The Vow of Partnership (11.19.17 Notes)

“The Vow of Partnership”

#TheVow Week 3

Pastor Kris and Jen Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Scripture: Psalm 133:1-3 (NLT)

Psalm 133 - A psalm of David. 1 

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! 2 

For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. 

Remember, in this series, we are learning the vows to God and to our spouse.

1. The Vow of Priority
2. The Vow of Pursuit
3. The Vow of Partnership

1. I promise that God will be my first priority and my spouse will be my second.
2. I promise that I will always pursue my two.
3. I promise our marriage will be about WE and not ME.

Echad (ekh-awd) - united, completely joined as one (Matthew 19:4-6)

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one SEPARATE.

Marriage is a COVENANT not just. CONTRACT.

1. A contract is based on mutual DISTRUST

Wait - shouldn’t that be trust? No! The reason we have contracts is because a HANDSHAKE agreement in life is no longer trustworthy enough. People make contracts to make sure they don’t get VIOLATED.

A contract is:

• A protection from being done wrong
• Only as good as far as you’re “in” on the terms

2. A covenant is based on mutual AGREEMENT

A mutual commitment is not a contractural partnership - a contract is a percentage. Covenant is not a percentage. It’s not 50-50. It’s 100% from both sides!

Marriage is not dividing everything in HALF, it’s giving ALL you have.

I have good news! People make marriage mistakes, but marital mistakes are not the unpardonable sin! You don’t have to divide, you can work on this TOGETHER!

3. Covenant partnership is summarized with Godly LEADERSHIP and mutual SUBMISSION

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph. 5:21)

In a relationship, it’s very common for one person who is naturally dominant and one is naturally passive. Can this relationship work TOGETHER? What if the relationship is based on two people with mutual personalities?

If we have two visions, we have DIVISION in our marriage!

• Your marriage will be as good as you both decide it will be!
• Your marriage is not measured by your feelings, it’s measured by your commitment!

How many other areas of life are you allowed to make the excuse that you don’t feel like it?

• I’m not going to feed my kids, I don’t feel like it
• I’m not going to work, I don’t feel like it
• I’m not going to pay my taxes, I don’t feel like it
• I’m not going to exercise, I don’t feel like it
• I’m not going to clean my house, I don’t feel like it

If you don’t feel like working on your marriage, you will actually DESTROY it.

Your marriage isn’t based on feeling, it should be based on commitment. Feelings follow commitment.

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph 5:22-24)

#TheVow

Find the Bible reading plan for this series by searching “The Vow” on YouVersion!

The Vow of Pursuit (11.12.17 notes)

“The Vow of Pursuit”

#TheVow Week 2

Pastor Kris Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Scripture: Psalm 63:1-11 (NLT)

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. 6 I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. 7 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely. 9 But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin. They will go down into the depths of the earth. 10 They will die by the sword and become the food of jackals. 11 But the king will rejoice in God. All who swear to tell the truth will praise him, while liars will be silenced.

By nature, whether good or bad, we pursue what we DON’T have.

1. We can pursue a relationship
2. We can pursue a goal (exercise, weight loss, achievement)
3. We can pursue a career
4. We can pursue a dream
5. We can pursue God
6. We can pursue sin

Remember, in this series, we are learning the vows to God and to our spouse.

1. The Vow of Priority
2. The Vow of Pursuit

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is UNITED to his wife, and they become one. (Genesis 2:24)

United - the root word is dab (daw-bak) - means to cling or adhere, to catch (pursue) with affection and devotion.

Psalm 63:8 - I will cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely. 

I promise to always pursue my TWO.

Remember, when God is our one, and our spouse is our two, then EVERYONE gets blessed.

Pursuit is the definition of closing the gap between INTENTIONS and ACTIONS.

1. When you think of something good to say, SAY it.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

Pursue God, and your spouse, with words of:

• Affection
• Affirmation
• Action
• Application

By research, ladies most often want to know “do you love me?” And guys want to know “do you believe in me?”

2. When you think of something special, DO it.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:17)

3. When you want something different, BE it.

Don’t gripe about what your spouse is not - be what you SHOULD be.

To get what you have never had, you must do what you have never done.

