Papers

Sorry, not much time nor much to post about this week. I'm swamped with a 3,000 word paper due Tuesday. I thought I had another week for it - so I'm a little bit behind, but it'll be fine. I'm looking at the the place (if any) postmodernism (looking at Hayden White as a key representative) plays in the perspectives and ideas of Holocaust deniers (here, using David Irving as a key representative). It's been interesting and I think, in the long run, it'll be good to have delved into both of these ideas for teaching purposes.

Other than that, it's been just over a week that I've been in Lakeside Manor. John Lenschow moved in yesterday so it's great to have another person in the house - it's not quite so creepy. :-)

Joined the JBU and Murlough House crew on Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner - skipped class, bummed about that because it was a really interesting day - and had a great time with them. They were watching Home Alone when John & I got there. Then, this afternoon, headed to another MA History student's house - her and her husband David's house - for another Thanksgiving dinner. Should be fun and a good break from this essay.

Other than that, not much else. Staying busy - but at the same time, slowing down since I'm living farther away from everything now.

Hope you had a GREAT Thanksgiving (if you celebrated) and blessing for the weekend!

P.S. Just finished a really good essay this morning on being a Christian professor in the humanities and it highlighted Tennyson's poem In Memoriam, so I thougth I'd share some of that with you:

STRONG Son of God, immortal Love,

Whom we, that have not seen thy face,

By faith, and faith alone, embrace,

Believing where we cannot prove;

Thine are these orbs of light and shade;

Thou madest Life in man and brute;

Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot

Is on the skull which thou hast made.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:

Thou madest man, he knows not why,

He thinks he was not made to die;

And thou hast made him: thou art just.

Thou seemest human and divine,

The highest, holiest manhood, thou:

Our wills are ours, we know not how;

Our wills are ours, to make them thine.

(read the rest here.)

What a Week! (Christmas party, Cool Conversations, Package Stress, and Drugs & Drunkenness)

Last week was a busy week - so sorry not to post. Here's a couple of interesting things that happened:

Light up Belfast party - joined thousands around City Hall on Tuesday for their Christmas light festival (I know, it's really early! :-). It was a blast - including kids choirs singing carols and Euro-pop groups singing a myriad of songs. Pictures are at the top of this post. :-)

Really Cool Conversations - it's been a really great week of conversations. Wed. night at Int'l bible study we had several new people, so that stirred new relationships and friends. Thur. afternoon I had coffee with a professor, Dr. Eric Mourier-Genoud, who studies missions in Mozambique - really, really good time and really helpful. Then Thur. night I had a really good conversation with Dale about a Protestant/Christian perspective on special needs persons in relation to care and church services. Really interesting - sparked by a curiosity in a Catholic Bishop and a "care home" (for lack of a better term) in Southern Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. Then, Fri, got to have coffee with Jude, which was great. I always enjoy hanging out with him and learn a lot - this week it was about Lebanon and the Druze, Christians, Shiites, and Sunni's. Also met a guy from Aman at Starbucks who's doing his PhD here and is from Northern Jordan, prior to Amman.

Stress with a Package - I ordered a portable scanner (so I don't have to hold on to the endless pieces of paper I'm accumulating) about three weeks ago. After three days of frustration with the parcel delivery service, I ended up spending 3 hours, two bus rides, and a £10 taxi ride to find their warehouse and pick up the package. Ugh! (although the scanner is a huge blessing)

SOS - Drugs & Drunkenness - went back out yesterday with SOS's afternoon reach to the teenagers. Really good, really crazy cold, and very busy. It was a good day but a really weird day, in the sense that it was unlike any of the other days I'd been out. Around 350 teens probably came through - one of which was a young girl who was so drunk she was throwing up, so several of the staff took care of her on the bus. On top of that, I haven't seen so many kids drunk or high since I got here. It was really sad. There have been reports recently that the presence of cocaine is at the highest it's been in a long time in Belfast. I hate to think that it's found it's way into the teens lives - but at the same time, I'd be nieve to think it hasn't. I was once again reminded that these kids have experienced more of what is typically called "life" - sex, drugs, alcohol, death, abortion, rape, etc. - in their 14, 15, 17 years of life then I have in my 25. I find myself wishing that, for their sake and because of the emptiness you see in many of their eyes, they could have been spared some of what life has brought their way.

