Well, this concludes my first 20time project. It was a pleasure, it was a blast, and it was so much more than I ever thought. After my initial project inquiry questions, I began to work on answering them and do so throughout the weeks, actually addressing the last inquiry question last week. In summary: Initially, I was going to create a 7 day devotional. At the recommendation of friends, that turned into a 3 day devotional, and then in actuality it turned into completing 2 out of the 3 days. I will finish the third day later, but with life and time constraints, not today! This project was intended to be around 2 hours a week x 5 weeks = 10 hours. What happened Day 1 Devotional = 8 hours and Day 2 Devotional = 6 hours. The project also included researching and trying to find applications to submit to, etc. SO, I will finish this devotional when I can. What I learned: I learned that things can often take longer than expected. Researching and writing took hours and hours. In order to write a devotional true to the scripture of God, I needed to not only read the Bible, but also compare notes and read commentaries that theologians have written. I wanted to be thorough, truthful, and not misconstrue the good news and scriptures. ALSO, I learned that this process of digging through bible verses, praying and seeking meaning, and the writing process is powerful. I grew spiritually during this process, drawing closer to the Lord of all creation (Genesis 1:1). Without further adieu... The devotional. AND, the song of the week: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin. The age old song with an added element. This week I did some studying and writing (not sure if I'll use it or not, but it was good to get ideas flowing and thinking/reflecting on what I have been reading). In addition to the actual devotional, I spent some time seeking answers to some of my initial project questions. The 20time project is to not only create the devotional, but to also try to get it uploaded to the Bible App. The Bible App is a free phone/tablet app that has the bible, the bible in different languages, and devotionals available for anyone. UNFORTUNATELY, when doing some research I discovered the dilemma (see the picture below). Nonetheless, I spent some time reading about all of the qualifications needed in order to submit as well as the fairly new addition option of having videos, images, and rich text embedded into the devotional. Exciting!! So, despite the fact they are currently not excepting devotionals from the general public, I can and will submit the devotional when they begin accepting them again. And, it will having some visuals as well! I spent some hours at Starbucks this week reading, writing, praying, reflecting, and working on this 20time project. There is a lot that I have been learning and playing around with (in fact, I am in the works of thinking of how to advertise this and the idea of Surrender on a larger scale - social media??); however, for this reflection I want to share with you all a story about a story: I was sitting in church today when I was once again confronted with the passage from the Bible in the book of Matthew about the parable of sowing the seed. This time, I let it really sink in, consume my thoughts, and affect me. The seeds were sown on either rocky ground, ground among thorny bush, and good soil. Which seeds lasted, grew, and lived on? The seed sown on the good soil, of course. But 'good' soil isn't the good we likely think of. It isn't a call to 'be good', do more, work harder, or do anything in and of ourselves. Instead, it is a parable that points to Jesus and the fact that "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26). So, question: How do we 'with God'?! Answer: Surrender to Him and His plan. The parable of the seeds is likely going to be the centerpiece of the 3rd day of the devotional that focuses on daily surrender. As I have learned, in order to glorify and worship the Lord as much as I can, I must daily surrender and constantly be looking to grow. I cannot merely view Christianity and a relationship with God as on of the many things in life I start but never finish. I must constantly surrender and abide in God's love. Salvation may be one and done, but it is only the beginning of eternity! Song for the week: I encourage anybody to listen to it, especially if you like rock n roll. The band jams!! Song of the week: Mighty to Save (preformed here by Hillsong) This week I began to focus on reading through the bible verses that I had initially selected as well as looking at other bible verses that connecting to them, recommended to me, or verses that stuck out during church as key reminders of the need to surrender. I have learned a lot this week and look forward to making connections between my learning and my playing when I begin to write (I have a few things written, but nothing close to polished yet).
What I have been meditating and centering the study of SURRENDER on: Philippians 3:3-14; Matthew 13:18-23; 1 Corinthians 1; Romans 12; Matthew 19: 16-28; and John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." As I read through these verses and passages I spent time to pray, wrote notes in the margins, and discussed them and their applications with one of my good friends. Writing a devotional on a topic (in my case Surrender) is kinda like writing an essay for your professor on a topic (e.g. The Real Last Samurai). In order to do it, you have to do research (read the bible), take notes, thinking, bounce ideas around, write a rough draft and then revise. Time to write some more and revise!
This I Believe - The Weekly SongAnother great one by Hillsong highlighting the core beliefs that directly relate to initial surrender, the topic of Day 1 of 3 of the devotional. Drumroll please… I have decided to create a 3 day devotional for my 20 time project. Initially, it was a 7 day devotional; however, as part of my first week of working on the project I realized and was advised that a 7 day devotional would be much more time consuming than 10-12 hour project. Thus, I am going to create a 3 day devotional. This is a song that led me to deciding what topic to focus my devotional on: Surrender. Check it out!!
DEVOTIONAL: Create a 3 or 7 day devotional for Christians and submit it to the Bible App or similar companies to see if they wanna use/produce it!
Questions I have: Should I base the devotional on a topic or theme? (God is in control, Prayer, Faith, etc.) Should I base the devotional on an excerpt of the bible? (Ephesians 2, Romans 8, The 10 Commandments) How much should I write from personal experience and how much do I write including reference/perspective of theologians? What is the best balance, especially since I am new and do not have credibility in the field? What would be a good topic for me to address? Purity, Prayer, Anger, Friendship, Trust, Obedience? How do I market/approach companies or organizations in regards to producing/making public the devotional? What organizations besides the Bible App would be good to approach with my devotional? If I create a 7 day devotional, would it be possible and beneficial to co-write the devotional with a friend? What sort of outline would be best for the short devotional in order to appeal to the audience/reader? What depth of theological research do I need to do on the topic or passage? BOOT CAMP: Create a 2 week Boot Camp that focuses on the 5 facets of Wellness: Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, Social, and Physical.
How can I incorporate discussion of spiritual health? What sort of clientele am I looking to reach with the program? In regards to clientele, what age and level of physical fitness will be required? Is it realistic to have significant levels of differentiation? (E.g can I run a boot camp, without significant amounts of personal, that reaches out to people of intense health/fitness as well as those who have not exercises in years) What kind of equipment will I need? (I might be able to put this project into effect over summer where I work, but we have low funds) How could I advertise the boot camp? What is a good time and amount of time per day? I do not want to overwhelm or do it during high times of inconvenience for people. What exercises and exercise combinations will maximize strength, agility, and endurance? Are there any traditional exercises that have negative health effects? What sort of motivation techniques work? (I am not a big fan of yelling. This won’t be a Marine Boot Camp) Would creating groups, tribes, families, teams be a good idea? Maybe they can act as a support group because I do want to include social, emotional, and mental health. What should be the split between the different facets of wellness? (20% all around, more on the physical side, or do they connect in more ways than I think? E.g. Mental endurance can be increased through physical endurance?) |
Author"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" Archives
April 2016
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