Monday, December 10, 2007
Update
In Paris and Italy through Thursday. I probably will not update again until I am home. I will be back in INDY at 11:00 on Saturday. Look forward to seeing you at Church on Sunday. Adios
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Grammer
Sorry about any grammer issues in the recent posts. I typed them quickly so that I would finally get them up. Enjoy.
Only 17 Days Left
It is scary how fast time has flown by. I have absolutely loved my time here and will certainly miss people when I get ready to leave. However, I am also really excited at this point to see friends and family back home. I think I have timed it all right though. I mean all I have missed is one semester of school, the early NBA season, the beginning of NCAA basketball, and a lousy NCAA football (from what I understand) (Of course Division III is a whole different issue. Go Wabash). Now I get to see the bowl games and the best basketball in the world. It will be a great Christmas break. However, before that time comes I have a good deal of writing and reading to do. I have three papers left to write and my first exam next Wednesday.
Anonymous Posts
Quit posting anonymously. It drives me nuts when I do not know who wrote something on my blog. That is it.
Politics and Government
I was asked the question of what the perception of Americans was from the Scottish. The reality is that I encounter people from everywhere here at Aberdeen. I probably spend more time talking to other Europeans than I do Scottish People. However, I get the impression that our life style and country in general is either admired or at least respected by most. They do not completely understand our political process or political agendas, but neither do I understand theirs. There is a general consensus that Bush is not the brightest guy in the world. In fact, I am not sure I have run into anyone that particularly likes him. So, I guess the British and Europeans in general think a lot like Americans do. They love the country and would love to spend time in it. However, they are not that impressed with the current government and are looking to see what changes will happen in the next 12 months.
Ice Cream
A while back I posted a blog that contained a challenge to guess what kind of ice cream cone I ate. I said it was my two favorite flavors together. It was a Blueberry and Chocolate ice cream cone. Somewhere in my pictures from Stone Haven are a few pictures of the wonderful treat.
Dublin
Dublin was a great trip, although not the most impressive city. The city itself was somewhat dirty; however, there were some amazing things to see while I was there. Trinity College is absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth taking the time to see if you are in Dublin. They have an old library that really impressed me. We (I and three other guys from the program) also got to go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral. Both buildings were somewhat interesting architecturally from the outside and appeared nice in the inside. However, I must admit we did not spend much time in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This was because they actually charged to get into the church. Every other church I had been to in other cities, had a donation plate if one wanted to contribute to the church, its preservation, or just as a thank you for being able to take pictures. These churches were charging over ten dollars just to get into the building. In addition St. Patrick’s was running a high end gift shop in the church building. Christ surely would have turned those tables and told the devil to get out of his house. Let’s just say I was not that impressed. We did go into Christ Church Cathedral. This was because they do not charge to come to the service. So we went and enjoyed the service. Both of these churches were Anglican. I had a good time, although was disappointed in the preacher, who implied the word of God is fallible. We then got to go under the church for tea and biscuits (cookies). It was a good time. The highlight of the trip to Dublin was most certainly the Guinness Store House. This was a magnificent tour of how Guinness Beer is made. In the end you get to sample a free pint while sitting in a room that resembles the design of the Eagle’s Nest in Indianapolis. The view of the city was spectacular. The only real downside to the whole trip was that it was rainy the entire time we were there. However, now that I reflect it occurs to me that the one time we decided to have a picnic lunch it did stop raining for about two hours on Sunday afternoon. Well, that is Dublin. I actually will elaborate if you have any additional questions.
Thanksgiving
My thanksgiving was fabulous, well at least my pre-thanksgiving. The Aberdeen Christian Union hosted a thanksgiving dinner for the Americans who attend weekly Bible Study. Then as an outreach, we were encouraged to invite our flat mates to come along. It was absolutely fantastic. There were probably about 10-20 Americans in attendance, yet a total of over 90 people. The food and fellowship was amazing. Then while dessert was being set out a couple of students shared their testimonies. It was an amazing time to just listen to God do his work. I do not know if anyone has come to Christ as a direct result of that night, but I do know many people heard the good news of Christ and learned what an American Thanksgiving is all about. I personally was invited to be one of about five people in the kitchen before the meal. I peeled lots of potatoes and then I made two sweet potatoes casseroles. I was told they were amazing and I enjoyed them myself. So, my pre-Thanksgiving was amazing. On Thanksgiving Day itself, I was invited to attend a dinner with the Scotland Program (the program I am with). I am told it was fabulous. However, I spaced it and to be honest forgot it was thanksgiving until later that evening. I spent the night playing basketball. I had a wonderful time. We did not win, but we played great and irritated a referee to no end. Well, that is my thanksgiving.
Pictures and Referees
Okay, I said that I spent my Thanksgiving playing basketball. This was a fun and exciting game. However, the referee was the worse referee in the entire world. I am not exaggeration. Anyhow, we promised him we would put his picture on the internet as the worst ever, so here it is. Also all of my pictures from all of my trips and anything else I have taken can be accessed by the link at the bottom of this post or the one on the right hand side of the page that says my pictures.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sorry For the Wait
So, I have not written in a long time. Some of you have asked questions and I will do my best to answer them. I have had a very productive and eventful last five days or so. However, I am exhuasted at the moment. Therefore I will spend tomorrow writing a few posts and will have some more pictures for you. I am doing great and can not believe I have less than 4 weeks left now.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Illegal Immigration and Inglish as an Official Languge
I know, I am awful cynical today. Sorry, it is the way I fell be at the moment. I currently am sitting in my flat (dorm) and am listening to my flat mates and their friends eating dinner just down the hall. There are Germans, Polish, Finish, and Scottish people in my flat. In addition there are those from Italy and the Netherlands here tonight. I and the Scottish kid are the only ones that can claim English as their primary language. These students are here for two purposes. First to advance their education. That may be in mathematics, engineering, history, ext. Their second purpose is to learn English. They greatly respect the fact that they are in an English speaking country. They never speak a foreign language while in my presence if they can help it. The only exception is if one of them discovers what I am trying to say and uses his native language to explain it to someone else present. They greatly value their own culture and they respect mine. I only wish this were the case when I arrive back home in the United States. The reality is that those who illegally (I call an act of war) cross our borders, in hundreds of thousands every year, don't come here to learn our language or respect the rest of us. Instead they merely come to gain financial gain and send it back to there native land. It must be stressed I am referring to illegals and not those who do care and have taken the time to prosper legally (those I much appreciate and welcome with open arms). This topic really became interesting to me when I was talking about it in my counseling course. It was the first time the two people I was working with (who were from Scotland and the Ferrel Islands) had ever heard that America did not have a national language. They couldn't believe that was true. Well, I know it and I still can not believe it is true. Well, I will finish here and simply say Huckabee is the man.
FOOD AND TOILETS
I have not written anything for a while and decided to just put up something random. First, I tried to make one of my favorite desserts the other day. It ended up tasting fine, but looked like a disaster. This was not my fault. If you can believe it, I can not find chocolate pudding or cool whip in Scotland. This made my dessert a bit more difficult. Also, I am yet to meet a Scottish person who has had a smore before. They are so deprived.
Now onto the topic of toilets. I need to get a picture for you or something. Anyhow the toilets in public restrooms make me laugh. In an effort to hide the plumbing and I guess make the toilet look more visually stimulating they plaster and tile over all of it except the toilet itself. This includes the tank. This is great until they have problems and need to fix it. Then they have cracked tile and a mess on their hands. I don't know, I just find the whole idea of trying to conceal necessary plumbing in a public restroom a bit over the top. Well, those are my thoughts for the day. Also I have installed a new program so I know when and from where people access my website. In the last day someone from Germany, California, South Carolina, and Frankfort (I know this one) have all gotten on.
Now onto the topic of toilets. I need to get a picture for you or something. Anyhow the toilets in public restrooms make me laugh. In an effort to hide the plumbing and I guess make the toilet look more visually stimulating they plaster and tile over all of it except the toilet itself. This includes the tank. This is great until they have problems and need to fix it. Then they have cracked tile and a mess on their hands. I don't know, I just find the whole idea of trying to conceal necessary plumbing in a public restroom a bit over the top. Well, those are my thoughts for the day. Also I have installed a new program so I know when and from where people access my website. In the last day someone from Germany, California, South Carolina, and Frankfort (I know this one) have all gotten on.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
JESUS STOOD IN THE MIDST
I have been to quite a few churches now and have experienced some amazing times of musical worship. Thus far almost all of it has been in a style very close to that of any independent or evangelical church in the United States that I have been to. The biggest difference is that there is a slightly larger use of the hymns. Although, rarely are the hymns sung out of a hymnal or in the “old” style, but rather with new lively rhythms.
