Baptism by Frank Hunting. Recorded in 1970's

The Pilgrim's Progress.

The journey to salvation has a beginning and it is a progressive journey.
As a young child in Sunday School we had the story of Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan progressive read to us each Sunday morning.
Even as a child we all had some understanding of this still wonderfully written story.
This movie adaptation I hope will whet your appetite to read the book for the first time or again after many years as I will be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faeen3y7PV0

The straight and narrow way

You can read the whole book here.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39452/39452-h/39452-h.htm 

Christian Counselling by Frank Hunting

Below  is an extract from a Churches of Christ provocative pamphlet from 1955 by Frank Hunting.Over the length of his lifetime and ministry Frank counselled and helped hundreds of people including myself.
The Church desparately needs people doing what Frank has suggested here.
If Frank were alive today he would also be endorsing that not Just Christian "Ministers" have the responsibility to counsel but also appropriately equipped lay people.
There are organisations which have developed programmes for equipping lay people.
Two that I recommend are Grace Fellowship International(Charles Solomon is the founder) and Freedom in Christ Ministries(Founded by Neil Anderson)

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"Spiritual Counselling.
      Spiritual counselling is not being seriously undertaken in our churches. It is still regarded as the work of specially trained or specially gifted men. It ought to be the normal thing in every congregation. For this work spiritual insight is more important than psychological training. Every minister, if he follows the practice of his Master, would give hours of his time every week to this important work, but the average minister is so overtaxed by the demands of organising a modern congregation that he completely throws out any suggestion that he may need five or six hours in any week to sit at leisure to give spiritual counselling to people who need it. Nor, do the deacons and members realise how important it is that their pastor should do this work.
      Homes are breaking or are in trouble, individuals carry, crushing personal problems, nervous breakdowns crop up here and there, good Christian people are developing neurotic tendencies, and all these should be receiving special spiritual counselling. There is need for guidance and counsel on all aspects of living which the minister out of his growing store of wisdom and experience should be giving, and in any church where the work of the Holy Spirit is in evidence there should be individuals becoming dissatisfied with their Christian experience who want to grow spiritually--these and other aspects of living demand that churches should see to it that their minister has adequate time to give all the spiritual counselling needed. People, whose problems have a spiritual origin are going to doctors and psychiatrists; they should be going to Christian ministers skilled in spiritual counselling.

The Equipment
      God can train a man in spiritual counselling and the following personal equipment is essential. A man must himself quite obviously have an increasingly growing experience living Saviour, He must know from first-hand personal experience the power of Christ to change men. To undertake spiritual counselling should be to enter into a secret compact with God to pray in faith for Christ's cleansing and delivering power in the life of the one we are counselling.
      The basic requirements of the spiritual counsellor are:
      * The counsellor must have faced all his own sin, failures, defeats and share these with another.
      * He should live in the open with others about his pride, sin, victories, prejudices, self--all that the Holy Spirit is showing him to be when measured against the life of Jesus.
      * He must obviously be finding Christ to be the answer to his own life, circumstances and situations.
      * He must be willing to share any part of his life with another as God directs him.
      * He must be practising God's guidance and leading in his own life and affairs. Only as God leads will some unravel the tangle of their lives. The spiritual counsellor to help such people must have complete confidence in the Holy Spirit's guidance and leadership in such matters.
      * He must have unbounded confidence in Christ's power to meet and solve the problems and needs in any person's life. There are no exceptions to this.
      * He must never take sides either for or against people, but always take God's side, God's part in every situation.
      * He must be an unfailing channel of love and patience.
      * He must give all the time needed even if this extends over years.
      * He must see more than the situation as presented to him; he must see origins, causes, reasons.
      * For this he will need deep penetration into motives and the self-deceptions we all deal in. This demands constant reliance upon the Holy Spirit for the insights which liberate.
      * We must learn not only to detect the causes of trouble and upset, we must also learn to help people build into their lives the positive power that lies in faith in God,
      This word from Oswald Chambers must be the conviction of the counsellor: "The Lord seems to come to us in every individual case we meet--'Believest thou that I am able to do this?' Whether it be a case of demon possession, bodily upset, mental twist, backsliding, indifference, difference of nationality and thought--the challenge is to me: Do I know my risen Lord? Am I wise enough in God's sight to bank on what Jesus told me? Am I foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world to do it? or am I abandoning the supernatural position, which is the only one for a missionary (or Christian), of boundless confidence in Jesus?"
      Let us not try to be psychologists. We come to offer men and women Christ. His cleansing for their sin. His all sufficient grace for their defeats and failures. His never failing presence for their confusion and frustration. His guidance and solution on all matters. Christ is Himself the answer and He alone has the answer. Many people want help but they don't want it in the only way they will ever get it. Till they want help in the way He can give, we may need to stand aside watching them try all the approved failures until they are willing to believe that Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

