The Management of States

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Unit 1

1.1 Objectives

In this course you will be exploring what the Word teaches concerning the Lord’s working with us in the Management of our spiritual States in the context of the teachings found in the Heavenly Doctrines. The course design is arranged so that you will have plenty of opportunity to explore and develop your own thoughts on the topic, but always with a view to integrating your findings into your life experience.

We at the Australian New Church College recognise that every person undertaking a course of study with the College brings a unique perspective in keeping with their life experience and vision for ministry. Thus the College and the Student form an interactive partnership through which College staff and Students are able to learn, grow and develop together in their appreciation of the operation of the Divine Providence that will benefit everyone. The overall objective for this course is to lay a foundation for a more complete appreciation of the Lord’s management of peoples’ states as He works with them within the bounds of His Laws of Divine Providence and according to Divine Order.

On completion of this section it is expected that you will be able to:-

Identify questions, concerns, issues, which arise from the ongoing nature of changing states within your developing relationship with the Lord.
Develop a practical methodology to manage your personal states, in consultation with your Tutor.
Maintain an ongoing journal with a focus on personal experience, which includes your feelings, perceptions, and sense of connection with the Lord.
From a developing awareness of your inner states as you become increasingly open to the power and presence of the Lord in the management of your own states
and from this be able to support others as they undergo transformation in their own states.
confidently discuss the reasoning behind the entries you have recorded in the Journal. The overall aim is for you to get into the practice sustaining a spiritual growth pattern and to come to understand the mechanics of how and why it functions.
Also to draw personal strength through your recognition of how the Lord progressed in the process of his glorification on earth.

1.2 Introduction

A basic framework is provided for the course with will assist you to structure your work. For this course it consists of the following 5 Broad Concept Headings …

Defining Human States
The Operation of the Divine Providence
The Laws and Permissions of Divine Providence
How people ‘see’ the operation of Divine Providence
The role of personal choice in the Management of States.

Throughout the course you will work closely with your assigned Tutor. Your Tutor will work closely with you on course requirements, maintaining and managing course work and assignment deadlines, providing timely feedback in regard to your submissions, as well as supporting you to identify and work with what arises from your course work that has a direct bearing on your personal spiritual growth and development. It is your responsibility to complete the work required within the set time established between yourself and your Tutor.

If for any reason you are unable to meet the requirements for a set block of work within a given time period, then you need to contact your Tutor well in advance so that any issues regarding time management can be addressed. The earlier any issues of this nature are able to be addressed the better for all concerned.

Further note: While each Unit has been allocated XX number of hours to complete this should be taken as a guide only to help you manage your time. The structure of the course material is such that it allows for a good amount of flexibility, however it is easy to become side tracked when exploring the Heavenly Doctrines and you need to be aware of this and manage any tendency to deviate too far from meeting your course work requirements. This course ultimately serves as an introduction into a topic area you will explore for the rest of your life and beyond as you continue to experience the Lord’s management of your own states within the context of the operation of His Divine Providence.

1.3 Journaling

Record how you are feeling in approaching the course before you begin to read through and preview the course material.
Note down any thoughts/questions/concerns you have regarding the requirements of the course, its content, or any other aspects you want clarified.
What aspects excite you most; those you find yourself unsure about; and those aspects you think will present a real challenge for you.
Your feelings in regard to the course material after you had finished going through it?
highlight anything that stands out for you between what you recorded prior to reading through the material and your feelings afterward.

1.4 Assignment

Create two of your own personal objectives that relate to the theme of the Lord’s Management of Our States and
how you would like to see this expressed through your life in supporting or serving the spiritual needs of others.
Think about what you would like to see as real outcomes arising from exploring this topic by tying these in with your developing sense of personal ministry.
In no more than 500 words explore the relationship you see between the objectives you have created and your vision for ministry.

Note: The term ministry is used here in the broadest possible sense and may relate to both ordained or non-ordained spheres of service/employment. Essentially it refers to where you see your talents/skills and abilities being used to support the spiritual well being of others.

Unit 2

2.1 Objectives

In Unit 2 you will explore your current knowledge of the Management of States with a view to identifying and making explicit any gaps in your understanding of this area of the Lord’s working within the human mind and life. The main objective is to develop further your growing awareness of how the Lord manages states of temptation and vastation over the course of peoples regeneration on the natural plane of life. It is hoped that your growing awareness and sensitivity will assist in your learning over the duration of this course and into the future.