But to get what you ONCE had, you must do what you ONCE did again!

Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent, and do the things you did at first. (Revelation 2:5).

#TheVow

Find the Bible reading plan for this series by searching “The Vow” on YouVersion!

The Gospel of Luke (An Analytical Review)

This is an analytical review of the Gospel of Luke, for a class at Trevecca Nazarene University. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading!

Pastor Kris

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Of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament, none gives the unique account and personal detail of the Gospel of Luke, and this is an ironic twist, considering its authorship is tabbed to a man who became a follower of Jesus, but never met him. The specifics of the stories give an intimate continuity of Old Testament prophecy to New Testament fulfillment, as Luke continued the work with the writing of the Acts of the Apostles and the work of The Holy Spirit following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

The authorship and time of writing must be deduced, as the author does not identify himself or the date in the passages. Luke, as mentioned in Acts 16, 20, 21 and 27, was a contemporary of the Apostle Paul. Since the latest date recorded in Acts is 62 A.D. at the first imprisonment of Paul, this is a close estimate of the time of Luke’s writing of his gospel and the secondary work. Luke is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Colossians (4:14), and by the third century A.D. was traditionally associated as the author of the gospel.

Early Christian writings, from the works of Justin Martyr to Tertullian, identify the author as Luke, an identification that was firmly in place by the third century. Luke was an educated man by ancient standards, capable of writing in high Greek style…that is, not Jewish. If so, Luke would be the only Gentile author of a New Testament book (Rademacher, Allen and House, 2007, p. 1587).

The setting is clear. Luke’s gospel gives one of two Biblical narratives of the birth of Jesus, joining Matthew. It is one of two Gospels written by a non-disciple, as Matthew and John were penned by members of The Twelve, and Mark and Luke authored by friends of Paul. Though Luke gives a detailed account of the journey of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem in Luke 9:51-19:48, he would have learned these events from eyewitness accounts and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Luke speaks of the fall of Jerusalem in 19:41-44 and 21:20-44, therefore giving clues that this event had taken place by the time of his writing, which would date its authorship to post-70 A.D.

The Gospel of Luke has a two-fold purpose: first, it signifies the continual work of the promised Messiah (Jesus) of the Old Testament to the spread of the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles in Acts. “Luke provides the community continuity with Israel of old, identifying with Christ’s purpose, and validation with God’s people…but also the guarantee of the coming realization of salvation in all its fullness to the people” (Harrelson, 2003, p. 1848-49). In The Mighty Acts of God, Rhodes and March call the Gospel of Luke “the Gospel of the Savior of All Sorts of People” (2000, p. 235).

The second purpose of Luke was a letter to a young Gentile named Theophilus, “that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:4, NKJV). He is reassuring this young believer of the purpose of spreading the good news to future unbelievers, and declaring Jesus as the promised one to all people, not just the Jews. “Theophilus and the Gentiles needed a more complete understanding of the things which they had been instructed concerning Jesus and the church” (Rhodes and March, 2000, p. 235).

Luke gives three specific directives to the work and person of Jesus, as the promised Messiah (1:31-35), a servant of God’s people (4:16-18) and the authority sitting at the right hand of the Father God on His throne (22:69 and Acts 2:20-36). Through Luke’s detail, we see a very personal Savior, not exalted in earthly royalty above the people, but in perfect community with the people. Luke, a physician as noted in Colossians 4:14, is likely to identify strongly with the personal connection to broken, hurting and the oppressed who need “good news.” Without authority, however, this good news is only a witness of words, but Luke testifies to the eyewitness accounts as the fulfillment of Jesus’ purpose. “Jesus humanity and compassion are repeatedly stressed by the author” (Rademacher, Allen and House, 2007, p. 1589).

