Talk:KCU/04/Chupicabra

Instructor's Feedback on First Draft

This is a nicely written first draft. The sentences & paragraphs are well-formed & the article reads like it fits together as a whole. So, good job on that!

If this were the final draft, the grade would be something like a C. The main reason is that you need to add more dialog partners from extra research & you also need to expand your biblical coverage more (though less than with dialog partners).

Things to improve:

1. Incorporate more dialog partners from extra research into your discussion in a smooth way

2. Look at other biblical evidence. Three lines that you can examine more are: (1) Jesus' practice of gathering & traveling with his disciples; (2) Paul's practice of having traveling companions & his expressions of longing & affection for them when they're absent; & (3) the emphases on Christian as a body, a family, etc.

You have a nice start. So, keep up the good work!

Here are some web resources that may be helpful:

http://www.drcloud.com/Articles/CBTCDYC_3_God_alone_not_people.htm

http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Enough-lyrics-Chris-Tomlin/96C9D29021D30A7148256DF200238A8E

http://www.fullbooks.com/A-Short-History-of-Monks-and-Monasteries1.html

http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7103.asp

http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/18869/2691/7

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/september/16.38.html

http://www.incommunion.org/articles/issue-30/monasticism-and-the-way-of-radical-peace

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10464a.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10464a.htm

http://www.intelligentchristian.org/Care%20Files.htm

Here's another useful dialog partner, this time an excellent forum contribution by a student in the online section of Christian Heritage, Missi Balch:

Since we have God, do we really need people? Absolutely. God is all powerful and he can accomplish anything He desires. He could even skip the whole road to Him by not having His Son come to earth to save us. But he doesn’t. He gave us free will and he wants nothing more than for us to have a relationship with Him. The relationship we were supposed to have with Him was broken when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Now, the only way back is through Jesus Christ. But, we can’t just have the relationship handed to us. It comes when we learn about and understand the message of Jesus and when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Therefore, we need people to help us learn.

Some people believe that they don’t need God at all and are self sufficient. That is wrong and left for another discussion. Others think they need God only. That is just as wrong and is the topic of this discussion. On the website titled Christian beliefs that drive you crazy found at www.drcloud.com/articles/cbtcdyc_3_god_alone_not_people.htm, Cloud and Townsend talk about the “me and God syndrome”. Basically people think they don’t need other people for help, only God. They get this from the Bible verse Col. 2:9-10 which says “for in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe”. The meaning behind that verse is not how it is being used in this context. God uses other people to help us. We read in Matthew 19:26 that “all things are possible with God”. It says with God, not by God alone. The “with” implies there is help from us, and/or others and God. In Ecclesiastes 4:12 we read “though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”. The three strands can refer to the Trinity of God, it also refers to marriage. The husband and wife together with God are powerful. We are to work in partnership with God to accomplish much. Even Jesus as he was hanging on the cross made arrangements for one of His disciples to help His mother Mary. We read in John 19: 26-27 as he sees his mother near along with the disciple he loved and said “dear woman, here is your son and to the disciple, here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple took her into his home”. Jesus didn’t say oh you’ll be ok, all you need is me. No, he knew she needed the help of the disciple to care for her.

And, why would Jesus spend three years teaching his disciples and then tell them to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15)? What would have been the purpose of training them if they were not to help others? Then his ministry would be for nothing!

On the intelligent Christian website www.intelligentchristian.org/care%20files.htm there is an article which describes a method of tracking the relationships of the members of a church through care files. The purpose of the files is to assure that each member has a network of people available to help them in any situation. The bottom line is people need other people for help. In Cross Cultural Servanthood by Duane Elmer, the author states “we are not called to help people. We are called to follow Jesus, in whose service we learn who we are and how we are to help and be helped” (p.11). We are to help and be helped by others with the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is a group effort.

We all have spiritual gifts. Why do we need them? Are we just supposed to figure out what they are and then use them selfishly? In a book I read by Tom Frisky called Solving Church Problems: Verse by verse study of 1 Corinthians, The Apostle Paul is talking in 1 Cor. 12 about the church in Corinth and their problems. He said their problems came “because of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were there, not through God’s fault, but because of the misappropriation of the Corinthians” (p.197). Paul goes on in chapter 14 and challenges them to use their gifts properly “so that the church would grow up, and the gifts would be able to achieve their desired objective”. We have been given gifts by God and they are to be used to help others.

One final note. I love Ravi Zacharias. He is an apologetics expert who wrote a book called Is your Church Ready?: Motivating leaders to live an apologetic life. In it he describes another instance where Paul is speaking and he says “when the Holy Spirit filled the early Christians, he not only moved in them to teach the word of God to believers and to perform miracles, but he also moved in them to engage boldly with unbelievers by arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God” (p.56). Why would God work in those people to teach if He didn’t want us to help others? Again, He could just do it Himself. But He doesn’t. He uses us. We need God and we need people.

Here's another useful potential dialog partner, from an individual forum contribution by a student in my Christian Heritage online class (Erika Simpson):

Although I can understand why some people argue that God is all we need, I agree with Kerrie’s point of view, especially the point made that “God created Eve to be his companion.” God said in Genesis 2:18, “it is not good for man to be alone.” Dr. Cloud said that God realized that relationship was something Adam and Eve “desperately needed” (1). Of course we need people in addition to God. We need people to lean on in times of crises, a face to put words with. We need people for many reasons, including social support and fellowship; however, I believe that God wants us to value our relationships with each other so that His love can be reflected through them.

Cloud mentioned in How People Grow the significance of his revelation that while he had wanted God to supernaturally “zap” or change him through some type of miraculous feat, he had not expected or even desired for God to use people to heal him (p. 119). His perception was that if people played a part in his healing, it would have been “people” who healed him, and not God- but this is not possible. The Holy Spirit is the only one who brings healing; and I think it is important for us to note that people are probably the most effective vehicles that God can use in reaching us here on earth. In the following passage written by Dr. Cloud, he argues that God gives us people because we need them. The article is titled “Love, Receive and Obey” and can be found on Dr. Cloud’s website:

And in the area of our relational needs, to think that we can provide for ourselves the love and support that we need is a great heresy. We are not God! So, when we try to be emotionally independent from Him and other people that He has given us, then we are dying. And sometimes we will just see Him as the source of love in a relationship with Himself, and we miss that He also gives us people. Part of seeing God as the source and “not we ourselves," is to utilize the love and support that He supplies through people in His Body. When we love each other, we are realizing the grace of God.

The question of whether God is all we need or if we need people too can only be found through searching an answer from God, since He created all things and all people. The question arises, why did God command us to “be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 9:7)?” “Love one another (John 13:35)?” “Confess your sins to each other (James 5:16)?” “A friend loves at all times (Prov. 17:17)?” I believe the answer is that God loves us and wants to exhibit His love through us even when we are wronged by people, so that people will know God’s grace. The Bible also says that the apostles devoted themselves to fellowship with each other (Acts 2:42). Fellowship and friendship is vitally important to God; He emphasizes it so much in the Bible. He brings people into our lives who are different shapes, shades and sizes, but he brings them for a purpose. Crosswalk.com editor Laura MacCorkle sums up this phenomenon well by saying, “God brings friends into our lives who may not be in the form or fashion we expect. But they are always good for us (His definition of “good”) when it is part of His plan” (2). If we strive to see relationships with people from God’s perspective, I believe we will find, as Kerrie does, we need God and people too.

1. Henry Cloud, PhD. “Love, receive and obey.” http://www.cloudtownsend.com/library/articles/7articles4.php

2. Laura MacCorkle. “Friendship and fellowship is where you find it.” http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/1155300/