Greetings of the Sabbath!

Church was awesome today! A very good sermon and Total Praise played, very cool, yay to God! Lunch after church was interesting as well, even though no one really talked about much.

This has been a kind of boring weekend. I managed to get a fair amount of work done, for which I am pleased with myself, even though most of it had absolutely nothing to do with my classes. hmmmm.....

Dean is sick, very sick. Coughing (for 3 weeks) he had a fever yesterday and possibly a kidney infection. Needless to say I took him to the emergency room Saturday afternoon, where he met a nice doctor who gave him three different medicines and sent us on our way. Hopefully he will be better soon.

So Friday night I am up to my usual good-natured academic pusuits. I was editing and revising a baptismal service from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, Church of England. Now I know this may sound dull to all of you but ever since I found this amazing document I've wanted to edit it for spelling and pronunciation and then print it all up. So I am typing away at my computer about 10.45pm and the phone rings, not terribly unusual, so I rise to answer it. Warning: what follows is pretty much a verbatim rendering of the actual converation. Names have been changed to protect the innocent (well the guilty, but let's call them innocent).

Me: Hello
Person 1: (again to protect the innocent): Hello
Me: Hello, how are you?
Person 1: Fine, and you?
Me: Fine
Person 1: What are you up to?
Me: Editing a baptismal text.
Person 1: Sounds like fun.
Me: Yeah, kind of, what's new with you?
Person 1: Well someone in our house and I were wondering if we could come over and have some winecoolers.
Me: Hahaha, ok.....

Now here I have to stop the story and add a general diclaimer. These are GOOD kids, and they live somewhere where drinking isn't permitted, which is cool.

Me: Well I have some wine over here.
Person 1: He has wine
Person 2: I don't like wine, it tastes funny.
Person: Person 2 "doesn't like wine."
Me: ok....
Person 1: So can we come over?
Me: Sure, why not. come get drunk with your pre-ministerial buddy!
Person 1: Ok, we'll be over.

So I spent the next several hours being entertained by 2 hyper friends and enjoying some wine while they enjoyed sundry other beverages. All in all it was a good time, and a "really good shew." Anywho we swore each other to secrecy so that our futures will not be put into jeopardy! Hence the changing of the names and all that jazz. Oh the things I do for friends, but seriously I treasure you guys and love you all very much!

Now I must go do work. I have a test in World of Islam this week (shouldn't be too bad) and an ethical presentation in Christian Life and Ethics which I should probably start in the near future. Ohh, big news, fall classes are up on-line!

Fall '03
HIST 356 - History of Modern Africa
HIST 373 - Nationalism and Sectionalism in the Early Republic 1789-1865
RELG 303 - New Testament Literature
RELG 326 - History of Christianity: Reformation and Modern
RELG 360 - Topics: Contemporary Theology
IDIS 440 - GRE Preparation

Yay for great classes!

Grace and Peace y'all

Thought o' the day: Matching your clothes is highly overrated.

Greetings people! Back by popular demand, I have decided that I should probably update my loyal readers on what I have been doing (and not doing) since I last made an entry.

So this week is nearly over, surprise surprise, which is ok, but that just means the year will be over that much faster, and then I will only have one year left here. Well enough whining. Classes have been going well, I enjoy them for the most part, even though sometimes I feel like I don't do very much in them.

The war in Iraq is heating up. Reports of casulties on both side have made me very sad. I pray that our troops will be protected along with those of our other coalition partners. I also pray for the people of Iraq. What they must be thinking! I can only hope and pray that they are spared the brutality of fighting and can survive until the humanitarian efforts arrive. I don't believe this is a "just war" in the Christian Tradition sense, however I think there was little else we could do to remove Saddam from power.

I went home last night, we had a session meeting at church, things seem to be going quite well. We are having three infant baptisms on Easter Sunday! How wonderful.
I did also have a good meal at lome last night. Bar-b-qued spare ribs, fried potatoes, broccoli, etc. Very tasty!

