Baseball, Basketball, Undocumented Aliens/Immigrants & Trips Overseas

Baseball. Team USA was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic last night. I watched the top of the 9th inning, as a U.S. team was unable to get anything going offensively, losing to Team Mexico 2-1. The WBC Final Four consists of: the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan and Mexico. I'll be in Costa Rica, so I won't see any of these games.

On other baseball fronts, Spring Training is now going on. The Cubbies have been playing in the Cactus League, sans Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Prior was "shut down" this week because of shoulder problems. Wood is recovering from surgery. My colleague, Chad Ragsdale, also a Cub fan noted that he is tired of the "flame throwers that are always hurt." He says the Cubs need to go out a get Jamie Moyer, who is nearly my age, but who has been pitching forever, without arm problems. I would like someone in the Cubs organization to at least listen to Mike Marshall, who claims to be able to correct faulty arm mechanics, and thus avoid perennial arm problems pitchers face.

Basketball. We're into March Madness. I have yet to see a college basketball game on TV this post season. I leave tomorrow for Costa Rica, so I won't see any games soon. Normally we are on our Spring Break (Week of Evangelism) when the NCAA teams are selected. This year I could have participated in a pool, but found out about the one my colleague, Damien Spikereit, put together too late to participate. So when the brackets came out on Monday, I was pretty much oblivious to them all. Oklahoma did get upset by Wisconsin-Milwaukee yesterday. Other than that, I don't know too much about what's happening. I love the game. I've just been busy. Illinois won yesterday, but their year of destiny was last year, and they fell just short of the prize. Missouri has been awful. It's time to start rebuilding.

Undocumented Aliens/Immigrants. My take on the problem of illegal aliens is probably different than most people with whom I share many political views. Maybe it is my pastoral heart. Maybe it is because most of the undocumented foreigners living in this area are hispanic, and I can sympathize with them. I do, in fact, help them.

Many of you know that I work occasionally as a Spanish-language interpreter for state-mandated alcohol education classes. Yes, I have spent quite a bit of time with hispanic DWI offenders. A couple years ago, a well-intentioned Deputy Sheriff met with a group of hispanic DWI offenders and took a tone with them like, "We want you to understand that drinking and driving is against the laws in our country, and we know that you are ignorant of our laws, and it is not all right for you to do it, so we wanted to tell you not to do it." I was offended by his tone, and I am not even hispanic! I also wanted to point out that though there were about 9-10 hispanics in that room, about 50 yards away there was an auditorium full of Anglo DWI offenders. This particular forum was at the monthly Victim Impact Panel sponsored by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) held at Missouri Southern State University. Last weekend I did an alcohol education seminar, working with 1 hispanic. There were 23 in the weekend class, so the ration of anglos to hispanics was 22:1!

At times, I tell students about some of the dealings I have with hispanics in the community. A couple years ago, I had been helping quite a bit with documentation, jail, lawyers, etc. and had commented generically to my classes about some of the stuff that I find myself doing. About the same time, we were having some foundation repair on our house, do to settling of the site. I had to put in a series of piers to jack up the foundation of my house. I commented about that as well. A student jokingly remarked that he didn't believe that I had foundation problems with the house, but that I was involved in "hiding illegal aliens." Such was not the case, not would it ever be the case.

However, never have I notified INS of hispanics with whom I have dealt. Many of the hispanics in our area are undocumented. Some of them have social security numbers that correspond to another person. Those who are working formally (in a factory or plant) have taxes deducted from their paycheck, never again to perceive any benefit. I would never advocate a person coming into the United States illegally. At the same time, I will not participate in getting them kicked out. The problem of immigration is a thorny issue. I was privileged to be born in this country, and thus have the right to live here. Had I been born in another place, I might have been tempted to cross a river to better my condition.

H.R. 4437 is a piece of legislation that recently passed the U.S. Congress and will be discussed in the U.S. Senate. The bill is controversial. Dissenters of the bill include mainline Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic church. Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles criticized bill and all but called for civil disobedience. You can read the text of a letter from Mahony to President Bush here. On March 3, the New York Times published an editorial titled "The Gospel vs. H.R. 4437":

It has been a long time since this country heard a call to organized lawbreaking on this big a scale. Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation's largest, urged parishioners on Ash Wednesday to devote the 40 days of Lent to fasting, prayer and reflection on the need for humane reform of immigration laws. If current efforts in Congress make it a felony to shield or offer support to illegal immigrants, Cardinal Mahony said, he will instruct his priests -- and faithful lay Catholics -- to defy the law.

The cardinal's focus of concern is H.R. 4437, a bill sponsored by James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin and Peter King of New York. This grab bag legislation, which was recently passed by the House, would expand the definition of ''alien smuggling'' in a way that could theoretically include working in a soup kitchen, driving a friend to a bus stop or caring for a neighbor's baby. Similar language appears in legislation being considered by the Senate this week.

The enormous influx of illegal immigrants and the lack of a coherent federal policy to handle it have prompted a jumble of responses by state and local governments, stirred the passions of the nativist fringe, and reinforced anxieties since 9/11. Cardinal Mahony's defiance adds a moral dimension to what has largely been a debate about politics and economics. ''As his disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least in society and in the church,'' he said.

The cardinal is right to argue that the government has no place criminalizing the charitable impulses of private institutions like his, whose mission is to help people with no questions asked. The Los Angeles Archdiocese, like other religious organizations across the country, runs a vast network of social service programs offering food and emergency shelter, child care, aid to immigrants and refugees, counseling services, and computer and job training. Through Catholic Charities and local parishes, the church is frequently the help of last resort for illegal immigrants in need. It should not be made an arm of the immigration police as well.

Cardinal Mahony's declaration of solidarity with illegal immigrants, for whom Lent is every day, is a startling call to civil disobedience, as courageous as it is timely. We hope it forestalls the day when works of mercy become a federal crime.

If Mahony's allegations about the bill are correct, I also could have been guilty of committing crimes. Though I not lobby publically against the bill, my thoughts go to an authority higher than that of the civil government. I will continue to "give a cup of cold water" to whomever I can, and will do it in the name of Jesus. Just this week, one of our B.Th sermons cited Matthew 25, where the sheep are separated from the goats. The sheep are commended for helping those marginalized, including lawbreakers. Matthew 25:40 reads, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” I imagine there are several points in which my political views diverge from those of Mahony. On this point, however, I concur. However, the truth of the matter is likely to be seen in some point of balance between two opposing emphases. Most likely the intent of the bill seeks to criminalize not those who "give a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus", but rather those who are breaking the law itself: 1) those who enter illegally, and 2) the coyotes that make LOTS of money inducing people to cross, promising to get them across safely, and then (many times) abandoning them to save their own hide.

