3 Solas Cafe

So here I am, finally updating what happened at last week's 3 solas. I don't have many notes, and I think it's because I was tired. I've been living off of 5 hrs sleep for the past week. So here's the important stuff that I managed to record.

We first talked about the Counsel of Nicaea in 325AD. One person asked how we know that they chose the right books to create the bible. We didn't brush on that very much and it is something that I want to know, so if anyone can shed some light there, it would help.

Next subject, the prophesies. I already knew that all of them came true, but it was interesting to see the fulfillments of the prophesies one at a time. God uses a census to call Mary back to Bethlehem, the king chased Mary and Joseph to Africa to fulfill another...

Next, beware of bible flopping. This is the term given to just randomly picking a verse out of the bible and following that wisdom. I actually have used this several times. I used to think that it was my spiritual gift. I could just randomly open the bible and find exactly what I needed to see. Once during my sophomore year, I felt like starting every match with a verse. I opened up to somewhere in the old testament and picked a spot. Reading from there, it said "and you shall crush thy enemies..." !!!??!? I quickly shut the book and decided to never start a match with one again. Needless to say, I won that match 6-0, 6-1.

Pastor Arndt told us a story about a man and a women who bible flopped. The man wasn't sure if he should continue to date the woman, so he flopped to Matthew which reads, "[SIZE=-1]Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" A few months later, she was found to be pregnant with her former boyfriend's child. Yikes.

So anyway, I couldn't figure out how to manage attachments, so in order to have the pictures not run the text off the page, I'll post them in the next post and talk about them here.

Picture 1.
3 solas sign behind the coffee both. It isn't paper, it is actually high quality stuff.

Picture 2.
We have a coffee menu here. Sometimes I wonder if it's really necessary to have so much coffee at this class. It's cool that we have it, but I don't drink coffee so I just go to the food table and load up on fruit and pita wraps.

Picture 3.
Our eternal flame looks like it's about to go out.

Picture 4.
This is part of the techy booth in the back of the old sanctuary. Sometimes I get to help set up everything because I get there early enough.

Picture 5.
To LilLamb, you said that the hallways needed some Christian meaning to them to be appropriate. Here is a picture with 2 examples of what can be found there. A Jesus quote and a hidden cross. Like I said, there are a bunch of these scattered around the halls. Not to mention 1 holy spirit (cloud figure in the shape of a dove) at one part. That's all for this week. Hope someone finds it useful.
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And we got another perk in the email. Here it is.


Hello Everyone,

Just a few thoughts as we head into Session #5 next Wednesday (October 12).

I hope is that, after four weeks now, you're finding the Café experience to be a good one. On behalf of our entire team, I'd like to once again thank you for your continued attendance. Our hope is that 3 Solas is becoming (or has already become) a "comfortable place for you to learn about Christ."

I do understand that, along with this type of venue, can come a bit of frustration at times. It's definitely not your typical lecture-style learning environment. Recently, I've had the pleasure of conversing with some of you and/or receiving some emails in which the question has been raised, "Why can't a more direct answer be given to some of the questions that are asked?" I've also received comments regarding the, at times, "lack of focus" during sessions or "inability to stay on task."

In addressing those remarks, perhaps, what might be most beneficial is to provide a clearer understanding of the big picture. By big picture, I'm simply talking about Faith's overall goal with 3 Solas, or any class for that matter.

No doubt, answers to your important questions need to be given. And yes, every learning environment needs to maintain direction and focus. But just as much as a simple answer would suffice for one person, it's important to keep in mind that the answer alone might very well cause ten more questions for ten other individuals. They might view the exact same question from entirely different angles, and in these cases, knowing the why's and what's beneath the answer becomes a necessity.

Enter "the importance of conversation and layered learning." The ability for Paul (or any teacher/instructor) to field a question, whittle it down to its core and answer it by weaving in foundational, necessary principles, which may seem unrelated at the time, becomes hugely important. Without this type of approach, an answer is just an answer and there's no real understanding as to why it's valid or how it came to be.

