The End of Greek

So, as you may have noticed, it has been a rough semester for blogging for me.

I always have to carve time out of my schedule for blogging between the demands of work, grad school, and family, and this semester an even heavier-than-normal school schedule has simply left me with little leftover time.

Having said that, I hope things will improve in the near future, as just this week, I finished one of my classes. That, in and of itself, probably isn’t worthy of a blog post, but this was my last Greek class!

I have enjoyed studying Greek in many ways over the last two and a half years and have learned a lot that will be helpful for me as I continue to study, teach, and preach from the New Testament. At the same time, I must confess that it will be nice to cease my formal study of the language.

Of course, in one sense, my most difficult task with regard to Greek will begin now, which is trying to keep up my Greek skills without being in a class that is forcing me to do so. Those who have studied languages before know how challenging this can be.

Okay, that’s all for now—I need to go study for a Hebrew exam.

Friday Summary Report, October 4

Next week I am on fall break from school, which is awesome. The combination of the Hebrew and Greek classes that I am taking this semester is a heavy load (and has led to particularly infrequent posting here). It will be nice to have a week off from intensive study and to “just” focus on full-time ministry.

Here are a few links for your Friday reading:

• This is an outstanding article from a youth minister friend of mine. Faith is more than just following a list of rules, it is placing ourselves within God’s story. And thus, teaching and training others in the faith is more about sharing that story than simply providing a list of Do’s and Don’ts.
• Here is another great blog post that focuses on living in such a way that our future is better than our past. Here’s one brief excerpt: “We must see today as a starting point—a time to make good choices instead of bad ones (that’s part of what repentance is). Once we make the right decisions instead of ones we know to be wrong, we can finish without regret, without nostalgia, and without a desire to go back to now.”
• Earlier in the week, I shared my review of a really good book. You can check that post for some good quotes, or better yet, get the book yourself!

I hope you have a blessed and relaxing weekend. On my end, I will be holding out hope that the Braves and Razorbacks are able to pull off some upsets!

The Best Prayers Are Short Prayers

Obviously the title of this post is not comprehensively true—there are certainly times when long, extended prayers are appropriate and necessary. The Bible teaches that, at times, Jesus went out and prayed for hours on end (Luke 6.12; Luke 22.39-46), and if He felt it was necessary to do so on occasion, how much more should we?

At the same time, I think we sometimes feel that brief prayers are less meaningful or less useful, and this certainly is not what the Bible teaches. In Matthew 6.7, Jesus says, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” He then goes on to provide a prayer as model which is not lengthy at all.

I mentioned that I am studying Hebrew this semester, and in class, my teacher shared with us the words pictured above, which comprise a Hebrew Table Prayer (i.e., a prayer that would be said before a meal by an observant Jewish family).

Translated, the prayer goes something like this (words in [ ] convey additional meaning implied in the Hebrew):

Blessed are you, O LORD [God of covenant] 

Our God, [God of creation]

King of the universe [eternal king]

Who brings forth bread [food]

From the earth.

Amen.

As this illustrates, the briefest of prayers can convey great meaning, and simplicity can possess great power:

As the God of covenant, we are reminded that God desires relationship with his people, and that it is through our relationship with him that all spiritual blessings come. As the God of creation, we are reminded that everything which exists exists because God made it—we owe Him our very existence. As the eternal King of the universe, we are reminded that God’s dominion and authority extends over all things, and throughout (and beyond) all times. And as the One who brings forth food from the earth, we are reminded that we are dependent on God for our daily survival; He is our Sustainer as well as our Creator.

Some very important reminders in just a few simple words. Don’t sell short the power of a short prayer; it can convey the deep truths of life and faith!

What Language Study Has Taught Me About The Bible

School-wise, this semester has been (and will continue to be) a challenging one, so my posting here has had to take somewhat of a backseat. Sorry about that.

I have written before about my (mis)adventures in the study of languages, and this semester is a continuation of that trend, as I am simultaneously taking my final Greek class and my first Hebrew class. 