A busy week - meaning I didn't get much work done (and have a 3,000 paper due a week from tomorrow - although, I'm practially done with a 1,000 word essay due on Jan 13 - I know, priorities....oops!) - but it was a great, memorable week!

-------

As a random endnote, check out this really cool article on Dr. Chip Pollard, JBU's current president and my former boss (kind of...meaning it was his signature on my paycheck, but he was three "boss levels" above me...sounds like some kind of Nintendo game. :-)

Refreshed

Includes pictures of the inside now. Click here to see them larger.

This day last week I stayed up till 1am looking at cottages, hotels, and B&B's in N. Ireland to get away for a few days. I could tell I was coming to the point of being completely exhausted and just fried in every different way. Having not found anything, I finally laid down in bed, not sure what I would do to get a break from Belfast.

Here I am a week later, looking out at the green lawn of Lakeside Manor, sitting at a desk in the "Stevenson Suite" (so named because it's where Billy & Mindi stayed last week) that's nestled into the bay windows, marveling at the gift of this weekend. It has been the weekend I was looking for - and the one that I had been willing to pay a significant amount of money for. Instead, I was given a gift that has cost me nothing and, yet, provided everything that I was hoping for.

Breakfast in bed this morning and then the rest of the morning spent reading. A morning tea and an afternoon tea yesterday. A chance to relax and watch a movie Friday night. All on a beautiful four acres outside of Belfast - away from the noise, the distractions, and the exhausting routine of buses, cars, and people.

I sit, looking out at the lake, amazed at the beauty of the sun breaking through the Irish clouds that brought the morning rain - but even more so, I am in awe of God's gracious hand toward me, knowing that there are so many others who need the gift I've been given this weekend.

Can't Sleep

I can't sleep. I tried going to bed at 12am. I opened one of my skylights because it was warm in my room - bad idea. Within a few minutes my room smelled like sewer. So I closed the skylight and lit my candle to try to get rid of the smell. I then laid in bed for over an hour with no luck. I decided to try the traditional remedy of drinking warm milk, so I thought I'd post while I'm drinking it.

Tonight was a great night. Billy Stevenson called me at 6pm to see if I wanted to join him, Mindi, Rick Ostrander, Lonnie Ostrander, John Lenschow, and the Knox's at Villa Italia for dinner at 6:30pm. Of course I said yes and it was a great time. So much fun to see Lonnie who I worked with all summer. It was great to get caught up on the Fall musical, her kids, and the Admissions office. Good to see Rick too. He's always a blessing as I'm able to pick his brain on future direction. As the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at JBU, Rick's responsible for all faculty hires, so his advice comes from what JBU is looking for in candidates - which is really helpful.

As always, great to see Billy and Mindi. So full of life and laughter. It was a blast! I hadn't seen Johny Knox or his family in years, so really fun to see them too. His younger brother, Gregory, is hilarious. Johnny's wife, Rebekah, is really great. As well, I got to see Rachel Cureton, which was really fun. I don't know her very well, but was a suite mate of her brother's - Michael - at JBU (he just got married at the beginning of Nov!!), so it was fun to hear about him. She's living with the Knox's and doing her student teaching over here for a master's degree in education.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to see Lakeside Manor with John Lenschow, Billy, Mindi, Rick, and Lonnie. Rick, Lonnie, Mindi, and Billy are staying there right now, but the trustees are coming for a walk through tomorrow. Billy needs someone there as soon as possible, so I think I'll likely move in this next weekend. The sewer smell in my room tonight was a reminder that it's somewhat frustrating to never get fresh air in the room. My thought is that this room - since I've paid for it through the end of July - will be like my office near the school and Lakeside Manor will be home. They do have internet there, which is great. It's going to cost me a little more in bus expenses to move out there now, but my rent is free for the rest of the year starting Feb - since I'll no longer have a room with Queen's - so it seems worth it. I've already started thinking about how I can have friends at to the Manor for dinner or invite friends out if they ever want to get away from Belfast. It's really a pretty 4-acre place that would be great for a spiritual retreat or just to get a break from the same old, same old.

