Time to get started...again...I hope...

For some time I have desired to regularly post on a blog and comment on things I see happening in various arenas of my life.  Hopefully, this will be the first of several posts doing just that!

The question arises, "what will be written about on here?"  The short answer to that question is just about anything I feel like writing about.  However, to be a little more specific here is a list of broad topics that I intend to put in my 2 cents:

• My gardening  success and (many) failures.  I love to "play" in my garden.  Starting seeds in the late winter and early spring to have a great harvest of food in the summer is just plain fun to me.  Lots of work, but lots of fun as well.
• Teaching.  My main job is teaching high school chemistry and physics...at least for now.  So expect posts around this theme.  Also, expect my very candid thoughts concerning the current state of education and how politics and money are destroying our education system.  Yes I am very opinionated about this subject and will give my opinions about things such as the current standardized testing madness going on, common core standards, etc.
• Christianity vs. "Churchianity":  I once heard the term "churchianity" used to describe some of the things that go on in churches that span the range from non-Biblical (but not destructive) to downright blasphemous.  I actually will be expanding the term "churchianity" to show not only traditions, but also that in many circles "church" has become the end all religion.  Yes, this topic is sure to draw to the fire of many people.  I just ask for civility in the comments thrown at me (and others).
• Other areas as I feel like it...hey it is my blog.

I would ask anyone who happens to come across this blog to approach what is written with an open mind.  We all come to everything we read, see, hear, etc. with many preconceived ideas.  I will be the first to admit that on many of the things I write about (or speak about in church, etc.) my ideas/beliefs have changed...in some cases drastically changed as I have learned more, read more, etc.  This is especially true in terms of Christianity.  In fact, some of the ideas/beliefs that I had held previously I have come to realize are just downright non-biblical!  Oftentimes the people that taught some of those non-biblical ideas were not trying to mislead or purposefully harm anyone.  Rather, they were simply uninformed.  One of my pet peeves of Christianity here in the United States (and specifically in the so called "Bible Belt") is the downright laziness of most church going people.  Instead of desiring to know the Scriptures, to know our Lord Jesus Christ, and to know doctrine, most simply would prefer to just show up on Sunday and listen for (no more than) 20-40 min. of one man talking.  Many times that one man doesn't even talk about or use the Scriptures, but that is ok as long as he tells me "I am saved and don't let anyone tell you differently". (Really?  Since when did we humans, the created beings, get to tell who is and who is not headed to heaven?)

Since this is turning into a considerable amount of discussion on Christianity, perhaps a few things concerning where I am coming from would be in order.  To use some common terms, I am a Reformed Baptist.  Reformed meaning that I hold to the Doctrines of Grace or Reformed Theology or what some would call Calvinism.  To be clear, I do not hold to hyper-Calvinism, which when people hear the term "Calvinism" they often equate it with "hyper-Calvinism" (more on this in later posts).  I hold very strongly to the Sovereingty of God in all things.  "Baptist" in terms of my belief in believer's baptism, with immersion being the preferred mode of application.  I believe the great creeds and confessions of the church are important for teaching doctrine and summarizing the message of Christianity.  Those creeds and confessions to include (but not limited to) The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, The Anthanasian Creed, The Westminster Confession, The First and Second London Baptist Confessions, and others.

Well, this has gotten to be a much longer post than I planned.  Yes, I do tend to ramble a bit.  Oh well.  I will try to keep my posts limited to a specific topic each time, and limited to what could reasonably be read in 3-5 min.  But no promises.