My favorite place of musical worship (here on referred to as worship) has been Garrod Street Baptist Church. It is not that the music is necessarily any better or that I have felt more welcomed. It is that in the front of the church instead of a cross, stained glass, or any other typical adornment; is merely huge gold painted letters that read in all caps JESUS STOOD IN THE MIDST. I just love walking in and being reminded that He walked in with me, is standing in the midst, and will walk right back out with me.
The following few paragraphs will be my thoughts on a few of my favorite songs thus far.
The first of those is Almighty God by Tim Hughes. My first thought when I heard this song was that the praise team at Northside Student Ministry would enjoy singing it. However, it is the chorus of this song that has me going: “Almighty God, in every way, You are above and beyond understanding, If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out, Glorious God, high above understanding.” I just love thinking about the fact that if we did not praise him the rocks would be willing to cry out. It just makes you wonder why we are not willing to drop to our knees in praise, when the reality is that an inanimate object wishes it could cry out to praise the one who created it all.
The second song that has me going is Lost in Wonder by Martyn Layzell. This was the song that I thought sounded like something nearly everyone I knew would love to sing. The theme of the song is He chose the cross. It is a very personal song. My only qualm with it is the lyric, “A crown of thorns You wore for us” The reality is that God sent his son to die for us. However, Christ did not die for us, but rather for his Father’s glory. I love the fact that other than that one line there is no mention of us, but merely His obedience to the cross. The only person he obeyed was his father. I know all of these songs can be found on Google if you are interested.
I have already stated that they sing more hymns over here. I have sung When I Survey the Wonderful Cross on many occasions in the past, however I am beginning to appreciate this song more and more. I particularly like the third verse, which is rarely sang in the United States. “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God: All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” I don’t know, I guess I am just able to sit and listen more here and it is quite nice. It is the first time in a while that I have the freedom not to have to help with the service in any way. I am not saying I have been restricted from worship in the past, but rather that I can simply sit and listen better while I am here.
The final song that just has me mesmerized is Be Thou My Vision. This is not a song that is sung a lot here, despite its obvious Irish origin, but I just love it. Once again it is the last verse that I like the best. “High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all.” I love singing loudly, not my victory to win, but my victory won. I hope that I continue to grasp what it means to be of one heart beat with the Son of Heaven. That is when I experience glory and victory.
However, I will add one more song. I have never sung this song here or in America, but my favorite song is In Christ Alone as performed by Adrienne Liesching and Geoff Moore. The music and lyrics surpass everything I have heard recently. It gets straight to the point and lays out the gospel. It makes it clear from beginning to end that Christ is the chief cornerstone. If you have never heard it you should.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts on some of the music I have heard thus far. I may have more at another time, but this will suffice for now.
My favorite place of musical worship (here on referred to as worship) has been Garrod Street Baptist Church. It is not that the music is necessarily any better or that I have felt more welcomed. It is that in the front of the church instead of a cross, stained glass, or any other typical adornment; is merely huge gold painted letters that read in all caps JESUS STOOD IN THE MIDST. I just love walking in and being reminded that He walked in with me, is standing in the midst, and will walk right back out with me.
The following few paragraphs will be my thoughts on a few of my favorite songs thus far.
The first of those is Almighty God by Tim Hughes. My first thought when I heard this song was that the praise team at Northside Student Ministry would enjoy singing it. However, it is the chorus of this song that has me going: “Almighty God, in every way, You are above and beyond understanding, If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out, Glorious God, high above understanding.” I just love thinking about the fact that if we did not praise him the rocks would be willing to cry out. It just makes you wonder why we are not willing to drop to our knees in praise, when the reality is that an inanimate object wishes it could cry out to praise the one who created it all.
The second song that has me going is Lost in Wonder by Martyn Layzell. This was the song that I thought sounded like something nearly everyone I knew would love to sing. The theme of the song is He chose the cross. It is a very personal song. My only qualm with it is the lyric, “A crown of thorns You wore for us” The reality is that God sent his son to die for us. However, Christ did not die for us, but rather for his Father’s glory. I love the fact that other than that one line there is no mention of us, but merely His obedience to the cross. The only person he obeyed was his father. I know all of these songs can be found on Google if you are interested.
I have already stated that they sing more hymns over here. I have sung When I Survey the Wonderful Cross on many occasions in the past, however I am beginning to appreciate this song more and more. I particularly like the third verse, which is rarely sang in the United States. “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God: All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” I don’t know, I guess I am just able to sit and listen more here and it is quite nice. It is the first time in a while that I have the freedom not to have to help with the service in any way. I am not saying I have been restricted from worship in the past, but rather that I can simply sit and listen better while I am here.
The final song that just has me mesmerized is Be Thou My Vision. This is not a song that is sung a lot here, despite its obvious Irish origin, but I just love it. Once again it is the last verse that I like the best. “High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all.” I love singing loudly, not my victory to win, but my victory won. I hope that I continue to grasp what it means to be of one heart beat with the Son of Heaven. That is when I experience glory and victory.
However, I will add one more song. I have never sung this song here or in America, but my favorite song is In Christ Alone as performed by Adrienne Liesching and Geoff Moore. The music and lyrics surpass everything I have heard recently. It gets straight to the point and lays out the gospel. It makes it clear from beginning to end that Christ is the chief cornerstone. If you have never heard it you should.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts on some of the music I have heard thus far. I may have more at another time, but this will suffice for now.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
STONEHAVEN
Today was an amazing day. I decided to head out on my own and go to Stonehaven. It was absolutely beautiful. It may be the best place I have seen yet. I spent last night playing cards with my flat mates and capitalized on that great experience with a midmorning trip to the train station. While in Stonehaven I got to see the best castle I have been to yet and then walk to an old grave yard. I also got to see their memorial to the World War One and Two veterans from their little town. It was a great monument. I don’t have a whole lot else to say at the moment. I am just so tired. I probably did between 15-20 miles of walking today. I do have a little quiz for everyone. While there I had an ice cream cone. I was able to have my two favorite flavors mixed together. Leave me a comment if you think you know what must have been in the ice cream cone. Well, that is it for now. Enjoy the pictures of the day. Oh, I got to end my evening there with the sun set on my right and a half moon on my left. It was an amazing night. Feel free to ask for further information and please enjoy the pictures.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Lots of New Post
As you may have noticed there are a few new post. In addition I am working on writing one about the music I have been hearing in the churches. I have been keeping track of particular songs I like. Hopefully that will be coming soon. However, enjoy all of the post. I would start with the oldest and work your way toward the top.
Do I Miss Home?
Quite a few people from both the states and from Aberdeen have asked if I miss home. Therefore I want to do my best to address the question by answering it yes and no. I do miss some of the relationships I have with people back in the states. However, I know that I will be back in what is now unbelievably only nine weeks. I came here with the purpose in mind to really search who I was and reflect on where I am in life. More importantly I wanted to have some time away from all of my commitments to just listen to God and actually focus on hearing from Him. It has really been a great experience. Also between the basketball team and Christian Union, I feel like I am just an ordinary student at a greater distance. I am sure that by the time I get ready to go home I will be missing some of the friends I have made here. Although, I am fortunate that at least some of those friends will be coming back to the states with me. Finally, technology has made being away so simply. I have daily access to the internet and can easily stay in touch with people. So while yes I miss people and relationships I have in the states, I don’t miss home. And I certainly do not regret being here. I am having an absolutely fabulous time.
Friends
I made mention in my Isle of Skye post that I really enjoyed me time with the people I went with. I wanted to elaborate on that a little bit. I have incredible brothers at Kappa Sigma and enjoy my friends in WCM. I also get the privilege to work with some incredible high school students. However, it dawned on me that I spent very little time this summer with people my own age. Much of this was my own fault. However, I have been blessed while here at Aberdeen. It is so wonderful to have a couple of honestly good men of Christ to share life with. We all know we don’t have it all figured out and don’t plan on it by the time we leave, but I am truly grateful to get to spend time with them. They desire to start a weekly time for us together for a meal and time of sharing. I pray this comes to fruition. I think it will make me value those relationships I have at home even more. Well, I just wanted to let you all know that I am thoroughly enjoying the people I am spending time with here. I also have quite enjoyed hanging out with the guys on the basketball team. I don’t have my faith in common with them, but they are a great group. Oh, I also found out on Sunday I am officially on the First Squad. For those of you who know how great an athlete I am (J/K), that will give you an idea of the caliber of basketball in Aberdeen. Regardless, I am having a great time and couldn’t be happier.
