Bible study in Twin Cities and ramblings

Thank you to the folks who have welcomed me to the blog world. I have had a genealogy webpage for about eight years with a guest book that pretty much takes care of itself. I had no idea that I had to publish blog comments. Silly me, thought they just showed up on the screen and I could then give them the boot or approval. It's a new world and will take some time to get used to the landscape. Sorry for missing the boat on that for a day or so!

My genealogy webpage, that is in serious need of updating, was created long before many of the neat webpage creaters they now have. Considering how computer programming adverse I am, I actually wrote the entire code from scratch (insanity!). This blog is so nice, since it pretty much is good to go from the start...although there are many things I would love to customize if I ever get a chance to just sit down without distraction and get a peak at what's out there. Hard enough to get comments on the blog with kids jumping all over. Need a quiet moment to actually absorb stuff.

Since we are on our way to the cabin for the weekend, I just wanted to get this out there to let people know about a really great bible study. I just finished the 24-week course that Jeff Cavin's did on the Bible Timeline. Considering that I was raised Catholic and went to a Catholic university where I was required to take several theology classes, my knowledge of the bible was practically non-existent. The more I have studied the bible, the more I wonder how folks can be Protestant. Granted, I've always been a Catholic so my perspective may be biased or naive, but the way Jeff Cavins presents the material, things just seem so obvious -- especially the honor shown to the Blessed Mother and the parallels between the Old and New Testament that seem to shout that the Catholic Church is the One, True Church.

This time around, Called By Faith Women's Bible Study will be studying, "The Gospel of Matthew" at St. Augustine's in South Saint Paul on Thursday mornings from 9:45am to 11:45 am. Father Echert will be giving the weekly lectures. There is also an evening program at St. Augustine's on Thursday night, I don't have the times, that will view the videotaped lectures of Father Echert. Cost is $60. The study begins on September 6. Father Echert will give a lecture each week and then you are broken into groups for discussion of the assigned "homework."

They also have a wonderful children's program. Cost for a family of little ones is $30. There are two children's groups. One for the 2-3 year olds and the other for the 4-5 year olds. The children aren't just being babysat, they actually have a program where the kids learn about their Faith. My son, who was in the program that just ended, learned about all the people in the bible when I was learning about them during the bible study. He also learned simple prayers and how to say Grace. I really, really recommend it if you are able to attend. The course material is from Catholic Scripture Studies, written by Scott Hahn and Mark Shea. You can go here to see a link to the table of contents and a sample lesson. (Sorry if the link doesn't work, just relearing how to create hot links).

For more information, call Joan at 651.426.8501 or CalledByFaith@comcast.net
Or, if you are ready to sign up, send your check to:
St. Augustine - CBF
749 - 6th Avenue South
South Saint Paul, MN 55075

Have a blessed weekend everyone!