OPISO » Featured Posts http://www.opiso.org Finding and Following Jesus Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:10:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 en I’m a Christian, Now What? (Part 1) http://www.opiso.org/2010/03/im-a-christian-now-what-part-1/ http://www.opiso.org/2010/03/im-a-christian-now-what-part-1/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:39:26 +0000 Andrew http://www.opiso.org/2010/03/im-a-christian-now-what-part-1/ You’ve just taken the big step.  You placed your faith in Jesus Christ.  You are probably wondering what’s next.  The first answer is that there are a lot of things you could do.  This is a relationship with a living God, not a to-do list.  But, there are a few important concepts to ponder.  You’ll find these concepts throughout scripture, developed in various ways.  We are going to explore them as they appear in the book of Romans, chapters 5-8.  In Romans 1-4, the Apostle Paul describes what the gospel is: the grace of God made available in Jesus Christ.  For the purpose of this blog, I’m assuming you have a basic understanding of the gospel and that you have received Christ Jesus as your Lord and your Savior.  Now you need to understand what the gospel does to you.  This is the subject of Romans 5-8.  We will examine this text in four parts.

Part One: New Personhood
Romans 5-6 tells of a simple truth.  When the gospel comes into your life, you become a new person.  You used to be a slave to sin.  Now you have died to sin and so are no longer a slave to it (6:6).  You have gone from slavery to freedom.  You have a new identity.  Of course, you still struggle with sin.  That’s because you have not yet fully embraced your new identity.  A slave who’s lived a lifetime of subservience to a harsh master often finds it difficult, even uncomfortable, to embrace a sudden freedom.  The impulse to acquiesce lingers on.  A familiar hell sometimes wins out over an unfamiliar heaven.

I think this is why Paul highlights baptism in the discussion of the new personhood Christ brings (6:1-5).  Baptism is a means for driving home the point that we’ve been given a new identity.  Baptism symbolizes our union with Christ in his 1) death (dunking), 2) burial (submersion) and 3) resurrection (emergence from the water).  A person is baptized in front of his or her family and loved ones and they serve as witnesses to the fact that a new identity has come.  The deeper the impression of this new identity, the stronger the impulse to live according to it, in freedom and newness.  The gospel changes us, in part, by bringing us a new identity.  But this is an identity that we need to come to embrace.

“I’m a Christian, now what?” you ask.  Be baptized.  Let your community help you embrace your new identity.

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]]> http://www.opiso.org/2010/03/im-a-christian-now-what-part-1/feed/ Is it possible to test for spiritual growth? http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/is-it-possible-to-test-for-spiritual-growth/ http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/is-it-possible-to-test-for-spiritual-growth/#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:13:37 +0000 Andrew http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/is-it-possible-to-test-for-spiritual-growth/ No. And yes. The master of spiritual growth is the Spirit and only he can guide us. But the Spirit works through people and the OPISO people want to help position you to sense the leading and work of the Spirit in your life. We have identified some basic traits of a Christ follower and then we’ve come up with questions that reveal the extent to which those traits are being cultivated in you. Our list is not exhaustive. But, it is a start and a lot of the traits that didn’t make the list flow out of the ones that did. Get to work on these and others will follow.

One of the strengths of the list is that it is holistic. The traits are divided into three categories: beliefs, practices and virtues. Beliefs are the things we know about God and ourselves, practices are what we do as a result of those beliefs, and virtues are character qualities that pervade all our being and doing. So, for example, we’ve all known “belief-oriented” Christians who could give chapter and verse for any bit of doctrine we might ask about (and a whole bunch more we didn’t even know existed!) and yet this same person hasn’t let off a whiff of joy in the last decade, which is a virtue that is also important to God. At the same time, some Christians are so joyful you need sunglasses to look at them, but ask them why the Bible is worthy of holding authority in our lives and all you’ll get is a bunch of hemming and hawing. If we can point out these weaknesses, provide some resources and push people towards community where godly change is nurtured, then we’ve positioned ourselves to catch the wind of the the Spirit. And that’s what brings the real transformation.

Here’s how the traits in the inventory break down:

Beliefs
God
Salvation
Bible
Jesus Christ
Holy Spirit
Church
Eternity

Practices
Worship
Prayer
Bible Study
Community
Stewardship
Service
Witnessing

Virtues
Joy
Faith
Love
Humility
Patience
Gentleness
Self-Control

]]> http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/is-it-possible-to-test-for-spiritual-growth/feed/ About OPISO http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/about-opiso/ http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/about-opiso/#comments Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:51:53 +0000 Andrew http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/about-opiso/ 2000 years ago a few average guys strapped on their sandals, fell in behind a Jewish carpenter and began a seemingly ordinary trek across the dusty roads of Israel. By the end of the journey, however, their lives had been turned upside down. Soon the world was turned upside down as more and more people fell in behind them.

OPISO (oh-PEE-so), means “follow” in the language of Jesus’ day and the OPISO blog is a journey to explore what it means today, to find and follow Jesus. Along the way, we embrace a critical tension: Rock solid truths are in the Scriptures, but people need time, space and a process to integrate them into their lives. Think of OPISO as a kind of Inn along the way, where you can get the next map, talk with fellow travelers, ask for directions or just take in some refreshment.

If you’re just getting started, try the OPISO Spiritual Growth Inventory to discover areas of personal strength and weakness. The Resources pages will provide pathways for growth. “Reviews” will help you sort through resources. Finally, look for monthly blogs on important OPISO issues in the Finding and Following section. And, of course, please share your comments with us and with the rest of the OPISO community.

]]> http://www.opiso.org/2007/10/about-opiso/feed/ This Blog is Messed Up http://www.opiso.org/2007/08/this-blog-is-messed-up/ http://www.opiso.org/2007/08/this-blog-is-messed-up/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:58:04 +0000 Andrew http://www.opiso.org/?p=5 OK, not entirely, but there is something missing. While we hope to build community through OPISO, we want to be real about the limitations of cyber-friends. If you really want to grow, you need flesh and blood in your life. We think OPISO will work best as a resource to spark growth oriented relationships among friends. Take your inventory and share the results with two or three people close to you (maybe from your Home Group). Together, develop a plan for growth in the areas where you are weakest. Pray together. After a couple weeks report back to the group on your progress. Celebrate your victories. Draw strength to tackle the areas where you’ve been stumped. Keep going. Eph. 4:16 From [Jesus] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

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