Isle of Skye
Wow, I had an amazing weekend. This is the first bit of scenery I have seen that doesn’t remind me in any way of anything I have ever seen before. The water, cliffs, and mountains at the Isle of Skye are absolutely gorgeous. The first day (Friday) was spent traveling from Aberdeen to Isle of Skye. This is about a six hour trip. Once we arrived we walked about two miles and across a great bridge to our hostel. Of course it was pitch black and we couldn’t see a thing, but it was fun none the less. We discovered in the morning just where we had walked and how beautiful it was. I made this journey with five great friends from Hope College and was later met by another person from our program whose college name is escaping me right now. It was a great group to hang out with. Saturday we got up at a decent hour, ate some breakfast, and headed north. We visited the town of Portree and then took a bus to Kilt Rock. Afterwards we walked two or three miles to another town where we spent quite a bit of time near the water just exploring. It was quite a liberating day. We then headed back to Kyleakin (where the hostel was) for a good meal and some cards before bed. Oh, we ate our lunch at Kilt Rock. We got to bed a little late that night, but not a big deal. The next day we set off in search of a castle. This was more difficult than we thought it would be as a result of the fact not that many buses run on Sunday. However, we did make it and it was well worth the trip. We spent all morning and part of the early afternoon there before getting on the train to head back to Aberdeen. Are trip back was a little long as a result of a layover in Inverness. However, this ended up being a marvelous thing. We had three hours to explore the city. We had an incredible dinner (the best I have had yet). I took a picture of Haggis for everyone. Mom, you better learn how to cook it or make sure I have the kitchenware to cook it myself. I quite enjoy it. Afterwards we toured the city at night and finally got back to Aberdeen a little before midnight. The trip could not have gone any better. I took a lot of photos while I was there, so please enjoy. The link to the photos of the trip is below. Also I added a link to all of my photos on the side of this page if you have missed things so far.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Me Upcoming Weekend
Hey everyone. I just thought I would let you know that I am headed to the Isle of Skye in about an hour. I will be there until Sunday evening. Hopefully I will have some good stories and information to share when I get back. I am going with some good friends I have made from Hope College. Have fun as I know many of you are on break. Talk at you later.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Finally a Post
I was looking at my blog recently and realized that I had not written for a while. I also am yet to answer a few of the questions that people asked about the church in Scotland. As a result this post will be quite long. Instead of submitting multiple posts, I will simply attempt to split this one up with headlines.
Timeline Update
Well, not too much has happened since my last post. Saturday night I attended this acoustic café thing at the only Methodist church in all of Aberdeen. I had a wonderful time, although the music was more about saving the world through fair trade than the message of Christ. Two of my professors attend this church. I had an opportunity to talk to them a wee bit more and find out how they ended up in Aberdeen. Also they both recognized my school (Wabash) because one of the seniors from my house my freshman year had attended this church while he was in Aberdeen. It was quite a wonderful coincidence. The following morning I went to Joy of Life church. This was a different experience altogether. They meet in a movie theatre (brilliant idea) and are a Pentecostal church. Now this is nothing like those in the United States. They basically are a charismatic non-denominational church. They are also the self-proclaimed international church of Aberdeen. This is quite a fair assessment. I was one of about sixty people in attendance and to my knowledge over twelve countries was represented. It was definitely a joyous morning. My favorite part of it though was afterwards when I told the pastor/minister that I simply wanted to visit as many churches as I could while I was here to get a feel for the Church of Scotland. He did not seem disappointed I would not be coming back regularly nor did he end conversation; rather he proceeded to build up other area churches and tell me about what each was accomplishing for the kingdom and which churches I should go visit. I wish we as local churches did such a good job building each other up. There truly is a kingdom minded attitude here and it is very refreshing. Sunday night I had basketball practice and then attended Garrod Street Baptist church again. This will be a permanent place for me on Sunday evenings. I quite like the music and preaching. It is also within a reasonable walk. It takes me less than thirty minutes to get there. Monday, Tuesday, and today have been typical school days. Class is going well and I continue to adjust well to my new surroundings. I guess last night was a little atypical. The flat next to mine decided to host a cross-dressing party. There were definitely some interesting outfits. I chose to watch Beyond the Gates of Splendor. It is an amazingly well done documentary if you have not already seen it.
My Thoughts
I have found myself writing down little questions in my journal during the day. My goal was to elaborate on what I was thinking/pondering when I had more time. I thought I would share a few of those with you now. First I wrote down that I am beginning to have a distaste for academia. This is an interesting conclusion for me. I personally love to learn and read. I find information contagious. However, I am surrounded by master and doctoral students here (especially in the Theology/Divinity Department). I very much appreciate my professors and value their careers. If one plans on teaching I think academia can be a wonderful thing. However, I find that people are so concerned with the exact translation or the exact doctrinal truth that they miss the big picture. I am in a class that discusses Calvin and Luther. I love this class and love to have these conversations with other Christians. However, I often wonder what would happen if I spent another four years learning what others thought on the topic and the history of it all. I would be better informed, more knowledgeable, and have a wonderful time. However, assuming I went to class thirty weeks of the year for at least fifteen hours a week (counting homework), I would spend 1800 hours in four years. How many people could I have interacted with in that time period and shared with them the good news of Christ. Now understand, I am in no way saying going to school is a bad idea. I personally still plan on attending graduate school for something (I have no idea what), but just remember to keep the big picture in mind. School can never be for us, but only so that we are more equipped to impact the kingdom. The rest of my thoughts are in reaction to things said or learned in my rise of Christianity class. This class is not designed as a religious course, but rather a history class. I am very much appreciating this as well. We have already seen that the Bible and surrounding texts about Christ are the most well documented and verified text ever. However, our professor made the comment that she will do her best to separate the historical Jesus from the Christian Jesus. Yet, she conceded (she is a Christian) it is hard because all of the writers (biblical and unbiblical) seem to start writing from the pre-disposition that he is the messiah and not simply a man. I find this interesting. How many other historical texts have you read that cohesively start with a pre-disposition. I mean everything I have ever read on Arthur assumes it is accepted he is not Arthur but King Arthur. Maybe the fact that all the writers seem to write from the perspective that Jesus is the messiah is because he actually is. Wow, wouldn’t that be a shocker. My second thought from the class has to do with the phrase “Come follow me” (said by Jesus to disciples). If someone had said that to me I would have said they were nuts, unless it was a privilege to follow him. I have always learned that Christ profession was unknown. It was assumed he was a carpenter (following his father’s trade). However, what if he had passed all the test of the days and actually had followed a Rabbi, then in turn became his own independent Rabbi, it would make sense then that these fishermen, tax collectors, and doctors who hadn’t been good enough to study under a Rabbi would be thrilled to get to study under one. I understand Rabbi means teacher and so when the disciples say it they may merely be calling Christ a teacher, but what if he was more. What if he was simply a radical Rabbi? I don’t know I guess my mind is just wondering. Not that any of this impacts the big picture that he was the Son of God and died in obedience and glory to his Father to redeem all of mankind. Finally, the resurrection has me excited lately. We approach it in class as if it were an impossibility. In order to examine something historically there has to be a metaphor to compare it to or in other words another occurrence of such a thing. Therefore it is assumed it could not have happened. Yet, the professor always has to say these depressed, lonely disciples all of a sudden got so excited that they changed the entire world (with a lie). I mean either all of these guys were possessed and multiple writers and all of mankind have believed a lie or something really happened. I don’t know I just think it is exciting. No one has yet to come up for a real explanation for what changed everything after the crucifixion except a resurrection.
