Myers-Briggs ENFP or ESFP...

Had to take a personality test for class today. I have always tested as ENFP, and did so again... but I am 50-50 split between N and S. HMMMM

Thinking about this.. Here's a bit of what Keirsey says about these personalities and their temperaments.

Recap of ENFP:
Like the other Idealists, Champions are rather rare, say two or three percent of the population, but even more than the others they consider intense emotional experiences as being vital to a full life. Champions have a wide range and variety of emotions, and a great passion for novelty. They see life as an exciting drama, pregnant with possibilities for both good and evil, and they want to experience all the meaningful events and fascinating people in the world. The most outgoing of the Idealists, Champions often can't wait to tell others of their extraordinary experiences. Champions can be tireless in talking with others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out. And usually this is not simple storytelling; Champions often speak (or write) in the hope of revealing some truth about human experience, or of motivating others with their powerful convictions. Their strong drive to speak out on issues and events, along with their boundless enthusiasm and natural talent with language, makes them the most vivacious and inspiring of all the types.

Fiercely individualistic, Champions strive toward a kind of personal authenticity, and this intention always to be themselves is usually quite attractive to others. At the same time, Champions have outstanding intuitive powers and can tell what is going on inside of others, reading hidden emotions and giving special significance to words or actions. In fact, Champions are constantly scanning the social environment, and no intriguing character or silent motive is likely to escape their attention. Far more than the other Idealists, Champions are keen and probing observers of the people around them, and are capable of intense concentration on another individual. Their attention is rarely passive or casual. On the contrary, Champions tend to be extra sensitive and alert, always ready for emergencies, always on the lookout for what's possible.Champions are good with people and usually have a wide range of personal relationships. They are warm and full of energy with their friends. They are likable and at ease with colleagues, and handle their employees or students with great skill. They are good in public and on the telephone, and are so spontaneous and dramatic that others love to be in their company. Champions are positive, exuberant people, and often their confidence in the goodness of life and of human nature makes good things happen.

People naturally confide in the Champion (ENFP). That's why they make such good mediators, counselors, teachers, consultants, and reporters. Any position that outreaches to others can fit the Champion. They can be columnists, journalists, publicists, copy writers, advertising account executives. In the arts they can be character actors, cartoonists, art educators. If they choose jobs such as restaurateur, be sure that their business sites will be unique and designed for a particular type of customer. Don't be surprised to see them as an inventor. This type of personality wants to experience the whole of life and may change careers more often than many other types. Says Charles, "I've had a number of jobs and when there is nothing left to create, I move to something new. I want my life to be spiced with newness, love, and joy."

ESFP:Performers have the special ability, even among the Artisans, to delight those around them with their warmth, their good humor, and with their often extraordinary skills in music, comedy, and drama. Whether on the job, with friends, or with their families, Performers are exciting and full of fun, and their great social interest lies in stimulating those around them to take a break from work and worry, to lighten up and enjoy life.

Performers are plentiful, something over ten percent of the population, and this is fortunate, because they bring pleasure to so many of us. Performers are the people for whom it can truly be said "all the world's a stage." Born entertainers, they love the excitement of playing to an audience, and will quickly become the center of attention wherever they are. Performers aren't comfortable being alone, and seek the company of others whenever possible-which they usually find, for they make wonderful playmates. Performers are smooth, talkative, and witty; they always seem to know the latest jokes and stories, and are quick with wisecracks and wordplay-nothing is so serious or sacred that it can't be made fun of. Performers also like to live in the fast lane, and seem up on the latest fashions of dress, food, drink, and music. Lively and uninhibited, Performers are the life of the party, always trying to create in those around them a mood of eat, drink, and be merry.The Performers' talent for enjoying life is healthy for the most part, though it also makes them more subject to temptations than the other types. Pleasure seems to be an end in itself for them, and variety is the spice of life. And so Performers are open to trying almost anything that promises them a good time, not always giving enough thought to the consequences.

Like the other Artisans, Performers are incurably optimistic - "Always look on the bright side," is their motto - and they will avoid worries and troubles by ignoring them as long as possible. They are also the most generous of all the types, and second only to the Composer Artisans [ISFPs] in kindness. Performers haven't a mean or stingy bone in their body-what's theirs is yours-and they seem to have little idea of saving or conserving. They give what they have to one and all without expectation of reward, just as they love freely, and without expecting anything in return. In so many ways, Performers view life as an eternal cornucopia from which flows an endless supply of pleasures.

Elizabeth Taylor, John Goodman, Marylin Monroe, Judy Garland, Magic Johnson, Pablo Picasso, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Elvis, and Leonard Bernstein are examples of Performer Artisans.
The Performer, like the Promoter, can also be good in sales, sports, or entertainment. They usually spend a little more time with the customer than the Promoter and enjoy the conversation so much that they sometimes have to be reminded to close the sale. They may find careers in the entertainment industry as a performer, promoter, or musician. In business they can be a PR specialist, a fund-raiser, or a labor relations mediator. Says Brigitta, an emergency room nurse, "Some people might find my job too stressful, but I like having to act fast. I'm good at calming people down while I'm dealing with their medical problems. Every day is different."

