Nothing like an exam to snap me out of my Christmas Break fog.
I’m taking New Testament 2 this semester with PhD student Mike Baker. I’ll be tested over both the Corinthians, both Thessalonians, and Galatians in a couple of days.
Incidentally, I found the required text on a discount rack. It was priced significantly cheaper than sticker price. The only thing, however, is that is the Spanish edition. I bought it. We’ll see if the money saved is worth the inability to speed read it.
Zach Keith did a lot of research on the Dinka people group in Sudan. It was a project particularly close to his heart because he just spent ten days working with them.
You can listen to a snippet to his presentation here.
Brittney Oster spent 6 weeks in Niger working in a rural health clinic with the Fulani. One of the most amazing stories she told was about a baby was born not breathing. The doctor handed her the baby and said “Start CPR.” She removed all the mucus from the baby’s nostrils and throat. After a few rounds of breaths, it began to breath on its own.
A big part of beginning a new work among Hispanics in an urban setting is locating them. Sure, demographic reports can give an idea of concentration. However, I’m looking to meet people, and to meet people I have to know where they live.
One of the best ways to figure out where they live is to do a windshield survey. It’s pretty simply, really. Just start driving.
Pen and paper at hand.
I’ve put a lot of miles on the Aerostar doing this, identifying over 100 Latino households.
Last week I was on one such survey when I hit a nail. The nail proceeded to relieve my front passenger side tire of most of its air, making it difficult to drive.
I was excited to find that my jack hadn’t been used in so long that it had apparently gone into early retirement. It didn’t work.
It wasn’t too far back to the seminary. So, I walked. It was a nice day and I probably needed the exercise anyway.
One of the most fundamental and profound truths I learned was from a book by Richard Foster called “Celebration of Discipline“.
In it he talks about the purpose of the disciplines (things like prayer, fasting, bible study, meditation, community, etc). All these things are a means to an end. Foster said that all those things aren’t the goal in and of themselves. Rather, they are a vehicle to carry us to our true purpose. What’s that purpose?
A deep, intimate relationship with God.
We can’t earn God’s love or presence in our lives. But, we do have to leave space for him. We have to put ourselves in a position in which he can act and speak into our lives. He generally won’t force himself on us. The disciplines are ways to place ourselves in a position to encounter the true and living God.
