I’ve been following a church on the west coast for some time now. Back in October I believe it was they started a theology track that was gonna run about 9 months. About a month or so ago they posted some of the first months on there website. I shared the audio files with some people. One happened to be a friend of mine in TN. Through some discussion about the tracks they were doing we decided to start listening together and then call up and discuss it. We invited a few others and tonight was our first night. From my understanding the original group size of the group was around 800 people or so. Well were just 5 people doing it over the phone..

Tonight was the first night that Danny, Cassie, Matt, Jennifer and I “meet” together. It was a bit interesting getting things”up and running” but finally got it worked out so that I would be on speaker phone. It was a great discussion and made me walk away with a bit to think about. Anyway, the first track that were going through is called “Words of God or Words of Men - A Theology of the Bible”. This first one laid some ground work for the next couple of weeks. There was good bit of information talked about and here are some thoughts I wrote down:

- Pitfalls of studying the scripture, past experiences and mindsets of a probably typical christian :

• We have a nagging, guilty though towards studying the bible. We know we should do it, it still sits on our shelf.
• We read the bible legalistically. Were told we have to read the bible. This is what every good Christian does.
• Scripture is a sacred cow - we treat scripture with utmost reverence:
  • If we hear something that challenges what we have been told to believe or think…its wrong and unbiblical.
  • We hear the same stuff over and over again and get bored with it.

- The Bible is not a “love letter” or even a letter written by God to us (It is however written by God). Over 3/4 of the bible is historical narrative. Other portions are wisdom literature, poetry, law, prophecy and letters from one person to another.

- Everyone has a theology whether they are a Christian or not. It should not be our interest or intent to give someone a theology, but to match ones theology with what is revealed in scripture to us. Theology isn’t about God. It’s not about any god. It’s about the God revealed in scripture.
- Theology isn’t theology till we watch how you live. Saying one thing and living what you say is and defines your theology. (We can believe in a virgin birth, but we can’t trust God to provide our needs with finances, food, etc. - If a God can do that, can’t He give you what you need too?)

- We can talk about all the abstracts, thoughts, man’s interpretations of who God is, but we avoid the personal interaction’s with God.  We use this to hide from God.

- If our study doesn’t lead us to God it is pointless / If your not astonished by theology, study something else.

- the greatest thing in the church is bordem. We have lost the awe and passion of the truth of the Bible.

- We must be capable of astonishment. Not to learn the creeds and have all the knowledge. We become bored if we think we know everything (thus causing greater issues)

- We don’t appreciate the scriptures. If we understood we would be drawn to it, desire it more. If our love and affection can be stirred up we will desire it. We will want to read it and interact with it.

These are some thoughts that I had jotted down, there are a bit more. I took just over two pages worth of notes in my moleskin , I could have taken more. I think Danny called me a nerd.

Tags: church, Mike Erre, RHU, RockHarbor, Steve Porter, theology, Words of God

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