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F. C. HUNTING--
      Graduated from the Federal College of the Bible in 1933. After graduating, he served the churches at Blackburn and Prahran, Victoria, then followed three years as Youth Director for our New South Wales churches. On the expiration of that term he served the church at Ann St., Brisbane, for a period, and has been with the Dawson St. church, Ballarat, Victoria, for the past six and a half years."

My footnote.
 In semi retirement Frank came to the Church of Christ at Grote Street in Adelaide as a colleaugue of Pastor Harold Long.They were in tandem ministry for 5 years.
He then moved to Noarlunga Centre Church of Christ in 1980 where he finished his official ministry.
Frank also gave considerable assistance to the Murray Bridge Church of Christ while in Aelaide.
He was a counsellor to many in Adelaide and Victoria and beyond in his lifetime.

See also the link below to an extract from Frank's booklet on Christmas about Jesus as Counsellor.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/his-name-is-counsellor.html

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"It is assumed" by Frank Hunting

A non descript title but this is a very challenging Gospel message.
This sermon was given in November 1978 at the Church of Christ Grote Street Adelaide.Frank makes it very clear what the Bible teaches about the necessity of Salvation and being prepared for our death.I had been a Christian for about 3 years when I took this tape with me to visit a friend's mother who was dying with Cancer. I was graciously received by this lovely lady and I feel as strongly now, as I did then, that we must be prepared for the next life while we are still in this one.Are you ready to meet your Saviour?There are two Bible readings then the message.All three men on this tape are now with their Lord and Saviour.There is a song after the message which I could have cut but some may like to listen.
This is also on my other blog "Life Giving Christian Sermons"

The Holy Spirit by Frank Hunting

This is a sermon by Frank Hunting who was a long serving Churches of Christ Minister in Australia.
I had the privilege of him being one of my 2 pastors for a period of 5 years in my formative Christian years.
For many years after that, and also since he died some years ago, he has been a a source of inspiration to my wife and I  and many others.
This sermon teaches us that The Holy Spirit is always with us as Christians and what that can and should mean to us. You will find much more of his teaching on this blog.
 This sermon was given at the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide in 1980.
The symbol chosen for this podcast, of the light, is because when I was in a time of sickness and staring at this ceiling, the vision of a cross and  light reminded me of the Holy Spirit's constant presence.
Press the arrow to hear the podcast.
There is also a link below to a written  Bible Study on the Holy Spirit by Frank also found on this blog.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/holy-spirit-by-frank-hunting.html

Forgiveness again?

A common thread you will see on this blog is the need to forgive.
I have been prompted to write because of articles I have come across about Meagan Kunert on the internet. A young woman who started a wedding photography business and cheated using other people's photos and blogs and posts and information to promote herself.
She was caught out and is now attempting to recover from her demeanors.
It seems an organisation called People of The Second Chance (POTSC) reached out to her with compassion and grace.
Here is link to Meagan's confession on the POTSC website.

http://www.potsc.com/potsc/how-i-ruined-my-career/

Many of course are quick to condemn what Meagan did.
It was bad!

But I am reminded of verses in the Bible like:

"Judge not lest ye yourself also be judged!"

"He who is without sin cast the first stone."