I guess hermeneutics is important. The debate may be moot, as H.R. 4437 is not likely to pass the U.S. Senate.

Trips Overseas. Tomorrow morning I leave for Costa Rica. Rose and I began language school there 30 years ago this summer. We visited there last summer. I will be going with a group of 5 students. We will be hooking up with another group of students from OCC while we are there. We will be working with La Iglesia Evangélica de Jesucristo in the barrio of San Miguel, in the capital city of San José. I'll probably post some photos from the trip. We will arrive in San José late Saturday night. One of my students will preach Sunday morning in a church service. I will translate his sermon into Spanish. It should be great!

Well, I probably won't blog again until after the trip. I will be journalling, however, and may post parts of my journal when I arrive stateside.

Blessings to all,

DGF

You Won't Ever Hear This on Talk Radio

I really like talk radio. I can remember days when I was all about music on the radio. I grew up near Chicago, and the hottest radio station around was 890-AM, WLS. It was rock & roll music at its best (WLS is now news talk radio). FM radio existed, but not like today. Chile had great FM radio stations, that played all kinds of music. People used to tell me I had a great FM radio voice. One of my favorite Chilean FM stations was El Conquistador.

It must have been about the mid-1980s that I switched. No longer interested in hearing music, I wanted information, that is news! Ask my kids, they got to listen to Radio Cooperativa more than they wanted. They begged for an FM music station, and I retorted, "I bought the car. I paid for the radio. We'll listen to what I want to hear." I know that was mean. Maybe I warped my kids for life.

Since moving to the U.S., my radio listening habits haven't changed much. Usually my car would be tuned to AM radio. Though Joplin has a pretty good Christian music station, my car would be tuned to either Sports Talk or News Talk radio. Everybody else in the fam will listen to FM music, or perhaps a CD when travelling. Recently I got XM radio in my car. The three most used stations are: 1) ESPN radio (especially Mike & Mike in the Morning); 2) MLB-Home Plate (24/7 baseball news--I'm pulling for the Cubbies this year!); 3) Fox News Channel (the audio feed of the TV news channel).


I bought a CD today. That is so unlike me. In our chapel today, we had a concert by the Annie Moses Band. The band is made of of the family of Bill and Robin Wolaver (the composers of Sandi Patti's Make His Praise Glorious). Annie (pictured here) is their oldest child, an incredible vocalist and violinist. She is named after her great grandmother, a woman named Annie Moses, who she never even met, who lived an died in North Texas, but instilled a love for music in her daughter, Robin's mother. Robin taught music for one year at Ozark Bible College before marrying Bill Wolaver. Her father is Riley Donica, from the Kiamichi Mountains of Oklahoma, a rather famous person within Christian Church circles. The remaining members of the family play musical instruments and sing. The three oldest children were trained in classical music, and studied at Julliard in New York. They play a wide variety of music, and do it very well! I loved their concert.

It was especially touching when Annie sang a song titled When Daddy Says I'm Beautiful. So many girls and young women have a problem with the Heavenly Father's love, because they have wanted the love of their earthly father. The chorus to the song goes like this:

When Daddy says I'm beautiful
He smiles with his eyes
And a happiness that I can't describe
Fills me up inside
Confidence of love content within my soutl
Even after he is gone and I am old
When Daddy says I'm beautiful.

Annie writes this in the booklet with the lyrics that accompanies the CD:

My own father-daughter relationship is not the experience of every woman. Divorce, abuse, abandonment, or emotional disinterest from an earthly father can cause a distorted view of the love of the heavenly Father. I have seen women strive for success without satisfaction, confidence without security, and sex without love. . . . within me is a deep well of confidence built by Daddy's love and acceptance. He is still my greatest support. Daddy still says I am beautiful."

When Rose was talking on the phone to Kim this evening, I said I needed to tell her something. I took the cell phone. And I told her, "You are beautiful, and my eyes are smiling now!" I need to tell her more frequently.

The family held an Q&A session in the student center at 1 PM. It was pretty well packed out. I was impressed by the depth and breadth of the kids, who range from 22 years of age to 15. They are an incredible musical family, and their excellence gives glory to God. I had never heard of them until the advance publicity that hit our campus. But I know them now, and will be expecting to hear more about them in the coming years.

Daniel McCoy (one of the illustrious tutors in OCC's Learning Center) is a real McCoy. In the advance publicity on the OCC campus, he said they were great. In the spirit of John 4:42, I say,

I no longer believe because of what you said. I have heard for myself. The Annie Moses Band is great!

Nope, you won't hear them on talk radio, so check out their website, and buy their music. One of the songs they played says it all: Soli Deo Gloria!

Blessings,

DGF

Dr. Ralph Winter, Libronix Series X Beta, and Good Friends

Dr. Ralph Winter. Last night I went to Springfield, MO for the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement lesson taught by Dr. Ralph Winter. It was a real treat!

I have know of Ralph Winter for many years. He is the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, has a PhD in linguistics, and worked as a missionary to Guatemala for ten years, before joining the newly formed School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. His area of expertise, at that time, according to a biographical sketch about him on his website, was Theological Education by Extension, an area in which I worked extensively on the mission field. After that time, he founded the U.S. Center for World Mission, with a host of other activities. He is the granddaddy of the Perspectives course.

Dr. Winter is 81 years old, and is battling cancer for at least the second time. This may have been my only chance to meet him. During the intermission period, I spoke to him for 5-7 minutes. He is spoft spoken, but brings a refreshing, and sometimes challenging perspective. We talked a little about his emphasis on missionary agencies (re: his treatment of structures of modality and sodality). Last night he made a statement during the first half of his presentation about how Campbellites are not really big on missionary agencies. I give him credit for knowing his audience, though many from the Springfield course are from other area churches. I told him about how the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ has changed regarding missionary agencies over the past 20-25 years. It was a delightful evening for me.

Bob Nunnally from Good News Productions International videotaped Dr. Winter for us. We encouraged as many Joplin students as possible to make the trip to Springfield. I will show the videotape in Joplin tonight, for those who could not make the trip last night.

Libronix Series X Beta. There are some neat things planned in the future for the Logos Bible Software. A student asked me about the plural form of the Greek word τέκτων (carpenter). At first I failed to understand what he was asking, as Erasmian pronunciation of NT Greek words varies widely, and he pronounced the above word differently than I would have. I told him that I thought the word ended in ων rather than ον, as I might have thought from his pronunciation. That would make it 3rd declension, which would mean that the plural form of the word would end in ες. At any rate, I checked my seldom-used office computer (that has the Logos beta version on it--you see, when you run a beta version, it is by nature unstable, so they recommend you do not run it on a computer upon which you depend heavily). Ι opened up the Libronix software, and in the Bible Word Study Tools section, and let it go to work. I found some interesting things:

• It occurs only two times in the NT
  
• Both times it is singular
• Once it refers to Jesus as "the carpenter", the other time it refers to Jesus as "the son of the carpenter".
• The ESV Reverse Interlinear is a cool way to compare English and Greek.
• It occurs numerous times in the Septuagint, both in the singular and the plural.
  

