Flight 93, Cubs Baseball, Immigration

United 93. Yesterday we went to the movies to see the movie United 93. It received quite a bit of press a week ago when it had its debut. I had not talked to anyone who had seen it. We went to a matinee showing, in which I don't think there were more than a dozen people in the theater. It was quite depressing, in reality. Much of it was made from conversations with family members who were called from the plane in turmoil. The press has said that the family members "signed off" on it. It seemed to be realistic, if an unthinkable event can be portrayed realistically.

I was struck by the commitment of the terrorists. The movie began with Muslim prayer. As their deed dastardly unfolded, the movie depicted the terrorists in prayer. It depicted the reality of what they consider Jihad, a holy war against infidels. I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul's persecution of the followers of the Way, believing that he was doing God's will.

Oh that the Muslim world might come to know the God of the Bible, a God who loved the world so much that He sent His only son to sacrifice himself, so that He might redeem those who live under the curse of hatred.

Cubs Baseball. I'm getting pretty depressed with the Cubbies. They say there is a fine line between love and hatred. Will I ever hate the Cubs? Probably not! To paraphrase something my Mom taught me (she will be shuddering at the thought of what I will write next--you see, she is one of the four readers of this blog), "No, I don't hate the Cubs. I just hate what they do!"


Kerry Wood had a good rehab outing on Sunday, pitching for the Peoria Chiefs. He is scheduled to pitch on Friday for the Iowa Cubs. I hope that he is healthy.

Immigration. The country's debate on illegal immigration is certainly not over. I deal with Spanish-speaking people from the 4-state area frequently. Later today I will be translating for one. Some of those that I deal with are legal immigrants, some are illegal. My heart goes out to them. I was amused by a cartoon that I saw in our local newspaper. It was by Bruce Beattie. I highlighted the punch line, a sad commentary indeed on the attitude of some:
Peace to you all! Even to the Muslims who hate us, and to the illegal immigrants that some of us hate!

DGF

Cinco de Mayo, Goodbye to the BOB, and Eamus Catuli!

Cinco de Mayo. Today is the Cinco de Mayo. Many people think that 5 de mayo must be Mexican Independence Day. It is not! Mexican gained its independence from Spain on September 16, 1821. The Cinco de Mayo comes 41 years later, as Mexico has called for a 2 year moratorium on their foreign debt. Napoleon II (nephew of Bonaparte) was Emperor in France, and the French army was considered the best in the world. The French landed at Veracruz, and planned to march on Mexico City to depose President Benito Juárez, and to install a new President. May 5, 1862 was the Cinco de Mayo in which Mexican forces, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza battled against a larger battalion of the French at Puebla, Mexico, about 100 miles east of Mexico City. The tenacity of the Mexican defenders inflicted many more casualties that they suffered, and the French army retreated. The French would return one year later, bringing many more troops, and successfully installing a government of their own liking. The Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory at the Battle of Puebla, honoring the bravery of General Zaragoza's small, outnumbered militia.

The BOB is no more. During the summer of 2004, we went to the North American Christian Convention in Phoenix. One of the highlights of my trip was going to an interleague game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Minnesota Twins. We went to the BOB (Bank One Ballpark). I had been there before, with a huge family group. It is a beautiful ballpark. In July of 2004, I got to see Randy Johnson (The Big Unit) pitch. We had great seats, right down the first base line, about even with the pitcher's mound. The Big Unit looked very imposing. I missed a foul ball that was hit about a row behind me. I got two fingers on it. It was officially scored "Error, Fish." The BOB is no more. Now they call is Chase Field. Such is our world where bank mergers make us learn new names!

Eamus Catuli! The Diamondback certainly chased the Cubbies off of their field. Come on, Cubs! You can plan better than that! Currently, the Cubbies are still above .500, but looking back on recent games, one must wonder for how much longer they can hold on. The are 4-6 over their last 10 games, but if you look to the last 7 games, they are only 2-5! It gets worse. They have been shut out 3 of their last 5 games. In those five games, they have scored only 3 runs while allowing 29! Sometimes we Cub fans are deluded, but come on, Cubbies, you have to score more runs than your opponents if you are going to win! I hope they turn it around, starting tonight in San Diego!

Peace,

DGF

My Bad! My Bad!

λάθος μου

Today's chapel sermon was on Job. His life was wild and bumpy. He tried to live righteously before God, shunning evil, but calamity came into his life. He spoke his mind, and then God addressed him, basically saying, "I'm God, and you are not!" (Check out Job 38-41). When Job came to the realization of his error, he repented:

I had no idea what I was talking about – it was all way too big for me to get my head round. I can't believe I had the nerve to say to you, 'Listen to me when I'm talking. I ask the questions, and you give the answers.' I'd heard rumours of your reputation. Now I've seen you with my own eyes, and I'm dying of embarrassment at my attitude. I take it all back, every question, every accusation. Sorry. Won't happen again.

