i Know What I Know

It's taken me a few extra days to get a blog posted recapping last week's lecture. Maybe its because I had a weekend full of other things, or maybe because I'm still processing all that Al McBryan had to teach us. Al is one of the smartest people I have ever met, and sometimes sitting in his class is like doing mental gymnastics. He asks questions that I never thought of asking and discussing topics that have never crossed my mind. But I knew this going into the week, so I'll say I was somewhat prepared.

Al McBrayn, getting comfortable for class time!

Our topic was "Essentials of the Gospel". Basically, we talked about the gospel, and what were the essentials someone has to know to be saved. Basically, we started with how do we know God exists, and if He exists is there a reason to believe His is there to be known. We had some great discussion on proving the existence of God. We then moved into who is God, and what is He like, and a discussion on the nature and character of God. From there we talked about about How and why must everyone come to know God, and it was here that we really delved into the process of salvation. Finally, we discussed why is Jesus the only way back to God. There were so many big theological ideas thrown about. Some I wholeheartedly agreed with and some I'd never considered before, and it challenged me to go back to Scripture and gain perspective. I've also been reading Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins, which has itself become quite controversial among many Christian circles. So last week I was really feeling challenged to KNOW that i KNOW where I stand on these issues. I mean, think there's always going to be the mystery of faith, and some things will ever be able to be explained with human logic. And that's OK. Faith is essential to the gospel. In Hebrews 11:6 it says "It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him." This current week's teaching is completely different than last week's, and I'm grateful for the change of pace, but I'm definitely still wrestling with some of these points and questions we discussed. But I guess that all just part of this Christian journey....the believing, the doubting, the grasping, the revelations, the understanding, the experiencing and the sharing. What a beautiful process.