On completion of this Unit it is expected that you will be able to:-

Organise your thoughts on the Managements of States in line with the Broad Category Headings for this course.
Gain an increasing sense of your existing knowledge of Scripture and the Heavenly Doctrines in regard to the topic
be able to draw up a list of questions that can assist you in being alert to opportunities of clarification in regard to any knowledge gaps.
gained a greater sense of the Lord’s ability to manage our states without compromising our sense of having free will.
identify and explore areas of your personal development, including any changes of state which have occurred to that point,

2.2 Journaling

Record how you felt when faced with this task.
Where do you see you have gaps in your knowledge - what areas do you feel you have a good grip on? List these.
List 4 or 5 questions that sit with you in regard to the Management of States, and that you would like to see some movement on over the duration of this course.
Are there any aspects of life in general that you find difficult to reconcile with your current understanding of Freedom?
How do you see the Lord leading you through the situations and circumstances of life and what difficulties might other have?

The Student will need to revist questions these periodically as they move through the course noting down relevant insights and developments.

2.3 Assignment

Consider an incident involving two travellers. The first books a flight, at the last minute (on impulse) to a foreign destination and commences the journey. The second person booked on the same flight takes ill while on the way to the airport and fails to board the plane. Two hours into the flight the airplane crashes with the loss of all on board. Write up this incident in outline format, making an assessment of the underlying events. Explore the concept of freedom of choice, Providence, and the way they impacted on the two people mentioned. What would the situation be like if each participant knew the impact/outcome of their decisions prior to making them? Was either person truly left in freedom given the circumstances of the events leading up to the flight taking off for its destination?

Comment on the Lord’s management of states using one of the following as context:

Binge drinking among young people
Stolen Generation issues (Australian Aboriginal Issue)
Times of deeply felt grief and loss
Personal experience of injustice
A current traumatic situation or event in the media

Unit 3

3.1 Objectives

On completion of this section students will be :-

familiar with elements of the literal sense of the Bible relating to the Management of States and confident in accessing them
to engage with passages that are unfamiliar and difficult without being overwhelmed or avoiding them, and see them as a means to further discovery/study
built a better ability to be able to relate to and reflect on Biblical imagery in regard to their own states and spiritual experiences

3.2 Journaling

when you have felt deserted by the Lord.
What was it that enabled you to get through these times of difficulty?
Were you able to remain relatively confident in you belief that He was in charge,
and leading despite the almost overwhelming feeling to the contrary or not?
Record your reflections and consider how might you be able to draw on this to assist others and note down your thoughts?
Reflect on how your work in developing the main points in each Broad Concept Heading is impacting on the wider sphere of your life –
what connections can you draw that links your work in the Heavenly Doctrines with other areas of activity and/or relationships?

3.3 Assignment

Part A

Using a concordance or an electronic bible, compile a list of Scriptural references that highlight the Lord’s Management of (our) States.
Feel free to consider drawing from the Epistles…Feel free to draw upon the references listed in Appendix A for this Unit
Make a final selection of those references you feel you would like to use to explore the picture the Bible offers of the Lord’s method of Managing our States
Highlight a list of those references you believe to be of special significance

Part B

Using a concordance or an online Bible, compile a list of Scriptural references that highlight statements that seem to contradict the concept that the Lord truly does lead in the Management of our States or seem to express instances of the Lord’s apparent indifference to our states
List those passages which stand out for you in this category and present them to your Tutor with appropriate comment for discussion at your next tutorial

Part C

Arrange your lists into columns placing contradictory Scripture Passages opposite each other.
You should comment on the difficulty they may present to anyone reading them literally as well as noting any thoughts you have in reconciling them.

Essay

Write a short essay (1,000 words) addressing the question Can God Manage the human changes of State without turning people into robots?

Arrange a selection of conflicting references drawn from Scripture under each of the Broad Category headings as an outline for a public talk entitled Freedom, do we really have a choice?. Create a bullet list of points showing how you intend to resolve conflicts under each heading.

