Seth grew up in Aurora, Nebraska, a small farming town where his father was the pastor of an Evangelical Free Church. Growing up in the plains naturally fostered a love for hunting and fishing, activities he enjoyed spending time with his father. Seth recently graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, finishing the long seminary haul, moved to Madison and is excited to be the “newbie” in the internship program. Seth also enjoys golf, baseball, rock climbing, camping, and has a passion for missions.

Hey Everyone!

While relevant for people in all stages of the Christian faith, I hope that this post is challenging both biblically and theologically in a little deeper way and that it encourages each of us to grow in respect to where we are at in our walk with Christ. 

I was reading today in Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart about the condition of the human spirit. He’s right when he says that everyone, whether we try to deny it or not, has a spirit. It is a fundamental and intrinsic necessity that each individual, and human-kind as a collective, have a spirit. And it is this spirit that, positively, in my opinion, most intentionally reflects our “being made in God’s image.” Yet negatively it is the same spirit (or heart) that was corrupted in Genesis 3 at The Fall. Our spirit then was formed in God’s image, but through the sin it was transformed toward sin, and it is the unfortunate reality that each man is then transmitted sin through birth (Romans 5:12). As a result of this problem, Willard writes:

“Accordingly, the greatest need you and I have – the greatest need of collective humanity – is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed.”

He goes on to write: “Indeed, the only hope of humanity lies in the fact that, as our spiritual dimension has been formed, so it also can be transformed. Now and throughout the ages this has been acknowledged by everyone who has thought deeply about our condition – from Moses, Solomon, Socrates, and Spinoza, to Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Oprah, and current feminists and environmentalists. We, very rightly, continually preach this possibility and necessity from our pulpits. Disagreements have only to do with what in our spirit needs to be changed and how that change can be brought about.”

What Willard is trying to get across is that while our spirits (hearts) have been transformed to reflect sins nature, that they can also be transformed to again reflect God’s nature/image (Col. 3:10), but how does that change come about?

I think, as does Willard, that a fundamental aspect of this lay in what Paul appeals to us in Romans 12:1-2.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our spirits (hearts) are affected and changed by the decisions that we make, which is why Paul urges that we be transformed by the renewing of our “minds” since it is our mind that makes choices (Willard talks about this aspect of spiritual formation via the mind later in his book). Thus, in order to renovate our hearts, we must learn to re-structure how we think (on this topic I recommend John Maxwell’s book Thinking for a Change). The sin that is ingrained into us doesn’t simply disappear over night. It’s a process. It’s a process that involves the renewing of our minds.

Yet often times we find, interestingly, that our hearts want to do good (as result of what we may call immediate sanctification – what the Holy Spirit has already done inside of us at our conversion) but the sin inside of us encourages us to do things we don’t want to do (Rom. 7:15-20). Have you ever not wanted to commit a sin but your mind told you that you needed it in order to be satisfied? Yep, me too!

Willard is right. Renovation of the heart is what we need, and ultimately what we should want if we truly understand God’s grace. I always say that you cannot understand the depth of God’s grace until you understand the depth of your own sin – which should encourage us to realize just how sinful we are! Ok, but where do we start?  I would encourage us to start thinking about how our minds control/dictate our heart. In order to reach the heart, we must understand how sinful we are and how are minds are continually making choices that dictate the character of our spirit or heart.

Thoughts?

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share a brief piece about one of my favorite characters in history: St. Patrick.

Patrick was born in Western Britain around 389 B.C. to a Christian family. Yet his life was not a life one raised by his family. He was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland. His story doesn’t end in slavery. He eventually escaped and returned to England. Yet it wasn’t long before Patrick heard God’s call to return to the island where he was held captive. He arrived back in Ireland in 432 B.C., devoting the rest of his life to the warring people of Ireland: the same people who held him as a slave. Through his efforts the gospel reached Ireland for the first time.

Patrick’s story amazes me for many reasons but most of all because of his desire to follow God’s call to have compassion on the very people who enslaved him. Whenever I read Patrick’s story I find myself desiring to be like him. What would the world think of Christians if we all behaved like Patrick? If we all had such compassion and fervor to reach out and love the very people who never loved us?

I’m reminded of 1 John 3:16…

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Just some thoughts…hope everyone is having a great week!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share a quick tidbit about what God put on my mind today as I was going through some old Scripture memory verses.

Not sure if you’ve ever observed the fact that when Satan tempts Jesus in the books of Matthew and Luke (chapter 4…in each book), Jesus always responds by quoting Scripture. Hey, if Jesus used the Bible as a source against Satan then so can we! I always carry my memory verses with me to look at in my free time. If I have free time, why not use it wisely? When I’m waiting for the bus, walking to class, etc., why not use it to look over memory verses? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used my free time to look over them and found the encouragement I needed…sometimes even when I didn’t think I needed the encouragement. The Bible, or Scripture, is God’s direct link to giving us information about himself and his plan. Whenever we can use our time to realign ourselves with his character and his plan, then we find ourselves feeling the power of God within us; the power that can resist Satan and his temptations.

How do you do it and where do you start? What I do is keep empty cards with me when I read the Bible and whenever I find a verse that I think is significant I write it down on the card, with the reference (ex. Jeremiah 9:23-24) on one side and the verse(s) on the other side so that I can rehearse where it comes from…come on…you’re college students…you get the idea

The verse that was a good reminder for me today was Jeremiah 9:23-24…

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight.”

I’ve already written too much…but I think that verse speaks for itself…hope it helps!

My challenge to you is to pick up the Bible, start reading it, and start memorizing those verses that you will need to defend yourself against the temptations of the world…trust me…it does work.

Seth out.

I hope that everyone enjoyed last nights talk…I know it was a good reminder for myself even! I was so glad to hear all the stories about how God’s Spirit moved many of us back towards Himself.

If any of you are curious, here are a few books I would recommend on the subject:

The Gospel For Real Life by Jerry Bridges

A Contrarian’s Guide to Knowing God: Spirituality For the Rest of Us by Larry Osborne

Enjoy!

As some of you have remarked…it looks like rain this weekend…but as of now we are still a go! The campground will allow us to transfer our reservation fee should we decide to stay only one night…so we’re good to go!

Regent West parking lot…6:30!!!

Going on the CAM-ping trip? We’re excited to have you!

We’re planning on meeting at the Regent lot at 6:30 and leaving shortly after. If you are not scheduled to bring a car/people then try and get a ride to the Regent. If not, meet us there and we’ll take care of it then (don’t worry…we have a plan!). What happens if it Rains? Good question…not sure. We’re gonna have to play that one by ear…or rather by radar (http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/53913). Should the weather seem unbearable we may just have to postpone to another date ☹ But we’ve got our fingers crossed and we’re praying for good weather! Be checking your email and the blog for weather updates.

You will need to eat your own meal Friday night…other than that, food will be provided.
If you have any questions email Seth at sdunham@blackhawkchurch.org or call him at 402-631-7586.

Items you should bring:

1. Sleeping Bag
2. Pillow
3. Sleeping Pad
4. Tent (if you have one)
5. Toothbrush, Shampoo, etc (there are showers)
6. Towel
7. Breathable clothing (non-cotton)
8. Bathing suit
9. Hiking shoes
10. Rain jacket/rain gear
11. Rock climbing shoes (if you have them)
12. Sandals
13. Sweatshirt/long pants
14. Bible/journal
15. Games, Frisbee, cards, vball, etc
16. Sunscreen
17. Car chargers for phones
18. Ipod (will have free time to listen to music)

Things taken care of:

1. Camping stoves
2. Weber
3. Cooler
4. Food (add)