One of the graphic displays shows the Greek next to the ESV Reverse Interlinear. I thought the display was particularly neat:

Matt 13:55		οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός οὐχ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ λέγεται Μαριὰμ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Σίμων καὶ Ἰούδας		Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Mark 6:3		οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας καὶ ἀδελφὸς Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωσῆτος καὶ Ἰούδα καὶ Σίμωνος καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ ὧδε πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐσκανδαλίζοντο ἐν αὐτῷ		Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

The new Bible Word Study section breaks it down further, showing each instance in which the word appears in the different substantival cases. It is used in the nombinative plural 3 times in the Septuagint (1 Chronicles 4:14, 1 Chronicles 22:15 and Proverbs 14:22. The form that it takes in the nominative plural is τέκτονες, because according to William D. Mounce, this particular brand of 3rd declension nouns "have a strong grade in the nominative singular (ω, η) and a weak grade (ο, ε) elsewhere." (MBG, 208). Aren't you amazed about the things I can get excited about?

If K.P., who was born on April 1, 1985 happens to read this blog, I want her to know that I was really excited about this discovery.

Tomorrow the student head of our Learning Center, Laurie Bates, is giving her Senior B.Th. sermon in chapel. My good friend, and former director of the Learning Center here, now Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dallas Christian College, is coming to hear her speak. It will be good to see him.

Blessings on you all!

DGF

Logical Fallacies and Whiplash (in inverted order)

Whiplash. On Monday, February 28 I went to Springfield, MO to do some banking for our Southwest Missouri Perspectives class (The Christian Campus House there has bank accounts for the Perspectives classes both in Springfield and in Joplin). At approximately 1:20 PM, while stopped at a red light, I was rear-ended. I was actually ready to turn right at a yield sign, but had been stopped for 3-4 seconds, waiting for a car to pass before I completed the turn. My head was turned to the left, my attention on the white minivan that had the right of way, when BLAM!!!, i was hit. I felt the whip action on my neck. The driver that hit me accepted responsibility, and I took his information down, and continued on my way (not necessarily rejoicing). Today in Greek class, we translated a portion of Acts 8:39: "ἐπορεύετο γὰρ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ χαίρων."
I, unlike the Ethiopian eunuch was not rejoicing: "ἐπορευόμην τὴν ὁδόν μου μὴ χαίρων." I went to the chiropractor yesterday, had some x-rays taken. There is damage, but not as severe as it might have been. I'll go back tomorrow, and perhaps 1 or 2 times next week, and should be done.


Logical Fallacies. I found a new book yesterday. It is James Sire's (Of The Universe Next Door fame) Why Good Arguments Often Fail: Making a More Persuasive Case for Christ. I' enjoyed reading Sire in the past, and am enjoying reading this one as well. He begins with a chapter actually written by Max Shulman. Shulman was the creator of the Dobie Gillis show. I am old enough to remember that show. People younger than I think of Bob Denver only as Gilligan, but before he was ever Gilligan, Denver played the part of Maynard G. Krebs. At any rate, pp. 21-32 if Sire's book is an excerpt titled "Love is a Fallacy", taken from the book The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, © 1951, 1979, and used by permission of the Harold Matson Co., Inc. Sire got the permission to include it in his book. I did not get permission to put it on this blog, so let me link to the text. If you would like to read Shulman's short story, you can get it here.

May the good Lord smile upon you today.

DGF

Any Mountain (???) Any Snow

When I lived in Chile, one of my favorite things to do was go skiing. The first slope I ever skied was in the majestic Andes Mountains. Do I need to remind anyone that they are much higher than the Rockies?

Since returning to the U.S. in June of 1994, I have skied a grand total of 5 times:

• 1995 in Chile (it was a terribly blizzardy day, and I didn't have that great of a time)
• 1999 at Eldora Mountain in Colorado (near Boulder) with my son's band, Brother John
• 2001 at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado (it was Memorial Day!!) and the snow was really slushy. I had to stop skiing early in the afternoon because of a thunderstorm. It was the first time ever for me to ski in the rain!
• 2005 in Chile (we had a wonderful time)
• This past Saturday (in Missouri!)

The first time I saw a ski resort in Missouri it was between Springfield and Bolivar, and I think that in a very wintery winter, their season lasted about 2 weeks. I remember thinking (when I drove past it once--out of season) that I would really have to be hard up to ski there.

Last semester I was enrolled in a doctoral level course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of my classmates works at a private college in the northeast. She is a National Ski Patrol trainer. In an online discussion, after we had discussed pertinent course material, I commented on snow skiing, how I missed getting to do it, that I had skied in Colorado two days since moving back to the U.S. in 1994, etc. Another woman in the class, who has worked at William Jewell College near Kansas City for over 25 years, asked me if I knew about Snow Creek Resort near Kansas City. I did not, but I did check out the website. I thought that if I couldn't get to the mountains, maybe I could try it out.

I had a free Saturday, and decided I might try to go. On Thursday night, I talked to my wife, Rose about the possibility of going skiing on Saturday. She thought it sounded all right. On Friday, she invited our daughter Charissa who wanted to go. As it turned out, Rose had a pretty sore back on Friday, and dropped out, but Charissa was looking forward to a Dad/Daughter type of date. I picked her up about 7:45 AM, and we drove north to Kansas City. As we drove into the area, of course, there was no snow anywhere. The resort was easy to find. About a half mile away I saw the sign on the road. We drove back into the parking lot, and voilá, there was snow! Man made snow, but snow nonetheless.

We got our tickets, got our skis, and hit the slopes. It was much larger than the one I had seen near Springfield. They had a base of near 60" of snow, and 10 runs open. We only used two different lifts. The chair lift near the bunny slope was usually crowded. I found out that it used to be at the place near Springfield. There were some places that were a bit steeper, but the entire place was skiable. We had a good time. We skied until a little past 5:00 PM, then headed back south. We stopped to eat at a Chili's restaurant in Kansas City, then got home around 9:30 PM. It was a good day.

Any Mountain (??) Any Snow? Well, you can't call where we were skiing a mountain. It was snow, though, and as Charissa said, "I've done without this for 12 years. I can certainly come up here once a year." My sentiments exactly. I'd rather ski in the mountains, but if that can't happen, give me Snow Creek.

I was happy to ski!