Excerpt from the first few verses of Job 42, taken from Lacey, Rob (2003). The Word on the Street. Zondervan.

I feel kind of like Job myself. I'm sorry. I have failed terribly at this blogging thing. I've been writing about Greek and NBA basketball. I've been concerned about answering Arod's questions about the Sabbath. In the midst of all this, I failed to do two very important things:

1. Recognize that my youngest child, Kim, just turned 21. She is an adult now. I'm proud of what she has done. She has been an RA in her dorm for the past two years, and this year has been the Head RA in the dorm. She will be leaving in just a few weeks for a summer internship with New Missions Systems, International, working in two SE Asian countries: Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand.

2. Recognize that my oldest child, Charissa, has entered the blogging world. You may want to check out her blog. She works in the Human Resources Department of a large company in our area.

That's about it. As Job said, "I repent in sackcloth and ashes!" I love my daughters. I love my son, too. To avoid repenting again (not that repenting again is a bad thing), maybe I better give you a link to his blog.

Peace to you all!

DGF

I'm Glad I Don't Coach Jermaine and Stephen

On Saturday, I was reminded why I like college basketball. I went to my first ever NBA playoff game. The Indiana Pacers had stolen home court advantage from the higher-seeded New Jersey Nets. They were up 2-1 playing game four on their own floor. All they had to do was win Saturday's game on their own floor, to go up 3-1 in the series.


Two of their stars evidently forgot to bring their effort. Nobody doubts that Jermaine O'Neal is one of the best players in the NBA. He is their leading scorer, has been an All Star four times. He had a great game 3, scoring 37 points and shocking the Nets. On Saturday, however, when I was in the gym, he appeared to give about a 30-35% effort. His partner in crime, Stephen Jackson, though not as gifted a player exhibited attitudinal problems that would drive me nuts as a coach. Whenever a call didn't go just the way O'Neal or Jackson wanted, they spent time crying to the ref. While they were crying to the ref, the other team frequently scored.


If I were the coach, I would have said, "Jermaine & Stephen, either you're going to give me 100% effort, or you're going to the end of the bench." The New Jersey Nets outplayed the Pacers on Saturday. Game 5 is tonight from New Jersey. I don't know if I'll tune in.


My parents always told me that "if something was worth doing, it was worth doing well". Thanks, Mom and Dad. Giving 100% is a spiritual discipline. Seeing these professional ball players mail in their effort was distasteful. Giving 100% was not only taught, but was sung about. Below are words of a hymn I learned to love when I was a kid. I think they are still timely!

Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth.
Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor
Into the battle for truth.
Jesus has set the example,
Dauntless was He, young and brave.
Give Him your loyal devotion;
Give Him the best that you have.

Refrain

Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth.
Clad in salvation’s full armor,
Join in the battle for truth.

Words: Howard B. Grose

Music: Charlotte A. Barnard

I want to thank my nephew, Richard McGill, for providing the ticket for me to go to the game. The seat was great. I highlighted the face value of the ticket, but blacked out the name of Richard's friend, who purchased the ticket package. Richard didn't go to the game himself, so that he could be at his daughters' softball game (he helps coach them as well). That's 100% giving for your kids. His Dad and I were the beneficiaries.

Hope you all have a nice day!

DGF

The NT Word for SABBATH Sometimes Means WEEK

Use of Σάββατον as Week in the New Testament

AROD gave me a pop quiz (see the comment to my last post). One of the usages of the word σάββατον in the New Testament, which is normally translated as Sabbath is week. In fact, there are 9 NT texts with this meaning. Grammars will usually make a comment about the Greek use of the cardinal number for the ordinal as a Semitism. Here are the texts:

Reference/Number	Greek Text	English Text
Matthew 28:1/Plural	Ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων, τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων ἦλθεν Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία θεωρῆσαι τὸν τάφον.	After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Mark 16:2/Plural	καὶ λίαν πρωῒ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων ἔρχονται ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ἀνατείλαντος τοῦ ἡλίου.	Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
Mark 16:9/Singular	Ἀναστὰς δὲ πρωῒ πρώτῃ σαββάτου ἐφάνη πρῶτον Μαρίᾳ τῇ Μαγδαληνῇ, παρ᾽ ἧς ἐκβεβλήκει ἑπτὰ δαιμόνια.	When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.
Luke 18:12/Singular	νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου, ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι.	I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
Luke 24:1/Plural	τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων ὄρθρου βαθέως ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμα ἦλθον φέρουσαι ἃ ἡτοίμασαν ἀρώματα.	On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
John 20:1/Plural	Τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἔρχεται πρωῒ σκοτίας ἔτι οὔσης εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ βλέπει τὸν λίθον ἠρμένον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου.	Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
John 20:19/Plural	Οὔσης οὖν ὀψίας τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τῇ μιᾷ σαββάτων καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων ὅπου ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.	On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Acts 20:7/Plural	Ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων συνηγμένων ἡμῶν κλάσαι ἄρτον, ὁ Παῦλος διελέγετο αὐτοῖς μέλλων ἐξιέναι τῇ ἐπαύριον, παρέτεινέν τε τὸν λόγον μέχρι μεσονυκτίου.	On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
1 Cor. 16:2/Singular	κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου ἕκαστος ὑμῶν παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ τιθέτω θησαυρίζων ὅ τι ἐὰν εὐοδῶται, ἵνα μὴ ὅταν ἔλθω τότε λογεῖαι γίνωνται.	On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

