Well, we survived week 2 and as we push into week three, I realize that things are beginning to come due in a hurry. I have 2 papers that are due on Wednesday and Friday respectively, and as of next week, several of the books that I have to read should be finished (I am on task to finish several, but I really need to get going on a couple.) I really need to start getting up earlier and use some time in the mornings to get work done, but laying in bed with my family and rushing to class is much more my current style. (Having the seminary building a 4 minute walk from my back door has its advantages and disadvantages.) I am excited about our youth program starting back up at church this Wednesday, but it is more work that I have to keep on top of. Thank goodness for Google Calendar, because without it, I don't think I would remember anything that I had to do.
I had an interesting discovery today. I was singing with Cappella Romana, one of my favorite groups that I sing with, at the Middle Eastern Festival today (St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church), and I noticed that one of my professors was in the audience. After our performance I approached him to say hello, and I found out that he is member of the Orthodox church. I thought that was different, seeing as he is a professor at an Evangelical Seminary, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. I actually hold the Orthodox church with great respect. I love their music and sense of tradition as well as the way that they are hospitable to everyone. I also ran across the woman who lives in the town house directly across from us. She revealed that she and her husband also called St. George their home church and that the were becoming Orthodox members very soon. She said it in sort of hushed tones, like she didn't want it to get out, but who really cares. Are evangelicals so rigid that they cannot even accept the teachings of the "Original Church?"
I have to be honest. I am not even sure that I am an "evangelical" with a capital E. I grew up in that church, and serve as a Pastor in one, but I am not sure that I like the stigma that comes with being an evangelical. I love God, and accept that Jesus took my place on the cross, but every time you hear about some Christian religious wacko in the news, they are fundamentalist evangelical Christians saying and doing things that embarrass me (Westboro Baptist Church, I am looking at you) and making Christians look like a group of people who are hateful and bigoted. To quote Dr. Metzger (again, and it won't be the last time) we need to foster a sense of HOSPITALITY and not HOSTILITY. We need to meet people where they are, to show them the way to Christ, not scream at them until they throw a FROSTY in your face.
As a young person, I spent a lot of time protesting abortion. That is what my Dad was into, and that is what we would do on a Saturday morning. Take some signs down to the clinic and make our presence known. There were often times where people would scream at us, and sometimes people who were with us would scream back. I remember those times always made me feel uncomfortable (as a 8-13 year old.) There would also usually be a group of Catholics who would protest with us, but they didn't have any signs, and they didn't scream at anyone. They would just stand in a circle and pray the rosary. That stuck with me too. They weren't militant, or even drawing attention to themselves. They would just pray for God to work in the hearts of women who went into the clinics. In the end, I am not sure who did more "good," but now I think that the Catholics may have modeled what it means to be a Christ follower better than we "evangelicals" did.
Well, we survived week 2 and as we push into week three, I realize that things are beginning to come due in a hurry. I have 2 papers that are due on Wednesday and Friday respectively, and as of next week, several of the books that I have to read should be finished (I am on task to finish several, but I really need to get going on a couple.) I really need to start getting up earlier and use some time in the mornings to get work done, but laying in bed with my family and rushing to class is much more my current style. (Having the seminary building a 4 minute walk from my back door has its advantages and disadvantages.) I am excited about our youth program starting back up at church this Wednesday, but it is more work that I have to keep on top of. Thank goodness for Google Calendar, because without it, I don't think I would remember anything that I had to do.
I had an interesting discovery today. I was singing with Cappella Romana, one of my favorite groups that I sing with, at the Middle Eastern Festival today (St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church), and I noticed that one of my professors was in the audience. After our performance I approached him to say hello, and I found out that he is member of the Orthodox church. I thought that was different, seeing as he is a professor at an Evangelical Seminary, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. I actually hold the Orthodox church with great respect. I love their music and sense of tradition as well as the way that they are hospitable to everyone. I also ran across the woman who lives in the town house directly across from us. She revealed that she and her husband also called St. George their home church and that the were becoming Orthodox members very soon. She said it in sort of hushed tones, like she didn't want it to get out, but who really cares. Are evangelicals so rigid that they cannot even accept the teachings of the "Original Church?"
I have to be honest. I am not even sure that I am an "evangelical" with a capital E. I grew up in that church, and serve as a Pastor in one, but I am not sure that I like the stigma that comes with being an evangelical. I love God, and accept that Jesus took my place on the cross, but every time you hear about some Christian religious wacko in the news, they are fundamentalist evangelical Christians saying and doing things that embarrass me (Westboro Baptist Church, I am looking at you) and making Christians look like a group of people who are hateful and bigoted. To quote Dr. Metzger (again, and it won't be the last time) we need to foster a sense of HOSPITALITY and not HOSTILITY. We need to meet people where they are, to show them the way to Christ, not scream at them until they throw a FROSTY in your face.
As a young person, I spent a lot of time protesting abortion. That is what my Dad was into, and that is what we would do on a Saturday morning. Take some signs down to the clinic and make our presence known. There were often times where people would scream at us, and sometimes people who were with us would scream back. I remember those times always made me feel uncomfortable (as a 8-13 year old.) There would also usually be a group of Catholics who would protest with us, but they didn't have any signs, and they didn't scream at anyone. They would just stand in a circle and pray the rosary. That stuck with me too. They weren't militant, or even drawing attention to themselves. They would just pray for God to work in the hearts of women who went into the clinics. In the end, I am not sure who did more "good," but now I think that the Catholics may have modeled what it means to be a Christ follower better than we "evangelicals" did.
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