Under Fire

I was planning on using this entry to talk about personal matters, like how my week has gone or the forecasted wintry weather headed our way. But instead, another story has caught my attention that I just have to address.

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Song of the Day: FFH - "Ready to Fly" (I miss you, Poppy.)

Quote of the Day: "Bait and switch, a fish reference for an underwater cartoon. Clever." - Keith Olbermann

Verse of the Day: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1-2

Working on the Weekend

It's funny; when my friend Amanda posts on Blogger, she always starts it off by greeting her journal as if it were a real person. I'll read many of her posts, and the majority of them begin with something like "Hi, Journal!" "Hello, dear Journal!" and such. I used to do that very same thing in my written journal (which I still keep up to this day), having gotten most of my inspiration from Beverly Cleary's award-winning children's book Dear Mr. Henshaw. In it, Leigh Botts starts up his own diary by pretending he's writing to his favorite author. He says that it makes it easier for him to express his thoughts and feelings by acting like he's sharing them with someone rather than just putting them down on a piece of paper. As the book went on, he grew out of that and began to write them down for his own pleasure. I suppose I did as well. Of course, if that approach works for Amanda, that's great; I'm not at all saying there's anything wrong about it. It just makes me smile and reflect when I read one of her greetings.

And how in the world did I go off into ramble mode on this? Ahem...

Anyway, today was a decent day. Nothing too important happened in classes, but from the looks of it, I'm going to be staying up here at Furman this weekend. I've got some research to do in the library on a media project for Education 20, but I'll take a crack at that tomorrow. I'm giving myself the rest of today off to relax just a little bit. It's been a long week of activities outside of class, but the good thing is, I'm making progress early and steadily. I only need one last afternoon at Taylors before I'll have all 15 required hours of observation for my class's field experience grade. I still have a ways to go before I get 25 hours of Theatre observation, but I'm sure I can do it.

The next few weeks will be tedious as my focus shifts closer to actual classroom business. Two tests coming up, one in Theatre and one in Education. As well as putting together my Media Project and organizing my notes from Theatre rehearsals. I can hardly believe winter term is halfway over already. There's still so much to be done, but not a lot of time left to do it in. At least winter's back, and there's a chance for ice and snow tomorrow. Yay! :)

Song of the Day: Rebecca St. James - "Reborn"

Quote of the Day (Double Bonus):
"A syllabus wouldn't be a syllabus if the professor always followed it." - David

Dr. Peyrouse: "Oh ****, can't I just lecture you without you asking questions all the time?"
David: "Nope." :)

Verse of the Day: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:20-21

The Compassion of the Christ, Part 3

Another active day, as per the norm for winter term. Theatre at mid-day, Taylors Elementary from 2:30 to 4:00, Theatre observation from 4:30 to 6:00, and then dinner at last. Tonight will be nice, though, with BCM at 9:00. No drama or praise band this week, but still plenty of activities in store. We'll be continuing our five-week course on the stages of love (eros, phileo, and agape) and how they are viewed in the world today.

Well, I'm more than slightly relieved about my Theatre situation. I made an A on our first test on playwrighting. It certainly feels good to start off the course on solid ground rather than putting myself in an early hole and spending the remainder of the term digging myself out. Dr. Peyrouse was better today; he still raised my eyebrows with a few statements, but I've decided that if this man wants to play hard ball with me, I'm game.

But enough about that. Moving on to part 3 of "The Compassion of the Christ." We've already covered the fact of Jesus weeping in the story of Lazarus' death (John 11:35). Last time, we discussed numerous possibilities and suppositions as to why our Lord would do this. It should be pointed out that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. All of them have a gem of truth. But what does Jesus weeping mean for us? Read on to find out...


There are several suppositions as to why he wept, but whatever the reason, the point is, he wept. That alone speaks volumes of his capacity to express emotion and humanity. John 11:35 is evidence of his ability to love, to care, to show compassion, and to humble himself which are the essential ingredients of what he came to accomplish.