Peace,

DGF

I Missed It--February 21 in Bible Interpretation History

One of my favorite blogs is Rick Brannan's of Logos Bible Software. One of his favorites is Stephen C. Carlson's. On Carlson's Hypotyposeis his post "On This Day in Biblical Studies" made me smile. I thought maybe you would enjoy it as well.

Peace to you all!

DGF

P & T and Randomnity

Preaching & Teaching Convention. It has been very good. Yesterday I helped David Ferguson from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL get set up for a workshop on Multi-site Churches. He has a very interesting blog, and other than being a White Sox fan, I found him to be a good guy. They are doing some interesting things in church planting. Check out his site, as well as the links. On the church site, I found a video about a Self-Baptism Kit that made me laugh out loud. Since generally I laugh on the inside, I thought it was great! I first met Dave Ferguson when I spoke at CCCB when he was a student there in the early 1980s. I think he graduated from Lincoln Christian College. I've known of his father for years, as he was from Vandalia, MO where my father ministered for two and a half years. His uncle was a couple years ahead of me in school there.

Later I attended a workshop led by Brent Foulke of the Orchard Group. I first met Brent when he was a high school student in Ft. Myers, FL. He later was youth minister at another Florida church that supported us when we were on the mission field. Brent has been a church planter in Albany, NY since 1992. There were a couple of other church planters present (Marc Bigelow of Stadia, and Jerry Kilson of M.O.V.E.), and both of them contributed comments to the workshop. The basic idea, which could result in the multiplication of church plants, is to cast a vision for groups of four existing churches to form collaborative networks that will finance a church plant, and commit to repeat the process after three years with another network, as well as train the new church to do the same. Since I live is Missouri, I might be tempted to say "Show me!", but in reality, the collaborative network part is already taking place. The only thing lacking is the vision casting, and the commitment both to repeat the process, as well as to cast the same vision within the newly planted church at the same time. Times are good!

Randomnity. The Cubs are in spring training now. I keep waiting for some big news of a trade. All indications point to the Cubs trying to trade Todd Walker. Walker himself has said that he does not expect to be on the opening day roster. I would like to see the Cubbies keep him, but 2nd base seems to be rather overloaded with the presence of Walker, Jerry Hairston and Dusty's favorite Neifi Pérez.

The OCC basketball teams will be leaving this evening to go to Saint Louis Christian College for the NCCAA Divison II Central Regional, which will be played Thursday-Saturday. It has been a tough year for both our Men's and Women's teams. The Central Regional is tough as well, with Central Bible College Men (Springfield, MO) ranked 2nd in the nation.

Reading Dave Ferguson's blog led me to some of his relatives who are dear old friends. It was nice to see that connection.

I'm giving a Greek test tomorrow. I'll see if my students studied over the weekend and during the P & T Convention. One of the sentences I will give them to translate is:

ἀκηκόαμεν τὴν φωνὴν τῆς χαρᾶς· ὁ Ἰησοῦς σέσωκεν, σώζει καὶ σώσει.

A lot of the churches that I frequent these days sing more choruses than hymns, but that sentence reminds me of a great hymn.

I'm just about out of random thoughts now.

Peace to all!

DGF

P & T and Purpose Driven Life

This week OCC is sponsoring the annual Preaching-Teaching Convention. P & T is kind of like a homecoming. Our campus will be invaded by people from many parts of the U.S. Classes will not meet either on Tuesday or Wednesday, resuming Thursday morning. While we were on the mission field, there were about 18 years that we were unable to attend this convention. Our first convention after that hiatus was a special treat. We have become accustomed to it, but it is really a good convention. This year should be as well. Guest speakers coming in include Dave Ferguson from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL, David Faust from Cincinnati, OH, Jeff Vines from Savannah, Georgia, Ben Merold from St. Charles, Missouri, as well as others more frequently connected to the college.

Our home church, College Hts. Christian Church, just kicked off a 40 Days of Purpose program. In services this weekend, members participated in a 2-hour long multicast by Rick Warren. I have done some reading in Warren's Purpose Driven Church, but (it may be embarrassing to admit this) I have not read through the Purpose Driven Life all the way. We will be leading a small group in our home on Thursday evenings. I have resisted leading a small group for the past several years, as I have been pretty busy with my doctoral work (I gave up Wednesday night service). I thought that I should consent to lead one of these groups, so I did. They wanted groups consisting of 7-10 adults. Ours has 13, so I declared it "closed." We should have a pretty good mix: a couple young married couples, some mid-life singles, some married couples our age, and a bit younger. I am looking forward to it.

Let me comment a bit on the multicast. It was a thoughtfully produced video presentation of an introduction to the book, that the Christian exists for the purpose of:

1. Worship
2. Fellowship
3. Discipleship
4. Mission
5. Evangelism

I had read some criticisms of Rick Warren before watching the multicast. I would categorize as coming from one of two positions:

1. Staunch Restorationist Arminianism. If being a life-long member of the Stone-Campbell movement makes me a Restorationist, I suppose I am one. If forced to commit to take a Calvinistic or an Arminian position, I would be much more inclined to land on the Arminian side. At the same time, my brief incursion into graduate education at an interdenominational educational institution at Columbia International University introduced me to J. Robertson McQuilkin, who liked to describe himself as a Calviminian. I like that, and have used it to describe a position that chooses not to be locked in to a specific theological perspective, but rather (to quote McQuilkin again), "to live along the golden mean of Biblical tension." Therefore, when I read a fierce criticism of Rick Warren that is written from that polemic stance, I prefer to cut him some slack.
2. Strict Fundamentalism. I once knew a minister who over a period of about 12-15 years who seemed to draw the circle of the truly redeemed so tightly that I wondered whether or not there was room for anyone else in the group except for himself. As I read this particular criticism of Rick Warren's book, I was reminded of that minister. A constant diet of such a polemic spirit may produce cerebral Christians who trust more in their cerebral capabilities than they do in the redeeming work of Christ. I choose not to participate in such wars.
   

Should one believe that I no longer believe in absolute truth? Absolutely not! So far I have successfully resisted the temptation to drink the postmodern kool-aid. I believe in what Francis Schaeffer called Truth truth. However, whereas I may find some tendencies in Warren's book with which I disagree, I refuse to look upon him as the enemy. Those of us who name the name of Christ have a common enemy (1 Peter 5:8). I refuse to act as if my brother in Christ were my enemy, regardless of however right I may be when compared to his wrongness. Perhaps I came to this position after having lived for years on a mission field, but I figured out long ago that anyone who is a son of my father must be my brother. Warren is a Baptist, and I am not, but we are fighting on the same side! I used to enjoy arguing with Baptists! I stopped participating in that sport a long time ago. That reminds me of some very good friends, who, years ago took their youngest child out of the public school system and put him in a private Baptist school. Several years later when he (as an adult) became a Baptist, it caused no small amount of anxiety. Talking with them, I remember saying, "I can think of a lot of things that would be worse than becoming a Baptist!"

