What I should EXPECT of the Christian life

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..Verruim Jou Ingeligte Opinie Met Lekker, Kreatiewe Aflaai&Eposklets Bybelstudies..!

	Deel met ons in die gebed:
	Our God, will You guide our thoughts? Reveal to our hearts what You tell our minds. Wake in us faith, and through faith expectation of life that is glorious beyond understanding.
	But keep our feet on the ground. Arm us with truth and realism about the life that precedes the heavenly as we trace the footsteps of those who've gone before us. This we ask in the Name of Him Who rules for ever from heaven! He Who stumbled on a path of heartache and pain under a cross, heavy to bear ..for us, who are privileged to share in Your suffering until suffering will be no more..
	Until You come to take us to heaven, Lord, heaven WILL prevail within us – for heaven could only be were You are, and thank You Lord: You are - forever - in us..!

Why this theme?

I expect a study on this topic will help create a foundation and background for our future Studies together. It should expose the basis of each of our believes and will provide us with greater understanding of one another's views - as to where it originates from. This should prove helpful once we get to other topics..

Before we start studying a full Biblical perspective on the subject, open your "StudyOne Answer Page" and try to put to yourself in a few sentences what YOU tend to expect of the Christian life..

						What do you tend to expect of the Christian life?

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	Our discussion on what we tend to expect of the Christian life led to the following conclusion: Living the Christian life I expect to be enriched spiritually, to be filled with inner happiness and calmness amidst crises. I expect a sense of purpose in my life (though the full understanding thereof may always evade me). I expect harmony in my relationship with God. I expect to become less and less self-obsessed; self-centered; self-absorbed, and yet more self-assured and self-assertive with more self-respect the more I function "under new Management" as I become increasingly "incorporated" with God. I do expect mixed reactions from people around me. I expect to spend eternity with God once my life here is through. I expect to submit myself, and my every thought to God. I expect to remain faithful to Him and even to thrive spiritually in the heartache of suffering and tribulation.

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Our discussion on what we tend to expect of the Christian life led to the following conclusion: Living the Christian life I expect to be enriched spiritually, to be filled with inner happiness and calmness amidst crises. I expect a sense of purpose in my life (though the full understanding thereof may always evade me). I expect harmony in my relationship with God. I expect to become less and less self-obsessed; self-centered; self-absorbed, and yet more self-assured and self-assertive with more self-respect the more I function "under new Management" as I become increasingly "incorporated" with God. I do expect mixed reactions from people around me. I expect to spend eternity with God once my life here is through. I expect to submit myself, and my every thought to God. I expect to remain faithful to Him and even to thrive spiritually in the heartache of suffering and tribulation.

Backdrop: Imagine..

Imagine you work for an advertising agency. ..Wait a minute, I hear you say, what would that have to do with our theme: What I should expect of the Christian life?

Well, the advertising business has a huge impact on our expectations of daily life, wouldn't you agree? It especially contributes to some rather unrealistic expectations of how easy life should be, and indeed could be ..if you would just buy one, little product! (..And then another! ..And yet another..)

So, for the sake of a better understanding let's get back to imagining you work for an advertising agency:

..One day a government official of the imaginary island “Caluba” walks into your boss's office. He agrees to run an advertising campaign for the Caluba military – and refers the account to you..

The government official explains: They want you to run an ad campaign that will encourage young people to choose a career in the military. You propose a series of posters featuring slogans in graffiti style! - He loves the idea..!

Poster Project..

YOUNG PEOPLE - JOIN THE CALUBIAN MILITARY NOW ..!!

Your pro military graffiti poster	CBS Team's pro military graffiti poster

Hover your mouse cursor over the left upper corner of the picture: “Your Pro Military Graffiti Poster” to display the communication bar. Save the picture to your desktop. Open “Your Pro Military Graffiti Poster” with your favorite graphics editor program (like “Windows Paint” for example) and write your own slogans on the wall, creating one of the posters that is to be used in the campaign. (If you use “Windows Paint”, on the menu tab, click “image”. On the drop down menu remove the check mark opposite the “draw opaque” function before you start writing on the wall.)
Remember: The slogans in the supposed ad campaign will inevitably be one-sided, as it is intended solemnly to encourage the young people of the island “Caluba” to choose a career in the military!
After adding your slogans to the wall, save your poster which is supplied in “JEPEG” format in “24-bit Bitmap” format and paste your poster into your “Study1 Answer Page” ^{click 4 info}

Congratulations! Your add campaign has been a tremendous success!! Large numbers of young people has joined the Calubian Military since. The local government is very pleased..

