stay tuned

hola mis amigos. it's been over a month again since i last updated this thing.. i'm really not doing so well at keeping this current.. probably why i don't have hardly any readers..

i have, however, come up with an idea to make this blog be much more frequent in its updates (personifying the blog haha), more relevant in its information, more enjoyable and hopefully more beneficial to you, the reader. i am going to start writing small reviews on the books i am currently reading.. to still be coupled with (hopefully) frequent updates of life and all that jazz (read like the song hehe)

i went into this summer with a stack of about 7 or 8 books i really wanted to read and people are always asking about particular books, books to recommend, etc. so this will be a good way to provide you, the reader, with my take on the books i am reading, as well as give me the opportunity to look back and remember what i liked or didn't like about the book. i started looking at my bookshelf and realized a couple (not many) books on there i hadn't ever read.. so i put them in my stack of books to read. i don't want to have any books on there that i've never read because.. well, i can't really provide any feedback on it or recommend it to someone if i've never read it myself.

the books that will be coming in the near future range in topics from refuting calvinism to a small book about angels (they gave it to us for free during red carpet week at seminary).. from open theism to renewing our passion for God.. i'm excited to begin reading them.. and to re-read others.. and to enlighten you on how they were.. who knows, maybe my reviews will cause you to read one or more.. or perhaps you could suggest some to me.. that'd be great too!

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i leave sunday morning at 5am, headed for daytona for Student Life's college camp thingajig at the beach.. not really a camp.. we have a ton of free time and its for college students so the entire day doesnt have to be booked up like it is with youths, but anyway, Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman will be there for sure.. plus others most likely.

shortly after we get back from there, i leave the next monday (19th) for kansas city for the national worship leader conference.. where several leading worship leaders will be conducting seminars, etc.. including (heh) Chris Tomlin and others.

soon after I get back from that trip, I will be headed to Boston with the family to visit my brother for a few days.. i'm looking forward to that trip for sure.. well all of them really, but whatever.

the summer so far has been pretty laid back, focused on VBS and schoolwork for the most part, but its about to get quite adventurous.. traveling the country in just a few short weeks.. well i guess, mostly just east of the Mississip..

anywho, stay tuned. reading has already commenced, i just haven't had the time to write reviews yet. but 2 books are already down for sure.. more to come.

as you go

this week, i'm taking a workshop class at nobts and it meets everyday for a week so i've been staying on campus this week. most everyone commutes to campus on a regular basis so, needless to say, campus is pretty dead at night. to make it even more exciting, the dorms don't have internet access, so i've been sitting in the student center all evening skeefing internet.. there are probably much more productive things i could be doing but.. meh.

to make it feel like i'm at least accomplishing something, since i can't really relax in the comfort of my own room/home, i've been watching videos from a q&a session on theological topics with greg boyd, mostly. a few of them, he was joined by paul eddy. anyhow, it's been interesting to see their take on some of the key theological questions that face us everyday, and have plagued our churches for centuries. many of the questions are easily answered when we stop taking the bible out of context and begin to read it as an entire work.. an entire work revealing the character of God. individual passages (mostly because they are stripped of context) do not offer us the entire picture.. they provide only a glimpse at who God truly is. imagine looking at God through as clear of a picture as we can possibly get, using all of Scripture, rather than through a magnifying glass, only using a single passage or small group of passages to overanalyze a point to death.. the entire time, not ever having an accurate understanding of the nature of God as a whole. how much more beneficial and worthwhile it would be to actually worship God based on how He has revealed Himself to us through creation and through Scripture!

btw.. i guess i should add, if anyone has any questions about specific issues or what i'm talking about, i'd love to dialogue with you and point you toward any and all resources i know on the issue. in fact, thats precisely what we as Christians are called to do.. share our faith, whether to believers or unbelievers. our faith and humility before God should always be on constant display.

the course i'm taking this week is "church evangelism" and tomorrow, we're going into the gentilly area (the neighborhood just around campus) and witness to people, using something as simple as a 9v battery for their smoke detectors as a starting point for much more meaningful dialogue about the salvation and grace found in Jesus Christ. it should be an interesting, but very rewarding and humbling experience. i pray that God will use our efforts not only as an educational tool, but also to make a difference in the lives of the people we will come into contact with, as well as making a difference in our own lives.. causing us to have a greater appreciation for God's people in order that we would share the incredible news of the Gospel much more often and much more passionately!

...so i never intended this blog to be a preaching tool or whatever, but thats where God wanted it to go tonight it seems. aside from all that i've just shared, life is going great. there are a lot of exciting trips and events coming up this summer that i'm really eager for. we've been working a lot on the vbs skit and i'm really excited about it. it came together very last minute, but i think its coming together extremely well! then theres the college trip to daytona, worship leader conference in kansas city, family vacation to boston, and a potential trip to lexington to visit a good friend. prior to the daytona trip, there may be the opportunity for a few of us college aged students to do a missions project for a week prior in florida. hopefully it will all come together, but more on that later.

farewell friends. much love.

-- trenticus