One more comment, and then I will quit. In the Warren multi-task, there were some very moving baptismal scenes. Warren talked about watching videos of baptisms and being moved to tears. He came across as genuine. He was moved, as was I. Though videos of baptisms that take place at our church are not as beautiful (our baptistery is your basic water tank, whereas the Purpose Driven video showed beautiful baptismal pools as well as baptisms in the ocean), they are at the same time every bit as moving.

I may comment more on this in the coming weeks. If I find something that I think needs to be corrected, I may mention that. The purpose of the church though is to get unsaved people into a relationship with Jesus. And that trumps pointing out the doctrinal errors of those that we ought to treat as brothers.

Our speaker at Perspectives last Monday night (Dr. Jim Frost from Southwest Baptist University) taught at a Baptist college in California many years ago. Rick Warren was one of his students. He told us that he could tell us some Rick Warren stories. He refrained, except to say that Rick Warren had TP'd his home. I hope that by now Warren has grown up. :)

Peace,

DGF

Grandchildren--A Heritage from the LORD

I'm paraphrasing the Psalmist in the title of this post:

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Ps 127:3). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Eli (the one with the bucket for a hat) is almost 2 years old. Nathan (future first baseman for the Chicago Cubs) will be 4 this summer. The boys are coming to Joplin on February 27.

I think they are adorable. Don't you?



I hope you all have a very nice day!

DGF

Basketball, Baseball, Perspectives (Missions) & GNT

Basketball. Quin Snyder was a high profile signee as Norm Stewart's successor as head coach of the Missouri Tigers. He was mentored by Coach K at Duke, and things looked great for MU's upcoming basketball glory. Over the past few years, there was no small scandal, primarily involving transfer students from the College of Southern Idaho. Quin's days are now over, and as a Tiger fan or sorts, I am looking forward to improvement. I think Mizzou has had some top-flight talent, but in my opinion, Quin has not known how to get players to maximize their potential.

I have friends for whom OSU refers to The Ohio State University, but around here, OSU means Oklahoma State University. The head coach there, Eddie Sutton, is on a leave of absence, apparently related to a substance abuse problem. He went through the Betty Ford center years ago. He has 794 career wins. Early indications from the university have stated that he will receive credit for any wins the team gets under the leadership of Sean Sutton, his son, believing that 800 career wins will insure that he make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame. I don't know Coach Sutton, but sincerely hope that he can get help for his substance abuse problem.

The Midwest Christian College Conference Basketball Tournament started this morning on our campus. Our men's team, thanks to some other teams that knocked off conference favorite, Manhattan (KS) Christian College, won the conference championship out right, and gained the number 1 seed for the tournament. They have a bye tonight, and need to win tomorrow, to play for the conference championship (probably against Manhattan) on Saturday afternoon. I will be on the game clock for seven games, working the two prime time games tonight, the last three tomorrow, and then the championship games on Saturday. Go OCC!

Baseball. Good-bye, Sammy! I used to be your fan. Will Sammy Sosa make it into the Hall of Fame? He is already in my Hall of Shame! I have a number of Sammy Sosa bobble head dolls, including one my son got for me in a Tulsa Drillers uniform. Sammy's name should be spelled SaMMMMMEEEEEE, as that appears to be what you are about. $500,000 a year for Sammy adds up to humiliation. Sammy, you have forgotten whence you came. The little boy who polished shoes for a few pesitos has one of the largest heads in all of professional baseball. As a life-long Cub fan, I cheered. I was ready for you to leave a year ago. I thought you would do well in Baltimore. You did not. I thought you might go to Japan, but I guess I was wrong on that count. I work hard for my paycheck. My annual family income is pittance compared to what you call a humiliation. Get real, Sammy! You don't have a clue!

Perspectives (Missions). I am the prof of record for our Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course, and have enjoyed it very much. I found out late last week that one of the teachers lined up will not be able to do the class, so I will teach Week 11, titled Bridges of Love. Another course I am teaching is called Cross Cultural Mission Trips, which will culminate in a trip to Costa Rica during our Spring Break/Week of Evangelism. There will be six of us on the trip, and I'm looking forward to it.

Greek New Testament. I am immensely enjoying my reading through the GNT this year. I am into the gospel of Mark now, through mid-April on my schedule. It has been a blast.

Chapel. One more thought, then I'll close. Our chapel speaker today brought a message from Luke 15. In it, he referenced Henri Nouwen's work, and the purchase he made of Nouwen's book in a monastery in Georgia. The monk working in the bookstore told him that the book was improperly titled, and should have referred to the Prodigal Father. The term does apply to the father's actions in Luke 15. Generally we think that the term prodigal refers to someone who is reckless or wayward in lifestyle. An accepted meaning of the word is generous:

1prod•i•gal \ˈprä-di-gəl\ adjective
[Latin prodigus, from prodigere to drive away, squander, from pro-, prod- forth + agere to drive — more at pro-, agent]
(circa 1520)
1 : recklessly extravagant
2 : characterized by wasteful expenditure : lavish
3 : yielding abundantly : luxuriant — often used with of 〈nature has been so prodigal of her bounty —H. T. Buckle〉
synonymy see profuse
— prod•i•gal•i•ty \ˌprä-də-ˈga-lə-tē\ noun
— prod•i•gal•ly \ˈprä-di-g(ə-)lē\ adverb
2prodigal noun
(1596)
: one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly

Merriam-Webster, I. (1996, c1993). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (10th ed.). Springfield, Mass., U.S.A.: Merriam-Webster.

Aren't you glad we have a prodigal father?

Peace be with you all!

DGF

IFW

Well, it's IFW (that's International Focus Week, for those of you in Río Linda). Since I am the professor of record for the Perspectives course, we continue in the same vein all week. Our guest speaker last night in Perspectives was Phil Luckett, affiliated with Bob Sjogren's Unveiling Glory ministry. Wait, it's not about Bob, or Phil, or Kevin, or any of their other speakers, it's about God! Phil is an NFL referee, who has done some big games, and has been involved in no small amount of controversy. He spoke at Perspectives in Springfield, MO during the Super Bowl! I was impressed by that. I watched the Super Bowl, and was glad that I didn't have class that night. Well, this coming Sunday evening is the Pro Bowl from Honolulu, and our speaker from last night will be working that game. Normally I have no interest in watching a Pro Bowl, but I'll watch some it this one!

IFW kicked off today. Jon Weece, Sr. Minister of Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY spoke in chapel. What a fine young man! Jon became the Sr. Minister there about 4 years ago, at the age of 29!!! I had him as a student in the Spring of 1995, my first year teaching at OCC. I could tell that he was going to be a good one.