This usage of σάββατον in the sense of "week" is also found in the Didache, similar to the passage from Luke 18:12. Didache 8.1 says Αἱ δὲ νηστεῖαι ὑμῶν μὴ ἔστωσαν μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν. νηστεύουσι γὰρ δευτέρᾳ σαββάτων καὶ πέμπτῃ· ὑμεῖς δὲ νηστεύσατε τετράδα καὶ καρασκευήν. Kirsopp Lake's translation says "Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but do you fast on Wednesdays and Fridays." To translate this in a wooden-headed, literal fashion, the second sentence would read, "for they fast in the second and in the fifth of the Sabbaths." Obviously, it is referring to days of the week. It is interesting to me that sometimes the Sabbath word is singular, and other times it is plural. It seems not to make a difference in meaning.

When I was young and foolish (I'm not so young anymore, but the foolishness part keeps popping out when I'm not careful), I offended a dear Christian sister at Clayton Christian Church in Deerfield, Missouri where I preached when I was a student. In a Bible School class, she made the comment (correctly) that the word Sabbath meant "cease" or "rest". I was so caught up in the study of the New Testament, and particularly in the Greek language, that I blurted out, "No, it doesn't. It means week!" She was more correct than I, but my word carried more weight than hers. During the worship service, which followed the Bible school hour, I was seated on the platform (on the preacher's throne), and as I looked at the congregation, I was convicted. I had terribly offended her. That she was hurt was obvious. What was I going to do about it? There weren't that many people in the church. Most of them had witnessed my outburst, and probably would forgive a foolish young preacher that still had a whole lot to learn about how to treat people. I was reminded of Matthew 5:23-24: "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." Confession of sin should be at least as public as the sin. I had terribly hurt one person, but just about everyone there was aware. I couldn't very well leave the preacher's throne to make amends with her before preaching, so I took the time to confess my sin publicly, and to express remorse. In today's liturgy, probably it would be all right to leave the "preacher's throne". She was gracious and forgave me, but I have never forgotten what I learned that day.

So, one of the uses of σάββατον in the New Testament carries the idea of week. Check out standard lexicons and you will find it. But don't ever blurt out that the word Sabbath means week. You may do some damage that can only be undone by prayer and fasting.

Blessings,

DGF

Opie Taylor's Move to the Dark Side, NBA Playoffs, 2nd/3rd Declension Nouns

Opie Taylor's Move to the Dark Side. I'm disappointed in Opie. Actually, I'm disappointed with Ron Howard. I grew up watching Ronnie Howard play Opie Taylor. People just a little younger than I may think of him more as Richie Cunningham than as Opie Taylor. Actually, Ron Howard has proven himself to be an excellent film producer. He has done well for himself.

As the producer of what is certainly to be a Hollywood blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code (to be released on May 19th), he will make even more millions of dollars for himself. I am sorry that he chose to produce that story, which will delude millions of people into believing that the Scriptures perpetrate a lie about Jesus Christ. I read Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code during a trip to the orient in March 2005. It is a great read, though very easy to de-bunk. Lots of things have been written de-bunking the garbage presented in the "novel" as truth. My son recently blogged about Da Vinci Code (have you read the book, Greg?). He mentions Tom Hanks (star of the movie) as saying that the movie will be an opportunity for more people to go to church. I hope that Hanks is correct.

Dr. Stephen Farra, professor at one of the my alma maters, Columbia International University, wrote an interesting piece on the Da Vinci Code.Farra is a professor of psychology/counseling, and rather than attacking the historical accuracy of Dan Brown's work (which is very easily done), uncovers what he considers to be Brown's agenda, that of preaching Wiccan paganism.

Over the past two and a half years three of my grown sons and several of their college-aged friends have read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, as have millions of other readers. When some of them started to quote this well-written but rather bizarre conspiracy novel as fact, I knew I needed to read it. As I did, the similarities between the underlying thought stream in the novel and the Wiccan beliefs that I had encountered in therapy sessions several years before began to leap out at me. By the time I was about a third of the way through the book, it was clear to me that this work of fiction is essentially an apologetic and promo piece for “the Wiccan Way,” complete with a Wiccan interpretation of the New Testament and early Christian history. Reading the rest of the book only reinforced these beliefs. Wicca is just one form of Neo-Paganism. But, it is thoroughly oriented toward “the sacred feminine,” and followers of Wicca claim all of ancient/medieval paganism that orients toward the feminine as their own.