Identity

A short little thing I wrote up for developmental psych class... thought it was more in keeping with this blog than my writing assignments blog. =)

My adolescent years were spent in a time of identity foreclosure in the areas of religion, politics, and vocation. I was raised in a very conservative Baptist home and I felt strong pressure to perform and conform, to please and to live up to the wishes of my parents and spiritual leaders. I was not apathetic towards self-discovery, Erik Erikson’s identity diffusion (Berger, 2008, p. 416), but I was afraid to question the status quo and accepted my parents’ identity instead.

After getting married, I began to actively explore my identity, even struggling with issues of sexual identity for a time. I realized I was not even saved. As Don Ratcliff said in his article “Adolescent Spirituality,” “merely having strict rules is not sufficient; it is all too easy to conform to rules but inwardly live a very different life. Spirituality is a matter of the inner person, not just the outward activity” (2002, p. 3). I came to Jesus when I was 20 years old and began progressing in spiritual growth all the while seeking my true identity. Sometimes this felt like the hills and valleys which Ratcliff (2002, p.3) describes and sometimes like Darling’s growth loops of assessment, confession, forgiveness, and appropriation of God’s strength (Ratcliff, 2002, p. 2).

Upon reading Steve McVey’s book “Grace Walk” (1995), God showed me that my identity was found solely in Christ. I began to devour books on grace and identity. I realized that I was already forgiven and that true growth was to be found by ceasing from my own struggles to perform and resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross, and by allowing him to live through me. Once I had a solid foundation of understanding that I was the bride of Christ who is loved, and accepted, in the beloved, a king (or queen!) seated in heavenly places, and a saint who has been placed in perfect union with Christ, I settled into identity achievement.

For me, college is not a time of moratorium, which is a time to put off choosing identity (Berger, 2008, p. 416). It is a time for me to shape my God given purpose that flows from my identity. I do not take my identity from my role of college student or any future career roles any more than from my role of wife or mother. These are just little parts of what constitutes the whole me.

References:
Berger, K. S. (2008). The developing person through the life span, 7th Ed. New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
Ratcliff Ph.D., D. (2002). Adolescent spiritual development. Retrieved from
http://don.ratcliffs.net/books/adolescents.pdf

Blurb of the day :)

As the deer pants for water so my soul longs for you, Jesus! I am thankful that, unlike the Psalmist, Jesus is within me, and my thirst is quenched at every waking moment! I need not seek the living waters, the living waters abide within me!

Short blurb on forgiveness

When I look at the overall meaning of all the verses on forgiveness, I find that I AM forgiven.
I John 1:9 is the only verse in the NT that seems to state otherwise, so there must be a reason for that. When I read I John, I see that he is talking to two different groups of people. He goes back and forth in chapter one between two comparisons, those who walk in light, and those who say they have no sin. As saved people we are those who walk in light. The second group must be unsaved.
I John 1:9 also must be referring to unbelievers because we already have the righteousness of God! That's all over the NT as well, we already know we have been made the righteousness of God in him, so habitually confessing our daily misteps will not make us any more righteous.
Also, see I John 2:12 "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake."
Now he says your sins ARE forgiven you! This can't be in contradiction to
I John 1:9. Here he is clearly talking to saved people. We are forgiven, period.
Just as Christ died once for all, so I ask forgiveness once for all my transgressions. As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed my transgressions from me!

Guilt and Shame Part 2

This started as a reply to Zee, but ended up a full post. :)

What I was gonna say is that what I feel (i.e. guilt and shame) does not change what I am (the righteousness of God in Christ Rom. 5:19, II Cor 5:21). Sometimes I feel unworthy, guilty, or just plain unloveable. That does not change WHO I am! I am still worthy, cleansed, and loved and accepted in the beloved (Eph 1:6).

Why do we feel guilt and shame? Usually it is over sin that we cannot forgive ourselves for. Christ has forgiven us! Let go of the guilt and shame! Shame is not something that we confess to God, but something that Satan puts on us to steal our joy. When I am feeling guilty, I cannot bask in the fullness of the blessings God has for me. Like Adam and Eve, I hide in the bushes to cover my nakedness, but there is no longer any need for fig leaves! I am free to stand fully exposed before the throne of God without fear of judgement. He is the lover who revels in my beauty, why should I cower in the dark? Within myself I have doubts, fears and uncertainties, but they are unfounded! Christ has washed away every spot and every wrinkle! I am, as Col 1:22 says, "holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight!"

To avoid God because I feel guilty would be like hiding from my husband because I feel fat. He doesn't love me based on my outward appearance, and to put my internal feelings of inadequacy upon our marriage bed is unfair to him. God is ever reaching out with unconditional love, and here we are taking our inadequacies and trying to hide from him. I think we all do this!

The bottom line is, we will never be good enough to please God on our own. We just can't do it. But isn't that what salvation itself was about? When we were lost in sin, and completely unable to keep God's laws, Christ reached down and provided salvation for us. It was not by works of righteousness that I did, but according to his mercy he saved me (Titus 3:5).