We had chapel today, and it was so nice. I was the reader and an alum from 1987, who is now a Methodist minister was the guest speaker. He was very good, and a nice guy. See Muskies can be successful. I also got to meet Dr. Wm. McClelland emeritus professor of religion, whorecently ended up an interim pastor position and is now living in New Concord again. He is a very nice guy and will hopefully be around campus now more. He would be an excellent mentor to pre-ministerial students.

I am going to Princeton in June. I hope it is lovely, I've had to wait long enough. You know waht they say, good things come to those who wait.

Scholarship weekend is coming up and my parents will be here, yay! That weekend I also have presbytery in North Canton, which means I will be a busy boy.

I'm getting ready to go out to dinner tonight. Jerry asked me to go out with some guest lecturer who is also a Presbyterian scholar, so I accepted and get a free meal to boot! So I should get ready.

Have a good one people!

Thought o' the day: "Who are the stained glass windows in your chapel?" and people who live in glass chapels shouldn't throw stones!

Hi Kids!

Well it's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I might update all of my loyal readers!

Spring break was ok, I didn't do much just sat home, and yeah well sat home. Muskiefest was awesome though, we had lots of kids and everyone seemed to have a smashing good time. I know of at least one boy who dedicated his life to Christ which is exciting, so I guess we did do some good!

School is back in the thick of things. Today is kind of busy I had to work this morning, and then a candidate for the Glenn Museum was on campus and several of us had lunch with her, and then I had more work to do. At 4.45 several of us who went on the Civil War trip are going out to dinner with Dr. Kerrigan and Dr. Thornton, who is here to give a lecture on the "Politics of the Confederate Flag." It should be exciting and I'm hoping lots of people will show up.

At lunch Dr. Porter punched me (in good humor) for wearing orange yesterday. She's Catholic, so it was a bit of a bone of contention for her, but I have my rights!

Well the weather is absolutely beautiful, it's been close to 70 here the last few days, which has been a very welcome change from the snow and the cold, so we are definitely enjoying it!

Ok, well everyone have a good day!

Thought O' the day: Pray for Peace from God.

Howdy y'all!
So I'm home! yay Coshocton! Spring break is upon us, and I need it. No wild and exciting trips for me, but hey, that's ok! I'll just enjoy the snow in Warsaw as opposed to the sun in Florida.

Last week was fun. I had two Dr. Burk tests, and aced them all, and even had a wonderful comment from the good Dr. himself. I also turned in a paper for Dr. Hilton that I felt pretty good about.

Grandma and grandpa were up for supper tonight, which was enjoyable and then we went to the River View Ministerial Association's first Lenten service of the season at the Warsaw M.E. Church. It was enjoyable and I was able to see some people I haven't seen for awhile. Church was excellent this morning as well, we had a lovely crowd and everyone seemed to be there for all the right reasons!

So I have homework to do this week and lots of reading and lots of other stuff. I had hoped to go to Princeton, but that didn't pan out. yeah.

So I've been thinking a lot about going to grad school for history before Seminary. I don't know about that. The history profs think I could get a pretty sweet deal from several schools. Dr. Kerrigan said I should apply to Stanford and Dr. McGrath to Cornell. Dr. Hilton recommended Princeton (yay Princeton!) and Dr. Burk Emory. I think I may try Stanford, Tulane, and Princeton. I'm not too sure about this Ivy-League stuff though.

Well I'm sleepy and am going to go read and go to bed. I'm reading Marcus Borg's _Meeting_Jesus_Again_for_the_First_Time_ and it's pretty cool. I'm also reading John Grisham's new novel _King_of_Torts_ which is also good.

Well g'nite y'all!

Thought o' the day: You don't have to "go somewhere' to be on break.

Hi.

I'm not sleepy so I thought I do some typing. Today, well actually yesterday now, was a nice day. It was warm for once, and felt like spring for the most part. Everyone seemed to be in a really good mood, which is great, although I'm not sure if it was the weather or the fact that spring break is next week.

Youth group was fun this afternoon. There were a lot of kids at the church and everything seemed to go quite well. I teach Bible to 4th grade boys, which is interesting, but I just keep a firm grasp on the situation and don't let them get away with much of anything. I think we should be heavy handed with our children to keep them in line.

