Part 2 Authentic Faith: A Longing for Authenticity

Authentic Faith [the 5th step in spiritual maturity] is marked by a deep, genuine connectedness to God.

• Celebrates the vastness of God
• Willingness to explore new ideas and traditions
• Limitless possibilities for life and worship in Him
• Recognize that some worship and attitudes are better left in the past because they could be wrong — this makes room for new
• Recognize some traditions could have become idols — corrupt and in need of correction
• Willingness to accept mystery
• Willingness to accept other people might be right too — inclusion
• More grace, less shame

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YOLO

In dire situations, when we wait for safety, protocol and assessment, nothing happens.

People suffer longer than necessary.

Sometimes people die.

To live with passionate faith is to live with more urgency.

Procrastinators irritate Jesus:

Matthew 16:8
But Jesus being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?”
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Chapter 5: WRITE A MILLION WORDS

Lives of remarkable people demand hard work. Great purpose is found by determined, impassioned, relentless effort.

• Do it every day.
• For years.
• With intention.
• Get an expert teacher.

It takes 10,000 hours to reach the top of our field. It takes talent and preparation.

RESOLVE

Whatever you do don’t bury your talent and expect praise.
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PASSION STAGE: THE QUEST FOR PURPOSE

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.

Jeremiah 24:11

Our soul needs a purpose so that we know that the career, relationships or hometown—all with their limits are not the end. We can know that our death is truly just the beginning of an eternity with Christ.

We often think and believe that the “greater” life is elusive and not attainable so we let ourselves stay spiritually immature and make do with what we already have.
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The following are notes directly from the context of this book with a mingling of my opinions and thoughts while I processed what I read. It is my interpretation. You may get something totally different out of this book.

CARRY ME HALFWAY

Many of us live spiritually under developed but we were created for a life full of:

• purpose
• authenticity
• justice

Many times we prepare for a task God called us to, yet when we get to the halfway point, we let our fears or the input of others, who might mean well, to stop us. Either way, we should rely one God to empower us to fulfill what we set out to do.
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The following are notes directly from the context of this book with a mingling of my opinions and thoughts while I processed what I read. It is my interpretation. You may get something totally different out of this book.

INTRODUCTION: LOVE AND JUSTICE

• Being incarcerated does not rob a person of the right to dignity and respect.
• Police officers that are bullies (not to be confused with police officers with a servant’s heart) make a mockery of humans and justice.
• When we see injustice we often look away because we don’t want to see people hurt. We should be trying to serve the people being hurt with whatever we have. Even a smile can encourage someone being persecuted.
• Decisions we made in the past should not steal today; this is true for people paying for their crimes too.
• By treating every person well, even people who are behaving in ways that is causing discomfort to others, we are showing them that they are treasured and loved by God and they are beautiful.

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Learning to Live and Love Again At the Same Time

The 2 deepest desires of most people:

• to love and be loved.
• to believe we are worthwhile and know someone else believes this too.

To protect ourselves many people have blocked off or shut off those needs.

I must learn to love and be loved, that I am worthy and I can look forward to and do great things.
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Pieces & Bits

Drama Addicts are people who have become addicted to problems and turmoil; problems have become a comfortable emotional experience

Drama Addicts:

• get involved with problems that are not their own
• think a peaceful life is boring
• create problems

As we develop our lives, set goals and find things to do, peace will be comfortable.
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Work A Twelve Step Program

Chemical dependency and other compulsive disorders destroy beautiful, intelligent, sensitive, creative, loving people.

Some Twelve Step Programs:

• • Alcoholics Anonymous – Group for people addicted to alcohol
  • Al-Anon – Group for people affected by alcoholics
  • Alateen – Group for teenagers affected by alcoholics
  • Al-Atots – Group for children affected by alcoholics

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Communication

“When you’re doing what’s right for you, it’s okay to say it once, simply, and then refuse to discuss anything further.” – Toby Rice Drews

Many Codependents:

• manipulate
• are people pleasers
• are controlling
• cover things up
• assign/use guilt or try to alleviate guilt
• repress feelings and thoughts
• have ulterior motives
• have low self-esteem or self-worth and feel a lot of shame
• react inappropriately
• allow abuse and use badgering as a tool
• justify, rationalize, compensate and threaten

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Chapter 15 “Yes You Can Think”

For God hath no given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:17

Many codependents do not trust our minds and indecision can make the smallest choices frustrating – so big choices like what to do with our lives or who to live with or how to solve our problems can be overwhelming.

We must think, figure things out, decide what we need and want and decide how to solve our own problems.

Our ability to think may be clouded by lies we have believed, told to us or by ourselves (denial), chaos, stress, low self-esteem and repressed emotions.
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