Salt Company Student Question
hey mike.. i had a random question.. what is a christian mystic? like that is what Tozer is called on the back of the knowledge of the holy book. I figure it isnt bad or anything. but what does it mean?
Mike's Response
A Christian mystic is one who's focus in Christian gifting is the study/contemplation/meditation on God. Which is a great thing to have a focus on and maybe even have a gifting in. God definitely wants us to think about him, meditate on him and contemplate who he is. Which is the point of Knowledge of the Holy.However, It can be not the best thing taken to it's extreme. Basically Christian Mysticsm rose out of the monastic lifestyle (monks and nuns). They're whole lives were focused around contemplating who God is, study and self-denial. All really good things, but they took it to the extreme and too far. And in fact Tozer took this idea a little too far in his life and devoted himself too much to study and not to just doing things for God and had a poor family life and ministry. So as we're reading this book we definitely have to look into God, contemplate him and allow him to be every part of our life, but I think having our whole life completely devoted to contemplation would cause us to miss out on the application of a life that knows God well, which is to spread his name on the earth. We will do well from learning from Tozer and the monastics on their thoughts about God, but we may not want to imitate their life in the extremes they took it. Our knowledge of God and contemplation of him is sweet, but I believe what it should be is fuel for a life lived for God healthily, not a life that doesn't do anything.
5.29.2007
5.24.2007
Ch 2: God Incomprehensible
Ch. 2 Questions
1. How can we think of God without making him an idol?
2. Tozer says “faith is the organ of knowledge and love is the organ of experience.” How by faith can we know God and how by love can we experience God?
Mike's Thougths
This is a challenging chapter. Probably the most challenging in the book. I re-read it over and over again trying to understand it’s meaning as I’m re-reading this book for the 3rd time. So don’t get discouraged if this book is challenging. Summer’s are a great time to be challenged and go deeper. I think the Lord will reward you with knowing him more with the depth of the riches of Christ as your reward (Romans 11:33; Philippians 3:7-11).
The fact is, is that God is incomprehensible. To find out what God is like can’t really be answered. The writers of scripture were never able with our finite words to perfectly describe what God is like. They were only able to describe it with human words, and as in Ezekiel 1 or Isaiah 6, or the book of Revelation, we see the writers trying to describe something as best they can, but can only describe in reference to something that is less than what it is, because words are finite and God is infinite.
By faith, we believe the word of God, what it says about God. By faith we believe and trust in the fact that the Holy Spirit is the only one will give us power and the ability to know Him better. A love for God produced by our trust and dependence on the power of the Spirit working in us, will help us take what little we know of this incomprehensible God and experience the truth of who he is in our hearts and lives. The rest of the book will be defining the attributes of God according to what he has revealed to us in the Bible, to help us know him by better by faith in His Word, and experience what He has revealed to be true about himself in his word, not what our imagination says, as we love him more and more.
It seems to me that Tozer is saying, believe God’s word to be true. Believe the things about God that are shown to us in God’s word. No more, no less. But the only way that we’re going to find that out is if we study what God’s word says about himself and love him because He is the God of the universe who we will be married to in heaven (Revelation 21:1-5). When you fall in love with someone, your love grows deeper as you get to know that person. God’s giving us a chance this summer to know him and fall in love with him through his word and through the commentary of Tozer. Let’s know him by faith and fall in love with Him as we experience him more and more.
1. How can we think of God without making him an idol?
2. Tozer says “faith is the organ of knowledge and love is the organ of experience.” How by faith can we know God and how by love can we experience God?
Mike's Thougths
This is a challenging chapter. Probably the most challenging in the book. I re-read it over and over again trying to understand it’s meaning as I’m re-reading this book for the 3rd time. So don’t get discouraged if this book is challenging. Summer’s are a great time to be challenged and go deeper. I think the Lord will reward you with knowing him more with the depth of the riches of Christ as your reward (Romans 11:33; Philippians 3:7-11).
