What's going on with the Bible Belt?!?

So, sitting around this morning I finally got a chance to look through some stuff online. I stumbled across on of Summit RDU's blogs and found this about the Advance 10 conference. I'm not suggesting we all go to it again, I'll end up listening to it regardless, but I was a little stunned by the stats in this link. It looks like they have been doing research to see where the gospel is thriving and where it is failing. I was kindof surprised by the dying states. I looks like my plans of going back up north might end up changing...there appears to be more of a need down here.

http://betweenthetimes.com/2010/02/25/advance-10-contextualizing-the-gospel-in-the-new-south/

OTI / Amos

Hey Guys,

A quick thought: I've been wresting through what Dr. McKenzie said about Isaiah, that is, taking "His people" to be the nations and the references to "fields" being metaphorical.

To the best of my ability, I am trying to approach eschatology with an open mind. I don't really care if I leave the pre-mill position, which I've been taught my whole life rather dogmatically. I desire that my views be shaped by the text. With this being said, when I come to Amos, and in particular, 9:13-15, it seems that the natural reading would be a literalistic return of Israel to the promised land. I really am not sure how I could take this metaphorically and not make the text "squeal."

What are your thoughts? Are you wrestling through any of these issues? What ideas have you found helpful to this discussion?

Grace,

Chad

Christian Theology

Ok, just for the sake of making my first Blog post EVER and breaking the 2 month long DD (Disciples Discussion) silence I thought I would post something and see what you all thought. I've been working through a question in my mind since the second day of Christian Theology. So let's say I'm having a discussion with a person who claims to be a Christian but, by our doctrine, really isn't. For example, a previous college professor I had who was very active in her Mainline Protestant Church, and claimed to follow the teachings of Christ, but who probably did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, but instead believed in some metaphorical resurrection. Is our Christian Theology exclusive to us who share the same beliefs and do our theological conversations with such people jump the gap from Christian Theology to apologetic debate? Is is at all possible to have differing Christian Theologies? (Before you think I'm jumping off the heretical deep end realize that i'm slightly playing the devil's advocate here.)

I think I've worked it out in my mind but I really really really wanted to post something ha ha.

Total Depravity & our Herm. textbook

Hey fellas, as you are finishing up the reading in Hermeneutics (or maybe not), I ran across this interesting section I thought I would post on here. Thoughts?

"Cornelius Van Til argued that, according to Scripture, all human brings know full well that God exists and that his power has created the world. Moreover, they have all rejected that knowledge and rebelled again Him (see Romans 1:18-23 below). Human beings, therefore, are not neutral observers who need to be persuaded by rational arguments that there is a God so that subsequently they can be brought to faith. On the contrary, they have willfully chosen to worship the creature rather than the Creator, and their whole thinking is distorted by the presence of sin. Readers will note that this formulation is a specific way of expressing the Reformed doctrine of total depravity." ~ Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics by Walter Kaiser & Moises Silva, p. 300.

Romans 1:18-23 ~ "1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ³⁹ who suppress the truth by their ⁴⁰ unrighteousness, ⁴¹ 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, ⁴² because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ⁴³ are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ⁴⁴ were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ⁴⁵ to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁴⁶ or birds or four-footed animals ⁴⁷ or reptiles."

Free at Last

I watched this sermon on Galatians 1 yesterday. Because it is on the whole chapter, I wouldn't recommend watching it until after you finish the paper unless you've just got an extra hour. It's probably not helpful in structuring your outline since he's going pretty big picture, but I think it's helpful in seeing where Paul is going and in seeing this passage as glorious. I'll be honest, I didn't think much of Galatians 1:1-10 before this assignment, but it's been really cool to see the sufficiency of Christ's grace as I study the passage more. "God's pleasure in you is not based on your performance for Him."

All Things Galatians

So I figured this would be a good place to centralize thoughts as we head into crunch time for this assignment. I found this on Dr. Akin's website.

http://apps.sebts.edu/president/wp-content/uploads/old/Resource_470/Galatians.pdf

He has an exposition of Gal. 1:1-10 but it seems geared towards an audience of pastors. Nonetheless, it's good stuff to see his thoughts on Galatians as a whole and that particular passage. It does seem to lend itself to an audience of evangelists or pastors if you are trying to "cross the bridge."

How are you guys doing on v. 1-5 in terms of application based points?

Last thing for now, F. F. Bruce has a great commentary in the NIVGC. It's long though and not all of it will translate to this assignment; but it's very interesting nonetheless.

Commentary Rankings

Hey guys, as the Galatians paper approaches, I wanted to share a resource or two that you may not have seen before.

Dr. Akin has given us his own commentary ranking sytem. However, here is another one that I find very helpful, and the one I turn to most often. It's limited to the top five, so it's brevity is helpful. You can download the PDF here.

Also, you may have heard of www.bestcommentaries.com.

Two of the most exhaustive resources that I've seen on this subject are Carson's (NT) and Rosscup's (OT and NT) rankings, which are available only in print (that I'm aware of).

Please comment if you know of any additional resources.

Summer 2010

Just a note: I happened to see they've posted classes for the summer on campusnet. You can't register yet, but it might help you know what classes to take in the spring if you're still deciding.

Sorry I was of no help for the Jonah paper. I got a late start.

Appreciate you guys.

Jonah and the Canon

I posted this as a comment in the other Jonah topic, but did any of you guys use literal threads to find meaning in Jonah as part of the Hebrew Bible? I specifically mentioned Jonah 4:2 and its tie back to the second naming of Yahweh in Exodus 34:5-7. I also think there is probably significance in Chapter 1 to the gentile sailors recognizing Yahweh as God and worshipping Him as the result of a 'dying' (or so they thought) prophet that brought peace back to their world. Thoughts, criticism?