The interesting aspect of this verse to the story is that Jesus is weeping, a response that leads one to wonder whether the son of God truly had an emotional reaction to Lazarus’s death? Does that mean that Jesus’ divine nature includes human emotions and that because of Christians’ belief in the Trinity God shares these emotions as well? Does this not go against the ancient church’s perception of God and Jesus?

Jesus wept. Maybe that frightens us or embarrasses us. After all, Jesus does not weep. That action alone reveals his humanity, not his godliness, much more than anything else. Jesus was not only the Son of God, but also the Son of Man.

This God cares. What a stark contrast this interpretation is with the ancient Greek concept of God that was popular back in the ancient times. In those days, gods were soulless, possessed no emotions, and tended to shy away from the messy affairs of humanity (Walvoord 314). They did not care about humans and flaunted their superiority over the weaker mortals. Their affairs were no concern of the gods, and they usually only came down to Earth to mess around and cause trouble. In the eyes of the people, the gods of the ancient world were powerful and strong, but devoid of compassion. They even used the Greek word apatheia, a word that means the “total inability to feel any emotion,” to describe God.

Yet Jesus is different. In Jesus, the personification of God, we have a deity who freely expresses compassion, indignation, sorrow, and even frustration. Jesus weeping reveals that God will help humans and that we are not alone. The connectedness of God to humanity was a major departure from religions of biblical times. The verse explains how people have to learn to wait on God. It also explains how quickly God can end sorrow and replace it with happiness. The verse shows the humanity and its accompanying emotions of Jesus Without this verse, then Jesus and God would be seen in similar fashion to the Greek gods and other religions of the times. A major message of Christianity is that God cares about humans and loves us so much no matter what we do. God wants humans to come and form a relationship with him. This verse represents the clearest example of Christianity’s message of the love of God. Jesus displays more of his human personality here than anywhere else, and the verse adds more depth to the gospel stories.

This verse shows the importance of having faith in Jesus the Son of God. Those followers who saw Jesus preparing to do this miracle lacked faith that he could do it and grieved Jesus in their lack of belief. We see in John’s story of Lazarus that we must undertake the act to believe in Christ and his divine revelation. For it is only in undertaking the task of believing that we can best understand Christ’s divine significance. For without belief, we fail to see what Jesus reveals to us and calls us to do. It means that not only do these believers not show faith but they also fail to understand the larger message at hand.

In John 11:35, we learn an important lesson. We are all “unbelieving and sterile, so unconcerned and indifferent. How bereft we are of honest emotion.” In today’s society, we view emotions as weaknesses, but for Jesus to cry, that makes it okay for us.

Throughout the Gospels, you see actions of Jesus that spawn from his compassion. Why else would he teach people to love and support the least of the world? Why else would he have uplifted the lowly and unclean? In Matthew 5:1-12, the Beatitudes, Jesus blesses the poor, the meek, and the oppressed. When Jesus washed his own apostles’ feet at the last supper (John 13:1-19), he humbled himself to the work of a servant to show his love for his disciples. If Jesus did not have compassion for us, why does he offer us grace, mercy, and forgiveness when we do not deserve it? Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) That is the fullest extent of love and compassion. There is even a separate word, agape, to describe Jesus’ unconditional love because it is so beyond our comprehension.

In John 11:35, we see a Messiah who cares. Instead of being the all-powerful Son of God who raises Lazarus from the dead in verses forty-three, it is a man who wept. The verse brings out another very important facet of Jesus’ personality, which mirrors his mission of earth. Instead of being the strong military leader whom everyone expected would overthrow Rome and rule as a conqueror, he was going to die for humanity’s sin. Jesus was never what anyone expected. There are several suppositions as to why Jesus wept, but regardless of the direct reason, he wept because he loved us all.


Song of the Day: Twila Paris - "How Beautiful"

Quote of the Day: "Paradigm? You'll have to explain what that word means." - Kelly Criss as Carol ("Oleanna")

Verse of the Day: "Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them." - Hosea 14:9

The Compassion of the Christ, Part 2

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day everyone.