The best way to explain this might be through a series of lame analogies:

• It's like when I.I mean.Don Hanney used to cheat during a math test in school. When it came to test time, I.he.just wanted to know the answer. But just getting the answer did nothing for my.I mean.Don's full understanding of addition/subtraction. Note: to this day, he never gets his change.he just pays for everything with $100 bills and walks away. People just think he's a good tipper, but in reality, he doesn't know how much anything costs.

• Maybe it's like me when I buy avocados.I need to know what makes one ripe and another rotten.I don't just want to buy an avocado and not know "the real avocado."

• Maybe it's like a song producer wanting "more cow bell".you need to know why more cowbell would make a song better.

Okay.enough. The point is, we're not so much concerned with getting through the 3 Solas Manual and hitting every page (that's why we invite everyone to go through more than one 8-week offering.it's always different). Rather, we're more about teaching individuals a way to think about and process their beliefs.what they believe and why they believe it. Ultimately, with this in their back pocket, we hope it translates into great conversations with others in the workplace, neighborhood and at home. In a nutshell, it's more than simply answering questions.it's providing a set of lenses through which we can "see and interpret the world."

Changing subjects - some of you have requested a list of all the questions that have been sent in via email and/or submitted via the yellow question cards. You'll find an updated list (through 10/5) in an attached Word document. If you have trouble accessing the file, let me know and I'll forward the questions in different format.

Finally, because the "more cowbell" trivia question went over.ummm.errrr.so well last time, I'd like to throw out another trivia question.and yes, it has to do with Saturday Night Live again. Who can tell me the exact name of Chris Farley's Weekend News Updatecharacter who uses an abnormal amount of quotes when describing himself (i.e. maybe I'm not the "best looking".maybe I'm not...and so on and so forth.) (Ed. Note: this popped into my head when Paul was using similar quote marks during Wednesday's discussion.)

Tie breaker will be the best analogy I could have used in place of my abovementioned list of lame analogies (humorous always wins out).

That's it for this week.see you next Wednesday any time after 6:00. As always if you have additional questions/comments, send them my way (3solas@faithtroy.org). Thanks for your time.

Warm Regards,


Rob Higgins
3 Solas Café Team Member

Sorry, nothing to update this week. It was such an odd class. I could have taught it. The only interesting thing that happened was we had a guy that asked the question, "What is the consequences of sin for a Christian?" He kept going on and on about how his eating habits didn't have any consequences. That's it. The other questions were so basic that I felt like getting some much needed sleep. But I didn't. I managed to find some good stuff in the BoC to keep me busy.

I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing my physics homework. But I feel that it is necessary to keep updating this thread every week. This was the 6th week, and this class has a lot of support. The eighth week is on Halloween, so we weren't going to have a class then. Many of the parents have children that want to go trick or treating and wont be able to attend the class. Apparently, we decided to have the 8th week after Halloween and 90% of the people voted for a 9th and 10th class.

Anyway, this lesson was on the sacraments and how it is different with other denominations. Pastor Paul kept on relying on the fact that we are saved by faith. But how is faith created? It is created by means. These means are the means of grace that are given to us. One of which being baptism. The Holy Spirit works faith in all aspects of life: Sacraments, belief. As for the other reformed denominations, I have discovered the reasoning for their views. I think it went something like this: If people can only be at one place at one time, then you think that God's body can't be in the sacrament. And when you believe this, then the thoughts about the sacraments being symbolic come natural. This is part of the reason anyway. Sacraments: Do we do it? Or does God do it? Since we don't do it for God, and since God dies it for us, God gives us faith through baptism. Some of the apology that Paul (pastor) made comes from the Greek text. In 2 Timothy 3:10, it says that

from "infancy" you have known the scriptures.

