Tuesday, May 17, 2005
[40 Days] Day 3
Well we had our first life group as a "40 days group" last night. It was a good night, the teaching was great.
I must admit that I'm struggling not to be sceptical about the whole thing. I'm always a bit wary of programs that promise success. And the fact that it's american (sorry Tom!) just makes some of the stuff a bit hard to swallow. So many "americanised" things just don't work here.
Eg: Rick (Warren) would make a joke and then laugh at his own joke - we'd just start laughing at him, not at his joke! And then he told us to give the person next to us a big cheesy grin...admittedly the DVD is made for new groups as well as established groups - but we've been together for close on 12 months now, so we felt like complete dills doing that...!
However, I am currently up to date on the reading. Last night I read the first two chapters, and this morning I read chapter 3. So far what I've read just seems like common sense.
"God has a purpose for your life." Yep, I agree with that.
"Life becomes simpler when you discover your purpose" Hmm, not to sure about that. It can make it easier to decide what to do, as you have something by which to compare/measure opportunities as they come along, but I don't think that that will necessarily make life simpler. (eg knowing your purpose won't stop your car from breaking down!)
I must admit that I'm struggling not to be sceptical about the whole thing. I'm always a bit wary of programs that promise success. And the fact that it's american (sorry Tom!) just makes some of the stuff a bit hard to swallow. So many "americanised" things just don't work here.
Eg: Rick (Warren) would make a joke and then laugh at his own joke - we'd just start laughing at him, not at his joke! And then he told us to give the person next to us a big cheesy grin...admittedly the DVD is made for new groups as well as established groups - but we've been together for close on 12 months now, so we felt like complete dills doing that...!
However, I am currently up to date on the reading. Last night I read the first two chapters, and this morning I read chapter 3. So far what I've read just seems like common sense.
"God has a purpose for your life." Yep, I agree with that.
"Life becomes simpler when you discover your purpose" Hmm, not to sure about that. It can make it easier to decide what to do, as you have something by which to compare/measure opportunities as they come along, but I don't think that that will necessarily make life simpler. (eg knowing your purpose won't stop your car from breaking down!)
