Like your personal journal, it's good to go back and read previous entries. Keeps things in perspective and context, and let's you see big changes that you normally wouldn't see day to day. My last post was on our last night in our apartment. The next day, a sea of humanity showed up and moved us into our house in under two hours. It was awesome! We've been loving living in our house. The garden is set up and planted, and it's been fun walking around dreaming about different landscaping ideas. We have more than enough land to do all the food growing we could want, with the garden, planting fruit trees, and other miscellaneous food plots. I'll be posting more on organic gardening as experience comes. I've also been reading Harmony by Prince Charles, and this will be a good place to process some of those thoughts, too. Also, in less than a month, you'll be seeing posts (probably at like 3am) about being a father of a 2 year-old and a newborn.
Now, (dun dun dun) the end times stuff.
This is my plan: I'm going to go through all the passages I can find that refer to the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). I'm not in a hurry, so I'll take them verse by verse, phrase by phrase if need be, and see just what in the world it says, in context. I'm a broadcast major, so of course I'll quote my sources and strive for objectivity. I'll be going through Daniel's 70th week, Matthew 24, Revelation, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and others. Feel free to suggest resources and voice your opinion; it should open up some great conversation. This should be fun! Who knows, maybe I'll turn it into a book!
Finally, just a thought I have: generally speaking, the church doesn't disagree well. Not just talking about end-times stuff here, talking about all kinds of issues, and it goes back to the thing of rallying around doctrine rather than fathers. When we gather in camps around specific doctrines, we divide when we disagree, because that's what our relationship is based on. Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high in the church? I don't know, just a thought. I'm not in relationship with my wife or my friends and leaders because we always agree on every detail. I'm in relationship with them because I love them and I've committed my life to them. Don't get me wrong, agreement is important in many areas, but it doesn't always have to be our highest core value.
Til next time!
PB
Phil, I love that last paragraph. It's so hard to have views divergent from the church because, like you said, there's more of a connection to a doctrine than to the person. I think that we do harm to the body of Christ when we try to block out the diversity and the arms refuse to hang out with the ribs (or insert whatever body parts make my point awesomer).
ReplyDeleteAnd I look forward to your thoughts on being a double dad. Especially at 3 a.m.