Teaching about discipleship Essay Example for Free

Teaching about discipleship Essay Explain how this teaching about discipleship might affect the life of a Christian today? The teaching of discipleship affects the life of a modern day Christian in many different ways. The teaching of Christian belief, practice, authority, organization and sacrifice affects how a modern day Christian lives his life. Christian belief affects how a modern day Christian lives his life because he must consider how he can show as much belief as the original twelve disciples showed in Jesus and what he did. Belief is shown many times in Marks gospel. Simon and Andrew had belief in Jesus because when Jesus says to them come with me and I will teach you to catch men they just drop everything and go with him. This is very important because if they said no, then there probably wouldnt be disciples, but the didnt say no, they just dropped everything and went with Jesus which showed that they had belief in him. This shows that belief is very important in a modern day Christians life because they are meant to show belief just like the original disciples did. They are to sacrifice their old lives and accept new ones. Belief in sacrifice and service is also very important in a modern day Christians life because Jesus serviced 5000 people by feeding them with bread, if he didnt do this they would have died of hunger. Jesus sacrifice is also shown when he is up on the cross, because he is prepared to sacrifice his life for his beliefs. He says Forget self and carry cross. This is an inspirational quote for many modern day Christians today, which means accepting hardships and always putting others first. This could involve fasting for charity or doing a sponsored run. It could involve training as a nurse or a counselor, despite the poor pay All these beliefs affect how disciples live their lives. The Disciples practice their beliefs in a number of different ways. Jesus shows that discipleship is about belief and practice when the woman in the temple puts all she has into offertory chest without any fuss unlike the rich men who made sure everyone knew that he was going to make a donation. The lesson Jesus taught is that it is not how much is given but the spirit in which it is given that matters most. This is another inspirational quote that modern day Christians follow. Most Christians do not feel called to give up all there money but try hard not to be controlled by it or let it influence their lives negatively. A Christian whose beliefs affected his life and eventually brought about his death, was Martin Luther King, who fought for the blacks right to vote. Martin Luther King used his religion, beliefs and non violent protest to get the vote for American blacks. Martin Luther King was very dedicated to his religion and this affected how he lived his life. Martin Luther Kings beliefs helped him a lot in life, especially when he was protesting. When he was protesting the police often reacted with violence, but he told his followers not to react, but to turn the other cheek and offer them to hit that one. This is just like what Jesus said. Many of Martin Luther Kings speeches had relevance to his religion and beliefs. His most famous speech was I have a dream which he used his beliefs to write. In 1968 he was shot by James Earl Ray who was a white racist. His was murdered because of his beliefs. This is just one person who died for their beliefs. There are many more. Another who died was Maximilan Kolbe who died a horrible death in Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Mother Theresa life was also affected by her beliefs and religion to the extent the extent that she owned no possessions at all Modern day disciples should also respect authority just as Jesus disciples did. Jesus disciples did respect and believe that Jesus had authority over them, just as God had authority over everyone including Jesus and his disciples. Lots of modern day Christian churches have different beliefs in who has authority over the church. Catholics believe that the Pope has the authority that St Peter was given by Jesus, whereas the Church of England recognizes the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the monarch. The Quaker Protestants do not recognize the authority of vicars or priests or bishops, they need only the Bible and the authority of Jesus light inside them Quaker Protestants do not even have a church or a holy place of worship, all they need is the bible. They see the original twelve as having no hierarchy so they dont have either. This is there interpretation of the bible. All these affect how a modern day Christian lives their life because which church they belong to affects their lives in different ways. As you can see the different ways a modern day Christian interprets the bible, influences the way it affects his life. His beliefs also play a big part in affecting his life, just like the disciples, whose beliefs affected their lives almost to the extent that they became new people.

Autism Essay -- Health, Dolphin Assisted Therapies

In a deep, dark blue ocean, an astonishingly beautiful and colorful creature with a crescent moon body shape swims through shimmering waves of light. This mysterious animal goes to a seashore everyday to meet his life-long best friend who, unlike itself, has two legs instead of long, slippery, streamlined flukes. Now, they are sharing one of the best moments in their lives. This is the scene I have always seen in my dream whenever I wish to have a dolphin friend with whom I can freely swim and interact. When I see their eyes, it seems like dolphins are reading my mind, and I also feel like I can read their minds, too. It is uncommon for a person to get an opportunity to interact with that lovely creature and get a feeling of healing. However, some psychologists recommend children with autism to spend some time with dolphins because they believe that a dolphin has psychologically and educationally therapeutic effects. Considering the high number of autistic children in the United Sta tes, I want to delve into, not only how using dolphins in therapies for autistic children in the United States affects their educational abilities, but also how in some ways dolphin-assisted therapies reflect people’s greed to use an innocent creature for their own interest. What is autism? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, autism is defined as â€Å"a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships† (Webster 65). Whenever I see the definitions of different disorders, I am always curious about the standards of different illnesses. For example, for autism, the definition says that autistic children commonly have difficulty in having normal social relation... ...om drowning† (Williamson 477). Likewise, parents tend to believe that dolphins would save their children from autism. However, does using an animal for our own purposes acceptable? Does DAT, in some aspects, reflect people’s greed to use an innocent creature for their own interest? Cathy Williams, in her article, suggests that â€Å"DAT can present a significant risk to the health and welfare of dolphins used in programs† because unlike autism children, â€Å"their conditions may be neither inspected, nor regulated† (Williamson 477). Furthermore, sometimes the stress of their confinement prevents them from behaving normally and it often makes them ill and results premature death. Dolphins have no freedom. Somehow they are brought to a place where they are â€Å"held in captivity† (Williamson 477). Do humans have a special right to do this to an animal without any permission?