Anyways, I should probably see if I can fall back asleep. I'll try to post pictures of Lakeside Manor inside as soon as I'm able.

New Believers & Non-Believers

Just a quick note on yesterday at church. After the morning service, I was introduced to Liam, a new visitor to the church. What a cool meeting! (and a confirmation of not feeling at peace about visiting another church yesterday). Liam just became a believer 5-6 months ago and it's completely changed his life. He speaks of it in a very visceral way, of God's presence just being so real and overwhelming when life was going so bad. He's being discipled by a local Baptist pastor and his favorite book is Hebrews - although he's spent a lot of time in John, Romans, and the smaller epistles. He really has a passion for the Lord which is exciting. He also attended Mandate Saturday, a men's conference here in Belfast, and said it was a great time of seeing thousands of men worshipping together. He told me that he's trying to figure out how God might want to use him and he's thinking his conviction for men's sexual purity - pornography especially - might be where he sees God using him. I'm really excited for him - if you think about it, join me in praying for him - for God's strengthening of his faith and that he would have the opportunity to minister to other guys.

The second cool experience was last night at church. We had a communion service and Fabian, a student from France, came along with us after dinner. He doesn't go to church and, as far as I can tell, is an athiest. But it was just so cool singing songs of worship with Fabian, curious and perhaps skeptical, next to me. We had a really good conversation afterwards and he enjoyed it a lot more than the church experiences he had had back in France. We'll see, hopefully it'll plant a mustard seed in him that the Spirit will water and grow (Liam had used the "mustard seed" analogy for the growth of his own faith in the morning).

SOS Bus Last Night

From SOS Bus

A picture of the bus from across the street. The doors on the left end open into the paramedic bay. You can see the TV in the middle of the bus. On the far right is the large van ("mini-bus") we use to go pick up people from bars or take people to the hospital (no calls last night).

From SOS Bus

A picture closer up to the side of the bus. This was as the night was winding down. You can see the group hanging around watching "The Simpsons Movie" - which is a whole lot better than them walking around drunk, getting in fights, etc. You can't really see it, but there's a row of two tables that run parallel to the bus and that's where the coffee, tea, soup, rolls, and candy bars are. The slogan, that's cut off is "SOS Here to Help". We served roughly 300 people last night from 11:30pm to 2:30am.

"Spider pig. Spider Pig. A spider pig does whatever a spider pig does." :-) The flatscreen TV on the side of the bus was playing the Simpsons Movie last night - we got through it twice. It was fun, we all had a good laugh at the jokes and then singing along to "Spider pig". It's amazing how something like the Simpsons worked powerfully to not only put people at ease - because it was something they could connect with - but, in so doing, really broke down walls and raised curiosity.

I thought the night would really drag on, especially as it got closer to 3am, but it went by really fast and was a great time (although, it hit me about 4 this afternoon and I had to take a nap). Some things that stand out:

*the drunk man at the beginning of the night who pointed out "truck" as a truck drove by. Had to laugh inside at that one. :-)

*the guy in his early 20s early in the night who was a self-confessed Satanist and was convinced it was a Christian thing and we were just out trying to convert people. He wasn't willing to except that, yes, while some of us were Christians, we really were there just love on people by volunteering our time and serving them free food/drinks - no strings (or conversions) attached. :-)

*when the "Satanist" (in quotations because I think he may have said it mostly for a reaction) asked Aneal (I think Indian by background, became a Christian later in life) what religion he was, Aneal, whose an incredibly solid Christian that helps lead the discipleship and prayer groups at church, said "I don't believe in religion." It was a beautiful answer - the guy asking didn't know what to do with it. :-)

*seeing friends who were more sober than their really drunk friends helping their friends home, whether that was holding them up or simply being their guide home.

