Ezekiel 23
Friday, May 2 = John 11:45-57, Eph. 2:1-10, Psa. 85, 86, 91, 92, Ezekiel 24
Saturday, May 3 = John 12:1-11, Eph. 2:11-22, Psa. 87, 90, 136, Ezekiel 25

Daily Bible Readings

You are invited to join the Impact University Book Club in daily Bible readings. The schedule being followed will take you through the New Testament annually and the Old Testament every two years.

The following are the assigned readings for April 13 through April 20:

Sunday, April 13: John 6:28-40, I Cor. 13:1-13, Psalms 63, 98 & 103, Ezekiel 5
Monday, April 14: John 6:41-51, I Cor. 14:1-9, Psalms 41, 52 & 44, Ezekiel 6
Tuesday, April 15: John 6:52-71, I Cor. 14:10-19, Psalms 45, 47 & 48, Ezekiel 7
Wednesday, April 16: John 7:1-10, I Cor. 14:20-33, Psalms 119:49-72, 49 & 53, Ezekiel 8
Thursday, April 17: John 7:10-24, I Cor. 14:34-40, Psalms 50, 59 $ 60, Ezekiel 9
Friday, April 18: John 7:25-39, I Cor. 16:1-12, Psalms 40, 54 & 51, Ezekiel 10
Saturday, April 19: John 7:40-53, I Cor. 16:13-24, Psalms 55, 138 & 139, Ezekiel 11
Sunday, April 20: John 8:1-12, I Pet. 1:1-12, Psalms 24, 29, 8 & 84, Ezekiel 12

Study Notes for March 10 meeting of Impact University Book Club
Pages 207 - 244

1. "Jesus saw money as something to guard against, not desire." (p. 210). What does this mean practically? Is there an appropriately "moderate" way to apply its truth. What in your mind would constitute an extreme application of it?

2. "God loves a cheerful (hilarious) giver." That's an odd phrase. What's the relationship between giving and hilarity? (p. 210).

3. What does Yancey mean in saying that money needs to be "profaned." (p. 211). For whom is that true?

4. Money provides a battleground for the two worlds -- the visible and the invisible one. Regarding it, with what does the poor man contend? The rich man?
(p. 212).

5. What is Yancey implying in saying of the Apostle Paul that "he carried money lightly."? (p. 212). How is "holy indifference" to material things lived out in a Christian's life? (p. 212).

6. The Apostle Paul in many ways had what we'd call a very difficult life. What enabled him to speak of his many personal calamities as "light and momentary ....."? (p. 216).

7. Explain this sentence from p. 218: "Death was not the end-mark for Jesus, but the change-mark."

8. What does the following phrase mean? "Aging unprepares us for life in this visible world" (p. 219). What is a "good death" to a Christian? (p. 219).

9. What does "the church tamed death" mean? (p. 220).

10. How is the term "smoltification" applied to Christians? (p. 225).

11. It could be argued that a Christian who is so heavenly minded that he is of no earthly good "despises the Father's work" (p. 226). How so?

12. According to William James, a skeptic, Christians (at least some of them) serve as "torchbearers." (p. 237 -238). What does he mean?

13. A great thing, learned best by personal experience, is that sacrifice based on Christian faith turns into something else. What? (p. 239). And for whom?

14. What is the reverse corresponding truth to the assertion that "saints live in such a way that their lives would not make sense if God did not exist."? (p. 243).

15. Explain the following: "Pascal saw faith as a cosmic wager." (p. 243).

Study Notes for March 3rd Impact University Book Club meeting
Rumors of Another World -- pages 161 -1 206

1. " ..... all religions share a sense of living in a disoriented world ....." (Henry Adams -- p. 163). They also share a common (though it is expressed in many different ways) cure. What? (Do you think this is an adequate definition of what religion is and does)?

2. Yancey asserts that many Swedes have "turned away from church" and yet theirs continues to be "an admirable society." (p. 165) What, according to our author, explains this?

