Let's talk about BOB

Let's talk about BOB
Who/ What is BOB?
BOB is the basis of belief that all Christian groups on campus share. If you are in a group that seems not to have BOB (but a Susan etc), I would be very suspicious. I would probably call a Christian person I knew well, and ask them about the group you've met.

Most churches have versions of the Apostles’ Creed (written maybe 5th century) or the Nicene Creed (version 1 in 325AD).

BOB 1-Apostles' Creed
BOB 1 is a written summary of what Christianity was about. It was meant to be used in church or for those preparing for baptism.
Presenting Apostle's Creed text version
http://youtu.be/iHM0M06EAQo


Presenting the Apostles' Creed with medieval type graphics and music.
http://youtu.be/IDRsj9kmgrs

Tx Youtube

BOB 2- Nicene Creed
BOB 2 emerged from a period of history where there were many voices claiming that their version of God was right (some movement called Arianism), so the big wigs from the churches at that time got together to do the whole discussion thing and respond with, guess what ? A summary of beliefs, what we call, BOB 2
The Nicene Creed spoken through a group
http://youtu.be/e6R9DuGawFA

XX Youtube

Of course, as these things in history go, the process was a whole lot more complex than how I've described it. If you are interested in the robust discussions that took place in the creation of the creeds, you might like to read Church History in Plain English by Dr Bruce Shelly.

BOB Today on campus
Here at TSCF, BOB reads like this:
There is one God, who is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
God in revealing Himself inspired the Holy Scriptures so that they are entirely trustworthy and have supreme authority in matters of doctrine, faith and conduct.
We all were made for fellowship with God, but disobeyed Him. So we all have become sinners, guilty in God's sight, under His wrath, and alienated from Him.
Jesus Christ, God's own son, became truly human. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
Jesus Christ took on Himself the sin of the world when He died on the cross as our representative and substitute. God thereby showed His love for us and provided the only way for us to be forgiven and reconciled to Him.
Jesus of Nazareth was raised by God from the dead.
The Holy Spirit brings us to trust Christ and repent of our sins, lives in us, and develops our new life in Christ in the fellowship of the Church.
Jesus Christ, the living Lord, will return in person as Judge and King.

On campus, Student life and International Student Ministries have BOB too. If you are interested in BOB forming in NZ, try Geoff Troughton's book is called New Zealand Jesus.

If books are not your thing...just browse this blog. We hope, it will be easy to spot BOB after we've had a couple of wee chat (ten to be exact) about BOB in this blog. Take a look...if you are puzzled and would like to meet eight times or once to talk abt BOB over coffee, coke, juice, healthy liquids let us know... Val Goold, born and bred right here in Waikato, wrote eight studies to help students get to know BOB...happy to pass it on if you would like a copy.
Or not.
We could just have a good online yarn.
Oh and if you hate our videos and could make your own please, please send us the link....

3 are 1

There is one God, who is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)

I guess, when we talk about God, we have a fundamental problem of a dimensional nature. We are human, gendered, bound by race, nationality, time and space....and God is well, greater, purer, all knowing, perfect, in short, God. So, at best we can come up with feeble pictures of God through chemistry such as egg shell, yolk, white or ice, water, water vapour are one substance
OR story form such as The Shack by William P. Young
OR dimensions of space such as Length, width and height. All coincide in the same place, yet are distinct by C. S Lewis or the notion of big energy in small spaces.
OR visually such as three intersecting golden rings or the three leaved clover.

So BOB tries to describe God to the extent that God has self-revealed/communicated to us and leave it there. Understanding BOB helps us spot misrepresentations who God is.
Here are some examples of NOT BOB:
Modalism
Modalism describes 3 Gods with the same goals/purpose and they kindof take turns to appear. BOB says that there is one ‘God in Three Persons’ but one Being, the only true God. Both the Old and New Testament confess one God. The NT names Jesus and the Holy Spirit together with God the Father without attempting a systematic teaching or explanation.
Tritheism
Tritheism describes 3 Gods, who form a power-team. Each God has separate powers and influence but work together as a threesome. BOB says there are 3 Persons. Each Person is all powerful (omnipotent), and all influencing, so the 3 are 1, God is one.
Arianism
Arianism says that Jesus is a superior/special human being, but not God. BOB says the incarnation of God in Jesus reveals the mystery of the Triune God. God becomes visible in a human face, tangible in a human body.
Monism
Monism says that there is one God with many manifestations. It denies the person of God and sees God in nature etc. BOB says God is personal and desires an intimate relationship with all that He creates. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being. He is not far from every one of us.' Humanity does not define what ‘person’ means, but because God is Person (with personality and personal) we can also speak of humanity as a person.The sovereignty of God in creation implies that nothing obliges God to create, nor does the created universe limit, determine, enlarge, or bind God.