Your Questions
Many of you wanted to know a little bit more about how churches in Aberdeen actually functioned. I do not yet know if the ministers live off of giving/tithing from the church or have alternative jobs. I know many that I have met have jobs and most of their wives work. There is also an exuberant amount of associative ministers who work for free. Many of these are graduate students from the University. So far every church I have been to is running weekly Bible Studies in homes. There is one distinct difference. While some of these studies have some substance to them, most are introductions to the Christian faith. So many of the Christians here are so young in there faith. There are also tons of evangelical Bible studies going on. It makes it so non-confrontational for church members to invite friends into their homes just to discuss whether this God is real. The big program they use over here is Alpha. Attendance on a typical morning is full of people of all ages. I have been to a church that had a few more older people, but more or less there are infants, children, youth, college, and adults. I would say the smallest group is youth. There are a lot of college students as a result of the University, but very few junior high and high school age kids at the church. There are not really programs like youth group, single adult’s ministry, older adult’s ministry or anything like that. There is Sunday service, weekly bible study, and many of the churches have weekly corporate prayer. Almost every church does have a music program. As far as clothing goes, anything goes. There are people in suits and there are homeless people in rags. Everyone is welcome at every church I have been in so far. The larger churches, and from what I sense are growing churches, offer free bi-weekly meals. It is very typical for a church to eat lunch together or have coffee and sandwiches after service. This is a great way to get college students and the homeless to come. It is probably one of the best out reach tools the churches have at the moment. There are many denominations. I have been in Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Non-denominational. I still have an Assemblies of God and a Catholic church on my list. We will wait and see. I think that answers all of the questions up to this point.
My Closing Remarks
As always if there is anything particular you want me to address just let me know. Also I realized I have not posted any new pictures in a while. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to take pictures of. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Finally, if you are going to leave a comment please don’t leave them anonymously. If you simply put your initials or something I would appreciate it. I enjoy knowing who is actually leaving the comment. It helps me to put into perspective what someone might be thinking as they are reading my rambles. Also I wrote this really quickly, so if there are grammatical errors I apologize.
Timeline Update
Well, not too much has happened since my last post. Saturday night I attended this acoustic café thing at the only Methodist church in all of Aberdeen. I had a wonderful time, although the music was more about saving the world through fair trade than the message of Christ. Two of my professors attend this church. I had an opportunity to talk to them a wee bit more and find out how they ended up in Aberdeen. Also they both recognized my school (Wabash) because one of the seniors from my house my freshman year had attended this church while he was in Aberdeen. It was quite a wonderful coincidence. The following morning I went to Joy of Life church. This was a different experience altogether. They meet in a movie theatre (brilliant idea) and are a Pentecostal church. Now this is nothing like those in the United States. They basically are a charismatic non-denominational church. They are also the self-proclaimed international church of Aberdeen. This is quite a fair assessment. I was one of about sixty people in attendance and to my knowledge over twelve countries was represented. It was definitely a joyous morning. My favorite part of it though was afterwards when I told the pastor/minister that I simply wanted to visit as many churches as I could while I was here to get a feel for the Church of Scotland. He did not seem disappointed I would not be coming back regularly nor did he end conversation; rather he proceeded to build up other area churches and tell me about what each was accomplishing for the kingdom and which churches I should go visit. I wish we as local churches did such a good job building each other up. There truly is a kingdom minded attitude here and it is very refreshing. Sunday night I had basketball practice and then attended Garrod Street Baptist church again. This will be a permanent place for me on Sunday evenings. I quite like the music and preaching. It is also within a reasonable walk. It takes me less than thirty minutes to get there. Monday, Tuesday, and today have been typical school days. Class is going well and I continue to adjust well to my new surroundings. I guess last night was a little atypical. The flat next to mine decided to host a cross-dressing party. There were definitely some interesting outfits. I chose to watch Beyond the Gates of Splendor. It is an amazingly well done documentary if you have not already seen it.
My Thoughts
I have found myself writing down little questions in my journal during the day. My goal was to elaborate on what I was thinking/pondering when I had more time. I thought I would share a few of those with you now. First I wrote down that I am beginning to have a distaste for academia. This is an interesting conclusion for me. I personally love to learn and read. I find information contagious. However, I am surrounded by master and doctoral students here (especially in the Theology/Divinity Department). I very much appreciate my professors and value their careers. If one plans on teaching I think academia can be a wonderful thing. However, I find that people are so concerned with the exact translation or the exact doctrinal truth that they miss the big picture. I am in a class that discusses Calvin and Luther. I love this class and love to have these conversations with other Christians. However, I often wonder what would happen if I spent another four years learning what others thought on the topic and the history of it all. I would be better informed, more knowledgeable, and have a wonderful time. However, assuming I went to class thirty weeks of the year for at least fifteen hours a week (counting homework), I would spend 1800 hours in four years. How many people could I have interacted with in that time period and shared with them the good news of Christ. Now understand, I am in no way saying going to school is a bad idea. I personally still plan on attending graduate school for something (I have no idea what), but just remember to keep the big picture in mind. School can never be for us, but only so that we are more equipped to impact the kingdom. The rest of my thoughts are in reaction to things said or learned in my rise of Christianity class. This class is not designed as a religious course, but rather a history class. I am very much appreciating this as well. We have already seen that the Bible and surrounding texts about Christ are the most well documented and verified text ever. However, our professor made the comment that she will do her best to separate the historical Jesus from the Christian Jesus. Yet, she conceded (she is a Christian) it is hard because all of the writers (biblical and unbiblical) seem to start writing from the pre-disposition that he is the messiah and not simply a man. I find this interesting. How many other historical texts have you read that cohesively start with a pre-disposition. I mean everything I have ever read on Arthur assumes it is accepted he is not Arthur but King Arthur. Maybe the fact that all the writers seem to write from the perspective that Jesus is the messiah is because he actually is. Wow, wouldn’t that be a shocker. My second thought from the class has to do with the phrase “Come follow me” (said by Jesus to disciples). If someone had said that to me I would have said they were nuts, unless it was a privilege to follow him. I have always learned that Christ profession was unknown. It was assumed he was a carpenter (following his father’s trade). However, what if he had passed all the test of the days and actually had followed a Rabbi, then in turn became his own independent Rabbi, it would make sense then that these fishermen, tax collectors, and doctors who hadn’t been good enough to study under a Rabbi would be thrilled to get to study under one. I understand Rabbi means teacher and so when the disciples say it they may merely be calling Christ a teacher, but what if he was more. What if he was simply a radical Rabbi? I don’t know I guess my mind is just wondering. Not that any of this impacts the big picture that he was the Son of God and died in obedience and glory to his Father to redeem all of mankind. Finally, the resurrection has me excited lately. We approach it in class as if it were an impossibility. In order to examine something historically there has to be a metaphor to compare it to or in other words another occurrence of such a thing. Therefore it is assumed it could not have happened. Yet, the professor always has to say these depressed, lonely disciples all of a sudden got so excited that they changed the entire world (with a lie). I mean either all of these guys were possessed and multiple writers and all of mankind have believed a lie or something really happened. I don’t know I just think it is exciting. No one has yet to come up for a real explanation for what changed everything after the crucifixion except a resurrection.
Your Questions
Many of you wanted to know a little bit more about how churches in Aberdeen actually functioned. I do not yet know if the ministers live off of giving/tithing from the church or have alternative jobs. I know many that I have met have jobs and most of their wives work. There is also an exuberant amount of associative ministers who work for free. Many of these are graduate students from the University. So far every church I have been to is running weekly Bible Studies in homes. There is one distinct difference. While some of these studies have some substance to them, most are introductions to the Christian faith. So many of the Christians here are so young in there faith. There are also tons of evangelical Bible studies going on. It makes it so non-confrontational for church members to invite friends into their homes just to discuss whether this God is real. The big program they use over here is Alpha. Attendance on a typical morning is full of people of all ages. I have been to a church that had a few more older people, but more or less there are infants, children, youth, college, and adults. I would say the smallest group is youth. There are a lot of college students as a result of the University, but very few junior high and high school age kids at the church. There are not really programs like youth group, single adult’s ministry, older adult’s ministry or anything like that. There is Sunday service, weekly bible study, and many of the churches have weekly corporate prayer. Almost every church does have a music program. As far as clothing goes, anything goes. There are people in suits and there are homeless people in rags. Everyone is welcome at every church I have been in so far. The larger churches, and from what I sense are growing churches, offer free bi-weekly meals. It is very typical for a church to eat lunch together or have coffee and sandwiches after service. This is a great way to get college students and the homeless to come. It is probably one of the best out reach tools the churches have at the moment. There are many denominations. I have been in Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Non-denominational. I still have an Assemblies of God and a Catholic church on my list. We will wait and see. I think that answers all of the questions up to this point.
