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DallasVille
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Name: Chris
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: Dallas
Gender: Male
Interests: Tennis, golf, music, The Ohio State University, recent American lit., and a ton of other meaningless stuff. First and foremost, living for the glory of an incomprehensible God.
Expertise: Can you be an expert in theology? This reminds me of Rudy, when he's talking to the priest and the priest tell him, "Son, I've studied formal theology for 35 years, and I've only discovered two incontrovertible truths: there is a God, and I'm not Him."
Occupation: Student
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  FunkmasterAbs
Member Since:
3/18/2005
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Arite. So I need to brag a little. But not on me. On President Bailey.
So about a month ago, I approached President Bailey after our
Hermeneutics class and asked him if he'd like to have lunch sometime,
fully expecting him to say in the kindest way possible that he's simply
too busy. I was shocked to hear him accept, and today we actually
sat down in Mitchel (Paul ate with us, cos Paul's just cool like that)
and had lunch for over an hour.
Now you would think that lunch with Dr. Mark Bailey, 5th President of
Dallas Theological Seminary, would be intimidating. I couldn't
have been more wrong. He was kind, funny, and overwhelmingly
concerned with what Paul and I had to say. He asked honest
questions, and gave honest answers to our questions. He was
sincere and unapologetic, but also thoughtful and humble.
Here are just a few highlights:
-In regard to his conversations on Progressive
Dispensationalism...."Well Darrell (Bock)...1,000 years...well it seems
that the foyer's twice as big as the sanctuary!"
-"Keep reading the Bible! Keep reading the Bible! .... I
myself choose to read it literally...but I'm not afraid if I'm a little
off. The Bible says 1,000 years, but if it turns out to be 998,
I'm ok with that. And when I get to Heaven and John slaps me
around for being too literal...I'll just have to tell him, 'but you
said!...'" (All in reponse to Paul's fears of being a heretic)
-Our devotion on Luke 24, when Jesus speaks to the folks on the road to
Emmaus. Dr. Bailey kept trying to find the text on his PDA, but
it blanked out on him repeatedly, so I evnetually just handed him my
Bible and he gave a small lecture on Luke 24. He spoke for only a
minute on the topic, though he really made me think about the way that
the Bible talks about itself...our ultimate choice as evangelicals in
interpretation and Hermeneutics, Dr. Bailey said. Interestingly,
he pointed out vv. 25-26, where Jesus tells the people on the road that
sufficient knowledge of Him is in the OT...
Anyway, I'm sure you all aren't nearly as excited about that as I
am...but at any rate, I gained an even greater respect for our
president today, and I hope that I will be able to heed his advice
(Keep reading the Bible! Read more of the classic works!
Treat class as what it is...a means to learning how to teach and
preach, even if that means to have to bother the prof to make it so
that you can get the most out of it for that end!) and that I will be
earnest in my prayers for him. I thought my life was tough...I
can't imagine the load of his responsibilities, and unexpectedly, he
mentioned that being DTS's president is actually one of the easier
tasks in his life...
Wow.
Well everyone, thanks for putting up with me yammering through all of
that. Life is well here, though I'm excited for my trek home this
weekend...a full fortnight in Springfield! I hope to see you all
soon-
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Once I was at my grandfather's house, and out of the blue, he turns to
me and asks, "Son, do you know what comes before every great
victory?" "No," I said, as I considered saying, "Strategy," or
maybe even, "Preparedness."
I'll never forget how he looked at me, with a particular reservation
that can only come from age peppered by hardship, and stated
matter-of-factly, "A great battle."
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It has been forever since I've updated. ::Sighs::
Blogging can be as hard to keep up on as devo's, sometimes. Feel
me?
Some highlights since the last post:
-I've visited both the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (4 hours of
litergy...but over 200 Bible references, thank you Mr. John Crisostom.
