The last two days have been pretty great. Sunday morning I skipped church and went to visit my great friend Jess Lynn at the Oakwood Starbucks, where she's "temping" for the next several weeks. They were swamped, so sadly I didn't get to spend time with her on a non-existent break, but I did get a lot of research done for the next chapter in "Re:framing Repentance." I've been wrestling with the layout for the next several (and final) chapters of the book, and I decided to take what would've been three chapters and condense them into two. Much of the next chapter involves the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification, and how they play into the whole repentance ordeal. Most of my studying at Starbucks came from Wayne Grudem's systematic theology; while I'm not Calvinist, I'm not the type who only wants to learn from people I agree with (this would be difficult, too, seeing as my views are quite varied; theologically, I'm a mutt). I love Grudem's analyses, and I also enjoy (and I may be one of the few) Jack Cottrell, who is a theologian on the other side of the fence. I like elements of what they both have to say but tend to ride the fence. If the grass is greener on either side, then I can just be a part of both!
Sunday evening Dylan and Dewenter came over, and we went to D.L.M. and got fresh fish patties from Dylan's friend, and we grilled them up with mushrooms and baked potatoes (I make killer baked potatoes; I studied all sorts of different recipes and came up with my own), and then we sat on the porch and enjoyed some 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale. I like it almost as much as I like the Great Lakes Christmas Ale (I'm doing a gauntlet of Christmas beers, and I'll have a review on 12 Dogs shortly--the ones thus far have been the Great Lakes and the Bell's). This evening Dylan's brother Tyler and I went to Starbucks, where I gave him my markout (I have way too many already lining my shelves, need to share the benefits), and after visiting with a few people, we went out to dinner at Milano's. We both got subs, though I got a salad instead of fries and a Killian's to polish it all off.
Tomorrow should be good. I get to work with lots of great people, and then I'm going to hit up the gym, have an omelette for dinner, and then spend the evening hopefully researching regeneration and sanctification (right now I perceive regeneration as the launching-pad for sanctification; the two go hand-in-glove but aren't the same thing; hopefully my perception will be at the least tweaked, or what's the purpose?). I'm the kind of person who enjoys puzzles and mysteries, and studying the scriptures is like that. I like to try to piece everything together, although it's a catch-22, because once you think you've got something figured out, it just opens a whole new can of worms for something else. Nevertheless, it's a good journey, and I am excited about the prospect--no, the guarantee--of my theological perceptions and persuasions being tweaked and revamped.
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