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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12609321@N03/sets/72157602142983516/

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/

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 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