My Closing Remarks
As always if there is anything particular you want me to address just let me know. Also I realized I have not posted any new pictures in a while. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to take pictures of. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Finally, if you are going to leave a comment please don’t leave them anonymously. If you simply put your initials or something I would appreciate it. I enjoy knowing who is actually leaving the comment. It helps me to put into perspective what someone might be thinking as they are reading my rambles. Also I wrote this really quickly, so if there are grammatical errors I apologize.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
USA is Amazing
Just a real quick thought. If you have to mail a letter to someone in Indiana and you happen to live in Illinois when might you expect it to arrive? I would personally expect it to arrive in three or four days at the latest. I would have no doubt of this either. It would make it in plenty of time. Now let's say you wanted to mail a letter to someone in Indiana from the UK, when might you expect it to arrive? I would say 1-2 weeks would be a reasonable timeline. Now remember you are mailing from a socialist country where government employees can go on strike. Therefore I have no idea when any of my mail will arrive in the USA. This country literally has a mail strike going on. I have mail that must arrive by the first Monday after the first Sunday in November (those who care about there country know what I am talking about), yet I have no guarantee because a bunch of nuts are on strike. I am so grateful to be living in the good ole US of A. By the way, my German roommate insisted on me copying him some of my patriotic music for him. He said nobody cares that much in Germany about their own country and he just loves the music. It has been nice to hear American music being played in my flat.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Just an Update
Wow, the last three days have been fun. My time basically consist of reading and playing ball. I had more basketball practice on Monday night. We went somewhere in the city I had yet to go. It was very nice. Plus next door was their version of Wal-Mart. In fact I think it is actually owned by Wal-Mart. It was bigger than most of their stores, but it was still no Wal-Mart. The practice was good and we actually learned some fundamentals. Currently the team lacks a lot of fundamentals to the game of basketball. It was here that I found out that I got to play in our first game which was today. This means that I am either second/third string for the first team and they just wanted a few new guys to get some play time or I am actually first string for the second team. At this point I do not care I was just glad to be offered the chance to play.
Tuesday was pretty typical for me. As part of our introduction to Luther we actually watched the recent movie Luther. I had not previously seen it. It was quite impressive. It just amplifies how much Luther endured to make the gospel available to the common man. This is most definitely my favorite class. My early church history class is starting to move along, but is still not moving to the top of my list. It is interesting because I have almost all first year students in that class, but those students are not allowed to take the Luther course because it is labeled third year.
Today was a pretty productive day. I had my second Greek course of the week and then I had my second dose of counseling. I may end of appreciating the class. I am yet to learn much about the skills of counseling that I did not already know and may never learn that much knew information, but I am learning from the class. I have grown up with at least one close friend or someone I could consider a confidant at all times and often more than one. We were asked today to think of a time when we approached someone for help and felt like they just blew us off. Minus minor occurrences of little importance, I honestly was having a hard time thinking of a time this had happened. I do not know if it is a function of good hindsight in choosing who to approach or if I have simply been blessed with good people in my life. The women in my class had no trouble thinking of instances. We did not discuss the instances, but rather talked about how those people made us feel or what they did wrong. It was really eye opening to discover these basic principles of honesty, empathy, listening and caring are truly not instinctive for many people. It was a good lesson and insight to life.
Finally, tonight was my first basketball game. I was placed as third string, seeing that we had 13 guys playing. However, they finally put me in to guard the other team’s big guy. You must understand I am not the tallest or by any means the best offensive player, but I do love playing physical defense. The word physical is not in the vocabulary of European basketball. This big guy was probably only two inches taller than me, but weighed, I am guessing, 270 pounds. Unfortunately for him a lot of this weight was in his upper body and not lower. He scored ten points in the first quarter, however I held him to two points the rest of the game. I think I threw him off guard when I accidentally knocked him to the ground on a rebound. He was not use to getting pushed around. Believe it or not I actually had a decent offensive game as well. I managed to score seven of our sixty-five points. My brother should know I was three for four from the line. As a team we did not play so well. We had a whole lot more talent than their squad, but only won the game by fifteen points. I guess we have only played together for ten days.
Well, I have to go for now. If you are interested I attended a Bible Study last night that had me a little frustrated. We talked about truth from Ephesians, but we neglected to talk about whom the letter was written to, why, and its implications. We simply sugar coated the fact that God loves us. My rant can be found on Jonathan’s blog youareholy.com or colossiansonetwentytwo.blogspot.com
Tuesday was pretty typical for me. As part of our introduction to Luther we actually watched the recent movie Luther. I had not previously seen it. It was quite impressive. It just amplifies how much Luther endured to make the gospel available to the common man. This is most definitely my favorite class. My early church history class is starting to move along, but is still not moving to the top of my list. It is interesting because I have almost all first year students in that class, but those students are not allowed to take the Luther course because it is labeled third year.
Today was a pretty productive day. I had my second Greek course of the week and then I had my second dose of counseling. I may end of appreciating the class. I am yet to learn much about the skills of counseling that I did not already know and may never learn that much knew information, but I am learning from the class. I have grown up with at least one close friend or someone I could consider a confidant at all times and often more than one. We were asked today to think of a time when we approached someone for help and felt like they just blew us off. Minus minor occurrences of little importance, I honestly was having a hard time thinking of a time this had happened. I do not know if it is a function of good hindsight in choosing who to approach or if I have simply been blessed with good people in my life. The women in my class had no trouble thinking of instances. We did not discuss the instances, but rather talked about how those people made us feel or what they did wrong. It was really eye opening to discover these basic principles of honesty, empathy, listening and caring are truly not instinctive for many people. It was a good lesson and insight to life.
Finally, tonight was my first basketball game. I was placed as third string, seeing that we had 13 guys playing. However, they finally put me in to guard the other team’s big guy. You must understand I am not the tallest or by any means the best offensive player, but I do love playing physical defense. The word physical is not in the vocabulary of European basketball. This big guy was probably only two inches taller than me, but weighed, I am guessing, 270 pounds. Unfortunately for him a lot of this weight was in his upper body and not lower. He scored ten points in the first quarter, however I held him to two points the rest of the game. I think I threw him off guard when I accidentally knocked him to the ground on a rebound. He was not use to getting pushed around. Believe it or not I actually had a decent offensive game as well. I managed to score seven of our sixty-five points. My brother should know I was three for four from the line. As a team we did not play so well. We had a whole lot more talent than their squad, but only won the game by fifteen points. I guess we have only played together for ten days.
Well, I have to go for now. If you are interested I attended a Bible Study last night that had me a little frustrated. We talked about truth from Ephesians, but we neglected to talk about whom the letter was written to, why, and its implications. We simply sugar coated the fact that God loves us. My rant can be found on Jonathan’s blog youareholy.com or colossiansonetwentytwo.blogspot.com
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Busy Weekend
I have had an incredible weekend. Friday I more or less took it pretty easy and just spent some time resting up. I attended the Aberdeen Christian Union, here by referred to as the CU, in the evening. I had an absolutely wonderful time. The message was a little bit all over the place, but the fellowship and time of musical worship was wonderful. It is becoming more and more evident that the basics have to be taught here over and over. It has little to do with the fact that people don’t understand, but more to do with the fact that there are so many brand new Christians. It is quite wonderful.
Saturday I slept in and then made myself some lunch. I eat pretty well most of the time, but at times I eat things that would make most people nauseous. Saturday’s lunch was an example of that. I had two tuna and Nutella sandwiches. For those of you who are yet to have Nutella in the states; it is basically chocolate peanut butter made with hazelnuts. I very much enjoyed this high protein sandwich.
I then headed to the park to play some ultimate Frisbee. It was so nice. They actually have a team, that competes, but the park time is for both the team and anyone that just wants to hangout. After almost two and a half hours of Frisbee I was exhausted. I came back home and got ready to go out with two of my friends. We went to a local Pub called the Bobbin to watch Scotland beat Italy to go to the quarter finals of the world cup in Rugby. It was so exciting.
This morning I went to my third church. It was called Oasis. I had a fantastic time. The preaching was not the best I have heard, but I was quite touched during the music. I had been giving some thought to how we approach God. During this service the children walk around or sit in the back and color. When it comes time for the message they leave for children’s service. The band is to the left and there is nothing in the center during the message. Therefore an 18th month old boy decided to crawl up to the alter and sit and wave at people. While I know he had no idea what he was doing, all he desired was to sit as close to the front as he could. It was truly a picture of approaching Christ like a child on our knees, just begging to here him speak.
The rest of my day flew by. I read a little and took a brief nap before going to basketball practice. We had a new coach show up and he had us run a lot. Maybe guys will learn to listen better. It was a good practice though and I really am feeling like a student here.