Take another look at the slogans on your poster before answering the following questions:

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your answers)}

						As can be expected, the poster feature slogans that are very one-sided, but are the statements basically TRUE or FALSE?

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	The statements made on our poster are basically TRUE.

						Do you believe one-sided posters like these would raise realistic or unrealistic expectations among the young people of Caluba?

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	The slogans paint only part of the picture: In terms of the whole picture expectations based on these slogans would be UNRREALISTIC.

Keeping the advertising industry and politicians during election campaigns in mind:

						Do you believe society can practically hold a person guilty if he raises unrealistic expectations by stating one-sided truths?

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	Keeping the advertising industry and politicians during election campaigns in mind we unfortunately do NOT believe society can practically hold a person guilty if he raises unrealistic expectations by stating one-sided TRUTHS. Can you for example imagine an advertisement over the radio for a new car going like this: "For the experience of a life time test drive the new Opel Corsa at your nearest dealer now! For some people this experience may include car sickness. Paper bags will be provided. In spite of airbags being installed you might die, get injured or become permanently disfigured in case of an accident. You might end up in a traffic jam, the car might break down, you could get hijacked and subsequently kidnapped that might or might not include getting gang raped. What are you still waiting for: Get to your nearest dealer NOW!" Note the difference: Test driving a new car MIGHT or might not result in injury, while smoking cigarettes WILL DEFINITELY harm your health..

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Keeping the advertising industry and politicians during election campaigns in mind we unfortunately do NOT believe society can practically hold a person guilty if he raises unrealistic expectations by stating one-sided TRUTHS. Can you for example imagine an advertisement over the radio for a new car going like this: "For the experience of a life time test drive the new Opel Corsa at your nearest dealer now! For some people this experience may include car sickness. Paper bags will be provided. In spite of airbags being installed you might die, get injured or become permanently disfigured in case of an accident. You might end up in a traffic jam, the car might break down, you could get hijacked and subsequently kidnapped that might or might not include getting gang raped. What are you still waiting for: Get to your nearest dealer NOW!" Note the difference: Test driving a new car MIGHT or might not result in injury, while smoking cigarettes WILL DEFINITELY harm your health..

As stated earlier: Your add campaign has been a tremendous success!! Large numbers of young people has joined the Calubian Military since. The local government is very pleased..
Then, one morning three representatives for the action group: “Horrified Parents of Caluba” walk into your office demanding a counter campaign! They are horrified because of what happened to their children in the military. Some of them died. Others are gruesomely disfigured, or disabled to the extend were they can no longer pursue a career. Then there are those who struggle to perform even the smallest of household tasks due to severe psychological trauma suffered during their short career in the military of Caluba. Since it would technically be against the local law to tell people to leave the military, you propose a sarcastic campaign in the same graffiti poster style as that of the government. The three representatives for the action group: “Horrified Parents of Caluba” accept your idea.

As stated earlier: Your add campaign has been a tremendous success!! Large numbers of young people has joined the Calubian Military since. The local government is very pleased..

Then, one morning three representatives for the action group: “Horrified Parents of Caluba” walk into your office demanding a counter campaign!

They are horrified because of what happened to their children in the military. Some of them died. Others are gruesomely disfigured, or disabled to the extend were they can no longer pursue a career. Then there are those who struggle to perform even the smallest of household tasks due to severe psychological trauma suffered during their short career in the military of Caluba.

Since it would technically be against the local law to tell people to leave the military, you propose a sarcastic campaign in the same graffiti poster style as that of the government.

The three representatives for the action group: “Horrified Parents of Caluba” accept your idea.