Today was fairly quiet, but still a welcome day off from classes. I spent most of the late morning hours reading a couple chapters in my textbooks, trying to stay on top of my course syllabi. After about two hours of delving into the first two years of childhood sensations and the various duties of a contemporary theatre director, I was about ready to return to Furman. I had to make several pit stops along the way. Mostly standard things like re-fueling the Tracker, dropping off the movie Much Ado About Nothing at Blockbuster, going book-hunting at Barnes 'n Noble, and picking up some groceries at Publix. Nice to have a store conveniently a mile away from the campus.

The reason I checked out Much Ado was for an extra credit assignment in Theatre. We can watch theatrical productions from a variety of media outlets, and then write a brief review/critique about them for extra points on quizzes. I'd rather it count on the tests, but it's better than nothing. I've actually seen the modern version of Much Ado before (12th grade) directed by Kenneth Branagh and featuring such well-knowns like Keanu Reeves (Don John), Denzel Washington (Don Pedro), and Michael Keaton (Constable Dogberry). It's a great movie and it stays faithful to William Shakespeare's original script (I have it here with me, stage directions and everything). Not all the actors and actresses are absolutely convincing (Kate Beckingsdale as Hero fell flat at times, but she improved nicely as the story progressed and she shined when she really needed to), but as I hoped they would, Beatrice and Benedick stole the show. Emma Thompson and Ken Branagh were absolutely charming in their roles; they slipped those two famous characters on as easily as an overcoat. Lots of hilarious lines between them.

As for Barnes and Noble, I know Amanda will be happy to learn that I finally picked up Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith, the sequel to his first book The Case for Christ. It's already gotten a positive recommendation from a friend of mine I ran into at the bookstore who used to attend Shannon Forest. I look forward to starting it.

Anyway, now that the day's events are over with, here's part 2 of "The Compassion of the Christ," picking right up where we left off from yesterday. We jump into possible answers to the question: "Why did Jesus weep?"


Was he weeping because his friend had died? Was it an effort to keep from giving into the grief that he felt for the death of a friend? He knew that in a moment, he would raise Lazarus from his tomb, and his friend would live again.

Calvin believes that when Jesus put on human flesh he also incorporated some human feelings so he had no differences from other human beings with the exception of being sinless. Calvin makes a clear distinction between the feelings that Jesus has and those that we have as humans. Calvin says that,“Our feelings are sinful because they rush on unrestrainedly and immoderately; but in Christ they were composed and regulated in obedience to God and were completely free from sin." It is because of this presence of emotions in Christ that he can truly show himself as the prime example of supreme perfection in human eyes. In this, Calvin asserts that Jesus’ expression of emotions are different from his divine nature, grafted onto him so he can truly become one of us and serve as an example of supreme perfection to human who are fraught with these emotions along with others.

Morris wrote that his weeping had more to do with the misconception of the people around him who “fail to enter into the mind of Christ.". Conversely, this seems to fit in with the spirit of the one other text where Jesus weeps, which is over Jerusalem and the wrong attitude of the Jews. They did not believe that Jesus could do this and so the “world of darkness and death” continued to hinder them. They fail to believe in Jesus’ power to revive this man and fail to believe that he can raise Lazarus since they only believe he is dead. This interpretation seems to fit in well with the beginning of the story since Jesus encounters what seems like a hopeless situation when Martha meets him to say, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Though Martha is hopeful he will succeed, the atmosphere is generally skeptical. In many ways, the Jews in the Lazarus story reflect the Jews in the Old Testament, who failed to keep the covenant with God many times. Likewise, the Jews in the Lazarus story fail to believe fully in the power of Jesus Christ.

Was Jesus weeping for his enemies, those who chose to plot against him despite his innocence? Was he crying for those who despised him, those who chose to defile and persecute him and the people that followed him? Those people who gave nothing but love and kindness, those who he would have given anything for, and yet they nailed him with livid anger to a cross, to die the agonizing death of a thief or a murderer.