Jonah Paper

Hey guys, I've been reading through Jonah the last three days. I've wrote a description of the thought progression. Basically, an interpretive description of the logical progression from chs. 1-4. I also listed the main characters. And, I wrote out the theological themes of each chapter. Finally, I wrote a paragraph summary of the whole book. (I have not consulted any reference books, nor will I until I finish the paper. Only after I finish will I consult another book and make any necessary revisions.)

Now, I have started writing out the MIT (note: not MIM) and exegetical outline. This has been easy. However, I am getting quite nervous about bridging into an MIM and application-driven points. I find it very difficult trying to summarize the story into principlized statements. Why? because it seems easy to try and make it an ethical story as "do this" or "don't do this." I want to avoid that practice. After taking classes with McKinion and McKenzie, I definitely want to avoid it. But, I'm not sure how to write the paper and bridge the "gap" without making it an ethics lesson.

Do you guys have any tips / advice? I feel like trying to make a deductive lesson (which is what these assignments are: A propositional truth with three or more points to defend it) out of a narrative naturally leads to an ethical lesson.

Comments?

Hahaha, Chris, you're my inspiration for Hebrew. I haven't really gave break a whole lot of thought, especially with all the stuff due and Hebrew constantly slipping away from me. If I had to pick something right now I would say it will include:

What is a Healthy Church Member-Thaibiti Anyabwile (i have no clue if that's how you spell his name), What is a Healthy Church-Mark Dever, The Life of Prayer-AB Simpson, The Discipline of Grace-Jerry Bridges, and Showdown-Ted Dekker (i haven't read fiction in so long). The first three are all short so I am sure I will probably get through those. After that I will probably grab one of Tozer's books on worship or spiritual warfare, a C.S. Lewis book (The Abolition of Man maybe), or Humility-C.J. Mahaney. And I'll probably be randomly hitting the Hebrew book to make sure things don't get too foggy.

For podcasts... doesn't happen a whole lot. When I do it's either Driscoll or Jeff Long (my pastor back in gastonia). I have gotten so used to hearing at least 3 sermons a week tho I will probably pick up someone else. I have a list of some of the pastors listed at the preaching conference, I just have to go dig it up.

Thankful for you guys

Guys, I like it.

Thanks for the link to the new Sailhammer book. I put it on my wishlist. Speaking of . . . what are you guys going to read over Christmas break? Probably a little early for that question, but I thought I would throw it out there.

I definitely am going to read "Exegetical Fallacies." Looking forward to it.

Mike, Podcasts . . . I try to mix it up as well. I can't stick with one guy. Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Piper . . . but also I am a fan of Tommy Nelson down in TX. There are others I like as well. Right now I like listening to . . . . oh, just kidding, all I have time for right now is Hebrew. :)

Influential Podcasts

Just wondering who you guys are listening to and why? I don't have time for a ton of podcasts, but I try to squeeze them into car trips or even as I'm trying to unwind in bed to fall asleep. Right now I'm basically on Driscoll and Chandler for their exposition of the text and application to their various cultures (both of which are similar to areas in which I've ministered). I listen to Francis Chan because he challenges me and helps me to love God more and more. His is an interesting podcast and you'd have to listen to several weeks worth to really get a feel for him and what they're doing in Simi Valley. I recommend going back and listening to Chan's series on the church (4/6/08-4/27/08). It rocked my world. I also subscribe to the Resurgence but they haven't put up anything in awhile, but Steve Timmis did a conference from the book "Total Church" which I would love to be able to talk through with you guys. The book is great but the talk is free and takes about 3 hours to listen to if you're crunched for time like I am.

Stages

Thanks for putting this together, Chad! To my knowledge this is my first ever blog post. I'm with the times... or at least only trailing by eight years. Anyway, a few weeks ago, a friend from church and recent seminary grad sent me this link:
http://www.goingtoseminary.com/what-is-seminary-like/

It's a list of different stages that are typical of seminary students. While it's not exactly the same for everyone, the main point is that we drift toward pride. I feel like I'm going back and forth between stages. I'm trying to guard my heart. I'm still loving 3 of my classes and liking the other one at this point, but our enemy is a great deceiver, and pride is creeping into my attitude toward chapels and sometimes classmates that I don't even know. It's easy to forget why I'm at sem: to learn and to be equipped for a lifetime of humble service, not to exalt myself or to think that I already know it all.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus...

Another Book for Your Wishlist

I don't know about you guys, but this book immediately caught my attention: The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation by Dr. Sailhamer. Per Amazon's description, the book begins with hermeneutical questions similar to what we've been hearing from Dr. McKenzie in OT Survey I.

Although I have both The Pentateuch as Narrative and his Introduction to OT Theology: A Canonical Approach, I've read neither from cover to cover. I am interested in finding out if there is any overlap in his latest work.

The Meaning of the Pentateuch is approximately 600 pgs, so I probably won't have time to read it over Christmas break. If anyone does get a chance to read the book or finds a review of it, please post a link.

CT

Introduction and Purpose

Welcome to the blog. I hope you guys are not disappointed in the name, but it is what it is. Sorry Nick, the "tramp" thing just didn't work.

At any rate, the purpose for creating the blog is to provide a place for sharing ideas. These ideas may be from class lectures, projects, books, or discussion in relation to our personal walk with the Lord.

Since most of the readers are probably commuting to SEBTS, I hope this blog will provide a place where we can all hang out and share some group study time. Furthermore, Mike made a great point today. While most of us will be continuing at SEBTS next spring, many of us will take different routes. Thus, the blog may also function as a place to connect with friends in the coming years.

Above all, I hope our discussion will push us into deeper study, obedience, and discipleship. May we all have an attitude like Ezra (7:10).

Grace and Peace,

Chad