Farra summarizes similarities between Wiccan beliefs and those presented by "the Browns" (he credits quite a bit to the belief system of Dan Brown's wife, Blythe) in The Da Vinci Code:

Personally, I think the Browns have done a masterful job of encoding their Wiccan beliefs. Talk about hiding your secret in plain sight! The Browns lay out their alternative to Catholicism and Christianity, the Wiccan belief and value system, clearly and right away, but they do it in way that makes you think you are going to learn some fascinating “insider information” about Catholicism and Christianity, instead of actually learning about Witchcraft (the Wiccan way), and the Wiccan interpretation of the New Testament and early Christian history.

Recently when Rose and I saw the preview for the movie, she asked me if I really thought people would accept the crazy view that The Da Vinci Code promotes. Yes, I do. Greg is correct about the need for good apologetics. Let's get ready to show people the truth about Jesus Christ.

NBA Playoffs. I really am not much of a fan of the NBA. When I lived in Chile, I watched quite a bit of NBA on TV. Having grown up in the Chicago area when the Bulls were awful, I enjoyed the Michael Jordan era. Since moving to the U.S. over the past 12 years, I have found myself losing interest. College basketball is more interesting. I've watched the Missouri Tigers, I've watched the Fighting Illini. College basketball is a great game. Kobe is great, LeBron is amazing, but pro players can be such prima donnas that it turns me off just a bit.

Maybe it would be different if Joplin had a team. Not living in an NBA town, it has recently come home to me how different my attitude is from those who have a hometown team. Last Sunday, my brother-in-law, Steve, who lives in Phoenix was at our home for Sunday dinner. I didn't have plans to tune in the Suns' playoff game, but Steve was obviously going to watch. I would be happy to see the Suns beat the Lakers! I write these words from Indianapolis, IN, a city that also has an NBA team. We drove into Indy last night, and met extended family members for a meal. My nephew, Richard, had something in his pocket that said "Pacers". I noticed it when we first met. Through a buddy at work, he shares in some "season tickets" for the Pacers. The buddy got playoff tickets, but was not going to use them, so he gave them to Richard. Richard's girls have ball games this afternoon, so his father and I will be at Conseco Fieldhouse to watch Game 4 of the playoff series between the Indiana Pacers and the New Jersey Nets. I came to Indpls to speak at a church, never thinking about an NBA playoff game. Two and a half hours from now, I'll be there. Thank you, Richard!

Though I confessed to not being a huge NBA fan, this will be my second ever NBA game, and my first NBA playoff game. It's a great game, and I will enjoy watching it. Thanks again, Richard!

2nd/3rd Declension Nouns. Every once is a while, I learn something that strikes me as interesting. I'll share this one. It might be described as an epiphanous moment for me. I'm certain that I got more excited about it than my readers will, except for the exception of AROD828 (this is for you, friend!). At any rate, the word for Sabbath in the New Testament is a 2nd Declension noun, one of the first declensions learned: σάββατον, ου, τό. However, recently in my Greek class, we had a selection that we translated from Mark 3:4:

Ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι;

I mentioned to my class that the Sabbath there was dative plural. One student, who should have known better, asked how I knew it was dative plural (Duh!). I quickly retorted with a much-used phrase stolen from the author of our textbook: "The definite article is your friend!" It should be obvious that the definite article τοῖς is dative plural. Since articles agree with the nouns they modify in gender, case, and number, the Sabbath word is also dative plural. When I looked at the form τοῖς σάββασιν, however, I was overcome by a sense of wonder. The lexical form for Sabbath is obviously 2nd declension, but its form here follows typical 3rd declension form. If I knew of that previously, I had forgotten it. The explanation is that likely its form in Hebrew would be tranliterated shabbat. In 3rd declension nouns, a common final consonant stem is "t", like the word ὄνομα, in which case the final tau drops out in the nominative singular and in the dative plural, since a tau does not stand at the end of a word and drops off (in the case of the nominative singular), and a tau followed by a sigma will drop the tau, leaving just the sigma, as in the Square of Stops (the case in the dative plural).

This is a variation that takes place in the NT. Every NT instance of "Sabbath" that occurs in the dative plural takes a 3rd declension form, even though the word is 2nd declension. This does not take place in the LXX. Every instance where "sabbath" occurs in the dative plural in the LXX the 2nd declension form τοῖς σαββάτοις is used.

I'm aware that most of you don't care about this as much as I, but I wrote it up for you, Andy!

Hope you all have a great day!

DGF

Practicing Hospitality, Still Recovering, Still Translating, Skip Day, Trip to Indiana, Bought Tickets!