3. What does he see as a difference between Sweden which he admires and Soviet Russia which cannot be admired? (p. 165).

4. Yancey doesn't feel a need for God to supernaturally interrupt our world to prove his existence and that of the invisible world. "..... in part because I find the materialistic explanations of life inadequate to explain reality." (p. 171). What does he mean?

5. What was the "miracle on the River Kwai"?

6. What are "the settlements in advance" mentioned on p. 177? And in advance of what?

7. "Any remedy (to a world of corruption, commercialized sex and deteriorating values) must start with one person taking an immovable stand." (p. 181). What does this imply about the demand of the Gospel?

8. Yancey describes himself as having been "a child of the modern age." As such he had not believed in an invisible world ruled by spirits. This was the result of his "reductionist instincts." Now, however, he has changed and has no problem believing in the spirit world. He believes "much more is happening on this planet than is visible to the human eye." (p. 184). What caused the change? (p. 183).

9. Yancey wonders if we wouldn't realize a startling truth if Jesus stood beside us saying at times "I saw Satan fall." What truth? (See the statement on p. 190 which begins, "The ultimate destiny .......").
10. The story of "The Elephant Man" poses radically different questions to believers and nonbelievers. What questions? (pp. 195 - 197).

11. According to Charles Spurgeon when is the Church glorious? (p. 198).

12. What does the author mean in saying, "The key ..... is to think of myself as an amphibian ....."? (p. 200).

13. John Chrysostom (from the 3rd Century) asked with anguish of the unbelievers of his day, "How then can they believe?" What caused his anguished question?

Notes for February 25 meeting
Pages 127 - 157

1. "For a time I resisted thinking of God as an authority figure ......." (p. 128) We all tend to do the same, cherishing the freedom that enables us to choose to sin (do that of which God disapproves), ..... much as we resist other authority figures. But sometimes we gladly submit to authority. What changes resistance into happy compliance (with authority)? Why do we willingly submit to doctors, computer technicians, etc. (in many cases after stubbornly resisting them previously)?

2. "Taken together, the Ten commandments weave life on this planet into some kind of meaningful whole, the purpose of which is to allow us to live as a peaceful, healthy community under God" (p. 134). What does that say about how to be happy and fulfilled? What does it say about the frenetic, success/pleasure-driven pace at which we live?

3. "In many ways, sin is the punishment for sin" (p. 135). "...... (Jesus) "came not merely to save us from the punishment for sin but to save us from the sin itself" (p. 135). Sin we allow to grow is a form of selfish reductionism. It keeps us from "experiencing shalom" and we "end up with a sick and disconnected self" (p. 139). Do you agree? If so, restate the concept in practical terms.

4. Paraphrase Augustine's statement: "The soul lives by avoiding what it dies by desiring" (p. 139).

5. What do you think Kierkegaard meant by likening the human condition to "a person who has a three-story house and who yet insists on dwelling in the dank cellar." (p. 144)?

6. Yancey in the 2 chapters being considered tonight refers several times to the "shalom" which God desires for us. What is your understanding of the term?

7. There is a "path" (p. 144) which we must travel to get from the frightening/discouraging place where sin places us back to a healthy relationship with God. What are the four necessary experiences along the way?

8. What parallel does Yancey see between physical pain and guilt (p. 145 - 146)?

9. "Cognitive dissonance" is a "sort of euphemism for guilt...." (p. 146). How so? What does the phrase describe?

10. "Guilt deserves my gratitude" (p. 146). Why?

11. In what sense should guilt have "directional movement" (p. 147)?

12. Yancey names two "barriers to repentance" (p. 149). What are they? Why, in relation to them, do "our secrets control us" (p. 149)?

13. " ..... the object of repentance is what we turn toward, not what we turn away from" (p. 156). How does the NT story of the prodigal son illustrate that truth?