Does Jesus weep because in the peoples’ hearts, death had won? According to him, death is not the end. His message is of a kingdom that defies their understanding of death and suffering. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). The people still did not get it.

Did Jesus weep for the people’s unbelief? In the passage, Jesus says, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Before he performed this miracle, we can see how the people treated him. They clearly loved him, yet they still did not even remotely understand. Since they desperately wanted Lazarus to stay alive, they displayed a latent mistrust in the absolute power of the Lord. This means they did not trust in the heaven that he preached about. Was that the reason Jesus wept - because of their lack of faith?

Was Jesus weeping for a world where God's glory is the least, the last, the most unlikely of our concerns? A world where sickness, suffering, persecution, and dying might glorify God in was absurd and offensive. The comment that some who had come to mourn Lazarus made, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” expresses the popular theology of that world (v. 37). According to this theology, what's-best-for-me is the highest court for judging God's actions. Indeed, God's glory can only be accounted based on what's-best-for-me. His glory does not exist in its own right, as its own end. Jesus wept in a world where political jeopardy, terrorism, tyranny, random violence, and systematic brutality intimidated his disciples from doing kingdom work.

Was it because his followers still did not get it? They still did not understand what he was going to do. In a few minutes, Jesus would stand death down, and yet neither his disciples, Mary, Martha or the Jews in their company believed he could perform such a miracle. Their ignorance clouded their faith. If one could hazard a guess, one might say he is thinking, “What is going on here? Why is there so much sadness? After all the miracles I have performed, all the teachings I have given, do you people still not understand my message? Do you still doubt what I can do?” Their ignorance grieves him to tears.

Was it sympathy for his friends who were themselves suffering from extreme grief? Was Jesus weeping in response to the sight of Mary weeping and the "Jews who had come along with her also weeping"? (John 11:33) The original language that describes Jesus being deeply moved and troubled in spirit uses punchy, pungent words. The language mixes grief with anger, frustration, and turmoil. Whatever the case, the emotion and grief are real. The sight and sound of these despairing mourners around him stirs his blood and wrenches his gut. This is not simply the shedding of a few tears. Jesus is expressing heart-rending, gut-wrenching emotion. But why? Why?

To Be Continued...


Song of the Day: Steven Curtis Chapman - "Speechless"

Verse of the Day: "For You are my hope, Lord God, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on You from birth; You took me from my mother's womb. My praise is always about You. I have become an ominous sign to many, but You are my strong refuge. My mouth is full of praise and honor to You all day long." - Psalm 71:5-8

The Compassion of the Christ, Part 1

I haven't been in much of a writing mood lately, but I've had a little something that I've been wanting to post in this journal. Last spring, myself and three partners in my Religion 11 class at Furman composed a lengthy paper that highlighted what we believed to be the most significant verse in the Bible. I'm well aware that opinions may vary on this, but we came up with John 11:35 - "Jesus wept." (also included in my Best of 2004 listings).

Are you surprised at all? Well, don't worry. We had our reasons for selecting this verse out of an endless plethora of other inspirational, impacting verses. I'll be sharing the details of this paper over the next two or three posts. This section is generally going to provide the background context and then introduce the topic at hand without going too deeply into the meat of the paper. So without further ado, here's the opening part...


The Compassion of the Christ

May 20, 2004

David Ballinger
Stephen Deal
Clary Gardner
Dave Traylor

The Bible contains many important stories and verses. A person can make an argument for any part of the Bible as central based on their Christian beliefs. However, verse thirty-five in the eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel is the most significant verse in the Bible. There are only two instances where Jesus weeps. One of them is before he raises Lazarus from the dead; the other is upon entering Jerusalem for the last time on Palm Sunday. These instances show the Lord as a human character we can relate to on our own level.

