Money, Money, Money, Money.......Money!

Money is one of the most frequent topics in the Bible and it was the subject of this week's Bible study with my Thursday night group. We stayed strictly in Proverbs and only on the verses outlined from the study sheet from our pastor and had a lively discussion that was quite engaging.
(The thing I love about this group is that, thus far anyway, everyone feels free to speak up and talk about their opinion and even ask questions. I think it sets a great tone for everyone to be able to learn from each other and hopefully learn more about the Bible and the truths therein.)
The main take-aways were:
1. How we perceive others due to money or the lack thereof based upon the culture and generally our own first take vs how we should perceive others based on how God values them
2. If we put ourselves in a place where money can control our lives, it will.
3. Money is so intertwined in all parts of our lives the it is probably one of the strongest reflections of our true selves that we have. The way we live our life with our money, how we use it and value it is one of the strongest "tells" of who we really are as a Christian.

First Bethel Class

Just some thoughts from my first night.
- About 2 hours and lots of handouts. Kate, the teacher, said that handouts are equal to love...and she loved us a bunch.
- Only 7 people are taking the class, but, when you are committing to something that will take 2 years to complete...I guess that doesn't surprise me.
- One of the comments made this evening was "Biblical literacy of the average person who is a Christian is that of what a 11 year old knows and understands of the secular world." Not sue exactly how you measure that, but it doesn't sound terribly off either. Definitely makes you think.
- I have 25 Chapters in Genesis to get through this week!
- I have 7 tests, oral reports, 29 assignments to go until summer break...that'll shock the system...

Interesting conversation

I happened to be speaking with some acquaintances, Beth and Therrin, at Jaden's soccer practice / game awhile back and the conversation turned to school. Since Kristen was going back, they asked themselves..."What would you go back to school for?" After asking the question of themselves, they turned and asked me, to which I replied..."I would go to seminary."
"For theology, or to be a pastor?" They pressed...
"To be a pastor, I think..." I continued. To which Beth calmly inquired:
"So, God is calling you into his service and you are ignoring the call?"
I just stared at her. Her husband, Therrin, said "Honey, we don't know him well enough for you to say things like that!" :)
It was light-hearted, we all laughed a little and it both before and after we had great conversations, but it was also one of those moments where you end up wondering if that was truth being unmasked for a moment. We even joked about the fact that you never know when God is using someone to speak into your life. The fact that it hasn't left me over the last two weeks further presses on that point.
I don't know what that means for me at this point, as I don't really feel that I am supposed to be making a life change at the moment, but, I do think that I have to keep my eyes open to see if God is opening up my life to other possibilities. Who knows what 1 year, 3 years or 5 years from now may look like?

Bethel Class

So Wednesday starts my 2 year class at our church on in-depth Bible training. The website for Bethel training says:
'This unique format uses the Bible as textbook, with the basic concept of an overview that ties Old Testament concepts to New Testament themes. It is in-depth Bible study that gives the Scriptures relevancy and equips students for mission and ministry, as they are able to apply the Word to their daily lives.'
I am excited to get started and to have a schedule that I need to work through to get all the work done. We will get all the way through the Bible in the 2 years, meeting 3 out of every 5 weeks during the 2 years. It will be interesting!

Passion

I haven't been writing much lately...a few different reasons for that...but, one of the things that has crossed my mind is about passion. What do you have passion for? There are sooooo many sites and blogs and books and channels of stuff that are all associated with the passions of these peoples lives. They breathe this stuff. They could talk all day about it and start again the next day without skipping a beat. What are you passionate like that about?
I have done 200+ posts already on this blog...that is pretty cool, but...am I going to run out of things to say? What am I passionate enough about that I will continue to post on this site for? It is an interesting question...because there are other things to spend my time doing (I find this out each time I miss posting for several days at a time...). I have a feeling that as I get back into some of my books, I will have plenty to post about, and the fact that I am starting a 2 year class going in depth through the Bible will also provide tons of material....and there is my family, whom I love to post about :)
I suppose you are all in for many posts to come :)

Filters

My bible study tonight talked a little about filters. We were talking about how things, people, media, etc influence our views on life and how we need to control that influence with filters. Philippians 4:8 was our source topic and we went through many other verses as well. I am amazed at how easily we can fall prey to these influences and how attentive we really should be...Jaden's favorite restaurant in the whole world in 'the 99' cause he can recite the song he learned from commercials...he doesn't really remember what food he ate, or if he even liked it...but he loves to sing the song and it makes him excited to go eat there...Jacob is already self-conscious about the clothes he wears and is concerned about what others will think about it...it really is amazing. It makes me almost want to home school them like my cousin is doing with her kids and turn off the Internet, radio and TV at our house. I certainly cannot control all the content they get, even when I am trying to be vigilant. But, I guess that was a good reason for the study. If I can help instill some filters that my kids will know and use as they hear and are exposed to all of this stuff, at least they will be able to discern some truth and know what is not truth. Pray for us to teach them well and pray for the kids to learn about the filters and how to use them.

Midweek already!

I am going through end of quarter at work. Kristen had school on Tuesday. I worked out Monday night...it is already late Wednesday and I am amazed at how quickly time flies by in a week sometimes. No time to post...or even to think about topics to post about. Haven't been reading as much (though I am halfway through an interesting read called The Marketing of Evil) and even feel like the hours at work haven't been as productive as I would like...Time really has been like sand through my fingers :)
Kristen and I did get to watch a movie together Sunday night called The Great Debaters. I thought it was a good movie. Kristen asked me if I was on the debate team in school...I am not sure if that was supposed to be a complement or a jab :)

Apple Crisp

It's a little grainy since all the videos came from my phone...but, it is still a good bit of fun.

QIK is cool

I was pretty impressed that by using this site (http://qik.com), and my sister Janelle graciously using her phone, both Kristen and I were able to see my sister Joy's session at David's Bridal in Colorado Springs as she tried on her dresses for her upcoming wedding. Though the time delay was a little difficult to get used to, just being able to share in that memory with my family was really unexpected. So, thanks to the family for putting up with us being 2,000 miles away and interjecting ourselves...and for dealing with the camera and constant phone discussion. We really appreciated it!

Apple Picking

We went apple picking this weekend in what was BEAUTIFUL weather. There were tons of people out with the same idea, so traffic was terrible, however, once we were there, we had a great time. I did get a couple of goods pictures too, which is always nice.

Look at the amazing color changes right now!

















This is a nice looking group of folks hanging out in the pumpkin patch right before we left...

















Even Jude got into the act in the orchard! He now LOVES apples. We start it for him and he goes to town on the juice. It was awesome.


















Overall, I think we had a pretty good day. Jacob seemed pretty happy :)