"All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God."

" Forgive  us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

I applaud POTSC for what they are trying to do.

I started to read some of the personal testimonies on their website.

I was taken by one who's Pastor Husband cheated on her.

She chose to forgive her Huband, and the telling thing in her story is that she realised after no response from the other person involved, after she herself had offered forgiveness to her, that she needed to forgive from the heart not just because that's what is expected of Christians.

See Trisha Davis' story below.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4473676857916103027#editor/target=post;postID=4707499569134340934

I would re direct my readers to the earlier post on the Cross of Christ.

None of us, if we are Christians, have a right to withhold forgiveness and we cut ourselves off from knowing the fullness of God's Salvation if we don't forgive from the heart.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/cross-of-christ.html

I have had my own brushes with not forgiving and the stress that has brought me and others and of course we can all easily recognise where others are at fault in this but it's what we do that is paramount.

What would Jesus do?

The new man Tape 3 Frank Hunting

Below is a a slide show of some of my pictures accompanied by a sermon on the New Man by Frank Hunting.
The pictures should point you to the creator.
How can we deny there is a God when we look at the beauty of the Natural World.
When we have recognised there is a God and we can know Him through Jesus Christ and have responded to that, we need to then start the Christian journey towards maturity in Christ.
We are not instant new creations when we become Christians  although in a sense that is true.
Our position has changed and our disposition can become the disposition of Jesus.
Sadly, many of us never know the fullness of our Salvation.
The sermon is one of the many that I listened to in a five year period when Frank Hunting was our Pastor.
His colleague Harold Long preached the Gospel that God used to bring me to Him.
Frank was the one God used to keep me there when I could easily have faded away.
So the pictures are meant to compliment the message not distract you.

The New Man Tape 2

I started this post a few weeks  back and have now competed transcribing Frank Hunting's tape from the 1970's.
See the link below to about Frank Hunting.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/about-fank-hunting.html


If it hadn't been for Frank's counsel and teaching I doubt that I would still be a committed Christian today.
God brought him into our lives at just the right time.
My prayer is that some of what's on this blog may be for you at just the right time.



The New Man Tape 2 F C Hunting

"Therefore if any man is in Christ,he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold the new has come."

If you were to read that in the JB Phillips translation,this would be the translation.

"For if any man be in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether.
The past is finished and gone,everything has become fresh and new. '

For thousands of Christians that is simply not true!

Very little, for them, has become new!

During the week I read that it is estimated that nearly 90% of all Christians never experience the abundant or victorious life.

And that  includes (I've finished the quote, this is me)

 Ministers!

leaders in our Churches!

teachers!

Elders!

Deacons!

whoever!

We shall never begin to understand why this unhappy state of affairs exists until we begin to ask the right questions and come up with the right answers..

Why are Christians not becoming new people?

New persons altogether as the scriptures say they will?

If they are in Christ!

Now there are various reasons for this.

There are scores of thousands of Christians who do not even know that they can become new people in Christ.

They simply have never heard of it!

Certainly vast numbers of Christians,if they have happened to have  been told that they may

able to become a new person altogether,

have not been told how to become a new person in Christ.

By and large, we have prided ourselves as being Bible teaching Churches.

Yet there are people who have been 30,40, 50 years regularly coming to Church to worship,

every sunday morning,

 and they have never been shown, how to become a new person in Jesus Christ.

Some of them have been told that they ought to be new people,in Christ,

indeed some of them,

some of us,

really need to become new people in Christ, but haven't been told.

Nobody has spelled it out.

Just how does a person become a new person in the Lord Jesus Christ?

So the first thing to notice is the most obvious, but it's strange how blind we can be to the obvious!

And it's this.

That if you and I are going to become new persons in Jesus Christ,
then the most obvious thing is,

 that if that is going to happen,

we must bring to Jesus what we are!

We must bring to Him,

 each one of us ,

the things to Him that need changing!

If we have been, or are badly relating to someone,

If we have or are , being hard in our attitudes to someone,

If we have or are being critical,-it may never be spoken,

 but if that;s the attitude that we've got in

our minds, that is the way that we think about people or someone!