The two languages are different enough that, so far, I haven’t gotten them too mixed up in my head, but studying both at the same time has been difficult and has required a lot of my brainpower. Greek is now pretty familiar (this is my fourth class in it) and I actually enjoy working and translating it, but Hebrew is just so foreign that it has been a strain.

Having said all this, I am repeatedly struck by three significant lessons that I have learned from language study:

(1) We owe such a debt to those who have gone on before us and have translated the Scriptures into our own languages. Language study takes a lot of patience, diligence, and perseverance. Translating from one language to another is difficult, and is especially more difficult when you are translating from hard-to-read ancient texts. There was a time when the vast majority of church-going people were unable to read the Bible for themselves, and were completely reliant on what others told them about it. We are in such a position of privilege to be able to read Scripture in our own tongue, and to do so with a great degree of confidence that what we are reading is an accurate portrayal of the original.

(2) It is important to read from and consult multiple translations. As I mentioned above, translating from one language to another is difficult. Anyone who has engaged in the process knows that often, a certain Hebrew or Greek word can be translated in multiple ways in English, and the different options have to be weighed. Ultimately, a lot of opinion and subjective interpretation comes into play when translating from one language to another, not because people are biased or dishonest or irresponsible, but simply because there is no other way to translate. A certain degree of interpretation is inherently involved. One of the great things about consulting multiple translations is that they tend to have a way of correcting the biases and weaknesses of one another. In other words, if you’re holding onto a particular doctrinal position based on one translation which is in disagreement with all others, you probably need to reevaluate your position.

(3) The Bible is a masterpiece. Studying the Bible in its original languages emphasizes to me how awesome it is. It is so intricately woven together, with certain words or literary devices emphasizing themes or creating links between different stories, books, and even between the Old and New Testaments. It has reinforced to me the unity and diversity of Scripture: composed by dozens of human authors whose individual voices shine through, but ultimately inspired by the Spirit of God, who works all pieces together into a complete and complementary whole.

To sum it all up, while studying biblical languages has been (and will continue to be) a challenge, it has also been a blessing because of these important lessons I have learned (or relearned). Hopefully they will bless your lives as well.

Friday Summary Report, August 9

This week I am working on finishing up research for an exegetical paper on 1 Peter which I will hopefully be able to write next week. It is somewhat important that I finish it up next week, as the following week my fall classes in Greek and Hebrew begin. Yuck.

Here are a few random articles and other items for you to consider:

(1) I enjoyed this blog post which discussed the importance of benevolence ministry in helping those in our world who are in need. As a minister, I can tell you that those whom we help through providing food or clothing will rarely go on to a life of discipleship, but the point of this article is that that doesn’t matter. Here is a takeaway thought that I think is important: “Jesus showed compassion and mercy to people who would never become disciples and so should we.”

(2) Here is a thought-provoking post called, “3 Phrases Christians Should Quit Relying On.” I strongly agree with his distaste for the first two phrases he discusses, although I take issue with the third one.

(3) Earlier in the week my wife and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. Here is a post I wrote about that.

(4) This is completely random, but I am excited about some things that are happening and are in the works at the Farmington Church of Christ. If you don’t have a church family that you are a part of, come check us out!

Happy Friday!

Friday Summary Report, June 28

My posting has been nonexistent over the past two weeks, which is unfortunate, but also unavoidable:

• I spent last week at Green Valley Bible Camp. This was my 20th consecutive year at Green Valley (8 as a camper, and now 12 as a counselor), and it is always a special place for me and a spiritual highlight of my summer. We had a good week, although my week was unusual as I spent a large portion of it reading and preparing for a grad school class.
• This week I have been in Memphis at HST taking a class on New Testament Exegesis. As always, I have learned a lot and enjoyed my time here, but it has been difficult. My days generally consist of about 8 hours of class time, followed by study (I took a midterm on Tuesday and will take my final exam in the morning) and research (I have a paper to write for the class and have to take advantage of the library while on campus) in the evenings. Doing this after a week of camp (which is physically exhausting) has left me pretty drained. I am looking forward to finishing up tomorrow.

