Week 1 Summary

Week 1 was fantastic! We had incredible teaching and great time connecting with our classmates!

Mark Anderson was our teacher for this week. He is an incredibly passionate and bold teacher and his style was just up my alley! I LOVED each lecture and feel like I gained important knowledge and understanding on the scriptures. Some of the topics he covered were what is Christianity, worldviews including humanism, denying ourselves/taking up our crosses daily, covenants in the Bible, prayer, what is Call2All and Table 71, the time line from the creation, to the fall, to the New Jerusalem, who we are in Christ and much, much more!

Some of my favorite lines in my 29 pages of notes from this week are:
- "We are the most humanistic/hedonistic culture in all of history. We are engrossed in self-gratification and consumption. 24/7 consumed with ourselves and we call our culture "Christian". "
- "Humanism is the original sin."
- "The key to Christianity is killing yourself and staying dead" (denying yourself and picking up your cross daily)
- "If I spend most of my time praying about myself, I am still a humanist!"
- "God doesn't want to improve you, He wants to kill you."
- "Don't concentrate on sin to deal with it. Find out the truth and pray the truth. Never pray the problem!"
- "Everything you say is shifting and moving things".
- "To be secure in what you believe, you have to live it. The truth you know, changes you."
- "Authority comes from God, given to people by free will. Intercessory prayer can stop the natural course."
- "If you are not an enemy of sickness and disease , you are not with God."
- "Don't assign blame to God for what people do or did."
- "There is no place for condemnation".
- "God insults the mind to reveal the heart."

Here are some pictures of the last week to enjoy!

Our welcome on the white board in our classroom

What the board looked like by Thursday's teaching!

A wet but happy ride in the trolley around the coastline!

First day of class!

Enjoying time together with the Holy Spirit

Time in the prayer room during a worship with the Word

Checking out the Iron Man Competition!

Out at a burger joint with many of our classmates! Good bonding times!

There is so much I could share about this week but it would take so long! So, I'm going to learn how to just share some of the highlights because I can't share everything each day with the ones back home.

Yesterday I was a little sad thinking of home, knowing that Thanksgiving gatherings were going on. It's a little tough to not be home over Thanksgiving and my birthday this week because it's usually a big celebration! Also, I'm thinking of my Sanctuary buddies today as they transition to another new home for a season. So, I'm missing home just a smidge but very content to be here and not wishing to be elsewhere!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and family!