Offer a personal case study (1000 words) from your own life or of that of someone you have assisted that deals with working through the appearance that we are victims of forces beyond our control

Unit 4

4.1 Objectives

On completion of this Unit it is expected that you will have developed further your ability to reflect on life situations, in both personal and ministry contexts, through using the principles you are acquiring in your study of the Heavenly Doctrines and so be able to demonstrate an ability to use this knowledge to promote spiritually positive outcomes.

On completion of this Unit it is expected that you will be able to :-

demonstrate an ability to organise references from the Heavenly Doctrines in support of key doctrinal principles.
develop your ability to work with doctrinal material critically through forming your own perspectives and questions
learn to identify doctrinal principles and reformulate them in terms of their application to ministry/spiritual growth in support of living a spiritual life.
reflect on your inner states of life and draw connections between what you are experiencing and the material as you engage with the Heavenly Doctrines.

4.2 Journaling

Comment in your journal on your experience of having to work through the list of statements from the Heavenly Doctrines.
make a note of the items from the Heavenly Doctrines that you were most affected by (whether positively or negatively)
reflect on these and record what it is about these particular references that you think has caused you to react to them in the way that you did.
Reflect on the statement THE WORD IS THE LORD i.e not a book - Record your insights into this.

4.3 Assignment

In this section of the course you will be organising references from the Heavenly Doctrines under 5 Broad Concept Headings. The Broad Concept Headings are as follows…

Defining Human States
The Operation of Divine Providence
The Laws and Permissions of Divine Providence
How People ‘See’ the Operation of Divine Providence
The Role of Personal Choice in the Management of States

Research work

Open the HDReferences file and then save a copy of this file on your computer to work with.

Keeping the Broad Concept Headings in mind read through the list of references and summary statements and mark those that catch your interest.
Using the New Christian Bible Study website or hard copies of the Heavenly Doctrines look up the references you have highlighted and allocate a Broad Concept Heading to each one. You will be using these specific references to explore the theme of the Broad Concept heading in more depth a little later on.
You may find other references come to mind or are suggested in the references you look up, feel free to reference and explore these also, but remember to keep your focus on the relevance of what select within the context of the Broad Concept Headings for this course.
You may feel that a single reference falls within more than one of the Broad Concept Headings. You are free to explore any of the references under as many of the headings as long as you can show how they fit within the headings you assign them to.
Your final selection should contain not less than 10 major references under each Broad Concept Heading drawn from HDReference file and/or your own further exploration of the subject area.

As you go record your thoughts on what each reference you have selected says in regard to the Broad Concept Heading you have placed it under. Be sure to note any new insights, trains of thought, unanswered questions and any challenges that your research has made to your current understanding of the subject area.

Under each of the Broad Concept Headings create a bullet list that covers off what you feel are the main doctrinal points for that heading.

Select one of the Broad Concept Headings and using the points you have listed develop a presentation for a public forum.
You must state who your audience is and show how your material relates to/meets your understanding of what that group’s life-needs/questions might be.
Provide a list of the potential questions that your presentation might draw from your target audience.
List these along with a potential response drawn from your current understanding of the subject matter.

Unit 5

5.1 Objectives

On completion of this section students will be able to:-

handle confidently teachings dealing with the Lord’s management of human states within the context of the operation of His Divine Providence.
engage with others to support them in times of a fluctuating sense of the Lord’s presence particularly in times of difficulty.
draw upon your understanding of the nature and operation of the Divine Providence at a practical level to support you in your spiritaul journey.

5.2 Journaling

Reflect on what this is saying to you in regard to the Lord’s management of states within people’s lives.
What principles stand out for you?
why is it that we often feel alone and unsupported in the challenges we have to face in the processes of our spiritual growth and development?
Replace the word “Lord” in the above reflection with the word “Word” and comment how this opens up how our states are managed.
Make a conscious effort to take your working with the Biblical text, the insights that seem to be coming, or have been gained in this process, into your day
see how the things you are finding in your work with the text and associated reading are being illustrated in your circumstances and or relationships.

5.3 Assignment

Part A Research

For this section you will be working with Deuteronomy Chapter 8 (noting verse 19).
Also read through AC 2708; AC 5915; and AC8098 to gain further insights as to the practical workings of the Lord’s management of our states in temptation
be aware that the Heavenly Doctrines focus on the Internal Historical sense when dealing with the Word.
Keep in mind that what is being dealt with here is also within you and it is this personal perspective that you are being asked to work with.
take time to read through the TABLE OF CONTENTS to the work The Divine Providence, to gain a feeling of what is involved in the concepts dealt with in this work.

