Please share what you remember about Advent this past year when Christ entered your life like a newborn baby. Of course, I know Christ is in us daily. But, there are some moments when Christ manifested the Glory of the Lord so that you could get a job, experience healing, or a word to keep on fighting. These are "Advent Moments," we have during the year. Remember, Advent can happen at any time of the day.

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Wow, last night's session truly opened our spiritual eyes to see that God wants us to disrobe ourselves from mourning and misery, which are distractions in our lives. If darkness covers our footsteps, we cannot help others walk into the light. The song said, "Order our steps," but if darkness covers our steps and we continue to walk in mourning and misery, how will others see the true light in our lives? For this reason, we came together last night and accepted Jesus' invitation to take his yoke and learn from him. And I can't think of any other lesson that we could learn last night other than that Jesus is with us, carrying us. His footprints are in the sand while holding our hands tenderly and lovingly with care. He orders our steps to walk in darkness because Jesus is a waymaker, a light for any darkness. This week hold someone's hand, give them the assurance that you received when you prayed last night, "Come by here my Lord, Come by here." Homework: Write a letter to God expressing what He has revealed to you about your current challenges. Share with a family member or friend something that was revealed to you in tonight's session. Create a representation (poem, image, song) of your perseverance or revelation experience to share with the group next week.

Last night we engaged in a powerful reflection on God's ways of how we sense his presence in our lives. Some people said that they felt God revealing his "glory," through dreams, thunder, hugs, silent voices, wisdom, and more. But what inspired me was how one student talked about a profoundly intimate encounter with God. They described the encounter as God penetrating their whole being. I also saw how we enter that liminal space spiritually when asking Jesus to help us with our unbelief. We believe, but we also have unbelief. From here we were challenged to do the following this week: Write a letter to God expressing what He has revealed to you about your current challenges. Share with a family member or friend something that was revealed to you in tonight's session. Create a representation (poem, image, song) of your perseverance or revelation experience to share with the group next week. You can share your thoughts by selecting the comment box.

Reading assignment: Job 41-42, Our class on Tuesday night was "very interesting." So much so, all of you, in the words of Stevie Wonder, "creeped into my mind." Maybe I should repeat Jackie's words, "get out of my head." I am talking about the comment when I said that there are times when we may have to say, "No, I will not pray for you." Or perhaps we say, "No, I will not pray that prayer." Yes, these are some harsh words. However, it's important to remember that we are talking about when to pray and, more importantly, "what," should we pray. Discernment is hard work which means "No," maybe the best response to someone's issue. For example, if someone asked me to pray that their husband returns to help the family after he abused his wife and children, I would have to say, "No," to that prayer. I shared that in discernment, you must gather information. Knowing that this is an abusive situation, I must discern, should I pray for her husband to return or her mental state. After all, God wants the family to stay together, "Right?" Here is the issue in prayer, when praying, we must agree. Jesus said, "I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt. 18:19-20). And the prophet Amos asked, "Do two journey together unless they have agreed?" (Am. 3:3) Therefore, when anyone asks us to pray for them, we need to consider that person's emotional and spiritual state. We should avoid saying; I will pray for you before gathering information. It would be best if you did the work of discernment. Many of you "discerned," that praying for Job's happiness was not the "right," prayer a few weeks ago. You discerned based on the information you read; Job needed something more than just happiness. If someone asks you to pray, gather the data, test the spirit and see if the true and living God is present. Would you agree to pray for a person's safety to rob the bank to pay for his mortgage? Even God will say "No," to our prayers. Discussion question: Tuesday night, I listed six limits in confirmation. Remember this quote, "If you are not in touch with yourself, if you don't know what is going on, you cannot hear the "other," even when the "Other is God." Earnest Larkin I am looking for one more limit in confirmation. What else can cloud our spirit when trying to discern our spiritual walk or our friend? What hinders our spiritual liberty to act maturely as Christians. 1. We are not perfect. 2. Pressure and stress are real. 3. You have no control over what the other will do. 4. Time (Seasons) 5. You can't solve everyone's problems. 6. Admitting that you may be the problem. 7. ????????

Well done, my good and faithful servant. Reading assignment: Job 29, 32, 33, 38! We are at the halfway point of our study on the Book of Job. For the last three weeks, we talked about so many issues. To try and summarize our study would be an impossible task. Therefore, I am asking each student to share their notes from our study so far. You can share new thoughts about Job or comment on some of the ideas we talked about like, the Doctrine of Retribution, Patience vs. Perseverance, positive words of comfort, praying lamentation prayer, Job's darkness, or comment on any of the case studies. Or perhaps you would like to talk about Job 19:23-25! The discussion board is open for anything you want to talk about concerning our study on the Book of Job. Remember, when commenting, please click the comment box on the left. If you wish to start a new discussion, please click the comment box on your right.

Homework Reading assignment due by October 5 - Job 17, 18, 19. Wow, what a rousing night we had in our second week of studying the Book of Job. We took a deep dive into the book of Job tonight. We zeroed in on the first conversation between Eliphaz and Job. Eliphaz wants Job to be patient while Job wants to know how long he should be patient. (Jb. 4-5) Next, we talked about Job's understanding of God when compared to Psalm 8. We reviewed Bildad's conversation with Job (Jb. 8-9). We also looked at ways to be good comforters. Here is a list of good practices when being good comforters: Good comforters: 1. Make sure you know your skill sets. You are not the best person for every situation. 2. Make sure you are physically and spiritually ready to give comfort. Rest is essential. 3. Make sure you have the time. You cannot be in a hurry. 4. Make sure you are ready to listen. Don't anticipate the answer. Some thoughts require no explanation. Silence is golden. 5. Make sure that you can do the follow-up. Would you please press the comment box in this post and add some words of wisdom that make for a good comforter?

Good morning class, the first night of our study on the Book of Job was awesome, I was very pleased with the turnout and the level of participation. Over 3/4 of those who registered for this class attended. I pray that we can maintain this level of spiritual gathering moving forward. Last night, we talked about Job's righteousness and the Doctrine of Retribution. We ended our study on some challenging words from Job, and the words to his wife. There were plenty of words of wisdom in our conversation. During this week, our discussion is all about challenges in your ministry, or let's say your walk with God. Please name some of the difficulties in your ministry and then reflect on an individual who helped you overcome those hurdles. What did they say? How did they help you make meaning in your life? Reading assignment due by September 28 - Job 12, 13, 16:2-6,