Nu Thang: The Weekly Digest

Since the Simple Woman's Daybook is no longer a thing, I thought I'd find a way to include things that don't quite fit with my other blog series.  I will include some of the old prompts while including some new ones.  I'm also eliminating (or at least changing) some of the prompts.  For example, "Titters from the Twitter (and other places)" will now be called "Now That's Funny Right There."  The former seems like a dorky name since I'm not on Twitter (or X, or whatever) anymore.

Looking out the window....

The warm beauty of the sunshine streaming through the "big window" (my sliding glass door that doesn't go anywhere...unless you want to die) contradicts the chill in the air inside my apartment.  Both my electricity and gas are out due to high winds in the area.  The power company thought a preemptive shutdown would minimize the danger of wildfires in the area.  The electricity I understand, but the gas?  Really?

A cool experience...

I did a nerd run to Belmar Library during spring break.  On the entry wall were these gorgeous art quilts.  I do not know the artist, but I enjoyed seeing the display.  These were just the pieces that were at my eye level.  There were several more displayed

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

No man can hope to be felt who cannot make himself understood.  If we give our people refined truth, pure Scriptural doctrine, and all so worded as to have no needless obscurity about it, we shall be true shepherds of the sheep, and the profiting of our people will soon be apparent. - Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students.

I'm thinking about...

Our last sermon series at church.  Pastor Robert Gelinas just finished a series called "The Potter's House" based on Jeremiah 18:1-4.  The entire series was excellent and I highly recommend it.  However, I'm personally struggling with the final sermon.  Each message showed how the steps of creating pottery are analogous to our spiritual journey.  In the final message on finishing, Pastor Gelinas mentioned that occasionally a pot will crack after its final firing.  He tried to encourage us by saying that the "cracks" of life are OK and God can still use cracked pots.  

Here's where I'm struggling.  First, let me give a caveat:  I'm not questioning my Pastor's teaching; I'm questioning how I supposed to apply the teaching.  Previously, we heard a series called "Better Than Before."  It also used pottery as an analogy.  In this case, it was Kintsugi pottery--broken vessels repaired with lacquer mixed with gold.  The cracks in this pottery are repaired in a manner that makes the container stronger.  The repair is akin to how God's "repairs" make us stronger than before.

So, the confusion lies in whether the goal is for me to let the "cracks" show, or pray in hopes that they will be repaired to make me a more acceptable vessel.  What marred parts of my life are dangerous cracks, and which are mere beauty marks that make me unique?  While it sounds simple, this conundrum has been gnawing at me for a while.

What I read this week...

• Pray Big by Alistair Begg  ✮✮✮
• The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges ✮✮✮✮
• The Path to Wholeness by Dr. Mark Mayfield ✮✮
• The Path Out of Loneliness by Dr. Mark Mayfield ✮✮
• Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman ✮✮✮✮

I'm currently reading...

• Lectures to My Students by C. H. Spurgeon
• A Year of C. S. Lewis by C. S. Lewis
• Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
• Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee
  

This week's blog posts...

• Square Parties:  Monday Mess Making is here.
• One Word--Finish:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here.
• First Line Friday #20: The Substance of Our Faith by Douglas Sweeney is here.
   

I am thankful for...

A good report.  I recently had my first colonoscopy.  I had no polyps or any signs of disease.

From the Workshop...

Please see my latest Aunties Workshop blog post here.

 

First Line Friday #20: The Substance of Our Faith by Douglas Sweeney

Thanks to Carrie at
Reading is My Superpower
for the Link-up

 

Title:  The Substance of Our Faith
Author:  Douglas Sweeney
Genre:  Historical Theology

  〰First Line〰

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There would be no history of doctrine if Jesus had not promised the Spirit to disciples in the upper room before his crucifixion.  Or, at least, the history of doctrine would have proven far poorer.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────

Synopsis:  (From Goodreads) 

Doctrine is central to Christian discipleship and maturity. Unfortunately, it is often sidelined in churches' teaching ministry as irrelevant or impractical. Countering this, leading church historian Douglas Sweeney defines doctrine as church teaching intended for the shaping of daily faith and practice.

The Substance of Our Faith addresses introductory issues in the study and application of historical doctrine, incorporating a unique global and catholic perspective. It addresses the Spirit's role in the rise of doctrine in the early church, the authority of Scripture and tradition in the development of doctrine, the challenges of doing global historical theology, the nature and purpose of doctrine, and implications for teaching the faith today. Specifically, Sweeney advocates that those who teach the Christian faith in all churches do so in communion with the saints who have come before.

〰First Thoughts〰

This book is part of my hunt for a good set of textbooks for the courses I teach.

 

In teaching Christian Doctrine and Theology, the concepts I long for my students to assimilate are what is the faith, why is the faith and how is the faith.  What, meaning what is the scriptural and historical basis of the faith.  Why, meaning why do the particular doctrines matter.  How refers to the means by which believers apply the what and the why to real life,  What I don't want is for the subjects to become esoteric and impractical.  

 

My hopes for Sweeney's book is that first, he doesn't just present dry historical facts but shows how doctrine developed in both theory and practice. And second, that the author's mention of the Holy Spirit (as evidenced by the first line of chapter one) does justice to how intricate the Spirit's role is to doctrine.  It has been my observation that many "scholarly" works out of fear of being seen as Pentecostal (?!) minimize, or completely omit the depth of the Spirit's role in the formation and development of the Church and its doctrines.

So, what's the first line of the book you're currently reading?

One Word--Finish: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

Several months ago, Miss Joyce asked, "Do you have a word for the year (WOTY)? If so, and you'd like to share, please share. How do you decide on a word? If you don't have a word are you still on the hunt for one for 2024?"

While I don't necessarily have a specific focus word for the year, I have them for different seasons in my life.  Each time I've had such words, they have overlapped each other or been continuations of each other.  My first word was metamorphosis.  The next was community.  A few years ago it was upgrade.  For this season of life, the word is finish.

At the close of 2023, I saw too many things begun but left undone in my life:  

• Books and magazines unread.
• The Bible Correspondence Course I started a ridiculously long time ago. 
• A certificate program offered at work.
• Books I've started writing.
• My podcast.  I have ideas for plenty of episodes, but just haven't made time to record, edit, and post them.
• Craft projects.
• Videos that have been in my "watch later" playlist on YouTube so long that I don't know if I even want to watch them anymore.
• Ditto for unplayed podcasts.
• Purging old computer files and saving what I want to keep on a drive. 
• Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 
  

You get the idea.

Since I know that I can do anything, but can't do everything...at least not all at once,  I have to make some decisions:

• What was  a "God" idea, not just a good idea?
• How do I effectively schedule the completion of these ideas?
  
• Do I need to purge items and lists, or do I need to press on?  Would purging be cheating or pressing on be an exercise in futility?
  
• Find my "why?" for the tasks.
• Is it OK to ask for help, or is this my own little red wagon?
  

What do y'all do when faced with stuff like this?

Insert your own random thought here.

In case you missed it:  

* My previous Hodgepodge post:  "Happy Little Concussions" is here.
* My latest Monday Mess Making post on my Auntie's Workshop blog "Square Parties" is here.
* My latest Five Minute Friday post: "Respite" is here.
* My latest First Line Friday post: "#19: On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior" is here.
* My latest book review of Good to Great is here.
* My "24 in 2024" post is here.
* My 2024 reading challenge:  "Full Shelf Challenge V.2" is here.