For the last few weeks, I've been helping teach an Apologetics class as part of the Brookside Institute on Sunday afternoons.  That means I've had my nose in resources that help explain the reasonableness, reliability, and richness of the Christian more that I sometimes do at other times.  And, whenever I find a good resource, I try to recommend it so others can benefit from it (or at least consider what it's saying!) as well.  You may recall me posting one such resource video a few weeks ago.
 
Well, I've run across another worthwhile video that's less than 6 minutes long.  The video features Eric Metaxas, who's always fun to listen to (and worth listening to).  The video deals with a topic - science and Christianity - about which Metaxas recently wrote a (MUCH discussed) Wall Street Journal article.  And the video is well done - making a clear point concisely, with some (characteristic) Metaxas wit thrown in.

Here's one line from the video that will hopefully serve as a teaser, drawing you into the 6 minute clip: "Simply put, the odds against life in the universe are astonishing.  Yet, here we are - not only existing, but talking about existing.  What can account for it?" 

Lately I've been swimming in the deep end of theology.  In addition to my "day job" as a pastor, I've been doing some adjunct teaching at Grace University in Omaha, NE.  (This is one of the reasons my posts on this site have been so sporadic the last few months.)

Specifically, I've been teaching a class on Trinitarianism (yup, that's what it's called), and have been drilling deeply into Theology Proper (the doctrine of God), the Trinity, Christology (the study of Jesus Christ) and Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit).  It's been AWESOME.  And I've learned a ton.

While I've been on a number of different learning curves of my own so far this semester, one of these learning curves concerns the role of theology in the Christian's life.  Here are two big lessons I've learned in this area:

Recently, I was pointed towards this audio segment with JT English, Pastor of Training at The Village Church in Texas.  I love hearing people articulate a passion and vision for biblical & theological equipping in the church and for the church - because of how closely this aligns with what we're trying to do with the Brookside Institute.  

Below I've included a recent episode (Episode #5) of The Village Church Podcast Show (you can find it and subscribe on iTunes if you'd like).  The whole episode is worthwhile, but the segment I have in mind for this post - where the episode deals specifically with the Training Program at The Village - is about 2/3 of the way in.  Start listening at about 21:50, and you'll get about 10 minutes worth of solid stuff.

Of course, Dr. English is talking about the Training program at the Village - he's not talking about the Brookside Institute.  Don't expect 100% overlap.  There are certain things they've chosen to do there that we've chosen not to do at the Brookside Institute.  But there's still A LOT of overlap.  Keep reading to learn more.