Journaling with the Masters

This semester, I am taking a class called History of Christian Spirituality. The major assignment for this class has been reading Invitation to Christian Spirituality edited by John Tyson. This is a book that is a collection of readings from different Christian Writers from every century. It goes back as early as Ignatius of Antioch and as recent as Bishop Desmond Tutu. It is a fantastic read. I would warn you, however, if you decide to read it, that it is not something you just want to pick up and power your way through. It's really something that you will want to chew on.

Although it was assigned to me, I have had the privilege of reading through this book and journaling through it as well. I have spent the last two and a half months reflecting on the thoughts of Christians from the second century all the way through the twentieth century. Not every reading was easy. Some of them were very foreign to my Christian Experience because the include descriptions of visions and practices that I have never heard of or tried. Other readings were hard because they confronted my very comfortable 21st century Christianity and caused me to approach my faith in a new light.

If you haven't ever ventured into Church history, I would encourage you to try reading something from a different time period. It means that you will probably have to read something from a denomination or tradition that is not your own. It is a stretching experience, but you will be better because of it. There is a wealth of Christian wisdom waiting to be discovered in the fathers and mothers of the Christian faith.

I am really excited that my time in church history isn't over yet. My "homework" continues for the next month as I read from a spiritual master. I'll be reading from St. Basil of Caesarea and I'm sure that I'll share some of the wisdom gleaned from his writings.

I hope that you can find or have found someone who has gone before to learn from their wisdom.

The Other October 31st Holiday

St. Patrick's Day isn't the only Church holiday that gets overshadowed by other festivities. Today is actually a church holiday. No, not Halloween (even Halloween was originally the eve of All Hallows or All Saints Day celebrated by the Church). Most people treat Halloween as a chance to dress up and scare people, but October 31st is actually celebrated by many Protestants around the world as Reformation Day. On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This document, even though Luther may not have intended it to, sparked the Refomation of the church in the 16th century. For Protestant Christians, our heritage is traced back to Luther and his teachings.

If you, like me, are apart of the Restoration movement which was started by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell. We are connected to Luther. Alexander Campbell was a came out of the Scottish Presbyterian church which owes its heritage to John Knox. Knox was trained in Geneva, Switzerland by Calvin and his teachings. Calvin was influenced by Martin Luther's teachings.

Martin Luther is one of the fathers of Protestant movement, so today when you are dressing up or handing out candy, remember what Martin Luther and others did so long ago to try to make the church a better place. Happy Reformation Day!

Review of Saint Francis by Robert West

From a wild youth to a beloved saint, Francis of Assisi had a very interesting life. Francis was the son of a cloth merchant in the 12th century. He lived a wild life and enjoy the wealth of his family. All of that changed after Francis spent a year as a prisoner of war and the illness that followed. Francis felt to call of God to rebuild his church. Francis began by literally rebuilding the church of San Damiano. From there he inspired thousands in his lifetime through his life of poverty and dedication to God's work. He fought for a simple life and peace in the world while preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen, including animals. Francis is one of the great men of the church, and his legacy has inspired generations of Christians to give all they have to serving God.


Robert West does a fantastic job of retelling the life of Saint Francis. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to explore church history or even to someone who is seriously studying the life of Francis. West walks the fine line of writing to the everyday person and also writing for the student of Church history. While this is not an exhaustive biography, it is a great way to step into the history of the Church and the men and women who have made a great impact. This is a fantastic book and will inspire anyone who reads it to live more like Christ following the example of Saint Francis.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

logos 4 on mac

Good news for Mac users, Logos 4 is will finally be available October 1st. This is great news considering it's only be available in Alpha and Beta since Logos 4 was released just under a year ago. If you haven't used Logos it's quite wonderful and I'm happy that they are about to finish Logos 4 for Mac. Read more here, or check out Logos' website.

It's definitely a great tool for anyone who wants to study the bible. It is especially useful for anyone who is in ministry. I say this because I have a lot of friends who are in or going into ministry and a lot of those friends have macs. Now all of you will be able to use the full fledged version logos 4 on your mac and not just the alpha or beta versions.

Campfire

Last week I was at camp, and I had the privilege of speaking at campfire each night. The theme of the week was Look Up and the verse was Colossians 3:1. To go with the theme, we watched the movie UP, which has become a favorite of mine. The evening speaker spoke on Christ's word, way, worship, work, and witness. I connected my talks to his each day, but I spoke from Philippians 4:8-9. I connected this to Russell's character from the movie since he was a "scout" and scouts have a law, I taught that we have characteristics that we are trying to live up to. So, just to give you a taste of what I taught about here's my main idea for each night and a scripture to go with it:

Sunday Night: Whatever is True - The Truth will set you free from the lies of the enemy, John 8:31-47
Monday Night: Whatever is Right - Righteousness is not just about avoiding sin, it’s all about what is instead right, Matthew 25:31-46
Tuesday Night: Whatever is Pure - Purity of Heart leads to real righteousness and worship, Matthew 15:1-20
Wednesday Night: Whatever is Noble - Nobility in God’s kingdom is based on humility and not pride, Luke 14:7-14
Thursday Night: Whatever is Lovely and Admirable - Those who are admirable and compelling are worthy of following, Philippians 4:9, 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1

This is what I taught about each night, and I am so thankful that I was apart of this week. At the end of the week, 6 campers were baptized. This happened not because of my teaching or someone else's, but because God started working in the lives of the students at camp. I thank God for this week of camp and my chance to participate in how he work in the lives of that campers.

I love Camp.

Last week, I was at camp. It was great. I spent the week hanging out with kids, acting strangely, and speaking at campfire.

The students were some of the best I've had at camp. They responded well to lessons, they paid attention most of the time, and were all around fun kids. We played a lot of crazy games (usually games one of us counselors had made up).  They also raised over $1000 dollars for our missionary. Part of the thousand came from a t-shirt auction. All the counselors made t-shirts.
This is mine:

We played a game during the week called Jurassic Tag. Basically rock, paper, scissors with dinosaurs. So I made a shirt for it. The best part is that the dinosaurs glow in the dark.

 The acting strangely came at the talent show. Every year we put on a talent show for the students. The acts this year were fantastic. The strangeness comes from the antics that we insert, including the brick joke. Sam Davis and I ended the show with a pool noodle fight. Which to my knowledge there is no footage or photos of (Here's a previous fight on youtube).

My favorite part of the week is teaching, but I'll write about that tomorrow.

review of Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

John C. Maxwell is famous in the world of leadership, both inside and outside of the church. His newest book, however, is not primarily on leadership, but on connecting with people. In his newest book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, Maxwell digs deep into the world of communicating with people. Speaking from years of experience of communicating, Maxwell share his advise on how to go beyond communication and how to connect with people.  He argues that while everyone has the ability to communicate, whether through word, action, or some other form, not everyone can connect with their audience. He splits his book into two sections discussion the principles of connecting and what connectors do to stay connected with people.

Maxwell does offer some fantastic advice for connecting with other people. I believe that he also offers too much advice at points, some of which, in my opinion, may be detrimental. Some of his suggestions border on an attempt to tell people that they need to be popular before people will even listen, which I don't think is necessary. This book, however, is certainly worth a quick read. He is speaking from many years of experience, and while I personally my not agree with everything that he said, he does know a great deal about his topic.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”