Next week, I will be on vacation in Florida. I am excited about this, and am hoping to have lots of opportunities to (a) Read books of my own choosing, (b) Get back to blogging, and (c) relax. Have an excellent weekend, and hopefully I’ll have something (relatively) significant to say next week.

Friday Summary Report, June 14

It has been a crazy and hectic week, and the upcoming weeks will be similar!

(1) We have had a busy week with Kinsley. Sunday night we had to take her to the ER because she (apparently) has a peanut allergy. It doesn’t seem fair—my little girl has enough to deal with without being deprived of peanut butter as well! In more positive news, we went to Little Rock Tuesday/Wednesday so she could have another EEG. We received a good report, and so she won’t have to continue to take steroids to fight her seizures (which is a significant blessing—the steroids make her cranky and also cause her to gain weight).

(2) I am officiating a wedding tomorrow (for two awesome people), preaching on Sunday, and also preaching next week at camp, so I have had a lot of lesson prep to do. Also, as it happens, we are kicking off new lesson series in the youth group Bible class this week (both this past Wednesday, and this coming Sunday). Lotta work.

(3) I’m going to camp on Sunday. It will be fun (it always is), but I am not prepared for it in any sense.

(4) The week after camp I have class in Memphis. Between now and then I have a lot of reading to do (at camp! How is this going to work?) and assignments as well. It will be a challenge starting a week of class (which is exhausting) immediately after completing a week of camp (which is exhausting).

(5) The week after class we are headed for vacation with Caroline’s family to Rosemary Beach. I am so looking forward to it—I think I’m going to get to read books of my own choosing!

(6) With the busyness upcoming, I’m betting the blogging will be sporadic. Hopefully not too much though—I miss blogging when I am away from it.

Reflecting on Religious and Theological Disagreements

As a theology grad student, I read a ton of stuff about religion, theology, and doctrine from a wide variety of sources. I also hear a lot of podcasts, sermons and devotionals. And some of the stuff I read and hear is really, really good, but some of it I’m not too sure about and some stuff I think is absolutely wrong.

There was a time in my life when I was greatly disturbed anytime someone disagreed with me about theology, and felt a compulsion to try to convince them that I was right. I still feel this way at times especially if the issue at hand is one that I think is of essential importance.

That being said, I have come to understand something which I think is very important: I can still respect someone’s opinion even if I disagree with it. 

Sounds pretty simple right? And it is simple, but it’s not all that easy—just look at all the religious, political, and cultural debates that surround us and see how often respect is completely left out of them.

When it comes to matters of theology, even if I disagree with you, I can respect your opinion if the following two characteristics are true:

(1) You are a person of integrity. Maybe this is obvious, but I’m going to tend to be skeptical about what you’re telling me if you’re not a very good person. If I don’t see the Fruit of Spirit in your life, why would I think that you have an exemplary understanding of the character and nature of God?

(2) Your viewpoint is not shallow. I am not going to be impressed with your argument if it is based on some hunch or feeling or tradition or something your pastor told you that you cannot support with Scripture. If we have a difference of opinion about how a particular biblical passage should be interpreted, that’s a different issue, but if you’re making no attempt to be anchored to the Word in the first place, we’re going to have a problem.

If you meet these two qualifications, we might disagree on some things (and we almost certainly will), but I can still respect you despite those disagreements.

Reading and Walking

I have to read a lot for grad school, and sometimes my reading assignments stack up to the point that I have to spend hours and hours reading in a given day. Sometimes this can be hard to do, because the reading is occasionally not the most interesting material in the world, and if I read while sitting back in my chair or laying down, it’s easy to fall asleep. 

So recently, I have come upon what seems to be a great solution: I walk laps in the church auditorium while doing my reading. So far, I have noticed at least three benefits:

• Since I’m walking while reading, it’s pretty difficult to fall asleep. Along the same lines, it’s easy for me to read for longer periods of time this way.
• Spending my reading time in the auditorium rather than the office tends to minimize distractions (the temptation of having my computer nearby, phone interruptions, questions, etc.).
• I get exercise while being at work!