Practicing Hospitality. I'm kind of a "enjoy being by myself kind of a person" married to a "enjoy being with other people" kind of a person. She has the gift of hospitality, I do not! We have practiced hospitality frequently in the far past, not so much in the recent past, and are finding a compromise. Over the past week and a half, however, we have done quite a bit.

Easter Sunday we had our extended family (Charissa & Steve), my Mom, my sister Jacque and her family, and Kristy and Dan. Kristy is kind of a surrogate daughter, and Dan is her fiance.

Tuesday night we had a celebration party (cookout) with Costa Rican seasoned steak with my Costa Rican Week of Evangelism team. The spouses of two of the members made it.

Thursday night we had a celebration cookout with our 40 Days of Purpose small group. Not all the members made it, but we enjoyed it just the same.

Sunday we had our own family with Rose's brother, Steve, sister-in-law Jean, nephew Scott, Scott's wife Lyndsey, and their baby, Jordan. Scott and Lyndsey live in Webb City, and Steve and Jean were visiting from the Phoenix area.

I may not be all for initiating events like that, and I may drag my feet a little, but when you get me out of my "I enjoy being by myself" mode, I do enjoy social interaction. So all of that has been good!

Still Recovering. I don't remember a time in recent history when I have been sickly for this long. I have not gone to the doctor, and feel much better (!!!) than I did, but I am not completely over this cold. I went to the gym to workout yesterday (first time since I get sick), and did all right there. I guess my odyssey in Costa Rica really depleted my defenses. You could pray for me. I would appreciate it.

Still Translating. I continue to work with Hispanics in the area. Last week I began (Wednesday afternoon--between two cookouts) a 10-session class with a man with two DWI offenses. Normally I haven't done anything that prolonged. I will dedicate at least two hours translation for him during 10 separate sessions over the next 5 weeks (normally on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon). We will skip the session tonight, because I started a 10 hour (on two successive nights) class with another gentleman last night. Because I was translating for him, I missed my Perspectives class (Chris DeWelt subbed for me).

Skip Day. Tomorrow is Skip Day! Glory Hallelujah! I don't have to teach tomorrow. There will be fun activities in the park near our campus. My classes can afford it. We kind of plan on one in the spring semester each year. The rumor has been floating around the campus for the past week and a half. It was announced at the end of our chapel service today. Rose will go to the park for the lunch, then go to work at 12:00. I'll eat with her, then take off for Ozark Center, to do an alcohol screening for still another hispanic who called me today. I'm not sure when that class will need to start.

Trip to Indiana. Because of our Skip Day, it just worked out that Friday will be a test day in all three of my classes. I will leave the tests to be proctored by others, as Rose and I will leave for Indiana. We will spend Friday night in Greenfield with her sister Patty. Saturday will be a family day there, and I think we'll have an extended family meal somewhere there on Saturday night (she has two brothers that also live in the Indianapolis area). I will speak at the Keystone Christian Church in Indianapolis on Sunday morning, before returning to Joplin. With the test day in all three of my classes, I think I can even take Kim out to breakfast before taking off for Indiana. Friday will be her 21st birthday!

Bought Tickets. Well, the Cubbies are 4 games above .500, which is probably not bad, since the Ace pitchers (Prior and Wood) are on the Disabled List, along with MVP candidate, Derrek Lee. The expected ace of the pitching staff would be Carlos Zambrano, who has pitched well, but who is winless so far this season. The bright spot in the rotation is 40-year old, future Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux, who is 4-0 in his first four starts for the first time in his career, with a baffling 0.99 ERA. I watched his masterful domination of the Cardinals on Sunday. Tony LaRussa and the Cardinal batters asked the umpire to check Maddux's balls numerous times for banned substances (always without finding any evidence of cheating). I watched as the radar gun topped out at about 85 mph for his fastball (not all that fast). Anyway, I will be attending a Perspectives Course Coordinator Workshop in Kansas City on June 2-3. Rose and I will make it a mini-getaway. Instead of staying in Kansas City on Saturday night, we'll rush across I-70 to St. Louis, because I got two excellent tickets to the Cubs/Cardinals game on June 4. I got a room near the St. Louis airport on Hotwire, so we'll probably attend Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles before heading down to the new Busch Stadium. Hopefully we'll watch the Cubbies dominate the Redbirds once again (last year we got to 4 Cubs/Cardinals game, and so the Cubs win each time [3 in St. Louis and 1 in Chicago--This is probably our only game for 2006--until the World Series]). One can dream, right?

That's enough randomnity for now. May the LORD bless and keep each one of you!

DGF

Been Sick this week . . .

I don't usually get sick like this. I started with the sniffles last Friday, as I administered a Greek test. My wife and I went to a church leadership retreat in Branson over the weekend, and I was obviously catching a cold. It has been with me all week! The congestion starts in the head, and progresses from there to the south.