If we have fears!

If we have envy, or jealousy or guilt, these are the things that are wrong in us!

And these are the things that we ought to be taking to Jesus!

But right at this point we do something,so often, that effectively, prevents us from taking what we

are to Him,

He who is able to make people new.

And this is how we do it.

When we become conscious that we have some of those things I've just listed,

when we realise that that is a part of me, what am I prone to do?

I'm prone to justify that feeling!

I'm prone  to justify that hard attitude!

prone to find some reason so I can excuse me from being that kind of a person!

Oh, I can always find a very good reason, why I am entitled to have that attitude!

To have that feeling!

to think that way!

about that person!

 or about those people!

or about that situation!

So if I pretend it doesn't matter,

or I blame somebody else,

or something,

there's no chance of Jesus ever making me new!

And so we stay exactly as we've always been!

If we are a worrier, we stay a worrier!

If we are harsh in our criticisms, we stay harsh in our criticisms!

If we are an extrovert and we are dominating in our attitudes to people, we stay that way!

If we are full of fears, we stay crippled by our fears!

The reason being

 we don't get them to Jesus!

If we are weak and wobbly as people, we stay weak and wobbly as Christians.

Nothing changes.

Why?

Because we are not getting the thing that needs to be changed to our Saviour.

So that leads me to say the next thing.

Often we are strangely blind to the very thing that most needs to be changed in our makeup.

We are strangely blind to that need.

And we are strangely blind to our need to get that to Jesus.

For instance if we happen to be a worrier we say "I am a worrier by nature!"

"I can't help it,

it's my nature to worry!"

"I always do it!

I'm stuck with it!"

Now doing this, we never see two things about our worrying.

Both of them totally wrong.

NO 1. Worry is one of the worst sins because it doubts God!

Oh, we wont face that one will we?

It says God is dead!

It says God is powerless!

It says God is useless!

The second thing that's wrong about worry is that it says that Jesus has no answer

to my worrying,

 and that isn't true!

We may for instance be given to criticising.

Now we do it so often, it has in fact, over the years,become  a deeply entrenched habit!

Indeed we are often doing it and we are not aware of it.

Again there are two things wrong with this.

It too is one of the worst sins.

Now you listen, I am talking to you good people and you and I are Christians!

That true?

And I'll tell you why this is one of the worst sins.

It's a terrible sin against Love.

And God is Love.

And we are sinning against Him.

When we have this in our lives.

In the 2nd place because we justify our criticising in various ways,

we never take it to Jesus so we stay stuck with it!

and we really become and are, unlovely people.

albeit we are Christians.

The same is true of fear, fear makes pygmies of us.

It makes us mice instead of men.

But fears can be very powerful, they may also become very frightening.

And it;s very easy

 because of those two things

to think or feel that you can do nothing about them!

But Jesus has the answer to all our fears!

To every single one of them He has the answer!

If we learn, how to take them to Him.


Now at this point we run into another obstacle of getting g free from these things that prevent us

from becoming new people,new persons altogether!  in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I know, I know, you know that this to become a new person, is for most Christians ,deep down, the one  thing they most want.

Well,  what's this other thing that prevents us from becoming a new person altogether.

We often pretend not to be afflicted by the thing that is really bugging us.

We often pretend that it isn't the thing that is the matter with  us.

Now this is one of the biggest barriers that I had to break through.

I worried.

 I had big fears.

Crippling fears.

And I was critical, judgemental.

And I leaned as you have this morning that these things are grave sins.

They put us right out of joint we our God no matter whatever our protests may be.

Now I didn't want to admit those things.

Why?


Well I can tell you quite easily.

I could hear people saying "but you are a minister! you shouldn't worry! "

"You're a Minister, you shouldn't be critical! "

"You're a Minister, you shouldn't have any fears!"

And that brought me, and it brings  all of us when we start  this business of really getting

ourselves to Jesus, slap bang up against another big sin, Pride!