In the verses surrounding John 11:35, we read the story of Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, whose sisters, Mary and Martha want Jesus to come quick to Bethany because Lazarus, the one "he loves," is sick (John 11:3). The disciples, however, are reluctant to go there: "Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" (John 11:8) Two days later, Lazarus dies before Jesus arrives. When Jesus does finally go to Bethany, and finds Lazarus already dead and buried four days, distraught sisters receive him. Martha rebukes him: "If you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21), and even Mary echoes this (John 11:32). Lazarus’s death affected others besides the two sisters. John 11:37 shows how others doubted him: "But some of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'” They could not understand that he was about to snatch Lazarus from the clutches of death and lift him back to the mortal world. Death was not the end; Jesus could see past it.

In this biblical passage, Jesus demonstrates his power over life and death. Jesus shows he is the resurrection and the life by raising his friend. The context also shows how much Jesus cares about humanity through his discussion with Mary. This story is another example of the miracles of Jesus and one of the most significant miracles found in the New Testament. Jesus would show the people that he could bring a man four days in the grave back from death. That is why he waited for days to come rather than rushing right over. By publicly conquering death, he brought glory to God,

When he got to Lazarus’s tomb he said, “Lazarus, come out!” Those words enraged the conspirators against him at the time, and still echo as words that eternally changed the course of Christianity. After he said those words the doubters believed with resolution and determination that he was indeed the Son of God. Some were astonished, praised God, and grew a closer faith in Jesus while others used this same miracle as a reason that he should die. In the midst of the great miracle, Jesus wept.

Which begs the question, why does Jesus weep? We are talking about the Son of God. He can heal any sickness, mend any argument, and perform any task. So why does he cry? Why didn’t Jesus simply fix the problem instead of weeping? There is no simple answer, but there are numerous suppositions and possibilities.

To Be Continued...


Song of the Day: Steven Curtis Chapman - "God is God"

Quote of the Day: "We're lacking in celebration in our church. Whenever someone is brought to Christ, whenever someone enters into our church family ... we need to party like there's no tomorrow." - Randy Harling (Amen.)

Verse of the Day: "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." - Romans 11:33-36

The Case for Christ

I should have posted this last week, but I have just recently finished a fascinating book by Lee Strobel called The Case for Christ. Amanda loaned it to me over the Christmas break (We're making a habit of loaning each other our favorite inspirational books. In return I've loaned her Let's Roll by Lisa Beamer, and the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It makes me quite happy to say she's enjoyed them all thus far. :))

Anyway, back on topic. Lee's book is an absolute marvel. I've been waiting a long time to find a published book out there that really puts the truth of the Gospels to the test. And when I say test, I mean test. Hardnosed work and analysis, accurate and complete evidence, and sound logic without bias or faulty judgment. This book scores on all accounts. Strobel interviews 13 theological experts in his quest for the validity of Jesus Christ, and he pulls no punches. He hits these men with every bit of skepticism he's got, every reason he can find to disprove what the Bible says, and every time, his questions are answered. Every section of the book has a distinctive feel and tone, debating the historicity and archaelogical evidence of the events in the Bible, delving into the psychological mindset of Jesus, analyzing the crucifixtion and resurrection from every possible angle, and much more. After reading this, one would be hard-pressed, provided he or she was a non-believer, to continue thinking that the truth as presented by God's Word still doesn't make sense. It does. In every sense of the word. The Case for Christ is an excellent resource for probing deeper into the depths of Christianity. I give it five stars all the way.

As for daily events, I'm into my sixth day back in class at Furman. No serious problems as of yet, thankfully. I'm doing my best to stay on top of work and praying that I won't be stricken with some kind of debilitating sickness like the flu this term. I caught it two years straight during my junior and senior years at Shannon Forest, but last year I dodged it, thanks in no small part to the flu vaccine I had in early November of 2003. But as everyone is aware of, this year there's a massive shortage of flu vaccine, and as a result, only people at critical risk of getting the flu will have access to the short supply. So Furman won't get a shipment, and students will have to get by on the old-fashioned methods of hand-washing, using Kleenex, and avoiding sick people. Hopefully, it'll be enough.