I have been using generic NyQuil at night, and a combination of brand name and generic DayQuil during the day. I made my first purchase of brand name DayQuil at a local Wal Mart on Monday morning about 6:00 AM, because the generic (for less money) needed to be purchased at the pharmacy counter, which was at that time not open. The reason? The generic follows the old formula that contains pseudoephedrine now has purchase restraints on it because of the meth problem. The brand name DayQuil uses a new formula with phenylephrine instead of pseudoephredine, so it is not restricted. I returned to Wal Mart this morning (Friday at 8:00 AM) to get the generic. I had to show my ID and sign to buy it.

The Cubbies are not doing as well as I would like. The Cincinnati Reds have often been viewed as one of the weaker teams in the NL Central, but the Cubbies can't seem to beat them. We beat up on the Cardinals. Tonight they head off to Pittsburgh, to see how they match up against the cellar dwellers of the Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates. The bright spot for the Cubs so far has been Greg Maddux. He has delivered!

Go Cubbies! Eamus Catuli!

Accursed Preachers

The Apostle Paul had some pretty strong words, that many of us take as words inspired by God:

But even if we or ^an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Ga 1:8-9). Wheaton Standard Bible Society.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν] παρ᾽ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. ὡς προειρήκαμεν καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω, εἴ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παρ᾽ ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.

The Greek New Testament (4th ed.) (Ga 1:8-9). Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies.

There are a number of accursed preachers making the news these days. Tomorrow night, the National Geographic Channel will be airing a program pushing one of those contrary gospels, the Gospel of Judas. Much in Da Vinci Code-like fashion, this is being publicized as a newly discovered "gospel" that the established church has wanted to suppress to keep people in the dark.

This is nothing that was not known about years ago. Irenaeus wrote about The Gospel of Judas in his treatise Against Heresies:

They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.

Roberts, A., Donaldson, J., & Coxe, A. C. (1997). The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. The apostolic fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

Geisler & Nix have this paragraph concerning the Gospel of Judas:

The Gospel of Judas (late second century). This gospel was known to Irenaeus and Epiphanius (c. 315-403), bishop of Salamia. The product of an antinomian Gnostic sect, it may have contained “a Passion story setting forth the ‘mystery of the betrayal’ (proditionis mysterium) and explaining how Judas by his treachery made possible the salvation of all mankind.”

Geisler, N. L., & Nix, W. E. (1996, c1986). A general introduction to the Bible. Includes indexes. Includes a short-title checklist of English translations of the Bible (chronologically arranged). (Rev. and expanded.) (Page 307). Chicago: Moody Press.

Let no man be deceived. The truth about Jesus Christ was revealed to mankind in four narrative accounts that were written within a few short years of the events themselves. There are many fictitious accounts, sometimes adopting the names of apostles, in order to yield certain credibility. Those pseudipigraphal gospels were rejected as spurious many years ago. They are neither trustworthy nor are they reliable. Whether Dan Brown, the National Geographic Channel, or an angel from heaven proclaim a different gospel, let him be accursed.

Peace to all proclaimers of the true gospel!

DGF

Busy Week, Busy Weekend, Followed by Busy Week

I'm not complaining, but it has been a very busy week. I'm not sure that I'm recovered (sleep-wise/energy level-wise) from the trip to Costa Rica. One week back, we have the start of Daylight Savings Time, and begin Pre-enrollment for the fall semester. I have met with most of my student advisees this week, so it won't be that much longer before I finish with the student appointments.

Thinking about next fall, I have a new assignment, with a new prep in the fall: Analytical Grammar. My boss gave me a couple months notice. I think it was back in February when he said something like: "Since you're the best linguist on our campus [sic], what would you think about teaching Analytical Grammar?" I was kind of hoping that it might just go away, but when he came back with a formal request, I accepted. I will be teaching one section (of five). The other sections will be handled by part-time instructors.

This afternoon, we will be taking off for a church leadership (College Heights Christian Church) retreat in Branson. We'll be staying at a motel in Branson that has a sufficiently-sized conference room, Friday and Saturday night. If past years' retreats serve as a model, we will have a meeting tonight, meetings most of the day on Saturday, a worship time on Sunday, then we will return back to Joplin. I imagine there will be 45-60 people in attendance. It is usually attended by the elders, deacons and staff members, and their spouses.

Monday (normally a cherished day in my work week, since we have no day classes scheduled) will be filled with a twice-a-year commitment. I am the Faculty Representative for the OCC Athletic Department. Chris Lahm and I will travel to Kansas City for the Spring meeting of the MCCC Conference. It will be attended by the Athletic Directors and the Faculty Representatives of the member schools. This will be my second meeting.

Monday evening the Perspectives course will meet, and I will actually teach it, since our previously scheduled teacher (listed on the syllabus) was doubly-scheduled, and must fulfill the other commitment. I have known about it for several weeks, but it will require several hours of preparation (already this week I have re-done the reading assignment for this section of Perspectives). I will sneak the remaining prep time in somewhere.

