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Working Through the D.A.R.C.
Inside this issue: Working Through the D.A.R.C.
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Eat, Pray, Love
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Reflecting on Righteousness/Online
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Generous in Every Way...
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Philosophy of the D.A.R.C.
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Quarterly Quotes “Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty...acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.” J.I. Packer
By Jaque Shank
I want to show you how working through the D.A.R.C. works (D.A.R.C. is indicative of that dark, secret place we don’t understand and are reluctant to visit.) Although God’s mystery is dark to us, it is light in the Holy Spirit. He’s calling, knocking and waiting for us to come. He wants to turn the light on and open the eyes of our hearts. The D.A.R.C. acrostic at Visionwriters initially stands for discipline, accountability, relationship and community, but we can employ it to clear up tough issues we deal with as human beings. With this in mind discipline detects what the issue
“When we won't let ourselves be held in the midst of our messes by God who loves us and made us, we miss the unspeakable joy of knowing that we are truly His beloved.”
really is and asks, what is it?, accountability admits what it finds, relationship releases the fear of it (whatever “it” is), and community communes praise and worship to God for the light that now shines from going through this freeing process. (Community is our communion of gratitude with God and others). Premise for what follows: What we resist persists. What we forgive dissolves. The issue: the following D.A.R.C. is about the fear of being and staying fat. Light arises when truth reveals the true addiction isn’t (nor has ever been) food. So what is it? There were two revelations that came.
Follow along and enjoy. Suppose a person, afraid of being fat and who may or may not in actuality be fat, but in the fear of being so tries various keys to unlock the secret of being thin: Things such as Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, grapefruit with dry toast, excessive exercise, and so on. But nothing works very long, and if it does, it holds the fear in its wake. This obsession can be so stressful that to relieve it, a person eats—and eats—and eats—thus increasing stress until they gain say, ten, twenty or even a-hundred-pounds. So when fear is constantly fed, fat persists. What we resist persists.
Eat, Pray, Love By Sara McDaniel
Deborah Newman “Christian life is a life in which the further a person progresses, the more he has to depend directly on God. The more we progress, the less we are selfsufficient.” Thomas Merton
Recently I watched the movie Eat Pray Love, a tale of a discontented woman pulling up stakes, breaking off relationships and embarking on a year-long sojourn
abroad in which she eats for physical enjoyment, prays in a search for spiritual fulfillment, and loves her way to emotional fulfillment, all in a total quest for self-discovery.
About halfway through the movie, at the end of the spiritual 'pray' section she summarizes her findings by stating that God is all around us, all the time, and that 'God is in us, as
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Reflecting on Righteousness—Online Recently twelve students from all over the country participated in our eight week online course, Reflections in Righteousness. Here is a sampling of student's comments about their experiences in seeking God this way: Please tell us what journalizing has meant to you. Sanity. It's stunning how quickly life's white noise creeps back in. For me, frustration is the first and most obvious signal that I'm not spending that one-on-one quality time with our King. Journalizing puts the verb in my relationship with the Lord. I love it! It is peace in a storm, reminding me of how God speaks in many ways. He confirms it with Scripture, devotionals and those sent along side you to encourage you. I went to a conference recently and we were told to think back to a time we had really felt and experienced God's presence. I thought back over some really peak experiences, but I also realized that I experience Him every day! Journalizing is a huge part of this. And also the understanding that Christ is in me as me - this is huge. I'm so thankful that experiencing Him is becoming my norm! :) And thank you, VI, for facilitating this! It provided a documented conversation with me and the Lord and I could reference it if needed to at a later time in order to affirm some things.
What were your expectations on beginning this course? When I approached the plate with the expectation of being filled and satisfied, that's exactly what I got...and then some! My expectations for the course were to be immersed in God's word, have new revelations and understanding, to draw closer to God and experience Him more, and to have encouraging interaction with my fellow students. They were fulfilled, but not necessarily how I expected. I wanted to have the accountability to journalize and meet with the Lord after a lay off from VW classes for a while.....the latter lessons provided a means for God to communicate to me during a tough time. At the beginning of this course, I asked the Lord to help show me true sanctuary within my own heart, to help supplement those times when I feel like I've missed it at church. ...I do feel like I have a better idea of where it is I need to seek that rest and quiet.