The fact is, is that God is incomprehensible. To find out what God is like can’t really be answered. The writers of scripture were never able with our finite words to perfectly describe what God is like. They were only able to describe it with human words, and as in Ezekiel 1 or Isaiah 6, or the book of Revelation, we see the writers trying to describe something as best they can, but can only describe in reference to something that is less than what it is, because words are finite and God is infinite.
By faith, we believe the word of God, what it says about God. By faith we believe and trust in the fact that the Holy Spirit is the only one will give us power and the ability to know Him better. A love for God produced by our trust and dependence on the power of the Spirit working in us, will help us take what little we know of this incomprehensible God and experience the truth of who he is in our hearts and lives. The rest of the book will be defining the attributes of God according to what he has revealed to us in the Bible, to help us know him by better by faith in His Word, and experience what He has revealed to be true about himself in his word, not what our imagination says, as we love him more and more.
It seems to me that Tozer is saying, believe God’s word to be true. Believe the things about God that are shown to us in God’s word. No more, no less. But the only way that we’re going to find that out is if we study what God’s word says about himself and love him because He is the God of the universe who we will be married to in heaven (Revelation 21:1-5). When you fall in love with someone, your love grows deeper as you get to know that person. God’s giving us a chance this summer to know him and fall in love with him through his word and through the commentary of Tozer. Let’s know him by faith and fall in love with Him as we experience him more and more.
Ch 1: Why We Must Think Rightly About God
Sweet Quote – “A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology, but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple: where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.” (Pg 2)
Ch. 1 Questions
1. What comes to your mind when you think about God?
2. Do you have a real view of God in your heart, or only what you know on paper?
3. Tozer makes a pretty strong statement when he says that the foundation of idolatry is really the wrong thoughts about God, not simply bowing before an idol. Do you guys agree? How does this help you seek to know God if you do?
4. Tozer says, “The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” Is Salt Company doing this? How could we have a better view of God?
Mike's Thoughts
Tozer’s making some pretty strong statements about the cause of all our problems as individual Christians, as a church, and as a person. I think it’s interesting that with all the problems that we face in life, the questions of “What is God? What He is like? And what we must do about Him?” are really the most important that we’ll have to answer. It’s sweet that Jesus has lifted the burden of how to know this God eternally through giving us a relationship with him when we accepted Him as our savior. Since we have the answer to that question, the Gospel also frees us up to search out an even better viewpoint as we try to answer the question of, “how do I become more like Christ and how God created me to be.”
I think Tozer’s point is pretty interesting when He says that the main point of the “no other gods” command is not only to keep people from bowing down to an idol, but also a command to have a right view of God, and not substitute him for something other than he is. Wow! I don’t know how many times a day I do that. And the hope is, that if myself and Salt Company would put on a right view of our God, He would change us from the inside out. I’m excited to see that happen.
Ch. 1 Questions
1. What comes to your mind when you think about God?
2. Do you have a real view of God in your heart, or only what you know on paper?
3. Tozer makes a pretty strong statement when he says that the foundation of idolatry is really the wrong thoughts about God, not simply bowing before an idol. Do you guys agree? How does this help you seek to know God if you do?
4. Tozer says, “The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” Is Salt Company doing this? How could we have a better view of God?
Mike's Thoughts
Tozer’s making some pretty strong statements about the cause of all our problems as individual Christians, as a church, and as a person. I think it’s interesting that with all the problems that we face in life, the questions of “What is God? What He is like? And what we must do about Him?” are really the most important that we’ll have to answer. It’s sweet that Jesus has lifted the burden of how to know this God eternally through giving us a relationship with him when we accepted Him as our savior. Since we have the answer to that question, the Gospel also frees us up to search out an even better viewpoint as we try to answer the question of, “how do I become more like Christ and how God created me to be.”
I think Tozer’s point is pretty interesting when He says that the main point of the “no other gods” command is not only to keep people from bowing down to an idol, but also a command to have a right view of God, and not substitute him for something other than he is. Wow! I don’t know how many times a day I do that. And the hope is, that if myself and Salt Company would put on a right view of our God, He would change us from the inside out. I’m excited to see that happen.
