February3
The past several weeks have been cold here in Dallas. But let me tell you about some stuff that you couldn’t have learned from weather.com. Last week I got to visit Watermark Community Church with my friend Chris, and it was definitely different from any other church I’ve visited - but in a good way. They meet at a high school, which to me as a Californian meant that the church must be of moderate size. Incorrect. Like everything else in Texas, the high schools, and their respective auditoriums, are much larger than normal. This church has a membership of somewhere around 3,500 and they fit everyone into two Sunday morning services. It was very young (probably 70% of the people under 35) but there was a very strong emphasis on involvement in small groups and using your gifts to serve the body. Over all a great church, and it’s probably where I’d go if I lived in downtown Dallas.
As far as school, I’m continuing to learn a lot. Not really much else going on to speak of, because the workload is quite a bit more than I anticipated. I’m enjoying it, but I’m extremely thankful that I’m not working right now while I adjust. I thought I was going to ease into things by taking a “light load” of 11 units. Along with all the lectures, notes and papers, my four classes require 4,250 pages of reading. So basically, that’s what I’ve been up to. Thankfully I’m taking a rapid reading class which is supposed to double my speed and increase my comprehension. So with the time savings it will be as if I only have 2,125 pages. Much less intimidating. I think I’m going to try to start making a weekly log of book reviews as I finish them so that I have a record of what I’ve read, and you all at home can get a glimpse of how my time is being spent. Here goes.
Introducing Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-first Century
This was the first textbook for my Christian Ed coursework, and it was basically an overview of all the different areas and topics that are classified under the umbrella of Christian Education, from philosophies and methods of education, to small groups and singles ministry. Very informative and it moved pretty quickly because each chapter is written by a different author who specializes in a different area. The only thing that bummed me out about this one was that I stayed up until the early morn hours to finish it for the due date on the syllabus, only to have the prof say the next morning in class, “You don’t have to report any of your reading until the end of the semester. The deadlines are just a guideline to help you schedule your reading out, but as long as you get it all done it doesn’t matter when you do it.” Thanks.
The Grace Awakening
This was the first book I had to read for a class called “Spiritual Life”, which is basically an intro on how to live out your faith on a daily basis, or in syllabus speak, “To understand Biblical, theological and pastoral dimensions of the doctrines, dynamics and disciplines of the spiritual life in preparation for a life of godliness and ministry.” Anyway, here’s the gist of the book: Chuck Swindoll hates legalism. So does the Apostle Paul. So does Jesus. Me too. The first half of this book makes the case that salvation and sanctification come by grace, and yet there are many people in the church who give way to legalism, sometimes without realizing it, and often without confronting it. The second half of the book goes into practical ways to live out grace in your life and in your ministry. Good stuff.
This book is actually way different from the title. It’s really, basically, Bible interpretation. There are several good chapters about things I learned in college and had since forgotten. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the history of hermeneutics. Did you know that hermeneutics was at the center of the reformation and that for hundreds of years before that nobody interpreted the Bible literally? Yeah me too, but I had forgotten.
Unlike I expected, this book did not tell me to bow down and worship psychology. Instead, Dr. Crabb says a lot of what I heard throughout college in the student life department, i.e. deal with the issues of the heart rather than external sins. I haven’t read many counseling books, and I’m not sure that I will, but this book was definitely convicting for some self-examination. Shhh, don’t tell anyone at TMC that this book was required for one of my classes here.