“True self love is the beginning of selflessness, for only when we have seen ourselves in Christ and accepted ourselves there, can we be free from ourselves.” Jaque (Banas) Shank, Reflections in Righteousness
Was this a pleasant and growing experience for you? Why? Yes! It was like I'd never taken this course before...which was weird because I've taken it on multiple occasions. I'm just in a different place this time through. Very powerful and filled with "labor" and a "working out of my salvation/ grace". This time around dug much deeper for me. Not all of it was comfortable. That said, all of it was priceless. I sense a greater awareness of my connection with Him. I sense that some of the ungodly beliefs that were stuck in the bottom of the belief pool have been dislodged. Yay! I've refreshed some beliefs that I had forgotten that I knew. My belief pool was re-oxygenated! Would you recommend this course to others? Why? ABSOLUTELY! I love how Jaque explained early in this course that Righteousness is about right-living, right-balance, being of a right-mind. "Righteousness" is just a ninedollar-word to describe a balanced and victory-filled life! Yes, if they are willing to take the time to sit with the Lord and write what he says. I would say, "I've been taking a class that is helping me hear from God every day and to understand His word. It takes time and commitment, but it's worth it!" Yes, get out your pen and join me!
“In the midst of forgiving comes a celebration: we see the beauty of people who quite often are considered marginal by society. With forgiveness and celebration, community [fellowship] becomes the place where we call forth the gifts of other people, lift them up, and say, “You are the beloved daughter and the beloved son.”” Henri J.M. Nouwen
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Working Through the D.A.R.C., cont. The world system tells us how “not” to be fat. But their answers never put an end to the problem because the problem has never been named for what it really is, so... WHAT IS IT? 1. What is the real problem? 2. What is the real addiction? D. I Detect it. Misplaced fear is the problem; my fear is of me—not the Lord. A felt need for control, approval, approval and independence drives my fear as stress gives it gas. A fearful “What if?” and “If only” is the language of fear. I’m trying to control my weight so I can gain the approval of others, feel secure in myself, and say “I did it!” An independent self is the real addiction; my fearful self is not separate from, but synonymous with fear. The fear of everything “but” God makes this false self feel alive. Fear is my suspicion of God. Fear and suspicion go hand in hand. (A separate, independent self is not the true self in the eyes of God. In His eyes the old is gone; behold, the new has come. See Is 43:18-21 AMP Summary: Our base addition is the fictitious self and fear, the food that feeds it. Christ is the key that opens the door to freedom; Christ is the key to our true self. A. I admit it. I fear being fat, so I control my diet with methods I approve. I want answers from the world; I don’t want to go into a dark place where God is calling—a place I can’t understand or figure out. I want to look in the sunshine of the world to find my answers; I want to do things my way. I want to control God by telling Him how to help me—and then I will ask Him to bless the method I want to use. I admit that the “I” that commands God
through misguided wishes is not me at all, but sin dwelling in my members. (Romans 7). This “I” strives through me so it can stop feeling afraid, but a fearful self can never quit being afraid; it is a fearful self! This is the “I” that claims, “with just a little more of this” or “just a little less of that;” but still it is never satisfied—it never has enough or stops demanding more from others. It simply can’t quit its addiction to itself! I admit that this fictitious “I” or “false self” likes to work the law and instruct others in it. It believes that if it tries harder, doesn’t give up, and thinks long and hard it will figure everything out on its own. It claims, “I can do it, I know I can.” This “I” doesn’t know what it thinks it knows. This is the “I” that cannot be improved, the “I” that the real me reckons is already DEAD in Christ. R. I release it. I return to God for forgiveness and receive who I really am. I acknowledge that everything, everything, yes, everything I think of as “mine” is really yours Lord, so I release the “self” I think of as “me” to you, and I release every fear. In your light I see light. I don’t want a quick fix Lord; I want the cure. I know You are the cure, and you are asking for my surrender; then you can live and move and be the Answer through me. C. I communicate it. I communicate my utmost respect and fear for You and You alone. Help me to recognize you in the midst of everything this false self names as a problem. Help me see You as the answer to everything. Help me recognize You in the midst of whatever I think of as answers. I don’t know what I think I know. You know everything. Here is the beginning of wisdom; you deserve fear, for You are my healthy fear. My heart worships you. Speak Lord, I, your true servant, am listening.