*sadenned to see that most of the middle aged men who were out drunk were by themselves. An interesting contrast to the youth who, while being drunk, had friends with them.

*it was fun to see the women's eyes light up when we said "Free Chocolate" as they walked by. It was a nearly full-proof way to get groups to stop and grab a couple f chocolate candy bars on their way to where ever it was they were going.

All in all, it was a great night - although I have been exhausted today. I can't wait to do it again. It's amazing to see people's reaction to acts of charity and love. As well, the impact it has on local crime and being able to "save" people from things is huge. For example, on Halloween they had a call from a local pub to pick up a girl at the bar who was completely gone. Plus, she had no ID, cell phone, purse, or anything. The truth is, as sad as it is, anyone could have done anything to her and she never would have remembered, but would most definitely have lived with the grave consequences.

To add on all of that, two firsts for me since I left last night at 3am:

1. Had an egg thrown at me from a passing car on my way home. It missed me thankfully - but had to smile. They threw another one at another group of people in front me (missed again, lousy shots :-) - so it was just an indiscriminate "let's drive around town and throw eggs at people" kind of thing :-)

2. There was definitely a guy walking around in the alley behind our place during lunch today who only had a shirt on. Seriously, nothing else and he's walking around. Gross display of public nudity. Yuck! :-P

But hey, that's Belfast for ya! Gotta love it!

A Thesis Conundrum

I now have two potential thesis topics and I'm struggling to know which direction to go.

Presbyterian Missions in Kenya
Dr. Eric Morier-Genoud has been one of the most helpful and enjoyable professors to work with here at Queen's. His work is in missions in Africa from a historical perspective. With my undergraduate background and interest in Africa, he would love for me to do something on the history of missions in Kenya. He also has great connections to friends and supervisors at Cambridge, Oxford, and the University of Basel in Switzerland.

If I go this route, I will likely focus on the correspondence available here of the Rev. and Mrs. E. Lockhart who lived in Kenya, but wrote prolifically to family and friends here in Ireland. Most of my research would be done at PRONI and the Presbyterian Historical Society, both of which are here in town.

Communism in Kenya: Peter Koinange, a Case Study
The other alternative, which has a more exciting edge to it, is to look into these 18 files that were released in 2007 by MI5 about Peter Koinange. There's been no work done on them so far, so any work mentioning Peter is in relation to his father (a key chief in Kenya) or in relation to Jomo Kenyatta. It has this "unexplored" excitement and edge to it that's appealing.

The challenge here is that the research would mostly have to be done in London at the National Archives in Kew. There's a possibility of getting funding from Queen's for it, but if not, it's on my dime and I'd likely need to spend up to 2 weeks there.

So, that's the conundrum...
Do I work with a professor who's young and excited to work with me on a topic that's interesting, but that I don't necessarily get super excited about? or do I pursue the topic that, at first at least, excites me - but I don't yet have faculty support behind? (although Dr. Morier-Genoud has been encouraging about this topic as well, it just doesn't connect with his work).

In trying to find an answer to this dilemma, I think I'm going to spend some time looking into both of them. I'll spend some time here in town looking at the Presbyterian missionary records and then I have three weeks off in January and I think I'll spend a few days to a week in London looking into those files. Hopefully that will give me enough of the flavor of what I would be working with to figure it out.

Videoblog: What I'm Reading

I decided this morning to do something different. I don't know how often I'll do it or if it's even convenient for you all, so it may not happen very often, but I thought it was a good way to mix things up. So, here's my first "videoblog". Sorry about it cutting off at the end there - the time limit on my camera had been met, so it stopped. :-)

JBU Bible Study & Social Justice, Postmodernism & Holocaust Denial

From Photos for Blog

Picture of the bus I road part way home from the bible study last night. Almost exactly the same kind of bus I road to & from school in Kenya back in the 90s.

