Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E56 | Everyday Eurasia | Dr. Olga Druzhinina

Transcript

S1-E56 | Everyday Eurasia | Dr. Olga Druzhinina · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
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  many different places around the world.
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  Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
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  him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
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  all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
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  day. Through this podcast, you'll
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  hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
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  reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
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  This week we're joined by Doctor Oka Dujingen, A theologian,
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  educator, and ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene.
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  Originally from Russia, Olga has served across Eastern Europe as
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  a missionary, pastor, and theological educator.
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  She currently serves as Senior Lecturer and Cluster Chair for
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  Theology at European Nazarene College and holds a PhD in
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  Theology from the University of Manchester.
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  Throughout this week, Olga will be guiding us through the key
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  themes from her new book, Introduction to Christian
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  Theology. The openness reflects more
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  deeply on what we believe and why it managed for our everyday
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  walk with. God.
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  Hello dear friends, My name is Olga Doshina and I was asked to
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  share some ideas from my book Introduction to Christian
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  Theology. Today we will talk about faith
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  and knowledge. In our contemporary world, faith
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  is often regarded as less important than facts.
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  People tend to believe in things that are scientifically proven.
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  As a civilization, we inherited this attitude from the Age of
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  Enlightenment, which elevated human reason about all other
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  aspects of human life. Some people bring this attitude
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  to Christianity. They may say that they believe
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  in Jesus Christ as the 1st century Jewish teacher.
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  In addition, they may agree that this person existed and that his
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  teachings were useful because they helped improve the moral
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  condition of humanity. Nevertheless, they reject all
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  the supernatural elements associated with his life and
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  ministry. For them, faith in miracles or
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  resurrection is seen as a commitment to beliefs that lack
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  scientific evidence. They do not want to admit that
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  science as a human effort to understand the world.
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  Sometimes science does not have an explanation for certain
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  events because it has not yet reached the necessary level of
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  understanding in biology, cosmology, or physics.
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  In the 21st century, there are thousands of scientific
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  discoveries that would have been considered miracles 200 years
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  ago. Christian faith doesn't reject
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  science or scientific explanation of the world.
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  Science helps explain how our biological bodies function, but
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  faith teaches us the value of human life because God loves us.
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  Many theologians have tried to explain that faith is rational
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  and connected to human reflection on the world because
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  God revealed himself in this world.
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  Faith doesn't mean only believes in God's existence or credible
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  statements or doctrines of our religion.
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  Christian faith is about the person of Jesus Christ and the
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  relationship of trust with God, the Trinity.
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  When we talk about faith in Christian context, we mean that
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  we trust in the promises of God. In this sense, our faith is
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  based on our personal knowledge of God as loving, faithful, and
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  trustworthy. Our faith means we trust God in
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  all circumstances. Despite the lack of scientific
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  evidence, however, we still have knowledge that results from a
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  personal interaction with our God.
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  In Scripture, people are encouraged, encouraged to grow
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  in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
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  Christ. Our faith is not blind, but it
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  develops and grows starting from the moment of our conversion.
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  The more we communicate with God in prayer, the more we learn who
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  He is and the more we can trust Him.
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  One of the best biblical examples of faith as trust can
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  be found in the book of Genesis and the story of Abraham.
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  It took him years of practice and obedience to obtain the
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  spiritual knowledge that he could trust God with all his
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  heart as his best friend. Abraham's faith in God reached
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  his highest point when he was willing to sacrifice his only
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  son to fulfill God's will. As Scripture explains, when
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  Abraham was tested in the letter to Hebrews, he reasoned that God
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  could even raise the dead. And so, in the in the manner of
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  speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
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  Faith in God's justice and righteousness helped Abraham to
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  become one of the patriarchs of the Jewish nation.
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  He trusted his Creator to be able to change any situation and
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  even turn death into life. In the darkest of his days, he
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  replies to his Son. God himself will provide.
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  In this moment, Abraham's face reached its perfection.
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  He knew that he could trust God beyond evidence.
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  The Christian faith does not regard God as completely
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  unknownable. We can get knowledge of Him
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  through His self disclosure. We can trust Him based on what
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  He has revealed to us in His Word and through our experience
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  of Him. In this sense, our faith as
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  trust leads to deeper revelation and a fuller knowledge of our
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  Creator. Let us pray.
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  Dear Heavenly Father, we trust you and we want you to be
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  present in our lives. Help us to learn how we can
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  trust beyond beyond evidence and critical situations.
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  Give us wisdom and patience that we can repeat after the Abraham.
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  God Himself will provide teachers to follow you and trust
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  you always. Amen.
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  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
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  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
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  Facebook and Instagram, or our newsletter Snapshots.
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  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
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  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.