I’m in my second week of school, taking Systematic Theology and Christian Philosophy.  The reading and lecture content is intellectually stimulating and, thankfully, edifying spiritually.  Bruce Ware has a passion about him that bleeds through his lectures and while watching him it would be impossible to argue that this man does not truly believe what he’s teaching.

Ted Cabal is the philosophy professor and I do believe this is the course I will likely enjoy the most.  While Systematic Theology is itself challenging and rewarding, there is much about the course, in terms of the categories and concepts discussed, that I already understand, have studied, or simply considered without putting into words.  (I don’t mean to say that this makes the course boring or that the course will be a breeze - far from it.)  There are nuances to the subject matter that I’ve never considered and this course will assist me in thinking about deep truths of the Christian faith that were developed in the history of the church but are often overlooked.  The philosophy course, on the other hand, is full of material I’ve only ever read about superficially.  The terminology is familiar but now I’m getting into the meat of the history of Christian philosophy and thinking that directly impacts in many ways how we live out our personal relationships with Jesus Christ.

One of my assignments for this course in Christian philosophy is to read and critique various philosophical essays, some Christian, some atheistic, and others that equivocally acknowledge deity but do so in postmodern terms.  I may post small portions of my responses to these essays, or perhaps present the arguments laid out in them and see what you think about them.  What’s important to me is not that anyone responding to them would provide a “right” answer, but that Christians might develop more critical thinking skills and recognize that Christians need not fear using the mind to analyze philosophical and theological arguments - of course, doing so prayerfully.  We stand on the bedrock of truths that correspond with reality - God exists - and no argument, however cleverly crafted, will negate their veracity.

Of course, the danger in studying Christian philosophy, which is oftentimes incorrectly re-termed simply as “apologetics”, is to think that to know answers to tough arguments against the Christian faith is a sure fire method of winning converts to Christ.  Don’t fall into that trap.  The regeneration of souls is solely the work of God.  If he so chooses to use such a means of bringing someone to Christ as your conversation, praise him for giving you that privilege, yet do not think for one moment that it was simply your astute refutation that brought about such a result.  It is no guarantee.  We are commanded to be faithful and be ready.

…but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

I started seminary in January, finishing two terms and many books over the course of the first year.  Seminary itself has been a very rewarding experience.  I enjoy going to school including the interaction with classmates and professors.  As much as I know I learned this first year, there was most certainly just as much or more that I missed or failed to consider.

Unfortunately, because I was so busy, it seems like I had little time for personal reflection and I plan on changing that over the course of this next year.  That in itself came from personal reflection so perhaps I have had a little time.  I guess what I have in mind can be called “resolutions” but I would consider it a very poor idea for anyone to wait until the new year to take stock of one’s life in order to make changes.  Yet, the time of the year is fitting as this is what everyone (almost) thinks about as January 1st comes and goes.  It’s just a better idea to evaluate these sorts of things often and not just once a year because of sentimentality.  Few things in my schedule will change this next year - at least as far as I can tell right now.

As far as seminary goes, I think I could be far more diligent in my work, presiding over the things I’m learning and considering how new and expounded truths should help shape my heart and not only my mind.  Fortunately, I have good friends with whom I can share new ideas in the context of Christian brotherhood and not simply in the confines of a stale virtual classroom.

This is also a year of firsts.  I now have a teenager in the household.  Cierra turned 13 yesterday.  I absolutely cannot believe that fact.  Cierra and I spent a few minutes this morning talking about a video we have of her sitting in our living room at our house on Fort Belvoir.  She was somewhere between 1 and 2 years old.  The video captured her singing along with “Jesus Loves Me” on a little Fischer Price cassette player.  We also laughed about a chocolate pudding episode when she was three - this event she shared with her 1 year old sister.  Mom was upstairs doing laundry and the girls discovered a bowl of chocolate pudding in the fridge and it wasn’t long before they were both swimming in it on the floor.  Good times.

Lastly, I think I’ll share how my 2009 began.  I just read Jason Pelt’s year-end review about an hour ago which reminded me of how I heard the news of their house fire.  It was of course January 2nd - one year ago today.  I was sitting in my living room on that morning, reading and enjoying a cup of coffee.  My cell phone rang and it was Jason Pelt on the other end.  Jason sounded a little strange.  Here’s a recap of the conversation:

Kevin: “Hello”

Jason: “Kevin”

Kevin: “Yeah, what’s up, Jason?”

Jason: “Um, I need you to do me a favor.”

Kevin: “Uh, sure, what do you need?”

Jason: “Can you run to Target or Walmart and get me a cell phone charger?”

Kevin (confused, thinking Jason is calling me in his sleep): “Um….”