I'm glad to say that last night's bible study with the JBU crew went much better then last week. We were down 4 or 5 students, probably just from desire for personal time or assignments - however, if it was because last week was a disappointment, I wouldn't blame them, I may have skipped this week for that reason alone.

I put into practice my lesson from last week and we spent the whole 45 minutes in Scripture. We determined that the phrase "social justice" is a hard one to define - being used as a descriptor for a wide range of things in today's society. The question followed then, what should it mean for us as Christians? We went to Matthew 22 (the Greatest Commandment and the 2nd) and used this as a basis for looking through out the NT (Matt 5:43, 19:19, Rom 13:8-10, Gal 5:13-14, James 2:8, etc.) and the OT (Deut. 5:9, 6:5; Lev 19:9-18, and Ex 22:22:27) to look at the idea of "loving your neighbor" as something God calls his people to throughout Scripture. In closing, we came back to Matt 22:38 and the reminder that in order to truly love our neighbor, we must fulfill "the first and greatest commandment" - to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind - that this was the a priori condition to meeting the second calling.

[Something that was neat for me was to realize that Jesus' answer in Matt 22 was expected, as the Jewish prayer, the Shema, prayed twice daily, affirmed this. It was the second part that was the "nudge".]

"probably the biggest friend the Jews had in the Third Reich, certainly
when the war broke out, was Adolf Hitler. He was the one who was doing
everything he could to prevent things nasty happening to them."
- David Irving, from Richard Evans book Telling Lies About Hitler

I'm beginning to pull together the assignments I have to turn in between now and January 13th and one of them is an essay on a historiographic topic from the last century (i.e. Marxist history, cultural history, post-colonial history, postmodernism, etc.). I've been very impressed and very, very happy with perspective and the take of Queen's faculty on these topics. I decided to do my topic on postmodernism and specifically, the case effect of postmodernism on David Irving and holocaust deniers. In looking at grad school, I was cautioned to be careful of revisionist history. The example given was of those that want to rewrite the history of the Holocaust. So, it seemed like David Irving and Holocaust denial would be an appropriate topic to tackle for a 3,000 word essay.

I'm just into the first of five books on the topic, but so far really interesting - and really bizarre all at the same time. I'll try to remember to post a link to the paper here after I turn it in (it's due December 12).

On the Change Bandwagon: Reading Week, My Room, and S.O.S. Bus

From Photos for Blog

(In the election spirit of change, I decided to switch my room around.)

In light of the elections this last week, I haven't been posting much here - but rather, spent way too much time on my "random thoughts" blog. However, as the first sign that things are changing, here's a post returning to what's going on here in Belfast.

Reading Week
The UK system has a week set aside about half-way through the semester for reading, writing papers, catching up on assignments - and, generally, giving the faculty and students some uninterrupted time to focus on their work (for students, it's the only vacation they get during their semester, besides Christmas). That means this week's going to be a wee-bit different. I do still have one thing I have to attend on Thur - a visit to the Public Records Office of North Ireland (PRONI). It's a chance for the class to be exposed to how to use the largest archive in N. Ireland.

Other than that: JBU Bible study (Mon), Guy's Movie Night Out (Tues), Int'l Bible Study (Wed), and S.O.S. bus (Friday, see below). Also, Paul Harvey from the University of Colorado (yeah, when I first saw the name, I thought the radio guy too) speaking on "Religion, Race, and the Right: The Rise of Southern Religious Conservatism" is visiting Queen's. Should be interesting. I'm expecting a pretty critical, left-leaning presentation - but hoping to be surprised. :-)

My Room
In the spirit of change - and needing something new in a room that I spend a lot of time in - I changed around my room today. My desk was staring at a wall, with my back to the two skylights. In a hope that being able to look at the sky will help the long days of reading & studying, I've moved my desk underneath one of the skylights. It's a little more cramped in the room, but we'll give it a shot for a while at least.

