Passed!

I passed Hebrew I.  Now, in the spring semester I will be taking Hebrew II.  I am more hopeful about the second semester of Hebrew due to a different professor (recently retired from teaching Hebrew for two decades), who I hope will test us in a way to which I will respond better [hard not to end that sentence in a preposition].

Christmas was quite good.  Sarah and I had money this year to get others gifts whereas we didn’t last year.  I got pretty upset at the commercialization of Christmas.  Fighting for a place in traffic while people run red-lights and almost hit you do not lead you to love your neighbor.  For me, Christmas shopping can be quite a stumbling stone.

Yet, I enjoyed giving gifts that people enjoyed.  I also enjoyed getting some things.  One thing that bears mention is a safety razor, shaving soap, and shaving brush.

Just like Grandpa used to have!

I have gotten the best shaves ever with this.  I think I will only have to shave maybe every three days with this.  I had done every other day before, but I would look a bit scraggly and I didn’t mind since I hated shaving so much.  But now, shaving is actually enjoyable.  It takes longer, but it is a pleasurable experience and the results are just fantastic.  Multiplicity of blades is just a marketing gimmick (how many will the next one have plus vibrating plus whatever else they can con men into buying).  Multiple blades are not used to cut multiple times.  The first blades in fact pull the hair out and then the following blade(s) cut it and allow the remainder to the hair follicle to go back under the skin.  Sure it gets fairly close, but it agitates the skin so much that you can’t shave well.  Safety razors shave with only one blade.  Refills are cheaper (how would you like to stop paying for Mach 3 refills and start paying only $0.25 per blade?).

If you are interested in this you can read about it here [via artofmanliness.com]

If you want to see some videos on it, start here [via mantic59's youtube]

I also got a few books such as The Karamazov Brothers by Dostoevsky.  That will take me a while to read, but what I’ve read so far (~3% of the book) is good.

How Long O LORD?

I’m done with a dreadful semester.  One class (Hebrew 1) killed my performance in other classes.  And it remains to be seen whether I have passed that course.  I really loathe the thought of having to retake it.  The language wasn’t that difficult, it was just the degree of memorization required for the class that destroyed me.  Call me a stupid Westerner, but I stink at memorization.

I’ve been cramming a 3 year program into 4 years, as I like to say.  This is my third year and if I had gone full time, this spring would be my final semester.  But I haven’t, so I have until May of 2011.  Now,call me a pathetic US Christian, but this is the worst suffering for the cause of Christ I have endured thus far.  I have a lot of growing to do apparently.

But, due to the stress of schooling, and my impatience in being there, I am learning great things about myself; things that need to be fixed in my walk of sanctification, namely: how I deal with stress.

I read an article and wrote a paper on it for one class that named stress the major cause of clergy moral failure (the article was a study by the Southern Baptist Convention on pastors committing adultery).  I must deal with stress properly.  Stress can be a breeding ground for unchecked sin.

I have been dealing with stress in a very fleshy manner.  I stop working because of the stress and start looking for things that will make me feel better.  In my mind I term it rewards thinking, “I deserve this because of all this stress.”  This desire seeks to destroy me.  It has destroyed the ministry of many pastors as the article demonstrated.

Firstly, I don’t deserve anything.  Reformed Theology is quite big on grace being unmerited favor.  Somehow I think that I deserve certain things because of what little, piddly, difficulties I face.  I must kill this thought.  It is antithetical to the gospel.

Secondly, I must seek solace not in the things of the flesh, but solely and utterly in Christ.  This means Christ is not the major source of solace and enjoyment.  He is the only source.  All other vain attempts at joy and rest and recovery fall flat.  Just like the idols of King Eglon, in the book of Judges (2:12-30), that which I seek to deliver me, that is not Christ, will remain silent as I lay dying!

In fact, that which I seek rest in only stresses me more.  This is God’s discipline.

It’s been a rough semester.  So, I’m seeking my rest in Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Sabbath.

Life Goes On (Despite our best efforts)

I’ve been quite swamped lately.  Summer is supposed to be a slow, relaxed time.  But I find that that thought only serves to deceive me and make me mad that life didn’t slow down as I had assumed it would.  I’m very involved at church right now.

I lead an adult growth group that studies the Redemption Story.  We are reading through the Bible and seeing God’s redemptive plan throughout.  We have already read through Genesis and we are now on Exodus.  That is time consuming to prepare for properly.  And if I don’t prepare for it properly, I get depressed afterward, which takes more out of me than if I had prepared well.

I chair the Adult Growth Leadership Team.  My observations on preparations above definitely apply to this role as well.  I’m also finding I’m not good at coordinating people now.  I often just say I will take care of it myself.  Which is winding up killing me.

I do child care on Wednesday nights.  The youth group and several adult growth groups meet at that time but there is no developed plan for the children at that time.  So, I volunteered to carry that burden till we found someone else to take over it.  I have been doing it since Easter.  I usually have around 8-10 kids from toddler up to 5th grade on Wednesdays.  The most I’ve had is 15 I think.  And I am doing this on my own.  I don’t just watch them, I teach them. I don’t have curriculum.  Lately I have been teaching them about sin and how we are saved through Christ (naturally I teach it in a way that they can understand yet still be challenged).  It is a joy to see a child’s eyes light up and hear them say “Oh, so that’s who Jesus is” or “So that’s what Jesus did” or any other response that shows they get it.  I always ask them the next week if they remember what they learned last week.  I never expect much, but I am almost always pleasantly surprised.

And while life continues on this summer and the fall semester begins (which puts me officially on the back half of my MDiv), I long to be here…

in a hammock in Playa Grande, Honduras