Poster Project

YOUNG PEOPLE - JOIN THE CALUBIAN MILITARY NOW ..!!

your anti military graffiti poster	CBS Team's anti military graffiti

Hover your mouse cursor over the left upper corner of the picture: “Your Anti Military Graffiti Poster” to display the communication bar. Save the picture to your desktop. Open “Your Anti Military Graffiti Poster” with a graphics editor program and write your own sarcastic slogans on the wall, creating one of the posters that is to be used in the anti military campaign.

Remember: The slogans used in the campaign will once again be one-sided, as it is intended solemnly to discourage the young people of the island “Caluba” to choose a career in the military!
After adding your slogans to the wall, save your poster which is supplied in “JEPEG” format in “24-bit Bitmap” format and paste your poster into your “Study1 Answer Page” ^{click 4 info}

Evaluate

						You have been running two opposing one-sided campaigns concerning the military. What do you believe a balanced opinion on a career in the Military would look like?

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	Balanced opinion on a career in the Military: There are both advantages and disadvantages to joining the military: You could enjoy a full and happy career, but there is always the risk that things might turn out for the worst; especially in a high risk environment like the military!

Thanks to the counter campaign you launched the young people of Caluba can now make a less naive and more informed decision about a possible career in the military.

Just as business start to quiet down at the office a pastor comes to see you.

He explains about his work on the island Caluba, about how the Good News meets much resistance and is rather slow to spread among the people there; yet impressed by the results the Military experienced from your add campaign he thought that you might be able to help the young Church on the island of Caluba too..

Project..

..Don't worry, we are not going to make the actual posters this time! Simply write down the appropriate slogans for five different posters that will be used during a crusade on the island of Caluba to encourage young and old to convert to Christianity!
Remember: The slogans used during the crusade will yet again be one-sided, as it is intended solemnly to encourage the people of the island “Caluba” to convert to Christianity!
The following quotes from Scripture might be inspirational to you: Click to open: Exo 23:25-26, Psa.23, Psa 91:9-16, Luk 10:18-20 & 8:51, John 10:27-28, Phi 4:13.

	poster 1 slogan slogan slogan	poster 2 slogan slogan slogan	poster 3 slogan slogan slogan	poster 4 slogan slogan slogan	poster 5 slogan slogan slogan

Grouping together a few characteristic slogans for each poster, number the groups of slogans (each group representing a different poster) from 6.1 to 6.5.

						The slogans I would use on the five posters, are..

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6.1.FINANCIAL COMPARISON: Have you become emotionally and spiritually blacklisted.. Become totally debt free now! Regain a clear conscience! Feel uplifted! Regain your childhood happiness! 6.2.SOFTWARE COMPARISON: Have you become spiritually outdated.. If so you are emotionally and physically at risk! Contact your Manufacturer urgently! Get registered! Update your spiritual life regularly! Keep up to date on how not to fall victim to life destroying scams and deceit! 6.3.Once born, you can never ever cease to exist! Make the choice - before your body expires! Make sure you go to Heaven when you die, because the default for all who are character damaged or core corrupt is the total abandonment that is eternal hell. 6.4.God loves you! He cares for you! It is He Who lets the sun rise every morning and the stars shine at night.. He made the plants and the animals ..and He waits for you to seek Him. To talk to Him. Will you keep Him waiting and waiting until He won't be found, until He turn His back and the sun don't rise for you ever again.. 6.5.MY GOD IS GREATER THAN YOUR PROBLEM! There is nothing He cannot do. “Ask, and it will be given to you”

Congratulations! Like the campaigns before, the crusade too has been a tremendous success!! Large numbers of people, young and old has joined the Calubian Christian Church. The pastor is very pleased..

Take another look at the slogans you used and then answer the questions:

						As can be expected, the posters featured slogans that were very one-sided, but are the statements basically TRUE or FALSE?

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	The statements our slogans make are TRUE.

Do you believe one-sided posters like these would raise REALISTIC or UNREALISTIC expectations about Christianity among the people of Caluba? Read the following quote from the Word of God before you answer: Heb 11:29-38 ..continuing verses 39-40

						Do you believe one-sided posters like these would raise REALISTIC or UNREALISTIC expectations about Christianity among the people of Caluba?

( my eie gedagte