Let's get to know each other! You can use this simple format: Hey, I'm from _______________________. For fun I like to ___________________________________. My favorite book of the Bible is: _________________________________________. (If you don't have a favorite book of the Bible yet, change it to "My favorite holiday is: ______________________.")

I have an interesting thought: did the ecumenical councils fail? Their purpose was to unify the faith, but after the council of Chalcedon ( council #4), there have been a number of Church splits. The Oriental Orthodox, Coptic, Ethiopian Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, just to name a few. This is a failure to maintain the unity, and since the Church fathers couldn't figure out how not to pour gasoline on a bonfire, they never really succeeded in holding onto the fath. That's my thinking on the topic. What's yours?

Is faith a valid way of knowing, even when it seems to contradict reason or empirical evidence? Can the truths of theology and the truths of science coexist, or are they fundamentally incompatible?

Requirements For Understanding Scripture "Rightly". I've been reading Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem over the past 4 or 5 months. In his chapter on "The Four Characteristics of Scripture: Clarity" he lists some requirements for understanding Scripture rightly. I think it is a good starting point when we approach Scripture to understand what it's saying. Too often, we try to study the Bible in a similar that way we order food from a drive thru. We expect it to come fast. I know I've been guilty. I've tried to move too quickly and that kept my understanding limited at times. I've learned over the past several years that understanding scripture is a process that requires time, effort, the help of the Holy Spirit and often seeking the perspectives of mature believers/theologians either in person or by use of other methods. Grudem asserts that the Bible can be clearly understand as long as some requirements are met. I thought it was such a good list that I would share it here as a foundation for us to study the Bible "rightly". 1. Time. Understanding Scripture and what it teaches requires time. It's a process. It doesn't come all at once. The Bible itself commands us to meditate on God's Word (Ps 1:2, Ps. 119:15,24,48,78). Grudem asserts "Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood, but not all at once: growth in understanding is a life long process. Clarity is a property of Scripture, not a property of its readers, who vary widely in their understanding". 2. Effort. Ezra 7:10 says, "Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and teach his statutes and rules in Israel". Ezra was a teacher of the law, yet still needed to study to grow in understanding. Not all Scripture is easy to understand as Peter knew in 2 Peter 3:15-16, "And count the patience of the Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do to the other Scriptures". Effective study requires effort on our part to understand and grow. 3. The Use of Ordinary Means.

This morning I was reading in 2 Corinthians 3:4-6. Here's the passage: “We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ A little background on Paul who was writing this. He was highly trained in Jewish theology and worked very hard to keep the Old Testament Law. He trained under some of the best Jewish theologians of his day. Before coming to Christ, he was advancing in Judaism faster and further than most (see Galatians 1:14). He was obviously an intelligent, passionate, driven guy. And that translated once He found salvation in Jesus. Yet, even with all of that, Paul didn't think those things qualified him to do what God had called him to do. He didn't say, "I see why God chose me. I have a lot of theological knowledge. Nice call, God". He didn't see it that way. His credentials weren't enough. His accomplishments weren't it. There was only one thing that qualified him to do what God had called him to do. God. Paul said, "Our qualification comes from God." God qualified Paul to do His work. There were a lot of budding Jewish theology guys in Paul's time. God didn't chose them. God said to Paul, "I pick you". Even though you have a checkered past of trying to kill Christians. Even though at first people won't believe you really follow Me. I'll use all that. You're the right guy for the job. God qualifies us.