You wouldn't believe how much pride keeps Christian men and women away from all that He can be and do in them.

Pride is probably the biggest reason why we don't face  the things we need to take to Jesus.

We are afraid someone might know what really bugs us,

what really torments us.

we are afraid of then saying to us,

"But you are a Christian,you've been a Christian for 40 years, you've been a Christian for 20 years,and you still have that thing in your life?"

So we pretend, and we cover up, and we stay stuck.

The same old person all the way through life.

Now let me show you another way we rationalise what we are doing.

And so we never change, never become the new creations that Jesus longs to make us, sometimes we long to be.

I'l just give you one  illustration , but we do this in many ways , and you might be able to see for yourself how you are doing it, if you do.

Dad comes home from work, somethings gone wrong with the kids, they're having a real good old set to.

Squabbling and arguing, yelling and screaming at each other,

Mum meets dad at the door, and in an hysterical voice says,

"Oh you don't know what I've had today!

"oh you don't know what those kids--I could have choked them!"

And Dad goes in , and with a heavy hand, he whacks into them, and he over does it,

and their's crying and shouting and yelling,

followed by an all round family sulk.

Every body out of joint, sick sore and sorry with each other.

And that night Dad goes to bed.

And he begins to review the whole situation.

He thinks how the night before he was in that long protracted meeting,where every thing went wrong.

And as a result of it, he hardly sleep a wink the previous night, and he woke up in the morning with a head like a pumpkin.

And he stayed that way all day,

and he felt as lousy as a human being could,

and at work they were coming at him from all angles.

He was pressured and he had had a dog of a day at work.

and when he landed  home, and the door was opened,

he walked into the same thing he had just left at work.

and of course he went over board.

what else could you expect.

Now everything that Dad looked at was true, every bit of it was true.

But if he began to excuse his over reacting to the children,because of all that had happened to him,

you know, and I know, that he'll stay stuck with it.

He'll never change.

And that problem will grow and increase in that home.

Because deep in here Dad has to get something to Jesus.

So that when these things do come, he is able in a strength,

 and because of attitudes that he's got,

he will handle them as a Christian should.

There are deeper, now there are the many ways that we do that sort of thing,

I've just illustrated one,

There are deeper an rather more serious things than the  ones I have hinted at this morning.

 I'll mention them and next time I have the privilege of talking to you I'll tell you how Jesus  is the answer to these deeper problems..
More serious ones.

For these things are serious.

They cause all kinds of neurotic conditions , all kinds of Psychotic conditions and all sorts of odd and difficult behaviour patterns.

They send millions of people to Doctors and Psychiatrists, and Psychologists.

Often to receive no help.

Many, only to be patched up.

Does it ever seem to you, a rather wonderful thing, how great crowds of people, going to doctors,find valium cures almost, or is supposed to, but it doesn't, does n't come within coo-ee  of healing.

All kinds of nervous disorders--

doesn't matter what you present to the doctor you get the same prescription.

Well, there is no drug, and no treatment that comes out of a syringe, that can heal the conditions I am going to name to you.

The problem of inferiority!

That deep feeling of being an inferior person that you take around with you wherever you go.

That tragic attitude and feeling you may have to yourself, of insecurity!

That's a real handicap.

And it produces all kinds of odd behaviour in people.

It makes people very difficult to get along with sometimes.

And what about anxiety?

That number one producer of mental illness.

And this constant feeling that thousands of people in our world have ,

the feeling of being rejected.

How neurotic that can make you.

Now these feelings are serious ones, these are the deep ones.

These are the disturbing ones.

These are the ones that produce all sorts of behaviour patterns that none of us feel very happy about.

They can produce schizophrenia or paranoia.

Or fantasy.

They can produce seriously neurotic conditions and do.

There are plenty of people around suffering from these things.

They lie deep within us and if we are afflicted by them, we can and do have real problems.

And most or all of us at some time or other have had one or more of them.

Sometimes a combination of them.

Now if we are afflicted in this way there is no way in the world if we allow them to continue that we can become a new person in Jesus.