The Cubbies are now at .500, losing to the lowly Reds in their second game out. They have their home opener this afternoon against their division rivals and arch enemies, the St. Louis Cardinals. I would love to sweep the Redbirds, but they have several superstars. The Cubbies will start Greg Maddux this afternoon. I hope that he is on his game, and that he gives nothing good to hit when Pujols is at the plate. Eamus Catuli!

I'm off to see the wizard. Fifty minutes from now my Greek students will begin a test over Greek Participles. I hope you have a blessed day!

DGF

Cubs Win!!! Cubs Win!!!

Well, the Cubbies are in 1st place! 24 hours ago they were in 1st place, and they still are. After a not-so-impressive spring training, they are 1-0, beating the Cincinnati Reds yesterday afternoon by the comfortable margin of 16-7. I didn't get to see or hear any of it (it is recorded on my DVR at home, so I may watch part of it sometime before deleting the game), but I followed part of it on the internet.

I read some Cubs stuff on the internet, and a fellow blogger who writes under the moniker of Death wrote an interesting opening paragraph:

The leadoff triple by Juan Pierre is far and away the best hit I've never seen. I mean, I don't know what actually happened in the game, but Pierre was like a rabbit on amphetamines in my imagination, burning a path of destruction across the bases as he slammed into third for an easy triple. Yep, that Pierre sure did hustle.

Source:
Goat Riders of the Apocalypse

Having Pierre at the top of the lineup will certainly help over the former fiasco of Korey Patterson as a leadoff hitter. The Cubbies may actually try to manufacture runs this year, instead of trying to knock the ball out of Wrigley, or wherever they are playing.

Things are well in Cub Nation. Now they need to get ready to beat the Reds again on Wednesday, then get back to Wrigley to face the Cardinals.

Change of subject: our speaker last night in the Perspectives course was from African Inland Mission, and was a blessing to us. He stayed in our home for two nights, and then spent last night in the Missionary Residence guest rooms on campus.

I have a meeting this evening at church, but will swing by my Mom's house to see Harley and Lola Mitchell, who will be visiting in the area. That will be very nice indeed! :) :)

Best of God's grace to you and yours!

DGF

Spring Break (Week of Evangelism) Trip to Costa Rica

Wow! I took a pretty neat trip to Costa Rica over our break. We had a bit of everything--excitement, danger, intrigue, illness, and some pretty neat natural hot springs-filled swimming pools, that enabled us to rest our weary muscles after a 3-day long excursion in the mountains near Chirripó south and east of San José.

I took a group of five students, ranging in age from 20 to 67 years of age. We had a great time. We left Joplin, MO about 7:00 AM on Saturday, March 18 to head down to Tulsa, OK to catch a flight. Our flight left Tulsa a little bit late, which shortened the time of the lenghthy layover we were expecting to have in Atlanta. Since it was Spring Break time, the flight from Atlanta to San José was oversold. Delta Airlines was asking for volunteers to stay until the next day. The next day, however was Sunday, and we had planned our trip in such a way as to be in Costa Rica on two different Sundays, so we had to go. I've always wanted to get bumped when I could afford the time. It hasn't ever happened. A year ago (Spring Break time) I missed a connecting flight in O'Hare airport on the way home, but that is another story.

The pastor of the church we were working with, Rodrigo Rojas, and his brother, Francisco, met us at the San José airport about 9:45 PM, and we made our way to the church complex, on the southeast side of San José. Francisco had a Hyundai Diesel Jeep. Five of us sat in the two main rows of seats in the jeep, the three girls travelled on fold-down seats in the trunk area of the jeep (not very comfortable), and all the luggage was tied onto a luggage rack on top. That experience brought back memories of living in Latin America.

We stayed at the Iglesia del Evangelio de Jesucristo, located in a part of the capital city called San Miguel, Desamparados. On Friday, another group of students from OCC had left to go to Costa Rica. They would be workinging primarily with Roger Twitchell and Darrin King, OCC alumni who are working in Costa Rica. Our Sunday activity included a joint united church service for several churches in Costa Rica. The other group participated. Darrin King told me that he thought the service was historic, in the sense that nothing like that had ever taken place there since they arrived a couple of years before. Tony Allmoschlecher taught the adult Bible School class (I translated), and I preached during the main worship service. One of the students with me gave the communion meditation.

On Monday, we began a journey for which we were ill-prepared. God kept us safe. Rodrigo Rojas has an old 4WD Isuzu Trooper, but he really doesn't like to drive much. I found myself as the principal driver for our trip. But first, we had to buy supplies, that we ourselves would need, as well as package of staple food items to give to Indian church leaders in the mountains.

