Dr Steve Lee in Chapel

I know hardly anyone has a free hour sitting around. And I know even fewer people are just begging for something, anything to fill one with. But just in case you are one of those few people, I want to share something with you. All new students at Southwestern are required to go to chapel three days a week. I'll be honest, assuming no administrators read this, and put it out there that sometimes chapel can be a snip shy of the most exciting part of my day. This might be good, because it makes the special ones really stand out. Today was one of those days. A Dr. Steve Lee spoke about Biblical greatness, and somehow brilliantly tied in missions. You can watch a video or get the audio here or just click the "Southwestern Archives" link on the right. Just to warn you, he's Korean so you'll have to pay attention to catch everything he says. If you have the time, it really is worth it. The guy made me want to be a missionary, or at least have a whole bunch of international students live with me. He says 70% of international students don't get invited into an American home, and 80% don't get invited to an American church. We can't only wash the feet of those just like us.

Omni Peace

So House is pretty much great. I tracked down this shirt from the premier and turned up a really cool story. Its from the group Omni Peace. They are working to end extreme poverty by 2025. Check them out...

ps. I didn't find this specific shirt. If you find it, you should tell me.

Couch Potato

I just finished my first major test out here. I was pretty stressed about it. Actually, I think I was stressed about the test AND everything else I have coming up this week. I'm supposed to be reading an article and writing a paper on it, and studying for a Greek quiz... and a New Testament quiz. But I thought I'd just write about how I'm supposed to be doing those things instead of actually doing them. I sat down on the couch and melted. You know that feeling? I think they must put something in couch cushions that is like those de-stress candles at chick stores, but that actually works and doesn't smell weird. I miss summer. And I miss my friends. I also miss the kids at my church, whom I continue to refer to in the possessive sense despite having not been gone for almost three months. I feel like I'm approaching the verge of being pretty stressed. I've already mentioned this, but I bring it back up because its pretty weird for me. I don't feel like this very often. By not often I mean I don't remember ever feeling stressed like this except for one week in college where I had three 15 page papers and one 7 page paper to write in the same week. So pray for me. I may start rambling on here about stuff I learn in class. I learn best when I'm teaching, so I'll pretend that someone reads this and teach you about the things that I don't really understand for our mutual benefit. It probably won't be mutual. Another reason is that if someone who I trust and respect is reading this and I start talking about some crap thats just wrong, then they can correct me. Otherwise they wouldn't know because nobody likes to spend their time talking about church history on the phone. I'd rather talk about things like how couches are like chick candles.

This Thing

I just got home from a really cool night. Some guys I've met got together a few weeks ago and planned a student led worship time. The crazy thing is that it actually happened. That feat was largely due to the guy heading it up, Jonathan, who's idea it was to begin with. It was crazy hearing the seminary president announce it this morning in chapel. He just sort of rambled and said something about a time to confess our sins of cursing our Hebrew professors at this student led worship thing in the Recreation Center. I don't have the faintest clue what he was talking about, but I guess that isn't the point.

The point is, we got there tonight and God took care of the rest. Three of the seminary's audio visual people were already there, with everything wired up. They even rewired a video box in the wall that was broken. If they hadn't shown up, we wouldn't have had words for the songs. Then the band practiced (for the second time ever) and it sounded... bad. Bad in a bad way. Not bad in the colloquial good way. They weren't terrible, but there was alot left to be desired. I left to go study and eat dinner. I honestly did not want to go back over there at 8:45. Satan was all over it.


When I got there, the rest of the guys were sitting out in the hall, heads bowed. One was praying. It wasn't prayer like in church, or in class. It was some guys sitting around talking to God together. I leaned against the wall and let the Holy Spirit wash over me too, and I didn't want to be back at my apartment anymore. The Korean guy who plays electric started talking to God. I know his name but I can't spell it. It was awesome having to pay such careful attention to what he was saying so that I'd catch it all. And it was beautiful. I just prayed over those guys while they finished up, and one started playing a song really softly on a guitar. Our voices slowly rose together and filled the hallway.

The thing started. People were there. The band wasn't bad this time. They were good. They were really good. Nothing broke. Scripture was read. People prayed in groups. We sang, and worshiped, and just enjoyed God's presense for a while, and then we all stood around talking, just enjoying being with other believers who had shared God time together.

He's a big God.

Seminary 101

So I'm at Panera near the TCU campus out here just doing some reading. I was about to leave when a torrential downpour showed up. You guys know how I am about my mac, so I'm going to wait it out by catching you up a little on school. I guess the short of it is... its good. I really am enjoying my classes and my professors. I only have one that seems to be a bit harder than I would prefer. I'm taking Church History from a guy who knows how boring the class can be, and is doing a good job of making it really interesting. I've got Old Testament 1 (Genesis - Esther) from a former Hindu guy. He has me reading the 1st half of the OT twice, along with like 6 other books. His class alone is more work that a normal semester at UA. Then I've got New Testament 1 from a guy who isn't making us read very much, posts his notes online, and has a really good time teaching us. Maybe the two are supposed to balance each other out. Then theres a class called Hermeneutics, which I've found out means something about teaching me how to interpret the Bible accurately. Not that they say, "this is what it means and thats final," but rather they talk about needing to understand things like the language, terminology, cultural context, and the big picture context before you go running off sounding stupid and making stuff up. Then theres Greek. If any of you remember my UA experience with Greek, I've got good news... this is the exact opposite. My prof is really old, really funny, and really wants to help us out. Its not going to be bad at all. Last is something called "spiritual formations." Its a 1 hours class where they force you to go to chapel 3 days of week and then skip lunch one day a week to sit and listen to someone give a message for the 2nd time in 2 hours. All total I've got 16 hours. Turns out 10 hours is full time here, and people keep giving me weird looks when I tell them what I'm taking.

Aside from class, I'm meeting some good guys out here (and some kinda weird ones). Two are from UA. I think each of us is glad that the others are here.

Anyway, pray that I will do what I never did in college, and actually stay on top of my work load. I'm ahead right now, which is a first, and I'm going to try to stay that way.