[sp?] BTW, this should say something to Baptists down here in
Texas...) and the Potter's House, which is Bishop T.D. Jakes'
church. Although I anticipated something more...charismatic, I
was pleasantly surprised to find something...encouraging. He
preached hard on Isaiah 6, and I really truly learned something.
I love the men of God who look at the text and ask, "Why is this
here?" Dr. Bailey says that Chuck Swindoll is a master of
that. My pastor at home isn't too shabby himself.
-I had both a Greek exam and a Missions exam this past week. In
taking my Missions exam (7 hours, 9 essay questions, closed-book) I
could actually feel myself learning. It's incredible to receive
insight from time to time that allows you to see the Bible as one,
cohesive unit. A single message, however complex. Thanks
Dr. Young.
-Today, me and the guys went to Half Price Books, where I finally bought a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and then we went to a bbq place and I russled up some pretty tasty cow. Very good stuff.
-So I hear that Ryan Churchward got engaged! He and Michele Herier are quite the couple...CONGRATULATIONS! =)
-Some bad news: both Holly Warden, a dear lady from Southgate,
and Mr. Peterson, my grandfather's long time neighbor and friend,
passed away this weekend. She was in her mid thirties, and he was
82. However, they had so much in common, the greatest of which is
this: they were both tired and bound to bodies oppressed by a
fallen world, but now, both of them are standing before the Creator
God, sitting on His throne, enveloped by the voice of countless angels
proclaiming night and day, "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty..."
I dearly miss my friends at home. I hope Scott and Tori are doing
well, especially. I can't wait to get home for my reading week
and Thanksgiving Break to see my parents and grandparents, my church,
and one particular sports-nut in C-bus...
Ok. This post is too long. I should really do this more often...
Night everybody.
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An older quote from David Jeremiah...but still...yeah...
"When I praise and worship God in the midst of my fears, my problems
don't go away and my fears don't always exit, but what I discover in
the praise and worship of Almighty God is, that while my problems
aren't any smaller, my God just got bigger."
Also, to my Southgate peeps...how are y'all doin? I miss you a ton. =)
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Sorry for taking so long on keeping up this thing...I had two tests
last week (Greek 101 and Theology 101), and a few other things as
well. I feel pretty confident about the Greek exam...we'll see
how the other went! Not too much else to report...no, wait.
I take that back. Two very interesting things happened this week.
The first was at work on Friday. Toward the end of my shift as a
cashier, a guy randomly called the dining commons and I just happened
to pick up the phone. To make a long story short, this guy was
kinda crazy. He was super aggressive, screaming because I
wouldn't meet him at McDonald's to talk with him about life, Jesus,
etc. It was SO strange. One minute he was asking me if I
wanted $5,000, and the next minute he was demanding that I quit my job
and talk with him, because, as he said, "Well! Is Christianity a
corporation with business hours, or is it faith?!"
He might have been nuts, but for a minute I actually thought about quitting my job and talking with that guy about Jesus.
The other exciting thing came yesterday. Some friends and I
attended the North Texas Church of Freethought, an atheist church near
Dallas. They only meet on the first Sunday of every month, though
their services intentionally mimic a Christian church, complete with
music, a "pastor," and even a sermonette. Very interesting, and
even though their website was entirely hostile
(www.churchoffreethought.org note particularly the forums!) the
people were exceptionally kind. Sadly, they were far and away
more friendly and welcoming than anyone at the Christian churches I've visited so far.
Anyway. One more thing. If you get the chance....no,
scratch that. MAKE THE CHANCE to hear the song, "You Were There,"
by Avalon. I know that's probably not a group you listen to
much...but that song...man, I bet I've listened to it 10 times since
last night when I first discovered it.
In the face of life, when confronted with phone calls from angry men
wanting me to give up everything to talk to them about Jesus, to
sitting in the assembly of atheists, cleverly rejecting the Creator, I
just found it so encouraging to remember God as the one who was, and is, and always will be.
(Man...if that doesn't get ya...I dunno what will...)
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