The last point is perhaps more significant than I originally thought. Yesterday I had quite a bit of reading to do, and ended up walking 190 laps around the church auditorium. I also paced off the distance of one lap, and determined that it comes out to about 74 yards. When I did the math, I was surprised (but pleased) to discover that I had walked almost 8 miles!

I am excited about this and hope to make it a habit, at least for those times when I have a lot of reading to do (not all activities can be done well while walking laps). I need to start wearing better shoes to work though!

How Do You Read?

I enjoy reading and write about books quite a bit. Growing up I read a lot, but that slowed when I went to college and got busy with a lot of other things. After college I settled into adult life, and picked up the habit again. 

When I started graduate school in 2010, I knew I would have a ton of school-related reading to do and I was afraid that this would cause me to dislike reading, but instead, the opposite happened: I now want to read all the time, and I have a long list of books to read in addition to my required reading for school. 

For most of my life, I have been a guy who read one book at a time. This trend changed in grad school where time constraints required me to overlap the books I was reading, and gradually I have come to enjoy reading multiple books at once. That being said, I realized last week that this Reading Multiple Books At Once thing has really gotten out of hand. 

Concurrently, I was reading:

• Two books on ministry in small churches
• Two books on youth ministry (actually I finished one and then immediately started and quickly finished another)
• One book on the history of Churches of Christ in the 20th century
• One book on biblical exegesis
• One book on Genesis
• One book of daily devotionals
• One book based on the sermons and writings of Archbishop Oscar Romero
• A lesson book on Ephesians for my Sunday morning Bible class
• The Bible (specifically, I am in Psalms right now)

Let me just say: this is a terrible way to read. My attention is so split that it is particularly difficult to remember exactly where I read something. I am also completely out of bookmarks (which are very necessary, since I have no way of remembering my place in 11 different books).

Furthermore, reading this many books simultaneously is not a sign that I am smart for being able to balance them; it is a sign that I am dumb for trying to do so in the first place!

By nature, a few of these books are part of my daily or weekly routine (Bible, devotionals, Bible class), but other than these, I’d like to get back to just reading 1-3 other books at a time.

Grad School Update

I haven’t been as active on the blog over the last couple of months as I would like, partially because I have been distracted with concerns for Kinsley, and partially because I was consumed with what has been, to date, my most challenging semester of grad school.

Speaking of grad school, I still tend to get quite a few questions from people asking how much longer my studies will be, so I thought I might as well give an update.

This past fall semester marked the completion of three full years in grad school (I started in the Spring 2010 semester). During that time have I have amassed 36 hours as a part-time student (I also work full-time as a minister), which although enough for a full Master’s degree in several programs, puts me 3/7 of the way through mine (the M.Div. is an 84 hour program).

At my current pace, I have at least four more years of study ahead of me (not counting doctoral work). It’s a long time, but I have largely adjusted to the balance of being a husband/father/minister/student. It is stressful at times to put the necessary time toward my studies and also give everything else the attention it deserves: I have had to hone my time management skills, become better at planning and organizing, and occasionally miss out on some needed sleep. 

It has been challenging and stressful, but it has also been rewarding, and there is no question that my studies, although difficult, have made me a better minister and (I think) a more mature Christian as well.

Plowing Through The Semester

Ministers often get a day off during the week, and the thinking behind this is that Sunday is way too much work for a minister to be considered a part of a restful weekend. For the past few years, Monday has been my official day off, but unfortunately, this semester my work load has been such that I pretty much have to come in every Monday and work all day if I have any hope of finishing my work for the week.

The picture above shows the stack of books that I brought with me to the office today in an effort to prepare for my weekly Greek Readings quiz (technically they are quizzes, but the term quiz really doesn’t do them justice—they are tests), and to work on my Global Evangelism final which is due this Friday.

This all probably comes across as complaining, which isn’t really my intention. Certainly all of the work has provided me with an extra dose of stress, but it has also helped me to grow in my time management skills and my ministry. And perhaps most of all, I am developing perseverance: I continue to plow on through the semester (I like the word plow, because I think it accurately conveys the sense of hard work), but I am so looking forward to December 4, which is when my Christmas break officially begins.

