God's Power and Beauty Essay

But as I make meaning of the story that my life encapsulates – I was a damaged soul, damaged by abuse by my own father. I can't even say I have a father, because I grew up without knowing what father's love felt like. My earthly father had a gambling problem and had multiple affairs outside of marriage. The pains of my childhood robbed me of my identity, confidence, security, trust in men, joy of living and believe in myself. I struggled greatly even as I grew into adulthood, but, God has healed me, and He is still healing and redeeming me from the wounds of my past. Through many challenges in life, as I grew into adulthood, I find myself asking Him, “God, why, oh God, why do you give me such an emotionally challenging childhood?” Though I did not receive a clear answer all these years but he taught me one thing, and that is to live my life with open hands, to allow God, the Author to do what He so choose to do. It is He, God, the Master of my life, and as for me, to live a life surrendered to my Master. Only then, did I realise that that's how I am able to taste his endless richness of His grace. God has redeemed me and has blessed me so much. Today, I can say that I am blessed and I give thanks to God. Now that I am here, in SBC, studying this work of Benner, it is totally sobering to be called into the work of soul care. Having taken the journey that I have, this reckoning gives me true meaning of what I have experienced in my past; it is that

Getting to know my faith more has really changed my life, Before I started going back to church my life was falling apart but while I was learning about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus Christ made me lead to the right direction. My Faith means a lot to me now that I am able to understand every detail about the

This summer I went on a mission trip to Minnesota, and it changed my life. I got to strengthen my relationship with God and my friends, all the while serving a community. While I was there, I was tested a few times, but my view of life was permanently affected. If I was asked to leave tomorrow for another trip, I wouldn’t even hesitate to go.

God has endless compassion for each of us. Often we allow this compassion to pass by unnoticed, holding back from completely trusting and opening our hearts to God’s love. In so doing, we become like a dry desert awaiting the rain. Though this desert might seem tough and lifeless on the surface, the rain eventually provides nourishment which transforms the desert into a habitat of flowers, beauty, and life. We are like the dry desert awaiting the rains of compassion from our Lord. I say, wait no longer. God constantly floods us with compassion; we must open the gates of our hearts and allow this compassion to flow in. This essay synthesizes ideas and text from Father Gregory Boyle, Dr. Sanchez’s lectures, and my own life, providing a comprehensive

After landing in Mexico and meeting up with the people I would be working with during a three-day mission trip, we were crammed into a bus and spent the next two hours getting to know each other. We were there to build homes for a multitude of families in the town of Xochimilco, Mexico. When we arrived late in the afternoon, we were led to an empty school where we would spend our nights. Sleeping on the floor next to school lockers with bugs buzzing in my ears in a country I did not know well was an interesting experience to say the least—but that was just the beginning. At dawn, the real work began and so did a change in my thinking that had a dramatic effect on my perspectives about life.

My trip to a third world country opened my eyes to see that everyone is not as blessed as we are here in America. Nicaragua is a very poor country. People in Nicaragua are robbed of the luxuries we Americans have. Such as, simply, having three meals a day. Most people have to travel far just to find food to bring home to their families. I felt like God had called me to go to these people not so I can bless them, yet so they can bless me and my eyes would be opened.

Even when things are going badly in my life, my constant drive pushes me towards God, questioning why things are happening and looking to God to show me the way, granting me patience and guidance through an incredibly hard time. Thus, even in times of darkness, my relationship with God is strengthened. Furthermore, the mystery of faith excites me and I can use this to strengthen my spirituality with God by thinking about him.

Last summer, I went to summer camp with my church. By the end of the week, I was changed completely. Every morning, and every evening we heard a message preached by various pastors. Every service, the Holy Spirit changed something inside me.

Three years ago I went to the Cumberland mountains of Tennessee. June came more quickly than I had planned. Before I knew it, it was time to go on my mission trip. Twelve hours of driving seemed like it took forever. During that twelve hour drive, I thought a lot about what I had imagined the week would be like. I knew it would take hard work and an open mind. Those twelve hours finally came to an end, we were in the mountains of Tennessee. I had mixed emotions that was going through as we settled into our cabins and looked around the camp site. It was definitely overwhelming when more church groups arrived, but I had to keep in mind that I needed to have an open mind about the week. Monday morning came in a flash. We fueled up with breakfast before we

God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon and stars; in the clouds, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water, and all nature; which used greatly to fix my mind. I often used to sit and view the moon, for a long time; and so in the daytime, spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the sweet glory of God in these things: in the meantime, singing forth with a low voice, my contemplations of the Creator and Redeemer. And scarce anything, among all the works of nature, was so sweet to me as thunder and lightning.

My topic or experience that reveals something about who I am is the mission trip I became a part of from June 18, 2017 to June 24, 2017 when my church went to Cannon Falls through Group Missions. During this mission trip, I have met some amazing people, made some great memories, and more importantly, formed a closer relationship with God. Before the trip, my relationship with God has just been at a plateau with me barely reading his word, praying from time to time, and just having a relationship with Him as if we were just acquaintances. During the trip, I met other people from different states: Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and where I am from, Illinois. I made lots of connections with other Christians which helped with me being antisocial,

The theological problem of evil is a problem that many philosophers have tried to solve. The problem is stated as, "if one believes that god is omnipotent and wholly good, why does evil still exist?" In this writing I will discuss the solutions/propositions of John L. Mackie in his work, "Evil and Omnipotence." I will do this in order to illustrate the concept of free will for understanding or resolving the problem, and to reveal how and why Mackie arrives at his conclusions.

In the beginning of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, it is revealed to use in 1:26-27 that God has created man in his image. The text verbatim states “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” From this distinct text we can clearly conclude that when ad created man and woman, they were destined to be in God’s image and carry his image throughout his creation. Today we can see that many of us do not live in God’s image due to society becoming more secularized as it progresses through the years, however as Christians we can verse this by living in God’s image in our chosen vocations, churches, and even in the

The bible was written as an account of what many viewed that God had accomplished so his actions and words could be passed on for generations. Some believe it is a literary account and some believe it is a historical account. The word of God in the bible comes in many forms and is left up to interpretation by the reader. Some believe that the word of God should be the only word and should be strictly followed. Some believe that the words are meant as a guideline to help us through life. Whatever your belief is you can always seem to find the meaning behind your belief through the word of God in the Bible.

Through out history, as man progressed from a primitive animal to a "human being" capable of thought and reason, mankind has had to throw questions about the meaning of our own existence to ourselves. Out of those trail of thoughts appeared religion, art, and philosophy, the fundamental process of questioning about existence. Who we are, how we came to be, where we are going, what the most ideal state is....... All these questions had to be asked and if not given a definite answer, then at least given some idea as to how to begin to search for, as humans probed deeper and deeper into the riddle that we were all born into.