I've studied for my WW2 test tomorrow and feel fairly confident. I also need to finish reading for 20th Cent. Europe and write that silly paper. Other classes are going well.

Bible study was fun tonight at the Lighthouse. We were supposed to give advice to non-existant high schoolers getting ready for college. I was rather pithy in my humble opinion. Here's my advice: 1. Find your nearest Buddhist Temple. 2. Major in something totally useless like Queer Studies, Film, Religion, etc. 3. Be careful of your friends. The friends you make your first year are hard to get rid of later when you relise they are total idiots. 4 Procrastinate as much as possible. 5. In the immortal words of Dr. Sidney Freidman from M*A*S*H "Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." 6. You should also find your nearest church, synagogue, or mosque. I thought these were pretty good ideas, any takers?

So I was be-bopping around on-line today and discovered Tulane University in N'awlins Louisiana, a very cool place. They have graduate studies in history and I am seriously thinking about an MA in history before seminary. Well I need to pray about it, so I'll have to ponder this one.

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, and today is Ash Wednesday. There is a service in the Chapel with imposition of ashes and all that jazz, which is cool and I love the service because that is where I knew I was supposed to become a minister! I'll always have an Ash Wednesday service at my church, when I grow up!

This may come as a shock to y'all but I have been struggling with my faith lately. I've been reading books on Theology, etc. and find it increasingly difficult to believe some of the things I've been "spoon-fed" my entire life. Take for instance my current problem: I'm no longer sure I believe in the Virgin Birth. Now don't bug out on me here. I'm not denying it, but I don't know if I can affirm it. I keep reading and the evidence is weird. Only Matthew and Luke have the story in their Gospel. All other refernces to those scriptures in the Bible translate from the Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek as "young woman" and here's the kicker, St. Paul never mentions it in all his writings. now mind you I'm not particularly fond of St. Paul (I think he was a stodgy, conservative, old faugy) but it seems to me that he has been fairly influential within the life of the church, and for him not to have mentioned it, well it raises some issues for me. So bear with me on this one. I will continue to pray and read and generally seek the will of God on this one. To all my Christian friends out there, don't freak please, I'm still me, I still have faith, I still love God and believe in Jesus, I'm just going through this "thing" right now.

Ok, enough controversy for one day??? I think so. I'm feeling sufficeintly sleepy now, and need to hit the hay!

Thought o' the day: Belief and faith are two very different things.

Advertisement o' the day: If anyone knows where I can get a copy of "The Psalter Hymnal" published by the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1912 or 1927, please tell me, and I will be forever indebted to you!

Howdy!

Greetings to all of you on this bitterly cold day! This day was a day much like all my other days. There was breakfast, and class, and class, and class, and work, and lunch, and class, and work, and supper. Yeah I lead an interesting existence.

My test in the U.S. in WW2 was okay today. As usual I thought of several things I should have added or expanded upon after I turned in my test, but overall I think I did well. We'll see! We had a Phi Alpha Theta meeting tonight, it was typical banter, but fun. Our banquet is coming up and we will be hosting a speaker on campus when we return from Spring Break.

So I'm a Religion Major, most of you know this, here at Muskieland, and I love being a Religion Major, I love the department and the professors, they are wonderful! And most of you know I am going to seminary. Well I read the most interesting article on the web yesterday. The basic jist was that undergrads no longer major in Religion because they can't see a use for it, practical or not. Well seminaries train future ministers for 3-4 years for your basic Master of Divinity Degree, which is cool. But three years seem rather inadequate. I mean doctors go to school for such a long time and lots of other professionals have to go to school much longer than three years. So the basic idea is that undergrads who want to go into the ministry should major in Religion or Classics during their undergrad years, in order to better prepare themselves for seminary and a career in the church. Seven years is much better than three! Seminaries should encourage their prospective students to major in Religion and NOT something else, that will be irrelevant towards their future within the church. Seven years is not too much to study in order to prepare for the ministry.

There, that was my rant for the day. It's important to me, and therefore should be important to a broad range and scope of people. Oh well, maybe not.

