What is the chief end of man?

Some of you are probably reciting the answer in your head...others are probably confused...still more are probably wondering what the heck kind of question is that.

Until a few weeks ago I was definitely in the confused category. A lot of things dealing with doctrine get ignored...by me. I know it's important, to an extent, but it always just seemed/seems too philosophical for my scientific thinking brain. Give me a study bible and some mellow music and I'm good to go.

Except studying doctrine is important. Can you be know God without studying doctrine*? Yes! Can you believe in Jesus without studying doctrine*? Yes! Can you be saved without studying doctrine*? YES! So why is it so important?
*doctrine here refers to books, studies, and information beyond what is presented in the bible. I do believe that knowing and believing truth, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as they are presented scripturally are very much essential to salvation.

(Note: A lot of what I'm writing is pulled from Steve Lammers' [a pastor in the PCA church] sermon which you can listen to here)

• Is Christianity defined merely by how we live or is there something more? It's something more...it's doctrine...it's truth.
• Healthy doctrine produces healthy/sound Godly living.
• Doctrine and truth matters.
• Truth accords with godliness.
• "Creeds" were built in the early church to summarize the truth - what we aught to believe.
• True teaching, as seen in the apostles, matters.
• How can you love Jesus without loving the truths/doctrines about Jesus.
• Biblical faith rests on truth.
• Biblical faith is not opposed to knowledge...it is almost synonymous with truth. It helps us interpret the truth. Biblical faith has to have truth in order to flourish.
• You don't have to hide from the truth. You don't have to ignore evidence to have faith.
• Biblical faith is digging into scripture and evidence to seek out what is true.

So...here it goes. I'm going to throw off this fear of doctrine and dive in. Why don't you join me? Every Thursday I'm going to post questions and answers from The Shorter Catechism. If you want, buy a copy for yourself. Pray through it. Seek scripture. Post comments and questions. Create discussion. Learn truth. I'll be doing much the same...let's do it together!

Week 1:

1. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. (See 1 Corinthians 10:31; Revelation 7:15-17)

2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him? The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the old and new testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. (See 2 Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 2:20)

3. What do the scriptures principally teach? The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. (See John 5:39; Ecclesiastes 12:13)

89. How is the word made effectual to salvation? The spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up to holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation. (See Pslam 19:7; 2 Timothy 3:16)

90. How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend therunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer, receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives. (See  Pslam 119:11 and 18; Hebrews 4:2; John 7:17)

Camping

Someone or some people are going camping this weekend. I am not one of those people. I will be sleeping inside.
I'm not crazy...the lows have been in the mid-20's here in The Swamp!

But either way, I am going on a "camping" trip this weekend with RUF. Some people will be adventurous (read: crazy) and sleep outside. The rest of us will be sleeping inside the cabin with the heat on. Mind you I am usually a huge fan of tent camping. Love it actually! But, well, I'm not stupid. I know my dinky Florida sleeping bag will do nothing to ward off frost bite compared to those super freeze rated mummy bags. I'm realistic in my weeny-ness.

Our time shall be filled with fun, food, and fellowship. I thoroughly enjoy this trip every year. We do devotionals, pray together, and just enjoy each other's company while spending time in God's creation. At night we usually do a bonfire, s'mores, and games. During the day we (read: boys) play football and frisbee. Some people brave the cold cold river. Others (read: girls) go for walks, chit chat, and play with our campus minister's daughters.

Unfortunately, though, I will be leaving our little weekend getaway early to come back to town and work on Saturday morning. But I am glad to not be missing all of my last RUF camping trip. (Let the nostalgic sentimentality of senior year commence...)

Hope you all have a fun weekend too!

RUF Fall Conference

Last weekend was the RUF Fall Conference. It's where all of the Florida Universities (those with RUFs) come together to camp, hang out, learn about God's word, and worship. There were 6 schools there: JU, UNF, USF, UCF, FSU, and UF. UF (my school) had by far the most people.

