...part time at least.

But hey, that is all I can handle right now anyway. It is a lot of fun, and the funny thing is, you learn much, much more about a subject by preparing to speak on it than you do just reading about it and taking notes.

In other news, I actually posted on the other blog today (convince-rebuke-exhort.blogspot.com), and I think I will be posting semi-regularly on it now. I am getting my thoughts organized in preparation for a ministry effort that my very good friend Dustin S. and I are planning to start with the local high school students. We are super-pumped about that. Even if just a few show up to study with us, we would be thrilled. We feel like we have some really great material to present. Anyway, that is the material that is going to be showing up on "Convince, Rebuke, Exhort," so I should be able to stay on top of it...

...after 10 months of just sitting on the domain name... lol

bks

... I want to preach after all!

I have been afraid to do it up to now, but that is done. I am already making steps toward it and will be preaching soon enough. Now, that may still be a ways off, but still, sooner that never.

If that makes any sense...

Great is God.

More on this soon. But for now:

I am experiencing a bit of a crisis. I have grown disinterested in all the things that once fascinated me. History, literature, science, philosophy--all of them are failing me. Only one thing seems worth learning or teaching, and that is the will of God, as revealed in His word.

Now this may not sound like a crisis to many people, but that is what it feels like. I don't want to do anything else as my life's work. I want only to minister to the needs of others in God's world by studying His word with them. The problem is that I really can't see myself doing the history professor thing anymore. Or any other thing. I would only be happy studying God's word and taking it to others full time.

I feel as though a great weight has been lifted in my life now that I have made this decision. I have never been happier, but I am also very unsure of how things will play out, as I don't really see myself being a "preacher". Hence the crisis. I just want to study the word and show it to others--without all of the social/political aspects of modern preacherdom. I have heard of people who were supported by congregations to teach the word full-time in personal studies. That is the strategy I love and have born fruit with. Preaching is fine, and I would not be terribly unhappy with that, but it isn't really what I think I am cut out for.

I need to be studying with others, one-on-one, and writing articles/essays/websites etc.

Some of my wisest advisors are concerned about the potential for financial instability in this type of work, mostly due to the tiny "job market" for non-preaching evangelists. Now, I don't want to sound overly idealistic or naive, but that just isn't a big deal to me. If I can't support a family alone, my (hypothetical) wife would likely make enough for us to handle it together. I don't really care what tax bracket I fall in. In any case, the Lord will provide, so long as I am doing His will to the best of my abilities and making the best use of the blessings He gives me. Isn't that what faith is supposed to mean?

Great is God!

Tell me what you think, family (including any Christian brothers and sisters that happen across this entry).

http://www.okcupid.com/politics

You are a

Social Liberal
(76% permissive)

and an...

Economic Liberal
(38% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Democrat

Higher permissiveness, on either axis, indicates a "live and let live" philosophy.

I thought I would never actually encounter a proponent of American theocracy. I was wrong. Why am I always so surprised by the inability of a large segment of the population to see the big picture?

You cannot convert people to Christ in a theocracy! They are all pretending to be good little Christians, whether they believe in it or not. In fact, one of my friends recently lamented the fact that we live in a "Christian" country at all. So many people are so confident that they are on the right path that no one is worried about becoming more than they are right now.

We are not shut out, but no one is home, so the door might as well be locked.