Preface
Preface Questions
1. On Pg vii. Tozer says, “But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal: and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.” Would you say this is a true indictment of the church of today, and maybe even of your own life? Or is Tozer off-base?
1. How does a right view of God affect our inward, and outward lives?
Mike's Thoughts
It seems that in the modern church we have often forgotten the center of our worship: The majesty and the glory of God. There are lots of times in my day that I get so busy that I forget to think about the God that I claim to live for. When the Psalms say, “Be still and know that I am God,” I say with my actions, “Get busy, because God’s not going to be pleased if you don’t get everything on your ‘to do list’ done.” When I’m in sin, my first action is to try to do better, or try harder. When I think what God wants to say to me is, “Know me, rest in me, live in me, think of me, and I’ll change your heart to make you the person I want you to be.”
I’m excited to continue on in Tozer’s book, because I think that if I would set my mind on things above, contemplate/meditate on who God is, in the mornings and in the moments that I can freely think and focus on God through my day, I believe that God will change my view of him and that right view of him will change not only my outward actions, but the inward motives of my heart and hopefully all of Salt Company’s. I hope you guys enjoy this book this summer and I’ll be praying that we all have a greater view of our God because of it and that that view will radically transform our lives, our ministry, and our world.
1. On Pg vii. Tozer says, “But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal: and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.” Would you say this is a true indictment of the church of today, and maybe even of your own life? Or is Tozer off-base?
1. How does a right view of God affect our inward, and outward lives?
Mike's Thoughts
It seems that in the modern church we have often forgotten the center of our worship: The majesty and the glory of God. There are lots of times in my day that I get so busy that I forget to think about the God that I claim to live for. When the Psalms say, “Be still and know that I am God,” I say with my actions, “Get busy, because God’s not going to be pleased if you don’t get everything on your ‘to do list’ done.” When I’m in sin, my first action is to try to do better, or try harder. When I think what God wants to say to me is, “Know me, rest in me, live in me, think of me, and I’ll change your heart to make you the person I want you to be.”
I’m excited to continue on in Tozer’s book, because I think that if I would set my mind on things above, contemplate/meditate on who God is, in the mornings and in the moments that I can freely think and focus on God through my day, I believe that God will change my view of him and that right view of him will change not only my outward actions, but the inward motives of my heart and hopefully all of Salt Company’s. I hope you guys enjoy this book this summer and I’ll be praying that we all have a greater view of our God because of it and that that view will radically transform our lives, our ministry, and our world.
5.18.2007
Intro to Knowledge of the Holy
Hey everyone, we'll be starting up our study through "Knowledge of the Holy" very soon. We've set up this blog so that you can all post comments and hear from one another cool stories of what God is teaching through the book, through your own personal lives, and through your experiences in the summer. Summer teams, it'd be great for you to post brief updates on this site of what God's teaching you as well. Everyone else, it'd be great to hear what all the Lord is teaching you in your individual places as we continue to be the body of Christ to one another.
Basically we'll be reading two chapters and week. I'll be posting a little commentary on my thoughts on the individual chapters and you all will have the chance to post your comments on the blog as well. Just click on the blog title and click on "post a comment" and you'll be good to go. You'll probably have to sign-up for a google account to post, but that doesn't take long at all.
So check on the blog again this Thursday for Chapters 1 and 2 and every Thursday after that for comments on Knowledge of the Holy. Look forward to continuing to interact with you all throughout the summer! God Bless
Basically we'll be reading two chapters and week. I'll be posting a little commentary on my thoughts on the individual chapters and you all will have the chance to post your comments on the blog as well. Just click on the blog title and click on "post a comment" and you'll be good to go. You'll probably have to sign-up for a google account to post, but that doesn't take long at all.
So check on the blog again this Thursday for Chapters 1 and 2 and every Thursday after that for comments on Knowledge of the Holy. Look forward to continuing to interact with you all throughout the summer! God Bless
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