Song of the Day: Jars of Clay - "Love Song for a Savior"

Verse of the Day: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:1-2

The Long, Hard Winter

I've never been more grateful for the arrival of the weekend. This has been the longest four-day schoolweek of my life. Such is to be expected of winter term at Furman.

Education 20 isn't too bad. I rather like it, actually. Dr. Gust is a kind, friendly professor with a sharp eye for complete and thorough homework. That won't bode well for any would-be slackers or procrastinators lurking on the class roster. Our first couple of classes have gone somewhat like a Social Studies course. We're studying the first couple of chapters on human development, so naturally, they're going to be packed with loads of superficial information in an attempt to introduce as much new material as possible. Such a feat can prove overwhelming on the reader, but only at the start. Once I become accustomed to the workload, I'm sure I'll be all right.

Theatre 11 has proven itself to be more difficult and involving than I hoped it would be, but that's par the course here at Furman. Most of that can be attributed to Dr. Peyrouse. He's a bit more ... shall we say ... tempermental than the professors that I'm accustomed to. But I don't mind. I'm going to have to deal with plenty of people of this nature in my lifetime, so I might as well begin early. We've read over four chapters in as many days, and the lectures have bounced back and forth between the textbook material. It's difficult to keep up with him at times because on occasion he'll appear to contradict the textbook and his own words. But I'll adjust in time.

Song of the Day: Casting Crowns - "The Voice of Truth"

Quote of the Day: "Did you know Marco Polo brought back ice cream from the Orient? God bless him!" - Dr. Peyrouse

Verse of the Day: "However, as it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him - but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

Easy Come, Easy Go

First impressions are very important. More often than not, they can give you a pretty good sense of what kind of experience you're about to face.

Take Fall semester, for instance. I got the impression right off the bat that this semester would be challenging on multiple levels because it would require concentration on my mathematical, philosophical and physical attributes. That's quite a lot to take in. What substantiated that impression was my primary sense of my three professors.

I knew David Shaner would be a welcome refreshment in the morning from the moment I first saw him (even if he was saddled with an annoying hoarse voice on the first day of class) because he really delved into the subject material and he went out of his way to help us engage it on our own terms. David Penniston, I knew, was going to be a beneficial help in mathematics, the subject in which I needed it most. He had a warmer personality than my previous Math professor, and he came across like he understood and believed in what he was talking about. Veronica Yockey was a thoughtful, demanding yet thorough professor who always wanted the best from her students and never hesitated to sprinkle in little tidbits of supplementary information simply for our best interests.

So what was my first impression of Winter term? Well, I only have "half of an impression" today, but thankfully, based on what I've seen thus far, I think I'm in for some good, interesting times.

As it turned out, Education 20 with Dr. Gust didn't meet this morning. Our WebAdvisor program confused me on the start date for the class, which is scheduled to meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And yet the start date on the website said January 4th, which is today. It was only later that I found out it was the default date for all of Furman's classes and didn't necessarly conform to the professor's respective schedule. Whoops. Oh well. You know how it is; easy come, easy go. At least I had a couple extra hours to sneak in some leisure reading.

So for me, Winter term "officially" began at 12:15 with Dr. Peyrouse's Theatre Arts 11 class. Well, he didn't blow me away, but neither did he turn me off. Good qualities include a light-hearted, not-too-rigid approach to protocol issues, a willingness to engage students in their own interests, a fairly simplistic approach to his course requirements, assignments and expectations, and the ability to laugh at his own expense. A couple questionable traits that I won't hold against him (yet) include a tendency to be opinionated about things, a few swear words I heard him say, and a strange coughing, gagging noise he makes to get our attention. We speak English, prof. :)

Initially, I believe I'm going to enjoy Theatre Arts, although it's too early to make a definitive claim. The course will involve a few projects and extracurricular work outside of class, but none of that looks overly demanding at the outset. I was pleased to recognize quite a few of the plays and productions we'll be looking into throughout the course. I spotted The Importance of Being Earnest, Death of a Salesman, Arsenic and Old Lace, Othello, Our Town, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, among others. As you can no doubt tell, I have a new appreciation for the works of Shakespeare, thanks in no small part to 11th grade English class (and thanks to you, Mrs. Mayernik).