The one thing that could use prayer are my flat mates. I do not know where all of them stand on Christianity, however I know at least two of them and maybe three of them are going to attend a class called Alpha tomorrow night. It is designed to introduce people to Christianity. They serve a free dinner (always good) and then have a short lesson. It will run the next ten weeks. My prayer is that is sparks some incredible conversation in the flat. Well, that is all for now. I am tired and am going to go eat my pizza dinner.
Also a quick shout out to all of my pledges at Wabash. I have really enjoyed all of the Homecoming pictures. It looks as if you all did as well as Wabash did at stomping Earlham. Just wait Depauw, it won't be pretty.
Saturday I slept in and then made myself some lunch. I eat pretty well most of the time, but at times I eat things that would make most people nauseous. Saturday’s lunch was an example of that. I had two tuna and Nutella sandwiches. For those of you who are yet to have Nutella in the states; it is basically chocolate peanut butter made with hazelnuts. I very much enjoyed this high protein sandwich.
I then headed to the park to play some ultimate Frisbee. It was so nice. They actually have a team, that competes, but the park time is for both the team and anyone that just wants to hangout. After almost two and a half hours of Frisbee I was exhausted. I came back home and got ready to go out with two of my friends. We went to a local Pub called the Bobbin to watch Scotland beat Italy to go to the quarter finals of the world cup in Rugby. It was so exciting.
This morning I went to my third church. It was called Oasis. I had a fantastic time. The preaching was not the best I have heard, but I was quite touched during the music. I had been giving some thought to how we approach God. During this service the children walk around or sit in the back and color. When it comes time for the message they leave for children’s service. The band is to the left and there is nothing in the center during the message. Therefore an 18th month old boy decided to crawl up to the alter and sit and wave at people. While I know he had no idea what he was doing, all he desired was to sit as close to the front as he could. It was truly a picture of approaching Christ like a child on our knees, just begging to here him speak.
The rest of my day flew by. I read a little and took a brief nap before going to basketball practice. We had a new coach show up and he had us run a lot. Maybe guys will learn to listen better. It was a good practice though and I really am feeling like a student here.
The one thing that could use prayer are my flat mates. I do not know where all of them stand on Christianity, however I know at least two of them and maybe three of them are going to attend a class called Alpha tomorrow night. It is designed to introduce people to Christianity. They serve a free dinner (always good) and then have a short lesson. It will run the next ten weeks. My prayer is that is sparks some incredible conversation in the flat. Well, that is all for now. I am tired and am going to go eat my pizza dinner.
Also a quick shout out to all of my pledges at Wabash. I have really enjoyed all of the Homecoming pictures. It looks as if you all did as well as Wabash did at stomping Earlham. Just wait Depauw, it won't be pretty.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Church
As I start to write this I first want to make it be known that these blogs are not meant to be grammatically perfect. In fact about the only safe guard I have is spell check. If you notice something glaringly wrong and insist on letting me know that is fine. Otherwise just enjoy my idiocy.
I have written about my experiences thus far; however I have yet to mention my time in church or the Christian Union here on campus. Despite the fact that Christianity is not a “big thing” here, what they do have is quite impressive. The Aberdeen University Christian Union is made up of a little over 100 students. While this may not sound big for a campus of 12,000 people, their presence is made know. No other organization comes close to being able to advertise and mobilize the way this one does. I have also been very impressed with the way the church responds to people here. The Christian Union owes its success to the fact that one of the local churches bought a building on the edge of campus and has given it to the union for its use. They have anything they need, all they must do is ask for it. In addition, they attend over ten different churches in the area.
You must understand that here an average church has 50 people at most attend service. There are a couple of big ones that are 100-200 people. I have had an opportunity to visit two of them so far. The first Sunday I went to a Church call Hebron. It was very nice and the preaching was amazing. Late in his preaching he was giving instruction on why every Christian should read their Bible. Let me tell you when a man with a strong Scottish accent says “men died here in this country and others that you may have a translation of that to read”, it has quite an impact.
The second church I visited was Garrod Street Baptist Church. I went to the evening service. I think the morning service is a bit more mainstream, but the evening service was quite contemporary. I felt as if I was home. The message was also very memorable. Last year I had the privilege of hanging out with a few of Northside’s students at Disciple Now Weekend where the theme was verizontal. The idea being that in order to tell the world about Christ you must have your vertical relationship with God right first and then you can begin to reach out horizontally to those around you. The message this Sunday evening was about the church. His main point was that we have to quit looking at each other and the thing we call a church from our horizontal views and start looking at it from God’s vertical view. The church was never and never will be designed for us. Rather, it was designed to bring God glory and be a place for his kingdom to grow. Oh how sweet it will be to have our dress on the day of marriage.
The church here is small, but it cares for the citizens of Aberdeen. They truly seek to see people discover and fall in love with Jesus Christ. It is not unusual to talk to someone who has heard of Christianity and believes in the concept of a God, but has never heard of or has no idea who Christ is. The fields are ripe for the harvest, but here the workers are few.
I have just finished my second book. It was called Three. Scott Blewett suggested I try reading Dekker, a Christian fiction author. He is quite amazing. He very much reminds me of Michael Crichton. I highly suggest him to anyone who enjoys science fiction, psychology, and fiction. This particular book challenges the way we view evil. It wants to make the claim that evil is not merely something that exist, but that it truly is in active battle for our lives. It truly puts into perspective the passage in Romans 7 where Paul speaks of the struggle he has of doing what he does not want to do. Their truly is a battle that is taking place for our lives as we speak.
My final thought for the moment has to do with the people here in Aberdeen. There is one thing that has struck me more clearly than anything else. People are people everywhere. I live in a flat with Germans, Polish, Finish, and Scottish people. They all have hopes, dreams, fears, pains, and a longing to be accepted and loved. This is no different than people anywhere. I know this sounds obvious, but it is so true. It makes the simplicity of sharing the love that is Christ so straight forward. Everyone has the same void that can only be filled by one person. I challenge you to take a look around in your school cafeteria or work office and begin to realize that what stairs you back are not merely faces, pupils, or employees, but rather real people with a real need.
I will leave with that for the time being. I am having an incredible time here in Scotland. I could not have picked a better place for me to spend this semester. If there is anything else you want to know for the time being just let me know.
I have written about my experiences thus far; however I have yet to mention my time in church or the Christian Union here on campus. Despite the fact that Christianity is not a “big thing” here, what they do have is quite impressive. The Aberdeen University Christian Union is made up of a little over 100 students. While this may not sound big for a campus of 12,000 people, their presence is made know. No other organization comes close to being able to advertise and mobilize the way this one does. I have also been very impressed with the way the church responds to people here. The Christian Union owes its success to the fact that one of the local churches bought a building on the edge of campus and has given it to the union for its use. They have anything they need, all they must do is ask for it. In addition, they attend over ten different churches in the area.
You must understand that here an average church has 50 people at most attend service. There are a couple of big ones that are 100-200 people. I have had an opportunity to visit two of them so far. The first Sunday I went to a Church call Hebron. It was very nice and the preaching was amazing. Late in his preaching he was giving instruction on why every Christian should read their Bible. Let me tell you when a man with a strong Scottish accent says “men died here in this country and others that you may have a translation of that to read”, it has quite an impact.
The second church I visited was Garrod Street Baptist Church. I went to the evening service. I think the morning service is a bit more mainstream, but the evening service was quite contemporary. I felt as if I was home. The message was also very memorable. Last year I had the privilege of hanging out with a few of Northside’s students at Disciple Now Weekend where the theme was verizontal. The idea being that in order to tell the world about Christ you must have your vertical relationship with God right first and then you can begin to reach out horizontally to those around you. The message this Sunday evening was about the church. His main point was that we have to quit looking at each other and the thing we call a church from our horizontal views and start looking at it from God’s vertical view. The church was never and never will be designed for us. Rather, it was designed to bring God glory and be a place for his kingdom to grow. Oh how sweet it will be to have our dress on the day of marriage.
The church here is small, but it cares for the citizens of Aberdeen. They truly seek to see people discover and fall in love with Jesus Christ. It is not unusual to talk to someone who has heard of Christianity and believes in the concept of a God, but has never heard of or has no idea who Christ is. The fields are ripe for the harvest, but here the workers are few.