Well Spring Break is just around the corner and I can't wait, I hope it will be a restful time in order for me to catch-up and rest and prepare for the rest of the semester. If you are on break soon, have a good one, enjoy yourself, let you hair down, drink a little too much, and live life as if every day is our last. Hell, that's good advice for any day, not just Spring Break!

Oh! I nearly forgot! I've suddenly grown quite fond of Systematic Theology, I found a neat little book by a former Religion prof. here at Muskingum that I am reading, and it is really challenging my thinking! I have taken classes on Christian Theology before, and enjoyed them, and always make it a point to keep reading and studying Theology, because ultimately that is what I want to teach, I think, besides it's fun to be a "theologian"! So if you want to study Theology talk to me, and maybe I'll be able to point you in the right direction!

Have a great day y'all I have studying and reading to do, so I'll probably be busy!

Thought O' the day: St. Patty's day is comin' up, I'm gonna wear my orange shirt (Order of the Orange) and persecute me some Catholics! Well maybe not, but I refuse to celebrate that holiday!

Hey there y'all!

Wow it's been a really long time since I added anything to this, and while I was beginning to feel a slight twinge of guilt, I have since brushed that aside, and no longer care. I would have written this weekend, but I WENT HOME! And may I tell you that I really needed that time. I know I have spring break in another week, but I really needed to be home, besides we had Communion at church this morning and I got to serve for the first time, but just the bread, because I was worried I would spill the wine.

So I have returned to New Concord, and another week of classes. This week should be sufficiently hectic and crazy that I will welcome spring break in another week. I will be staying home for spring break, and tenatively have a few activities planned. I need to spend a day with my great-aunt updating my genealogical files, it has been forever since I looked at these! I will probably go to school with mother one day to see her little ragamuffins in action. I also have a Presbytery council meeting, and may find a few other things to keep myself out of trouble. If you're in Coshocton next week (or Warsaw) give me a ring or an e-mail and we'll get together for some fun!

Yes I do have a busy week ahead of me, a Dr. Burk test Monday and Wednesday (for you non-Muskies Dr. Burk is the greatest history professor ever! and his tests are hard, but fair and I usually do well, so I'm not terribly worried) I have a paper due in 20th Century Europe on Friday, and need to finish reading the book, as well I have lots of other reading to do for my other classes, and begin writing a paper on the "Just War Theory" for a Presbyterian Church scholarship, yipes! But on a happier note Fitness and Weight lifting, aka the bane of my existence since the semester started, is now over!!! Out last class was Thursday and we took a "test" (note the quotations) that was beyond a joke. Oh well give me my "A" and it's all good. Now my Tuesdays and Thursdays are completely free (except for work, and chapel, and Greek recitation) but that's pretty good!

I need to go to supper, but I really don't want to eat dining hall food. This weekend, we had delectable entrees served up by my favorite cooks (mother and grandmere!) Friday we had delicious hamburgers, french fries, and all the "fixin's." Saturday brought thick slices of fried country ham and buttred, fried potatoes to the fore. For dessert a lovely custard pie was baked in my honor! yum!

Saturday I went to town to get a haricut from my barber who also goes to my church, and as usual he was full of vim an vigor. This guy talks so much and is friendly to everyone, he makes you feel good every time you see him! Kudos to you barber Bruce! And then I stopped to see my grandparents, who are well. My grandfather had a cataract taken off of his eye earlier this week, but is completely better and just has to wear a little eye patch when he sleeps. Other than that they were both good, but I can tell they are anxious for spring to arrive because they love to be outside in the gradens and taking walks and enjoying nature, so for all our sakes I hope spring arrives quite soon. However the weather man indicates that more snow is, indeed, on the way and that March will continue to remain just as cold as January and February were. hmmmmm.

Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the Imposition of Ashes service in the Chapel. I love this service, freshman year that is when I decided to become a pastor, so it always holds a special place in my heart. I haven't decided what to relinquish for Lent yet, but I'm thinking something big this year rather than the obligatory pop or chocolate, that's so blaise! Whatever it is I'll let ya know!

That's it! I'm plum out of idees.

Thought O' the day: Work ahead, it never hurts and almost always helps!

Grace and Peace y'all!