New lesson posted
I've just posted a second lesson from 1st Corinthians. It could be helpful to use in a personal quiet time.
Finals Begone!
Well, I've survived my first semester in seminary. I took my fifth and last final exam this morning, and I'm glad to be done. I may have gotten all A's, depending upon how well a couple professors liked my papers. To celebrate we had a 7-player Halo 2 deathmatch in our living room this afternoon. Nice! Next on the calendar: 6 weeks of death-by-Greek.
No more classes
Yesterday was the last day of classes! The only thing left is final exams; I took one early yesterday, and the other 4 are next week. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed my first semester of seminary. There is so much to learn, and most professors are really good at forcing me to re-examine God's Word to determine what I really believe (absolute truth cannot be determined experientially). Most of what I believed has been reaffirmed by my studies, but some viewpoints have been altered. There have also been a number of issues I just never considered before (e.g., what does it say if a seminary student preparing for the pastorate decides to accept welfare?). Next on the menu after finals: death-by-Greek! I'm taking 6 weeks of Biblical Greek (the original language of the New Testament) during summer school. Can you say "firehose?"
StudyMatch
A lot of the tests here at Seminary are short answer tests. One common way to study is to buy a pile of index cards, write the question on one side and the answer on the other, and then flip through them repeatedly until you learn them. Being the fiscally conservative (read: cheap) kind of guy that I am, I decided to write a piece of software that does this for me. For those who don't know, I used to write a fair amount of software while working at my previous employer, The MITRE Corporation. I wasn't a great programmer, but I was good enough to write this.
"StudyMatch is a simple application that mimics flash cards, where the question is on one side and the answer is on the other. It supposed to help you study for tests and quizzes, and it lends itself best to matching, true/false, short answer, and short list types of questions."
Download StudyMatch from my new software page.
Read the readme file; it will explain everything. If you have suggestions for improvements, please let me know: james @ garriss.org
"StudyMatch is a simple application that mimics flash cards, where the question is on one side and the answer is on the other. It supposed to help you study for tests and quizzes, and it lends itself best to matching, true/false, short answer, and short list types of questions."
Download StudyMatch from my new software page.
Read the readme file; it will explain everything. If you have suggestions for improvements, please let me know: james @ garriss.org
Emmy's Birthday
Emmy turned four last weekend; my how time flies. We had a small party at a nearby park with some of her friends. Below she's opening some new accessories for her favorite bear, Peggy.
Dr. Al Mohler's Radio Program
I've recently discovered Al Mohler's radio program. Dr. Mohler is the president of Southern Seminary, as well as a theologian and cultural commentator. The program is billed as "your place for intelligent Christian conversation about the issues that matter." He makes some comments on current news, then tackles a current cultural issue from a Biblical point of view. You can listen online or download the program as a free MP3.
His website
His radio program
His website
His radio program
1 Corinthians Study Guide
I've started a study in 1st Corinthians. As I've studied, I've prepared a study guide with reading and questions (and even answers). If you're looking for something to help you study and learn God's Word, feel free to use it. I'll post a new guide every other week or so. Look for the link under the "Bible" section or click here.
Across the River
I wonder how many parents find themselves across the river from their children.
"This mother expressed it well when she said, 'It is as if we are standing on opposite sides of a river from them, and are looking across and desperately longing to be together'...Parents and children share a house, but live separate lives with separate activities, separate entertainment, separate work, and separate goals. Parents confine their children, constrain their children, and control their children, but fail to fellowship with them."
If you want to know how to fellowship with your children, read this excellent article (particularly the first half) from Michael Pearl.
Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space
"This mother expressed it well when she said, 'It is as if we are standing on opposite sides of a river from them, and are looking across and desperately longing to be together'...Parents and children share a house, but live separate lives with separate activities, separate entertainment, separate work, and separate goals. Parents confine their children, constrain their children, and control their children, but fail to fellowship with them."
If you want to know how to fellowship with your children, read this excellent article (particularly the first half) from Michael Pearl.
Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space
Boring Church?
Is attending the worship service of your church boring? Perhaps your church isn't the problem; perhaps your worship of God is. Read Drawing Near to God, an article by John MacArthur on worship.
Adoniram Judson
Adoniram was the first US overseas missionary. I just finished reading his biography, To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson. The book is a wonderful read, tracing his story from his father (a pastor) through to his death in Burma. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, Adoniram's story forces us answer a question: what am I willing to give up to tell someone else about Jesus Christ? Adoniram's first and second wives and several of his children died on the mission field, yet he never quit the work God called him to. That is the stuff true believers in Jesus are made of. I highly recommend this book.
