Quick Post

I don't have a ton of time (night ultimate in an hour plus some homework), but I'll give a little summary of my week.

I think most people who even pay attention to my blog got to see me in person this weekend, so that was probably worth more than a thousand posts. I had a busy, but great weekend at home.

This week has been pretty good. I had a series of tests on Friday and Monday which all went pretty well. I was kinda disappointed in my Spanish test, because I put in a decent amount of studying and the test was really simple. I got a 99, which wasn't an uncommon grade compared to the rest of the class. So much for an academically challenging school. Wheaton is such a poser. I have a Greek test on Friday, so hopefully that test won't be a pansy too.

We had another great small-group meeting tonight. Still going through the book of Galatians and discussing a lot of Paul and his conversion experience followed by his life. There aren't many better examples than Paul. From a misguided Christian hunter to a persecuted Christian leader in three days.

I almost forgot to mention my trip to Minneapolis this weekend to the Desiring God conference. It should be a great mix of speakers dealing with how to relate the gospel to the culture we are in. I already read through Scott Wells' book, "Above All Earthly Pow'rs" from which the conference gets his name, and I just yesterday checked out Mark Driscoll's book "The Radical Reformission," so I'm pretty excited to see the dialogue between these two guys and the other speakers, especially considering the different array of backgrounds and perspectives they come from.

So that's my weekend, another 5+ hour drive both ways for two days of stuff. I'll have Kristin with me, so it won't be too bad. I'll make sure I post some reflections and reactions after I get back.

Until then,
Brandon

Another busy week

There seems to be a pattern developing and it doesn't seem like it's slowing down.

Today was an incredible day. I just found out that as a part of my internship I have the opportunity to sit in on an expositional preaching workshop taught by College Church senior pastor Kent Hughes. Tuesday mornings (which are fortunately class-free for me) will now be spent learning directly from a man with over 30 years of experience (27 at College Church) and happens to be on the international council of Biblical innerancy (I don't know exactly what it is, but it sounds pretty cool) Anyway, he knows his stuff, and I consider it an incredible privilege to learn as much as I can from him in the last few months he is at College Church. I feel a bit over my head, but I'll be glad to stretch myself through this. It's basically like adding another class to my schedule, but I can't pass up this truly once in a lifetime opportunity.

And to think I almost didn't go because I was afraid of feeling out of place.

Classes were good and I had ultimate practice for IMs. Our first game is tomorrow and I think our team is pretty good. We'll have to see.

Tonight I went to an arboretum, which is, as one of my classmates put it, "a zoo for trees." It's a 1600 acre piece of land dedicated to growing, experimenting on, and maintaining a variety of plant species. It was for my bio lab, so it was a good break from the monotony of laboratory experiments and write-ups.

I'm working on a devotional right now for Spanish class tomorrow, so that's all for now.

Adios,
Brandon

Busy Week

Wow, it's been a busy week.

I'm sorry I've neglected to write anything, but I've had a bunch of stuff to do and have probably been on the computer for about an hour all week, so I haven't had much of a chance to post anything. I'll breeze through a few of the notable things that happened this week.

On Tuesday I got up at six to meet my fellow small-group leaders for breakfast. I was proud of myself for getting up on time and being semi-coherent as I walked out to my car. Then I tried starting it and nope, my car wanted to stay right where it was. My best guess is the humidity and the lack of use (it had been over a week since I started it) combined with the age and condition of my 1991 Mazda protege that caused it to refuse to cooperate with me. Throw in my complete lack of automobile knowledge and I wasn't going anywhere that morning. I still wanted to get to breakfast, so I made my way back to my room to ask my roommate if I could borrow his car or at least call the guys I was standing up at the moment. As I got closer to my dorm, I discovered I had grabbed the wrong card off of my desk in the darkness of my room. I needed my student ID, which is necessary to scan to get in the dorm. No one was awake at 6 in the morning and I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I had to wait until about 7:30 before there were any signs of life.