Alpha & S.O.S.
You might remember that I was a part of an Alpha group here in town. Due to a lack of interest and people not coming, we've gone ahead and canceled it for the rest of the fall. A bummer for me as I really enjoyed the content and the discussions it brought up - but I understand the decision.

To replace that, I've gotten involved with S.O.S. It's a street ministry that helps with crime in the Greater Belfast area. On Saturday afternoons I go down to the waterfront where the teenagers hang out and we hand out free tea/coffee/hot chocolate/juice/coke and hot soup (Knorr soup, actually, which brings back to mind these horribly catchy commercials from Kenya). It's been shown to significantly bring down hostility and fights in this area. It also has a fairly significant ministry to the kids.

Besides that, S.O.S.'s main ministry is a night ministry to people leaving the bars in Belfast. They setup at a key intersection in town (Dublin Rd., just off of Shaftsbury Square) and are out from 11pm to 3am handing out free coffee/tea and biscuits, providing a resource and blessing to those who are on their way home. On top of that, they have a medic and a van, so they're able to help people who are hurt/injured or need a hospital or a ride home. It's highly sponsored by the PSNI (Police Service of N. Ireland) as it has been shown to decrease crime in the area by 18-25%. I'm up for next Friday night. Should be fun - although the late night is going to kill me. :-)

(Check out the SOS website and the bus. It has two big flatscreen t.v.'s, video cameras, a medical area (oxygen, saline drips, etc.), plus two awnings. It's pretty sweet. They're getting ready to send another one up to Derry/Londonderry where the infamous "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" occured. They're also working on a double decker "IT" bus with computers on the second level for educational outreach.)

Pictures & Videos from Last Night's Election Party

I should be taking a nap right now before tonight's bible study, but I figured that if I don't get these up soon, they won't really be nearly so interesting.

Setting: A big conference room in the student center in the middle of the largest student housing complex (Elm's Village). They had planned on 30 people, ended up with 100+. The room was packed with students wearing badges, signs, American flags, etc. While it was predominantly Obama fans, there were about a half-a-dozen or so of us McCain supporters - one guy even wearing a McCain t-shirt (which was brave, considering most of the people there were drinking & you never know what someone's going to do when you're wearing the oppositions colors and they're drunk). Their were American flag streamers around the room, BBC One's coverage was playing on the projector, CNN was on a small flat screen at the back of the room, and a map of the US was on the wall via an old-school overhead projector and students were filling in the states as the projections came in. So, with that, here's the pictures and videos:

From Election 2008

From Election 2008

From Election 2008

Cheers after Obama is projected to win a state.

From Election 2008

Counting down to the polls closing.

I hung around until about 1:30am or so and then headed the 20 min walk back to my place with some friends. The excitement of the night was fun - the crowd would countdown from 10 every time we were 10 seconds away from a poll closing and then boo/cheer when a candidates face came on screen as being projected to take a certain state.

I can't imagine US students getting so excited about the UK election or the German election...perhaps it says something about the great responsibility and burden the US bears as the torch bearer for the world. Whether they admit it or not, there is definitely this sense of "Let's wait and see what the US does" when it comes to economics or politics. In fact, todays news articles talk about how Obama's victory is bringing about a wave of minority voice in European politics - a place where minorities seem to rarely vote and an African (let alone any minority, I think) has never been elected to the highest office in the land.

I Voted!

(Photograph from Getty Images)

No, unfortunately my ballot from the states didn't come in time. Instead, Jordan Monnahan, with the JBU crew down in Dundrum, let me know last night about www.fvap.com (Federal Voting Assistance Program) where, if your absentee ballot doesn't show up within two weeks of the election, you can print off a ballot, write in your vote, and mail it off to your county clerk. So, I just dropped it off at the post office with the hope that it'll have today's date stamped on it, will arrive in time, and, therefore, will count*.

*I realize there is this sense of defeat in the reality that few elections are won by one vote. However, I feel as though I've done the right thing in voting. If for no other reason then because I have the ability and, therefore in this case (not in every case), the responsibility to vote - particularly when so many around the world desire to have the ability to vote in an election and, instead, are subject to live under the rule of someone who took power or was given it.