Here are some video attempts to represent Trinity:
A picture of reality
http://youtu.be/x0hr7O_ecDw

A picture of a projector
http://youtu.be/Ig_YE6-_UoI


As a Literature major, I like the idea that trying to understand God, is like trying to understand unconditional love. Being loving is a personality trait that can be only worked out within a relationship with persons and if that love is perfect then we are/ I am one. That's my imperfect understanding of it, maybe you can try and work it out for yourself in pictures/ metaphors found in your field of study.

If you would like to read more try JI Packer's "Knowing God." Here is an extract from the book www.epm.org/resources/2009/.../knowing-god-j-i-packer-chapter-1/
or for debates and discussions on apologetics check out http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/
or the website written by Dick Tripp called exploring Christianity--The Trinity
www.christianity.co.nz/trinity.htm

God's Awesome Book

God in revealing Himself inspired the Holy Scriptures so that they are entirely trustworthy and have supreme authority in matters of doctrine, faith and conduct.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The Bible is awesome because it is both divine and human. All Scripture is entirely trustworthy because God is trustworthy. ‘Trustworthiness’ emphasizes that biblical truth is not an abstract notion but a reality to be trusted in because God is truth. .
Wycliffe Bible Translators NZ has just produced two DVDs called "God's Awesome Book" and is currently developing a supporting website http://godsawesomebook.com/



This amazing confessions of faith in 66 books called the bible is similar (analogous) to the confession of Jesus Christ as the living word of God in human flesh. These 66 books are canonised.
The following publications are NOT: the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, The Watchtower, Awake, Writings by Ellen White or Mary Baker Eddy or Ron Hubbard and the Recovery version of the Bible.
The Bible, 66 books, reveals God’s redemptive history within human history.
The Bible has been described in the following ways http://youtu.be/2k6XalO1TIU...

so, TSCF encourages students to access all these through manuscript bible studies in small groups.
How? http://youtu.be/iMPyMb8b4sI.

If you are keen to start a group and like some starters let us know.

The inspiration of Scripture(ie the Bible) implies that the origin of Scripture is to be found in God. Because Scripture is God-breathed it has divine authority. When declared in the power of the Holy Spirit the Bible produces faith in Christ and the fruit of the Spirit in godly lives where the Word is received and obeyed.
TSCF has a facebook community of students all over NZ who are reading the psalms together (2010), New Testament in 27 days (2011) called Word Up: http://www.facebook.com/groups/wordup.nz
Here's how to use it http://youtu.be/LHpJO4ZKAzY

and when http://youtu.be/5ZsEK4VGLA0


The authority of Scripture applies to the whole of created reality including arts, science, and politics. However Scripture does not set out to teach science, for example, yet it teaches how science or any human skill should be learned and applied (‘faith and conduct’) for the good of humanity and to the glory of God. All over the IFES world, students in groups like yours, try to live out their faith in harmony with the Bible.
Check out this website www.bethinking.org which is an online resource for UCCF students
Students in IFES Latvia talk about their group
http://youtu.be/k8vmKssZYmg

Students in Latin America share their experience at university.
http://youtu.be/yGq5qXN1oVw

TwiLIGHT

TwiLIGHT http://youtu.be/kYVh9lyEk_g

We all were made for fellowship with God, but disobeyed Him. So we all have become sinners, guilty in God's sight, under His wrath, and alienated from Him.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Gen. 1:26).

God, holy and loving, made us in God's image for God's glory. Humanity refuses to acknowledge God as God over all life. In this basic attitude of the human heart, there is the sinfulness of sin that makes us all guilty before God.

We live in TwiLIGHT

John 4:1-42 tells the story about the woman at the well-- a sinner: http://youtu.be/5y2GlmTxpkM

Sin and judgement are not mentioned in Scripture apart from grace and forgiveness.This does not reduce the seriousness of sin and judgement but reminds us that a solution is always open to us.