I have just finished my second book. It was called Three. Scott Blewett suggested I try reading Dekker, a Christian fiction author. He is quite amazing. He very much reminds me of Michael Crichton. I highly suggest him to anyone who enjoys science fiction, psychology, and fiction. This particular book challenges the way we view evil. It wants to make the claim that evil is not merely something that exist, but that it truly is in active battle for our lives. It truly puts into perspective the passage in Romans 7 where Paul speaks of the struggle he has of doing what he does not want to do. Their truly is a battle that is taking place for our lives as we speak.
My final thought for the moment has to do with the people here in Aberdeen. There is one thing that has struck me more clearly than anything else. People are people everywhere. I live in a flat with Germans, Polish, Finish, and Scottish people. They all have hopes, dreams, fears, pains, and a longing to be accepted and loved. This is no different than people anywhere. I know this sounds obvious, but it is so true. It makes the simplicity of sharing the love that is Christ so straight forward. Everyone has the same void that can only be filled by one person. I challenge you to take a look around in your school cafeteria or work office and begin to realize that what stairs you back are not merely faces, pupils, or employees, but rather real people with a real need.
I will leave with that for the time being. I am having an incredible time here in Scotland. I could not have picked a better place for me to spend this semester. If there is anything else you want to know for the time being just let me know.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
My Classes and their Abnoralities
Well, classes have officially started. I must admit I am glad that they have. I have four classes and they all require completely different time tables. I am taking Rise of Christianity. This class will examine Christianity from 0 A.D. to right before the beginning of the Reformation. I am then taking the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther and John Calvin. This class picks up where the other is leaving off and brings me closer to the common era. I am also taking an introduction to New Testament Greek. Finally, I am taking an intro to counseling skills class. I have a feeling all of my classes should be quite entertaining. My counseling course will be very easy. In addition I think my previous experience in Ancient Greek will cause my Greek course to also seem easy. My other two classes are no more difficult or easier than a Wabash course in terms of content. However, the amount of work I will be required to do is considerably less. I view this as a bonus. Not only does it make life less stressful, but it gives me more time to read books about the topics themselves. I just finished another book called Three, but I will write about that later. I heard a funny description of one of my Professors. It may not be kind, but funny. My Professor for Rise of Christianity was described as a German/Swiss He/She who looked like she should be out of the Sound of Music. It is quite a look and will be an entertaining course. The final thing that strikes me as different from the USA is the level of teaching. I do not doubt the qualifications of any of my Professors and am sure I will come to appreciate and enjoy all of them. However, only the He/She is actually a doctorate in her field. The others are all Doctoral Students. This is strikingly different than Wabash where 95% have their doctorate and if they don't they are merely a visiting Professor. Well, those are my classes. If you want to know any specifics let me know via comment. Oh, I just got out of my counseling course. I was anticipating a bunch of undergraduates interested in psychology and potentially counseling. There are a few, but I also have a ton of older women who want to solve problems in their own lives and hope this class will help. I felt as if I was attending a self-help session; not to mention 50% of the grade in the course is class participation. It will be fun. There are 14 females and two males. I am the only American and the only male that speaks English well. I will have to speak up for the male sex. I am rambling and will therefore end this here. I look forward to giving you my church update soon.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Weekend
How is everybody? Anyhow I had quite an eventful weekend. One of my pledge brothers from Wabash (Clay/The Sauce) came up from Lancaster England on Thursday and we spent the day together in Aberdeen. We then left early Friday morning for Edinburgh. It was a fun train ride with a bunch of happy drunks. Upon arriving we discovered an absolutely beautiful city whose crowning jewel was an enormous castle in the middle of the city. Edinburgh has a population of about 450,000. We spent two days there. Our sleep at the local hostel was quite nice. We even had a chance to climb a cliff and oversee all of Edinburgh. While there I purchased my first kilt. I can not wait to wear it in the states. I am share my just look ravishing.
Upon our return late Saturday night we got some sleep. We think we walked nearly twenty miles that day. It was exhausting. However, the next day proved to be just as eventful. I tried out for what I hoped to be intramural basketball and ended up making the Aberdeen University Basketball Team (B squad of course). Who would have guessed? I know not I. So I guess I have found my activity for the semester.
Monday morning is when I had to say good-bye to Sauce. However, before he went I gave him a hair cut. It was a jolly good time. I then proceeded to my first class and he went to the train station. Later post will detail classes here in Scotland and I will tell you about my church experiences. They have been quite interesting and inspiring. Below is the link to this weekend's pictures. As always, if there is anything specific you want me to write about just let me know and if any picture ever strikes you as amazing let me know which one. I will try to get back to you all soon.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My Daily Jaunt
As I have mentioned in previous posts, if there is anything particular you want to know just let me know via comment and I will do my best to oblige. My father requested pictures of the campus. Today while going to the sports fair and getting my classes finalized I carried my camera and took pictures. This included pictures of my flat, my room, the park I walk through to get to campus (Seaton Park), the campus itself, and the fair. There are a variety. I have not edited or deleted any yet. Have fun with them. Also, the University is located in what is called Old Aberdeen. This is why you might notice a lot of old buildings and cobblestone walkways. This is not quite as common in the rest of Aberdeen. Oh by the way, today was a great day to take pictures. It is actually sunny and probably like 60 degrees out. I was told the last two days were some of the wettest in the last year and today is one of the warmer September days in a while. It is like playing a game of chess you can not win. Always have jacket, t-shirt, and umbrella with you at all times. The link to the pictures is http://www.flickr.com/photos/12609321@N03/sets/72157602083704499/
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Social Norms?
Okay, when ever you go abroad I am sure there are those little things that just strike you as different than in your home country. These last two weeks there have been a few. First let me tell you that the people of the UK are small and look really young. I am not kidding. I had a conversation with a kid from Finland today. He is 20 and looks my age, minus the facial hair. However, he totally agreed with me. I have an 18 year old from Scotland in my flat who looks like he is a freshman in high school, not college. Part of it has to do with the fact they start College a year earlier than in the US. That is, all of the freshmen are 17 or 18, instead of 18 or 19.
The second obvious difference is the way they walk and drive on the streets. First, everything is switched. I mean if it should be on the right, it is on the left. I even stood in a line today that was divided alphabetically with Z on the left and A on the right. In addition they like to keep to themselves when they walk. No one makes eye contact or smiles as they pass you. I guess they will just have to get use to me.
Registering for classes here is a nightmare. Everyone registers within a two day period. They have over hundred professors doing it all at once in three rooms. They go through 400 kids an hour. It is pure mayhem. Despite the craziness, I think I am now registered for classes. Let’s just say it has not been the highlight of the trip.
Finally, Wabash has nothing on Aberdeen when it comes to parties and drunkenness. In fact no American school can top Aberdeen (sorry IU). The two major sponsors for all of freshers' week (that is what they call it) are the university student union and liquid. Liquid is the major night club and drunk bar. Upon arrival the first thing every student gets is wrist bands that give them discount alcohol all over the city for a week. You have to understand the drinking age here is 18, but wow. The Dean even suggested in an assembly that lectures are optional if you are drinking; just make sure you attend all tutorials.
Well, that is all the abnormalities I can think of at the present time. I am sure some more will cross my path and I will be sure to give you the update. I start class on Monday and anything could happen at that point. The picture is in the words of one of my friends "Rob Giving the state of the castle address." Maybe one day I will redesign the white house to look like a castle.
The second obvious difference is the way they walk and drive on the streets. First, everything is switched. I mean if it should be on the right, it is on the left. I even stood in a line today that was divided alphabetically with Z on the left and A on the right. In addition they like to keep to themselves when they walk. No one makes eye contact or smiles as they pass you. I guess they will just have to get use to me.
Registering for classes here is a nightmare. Everyone registers within a two day period. They have over hundred professors doing it all at once in three rooms. They go through 400 kids an hour. It is pure mayhem. Despite the craziness, I think I am now registered for classes. Let’s just say it has not been the highlight of the trip.
Finally, Wabash has nothing on Aberdeen when it comes to parties and drunkenness. In fact no American school can top Aberdeen (sorry IU). The two major sponsors for all of freshers' week (that is what they call it) are the university student union and liquid. Liquid is the major night club and drunk bar. Upon arrival the first thing every student gets is wrist bands that give them discount alcohol all over the city for a week. You have to understand the drinking age here is 18, but wow. The Dean even suggested in an assembly that lectures are optional if you are drinking; just make sure you attend all tutorials.
