Happy Reformation Day!

In honor of this anniversary, here is one of the product of the reformation: Article IV of the Augsburg Confession

Article IV: Of Justification.

1] Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for 2] Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. 3] This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.

First Snow

Our first snow in our new home is falling. Though ambient temperatures aren't quite below freezing, there is a good bit of it sticking to cars and the leaves strewn over the parking lot.



Heretofore, the heat in our building had not been turned on, and the temperatures inside were staying around 60* F. Erin came home yesterday to find the temperature at 55, and heard from the neighbors that the heat was indeed running already. We shut all the storm windows and went to bed last night having let the oven heat our apartment (praise God for gas being included in rent!) and with a few extra blankets since we were expecting a night below freezing. We awoke sweaty to working heat! We are thankful that the heat is working and that we haven't had to endure more severe weather without it.

In other news, our bathroom apartment came equipped with a rather noisy fan wired directly to the light switch. This prevented anyone in the bathroom from hearing anyone outside talking. I can't count the number of times Erin has hollered 'I can't hear you' over the noise of the fan as we tried to converse while getting ready in the morning. Today, I replaced the single switch with a double switch so we can talk while one of us is using the mirror or sink.

God is Amazing

I have recently been working on my second digest assignment, whose readings are covering the ideas of inspiration and revelation in a good bit of detail. Fortunately, I have been blessed with a pretty solid grounding in these areas, so not many of the concepts are entirely new, though the precision with which the theologians I have been reading articulate these ideas is quite stimulating.

I was particularly struck by something when reading through B. B. Warfield's chapter on inspiration in his The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Warfield had just worked through the human aspect of the inspiration of the scriptures, that God used men and their personalities to write scripture in such a way that we can easily distinguish between the style, idioms, and vocabulary of the several authors of the Bible. How does this perfectly human aspect of inspiration fail to color the message that God wishes to gives His people? Would not a method of dictation have been necessary to prevent the small size of the Apostle John's vocabulary from limiting the truth which God wished to reveal through this? This objection only persists so long as we limit our thoughts on the matter to the moment of inspiration itself. We must step back from our consideration of inspiration and remember that God is providentially ruling all that goes on in the world which He created. When He wished to reveal a certain part of His will to to His people, like the insight of Paul into the relation of the various covenants God made with man expressed in his epistle to the Galatians, He raised up such a man as Paul who would be perfectly suited to the message God wished to convey. Paul had been groomed his entire life for this purpose in a way that no earthly authority could groom someone for such a role. When God's providence is considered, the human personalities that show themselves in the record of scripture present no obstacle whatever to its complete authority and inerrancy! What a mighty and wise God we serve!

First Major Assignment

I just got back my first major assignment, a 'digest' of about 175 pages of dense reading. The idea of the assignment is to summarize all the material in as detailed and accurate a manner as possible in less than 10 double-spaced pages. The challenge is packing all the information into such limited space. I scored 9.5/10! I was not expecting to do nearly as well. Praise God!

This Isn't College Anymore

There have now been several weeks of classes, and one thing is certain: this isn't college any more. The reading load is much greater, and the depth of study has significantly increased from what I have studied in the past. There are also lots of assignments, the first of which I just completed with a lot of work and confusion over the material. Because of all this, I often feel quite overwhelmed and inadequate. It has been a struggle to readjust to school and to a school with much higher standards. Though Erin and I had hoped that I would be able to accomplish my work at school between classes, it has become clear that there is not nearly enough time to do this, so I will have to regularly bring reading and work home to do. On the other hand, language classes are going well so far, which is a blessing--I know a lot of students are struggling with them.

In all of this God is humbling me and teaching me a lot. I am more thankful than ever for Erin's companionship because it sometimes seems like the only thing that is keeping me afloat. God's Word is very refreshing, and we have enjoyed hearing it preached faithfully at Calvary OPC, the second church we've visited since our move.

Please continue to pray for wisdom in choosing a church home. This will become increasingly important if I decide to seek ordination, not that it isn't important for our spiritual life anyway. Also, pray that I would be diligent in my studies, apply myself fully to them, and trust God with the results.