We got kind of a late start, left San José, and stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant east of Cartago. From there we continued through Turrialba, then got off of a main road that took us through a place called La Suiza, another place called Grano de Oro, after which we continued on dirt roads. We kept going further and further into the mountains, and the road was getting rougher and rougher. The group with me thought that I was doing a great job navigating the ruts on the road, but I would have been happy to pass the job to someone else. Finally, we got to a place called Quetzal Alto, which was with a fourth of a mile of the end of the road. It was late afternoon, and a meeting between Rodrigo and the Indians who had hiked there to help us get to our interior destination, recommended that we spend the night there, and begin our hike the next morning at daybreak.

We had about a six hour hike to get to the hut that belongs to an Indian brother named Arnoldo, who has a church that meets there. All in all, there are seven Indian church leaders scattered over the mountain region, who look to Rodrigo for leadership and guidance. Rodrigo had never made it to Arnoldo's place, so we ended up going farther than he had ever gone. The Indian leaders go regularly to San José, and meet with Rodrigo. There have also been celebrations held at Quetzal Alto, but we made it further than Rodrigo had been. It was the grace of God that allowed us to get there. You can get a glimpse of what our mountain trail was like from the photo at the left. Indians helped us as guides and carriers. Crystal (seen with the backpack) carried her on pack all the way in. The rest of us surrendered our loads. We had some pack horses, and a couple for riding. But when the path was steep or muddy, the horses couldn't carry a rider. Orvel (a retired student) twisted his knee within the first couple hours, and was relegated to a horse. After about six hours, we made it to Arnoldo's hut. It was built out of sugar cane poles, and had a zinc roof. We were ushered into the house, and found a platform instead of chairs. That became our bed that night. All six of us slept side by side on that platform, built out of sugar cane poles. Our feet were hanging off the end of the platform. The night before, I had slept on a hardword floor in a sleeping bag. At the start of the second night, I commented that the sugar cane pole was more comfortable. By the next morning, however, I wasn't so sure. You can see a photo of our "bed" to the above.

We got up at 4:00 AM the next morning, to hike out of there. The hike out was mainly uphill. We had secured a couple more horses. The hike out of there was longer, since we were mainly going uphill. Each one of our group spent a little bit of time on a horse. I was the last person in the group to get on a horse. I rode on out of there at the end. I ran completely out of gas (physically speaking). Near the end of our hike out, I sat down on a rock and nearly fell asleep. I sent word to one of our Indian guides that I needed a horse (by that time everyone else of the group had been on a horse at least for a short time). Probably all of us were in danger of dehydration, and we needed nourishment. We left our food provisions (which were slim) with the Indians, and began hiking. The trip out of there took us about 7 and a half hours to get to the Trooper. Another problem was that it was raining most of the way, and the little trail was quite slippery. Once all six of us made it out, we enjoyed some saltine crackers and a room-temperature Fresca. It was wonderful! From there, we had about a two hour drive (in the rain) to get to Turrialba, where we had lunch (about 4:00 PM). Another two hours later, we were back in San José, where a shower awaited us. God had protected us all on the journey. All the muscles in our legs were tied into veritable knots. We looked very funny walking anywhere.

On Thursday, we had a Rest & Relaxation. We went to a natural hot spring that flows from the Arenales Volcano north and west of San José. The place we went to had a series of pools constructed with thermal water (even with thermal waterfalls). After our over-exertion in the mountains, it was wonderful!!! It was like soaking in the largest, most efficient jacuzzi in the world! It really rejuvenated us all. It was a wonderful day, except for Liz, who was sick on the way back to the city.

On Friday, we visited the Spanish Language Institute, where Rose and I had studied Spanish 30 years ago. It was a nice visit. Gilbert ran into an old friend who works with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and who had been doing an intensive course there. He hadn't seen her for about 20 years! On Saturday, we went downtown to San José, and did some souvenir shopping. We took public transportation to downtown San José and back. The first place we went, however, was to a pharmacy (both Crystal and Liz were sick), and then to the Clínica Bíblica, a private hospital run (formerly at least) by the Latin American Mission.

I taught Bible School on Sunday, then translated as Gilbert preached during the morning message. The girls spent Sunday with the other OCC group at a youth retreat. Kevin and Teri Cook (long-time friends that we knew from Chile that now live in Costa Rica) visited the church in San Miguel on our second Sunday. I had lunch with them and their two kids, and was able to catch up on their lives. Sunday night, we had a Costa Rican BBQ as a despedida. All in all, it was a successful trip. Assuming that Mark Scott (my boss) wants to repeat the course, I would go back there. In some ways, I would prepare myself and the next group differently. The church is alive and well there.

I got back home at about 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning. I had Greek class at 7:00 AM. I slept for a couple hours, then got up and went to work. I got through my Tuesday morning classes, then went home at lunch time, and had a nice afternoon nap. I believe I'm caught up on sleep now. Early Monday morning, I have pre-enrollment appointments with several of my academic advisees.

Life goes on, but God is good.

Blessings to all of you!

DGF