6.19.2010

Vacation Pictures

We just got back from vacation. Here's some pictures! We'll comment on our vacation later.


6.08.2010

A Systematic Summer

This summer I'm reading through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I was spurred on to do it by a variety of influences, one of them being an ambition to know exhaustively the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Every morning I have been reading a chunk of the book and I'm currently on page 118 (of 1,164 pages) in chapter 7 - The Necessity of Scripture. This quote substantively says what I try to tell our youth all the time:
"To neglect regular reading of God's Word is as detrimental to the health of our souls as the neglect of physical food is detrimental to the health of our bodies."


I really do believe that and Grudem does a fantastic job of explaining why that is the case in his chapters on the authority of Scripture.
Another reason that I'm doing this--aside from the fact that I'm a huge nerd AND in seminary--is for a series we'll be doing in Reality Check in the fall called "Boot Camp." In the series we'll be preparing the youth for deployment in the Lord's Army (yes sir!) by covering the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I feel that the baptistic tradition I've lived in my whole life has so negatively reacted against other denominations and church structures that we've lost the original sense of confirmation classes. No, I'm not interested in baptizing babies, but I do think that making sure our young people are grounded in the truths of their faith is vastly important and vastly overlooked in most churches in Southern California. It is a direct offshoot of our youth's theme for the 2010-2011 year: War!
Our logo was designed by Melanie Brown, a college freshman who attends Reality Check. Enjoy!