Feet On the Ground

Day 2 of orientation went much better. It seemed like people were looser, more relaxed. Then we all hung out at night and I think getting out of the law school and getting dressed up helped quite a bit. I talked with Megan, a girl in my orientation group, for a couple of hours. She’s sweet and I think we mesh pretty well, plus we have all of our classes together! I also approached a few girls I hadn’t seen before and introduced myself. They were really welcoming and nice and we talked easily for about half an hour. It was a relief to find people that would actually hold a conversation.

Since I’m mostly an introvert, though, it was really nice to hang out by myself today. I got a manicure and pedicure at Ziyan, a fantastic spa, and I will be back! The girl that did my toes was young and sweet and primarily a hair stylist. I think I’d trust her to cut my hair, which is a big deal, so I might try going to her in a couple of months.

I did the reading for my torts and civ pro classes. It was dense, but not too much so, and I felt like I went through it okay. I briefed one case and haven’t really taken notes yet, but it’s difficult because I don’t yet know what the professors are looking for. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.

I want to find more things to decorate my place, but I’m afraid to spend too much. I’ll probably wait until next semester to buy more- but I can definitely see myself staying in this apartment all three years of school, so I shouldn’t really be in a hurry. I feel so blessed to have found such a great place. It’s literally 10 minutes away from everything.

My blogs will become more riveting, I promise.

(Don’t hold your breath.)

Tags: law school, learning

I’m moving to Lexington in 2 days. I have orientation on Friday and classes start next Tuesday.

Nearing freak out mode here.

And…we’ve arrived.

Tags: change, discomfort, law school, risk, uncertainty

I’m really excited about doing my first book review for LitFUSE Publicity. The book is Religion Saves + 9 Other Misconceptions by Mark Driscoll. Mark is the lead preaching pastor for Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Here’s a blurb about the book:

After 343,203 online votes on the Mars Hill Church website, nine questions for Pastor Mark Driscoll emerged as the ones most urgently calling for answers.

Inspired by 1 Corinthians, in which Paul answers a series of questions posed by the people in the Corinthian church, Pastor Mark Driscoll set out to determine the most controversial questions among visitors to the Mars Hill Church website. In the end, 893 questions were asked and 343,203 votes were cast. The top nine questions are now each answered in a chapter of Religion Saves.

After an introductory chapter devoted to the misconception that religion is what saves us, Driscoll tackles nine issues: birth control, humor, predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church, and the regulative principle. Because the purpose of this book is to address commonly asked questions, all readers will find relevant, engaging material, written in Driscoll’s distinctively edgy, yet theologically sound style.

This book requires some intensive reading- which I like. I had to be fully engaged the entire time so that I wouldn’t miss one bit of his explanations. Sometimes Mark can come across a bit dry, even in his sermons, but he is presenting a large amount of weighty information in a short amount of time so I think that is just something that comes with the medium. He interjects sarcasm at the most random moments, which seems to offend some people…but I love it. It’s part of his unique voice that he continues to develop over time. He even defends this well in his section about humor! I enjoy Mark because he is relevant to popular culture and the current struggles in society without compromising Biblical teachings.

Mark’s strength lies in his ability to explain complex spiritual issues in a clear, intelligent manner. I think this comes from being based in Seattle, in a region that is the direct opposite of my Bible belt! His church wouldn’t survive if he couldn’t make his case in a believable, convincing manner. After reading this book, I feel that I am more prepared to defend my beliefs about certain topics to people around me, and ultimately that I can better prove that religion itself does NOT save. I want to be able to debunk this misconception with people around me, and show them that the only true salvation will come through a strong, working relationship with Christ.

My favorite topic to hear Mark explain is relationships. He brings to awareness the practical steps that the Bible tells us to take to have a successful relationship. I think that the church often tries to generalize relationships and use ambiguous terms to define them, forgetting that they take work and dedication. Mark points this out, and it’s refreshing. I also enjoy his talks about grace, faith and works. He struggles to accept grace, like many people do (I think part of this may be his Catholic background coming to the fore), and it’s nice to see the process of working through it. The chapters about birth control and humor are well researched, and the chapter on sexual sin is presented with love and a call to awareness rather than trying to invoke guilt and shame. I had never heard of the regulative principle in those terms, but it was pretty awesome to read about something that affects every aspect of our lives.

This is a really valuable book to read if you struggle to figure out what to believe or even why you believe. Do I agree with absolutely everything Mark says? No, and that’s a good thing. No one is ever always right. It was interesting to read about the emerging and emergent church, because everyone should be aware of these movements in Christianity, but I wasn’t too pleased with the way that some people were labeled. For example, I believe that Rob Bell has a true heart for Christ and is doing great things for the kingdom. Although I haven’t been as pleased with his preaching style lately or his latest book as I have been with him in the past, I don’t think that he is preaching heresy and I believe that some passages from Velvet Elvis were taken out of context. Is Rob Bell always right? No. Is he completely wrong? No. Some people who would be complete put off by Mark’s style can listen to Rob and understand him. It just takes discernment to know where people are missing the mark, and that’s a constant challenge to any believer. Something to keep us alert!

Despite these misgivings, I really enjoyed the book and I feel even stronger in my personal beliefs after reading it. Not that the text really had to convince me one way or another, but it explained issues I’d honestly never considered and made me more aware of aspects of my relationship with Christ that I had been neglecting. While I prefer to actually listen to Mark preach, because I think that’s his strength, I know that I will refer back to this book in the future and I will definitely pursue other titles written by him.

If you want to read some other reviews, the schedule for the blog tour is here. If you want to read or listen to an excerpt from Religion Saves, go here!

Thanks for reading, ya’ll!

It’s so weird to think about how much we screw up. Sometimes the actions and consequences aren’t large or important on any sort of grand scale at all, but they can just loom ahead of us like a giant tidal wave that takes forever to crest and break. I think this is when God is trying to get our attention. That He isn’t trying to threaten us or ruin our lives, but He wants us to wake up. To see what we were doing if we were unaware, or to make us realize that He means serious business when He warns us not to do something.

I talk so much about being afraid that God won’t rescue me, that He won’t be there for me. Yet when I really need His help, I run flailing to Him, realizing how much I really DO need Him and that there is seriously no other way out of this than for Him to rescue me. To catch me up in His arms and shield me from harm. He teaches me to fight and to be strong and to do what I can, to be His representative, but sometimes it gets to the point where He just has to step in and do everything. I realize that I need to expect Him to do this and trust Him to do it at the right moment…but I also need to listen to Him when I’m totally doing the wrong thing so that I’ll stop making such a fool of myself.

Broad topic, short blog. No real thesis, just rambling, even taking a song line for my title because I can’t think of one. Whoops! Hehe.