It'll be great to have BCM again tonight. I've missed my friends in Drama and Praise Band, and I can't wait to get back with them and start planning ideas and activities for this semester. I'll cover Education 20 tomorrow!

Song of the Day: ZOEgirl - "Beautiful Name"

Quote of the Day: "Ah, *ahem ahem*, ah, excuse me, sir? You'll want to take these papers as you come in. There ya go ... ... *cough cough ahem* sir, sir! Ah, we don't sit in the back rows in this class! Thank you, sir, thank you!" - Dr. Peyrouse

Verse of the Day: "But the wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." - James 3:17-18

This is Winter?

I must be in the wrong season, because this most definitely can't be winter. Not with high temperatures in the upper 60s for the past several days, and similar weather conditions forecast for the rest of the week. Oh well. I'm not complaining, because I had a great day.

After a good night's sleep, I registered my Tracker with Furman's Public Safety business office, so I can safely park it in the student parking lot of South Housing without fear of getting ticketed. Then I headed to the Furman Bookstore to purchase my textbooks for winter term. Only two courses this time, but the price was extremely high. That and buying groceries in the afternoon has left me nearly broke until my next Chick-Fil-A paycheck. Oh well. I'll survive. Things like food and supplies are very overrated. I pride myself on being self-sufficient.

I had some nice conversations with my professors from fall term. What instigated them was my desire to find out exactly how I fared on the exams. I know how my final grades turned out, but I still wanted to know how I did. As it turned out, Math 15 just made it to a borderline B; I needed every last point on that exam. Health ended up much better than I feared it would be, but still, it was just enough to maintain an A. Which was all I needed.

I got started on my exercise program again in the afternoon. It was a perfect day. I'm hopeful that I can keep it up throughout the term and not get sidetracked. Thankfully, I didn't lose much progress over Christmas break. :)

Song of the Day: FFH - "Open Up the Sky"

Verse of the Day: "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." - Hebrews 13:7-8

Back in the Saddle Again

My apologies for neglecting to post yesterday.

I'm keeping my thoughts short and simple tonight, which is certainly a break from my tendency to drone on and ramble. I packed up, said good-bye to my parents, and returned to good old Furman University this afternoon. To be honest, I was ready to come back, and I believe much of that is due to how I finished up the last semester. I'm riding a wave of confidence right now, and I hope that it'll carry over into the next couple of winter months.

I had so many things to bring back with me this time. Certainly twice as many clothes. My television set that I never got to use. A vacuum-cleaner. An answering machine. Groceries. Oy vey, Christmas will do that to you. Thank goodness for the extra storage space my Tracker provides. My Infinity would've collapsed under all that.

Oh yes. Today's church service was terrific as usual, yet bittersweet. It was the final service for Mr. Chad Eaton, our minister of recreation. He's worked at our church for over seven years, and it has been a pleasure to know a man like him. He's found a new calling for himself and his family at a church in Biltmore, and so we all wished him the best this morning. We sang some great, simple but inspirational hymns today as well, including...

Hymn of the Day: B.B. McKinney - "Have Faith in God"

Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely,
He sees and knows all the way you have trod;
Never alone are the least of His children,
Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

Have faith in God, He's on His throne;
Have faith in God, He watches o'er His own;
He cannot fail, He must prevail.
Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

Simple and to the point. Very direct in its power to inspire people. :) Hope everyone else had a pleasant Sunday!

Song of the Day: Chris Rice - "Smile"

Quote of the Day: "Chad, we want you also to have this gold coin. The church in Biltmore actually uses these for their intercessory prayer ministry groups. Just so you know, they gave me this one after I threw rocks at their window for a few hours. ::laughter::" - Randy Harling

Verse of the Day: "Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.' So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'" - Genesis 32:28&30