The most unique aspect of the gospel is not its harmony to the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), but the unveiling of stories which can only be found in this narrative: “though the Gospel of Luke is one of the Synoptics, it is still very distinctive. Almost half its contents are not found in the other Gospels.” According to The Harmony of the Gospels as published in the New King James Study Bible, there are at least 31 accounts of scriptures or stories which are native to Luke’s gospel alone, for example the visit of a 12-year-old Jesus to the temple where his parents found him teaching in Luke 2:41-50 (2007, p. 1481). How a writer who never met Jesus personally gives such vivid and intimate detail of the life of Jesus is a credit to both his intelligence and relational ability as an author, and a direct commentary of his devotion to God through a relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Luke is my personal favorite gospel, and personal favorite book. His writings make me dig deeper into the historical veracity of the account of Jesus, to verify both his stories and find facts that only the physician himself seemed to cultivate from the story. As a man who likely was converted to a Christ-follower, Luke gives the modern pastor and evangelist a gospel of truth and practicality to the person who has never known the life-transforming power of the good news. While Matthew gets deep into genealogy, and John explores the divinity of Jesus, and Mark navigates the servant, immediate work of Christ to the people, it is Luke’s writing that like a good novel, captures the reader to beg for more. With the Book of Acts, he delivers, and seals this promise, with the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not a fairy tale, but it’s the fulfillment of an authentic promise many years in the making.

References

Harrelson, W. J. (2003). The New Interpreters Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Rademacher, E., Allen, R.B. and House, H.W. (2007). The New King James Version Study Bible, Second Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing, Inc.

Rhodes, A. B., & March, E. (2000). (Revised ed.). Louisville, KY: Geneva Press.

Dealing with the Inner Shadow and the Darkness and Light of Leadership...

The following is a writing for a class on interpersonal communication, and my evaluation of the writing of Carl Rogers and Parker J. Palmer. If you're dealing with the struggle between who you are on the outside and who you are on the inside, there some good stuff here.

I think it is, anyway. And thanks for reading.

---

Kristopher Freeman

Trevecca Nazarene University

Carl Rogers - A Counselor's Approach

A psychotherapist and communication specialist, Rogers seems to write with a goal of understanding the total self (the being), and the four book titles indicate as much. Each title points toward the "becoming" or "being" of our complete self. Three values are presented as important to Rogers - total hearing, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. The first focuses on hearing and listening completely, which through this class has certainly been a goal of mine to improve interpersonal communication skills. The second is a greater sense of self-awareness which becomes "congruent" and therefore spills into our communication.

But it is the third value which is the most intriguing for me, as Rogers formulates the model of self-acceptance. Learning to accept who we are and communicate in a way which we can trust others and accept ourselves is the key to building a positive self-image and improving our esteem.

As I read deeper into this theory, I wondered if Rogers has the greatest understanding of depression and personality imbalance that I have ever read. His approaches are not medical, but rather psycho-sensitive and look deeper into the person. As a leader, this was (and will be more) further explored by Palmer in learning to see the inner shadow. It appears Rogers knew the inner shadow, too.

"I feel warmed and fulfilled when I can let in the fact, or permit myself to feel, that someone cares for, accepts, admires or prizes me. Because of elements in my past history, I suppose, it has been very difficult for me to do this. For a long time, I tended to brush aside any feelings aimed at me in any direction" (p. 663).

Depression is rooted in hopelessness, a lack of care, and a total belief of depravity that others could care about you or that it will ever change. While this medically has been proven to be a chemical imbalance, it can also be affected by our circumstances and our past. My desire for affirmation is rooted in my own father's lack of pride and acceptance of me. Therefore, when I battle depressive feelings, I know this is authentically a desire to be accepted.

So when I communicate, I often am seeking what Rogers understood. To be accepted changes everything about how I communicate, and then causes me to have a greater acceptance of myself and how I can listen to, project and communicate with others.

Parker J. Palmer - A Spiritual Approach

If the pedigree of Parker J. Palmer is based as an author, writer and teacher, then there is no doubt many would consider him a leader, but that he has interacted with many leaders at the same time. It sounds like a business approach, but is indeed a spiritual one.

As a Christian, my spirituality is tied to evangelical belief in God. However spirituality is a word that can describe many processes where leaders discover themselves within the shadow of a higher power or belief. A leader is being led, therefore what is passed on was once received. This spiritual approach takes what is within and projects it forward, thus coming "into the light."