Friday Summary Report, October 19

It’s been a slow week on the blog, mainly because I have been in Memphis all week at Harding School of Theology for a Global Evangelism class. The class has been really good, but it has been an exhausting week. Here’s a peek into my week:

• Class meets every day from 8:15-5:00, with a two-hour break for chapel and lunch. That’s a long time to be in class each day.
• Chapel is every day at 11:00 AM, and is a nice way to break up the day with worship and remind us all of why we are here. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak today.
• Every morning we have quizzes over some of our reading for class, so at night after class, I generally have to do some reading and studying to prepare for them. In addition to that, I’ve had Greek homework to do as well as some other research, and altogether that means I’ve been spending a lot of my time after 5:00 PM working in the library. It makes for really long days.
• I have stayed with Kevin and Linnea Burr this week, and they have been marvelous hosts all week. It’s always tough being away from my girls for a week, but the Burrs have done a ton to make me feel at home, including cooking for me each night and buying Coke in glass bottles for me (they know what I like!). Hospitality is a Christian virtue that we often neglect, and I have been humbled by how I have been treated all week.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world…actually, I don’t really know what’s going on in the rest of the world because I’ve been super busy all week! Here’s hoping that I’ll be back to more regular blogging next week, but with a Greek quiz, a Global Evangelism final, and a sermon to prepare for, who knows?

Friday Summary Report, September 28

It has been a while since the last Summary Report, but things continue to be busy.

One of the grad school classes I’m taking this semester, Greek Readings, is taking a ton of my time. I’m doing well in the class (we have weekly quizzes), but between the translation assignments, the memorization of paradigms and principal parts, listening to the class lectures, and learning new vocabulary, it is just a lot of work. It’s just the end of September, and I know I’ve still got a lot of the class left, but I am looking forward to December.

I’ll be going to Memphis in a couple weeks for Global Evangelism, which is the second class I’m taking this semester. I have been so busy with the weekly work for Greek that Global Evangelism has taken a backseat, which means that I have a plethora of reading to do over the next two weeks. I honestly don’t know how I’ll be able to get it all done.

In addition to my classes, I have all of my regular ministry responsibilities, so it’s a full plate. My blogging will likely take somewhat of a hit for a few weeks.

Some random tidbits:

• This weekend is Bikes, Blues & BBQ in Fayetteville; I will be doing my best to completely avoid it.
• The Arkansas Razorback football team continues its complete nose dive. We are currently at 1-3, and are facing an unlikely opportunity for a road victory at Texas A&M this weekend. And we thought we had a shot at contending for the SEC title?!

And finally, a few articles from around the net worth reading:

• As Chipper Jones nears retirement, here’s a great article from ESPN on the significance of his career. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, no question. Seriously, indisputable.
• Matt Marino writes a really good blog post entitled “What’s so uncool about cool churches?” in which he critiques the craving for trendy, relevant churches and/or youth ministries. He makes a lot of good points, and some of his thoughts closely mirror some of my own reflections on current problems with youth ministry.
• Here’s another great ministry article (this one more directly related to youth ministry) entitled, “The Myth That Can Kill Your Ministry.” It’s a really good read for anyone who works in youth ministry, or anyone that ever talks to someone who does.

Friday Summary Report, August 24

(1) After having a couple of weeks of relative calm as summer wrapped up, things have started to get busy again as my grad school classes for the fall semester have started up. My struggles studies in Greek continue, as this semester I take a course with a heavy emphasis on translating readings from the New Testament, and I’m also in a Global Evangelism class.

(2) Things have also been busy at work, as, in addition to regular duties and the start of my classes, I preached last week, am preaching again this week, and have also had various tasks to do to help with preparations for our upcoming year of Thursday Bible School.

(3) Here is an interesting report on the demographics of social network users. Did you know that the average age of Facebook users is over 40 (and getting older!)? Meanwhile, the average age of Twitter users is 37, and is getting increasingly younger. A lot of other interesting information is in the linked article.

