Misrepresentation 2

Found the book. The title is actually The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America. It features articles with titles such as: The Perils of Fundamentalism and the Imperilment of Democracy (so what, exactly, was American democracy based on?) and Eternal Subservience - Created from Man for Man (obviously a feminist rant) by Kimberly Blaker and The Path to Theocracy-the Purgation of the First Amendment by John M. Suarez. Looks like a lot to chew on....

Misrepresentation

I was browsing in a local bookstore today and found a book that touted itself as an "expose of the 'Christian right.'" It caught my attention so I flipped through a few pages. It consisted of about 6 or 8 articles attacking conservative Christians and comparing them to radical extremist Muslims. The only thing that comes to my mind in perusing this vitriol is that the authors have absolutely NO idea of what biblical Christianity is about. If a person were truly a "radical extremist" Christian, that person would be the most perfect citizen (regardless of the country they live in) and the most loving and tender person one could imagine!
What get's the hackles up on those who find themselves thinking like the authors represented in this book is the exclusivity of Christianity. If biblical (not 'extremist') Christians do not allow them to re-make the God of the Bible after their own fashioning then such Christians are labeled as "intolerant" and "dangerous." And yet they cannot understand what biblical Christianity is about because their foolish minds are darkened and have not been regenerated by the power of the Spirit of God. Still, this type of rhetoric must be addressed, lest the foolish minds that read the ravings of these foolish minds will be convinced of the "danger" of Christianity. I believe that I may yet return to that store and purchase the book. Not that I desire to put money in the pockets of the writers and editor, but in order to study their position more fully so that I may dismantle their straw-man arguments that the name of Christ would be glorified in the face of their godless efforts. More on this later.

New Covenant Theology

I've been giving some thought to this topic over the last year or so. Many of you reading this blog may not have any clue as to what New Covenant Theology is about. New Covenant Theology (NCT) is an alternative theological system over against Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. One of the differences with NCT is that, rather than setting your theology from the Old Testament and reading that theology into the New Testament, NCT reads the theology of the New into the Old. Basically, NCT interprets the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus (as shown in the Gospels) and the apostles. The primary work that outlines this theological system is New Covenant Theology by Fred Wells and Frank Zaspel. Another that I have read is Abraham's Four Seeds by Reisinger. I will address this system in more detail in future posts.

Sad state of affairs

It's really disturbing to me to see a quote like the one I saw on James White's blog and know that there are "evangelicals" and Romanists and cultists all listed as viable options as the source! And to think that the (once) respected Eerdman's Publishing is now putting out cultic apologetic works. Just brings home the point that one must be a true student of God's Word and study it diligently in order to protect oneself from errors that lead away from the narrow path of salvation.

Insightful poem

Read this in one of my kids' books:

There once was an owl who lived in an oak;
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard.
Why can't we be like that wise, old bird?

Conference

Well, the conference was very exhausting but very good as well. For anyone not familiar with this type of conference, it is a large gathering of parent-educators who come together for a couple of days of workshops and purchasing curricula for the following school year. We've now gotten all the books purchased or ordered for our three oldest children (Elizabeth will be in 3rd grade, Faith will be in 1st and Rebecca will be in K). The keynote address on Friday was given by Doug Philips of Vision Forum. He spoke on the need to turn the hearts of the fathers toward the family and build a lasting legacy in their children for the glory of God. It was very insightful and moving. I also finished my book! I had worked over a year doing a study of 1st Peter (actually only about 15 hours of work spread over a year) and I printed it and bound it at home. So now I have an actual hard-cover book with my name on it as the author! :)
I start teaching through 1st Peter in my church starting this Sunday (May 1) through July. I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned.
I finally got the class schedules for this fall from Midwestern Seminary. I will be taking a class on Christian Ethics on Tuesday evenings. I'm so looking forward to getting back in the classroom!
I must be going now. Have to read another chapter from John MacArthur's Twelve Ordinary Men so I can prepare a lesson for our small group from church this Thursday. Until then... God Bless!

Homeschooling

Woo-Hoo! I get off work in about 2 hours and I'm off tomorrow! 3-DAY WEEKEND! But it's going to be a busy one. The local homeschool curriculum fair is tomorrow and Saturday and my wife and I will be there all day both days going to workshops and choosing textbooks and other materials for our kids. Our oldest, Elizabeth, will be in 3rd grade next year and we're looking at new math and english curricula. We're also adding Latin. Our second, Faith, is going into 1st grade and Rebecca, our 3rd, will be in kindergarten. We're excited about the conference. I usually have quite a hey-day in the vendor area. I love being around so many good books! I only wish I could be like the Reformation theologian Desiderius Erasmus when he stated, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." Alas, I don't think he had a wife and five kids to support....

My story

Here's a brief synopsis of my Christian life. This is important in order to have a general idea of where I'm coming from in a lot of these posts. I was raised in a nominally Catholic family (i.e.: we were forced to go to Mass every Sunday but my parents lived as they pleased during the week). My mom died of heart disease when I was 13 and by the time I was in high school I had stopped going to church altogether. I lived quite a decadent life trying to satisfy myself with alcohol and women. I married at 19 and it only lasted 2 years before we split up (partially due to my infidelity).
Right after my first wife and I split up, while I was in college, I began to feel an emptiness in my life. I continued to try to fill it with alcohol and women but it wasn't working. I felt lonely and depressed. Then I met a guy (an alumnus that came up for football games) that was different from all my drinking buddies. He was nice and had a sense of peace about him. He was quiet and seemed happy most of the time. I also noticed he kept a Bible in his car and always left for home early enough on Sundays to get to church. That was a strange concept to me.
Over time, I met more people that were "churchgoing" people who read the Bible. I didn't know it at the time but God was pulling me in.
I moved in with my brother and decided I wanted to read the Bible to see what all these other people were seeing in it. I started with the beginning (Genesis) and read straight through. By the time I got through the Gospels, in the spring of 1993, I was going to church regularly with my girlfriend (now wife); and in July of 1993 God changed my heart and I placed my faith in Jesus Christ to save me from the penalty of all my sins.
Since then, I've continued to learn more and more about the faith I've been given and I strive, through God's help, to become more like the one who saved me.

I understand there may be some terms and/or ideas in this story that you, the reader, may not be familiar with but I'm more than happy to discuss and explain these with any individual who asks.

Question

Do you consider yourself a good person? (Who doesn't?) How good is good enough to go to Heaven? Any takers? Let's talk.

Introduction

Hello all! I'm new to the blogging world and decided to take on this project as a way to vent some of the pent-up ideas I get in my head during the day. I'm a seminary student in the Kansas City area and am very much into Christian theology, apologetics, outdoor activities and my family (wife, Kim, and 5 kids). I look forward to putting more on here in the future!