The breakdown is when a leader refuses to deal with the spiritual self and simply leads from an external gift set which can hide the problems within. Eventually, those elements arise and if not addressed, the shadow is not a spiritual reflection, but can cast darkness. Leadership can go from good to bad, but unfortunately that is still leadership even with a negative outcome.

I love the heading Out of the Shadow and Into the Light, as Palmer navigates the process of moving our tendency to lead out of extroversion into a deeper look into our own being. I think much of the work of Palmer and Rogers interject and overlap, though it's said in different manner.

Palmer evaluates - and lauds - a speech of former president of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel. 

"Consciousness precedes being, and not the other way around, as the Marxists claim. For this reason, the salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, and in the human power to reflect" (Havel, p. 669).

When we understand what is within us deeply changes what is around us, we are not afraid to deal with the inner shadow. We explore the depths of our hardest places - the violent, the fearful, the broken - for the sake of seeing them shape us into a better spiritual being. This gives hope to others around us, trust that we communicate our struggles not just in a way to be accepted, but a form of leadership to be followed.

"The problem is that people rise to leadership in our society by a tendency toward extroversion, which too often means ignoring what is going on inside themselves" (p. 671).

I have to understand what God is doing inside me, with the worst of my habits and depth of my struggles, so that I may use that foundation to influence others. Going back to Rogers writing, this not only helps me learn to be accepted by others for who I am, but rather it shapes who I am to be used for a greater purpose.

If one life influencing another is truly leadership, then Palmer understood we have to know ourselves first and use the good and the bad for what God can make the very best.

The Vow of Priority (11.05.17 Notes)

“The Vow of Priority”

#TheVow Week 1

Pastor Kris Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Scripture: Genesis 2:21-25 (NLT)

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs[d] and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

This scripture is used almost every WEDDING ceremony.

Were Adam and Eve married? In the LEGAL system we use now, maybe not.

But Adam and Eve were in COVENANT with God and each other.

What is a covenant? - A contract, agreement or undertaking. A commitment, guarantee, pledge, promise, bond or VOW.

In the Old Testament, God made covenants with his people - these were called SUZERAINTY covenants (a covenant between a king/lord and his vassals). God is SOVEREIGN. 

Today, we discuss the vow between Adam, Eve and God, and how we are called to express the same covenant to one another in our relationships.

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her (Ephesians 5:25)

The relationship between man and woman is like the covenant relationship between JESUS and the CHURCH.

Four vows:

1. The vow of Priority
2. The vow of Pursuit
3. The vow of Partnership
4. The vow of Prayer/Purity

The stats about marriage are always skewed, but let’s assume for argument’s sake that the 50 percent divorce number is true. That means divide this room in half, and society says that one side of your will be a FAILURE in your marital relationships. Let’s flip this prediction!

The first step is this statement:

God is my ONE and my spouse is my TWO and together we are still ONE.

1. I promise that God will be my first PRIORITY and my spouse and family will be my second.

If your spouse is ONE, you are asking them to perform a sovereign task that is impossible. Lordship belongs only to God!

• Dating - priority is everything (nice car, good dinner, great movie, quality time, gifts)
• Marriage - priority is getting started, the honeymoon phase, it’s cute, sexy, fun
• Kids - priority shifts, no time for each other
• Work - priority is getting by, finances, security, no time for special things anymore
• Habits/Hobbies/Hangups - priority is self!!!
• Death - priority is “I wish I had more TIME.”

You cannot squeeze God in where everything else is being squeezed out. He has to be the number one priority and everything else falls in line WITH Him.

2. I promise that I will PROTECT my priorities.

Your role in a relationship is to protect the things that matter the most.

Five priorities to set this week:

I will pray every day with my spouse and my family (God first).

I will be in church with my family.

I will schedule a date night this month (not married? Find a friend and celebrate/relax!)

I will read Song of Solomon, and see that God really does talk about intimacy.

I will model one consistent behavior of love and priority in front of my kids/friends

Hold hands

Be affectionate

Use manners, hold doors

Commit to smile every time they make eye contact with you

Everybody wants to find “THE ONE” - God is the ONE and then TWO gets blessed!

It’s easy to make excuses, but loves makes a way.

#TheVow

Find the Bible reading plan for this series by searching “The Vow” on YouVersion!