A Note on Christian Education -- Part 1

(I'm calling this post "part 1" because I don't want anyone to think that it contains everything that I might say about Christian Education.)

Next month I am going to attend a conference focused on Christian Education. The organizers of this conference are the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Their conferences are a thing that I have been wanting to attend for a few years now, but this particular one is right up my alley. 

https://events.flfnetwork.com/conferences/school-wars/

I wouldn't be able to afford to go to this, if it wasn't for the kindness of Gabe Rench, which was brought about by a providential social media comment. Now, not only am I going, but my wife will be able to attend with me! We've even been the recipients of an additional donation, which will cover our hotel costs. I am full of both gratitude and excitement over this opportunity and I'm genuinely hoping it will be a personal encouragement in our Christian Education endeavor and a motivator to keep-at-it... but... I have one particular thing to say in regards to this whole thing. One thing that I wish, if given access to a microphone and a platform, I could say at an event on this topic: this is hard.

Shire Ambience

 I'm not sure why, but I have grown to love putting different ambient videos in the background. I mostly choose the ones where there is rain or simple nature sounds with the occasional crackling fire. But lately, I've been selecting the ones that are Shire themed. 

Because of my familiarity with the movies, scenes come to mind with the different musical scores playing in the background. These mental scenes, combined with my own reading of these books stirs a sense of longing within me for a thing I've never fully experienced: Shire Life. 

Shire Life.

I was reading the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring, and there is a prologue Concerning Hobbits... and so much of what Tolkien envisioned with this fictional folk speaks to my heart. I'm a Hobbit at heart. I'd live in a little hole in the ground. I'd drink pints and smoke pipes and wouldn't concern myself with the workings of the greater world around me. Oh sure, I wouldn't mind hearing tales of great deeds done by much greater men than myself... I'd sit near my fireplace and learn how to blow smoke rings while I contemplated the adventurous histories of those who had gone before. 

It isn't that I've never had a peaceful moment in my life. Those, I am sure, have been more plentiful than my memory is willing to admit. But the world we live in has lost its simplicity... maybe for a long time... maybe we haven't really had it since the beginning. And maybe that is why I actually long for it. I want the Shire because it echoes forward of the coming New Earth. To a peaceful home of tranquil contentedness where all that is sad is becoming untrue. 

But here we are now, and there are times where I, like Samwise Gamgee, feel like my close companion has found the one ring, and I am bound to travel with him to Mordor... to the very gates of Mount Doom. And I am not the one for this task and I wish it would have fallen to someone else: reminding me of a moment in Chapter 2 of the Fellowship of the Ring

So we decide to keep going. To do our part. To be faithful every step of the way. But we remember the Shire... though we've never been there... not really... we remember it in our collective ancient memories. We remember it from our first mother and father, and it fills our hearts with longing. 

I hope it won't be too long. 

Can we make Christianity Today ... Christian?

 Canon Press has put in an offer to purchase Christianity Today. 

source: https://x.com/megbasham/status/1972740199533682998/photo/1

So... I am thinking that the next issue of Christianity Today might be more like this: 

Ephesians Sermon Number 6.

 This sermon was delivered on October 2, 2011 at Edgewood Baptist Church. 

School Wars

 I'm going to this!

I was the recipient of free tickets!  Gabe Rench offered to take care of my tickets if it would get me there!

Ephesians Sermon Number 5

Galatians Study (notes)

 I'm embarking on a new sermon series. This time I will study Galatians. The first sermon, on the introductory verses, has been delivered. (You could watch it here.) 

In the process of preparing for a new message, there are always several thoughts and quotes from the various commentaries that I am using, that don't make it into the sermon. I think I might try an collect them here.  Here is one from tonight: 

Meditate on Paul's opening words and recognize the nature of the gospel. It is the salvation of God through Christ applied by the Holy Spirit to deliver us from this present evil age and into the age to come, the Kingdom of God. Regardless of the origins of error, whether from within the church or without, we must be vigilant to protect the purity of the gospel. We must herald the exclusivity of the gospel, the saving work of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. We must be willing, in humility and with love, to confront the sinners of this world so that they will see their sin and turn to Christ. In the end, with Paul, our desire should be to lift high the gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of our triune Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever. 

Galatians, J.V. Fesko; The Lectio Continua: Expository Commentary on the New Testament, pg. 14,15

Ephesians Sermon Number 4

Ephesians Sermon Number 3