Grace Christian, a cool place to worship, learn and talk about Following Jesus
September 26, 2013 | 
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I had a great week at Grace Christian School‘s Spiritual Explosion Week.
The topic: Follow.
My Headmaster at Cary Christian School graciously allowed me to go and share with this sister school fighting the good fight and we talked about everything from the problem of Individualism to the Good Life of loving God and loving people.
They are a great group, with great leadership.
I am attaching my PowerPoint slides for those who asked for it. The videos will not embed, but if someone wants those, they can ask.
Also, some asked for some of the books that I mentioned during the sessions. They are:
BELOW ARE THE POWERPOINT PACKS
Posted in Lessons Repository | 
Tags: American Dream, Discipleship, Edwards, Follow, Grace Christian School, Individualism, Jesus, Lewis, Piper, Tozer
what is the hebrew translation for the words Love and hate as used in Romans 9 and earlier in the old testament referring to jacob and esau? is it specifically translated as love or hate, or could it mean accepted or rejected?
Kenny,
Thanks for the inquiry. The quote that you are referring to comes from Malachi 1:2-3. The Hebrew “Ahav” and “Sinah” mean most expressly, “Love and Hate”, respectively. In the quote in the NT, it is of like manner, namely “agapoe” and “miseuw” are used which mean the same. I will encourage you to understand that the mere translation of a word does not give enough of how to understand it’s usage. It is always function (how a word is used) that overrides form (the “lexical” or “dictionary” status of a word). For instance, if I saw a drawing a student did and said that it was “wicked” or “sick”, I would not likely mean that it is evil or drawn with vomit. 🙂 In that context, those words actually MEAN that the drawing is really good. The function of a word or phrase is dictated by how it is being used. Remember when I used the analogy of letters needing a word to be in to have full meaning and words in phrases and phrases in sentences and sentences in paragraphs? This is where that now applies. The words may be “love” and “hate”, but what do those words in that context mean? As you think more, make sure you do not leave out the context of Malachi (the Book), Malachi 1, Romans (the Book), Romans 9-11, Romans 9 and Romans 9:6-29. All of these passages and contexts help you understand what that passage and the usage of those words mean. Make sense? Finally, remember what I said in the meetings, this is a GIANT subject. Think long and hard – read deeply and pray and chew on these texts before just reacting. I am glad you are inquiring more!
However, even though it is fine for me and i can believe it and all. If someone who is not a believer reADS THAT, IT CAN VERY EASILY COME ACROSS AS GOD BEING A GOD OF HATE BECAUSE HE PREDETERMINES THESE THINGS WITHOUT ANY SORT OF PRIOR ACTION, AS HE DID WITH ESAU “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”” Romans 9. That alone could very easily turn people away from Christianity, and turn them away from God. I know that the Holy Spirit will ultimately call people to God regardless whatever I do or say but what is the best way to try and explain that to a non-believer.