We live in TwiLIGHT

I am a sinner. Yes, me the blogger. I am not all as bad as I could be, but neither am I as good I was created to be. Surely, that's not so bad? Really? Sin? http://youtu.be/hUxECgPxyEw

I can't fully grasp the depth of my sin, nor God’s holy rejection of sin, nor God’s judgement over sin, nor God’s goodness leading to repentance. I can't see properly in twilight.

We live in TwiLIGHT

Just like you

http://youtu.be/3ZOE7STHIy0

We live in TwiLIGHT
We have been in sin and may still be a sinner but we have never been unloved.

http://youtu.be/spr9aCNdRbU

JC-Fully God and Fully Man

Jesus Christ, God's own son, became truly human. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus: Fully God and Fully Man

http://youtu.be/kIxaH7S-ANM

Jesus was fully human:
1. Perfect. Sometimes it is hard not to expect perfection in someone we love, trust or look up but people are human and will let us down. Jesus is God. He told us what perfect humanity is, he lived it.
2. Understands and prays for us. He has experienced all that we might undergo. When we are hungry, weary, lonely, he fully understands, for he has gone through it all himself. (Heb 4:15)

Jesus was fully God:
3. God became man...meaning human nature has the capacity for goodness through God. Physical nature can't be inherently evil or inferior to the spiritual and immaterial because Jesus took upon himself our full human nature. This is a reminder that to be human is not evil, it was created good and spoiled by sin.
4. God is not far removed from the human race, distant and disinterested (exclusively transcendent). Jesus, is love in action, a real and complete incarnation. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father." (John 1:14)

Rich Mullins wrestles with the person of Jesus: God and Man in this song "Boy like me, man like you"

http://youtu.be/RVqQED51XD8
J.T. Jeyachandra talks to Christchurch students about The Relevance of Jesus

http://youtu.be/Xu9wymh0v9k

The Cross

Jesus Christ took on Himself the sin of the world when He died on the cross as our representative and substitute. God thereby showed His love for us and provided the only way for us to be forgiven and reconciled to Him.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

This song "Nothing but the blood of Jesus" with the re-enactment of the horror of Jesus' death confronts us with the depth of God's love for us.

http://youtu.be/8W-KDlQPpuo
The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross reveals the sinfulness of sin, the power of evil, the terror of death, and the holiness, righteousness and infinite love of God. Jesus, the sinless, makes Himself one with the sinners and their guilt on the cross. Jesus draws the curse of death, the enslaving dominion and the corruption pollution of sin that separates us from God. Redemption from sin and all its consequences is complete and final in Christ’s death on the cross.

Casting crowns sings "I am Yours" because of the gift of God in Jesus.

http://youtu.be/o_RqMSEJw-E
We belong to God, redeemed from sin and death, because of God’s mercy and amazing grace.

Jesus' work on the cross enables us to die to ourselves and live in Christ with one another--its a secret that we must tell....

Interested in singing about your faith? Music training is available in Vision College right here in Hamilton www.visioncollege.ac.nz
Prefer pictures? Murray Jenkins writes bible studies on this topic with lots of clipart here at
bym.org.nz/resources/awesome-bible-studies
Sports--Think about giving away Godzone
www.tscf.org.nz/news/godzone_rugby-themed_gospel

In Search of the Incredible: Dead man ALIVE

We believe in the incredible, mysterious and supernatural...

Jesus of Nazareth was raised by God from the dead.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event of all time, it is a powerful declaration.
"Concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:4)

It gives us hope.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3)

It is for the whole world
"So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." (Acts 26:22-23)

It gives us proof that Jesus is God.
"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)

God is the Provider, Jehovah Jireh


Christianity is an historic faith, clearly based on historical fact. The resurrection happened in time and space has eternal reality and significance. The resurrection of Jesus is not a subjective interpretation of what the disciples experienced but a divine revelation of God’s act of re-creation and transformation.

Watch NT Wright talk about the credibility of this incredible event
http://www.ivpress.com/videos/3848.php

Every Easter in churches all over New Zealand the resurrection story is retold.
Creative Edge presents a reenactment http://youtu.be/hd444xzXBLs
Gateway Church's podcast www.gatewaychurch.org.nz/gather/word
Hillcrest Chapel's pastor's blog brandnewheartnz.wordpress.com

The resurrection of Jesus is about us dying with Christ, being reborn and transformed.
www.everystudent.com is online help to help us work this out and pass it on.