Well, that is all the abnormalities I can think of at the present time. I am sure some more will cross my path and I will be sure to give you the update. I start class on Monday and anything could happen at that point. The picture is in the words of one of my friends "Rob Giving the state of the castle address." Maybe one day I will redesign the white house to look like a castle.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
THE UPDATE
Wow, I have so much to tell you. As you begin to look at my pictures you will see an array of beautiful things. I got the opportunity to visit the grounds of the last British and Scotland Battle. It is an amazing site that is taken very seriously. Nearly 10,000 Scots gave their life on that day. I also got to see one of the most beautiful remnants of a castle while at Lochness. The castle was extraordinary. I then arrived at my home for two days, Farr Cottage. It is a wonderful little hostel/bed and breakfast. The food and the entertainment were wonderful. It was here that I really got a chance to bond with the group from the US. The following day we hiked to some falls in the biggest mountain in Scotland. It was beautiful. I got to cross a wire bridge. It was exhausting, but well worth the hike. I forgot to mention the weather thus far has been wonderful and rather warm for Scotland (today is rainy and cold). That evening we played a game called quizzes. It was quite entertaining. It would be a 21 and older game in the states. The last day of the trip we packed up and left for a few more destinations on our way back to Aberdeen. One of those is the site where Haggard's cottage was filmed and the train for Harry Potter. I am not into it myself, but I got pictures for those of you who are interested. I arrived home only to go to sleep and try to comprehend all that had happened.
As I mentioned this trip was really the opportunity to begin to get to know the guys and girls from my trip. They are quite diverse in opinions. However, there are a few guys and a couple of girls that I had wonderful conversations with about everything from academics to what it means to live as a Christian in this world. I can tell it will be an amazing semester for us all. There was one night I had a long conversation with one of the guys about why we were here in Aberdeen. What is it that God has us here for. I thought I knew. However, we later were discussing a book I have been reading and he made the comment that he knows what it means to live as the Christian he is, but has not yet figured out how to just give all of it up and live fully for God. (despite the fact he seems to have it all very together). It dawned on me that by thinking I knew why God had called me here I had instantly limited what he was going to do with me here. Maybe I am here for my flatmates, maybe that fellow student, and maybe even more that I am yet to know about. It just makes me so excited.
Also I have finally finish Velvet Elvis. It is not a bad book, but it is certainly not my favorite. Rob Bell has a pretty good writing style, but he clearly has a universalist outlook on things and that really bothers me. The introduction is good and I absolutely loved pages 97-120. However the section titled Our Turn on page 50 all the way to page 90 or so drove me crazy. This man has such a great understanding that the church must spread its wings and learn to just love people and that as we demonstrate God's love then Christianity will happen. Unfortunately I honestly think he believes that custom and tradition only hinder and hold no value for Christians. This is scary to me. I would suggest someone read it, but please remember it is just a book, not the BOOK. Well, I will leave be for now. Remember as always if their is anything particular you want to know or you want me to write about just let me know and I will update you. Adios
As I mentioned this trip was really the opportunity to begin to get to know the guys and girls from my trip. They are quite diverse in opinions. However, there are a few guys and a couple of girls that I had wonderful conversations with about everything from academics to what it means to live as a Christian in this world. I can tell it will be an amazing semester for us all. There was one night I had a long conversation with one of the guys about why we were here in Aberdeen. What is it that God has us here for. I thought I knew. However, we later were discussing a book I have been reading and he made the comment that he knows what it means to live as the Christian he is, but has not yet figured out how to just give all of it up and live fully for God. (despite the fact he seems to have it all very together). It dawned on me that by thinking I knew why God had called me here I had instantly limited what he was going to do with me here. Maybe I am here for my flatmates, maybe that fellow student, and maybe even more that I am yet to know about. It just makes me so excited.
Also I have finally finish Velvet Elvis. It is not a bad book, but it is certainly not my favorite. Rob Bell has a pretty good writing style, but he clearly has a universalist outlook on things and that really bothers me. The introduction is good and I absolutely loved pages 97-120. However the section titled Our Turn on page 50 all the way to page 90 or so drove me crazy. This man has such a great understanding that the church must spread its wings and learn to just love people and that as we demonstrate God's love then Christianity will happen. Unfortunately I honestly think he believes that custom and tradition only hinder and hold no value for Christians. This is scary to me. I would suggest someone read it, but please remember it is just a book, not the BOOK. Well, I will leave be for now. Remember as always if their is anything particular you want to know or you want me to write about just let me know and I will update you. Adios
A Brief Update
Okay, so I made it through the Highlands and had a blast. They are unbelievably beautiful. Their truly is no accurate way to describe them. I am going to try to take some time tonight to write a few post. I have so much to tell you about the trip, the people, my new roommates (who are finally arriving), and the book I just finished. Also while I will probably post a couple of pictures every time, I will be using flickr to post most of them. I will eventually be entering into a photo contest, so if you see anything you absolutely love let me know. I don't have an eye for what is good and what isn't. Thanks for the help. The address for the pictures is http://www.flickr.com/photos/12609321@N03/sets/72157602020585390/. My personal address here for those who need it (Jared) is (top line) Robert Bloss (next line) Room 251E, (next line) HillHead Halls Hector Boece Court, (next line) Don Street, (next line) Old Aberdeen, (last line) AB24 1WU
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Pictures Finally
Hey Everyone,
Like I said, I am leaving tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to hike the highlands and won't be back until Friday night. Hopefully I will have lots to say and pictures to show. Until then the guys and gals I am with are great. I can tell I am going to have some life long friends. I am caught up on sleep and feel like I am back in my normal swing of things. I don't think I have a whole lot more to tell you at this point. If you are ever curious about a part of my trip you can always ask via comment and I will let you know. Otherwise you will only hear what I think is interesting. Have fun with the few pictures I took while in downtown Aberdeen. My university is in Old Aberdeen. I will get pictures soon it is wonderful too.
Howdy
I had a wonderful day touring the city and getting to know the group. I am getting ready to go to dinner. However, I will be back on tonight to post a few pictures. I hope I get the internet thing worked out by Friday. I leave in the morning for a three day trip, don't expect to hear from me until Friday night after my last post tomorrow. Talk later.
I Am Here
Okay,
So I am still trying to get the whole internet situation figured out, so my post are the best I can do. I am here and have gotten a great nights sleep. All of my flights and the group I am with had wonderful flights as well. I know it is going to be a wnderful experience. I am yet to meet any of the guys I will actually be living with . I am still very much looking forward to it though. Today I get to tour the city and figure out where the best places will be for me to go. I will try to start taking a few pictures today so that you all can see what I am up to. I do have access to aim and skype in my room yet can not get a browser to open up yet. Well, I have to go. continue to pray for those whose lives I will get to encounter over the next three months.
So I am still trying to get the whole internet situation figured out, so my post are the best I can do. I am here and have gotten a great nights sleep. All of my flights and the group I am with had wonderful flights as well. I know it is going to be a wnderful experience. I am yet to meet any of the guys I will actually be living with . I am still very much looking forward to it though. Today I get to tour the city and figure out where the best places will be for me to go. I will try to start taking a few pictures today so that you all can see what I am up to. I do have access to aim and skype in my room yet can not get a browser to open up yet. Well, I have to go. continue to pray for those whose lives I will get to encounter over the next three months.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Six Days and Counting
So, it is only six days away. I don't have a whole lot of new information to post at this time. I spent a wonderful day at my fraternity to say good-bye to my brothers. I also got to spend some time with the new pledge class. They seem to be amazing and I look forward to hearing how well they do. I am confident that if they really want to they can be the best on campus. I find my self stuck now in the in between stage of having nothing to do. I am a little bored, but know I can keep my self entertained. I have been looking at picture books of where I am headed. I can not wait to get there and start posting some real and wonderful pictures for everyone.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Welcome to the Start of the Journey
The reality is that my trip to Scotland does not begin when I board a plane, but rather it started over a year ago when the idea was put into my head and I began the application process. So I guess the first entry is a little late, but of well. I officially leave Sunday the 9th at around 4:00 in the afternoon. This week will be a week of focus and prayer as I get ready for what I am sure will be a life changing event. In addition I have lost a dear member of my family and will also spend this week in mourning. I can write anything on this blog. I may write my theology thoughts of the day or just what cool thing I saw. I really want it to be for whomever ends up being my audience rather than what I want. So please comment frequently on what you wish I was posting about and I will do my best to oblige. I'll add more later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)