(4) I’ve thought for some time that natural evidences for the existence of God don’t do much to convince people who aren’t already believers. Basically, if you already have your mind made up that God doesn’t exist, then you can look at countless examples from nature that scream Intelligent Design to the rest of us (believers) and find some other ways to explain it. But, if you, like me, find that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19.1), then you’ll enjoy this article on Why Giraffes Don’t Have Brain Damage. The complexity and wonder of God’s creation never ceases to amaze me!

(5) The big news from the world of sports is that Lance Armstrong has decided to quit fighting the doping allegations that have been made against him for years (while maintaining his innocence), and that he will likely have his 7 Tour de France titles stripped from him as a result. I don’t know whether Lance is guilty or not, but I do know that he has been tested constantly for years without ever failing a test, and that there are a lot of people who have been working obsessively to try and tear down his legacy. He might be as guilty as he can be, but there are a lot of elements to the saga that resemble a witch hunt.

Comforting Words From An Eminent Scholar

Dr. Jack Lewis (fittingly) in the midst of research

Dr. Jack Lewis is one of the great scholars in the fellowship of Churches of Christ, and really, is a pioneer as well. At a time when none of our Christian colleges offered post-graduate education (and a time when a lot of churches viewed such education suspiciously anyway), Lewis went on to receive a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Hebrew Union.

Either degree on its own would be impressive—together, it’s almost unbelievable. 

Lewis went on to teach Bible courses at Harding University and the Harding University Graduate School of Religion (now Harding School of Theology) for over 50 years, and also served on the editorial boards of multiple scholarly journals and wrote more than a dozen books.

Dr. Lewis is highly respected, not just within Churches of Christ, but within the field of biblical studies as a whole.

To be as clear as possible, I will never even approach his level of scholarship.

So it was pretty cool that yesterday I got to meet Dr. Lewis (He still hangs out at the library at Harding School of Theology, and despite his advanced age, continues to spend his time doing research). I introduced myself to him after lunch and we exchanged a few pleasantries, and then, I had the privilege of getting to talk to him some more at Bible study last night.

The fellow grad student I was with asked Dr. Lewis (who had Ph.D.’s in fields which required extensive study of Greek and Hebrew) if language study came easily to him. Dr. Lewis smiled and said, “No, not at all,” and then proceeded to describe how, when he first took Greek, it was so stressful for him that he developed shingles!

Furthermore, he informed us that he had to take Elementary Hebrew three different times. Apparently, he originally had taken a Hebrew class in college, and then when he got to graduate school he was asked by a teacher which level of Hebrew class he thought he should be placed in. Dr. Lewis wasn’t sure, so the teacher gave him a Hebrew text to read to test his ability. When Dr. Lewis didn’t understand any of what he looked at, he tried to turn the book upside down so that it would make more sense. At that point, the professor said, “It looks like Elementary Hebrew is the class for you!”

For someone who is struggling through language study, it was comforting to hear that such a world-class scholar had similar difficulties.

Preaching On My Mind

As an Associate Minister, preaching is part of what I do. Normally, I preach once a month, which generally means that I spend about three weeks being consumed by other duties and responsibilities, and then I focus in on preaching for a week or so before my turn in the pulpit comes.

Recently though, I have had preaching on the mind for several reasons:

• In about two months’ time (late April through late June), I will have preached nine times. Two of the sermons were for weddings (which are different than regular sermons but present their own challenges), three will have been at Farmington, one at a youth retreat, one at our summer church camp, one for a grad school class, and one for another local congregation. Because of the specific circumstances surrounding many of these engagements, most of these sermons cannot be recycled. For a guy who usually prepares one sermon a month, that’s a lot of preaching.
• As I alluded to above, I am currently in a preaching class as part of my grad school program (in fact, I’m actually in Memphis all week for class, which explains my lack of activity here on the ol’ blog). As a part of this class, I have learned a ton about the theory and theology behind preaching, and it has left me incredibly convicted about the importance of it all. And I’ve experienced the joy (sarcasm alert) of preaching in front of my classmates and having my sermon examined and evaluated for strengths and weaknesses.
• Related to the class I am taking, I’ve read four books on preaching over the last six weeks or so which have taught me much about sermon form and composition that I never even suspected before. 
• Last month it was announced that our preacher, who has been my coworker for several years and is a good friend of mine will be moving before the end of the year and will begin another ministry with another congregation. The process of searching for and hiring a preacher has been in my thoughts, both on his behalf, and on behalf of the church family at Farmington.

