It's Official (10 days)

I have a job, and a place to live after graduation. Both are in Indiana! I've accepted a call to become the next pastor of the First Baptist Church of Monticello. I will start in July. Please pray for me and my new church as this adventure begins!

Coming into Focus (37 Days)

Well, only 37 days left until I attain the status of divine master or whatever getting a Master of Divinity degree makes you. The future looms near, and my picture of it is beginning to come into focus. I can't say much, but count on me being east of the Mississippi River and somewhere below the great lakes. I have been and will be traveling. I anticipate sharing some very exciting news with you all soon.

School becomes substantially less interesting with each passing day it seems. I've got a lot to do, but I'm not so worried about it. Last night, instead of working on papers or projects, I went to a Dodger game, because, who knows if I'll ever go to one again? I have purchased my graduation announcements, but I only have a limited number, so I apologize in advance if you don't get one. If you really want one, start pleading your case now.

Now I'm off to a Ministry Enrichment Seminar on weddings (pre-marital counseling, performing the ceremony, etc.). Now this should be useful! Keep in mind, any of my amorous friends, that I'll soon be authorized to guide you into wedded bliss. :)

Two Months! (60 Days)

You may or may not have noticed that I missed my 70 days post. Alas, we are now down to just two months left until graduation! Every time I become discouraged about my workload this quarter I remind myself that this is the last time I have to do it - just one final push! It's a good think I have that source of encouragement, because I missed the deadline to change courses to pass/fail, so I'll be taking all four of my classes for a grade. I should know a lot more about what the future holds soon. When that info comes, I'll pass it along.

Potential Good News for Indiana

One of my favorite things about living in California is the ban on smoking in all public places. You're never asked for a smoking preference at any restaurant here, and you can bowl without coming back smelling like an ashtray. It's something I've come to take for granted and now folks all across Indiana may be able to breathe healthier at Stake 'n Shake. Bloomington has had a city-wide smoking ban for a while now, and Lafayette and West Lafayette passed similar measures in the last couple years.

Check out the story at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070409/LOCAL1901/70409028.

Christ is risen!

Alleluia!

80 Days

Well, it's just after 11:00 pm here, so I can still technically get in my somehow now customary every 10 days post. Like that sentence? If you were planning to take a trip around the world before my graduation, perhaps you should have left today. The days are zipping by now, I guess. We're on Spring Break here in Fullerland, and not much exciting is happening. I'm trying to get to the gym every day, and I want to cook and clean - you know, the things that normal people do. I've cooked a little so far, but nothing good. Tonight my roommates and I whipped up some Papa John's - one of our favorite recipes. I want to relish the week off, but I'm not dreading the end of it, because I'm kind of anxious to get this last quarter started.

Speaking of my last quarter, I will be taking Systematic Theology 1, Christian Ethics, Hebrew Prophets, and Baptist Polity. Excepting the Baptist class, I'm finishing up with a bunch of surveys I probably should've taken a long time ago. It reminds me a little bit of when I took Sociology 120 my senior year at Purdue. It was in the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, so it was me and about 470 freshmen plus Kelli Sanders, who was a sophomore I think and sat next to me. Kelli and I played tic-tac-toe in that class. It's a pointless game of course, but we played on. That was a great class. We sat near the very back on the right side, played tic-tac-toe, and made fun of the professor who was prone to tantrums. One time he wanted the whole class to bring a certain thing to class (a workbook or the syllabus or something) and almost no one did, so he got really upset and said "Class dismissed!" in a very exasperated voice like 5 minutes into the class. Did we care? Were we supposed to? Come on. We laughed and went home glad. Kelli and I didn't really think sociology was a science - more like some kind of stepchild of psychology and anthropology. I don't think that will happen in any of the survey classes I am taking at Fuller this coming quarter. Too bad.

90 Days

It's hard to believe it's already been 10 days since we hit the 100 mark. The days are flying now. I got that sermon written - and preached it. It was on baptism, and it went well. Now we're getting ready to head into finals week. I have one exam, one major paper, two shorter papers, and one very minor paper to write. That should be enough for a week's work. The major paper is for the class I took on the Word in Worship. I'm going to argue for Baptists to use the term sacrament instead of ordinance in reference to baptism and the Lord's supper.

The job search continues, and here I'll just say that it seems to be going well. The rubber hits the road in less than three months now.