I have officially received my monthly kick from Pete and have decided to get my butt in gear and write something. This past month has been an incredible month. I finally got all of my papers in, which for a while there I wasn't sure was going to happen. The whole graduation thing was good. I was happy to say that I was from the seminary. The ceremony, reception, and commissioning service were all very well put together. I received my 5,241st Bible at the commissioning service. When we got there for graduation practice, which turns out to be simply fill out a bunch of forms practice, I was very disheartened to not see a star by my name. A star indicates that you graduate with honors. I thought for sure that I would get a little star but alas, there was none. However, I asked about it and sure enough, I was supposed to have a star! I offered to draw a star in all of the programs but they didn't like that too much. The ceremony had a very moving keynote address given by Dr. Gause. I was greatly impressed. The other speeches in the awards ceremony were equally impressive. There was a constant theme of empowering women for ministry that kept surfacing in the ceremony and service (not a shocker for those that have been through the seminary). What was a shocker though, was the complete disregard for inclusive language by the denominational leader that spoke. I was greatly disappointed in the language that was used during this part of the ceremony. There is much work to be done my friends.
The picture at the top of this post is a picture of one of the things that my incredible wife gave me for graduation. I wanted a mountain bike, however, she got a VW Beetle when she got her MA and she didn't want me to be able to say that I got her a Bug and she got me a bike. So, she got me this incredible book shelf and a shopping spree at a bookstore for graduation! I loved it! We have many book cases in our house, however, this is the first nice real wood case that we have had. I use it in the living room to shelve my "I want company to see these" books. Here are some of the books that she got me as well:
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf
Theology of Hope by Jurgen Moltmann
The Coming of God by Moltmann
A Social Reading of the Old Testament by Walter Brueggemann
Texts under Negotiation: The Bible and Postmodern Imagination by Bruegemann
Bum Rush the Page: a def poetry jam
Signs in Contemporary Culture: An Introduction to Semiotics by Arthur Asa Berger
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Setzer
Conetmplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli
My wife rocks!
Shalom.
2 comments:
Very nice...love to hear about this "denominational leader"
Of those books, this is what I would recommend. NONE OF THEM... well, perhaps the one on def poetry jam. I would say you need to veg out and watch a bunch of movies and not read anything more than a magazine article or a newspaper until the fall. Unless, of course, you are like me and find reading enjoyable and relaxing... and even reading 'theology-type' books as enjoyable and relaxing, then you will end up reading more than you ever thought in the next 4 months.
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