Tomorrow IFW kicks off with an International Breakfast at 8:00 AM, then workshops meeting the rest of the morning. I will meet at 7:00 with my Greek class, but my other classes will not meet tomorrow. Corey Scott (son of my boss, and a member of my son's band from yesteryear, Brother John) came to play bass guitar. He is Worship Minister at Northside Christian Church in Springfield, MO. Ed Holt (formerly a co-worker in Chile) is the Sr. Minister at Northside. Corey is just a cut above most bass guitarists I know. I enjoyed listening to him play today.

I was especially moved by one of the songs sung in worship:

(Chorus)
And I am with You always
And I am with You always
For all this life and even in death
I am with you always

Go and find a world where
My name has never been said
And say it there
Let it ring like a song
Ring like a song
Go and find a world
Where My face has never been shown
And show it there
Let it shine like the sun
Shine like the sun

Go and find a world
Where My word has never been said
And say it there
Let truth fall like the rain
Fall like the rain
Go and find a world
Where My love has never been shown
And show it there
With a love that is pure
A love that is pure

I am with you always
And I am with you always
For all this life and even in death
I am with you always
Always always

Music and lyrics by Jami Smith
© 2001 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
CCLI# 3423002

Jon Weece likened the movement of God to falling rain, alluding to Elijah's prediction of torrential rain after three and a half years of drought in 1 Kings 18. As an illustration, he pulled out a rain coat and put it on. As God's people pronounce God's word to a world where it has not been said, "may truth fall like the rain." And remember:

καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.

Aland, B., Aland, K., Black, M., Martini, C. M., Metzger, B. M., & Wikgren, A. (1993, c1979). The Greek New Testament (4th ed.) (Mt 28:20). Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies.

Peace to all!

DGF

On Library Books (In-Print and Electronic)

Thirty years ago my wife and I embarked on a journey of missionary service. From 1976-1994, we made many trips back and forth. I have shipped items from here to there, and back several times (we took an extended furlough in the mid-1980s). My library is probably my most prized possession, and took top priority in our inter-continental moves. Since returning to the U.S. in 1994, however, the composition of my personal library has changed radically. Though I have added a number of "in-print" books, my library has increased substantially by adding electronic resources.

My laptop computer weighs about six pounds, but has over 1,000 full-text, searchable books on the hard drive. I love the in-print books in my library, but were I to move 8-10 thousand miles away, I might be persuaded to leave some of them back home, and use my electronic library. In the past I have literally spent hundreds of dollars transporting my library (my tools) around the world. I have carried my laptop around the world with me as carry-on luggage.

Not only do I have a laptop computer, loaded with books, but I also use a handheld computer. I currently have a Dell Axim x50v, loaded with quite a few resources. On my Pocket PC, I have 8 English Bibles, 3 Spanish Bibles, various devotional books, notes from 2 study Bibles, the Greek New Testament, an exhaustive concordance and Greek and Hebrew lexicons. One of my English Bibles is the NET Bible, which in its print edition has over 2,500 pages with over 60,000 translation notes. Anymore, when I go to church (or to chapel), my Pocket PC is the only Bible I usually carry.

I would encourage each and every student to consider adding electronic books to their personal library. Though the 1,000+ books on my laptop are spread out across several Bible study software packages, my favorite package these days (both because of what is currently available and because of what is projected for the future) is the Libronix Series X Library System from Logos Bible Software. I am really excited about some of the original language products that will be available for Libronix in the near future, including:

• Two new databases for the Greek New Testament, capable of clause-level syntactical analysis (OpenText.org Syntactically Annotated Greek New Testament, and the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament)
• A database for analysis of the Hebrew Old Testament (Anderson-Forbes Phrase Marker Analysis of the Hebrew Bible)
• The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament
  

OCC students will have an opportunity to purchase Libronix software at a 40% discount for a two-week long period beginning February 27. No interest payment plans can be spread out over a 6-month period (there is a $5/month service fee). This is a great opportunity to acquire books at a price much below the cost of their in-print cost. Students will be receiving information soon in their mailbox.

There are some free or nearly free Bible software packages available, that may be worth mentioning. BiblePro for Windows has a free downloadable version, or will send a CD for a nominal charge. E-Sword is freely downloadable, and has versions for both Windows and for Pocket PC. A problem with free software packages is that the selection of books is generally composed of texts that are in the public domain. Many of them are excellent, but newer works are not available. One more free option is worth mentioning. A company called E4 puts periodically makes a CD full of resources for a nominal handling fee. I have purchased several of them

I use electronic Bible study resources every day. If I can help you in a similar quest, please don't hesitate to give me a call.

Links:

Logos Bible Software: http://www.logos.com/

Laridian Bible Software (Handheld): http://www.laridian.com/

Olive Tree Bible Software (Handheld): http://www.olivetree.com/

BiblePro for Windows: http://www.bibleocean.com/

E-Sword: http://www.e-sword.net/

Free Bible Study Software: http://www.freebiblesoftware.com/

Through Two Weeks of Classes

We have been in class now for two weeks, and I have let two weeks go by without adding any random thoughts to this blog. I decided that I would put something down here, so that the two people that occasionally look at this site would know that I am still alive.

Classes that I teach--I like my classes this semester. I have reduced numbers in my classes this semester (that usually happens during the Spring Semester), but the students that I have are doing a great job so far. I'm very pleased with my Greek students. It is a smaller class, which makes it impossible for a student to hide. They better come to class prepared, or they will be exposed. With a larger class, it is possible for a student to make an attempt at being invisible. My Greek students are working hard, and are coming to class prepared each day--a huge improvement over last semester!

Diet and Fitness--I have continued watching my diet and getting more exercise. I go to Nitro Fitness at least three times per week. I was there this morning. The Joplin Nitro Fitness has been open for about 4 weeks. I noticed on the white board that they will put rankings for those who lose the greatest amount of body fat, and gain the greatest amount of muscle mass. I normally might have gone yesterday, but I had some lower back discomfort, so I stayed away from there yesterday. This morning when I woke up, it felt better, so I went ahead and worked out. I have also been playing basketball and racquetball with greater regularity. Last Monday, several of the faculty members played some ball right before lunchtime. We played man-to-man defense, and I ended up guarding (and being guarded) by one of my younger colleagues who is in great shape. I had guarded him once about a year ago, and found at that time that he could pretty easily. He didn't dribble past me once on Monday. I felt like I was just about a half-step quicker, which pleases me. I've been getting beat in racquetball, but hadn't played in several years. I'm getting better, though.

