Growing up I attended 3 separate and radically different churches: one during childhood, one through junior high and one through High School. The first was a Southern Baptist church with hymns only, lite-hearted teaching and nearly no theology to speak of. The second was a PCA church with a very diversified worship style and completely Reformed in its theology in every way. The third was a non-denominational charismatic church with all the gifts in operation and theology that was all over the map. In neither of the 3 churches did I ever hear the word 'Apocrypha' much less have a clue as to what it was.
It was not until my freshman year of college, sitting under Professor Jenks at Toccoa Falls Bible College that I was introduced to the Apocrypha, a whole other world of 'Scriptural' styled writing. While understanding that the Apocrypha was not canonized and therefore not inerrant, it could still be of great help.
Furthermore, it was not until years later that I realized that the Roman Catholic Church actually included the Apocrypha in their Bible, thus deducing why we Protestants are probably so ignorant of or scared to death of the writings. Most Protestants are ignorant and scared to death of Catholicism as a whole, this just giving further fuel to the fire. It gave me great joy, on this side of ignorant, to actually have a High School student in a Sunday School class recently (formerly Catholic - she professed faith in Christ and joined our 'Protestant' church in October) bring her 'Catholic' Bible to class and ask if she needed to purchase a new one because it had the Apocrypha in it. I told her unwaveringly that she did in fact need to be accompanied to the nearest Christian bookstore and buy the coolest, hippest, easiest to read and preferably pink copy of the Bible immediately. I also wrote that last line with great sarcasm.
Anyway, I digress... I am revisiting or rereading the Apocrypha, the 1st of the 100 books that should be read, with a better understanding now than I had 14 years ago sitting in that freshman class. And no, I am not afraid of being converted to Catholicism or of claiming that we Protestants should include it in our NIVs and ESVs either. But, who knows, through it all I just may learn something.
Grace and peace...
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
the journey begins...
I cannot remember a time in the past where I have seriously made a New Year's resolution. I have never been a strong advocate of resolutions. I do not smoke; I do not drink (too much); I am not overweight; I read the Bible regularly and I pray with semi-regularity. I am plagued with sin but must I make an annual resolution to stop? We all know the reality is that I will not stop until Jesus takes me to my final resting place. So, I have never really known what resolution to make...
But this year is different... I have made a New Year's resolution! We should probably call it a goal more than a New Year's resolution but it's all semantics. One of my Christmas gifts this year was a book, "Besides the Bible: 100 Books That Have, Should, or Will Create Christian Culture" by Dan Gibson, Jordan Green and John Pattison. (find it here: http://burnsidewriters.com). Having made it only about 20% of the way through the book, I can still honestly say that it is a gem and has spurred me to my New Year's Resolution.
I resolve to begin the journey of reading the '100 books' identified in this read. Furthermore I resolve to blog about my journey along the way. This should not be a 2011 resolution but rather a life-long resolution or as I like to call it, a life-long journey. But it is one which I think will be well worth it in the end. Following is how I will map out this journey:
1. I resolve to blog no less than 2 times per month. For many this may seem like child's play. One of the bloggers I follow averages about 10-12 per month. But for myself, I need to be realistic. Between being a husband, father of 4, Director of Student Ministries, and Master's Degree Student, I think 2 per month is a great starting point.
2. I resolve to have no certain time table. Some of the books are short reads, some may take me a year or more just themselves. The end of the journey will not be the only reward... the journey itself will be the reward.
3. I resolve to read one at a time from each time period. This is so I do not get bogged down in the first 1500 years of the 'church' but will have some more current reads interspersed as well.
I truly hope some will follow along with my journey. Some may even want to take the journey with me. I have absolutely no expectations, except that God would, through it all, reveal more of Himself to me, more of myself to me and more of His world to me.
And so it begins...
Grace and peace...
But this year is different... I have made a New Year's resolution! We should probably call it a goal more than a New Year's resolution but it's all semantics. One of my Christmas gifts this year was a book, "Besides the Bible: 100 Books That Have, Should, or Will Create Christian Culture" by Dan Gibson, Jordan Green and John Pattison. (find it here: http://burnsidewriters.com). Having made it only about 20% of the way through the book, I can still honestly say that it is a gem and has spurred me to my New Year's Resolution.
I resolve to begin the journey of reading the '100 books' identified in this read. Furthermore I resolve to blog about my journey along the way. This should not be a 2011 resolution but rather a life-long resolution or as I like to call it, a life-long journey. But it is one which I think will be well worth it in the end. Following is how I will map out this journey:
1. I resolve to blog no less than 2 times per month. For many this may seem like child's play. One of the bloggers I follow averages about 10-12 per month. But for myself, I need to be realistic. Between being a husband, father of 4, Director of Student Ministries, and Master's Degree Student, I think 2 per month is a great starting point.
2. I resolve to have no certain time table. Some of the books are short reads, some may take me a year or more just themselves. The end of the journey will not be the only reward... the journey itself will be the reward.
3. I resolve to read one at a time from each time period. This is so I do not get bogged down in the first 1500 years of the 'church' but will have some more current reads interspersed as well.
I truly hope some will follow along with my journey. Some may even want to take the journey with me. I have absolutely no expectations, except that God would, through it all, reveal more of Himself to me, more of myself to me and more of His world to me.
And so it begins...
Grace and peace...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)