I know that for me, two things this year have been really helpful in my walk with Christ.
First, it's those few and precious friends who share my faith, who are regularly encouraging me to dig into God's word. It's those friends who also struggle with ideas of a perfectly good and just God, who created this world full of people, many of whom won't be saved. It's these friends that not only suggest good readings, but read them with me and to me; as we discuss them together I get excited. Sometimes I am frustrated, but more often I am given a sense of peace or awe at the mystery of God. It's these friends that will sit in the Fish House café and discuss the concepts of predestination and free will while going through passages in Romans and Malachi that are hard to reconcile with. And being able to apply new knowledge I've been exploring and learning about through my theology class just gives me excitement and passion for Christ.
The other thing has been my church. Carsten and I have been attending Woodlawn CRC church since November. Sticking around after the service to get to know and talk with the pastors, grabbing some coffee with the congregation downstairs only to spill it all over myself when I shake one of my professor's hands, and being recognized but other members of the congregation have made us begin to feel at home. Just like any church, it has it's strengths, and it's areas that are still being improved, but that's not what matters. It's the act of showing up, for the purpose of learning and worshiping our creator. What a joy to realize that all week I'm looking forward to church on Sunday morning.
10 years ago
2 comments:
Greetings Kaylee . . .
Great Post! I am finding a similar joy having been introduced to Bible Study Fellowship International ( http://www.bsfinternational.org/ ) last fall.
Each week BSF introduces you to a new chapter in the Bible (we will finish the book of Matthew in two more weeks). It is nothing short of amazing to reread the same passages and parables for the umpteenth time, yet through the power of the Holy Spirit these same verses appear fresh and alive with new meaning and new insights. It's like entering the same garden, and each time you enter, the flowers are different and always in new bloom!
Not only do we glorify and serve and awesome God, we also know that Jesus His son, the Messiah, the Christ is due back at anytime . . . {8^).
Are you prepared for His return? Better, what will you be doing when Christ returns?
OK . . . that's enough drivel for the moment.
Humbly,
Uncle Roger
22 Apr '08 @ 23:45 PDT
Dear Kaylee,
One of the wonderful things about Calvinism is that it provides a strong intellectual structure--a worldview--fom which Scripture can be read, understood and lived out.
But remember that it is not the only Christian worldview. There are other hermeneutics, other lenses, besides the Reformed one--others which are not the products of Modernism and nominalism.
Romans is an incredibly important book, but beware of making a canon within a canon. Remember that we must balance it with the whole of scripture, for example: Ezekiel 18:23,32; 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:3-5. For help with this you might want to read Why I am not a Calvinist by Jerry Walls and Joseph Dongell.
I would love to talk with you more about them, if you ever feel the urge.
Blessings to you as you complete your term. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Love,
Beth
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