Jason: “It’s for a Samsung Instinct.”

Kevin (convinced Jason is calling me in his sleep): “I guess; is everything okay?”

It was only then that Jason, who had no sleep the night before, informed me that their house had burned down.  Interesting way to start the new year.  Thanks Jason.

Happy New Year!

Another sweet deal they have is what they call their ‘Affiliate Program’, of which I just became a member.  By registering as an affiliate I can now provide links to products available through Monergism Books and, if one of my happy readers were to click one of these links, I would receive a commission from any resultant sales.  The commission can be used toward later purchases through their bookstore, which will come in handy for me as I continue my seminary education and continue to build up my library.  I’ve provided a few links already on my ‘Books’ page.  The books listed there are some I’ve studied recently while attending Southern and some I’ll be studying during this upcoming term.  As time permits, I’ll do my best to provide short descriptions of these works as well as my overall impression of the author’s faithfulness to Scripture.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579979,00.html?test=latestnews

This scene does this for me.  Abraham, servant of God, bearer of the weight of a call as yet unrealized, travels with his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah to accomplish a most heart-wrenching task.  Up the hill they climb, father and son, lambless and yet called to make a sacrifice on the mountain - the son inquires regarding a lamb.  Of course, faithful Abraham assures his son that God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.  I cannot imagine the pain with which he uttered these words, aware of the act he was about to commit, perhaps playing it out in his mind with the agony already deep-set in his soul, uncertain of what the next few minutes would reveal.

Father and son reach the mountain’s peak.  Abraham intently searches the landscape for God’s provision of a lamb.  The quiet of the hilltop is disturbing, forcing Abraham to realize what must be done.  They proceed to build the altar; a few shots of Isaac’s puzzled face reveal the confusion he must have felt.  They add the kindling to the top of the altar and the moment for which they are unprepared has reached them.  There is no lamb.  Abraham looks both reassuringly at his son and yet with a hint of fearful determination.  He binds Isaac’s hands, then his feet, and finally places him on the altar.  A look of resignation washes over Isaac’s face but his eyes plea for an explanation.  From his bound feet to his bound hands his eyes travel finally to his father’s face, a million questions in his mind, and yet only one seems like it will provide an answer.

“Father, is there nothing he cannot ask of you?”

Raising the knife high into the air, Abraham peers straight into his son’s eyes, praying he understands the significance of this act of faith.

“Nothing.”

Nothing…  I said above that one cannot merely embrace this as a matter of intellectual assent.  How many of us really agree, embrace, believe that “Nothing” is the answer?  How does one experience the reality of such an answer?  Personally, I believe that answer.  I have reasons to lovingly embrace that answer in a way that gives a remarkable amount of comfort.  But, how is this more than a subjective experience to which you or others might object?  It is more than that, and I hope you see it.

As all parents know, as kids begin to develop their skills in speech and comprehension they can often get things mixed up and have no clue how their innocent combinations of just the right words at just the right times makes for the perfect recipe for laughter.  My two girls, as with all children I suppose, have also been known to say things that produce such a response and I think I’ve been extra alert for these moments now that Annie is sharing these little stories from their lives.  Of course, my kids are getting older and such moments are more infrequent than I’d like to admit - although perhaps a pre-teen with such verbal predispositions such as I’m talking about may not be a good thing.  Nevertheless, Cierra and Tori, especially when they’re communicating with one another, often produce turns of phrase for which the most profitable sitcoms would pay millions.

This is where Cierra excels.  She’s a lot like me - direct, to the point and would likely find Occam’s Razor a worthy principle by which to guide one’s use of words.  Cierra is also quite pensive at times - at least that’s what it looks like.  When riding in the car, Tori is usually folded into some impossible pretzel shape in the backseat reading a book while Cierra often stares out the window ostensibly deep in thought.  It is with such an introduction I give you Cierra’s most recent note-worthy quotes.

Quote 1

Location: Dentist’s Office / Setting: The girls have just completed their six-month cleaning and Tori seems to be pleased with the flavor of toothpaste the dentist used to clean her teeth when Cierra, finished with the hygenist, enters the waiting area.

Tori: “Did you get your teeth cleaned, Cierra?”

Cierra (annoyed): “Yes.”

Tori: “What flavor did you get?”

Cierra: “Disgusting.”

Quote 2

Location: In the car. / Setting: Music playing; peaceful ride to Fredericksburg; Cierra is doodling in her drawing book when she slowly brings her head up and sits staring for a few seconds.

Cierra (turning to me):  ”I just realized that you can’t scratch your nose if you’re wearing an astronaut suit.”

Update 7/31 9:00 pm - 57%

Update 7/31 11:42 pm - 61%