Maybe later I’ll have more to say about all I’ve learned in my preaching class, but at this point, it’s too early for me to clearly reflect on all of these preaching-related thoughts and happenings. 

However, one thing has been firmly impressed on my mind: God entrusted the proclamation of the gospel and thus, the belief and salvation of others, through the medium of preaching (Mark 16.15-16; 1 Corinthians 1.21). That means it’s not something to be taken lightly, but should be undertaken prayerfully and studiously.

Let the Buyer Beware

Over the years, I have purchased a lot of books—for pleasure reading, for classes, as gifts, but I have never experienced the situation I had last night when I began to read one of my books for a summer preaching class (the book review is due a week from tomorrow!)

Everything started off okay as I eyed the cover—the title probably wasn’t as eye-catching as it could have been, but it is a book about preaching, so I wasn’t expecting too much:

When I turned to the title page, I was a bit confused. It seemed that the title and author seemed to be different than the title and author from the cover, but since it awkwardly said “Just in Time!” at the top, I decided that this must have just been a poorly-placed advertisement for another book.

Then I turned to the Table of Contents and noticed that, interestingly enough, the contents seem to be talking entirely about Easter, relating to the title page and not the cover of the book.

At this point, I started to get alarmed and began flipping through the pages. Sure enough, the first several pages were about Easter services, and then, suddenly, page 22 turned to page 43, the type font and type size changed, and the topic changed from Easter to Elijah.

Finally, it dawned on me what had happened: the book had been mis-bound, and I had segments of two separate books bound together.

First thing this morning, I ordered another copy off Amazon (after all, the book review is due in eight days!); hopefully the binding error was an isolated incident and they didn’t incorrectly bind the entire printing series!

Frustrating to say the least.

The Dangers of Language Study

I have spent what seems like a significant portion of my life studying languages, and for the most part, I’m pretty good at it. Aside from English, which I’ve been speaking at least semi-fluently for almost a quarter century, I also spent several years studying Spanish (and even have a college degree in it), and for the past two semesters I have been studying Koine Greek (i.e., the Greek of the New Testament).

There’s a problem that comes with being “pretty good” at language study though: learning a language comes easy enough to me that I am not too intimidated to try it, but it is difficult enough that I never completely seem to “get it down.” Part of this stems from the fact that language study takes a great deal of constant practice, and I haven’t always been diligent about doing that. Another problem is that my brain seems to have a difficult time keeping the different languages separate, which results in me occasionally producing a weird hybrid of multiple languages. For example, consider the word in in the three languages I know:

• English: in
• Spanish: en
• Koine Greek: ἐν

These three words mean the same thing, are pronounced virtually the same, and are basically spelled the same (the Greek ε is similar to the Spanish e and the Greek ν is similar to the English or Spanish n). Is it really any wonder that I semi-routinely get these words mixed up and use them interchangeably?

Genesis 11 tells the story of the Tower of Babel, which occurred at a time when everyone spoke the same language. In an act of apparent hubris, a bunch of people decided to build a tower which would stretch up to heaven. This displeased God, so he confused their language (v.7) to disrupt their cooperation and prevent the completion of their project.

All of that to say this: despite my best efforts, I feel like my languages are significantly confused and babbled in my head. And here’s the problem with that: when you misspell the word in, people start to make assumptions about your intelligence (or lack thereof).

Observation #13

As the test I took just proved, studying Greek at 4:00 in the morning while holding a screaming infant might be a less-than-ideal situation for maximized retention.