Jaque, look at Me. The addicted self is dead in Christ; your only work is to look at Jesus and believe on Him. The old self has been ingrained in your memory and rehearsed in your habits for a very long time; you can’t forget it and it isn’t dead apart from Christ. You release it every time you accept Christ—yes, again and again and again. (I die daily). Today is the day to choose Christ. Tomorrow you will choose Him again, because your reckoning for this moment is never adequate for the next. Do it again Jaque, again and again and again; 70x7 in a day if necessary. Pay attention to Me Jaque. You need to hear My voice again, today. P.S. Jaque, you wouldn’t be satisfied if Glen told you once during your marriage that he loves you, and you certainly wouldn’t be sustained if I only spoke once in a while. Moment by moment you can hear Me Jaque; you can know Me in you, so don’t move away from Me—but when you do, make a quick return. I am the Lord your Healer, Provider, Protector, Confidence and Hope Jaque. Give Me the strength of your days. Offer your heart, mind and soul to Me. I will never fail you; no, not ever. Can you see why our confidence in knowing God and hearing His voice is imperative to our release, and why His request for a personal relationship can’t be ignored?
“We never grow closer to God when we just live life; it takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.” Frances Chan from the book Crazy Love.
Eat, Pray, Love cont. us.' This phrase set off a cascade of alarm bells in my head. Why? Because this is one of the phrases we use here at Visionwriters International; Christ (or God) is in me, as me. Christ, the Son of God lives within me, expressing Himself through me. I recently immersed in the Visionwriters course Reflections in Righteousness, in which we explored the fact that the essence of true personhood is God living in us, as us. This is emphasized over and over again in the New Testament. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20 NIV Everyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God finds that God lives in him, and he lives in God. So have we come to know and trust the love God has for us. God is love, and the man whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God and God does in fact live in him...for we realise that our life in this world is actually his life lived in us. 1 John 4:15-17 (J.B. Phillips) So, why the alarm bells? Sorely lacking in the context of the movie was any connection at all with Jesus Christ or His cross or any sense of giving up of self. On the contrary it was all about finding self. We are on a journey to discover our true child-of-God selves but in that discovery we find that without Him, we are nothing. Let me share with you a few words of wisdom from fellow sojourners on this God-journey. Food for thought indeed.
Oswald Chambers warns: Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound. He who believes in me will have everything he receives escape out of him. Our Lord's teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person—His purpose is to make a person exactly like himself and the Son of God is characterized by selfexpenditure. In the contemporary world we have to be very careful to define our terms. All sorts of people use the word ‘spirituality’ indiscriminately. In his book Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eugene Peterson says that: Spirituality imperceptibly wanders away from its basic spirituality text, the Bible, and embraces the inviting world of self-help. Now, exposed and vulnerable to a culture that is only too happy to supply the terms of discourse, spirituality is diluted or emptied of any gospel distinctiveness.... becomes theologically amnesiac and ends up isolated from any awareness of the grand and spacious Godhorizons, the truly vast landscapes in which we are invited to live out the Christian life. We are not in this life to find ourselves, but to find God, and then... It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for." Ephesians 1:11 (The Message)
Without Him, we are hollow shells trying to have substance by clothing ourselves in pleasures, experiences and ambitions. These things by their very nature are all destined to be destroyed and if we have not discovered our true selves in Christ there will be nothing left of us but our own nakedness. Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation And so what is it that the Lord requires of us? Micah 6:8 tells us: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. The Message translates that last line And don't take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. That sums it up for me. Immerse in Him and forget yourself. If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me. Matthew 10:38 (The Message) saram@visionwriters.com.
“The Christian often tries to forget his weakness: God wants us to remember it, to feel it deeply. The Christian wants to conquer his weakness and to be freed from it: God wants us to rest and even rejoice in it. The Christian mourns over his weakness: Christ teaches His servant to say, “I take pleasure in infirmities; most gladly will I glory in my infirmities.” The Christian thinks his weakness his greatest hindrance in the life and service of God: God tells us that it is the secret of strength and success. It is our weakness, heartily accepted and continually realized, that gives us our claim and access to the strength of Him who has said, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”” Andrew Murray
Generous in Every Way... Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good t those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. LUKE 6:30-35
When Jesus said, “give and it will be given unto you,” He was talking about a principle for living, not just money. The principle of sowing and reaping reaches beyond the wallet. Giving and receiving is applicable to more than just financial resources. It applies to the spiritual, emotional, physical, and even social abundances. We are to be generous in every way as we learn to give our money, resources, time, attention, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, endurance, and service. Generosity takes a big leap (considering this passage from Luke) when we realize to whom we are asked to give. Giving to the hungry and the poor feels pretty good...but giving to those who steal from us?
Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. Kahil Gibran All my experience of the world teaches me that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the safe and just side of a question is the generous and merciful side. Anna Jameson Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment. Jean De La Bruvere I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. Mother Teresa
We are asked to give to those who ask, those who can’t pay us back, those who don’t deserve it, and to those who wrong us. How can we give like this? We won’t be able to if we listen to the majority or even if our “reasoning mind” is our consultant of choice. True giving proceeds from the true heart of Christ. Understanding our union with Him leads to generosity that goes beyond mortal man; it leads to His eternal nature of within us. He’s our only hope of glorious giving. To live from the heart is to live from the open resource of Christ in us. He is inner abundance and the reason we give without a need to receive in return. Reason tells we can’t give like this, even if it is biblical. It uses words like “foolishness,” “poor stewardship,”
and “lack of wisdom.” Then again, reason would also say that Christ crucified was a foolish gift for God to give. I’m sure the world mocks God by pointing out man’s undeserving nature. The world would say God paid too high of a price, that we were not worth the blood that was spilled and the separation that occurred on our behalf. It certainly has evidence to support its theory—we too often appear ungrateful and unchanged. But that didn’t stop God from being who He is...and now He lives in us. He still initiates hilarious giving today, through you and me. The principle of giving is the context of life He’s provided. If we want life abundantly, we must learn what it means to live from the heart...
Jaque will be visiting California in January and would love to connect with everyone for a time of sharing. We hope to set a date soon, so please keep your eye on the website for an announcement... Susan will be out of the office for two weeks during the Thanksgiving holiday. Visionkeepers and students need to order materials for upcoming classes by November 15th. Keep your eye on the website for specific dates that the office will be closed... Jaque will start a new blogging section to share examples of how she uses the D.A.R.C. in journalizing. If you would like a little more insight and practical application for this process then you may want to visit this upcoming section on a regular basis. Keep your eye on the website for an announcement…
VISIONWRITERS INTERNATIONAL PO Box 2020 Edgewood, New Mexico 87015 Phone: 505-717-7100 E-mail: info@visionwriters.com Web Address: www.visionwriters.com
About Us Visionwriters is a mentoring program with a long-term vision or worldview; one that is committed to a long-term Gospel. Vision either determines victory, or its absence produces despair. God’s word imparts vision. Writing the vision helps us sort things out, for thoughts are untangled at the point of a pen. But writing isn’t enough if it falls short of application. We help people apply the truth, because truth without application is just information. When truth is applied it is powerful. We facilitate people who ache to hear the voice of Truth and experience a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ ~ people who want to hear God’s voice and open their communication with God ~ those who want answers to their most perplexing questions ~ people ready to admit there is a hole inside and who want to overcome this inner loneliness. Journalizing, or Visionwriting, is taking dictation from the Holy Spirit. Because we want to understand God’s personal instructions, we write to capture, assimilate and obey them. You will learn how to hear God’s voice, have communication with God through a spiritual relation with Him. Through that spiritual relationship you will overcome loneliness.
Philosophy of the D.A.R.C. D = Discipline God’s discipline, sated with love, is our wake up call to righteousness. A renewed mind can’t grasp the revelation of righteousness alone; this revelation requires the heart to be awakened by the voice of His love. “Today if you will hear My voice…” (Hebrews 3:7-8). To hear with disciplined intent is to not only agree that God initiated a covenant with us, but to finally agree to fully and personally receive it. A long persistence in the right direction is required if we are going to ’see’ the place to which God calls us to abide. We write the vision out of our deep longing to “understand” and then “do” what we see our Father doing. A = Accountability Each one of us is accountable for our own personal relationship with God as we bear it in front of others. Because we genuinely want to read so we can run with the vision, we surrender to the Holy Spirit and He leads us to what helps us sort out our thoughts and let go of what isn’t true; then we can integrate what is true into our hearts and lives. Here we begin to learn the freedom of open and honest relationships. R = Relationship Our relationship with God is central to everything and everyone. It is intimate, up close, and personal. Therefore we are ready to explore ourselves the way God knows us and to drop human judgment in order to receive others and encourage them toward the recognition of all God knows them to be. We are “response-able” as we proclaim the truth—here as “selves for others.” C = Community We need one another; God made us that way. So community is the place all things finally make sense—where God’s promises are realized—where the corporate ache is filled. As we operate in union with Him we lose ourselves and get nothing less than our true selves back. This is when we begin to deeply experience our self-giving nature and where “the whole is defined by the sum of its parts.”