Bible Reading Plans--I have been enjoying my Bible Reading. I am using The One Year Bible published by Tyndale. I do my English Bible reading on my Pocket PC, using the Daily Reader by Laridian, which enables me to do the Tyndale scheduled reading in any Bible translation I have on my system. That allows me to read in the English Standard Version, which I am enjoying a lot. The ESV, published by Crossway books, splits the difference between the very literal New American Standard Bible, and the very readable New International Version. Though as a Greek professor, I don't encourage students to use Interlinear Bibles, Crossway and Logos Bible Software will be releasing a Reverse Interlinear based on the ESV. Crossway's website describes it:

This state-of-the-art reverse interlinear New Testament, created in partnership with Logos Research Systems, breaks with the convention of traditional interlinear texts by keeping the English as the top line entry and placing the Greek text underneath it. This approach allows you to see firsthand the accuracy with which the translators of the English Standard Version of the Bible (ESV) rendered the Greek text.

The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation of the Bible, emphasizing word-for-word accuracy and precision along with literary beauty and readability. The publishers of the ESV have partnered with Logos Research Systems, the premier Bible research software developer, to publish this helpful resource. It will benefit anyone from serious Bible scholars to those who simply desire to study the English text of the New Testament as closely as possible to the original.

Valuable Resources Included

• Gloss dictionary based on the transliterated inflected Greek
• Strong’s numbers for effective cross-referencing to other study tools
• Morphology of each word
• Transliterations of all Greek words for easy pronunciation
• Free electronic version of the ESV on CD-ROM
• Additional ESV text and study tools

Greek Bible Reading--I created two calendars to enable me to read through the entire Greek New Testament during 2006. It has been a joy! I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I had never done it (or even thought about doing it!), but it has been great fun. I decided to begin with the gospel of John and his epistles, then start in with Matthew and read through the rest of the New Testament. My first schedule called for me to read John and 1-2-3 John by February 15. The second plan was to begin with Matthew on February 16, finishing Revelation on December 31. Currently I am way ahead of schedule, having already read the prescribed portion through February 22. I read the Greek New Testament generally in one of two formats:

1. In my Libronix Bible Software, through which I created the calendar.
2. On my Pocket PC, equipped with Gramcord Lite.

Each of those options are equipped with an easy way to check a lexicon for the words that I don't recognize right off. In Libronix, I right click on a word I don't recognize, and choose the option "Display information." That is linked to the entry for that word in BAGD. In Gramcord Lite, the lexical gloss is not as sophisticated, but is adequate for rapid reading of the text. I'll include a photo I took from my Pocket PC just this morning:


The photo shows the word σκυθρωποί as occurs in the text of Matthew 6:16. The lower portion of the screen gives the lexical form of the word, parses it (this particular word is very easy to parse--my first semester Greek students could do it easily), and gives a gloss with the English meaning, that comes from Barclay Newman's Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament.

Another excellent resource that can be used for rapid reading of the Greek New Testament is a text by Zondervan: A Reader's Greek New Testament, that includes a gloss with the meaning of every word that is used 30 times or fewer in the Greek New Testament, enabling the reader to look at the bottom of the page to get the meaning of a word he/she might not recognize right away.

High School Basketball--I went to my first high school basketball game of this season last night. Rose was gone to a retreat. I had wanted a chance to see Kyle Schrage play at least once as a high schooler. Kyle is a 6'8" senior center at Carl Junction High School. I had the privilege of travelling to Thailand last March with Kyle and his parents, Mike and Karolyn Schrage. Mike is with Good News Productions, International. Kyle was born on the mission field in Kenya. When his older sister, Kathryn, was about 14 years old, I coached her at an OCC Basketball camp. Kyle has signed a letter of intent to play college basketball at Missouri Southern State University here in Joplin. He had a good game last night, scoring 20 points while sitting out the entire 4th quarter. He had one dunk that electrified the crowd in the first half. Good game, Kyle!

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement--I am the professor of record for our Perspectives course. That should be great! I've got some housekeeping duties to take care of today. Our next class session will be Monday nights, with Dr. Ron Blue from Dallas Theological Seminary/CAM International.

That's it. I have more random thoughts, but I save them for a later day.

Blessings to you all!

DGF

Weekend Reprieve Before Taking the Plunge

I'm writing these words (the term penning does not work here, since I have no pen in my hands) from the home of David & Jennie Smith in Allen, TX. Jennie is the oldest of my wife's two sisters, and it is a bit scary how much alike the three of them are. Actually, the home in reality belongs to my niece, Michelle, allegedly "won" from her parents in a game of Sorry, information obtained from perusing the subject of my next paragraph (Smith 2005:69). We have spent lots of time with the Smith family over the years, in Indiana, Florida and now in Texas. We'll have today (Saturday, Jan. 14) with them, celebrating the first birthday of Jack Mounger, son of Shannon nee Smith. Shannon graduated from high school in 1993, and then spent a school year in Chile as an exchange student. That coincided with our last year in Chile, during which time we spent lots of time with her, and during which time she acquired (not by playing Sorry, the dubious title of favorite niece.) Methinks that she has lost that title for good, now, but that is also the subject of my next paragraph, which begins now!

David Smith, Jr., formerly known in the family as Little Dave (an oxymoron to the extreme!) is the minister at Southwood Christian Church in Greenville, Texas. I was unaware until yesterday that he is a published author. His book, Life's too Short to be an Underdog, and Other Spiritual Lessons I Learned from my Dog, came out just before Christmas. I did some reading in it, and it is a good read. I recommend it. Especially interesting is chapter 8, written about Ziggy, one of the Smith family dogs. I really can't say that I remember Ziggy, but the story told about Ziggy, in which my oldest child Charissa has the role of an antagonist, has the ring of truth. We will get to see the author later today at his nephew's birthday party. I understand that he admits that some of the stories are embellished for the sake of humor. My wife, Rose also has somewhat of a role of an antagonist, in which the niece formerly known as favorite is alleged to have referred to her as evil, thus losing that claim. Buy the book, read the book, I think you'll like it.

In a couple hours we will visit our friends, Doug and Sharon Marks. They recently moved down to the Dallas area. Doug was my colleague at Ozark over the past 5½ years, and is now Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dallas Christian College. They will return to Joplin in a couple weeks to close on the sale of their home there.

Tomorrow we'll go to church with Dave and Jennie, then head north. We'll be in enrollment all day Monday, then Tuesday morning, at 7:00 AM, it's back to Greek, where I will review what students forgot about Koine Greek over their 4-week hiatus, and begin work on the 2nd Aorist Active/Middle Indicative. Is anybody excited? It won't be until a few days later that they will learn the 1st Aorist tense. Does that seem strange to you? It makes perfect sense to me!