We drove to Florida Bible Camp which was about 45 minutes away. My car happened to get a little lost but that was mostly because we didn't go far enough down this very bumpy dirt road. So we turned around, still didn't see it, turned around again and went back, then finally found it. I'm surprised Cecilia (my car) survived. I half expected the engine to fall out or something.

We got checked in - got the schedule, small group assignments, and our awesome new T-Shirts. I got all of my stuff settled in the tent and set off to find friends. We all hung out and chatted, mostly around the candy bowl =).

Beautiful Senior girls on the left and again on the right with Steve, our campus minister. =)

Then it was time for the first large group of the night. Our speaker was John Stone - if you're familiar with RUF, you should know that he is pretty high up in the organization and we were very blessed to have him ALL WEEKEND! Steve, my campus minister, went to college with John so we had the "in" which was great!

Steve, of course, spoke very highly of him. I didn't know how accurate these words of praise were until that Friday night. I was floored. The mini sermon series for the weekend was on Incarnation: Living like Jesus. I can't even aptly explain how well he flipped the gospel on it's head and made it seem new. It seems silly to be so floored considering he spoke on Luke and Daniel - two books I've read before and have had taught to me. I highly recommend checking out the recordings if you get the chance. Maybe it will rock your world, as it did mine.  (Don't forget to check out any other recordings on there, too. They're all great!) God was really working in my heart all weekend.


My small group was wonderful. We had a good group of girls - a mix of quiet and talkative. There weren't too many awkward silences which is good - those always make me nervous as a "leader." We had some good conversation, delved into some deep discussion, opened up about our lives, and enjoyed each other's company. It was beautiful.


Next was a good old fashioned square dance! We even had a real caller - a really old guy who was baffled at just how bad college kids are at listening to directions. We were all just too busy laughing and having fun to take it too seriously. At one point I was laughing so hard I was crying. Do you know how ridiculous line/square dancing is?!? My partner at that point in time - a guy whom I didn't know, from another school - probably thought I was crazy but lead me through the weaving dance without getting too many toes stepped on. I'm thankful for that.

My beautiful friend A rockin' the overalls and braids look! 

Free time ensued as we all became tired and worn out. That much goofy-ness takes a lot out of you! A bunch of UF kids grabbed some snacks and played mafia in the gazebo. I'm a huge fan of that game and love playing it but on this night, I just wasn't into it. When I got killed off I just chatted with a new friend.

My new friend, C, and me.

At some point after mafia and chatting I got ready for bed, climbed into the tent, and crashed. Saturday morning was chilly, which was AWESOME! Breakfast was scrumptious - thanks Craig Carter! I helped with worship team which was fun - I don't usually do that. It was definitely a God thing because I didn't even get stage fright! The message, again, was ground shaking. Can I reiterate that God was really just working in my heart all weekend!

The weather was beautiful so many of the senior girls spread out blankets and took a nap in the sun.

Love God, love friends, love life!

In the afternoon a sister of an FSU student came and showed us the documentary she made about child trafficking in Benin, Africa. It's called Shed No Tears. She worked through the organization, Unseen Stories. It gave me goosebumps and made my heart ache for Haiti and the restavek children.

After the evening service, the UF/'Bama game was on. It was a sad excuse for a game on our part. It's hard to to have a rough rebuilding year after so many years of awesome football and national championships. It was a little unfortunate, also, because we were watching the game with students from other schools - schools that typically don't like us for beating them in football year after year. There were some belligerent students who blatantly cheered against UF but we took it in strides.

There was a bonfire outside during/after the game and I enjoyed chatting with some friends. I was going to hit the hay relatively early but in the tent I ended up sitting up talking with another friend. It was a Christ-centered conversation with a cherished friend so I don't regret staying up way later than I had intended.

Sunday morning we had our final service. We cleaned up the camp - I swept the "mess hall" room. So. Much. Sand. Then all of the schools took group pictures and hit the road. It was bittersweet, knowing this was my last Fall Conference of my college career.

Fall Conferences all four years!!