for those of you who know the continuing saga of my basement, i have actually started to take steps to cleaning my basement.

yeah.

seriously.

everything is now in a blue bin or cardboard box. the floor has been swept clean.

the next steps are to take one bin at a time, and decide what to do with the contents of the bin.

we’ve got a rummage sale planned for the spring. don’t know the date yet, but looking forward to selling a lot of things that are no longer needed.

so good to sit on the couch and rest my feet.

-brian

I am thankful that my semester’s work is done. Well, almost. Have a posting to complete. I will say that my Romans class was one of the best classes I’ve taken in my life. It wasn’t that I learned a lot, but it is what God did to my life during this class. He drew me closer, and has given me assurances of my salvation. I still have a sin nature, but I am no longer controlled by my sin nature. I’m realizing more and more the importance of dying to my old self.

-brian

Grudem correctly positions man as not necessary, but man is created to give glory to God (Ephesians 1:11-12). Our response to that should be that we “do all to the Glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). While the Fall caused God’s image in man to be distorted, it wasn’t completely lost. As we are redeemed in Christ we start a progressive recovery of being made fully in God’s image. And we look forward to Christ’s return, knowing we will have a complete restoration of God’s image in us (Grudem 444-445). A significant point that Grudem made is that Jesus became a man, reminds me that while the universe is big, the fact that Jesus became a man signifies the importance of human beings in God eyes (Grudem 450). A personal application is that I must check myself when meeting a person for the first time. I find myself making a snap judgment about a person when I meet them for the first time based on their physical appearance. I should remember that people who are radically different, older, weak, unattractive to the world are still made in God’s image. Every person regardless of race, those seriously ill, the mentally retarded and children yet unborn deserve the full protection and honor as human beings (Grudem 450). Recently a child with Down Syndrome has started attending the middle school ministry. This is the first time that I’ve experienced a mentally handicapped student in the middle school ministry and I find myself looking for ways to make sure that the activities that we do as a youth group, the teaching and small group can accommodate this child with special needs as well as effectively minister to the students at the same time. What an honor that God has given me an opportunity to teach other students the value of human life by showing respect and honor to the mentally handicapped child!

-brian

Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000. Print.