Okay, so now that I'm saved, now can I please God with my good works? Of course not! Paul says, "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Gal 3:3) Nope. Of course not. We are saved by faith, and we mature in Christ by faith. Justification is by faith and sanctification is also by faith. It's a whole other blog, but the sanctification issue is simply one of realizing that we are dead to the law and sin and of yielding/surrendering to Christ (Rom 6). We are free from the bondage of the law and the bondage of sin and death. There is no reason for guilt and shame, for there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1) for the Christian!

So, If I sit and dwell on my seeming failures, I will always be full of shame and guilt. I will always feel the need to continually ask God for his forgiveness. Honestly, I would feel pretty hopeless! But when I recognize that the blood of Jesus has already taken away ALL of that, and that God does not see me based on my past, my mistakes, or my feelings, but on the basis of Christ Jesus living in me, then I am HOPEFUL!

Another thought... Guilt is a judicial term. (Rom 3:19, every mouth stopped, the whole world guilty before God) With the word guilt there is implied a deserved penalty. Christ has already paid the penalty for sin. When we stand before the Judge, and he holds up his righteous and holy laws before us we can say 'guilty' all we want, but all he sees is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "It is finished!" Jesus cried.... It truly was. The word he used there was "Tetelestai" or "Paid in Full." We are judicially right with God for all eternity, and therefore can never be 'Guilty.'

thoughts on Darin's podcast free believers network 4/29/2010

Had this saved as a draft, just never published it:

Being conformed to the image of Christ is simply Christ freeing you to be fully yourself without the bondage of the world! The bondage falls away, and the true self that Christ created is free to shine! :) -me

we are created in His image! As the world is stripped away, as religion is stripped away, what is left is the perfect creation that reflects Christ himself!!

I thank Jesus all the time for revealing this to me... I was always afraid that as I gave myself to him he would force me to be something terrible, something that I had no desire to be! But I was SOO wrong!

Emotional Divorce

I've been thinking about the concept of God 'blocking' our prayers, and of us losing fellowship with God. It's crazy! We have boldness to enter the throne room of God at any time, based solely on the blood of Jesus! We are made the very righteousness of God! There is nothing within a saved person that should block prayers, as our sins no longer separate us from God. There is nothing that gets in the way... except for the unbelief of the person who is praying. God NEVER puts up a barrier. Prayer is not based on any works that we do. But sometimes we feel as though we are undeserving to come to God. Sometimes we may feel guilty, shameful, or unworthy, and at those times we feel that we must cleanse ourselves before we can come to God. Is there any work that man can do to make themselves more pleasing in God's sight? No! Of course not! He is only pleased with Jesus. If Jesus is in us, he is pleased. Period. God doesn't plug his ears and turn his eyes from his children. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. That was not a conditional promise.

So, what are these blocked prayers? In a previous blog, I talked about how that feeling of prayers bouncing off the wall is because we don't realize just how VERY VERY CLOSE AND INTIMATE our Saviour is to us. He is not millions of lightyears away in heaven, he is right here living within us! He can hear our every thought, our quietest whisper. But sometimes we just don't have the faith to believe. Sometimes it is due to sin, sometimes it is just because we are feeling very 'human,' but we just don't really believe he's right there waiting to hear us. We don't really believe he is going to answer, and we don't really believe that he cares. There is this part within us somewhere that feels so unworthy of the 'Christ in me and me in Christ' relationship, that we don't approach him with boldness, as is our right, but in timidity and fear. We don't come to him with passion and love, but with trembling and anxiety that he will judge us and find us lacking.

As I pondered this, my mind immediately went back to 2005 when I was pregnant with Evan. I was struggling with so many things, and I was fighting surrender to God. I didn't feel worthy of anything and my mind was in great turmoil. These feelings were tumbling over into my other relationships and I was feeling very disconnected from my husband. I stumbled upon a copy of Dr. Phil's book on marriage and began reading it. As I went through taking his quizzes, I came up categorized as being in 'emotional divorce.' I was shocked! I was hurt! I was angry! I couldn't believe it! I called Chris in and demanded we go to counseling. I wept, and told him our marriage was falling apart, and I'd known it for ages, and now I had the proof. He almost laughed! To him, everything was fine! He loved me passionately, and the only problem he could see was that I was very sick and needed healing. Our marriage was fine. At the time, I insisted he must be in denial - I was utterly flawed, we were a wreck, and there was no way we would make it through another year!

Of course, we made it through a year, I surrendered to God, found healing and realized that my mind was running away with me and believing lies. Our marriage had been fine all along. I was just so sick and depressed that I was seeing things that weren't true.

And so Christian's believe the lies of Satan. We have a low point - we stumble, we fall - and we forget who Christ has made us and focus on what we can see with our physical eyes. We take all those feelings of inadequacy, shame, and regret and we then transfer them to our Father. We point our fingers at him and say, "You aren't listening to me!" The whole time his love and passion for us never changes. The fellowship is not broken, we have just forgotten that it is there.