Perspectives

On Tuesday I begin taking Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. It is a 16 week class, complete with homework and tests, all about Christian Missions. I have been aware of it since sometime in college, but have never had a good opportunity to take it. Now it has come to Santa Barbara, so I jumped at the chance to take it.

The first week was quite good. I cannot do the topics justice in just a few sentences, but here is one of the thoughts that really struck me: In the Bible, God's blessing and God's purpose are almost always found together in the lives of followers. Often we have a tendency to divorce these things. On one side, this leads to a "health and wealth" gospel. On the other, it leads to seeking out the things of God on our own strength, and letting the pursuit of the things of God become more important than the pursuit of God himself.