Although I didn't make it to the breakfast, small group went very well last night, and my car started today by some miracle. It took a while to get warmed up, but after I went for a half hour drive she was running just fine. I'll just have to remember to start up my car every couple of days to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I'm just getting over an annoying cold and today was the first sunny day all week, so all-in-all it was a great day. I've gotten a few grade updates lately, and so far I'm doing pretty well. It's early, but hopefully starting with a strong foundation will keep things on the right track.

I have a DSG (disciple small group) thing to get to, so this is all I have for now. I'll try to be as faithful as I can to keeping this updated.

Good day,
Brandon

My brain is full

You may wonder why my brain would be full on a Friday night, the night when brains should be emptied in favor of some mindless entertainment. The mindless entertainment will come, no doubt, but the reason my head is so full is that I began reading a fascinating book today. The book, "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller, is one I've been wanting to read for a while and I finally got my hands on it late last night at the Wheaton Public Library. So, after a Spanish test, a Bio pop quiz, and a new declension in Greek, I unwound by reading. I squeezed in a short run (my knee's still not completely healed) and read some more. I have a couple more chapters to go, which I'm going to to try to finish before I watch Rudy on the lawn tonight. (big screen)

"Blue Like Jazz" is hard to put into a certain genre, but it's basically this guy's coming to an understanding of Christianity through his life. I can't really explain it, but it's an interesting perspective on American Christianity, and although I wouldn't endorse everything he says, it's an honest portrayal of a sinner redeemed and being sanctified by God's grace. It's been pretty convicting to me and I would recommend it to others, but like I said, I wouldn't endorse everything.

Last night I did my first shift of babysitting at church. Jonny had a meeting and Christine was getting some rare social time with some friends, so naturally the intern has to step in. I didn't mind. I've probably eaten my weight in food at their house already and stayed a few nights there, so I've gotten way more out of the deal than they have. It was such torture to hold Noah and play with Isaac for an hour. Everything went smoothly and Noah made me look good by not fussing and falling asleep for a little while. Isaac couldn't get enough of me squirting myself in the face with the water fountain.

Rudy is calling me so I must go. I have a bunch of other interesting things that have happened, so hopefully I'll have some free time tomorrow.

Good night,
Brandon

Lazy Weekend

I think that title sums it all up. Kristin came down and we had a nice, relaxing time hanging out at Jonny and Christine's all weekend. Isaac kept us entertained and we ate very well. Although neither one of us got much work done, it was still a great weekend.

I was playing basketball yesterday with Jonny and a few guys from the youth group and I dove after a ball going out of bounds and hurled it back in. Apparently it was a good pass, but I was too busy slamming my knee into the wall to notice. I hobbled back to my feet and played the rest of the game, but my knee was bothering me. After the game, it kind of stiffened up and I've been limping ever since. It's getting better now, so I don't think there's any permanent damage. It's just a little inconvenient for the time being.

On top of that, I seemed to contract a strange 12-hour flu last night. I woke up this morning feeling much better than last night, so I wonder if I just ate something wrong. I have a pretty strong stomach, but I've been known to abuse it (all of last summer). Anyway, I'm feeling much better all around today.

My internship official starts this week, but not too much of my schedule will change. One thing I'll be doing is attending ministry classes at College Church every Sunday and doing some required reading for that. Also, Jonny and I will go through a book and meet once a week so he can keep tabs on me and discipline wherever is necessary. Technically, he is my boss, I guess. Other than that I'll be continuing to work with Hyacks and filling in wherever possible. The fall program starts this week and we're going through Galatians. Incidentally, that was the book that Jonny went through with his first series in the Country Bible Church youth group. However, he's not teaching, his ministry associate, Richie, is. I'll write more about Richie later.

I have some Spanish to do that requires a lot of listening, so it's impossible to do both of these things at once (I had to quit the Spanish to write this). Good day to all of you.