No way in the world!

No way  that He can bring to us His abundant life, His victorious life!

Now I am meeting Christians crippled by these things and I want to say this very kindly and quietly, and I hope you will think about it.

Many of them are afraid to accept the only help they will ever get.

They are afraid to accept the only help they will really  ever get.

Many of them are afraid of you if they think you can read what is the matter with them.

And when they are at the depths disturbed and we think a person can really see what our need

is we become afraid of that person.

And we steer clear.

Even though that person may be the only one that can help them to the answer!

Many of these folk feel so threatened that they back off entirely from the person who can help them.

Now I am not going to talk to you about the answer to this in this talk. I am going to take that up in my next because you know I've got so much that you need  to think about, that if I hurl too much at you in one sermon, or one talk, you will be overwhelmed.

And you won't be able to take it all in.

But you are meeting people who have these needs that I've discussed and we in this Church and other churches if we only knew it, we have the answer.

So this morning in closing I want to say this.

For all of the things I have talked about,

Jesus does have the answer.

He can and does heal.

Indeed I'd go further,

He is the only one who has the answer!

So what I have been saying to you this morning is this.

If we want the answer that Jesus alone can give,

the first thing that we are to do  is to stop pretending,

stop covering up,

stop rationalising,

break through the barrier of pride,

look fearlessly at what is wrong,

and begin to believe that our  wonderful Saviour,

is the answer.


Foot note.There are many tapes in my possession and Bible studies by Frank Hunting. I would welcome  any enquiries from those who believe they might be helped by such. Geoff Thompson
email geoff@geoffthompson.com.au  It is my intention to post transcripts of tapes 1 and 3 in the New Man Series

EMOTIONS-BAD AND GOOD

Fenced in by more than barbed wire.What is he really thinking as he notes the unknown stalker a few yards away. "Will I run(hop) or pretend there is no danger?"

       

      a bible study by Frank Hunting

 this was developed for people to study over a weekend 

Study 1

EMOTIONS ARE IMPORTANT

How important are emotions? Are they important enough to devote   a weekend to studying them?Usually when we talk about emotions in the way we shall over the weekend some Christians will pipe up: “Oh you’re having Psychological studies! I want studies from the Bible.”

If the word emotion doesn’t appear in the Bible, what we call emotions are spoken about again and again in scripture.Indeed they play a most important part in scripture teaching.

Modern Psychology backs up the emphasis given by the Bible to our emotions.Our emotions can cut us off from God…..and from our fellow men….and that is very, very serious.

EMOTIONS CAUSE

Emotions are the root cause of a whole range of human experience ……..good and bad…happy and unhappy…..delightful or miserable.

Emotions out of control cause splits in families,rows in churches,tummy ulcers,tension headaches and an amazing range of psychosomatic ailments…. And a great deal of personal unhappiness and misery… and we have hardly started on the list of troubles caused by having wrong or bad emotional reactions.

PERHAPS WE SHOULD TAKE MORE NOTICE

Perhaps as Christians we should take more notice of our feelings.

It is clear from experience that many Christians have feelings about which they do nothing(they may even justify them) but which the bible says is sin……..and in some cases, very black sin.

IGNORANCE

Ignorance is always a tool which the devil uses . And ignorance about our feelings is certainly used by the devil. This alone should make us concerned to understand our emotional reactions.

DISCUSSION

At this point your group could have a general discussion about the role our feelings play in our general living. perhaps the discussion could be based on the premise: The more we know about our emotions , the more quickly we can detect and deal with harmful ones: and so the more we can seek to have good emotional reactions. The more we handle our feelings correctly the more mature are we likely to be as persons.

GOOD AND BAD

Feelings may be good or bad. They may contribute to our general well being( and also to others) or they may be destructive in their effects on us.

Generally speaking the fewer bad feelings, negative feelings, destructive feelings we have, the more good feelings we have, the better for us and every body around us.

WE NEED TO KNOW

Thus we need to know how to correctly deal with bad feelings and how to cultivate good feelings.