To the Golden Shore (CBD)
To the Golden Shore (CBD)
Commentary by Daniel Akin
Dr. Akin is the president of Southeastern, the seminary I am attending. He has been preaching through the book of Titus during chapel, and I must say he is as fine a Bible expositor as I have ever heard. Based on his messages, I decided to pick up a copy of a commentary he wrote on the books of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John (it's part of the New American Commentary (NAC) series). The campus bookstore had it on sale for $20, which is a good deal. Maybe I'll get a chance to study through it this summer.
Dr. Akin's chapel messages (downloadable MP3 files)
Dr. Akin's website
Dr. Akin's commentary on 1st, 2nd, 3rd John (CBD)
Dr. Akin's chapel messages (downloadable MP3 files)
Dr. Akin's website
Dr. Akin's commentary on 1st, 2nd, 3rd John (CBD)
Tongiaki
We learned how to play a new game over the weekend. Tongiaki is a tile-laying game where you are a Polynesian explorer braving ocean dangers to discover new islands in the Pacific. Like many of the so-called German games that we enjoy playing, the mechanics are simple and the gameplay is interactive. We taught it to 10 people, and it was liked by everyone. It plays nicely in 30 minutes or so and works best with 4 to 6 people. It's well worth the money.
Definition of German games
Tongiaki review
Of all the German games we have so far, the most popular (in order) are probably: 1) Ticket to Ride 2) Killer Bunnies 3) Settlers of Cataan 4) Tongiaki 5) Carcassonne.
Definition of German games
Tongiaki review
Of all the German games we have so far, the most popular (in order) are probably: 1) Ticket to Ride 2) Killer Bunnies 3) Settlers of Cataan 4) Tongiaki 5) Carcassonne.
Exploring
The combination of spring break and beautiful North Carolina weather made it impossible to stay inside and study too much the last couple of days. I took the kids on a march around the seminary, and we found a wonderful magnolia tree that was perfect for climbing. One of the bigger kids (ahem, me) climbed it a couple stories high. We also went into a nearly forest to catch some bugs for Jasen's science project. We got ants, spiders, and a yellow jacket. What fun to be a dad!
Qualifications of a pastor
I've uploaded my latest point paper; this one is on the Biblical qualifications of a pastor. It was particularly interesting to see how God views marriage and family as a testing ground to determine if a man is prepared to lead the church. I wonder how many pastor search committees spend time examining a candidate's wife and children to see if he's qualified.
Where does a baby go when he dies?
This is an old and (at best) difficult question to answer. The Bible is not as clear on this issue as we would like. I ran across an interesting article on this subject by Dr. Al Mohler, who is the president of Southern Seminary.
The Salvation of the 'Little Ones': Do Infants who Die Go to Heaven?
He does a nice job of refuting many of the spurious viewpoints, forcing us to consider only what the Bible really says. He then comes to the conclusion that infants who die go to heaven and bases his conclusion upon the election of God. He believes that God in His grace has elected all infants who die, thus they go to heaven. Although this is very interesting viewpoint, I think he makes a couple mistakes in his logic (Let me admit I'm treading on thin ice; by all accounts Dr. Mohler is one of the sharpest apologetic minds in fundamental Christian circles today, so I'm thoroughly outmatched. Not that I plan to let that stop me... :-) First, he notes that non-believers are not judged at the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15) based on their original sin, but on their deeds. Although they are judged on such (vs 12), the climax of this judgment is in verse 15, where those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire. Eternal condemnation is ultimately based upon their response (or rather their lack of response) to the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Second, he asserts "young children are incapable of committing sins in the body." I'm not sure what kind of kids he had, but I'd love to trade! I've got two well-trained children, but to assert that they can't sin until they are old enough to understand salvation is ludicrous. It's also illogical; if they can't sin, how can they understand a need for a Savior? Furthermore, Dr. Mohler and I apparently have very different viewpoints on what consitutes "election." I believe God's election is based on His foreknowledge, but as one of my professors, Dr. Caner, has said, the key is to define what is meant by "foreknowledge." I believe foreknowledge means that God, being omniscient, peered into history and saw who would accept salvation through His Son; those who did, He elected. So you can see that from this position, infants cannot be elected; they die before they have a chance to accept salvation. So although I find Dr. Mohler's viewpoint interesting, I can't agree with it.
