Sorry for the delay

For those few of you who do read my blog, I apologize for the lack of posting last month. I am really being hounded by deadlines right now. I have been out of town for Christmas and I have to have my course in Biblical Hermeneutics written and sent by Feb 1, I have 60 Amos exams to grade by next week, and we've just begun a new series at Encounter on James so I have had to gear up for that the past few weeks. I will be back...promise. Pray for my next month as I finish up all these projects and take a break for a few months! [And by break I mean focusing on my pastoring, taking only one class, and only being a TA for Mike's OTI].

Brilliant - Facebook in Real Life

Plato & a Platypus Walk Into A Bar...

Yesterday, as I turned on my radio for my daily NPR-listening ritual on my way to school I happened to catch the title of a book that sounded fascinating, it's called Plato & a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes.  When I got home I was able to find an interesting and short interview NPR did with the authors back in May when the book came out.  You should take a listen here. After listening, I am even more determined to buy the book.  

For me, it seems like the book hits on something Jesus found out a long time ago, people resonate with stories and pithy sayings (e.g. parables).

One Village Coffee

For anyone interested, some of my best friends in PA started a coffee roasting business this year with an eye towards being missional. They are fair trade and partner with MAMA Project in Honduras, Stephen's Children and other very worthy kingdom building projects. My wife currently works with them on staff and our group, LivingRoom, is behind them all the way. Oh and by the way, their coffee is actually pretty good from what I hear (me not being a coffee drinker).

I post this now as Scot McKnight today posted some good reviews of the cofee on his blog

So please, check them out by going to the following and then buy some coffee!:

One Village Coffee

New Father

I am soon to be a new dad in April and my wife recently sent me the following video, I think I am a little offended. If I have conquered the Tipton digest and the Hebrew of Amos, surely some diaper changes can't be that bad...

What's In A Name?

My wife & I started a blog about a month back so that we can keep our family up to date on the pregnancy and all. Well I decided to write about the names we picked out, so here it is:

If it is a girl our kid will be named Kieryk Eileen

If it is a boy our kid will be named Augustine Fredryck

What is the meaning of all this, you may ask. Well, let me tell you.

Kieryk - Named after Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855). You can google him and find out more but he is Jared's favorite philosopher, and since Jared was a philosophy major, that's a pretty big deal.

Eileen - Sarah was gracious enough to allow Jared to have the first names after philosophers and theologians but she rightfully claimed the middle names for herself (although we both love all of the names and wouldn't have it any other way). It is interesting actually, Jared's names are of philosophers and theologians, Sarah's names are of family. To be honest, this is actually quite telling of the kind of people we are. In any case, Eileen is the namesake of Sarah's beloved grandmother, from what I have heard, a beautiful lady who loved ice cream. I don't have a picture right now but I will be sure to edit this tomorrow or Sunday and get that out.

Augustine - Not the city, the saint. I know there is a major (though futile) debate amongst pseudo-intellectuals as to what is the proper way to pronounce this name. Many of you reading this will pronounce it Awe-Gus-Teen while many more of you will pronounce it Uh-Gus-Ten, we prefer the latter. I have once heard it said, "Awe-Gus-Teen is in Florida, Uh-Gus-Ten is in heaven" and well, we like heaven better. In any case, St. Augustine is an incredible theologian, arguably the most important theologian of the Ancient Church (AD 354-430). If you have never read his Confessions click HERE, it is a classic, a masterpiece, and should be read by every Christian.

Fredryck - Again, the middle names are for family. This happens to be the name of Jared's grandfather. I am almost certain he didn't spell it the same way, and everyone called him Fred, but I know for a fact that my child will not like to be called Fred.

This speaks to another thing: Who thought of shortening everyone's names? With a name like Augustine people keep asking me what I am going to call him. Hmm, let's see, why not Augustine? Do we really have to have a pet name for our kid? So please, this is for you dear mother, no "Gus" or "Auggie," only Augustine. Love you all!

Happy Birthday World!

According to Anglican Bishop James Ussher in his popular Annals of the World (1658) the world was created on October 23, 4004 BCE. So as of yesterday our planet is officially 6,010 years old! His research was based on a 'literal' reading of Genesis and a 'literal' reconstruction from the geneaologies therein. To read more, read the article or better yet, buy the book.

The Winds of Change

You can ask most people that know me...I am not one for change. I have only eaten one flavor of snowcone since like 5th grade. I don't write in blue pen. I only eat vanilla flavored ice cream. If it's been part of my routine for a while, why mess with it? Plus, when you're OCD, things like this tend to happen.

Anyway, about a week ago, I got a new Mac. I have never owned a Mac but have always wanted one. It took me a few days before I even opened the box when it came in because I started to realize how much I'd have to learn and change with a new laptop. All my Hebrew & Greek shortcuts and fonts would have to be redone, all my favorites would have to be re-entered. I have to admit that a few hours after booting up, I was ready to send it back and just go get a Vaio. Everything's just so different. Why can't you just 'right click' on it? Why do you have to go up to "Quit" on everything instead of just hitting the x? These were my frustrations. But alas, after another few days on here and in anticipation for getting an interface so that I can record my own music (a major reason I opted for the Mac in the first place), I have finally warmed up to the Mac as of today. I am still not a Mac-head but if any of my Mac-owning friends are a vision of what's to come, then I am soon to be a PC basher as well.


*By the way, major props to my wife. She actually got my friends and family to send money for my birthday so I could get a new laptop since mine had major issues. Thanks love.

WTS Books & Blog Partnering

For those of you who are new to theological books, I'll be the first to let you in on a little secret. Westminster's bookstore is pretty much amazing. First all of they have the lowest prices, yes, even lower than Amazon. They carry pretty much any theological book worth reading and only charge 5$ for shipping on orders of any size. I get most of my books through them. But now they've added a blog partner program (for every 50 referrels they give you a 10$ gift certificate), which is even better. It's a great program, one which I'll be using, so definitely check them out!

http://www.wtsbooks.com/