Part B Working with the Biblical Text

Identify and summarise the passage from Deuteronomy in the context of temptation.
As an overall summary explain in your own words how we might forget the Lord’s willingness to work for our spiritual welfare/wellbeing.
resolve the apparent difficulties presented in the appearance in the literal sense of the Lord allowing us to “perish” see Deuteronomy 8:19.
Note your conclusions following a read through the TABLE OF CONTENTS from the work The Divine Providence.
Make a journal entry under the heading “How I feel about Providence.”

Part C Submission

give a summary of your research (1-2 A4 pages)

Part D

Summarise your work with the Biblical text and show how it illustrates your own sense of the processes involved in your’s and other’s regeneration,
and how you see it as reflecting the orderly way the Lord manages our human States.
Draw from your own personal experience or from your understanding of how others may have experienced this to illustrate points in your response
Use the framework of the Broad Concept Headings for this course to organise your responses. Feel free to draw from any other Scripture work
or work with the Heavenly Doctrines you have explored in the course so far

Unit 6

6.1 Assignment

On completion of this section you will have demonstrated an ability to integrate your work over all learning domains through drawing connections between your work with the themes concerning the manner in which the Lord Manages the human States as they change over time.

You will be expected to have developed an ability to draw from the Sacred Scriptures, the Heavenly Doctrines and your personal life experience illustration of the principles and process connected with this process. You will also need to demonstrate an ability to pull all relevant material together in a range of different formats for presenting to others.

In this major assignment you are asked to submit 3 pieces of work using a different format for each piece.

Objective: To consolidate your thinking in regard to the manner in which the Managements of States is implemented by the Lord and present this thinking in a variety of ways.

You are free to select the format for each of your final submissions from the list of options provided below, note a different format is to be used for each piece of work.

The format options are:

An Essay (3000 word minimum)
Public Presentation (PowerPoint – include speaker’s notes and handouts) -Small Group Study
Sermon

The 3 focus areas for your assignment are as follows…

a) Compare and contrast how society in general views the nature and meaning of the Management of States with that presented in the Heavenly Doctrines. You may find reflecting on the following statement helpful: “Man is admitted interiorly into the truths of faith, and into the goods of charity only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of his life..” (DP 221-233).

b) Describe the concept of “the end in view” and how Divine Order sustains this for each person whatever their Spiritual State might be. How does the Lord work with/alongside of us. Be sure to provide illustrations of the universal principles and their operation in the experience of personal regeneration.

c) Explore the relationship between Divine Providence, Divine Order, and Freedom according to Reason offering your thoughts on the importance of this relationship in effecting any positive changes of State.

The following passages from the Heavenly Doctrines are to serve as the main resource material for your submissions: DP 70-190; DP 221-233; DP 234 -274; HH 432-444; D Lord 47-49; DLife9-17; D Life 18-31; and D Life 101-107.

To supplement these specific passages it is expected that you will also draw from elements of the work you have completed throughout the course (Conceptual, Application, Integration, and Journal/Devotional) with a view to illustrating the points you make in your submissions. Also include references to Scripture particularly those that have impacted on you as you have worked through the course.

The following is suggested as a guide you in planning your assignment work:

Read through the submission requirements a number of times
Then read through the main resource material with what’s required of you clearly in mind.
As you read make a note of which statements/principals etc relate to which submission
Review your course work and do the same thing
Create an outline for each submission integrating the material you have identified.

Unit 7

7.1 Presentation

To complete the course you are asked to prepare and give an online presentation to a small panel of members of the College Board of Studies. The presentation is to be 30 minutes long and will be followed by an exchange between yourself and the members of the panel focused on what you’ve presented.

Your presentation is to be an account of your journey/process of moving through the course materials. Think about where you were at, so far as this topic concerned, at the start of the course, and where you are at the end of it. Note what’s shifted for you as a result of working through the course materials/requirements.

Also be sure to highlight any specific areas that held significant interest for you, and say what it was about those areas that made them significant. In your conclusion say what questions were resolved, what questions remain open for you, and how a fuller understanding of the topic might be used to support people to live a spiritually focused life. Your tutor is available to support you in preparing this unit of work