So what do I believe on this issue? I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. Mohler, but along a different path. I have two defenses. First, my stronger defense is based upon David and Bathsheba's first son (2 Sam 12:15-23). David says "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." I believe that David expected to find his baby in heaven when he arrived. (The weakness in this position is that this passage is a narrative, not a statement from God; just because someone says something in a narrative does not necessarily make it correct.) Second, my weaker defense is based upon a "Scripture-driven theology" hermeneutic; that is, Scripture drives theology, so use that theology to help shed light on unclear subjects or passages. Scripture drives my theology of God, and Scripture tells me that God is just and fair. More than that, God is merciful and gracious. With these, I tend to believe that God will not hold a baby accountable at the Great White Throne judgment for rejecting Jesus Christ when the child is not capable of understanding; that wouldn't be fair. Likewise I believe He will allow the baby into heaven; that would be mercy and grace. So when I put these two defenses together, I think I have a fairly strong position. But I will admit, it's not a rock-solid position. Like I said, the Scripture is just not as clear as we would like.
[Rabbit Trail: You must careful when using the hermeneutic I mentioned above; you might be tempted to use it to arrive at the conclusion that God will let everyone into heaven. Remember that this hermeneutic is only useful to shed light on unclear subjects or passages. Scripture is very clear that those who reject Jesus will spend eternity in hell (Matt 10:32-33; Acts 4:12; John 14:6).]
The Salvation of the 'Little Ones': Do Infants who Die Go to Heaven?
He does a nice job of refuting many of the spurious viewpoints, forcing us to consider only what the Bible really says. He then comes to the conclusion that infants who die go to heaven and bases his conclusion upon the election of God. He believes that God in His grace has elected all infants who die, thus they go to heaven. Although this is very interesting viewpoint, I think he makes a couple mistakes in his logic (Let me admit I'm treading on thin ice; by all accounts Dr. Mohler is one of the sharpest apologetic minds in fundamental Christian circles today, so I'm thoroughly outmatched. Not that I plan to let that stop me... :-) First, he notes that non-believers are not judged at the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15) based on their original sin, but on their deeds. Although they are judged on such (vs 12), the climax of this judgment is in verse 15, where those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire. Eternal condemnation is ultimately based upon their response (or rather their lack of response) to the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Second, he asserts "young children are incapable of committing sins in the body." I'm not sure what kind of kids he had, but I'd love to trade! I've got two well-trained children, but to assert that they can't sin until they are old enough to understand salvation is ludicrous. It's also illogical; if they can't sin, how can they understand a need for a Savior? Furthermore, Dr. Mohler and I apparently have very different viewpoints on what consitutes "election." I believe God's election is based on His foreknowledge, but as one of my professors, Dr. Caner, has said, the key is to define what is meant by "foreknowledge." I believe foreknowledge means that God, being omniscient, peered into history and saw who would accept salvation through His Son; those who did, He elected. So you can see that from this position, infants cannot be elected; they die before they have a chance to accept salvation. So although I find Dr. Mohler's viewpoint interesting, I can't agree with it.
So what do I believe on this issue? I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. Mohler, but along a different path. I have two defenses. First, my stronger defense is based upon David and Bathsheba's first son (2 Sam 12:15-23). David says "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." I believe that David expected to find his baby in heaven when he arrived. (The weakness in this position is that this passage is a narrative, not a statement from God; just because someone says something in a narrative does not necessarily make it correct.) Second, my weaker defense is based upon a "Scripture-driven theology" hermeneutic; that is, Scripture drives theology, so use that theology to help shed light on unclear subjects or passages. Scripture drives my theology of God, and Scripture tells me that God is just and fair. More than that, God is merciful and gracious. With these, I tend to believe that God will not hold a baby accountable at the Great White Throne judgment for rejecting Jesus Christ when the child is not capable of understanding; that wouldn't be fair. Likewise I believe He will allow the baby into heaven; that would be mercy and grace. So when I put these two defenses together, I think I have a fairly strong position. But I will admit, it's not a rock-solid position. Like I said, the Scripture is just not as clear as we would like.
[Rabbit Trail: You must careful when using the hermeneutic I mentioned above; you might be tempted to use it to arrive at the conclusion that God will let everyone into heaven. Remember that this hermeneutic is only useful to shed light on unclear subjects or passages. Scripture is very clear that those who reject Jesus will spend eternity in hell (Matt 10:32-33; Acts 4:12; John 14:6).]
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