Lyric interpretation †“Sister Golden Hair” by America Essay

For this lyric assignment, I chose the song Sister Golden Hair (released 1975) by America in their album Hearts . America is an English-American Folk-Rock band, originally composed of members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek. The three members were barely past their teenage years when they became an overnight musical sensation in 1972. They reached a peak in popularity in the early to mid 1970s and early 1980s. Among the band’s best known songs are â€Å"A Horse with No Name†, â€Å"Sister Golden Hair† (both of which reached Number 1), â€Å"Ventura Highway†, and â€Å"Tin Man†. The song Sister Golden Hair is interpreted by many people in a variety of different ways and meanings. In my opinion and from my research solidifying my interpretation, this song is about a guy that is wrestling with forbidden love. In my interpretation of the lyrics, he is wrestling with forbidden love but not the love for a nun as many have thought. He has fallen in love with his half-sister whom he has been introduced to but didn’t know she existed prior to some broken family interaction along the path of his life, hence the surprise. She also has shown that she felt something more than sibling love for him during family gatherings. He tries to fake being a brother but he is tortured by his lust for her and prefers to stay away from family contact for fear of being taken as a family member by her and lose his chance with her. Not ready for the alter would mean that marriage is not an option due to his blood ties to her, but that he seeks to live his life with her anyways as. This song is about a letter he writes to her after years of painful waiting for her to catch up to him in years and reach adulthood, and to see if they can move on without one-another, metaphorically, Sunday but then Monday means several painful years of questionable, cautious, cat-like commitment to being there right when she’s ready. Originally, the lyrics said Meet me in VA would have meant giving him her virginity but as the lyric changed to air the meaning is that he has sent her a recording of a song he wrote for her and would she embrace his disincarnate company present in the â€Å"air† which is not a stretch of a term for a piece of music. Will you meet me in the middle would mean that they both have buried their forbidden love for years and in his letter he is calling the game because the burden is too  great and he may be considering suicide in his deep depression. Can’t you see it in my eyes means he has also sent her a photo with the letter and the recording (the CD cover?) the photo must show his emptiness but also his affinity for her, that she would fall in love even more so with the photo after not seeing one another for years. This song is a musical masterpiece because like the outro it makes the musical statement that he would win her through his musical prowess: the intro for the song is a solo acoustic guitar bit which I think sounds awesome. While all this may seem to be a stretch, you might think I’m reading my own experience into these most beautiful and mysterious lyrics but just consider this†¦ the author has stated that these lyrics are strictly poetic license and that mean these lyrics came from his in-depth subconscious mind. The first time I heard this song I loved how it sounded and never bothered really listening to the lyrics. However, the more I listened to it and attempted to decipher its meaning, the more I realized how many metaphors it contains, and how much of a deeper meaning this song has. Guitarist Gerry Beckley wrote this song, and when asked if it was written to anyone, Beckley said: â€Å"No, this is all poetic license. With ‘Sister Golden Hair,’ as far as my folks were concerned, I was writing a song about my sister, and I couldn’t quite fathom it; they must not have listened to the lyrics.† (thanks, Brett – Edmonton, Canada) In my opinion, I believe this is a song with a very deep and hidden meaning that has been created like this on purpose because if people did really know its meaning it would never have been one of Americas top hits.

Analysis Of The Song Expression By Salt N Pepa - 862 Words

Many black musicians used their music as a platform to express the struggles that their community experienced daily during the 1980’s and 90’s. It allowed them to represent their anger or sorrow without acting out violently while also spreading awareness to the listeners about their stories, ideas, struggles, deep emotions, and the messages behind their songs. Lyrics to songs can bring a lot of meaning to a person or society. Music is an art and showcases an individual’s spirit. Hip hop music has brought many messages forward, for example the song Expression by Salt n Pepa had lyrics that showed the public how to be yourself and how to let lose. On page 7 of â€Å"Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip Hop Cinema† it talks about how during slavery the slaves would make up songs that would lift the spirits of the people working. Some of these songs had messages about freedom and dreams that the slaves had. Considering most songs have an impact on peopl e, the slaves would create a culture of music that was brought forward. Craig Werner talks about genres and their impacts on the black culture. â€Å"Expressions† has a voice to all people. The lyrics go a little like this Express yourself, you ve got to be you, babe, Express yourself, don’t tell me what to do, babe, Express yourself, come on and work that body.† To me these lyrics came across as just letting go and being yourself. Lyrics like this give value to life and reassure people that everything is going to be okay. Music