Passing on to other mundane matters, we ate last night at Café de France, and I had a salad with blackened chicken. I am hoping out of fifth place in our 7-member family weight contest, without descending to sixth or seventh place. I will eat rationally today, and plan on drinking lots of water, to flush my system out. Since Sunday morning is our official weigh-in day, we brought our scales to Texas with us. Second mundane matter--Jack Bauer is not dead. I have not watched a television series when broadcast live for years. I have, however, become a viewer of Fox's 24 (having recently watched the series on DVD--it is exciting and somewhat addictive.) Season five begins tomorrow night, with a two-hour start. It will continue on Monday with another two-hours, then I believe resume its normal Monday evening slot. A recent acquisition in our home is a DVR. I won't be able to watch the series live, since most Monday evenings I will be in class, but the DVR is set to record the episodes. I imagine that I will find time to watch them sometime during the week.

The next time I write, I will be back into the full-swing of our Spring Semester. I hope an pray God's best to you.

Until I have more random thoughts,

DGF

Reference: Smith, Dave. (2005). Life's Too Short to Be an Underdog . . . and Other Spiritual Life Lessons I Learned from my Dog. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc.

Ready to Start Again, and Resolutions for the Upcoming Year

Well, I've taken some time off from my blogging. This year we had a four week hiatus between semesters, which I have enjoyed to the max. We have one more week before we start back. This semester, I will be teaching the following courses at OCC:

• Greek IB
• Spanish II
• Old Testament History II
• Cross-Cultural Mission Trips
• Perspectives on the World Christian Movement

The last two are non-traditional courses. The Cross-Cultural Mission Trip will actually end during our Week of Evangelism (traditionally called Spring Break in other educational venues). During that week, I will be leading a group of students on a short-term trip to Costa Rica. Early in the semester, the class will meet once per week, doing pre-field orientation and readings on cross-cultural work. After the trip, we will meet briefly for de-briefing, write a report, and have a celebratory event (party).

I will merely be the Professor of Record for the Pespectives course. Perspectives is a course offered nationwide in over 150 locations each year. This is our 3rd year to offer the course in the Spring Semester. I took the course for graduate credit from Trinity International University/Evangelical Divinity School in 2003 (though I had done many of the readings when I was in graduate school the first time in the 1980s). The University of Nebraska accepted that course (3 credits) as a part of my Ph.D program there. For our Perspectives course, we will have guest speakers come in each week, which we will share with our Springfield, MO site. A highlight this semester will be the inclusion of Dr. Ralph Winter as one of the guest lecturers. Dr. Winter is the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California, and a primary author in the course reader. That will be a treat.

So, my three principal course assignments will be, once again, Greek, OT History, and Spanish.

Which brings us to Resolutions. I don't usually like New Year's Resolutions, but this year, I made resolutions in 3 primary areas:

• Diet
• Physical Fitness
• Bible Reading

Back in August, I joined Weight Watchers Online. During the summer months, I saw my weight reach an all-time high that both shocked and scared me. My wife had dabbled in Weight Watchers for a while earlier, and tried to get me to commit to the program with her, but I resisted. So, when I saw my weight peak higher than ever before, I decided to do something about it. I dropped more than 30 pounds. The time from Thanksgiving through the New Year's Holiday Weekend is a difficult time of the year for dieters. I wrote briefly about that a couple weeks ago. So, between Christmas and New Year's, our family decided that we would have a weight loss contest. It started out just between my wife, Rose, and our daughters, Charissa and Kim, but Steve (Charissa's husband) wanted in as well (At Legget & Platt, where Steve and Charissa work, they have weight loss contests frequently). Steve's participation just about required mine as well. We visited our son, Greg over the New Year's weekend. Both Greg and Emily (his wife) wanted in as well. So now, we have seven people in a 10-week competition. I am back on track with Weight Watchers Online. My variance from the low weight over the difficult period was 4 lbs., of which I have already dropped 2, so at this writing, I am now 2 pounds over my Weight Watchers low. Yesterday I ran into a young married couple that was on campus visiting from Washington state, where they now live. They had never seen me this light, and asked me what I was doing. That was gratifying, but that requires the second resolution: physical fitness.

I am basically lazy by nature. I do not understand runners. I can think of a hundred thousand things I would rather do than to get up early and run. Several of my colleagues run. I think that 3 of them have run marathons. I know that I don't want to do that. When I was younger, I could handle running, if there was a ball involved. About 25 years ago, I can remember dribbling a basketball back and forth on our patio for 20 minutes, constantly moving. You couldn't have coerced me into just running for 20 minutes. The addition of the basketball made it palatable. Now, though, I would just rather sit on the couch. The week between Christmas and New Year's, a new fitness center opened up about 6 blocks from our house. It is called Nitro Fitness, and is a combination of Circuit Training and Core Training. It is designed to be the kind of fitness center, where clients have 24/7 access, and can get in a balanced workout in a little over 30 minutes. I decided to join, and have been there 5 times already. We'll see what kind of results I get after six weeks. That component, combined with wiser nutritional intake, should be an aid.

Final resolution, that of Bible Reading. I've got a new twist here. I have frequently read through the Bible with one-year plans. We have used the One-Year Bible and One-Year Chronological Bibles in reading plans. That is nothing new. On my PDA, I have PocketBible, which comes with DailyReader, from Laridian. So this year I am reading through Tyndale's One Year Bible. The neat thing by doing it on a PDA instead of a printed Bible, is that I can read the text in whatever version I have in my system. I have previously read through the Bible in the NIV, NASB and The Message. This year, I am reading it in the fairly new English Standard Version from Crossway. Logos Bible Software will be releasing a Reverse Interlinear based on the ESV later this year. You can see some references to that on Logos' blog here or here. Still, that part of my Bible Reading Resolution is not too exciting. The truly revolutionary (for me!) resolution is the next part. I am ashamed to admit this in a public forum (for the 3 readers of this blog), but I need to make it public, in order to be held accountable. I teach first year Greek in a Bible College, and yet, I probably have never read the entire Greek New Testament. So . . . during 2006, I plan to read the entire Greek New Testament. I used the Bible Reading plan built into Libronix software to create a plan. Basically I can read the entire Greek New Testament at the rate of about 25 verses per day. I created two plans. The first plan (which concluded during the month of February) includes the Gospel of John and 1-2-3 John (usually considered to be easier Greek). When I finish that plan, I will begin again in Matthew, and then proceed straight through the New Testament (excluding the portions previously read), finishing Revelation by the end of the year. It has been exciting so far!

Since my mentioned our trip to Texas, I might as well include a photo taken of me with Eli, the younger of our two grandsons. He will be 2 in March, but is already manifesting some of the mood swings associated with 2 year old kids. He is cute, don't you think?


Well, that's about it for right now. I am currently reading Portable Dissertation Advisor, and Jim Garlow's (2000) How God Saved Civilization: The Epic Story of God Leading His People, The Church.