blogging from class

topic: Reformed view of sanctification…how much is it God and how much is it man??

it is interesting to observe different personalities in class. tonight I am sitting next to a guy who does not want to engage in the class discussion, but wants to comment under his breath (read: comment to jonathan) about everything that is being said.

i don’t find this helpful!

 

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UPDATE

Sanctification, as it is generally used, refers to the time in the Christian life after salvation but prior to death. This is a time of “spiritual growth” or “maturing spiritually” or “being refined” or “becoming holy,” and is usually referred to as a process. More technically, the term means to set apart as sacred or holy.

So, after salvation, there is a process of becoming more like Christ and there are various traditions who believe there to be different marks or milestones during the process. The various marks correspond, in general, to how much this process is carried along by God and how much man plays a part. It is some great stuff to wrestle with, trying to hold firmly to what the Bible teaches about this period in the life of a Believer, and then use this to try to explain what we experience.

(So, how is the seabourn search engine…decent? maybe it needs some refinement )

Hearing My World

So, this seems somewhat humorous to me, but I am taking the seminary’s required course on evangelism, online. No, it is not about online evangelism. It is talking about face-to-face evangelism. I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Maybe it is because all of the interactions within the class take place in discussion threads. I find this easy and entertaining, but I can already pick out a couple of my classmates who do not seem to enjoy it as much. Anyway, I digress.

The topic of this post is something I have been thinking about since the beginning of the class. I am very aware of the fact that I live in a Christian bubble. School, family, and church take up most of my time. Work is basically my only non-Christian environment. Where, then, are there opportunities to interact with unbelievers? Without frequent exposure, how do I get a feel for the things they are concerned with? The answer I found…daytime TV and blogs!  This week over lunch, I have watched a couple of those judge/court tv shows…like people’s court. Okay, for me this is almost like watching comedians, but you very quickly and clearly see what people’s lives are like and the things they value. I know the producers only pick the exciting cases, but still. The other source has been blogs. Just today WordPress advertises over 125,000 new posts. I have been skimming some random selections, mostly looking at the titles, and have been interested because people apparently feel comfortable writing about anything and everything! You might take a gander for yourself. It is pretty entertaining!

Out of this comes a challenge…where are the opportunities in your life to interact with unbelievers? They are there…I just prefer to keep my eyes shut most of the time.

Group Personalities

I was amused last night as I did some people watching. We are such fun creatures, aren’t we?! I was at a parent meeting for a high school senior weekend retreat. I am tagging along to do bible study for the group. As I was sitting there, I was watching how the seniors interacted with each other, trying to decipher the different personalities that are so often exhibited in a group, regardless of age or sphere. Here are some of the common ones:

• Mr. Gruff – this is often the jock who simply dresses in jeans and a t-shirt. He looks older than he is, attributed to the fact that he has a 5 o’clock shadow by 10 every morning
• Gangsta ‘lil – oversized shoes, oversized shorts that drop to the ankles, hoodie, baseball cap with flat bill turned to the side
• Triplet Girls – seems that there is always a group of 3 girls that cannot breathe unless doing so together
• Miss Touchy Feely – this is the girl that has to be physically near someone….always giving hugs and leaning on someone (usually boys, of course)
• “Adults are Cool” Guy - this is the guy that seems akward around the rest of the group and would rather sit and talk with adults than have to engage the other students
• Mr. & Mrs. Fashion – this one is almost too common…however there is always that one guy and one gal who work hard to be cool/fashionable (and are successful), but disguise all their effort