Last Night's JBU Biblestudy

[Written last night in Downpatrick, as I was waiting for the bus home. ]

Tonight's bible study with the JBU gang went okay. It was the all-too-typical case of trying to work too much in, particularly extra-biblical sources. I started off with some columns from "On Faith" about Americans changing their faith or loosing it. The student's found those really interesting. I should have had us spend more time there then dig into a biblical passage - say Phil 3, or something like that. Instead, I spent too much time having each of them answer questions, me sharing quotes from Pascal and C.S. Lewis - that the time we then spent in Scripture was minimal, at best. As a result, I don't think any of us came away refreshed or knowing something more about Scripture or the Father. So, here's what I learned about bible studies (or teaching):

Spend 80%+ of your time on that which really matters - in this case, God's Word. Shave off the extra stuff - keep something interesting or unique, but loose the other fluff.

I felt bad as well because the student's have a paper due and a lot on their plate - yet they gave up the hour to be together - and I wish, as they also may, that we had walked away challenged or refreshed and closer to our Lord and Savior.

The students are forgiving to me - for which I'm grateful - and I know God can use even the feeblest of offerings. So, I finish writing this at the Downpatrick bus stop, sitting in the 42 degree weather, waiting for the 21:05 bus to Belfast, humbled from having learned, but at peace knowing both God's and the student's grace extends beyond my faults.

Cool Things Happening!

This has been a week of being spoiled by the Father. Some really exciting things have happened!

Christmas
A really generous friend didn't like the idea of me not being home for Christmas, so he bought me a plane ticket home for the holidays. Yahoo!! It means I'll get to see my sister who lives in the Middle East and her husband, who will be home for the holidays - as well as Jenny, James, and my two nephews Luke and Hamilton in South Carolina. Then, on top of that, dad was able to use frequent flyer miles to get me the second leg of the flight in the US. It's weird going from planning on not being home for the holidays, to it all of the sudden being a reality.

Housing
It also looks as though I'll likely have free housing starting in January thru the rest of my program, thanks to JBU. The pictures above are of the place. There are still some final details to sort out - but, if it works out, it would be a huge blessing financially for the rest of the year.

Finances
I finally got my money from the Fed'l loans - I'm headed to the bank to deposit it this morning. It's not a ton, but definitely plenty to live on - for which I'm very thankful to the Lord.

Off to my list of errands for the day, but wanted to get a quick post off first. Blessings!

Follow-up & God and Christian Scholarship

My friends and I haven't had the chance to continue the conversation since Thur - although, we have the rest of the year, so no doubt we will. In the same vein as the last post though, here is something that I've come across:

"Omniscient deities don't make choices (since they already know every outcome in advance)." - Deepak Chopra from "On Faith" series hosted by Newsweek/Washington Post

I follow this seres of posts from different religious/philosophical thinkers (includes N.T. Wright, Cal Thomas, Brian McLaren, Chuck Colson, etc.). This week's question to all the contributors was about the role of God in voting in a presidential election. The comment above from Chopra reminded me so much of what my friends said the other night. There seems to be this idea that since God knows the future, he's locked into whatever is going to happen - with no change possible. Now, in one aspect this is true - for God does not change, but throughout Scripture we see testimonies of people influencing God - Moses & Aaron, for example, continually petitioning God to preserve the Israelites. It seems to me that God, being outside of time, knows the future as he knows now, but I don't see how this locks him into the future - for God does not necessarily live in a linear, cause-and-effect closed world, as we do.

Eh, this is already long enough. In the future I'll post on Christian scholarship. I spent some time this morning reading Blaise Pascal and he has a lot to say on it. As well, I'm reading a collection of essays entitled The Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar: Redeeming the Soul, Redeeming the Mind (thanks mom!) which centers around a speech given by Charles Malik in 1980 at Wheaton's Billy Graham Institute. Really good stuff, for the most part, so I'll try to construct a post to share on it in the near future.