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The Greek word used for infancy is brethels(?) and it is the same word used in the beginning of Luke when Mary meets Elizabeth and it says "the baby lepta in her mother's womb." Knowing the scriptures from infancy is apparently saying that infants can indeed have faith. But that isn't the only example he gives. With regards to the fact that infants are born with sin, he says Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12-19, Genesis 8:21. Can infants have faith, Paul gave us 2Timothy 3:10-17, Luke 1:39-45, Psalms 22:9-10, Matthew 18:6, Psalm 8:2. And also, it talks of circumcision and baptism where circumcision is given to infants of 8 days old in Colossians 2:9-15.

You know what? I'm starting to get a little scared. When I listen to these classes, I'm not getting much out of them. I know pretty much everything that is being said. The course description says that it is good for leaders.

The Cafe experience will enhance your understanding of the Christian faith as it is lived out in a Lutheran context. Our desire is to equip and train you to lead and teach others. In doing so, you'll acquire the knowledge base needed to clearly articulate your faith, defend it when met with challenges, and practically apply it in every area of your life.

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I think I've worked on this long enough. I'm sure that everything I have said here is already known to everyone in TCL. It's pretty common knowledge. But what isn't common knowledge is the fact that I have physics to do. Hope this post has been of help to someone.

Seriously though. At these classes, I don't find anything new anymore. This isn't really a bad thing, but doesn't it get annoying when this happens to you guys?

Actually, It's only the 3 solas class that was getting boring. People are asking the same questions over and over again. Mostly about the sacraments. Except this week, there was a good part about why does God save some and not others? I'll find time to make a proper update soon.

Got another 3 solas perk. I haven't updated the last class because I don't have internet at home and that's the only place I can do it.


Hello Everyone,

Welcome to November. I wanted to touch base with you before we return to the Café next Wednesday, November 7 for our eighth session. Just to reiterate, we're extending this round of 3 Solas by a couple of weeks based on the number of people who expressed an interest in doing so.

Obviously, the main benefit of more time together is that Paul will be able to dive into additional 3 Solas material.material that hasn't yet been discussed due to the great questions and conversations that have taken place up until now.

Second to that, we can use this extra time to address any questions individuals might have regarding the Membership Commitment and/or the Follow Up Profile, which were passed out during the last session. If you're unfamiliar with either of these two documents, I've attached them both in this email.

As a quick review, the Membership Commitment should be completed by those who've attended 3 Solas for membership purposes, or in order to fulfill confirmation requirements. Regarding the Follow Up Profile, this should be completed by everyone. With it, we hope to encourage "next steps" for new and existing members. Whether this means attending 3 Solas again, joining another Bible Study, joining/finding out more about Small Groups, or serving in a ministry, our desire is that your 3 Solas experience doesn't merely serve as a "place to stop," but rather that it acts as a catalyst.a stepping stone.in one's journey as a Christ-follower.

That's about as "in touch with my emotional self" that I can get for this week.we look forward to seeing you next Wednesday any time after 6:00. As always if you have additional questions/comments, send them my way (3solas@faithtroy.org). Thanks for your time.

Warm Regards,



Rob Higgins
3 Solas Team Member

This is a really bad idea. But I'm reviving this thread to tell you that I enrolled in anoher class that my church is offering. This one is called the "Cafe 119" and is made to compliment the 3 Solas class. While the 3 Solas class was focused on teaching the basics of our Lutheran theology, this one is centered on how to live what my church calls a "More than Sunday" life. Sure we can go to church for one hour a week, but what about the other 167 hours in the week? Yesterday we went through what to expect for the class and went over some of Luther's daily rutine like his morning and evening prayer. Things should be interesting. I should probably say the biggest thing that caught my attention last night was when Pastor Paul said "We don't wait for God to tell us what to do and then do it, we go through life knowing that God's grace will keep us." Well that speaks to me. I can't hear God. I have never been able to do that. People all the time say "God told me this." or "God told me that." but I just don't know how God spoke to them. Paul's words last night makes much more sense for me.

I wont document this class, seeing as how poorly I did the last one. I just felt like telling you about it.