Some people have developed habits of feeling negatively . other people have developed habits of feeling positively. They have made a habit of positive responses.

DISCUSSION

Your group may look at general topics or situations , or ways of reacting to people in which habits of negative feelings are developed.

Your group may look at ways we can develop habits of positive feelings.

Feelings, good or bad are like a lot of things about us, we have them because we have formed the habit of having them. So the let your group look at the ways we form good and bad habits of positive feelings.

BY NOW

By now if your group has got its teeth into the subject of our feelings you should be realising what important things our emotions  are.They are very much part of our lives. And we are very much controlled by our emotions, this whether we are realising it or not.

DISCUSSION

1 We stop short of letting Jesus convert our emotions.

         Could your group discuss this statement?

2. There are feelings we have but we try to hide them from others.

         Could your group list the most common feelings we want to hide.

         What results from doing this?

DISCUSSION

Most of us think that we make our decisions on common sense or because we have carefully weighed up the pros and cons , or that we have very carefully worked out the logic of the situation, or action to be taken .

More times than most of us would care to admit it is not our common sense , or the pros and cons , or logic but the way we feel about the matter that determines what we do or the decision we take.

Would your group like to to examine this?

EMOTIONS

By Frank Hunting

Leaders notes for study one. Emotions Bad and Good.

In this series of studies we are dealing with the more common emotions- bad and good.Good emotions which help us all , bad emotions which can be quite destructive to to any one of us.

There are some emotional conditions for which people need to be helped in depth and this help may need to be given by someone skilled in spiritual counselling.

One of the things which makes us seem irrational  or quite inconsistent is that we all tend to believe what we feel.

You may have very strong feelings about someone and your feelings are based on totally wrong facts or information or prejudices.

No matter how wrong the basis of your feelings you will believe what your feelings are saying to you.

This why we have so many unreasonable  and opposite attitudes held by by people who are supposedly looking at the same circumstances or situations.

Thus feelings like hate or resentment or dislike or envy distort the truth and  colour things being said  or done . How we feel frequently determines how we think-especially about people ….and this is serious.

So our study of negative feelings and how to get rid of them ---even replacing them with good feelings---is most important for every level of living.

CHRISTIANS SEEM TO

Very often  Christians seem to talk as though the only thing Jesus was dealing with on the Cross was sin.

But there are other things from which we need saving that we don’t usually list under the headings of sin. Our feelings is one of these.Yet for far too many Christians their feelings have never been converted.

IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

We should recognise that the conversion of our feelings does not necessarily take place at the beginning of our Christian life when we are “born again of the Spirit of God”.

Like our thinking (our thought processes ) our emotions (the way we habitually feel- especially towards people) usually needs a process of conversion.

(the above notes are background up to and including the first discussion)

GOOD AND BAD

The point of this section is :The way we feel may have been habitually cultivated by us.

For many it is normal for them to worry.They do so because they have made a habit of worrying .

Some normally criticise (adversely) why ? Because they have made a habit of doing so.

Habits or feelings should be picked up by the individual.

Perhaps one of the most helpful things you can do for the members of your group at this point is to get them started  looking at (privately) their negative, habitual feelings..

DISCUSSION

“{We stop short of letting Jesus convert our emotions”

One of the greatest things in the Christian Church to come to light in the last 50 or 60 years is that our salvation is for the WHOLE MAN(OR WOMAN)

Surely passages like Matt 5:48; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18;  2 Corinthians 5:17 have a lot to say about the conversion of our feelings. How can we become new people altogether if our emotions remain unconverted.?

“There are feelings we have but we try to hide them from others..”

We don’t hide them from people we intensely dislike.

We do tend to hide then from people we want to have a good opinion of us.

Why do we do this?

One reason is, our feelings reveal the kind of people we are at the depths . And if there is something nasty, or petty ,or evil or  selfish at the depths, we don’t want this to be revealed by our feelings to people we want to think well of us. Rather than do the right thing ,get rid of the wrong  feelings, we try to hide them.

How much hypocrisy is there in this?