Down the Final Stretch

Fall break is over and Thanksgiving is behind us. Now the last few weeks of classes begin. I have more work than I feel that I can possibly get done. It happens this way every semester and somehow by God's grace I get through the work and end up actually accomplishing something good. Right now I'm planning the class that I will be teaching in the Center for Biblical Studies in the Spring. I'll be teaching Computer Tools for Bible Study. It's a new class that I'm developing to help folks learn how to use computer-based bible tools as well as the Internet to assist them in their own studies and class/Bible study preparation.

I am really looking forward to one class in particular in the Spring. I'm taking a class on the exegesis of Gospel narrative that will be taught by Dr. Hall Harris and Dr. Daryll Bock. They co-teach the class but unlike many other co-taught classes they will teach at the same time. I've been told by several friends that this is the best class theytook during their time in Seminary.

I'm looking forward to vacation this Winter. I have the week after Christmas off because we are closed for the week. The week after that I'm taking another week off to take a Wintersession class. I'll be taking Old Testament History II where we cover 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. It will go from about 8:30-3:45 for a week. These classes are really fast but we also are able to get immersed in the class and not have to worry about other classes. Besides, it's a quick way to get 2 credits and another class.

A Word for Today
exegesis- an exposition or critical explanation of a text. In New Testament exegesis, the Greek text is explianed in terms of grammatical and structural use within the context of the passage being studied.

Reading Week

Well, I missed posting last week mostly due to being sick for the past week. We seem to be passing it among our family because I had to keep Jacob home on Sunday and Monday Caleb had fever. Hopefully we will all be over it for Thanksgiving.

We get 2 weeks out of class in the fall around Thanksgiving time. This week is reading week. It is a good time to catch up on assignments before the last few weeks of class hit. It is also the time that many of our professors head to the annual conference of the ETS. The fact that reading week occurs at this time is no coincidence. I think they decided not to hold class because all of the profs were gone anyway. (Whatever the reason, I like it.) I would like to have gone to the conference myself, but since it was in Pennsylvania this year, it was just too far to travel. I'll just plan to go to the regional conference at Southwestern in Fort Worth this spring.

This is not my normal time to write but last night, I went to log on to the internet and it was down. Not the whole internet, just my connection. I called Comcast and they made an appointment for a tech to visit this morning. He got to the house at 9:30 and had the problem solved by 9:32. Our two cables had been swapped and the internet ended up on the wrong cable. He swapped the cables and voila, the connection started working. He sure knew awfully fast what the problem was... I can't help but wonder if he was working in the area yesterday. Or maybe this is just a common thing to happen.

Well, back to homework and then work again. I have a lot to do before the end of the semester but I'll get through it.

A Word for the Day...
ETS - Evangelical Theological Society - Visit their website.

Where Does Time Go?

This weekend seemed to go so fast. I think it's because my alarm clock doesn't have a button to set the time back an hour. Where most of the country set their clocks back an hour and gained an hour this weekend, I had to set my clock ahead 23 hours. As a result, I lost a big portion of the weekend. One of these days I'll get a clock with a reverse button and set it back a few days and get some of my time back.

This was a busy weekend filled with lots of activities. It started right after work on Friday. We went to the Lighten Your Load pizza party that the DTS Christian Education department hosts each semester. Along with pizza and games, each student gets to draw a slip of paper out of a bag. On the paper is some sort of reduction in work for the semester. I got exempt from reading one book for class. Early Saturday morning I headed out to Lake Ray Hubbard for our church's men's breakfast. It was a great time with some of the men from church to meet at the lake and have breakfast together. It was kind of like having a campout except that I slept good and in comfort the night before. After breakfast I picked up Ashley and the boys and we went to DTS for a premiere showing of the new Veggie Tales movie, Lord of the Beans. Yes, it was based on the Lord of the Rings in a Cliff's Notes shortening of the entire trilogy. The story was great for the kids and the humor that spoofed Lord of the Rings was especially entertaining for the parents. Tonight (Sunday) was the annual Lake Ridge Bible Church Fall Festival. We all had a great time. Jacob dressed up as Charlie Brown and Caleb was spaghetti and meatballs. Caleb's costume was the hit of the party; everyone loved it.

Don't forget what tomorrow (October 31) is... Reformation Day. It would be a good thing if more of us celebrated this significant historical event and put less of an emphasis on Halloween. As the boys get older, I'll teach them about this part of history that seems to be lost, even among us Protestant Christians. We'll still have fun with fall celebrations but we'll also learn to appreciate this special part of our history.

A Word for Today...
Reformation - a 16th century movement that grew out of a need for change within the church. Oct. 31, 1517 is the date that Martin Luther, a German monk, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg in response to the sale of indulgences from the church. This act was seen as the catalyst that spurred change within the church which became the Protestant movement. For a great telling of the story, I recommend the 2003 movie Luther or the 1953 movie Martin Luther.