Life is good!

     Greetings in the name of Jesus the Lord of all!  The title pretty much sums up my life right now.  Sunday I led liturgy at church and then taught Bible study on Romans 8.  What an amazing chapter of the New Testament!!  I explained it this way: I call John 3:16 the Gospel in a nutshell, very simple, easy to remember, but is the Gospel purely through.  Romans 8 is the Gospel cracking that nutshell open and examining every beautiful crumb of the Gospel.  Paul so elegantly lays out everything you could really want to know about the Gospel in this chapter.  It is comforting, reassuring, hopeful, and quite frankly inspiring.  If you haven't read it in a while I suggest you go read it again and let the Word of God fill your soul with the joy of salvation.  

     Then I left straight from church to go to work on the farm.  I worked with the farmer's son to burn a bunch of brush piles.  It was a fun day, but between the sun, the heat of the fire, and all the smoke it definitely wore me out.  My legs under my jeans were black from all the ash, soot, and smoke.  We almost had an emergency of the fire jumping our break and heading straight for the woods, but luckily I saw it as soon as it started and we got it put out.  We had to get that done first though so we can start spreading fertilizer and lime this next week.  I am finding myself so torn because I want to be on campus doing fun stuff with the guys but there is so much to get done at the farm and I love doing that too.  I guess that is a good problem to have.  These next two weeks are going to be busy.  Thursday I preach in chapel so I have to make sure I am ready to do that and then next week is Holy Week already.  

      I am enjoying one of my two classes.  My pastoral leadership class is looking at eight different areas of leadership such as spiritual, relational, etc.  We read a book a week in that class but they are practical books.  My other class is a drag and every one in it dreads going to it.  The sad part is it is Isaiah and the prophets, an area of the Bible I am not very good with and would like to be better.  However, they have four sections of the class that do about 3/4 of the classes plenary style all together with only one teacher teaching.  The other 1/4 is when we break out with our actual sectional leaders.  I got a really good sectional leader, but the guy who is leading the plenary sessions is painfully monotone and extremely boring.  Even the other professors don't pay attention and actually one of them doesn't even come to the plenary sessions.  I guess it is just one of those classes you have to get through.  

      I will post my sermon on here after Thursday but again it will also be on ITunes U.  I am preaching the same sermon in church on the following Sunday.  I hope you have all had a good devotional life as we journey through Lent and prepare for Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  And again, seriously read Romans 8.  Blessings in Christ Jesus.  Amen.  

Catch Up!

     Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus!  I apologize that it has been almost a month since I have last posted on here, but a busy month it has been indeed.  My final quarter of my seminary career has officially began.  I finished last quarter still pretty strong for having six classes and zero motivation.  I only had one test, but had quite a few big papers to finish up finals week which was already three weeks ago.  Then in order to relax and unwind I headed over to Nate's for a fun weekend with him, Kari, and the boys.  It was so good to see the nephews again and it always amazes me how quickly they are growing up right under my eyes.  Then I came back to campus to pack up for my big road trip.
      Tuesday, (February 24th) my friend Buck and I took off from St. Louis and headed towards Phoenix.  We took two days to get there and stayed in Amarillo which oddly enough is exactly half way.  We arrived to Phoenix on the 25th after two 11 hour days in the car.  Buck's sister and her two boys live in Phoenix so we were able to stay with them and have free housing while we were there.  It was fun to meet his family and wrestle with his nephews as well.  We were in Phoenix for a three day church conference titled Best Practices in Ministry.  It was an absolutely amazing conference.  I highly recommend it to any church worker and I do hope to go back every year they have it.  The conference is free, they feed you three meals plus unlimited snacks all day long, and there are such a wide variety of topics that are being presented.  This is the fourth year they have done it.  The first year they had barely over 200, this year they had over 1500.  It was so encouraging to see that many church workers and dedicated Christians all in one place.  It was also good to catch up with family and friends.  I had several cousins there, saw some friends from college who are Lutheran teachers, saw guys who have graduated from the seminary the past few years, and was able to network and met a lot of new people as well. I also got to met one of my cousins and his wife who live there in Phoenix, and see my uncle too. I love spending time with family, especially when you do not get to see them that often. The whole three days were really encouraging and uplifting.
     Then after Phoenix we made a 13 hour drive to San Antonio.  Everyone complains about the drive across west Texas, but it was not what I had imagined at all.  I thought it was awesome country, but then again I love staring at what most people call "nothing to look at".  The vast emptiness of the desert to me is not emptiness but full of its own unique beauty.  Also, it was funny because Phoenix to San Antonio is almost exactly the same distance in miles as Adair to San Antonio, but it took us three less hours because the speed limit across west Texas is 85 is some places and 80 in all the rest.  It was fun to feel like you were flying down the road.  We made it to San Antonio where we stayed with my aunt and uncle who live there and got to see another cousin who also lives there.  They put us up for two nights and I enjoyed catching up with them again as well.  Buck and I took one day to go do the Alamo, River Walk, and Mexican Market.  He had never seen any of it, so even though I had been there several times, I took him down and around all the touristy stuff.
      Then we drove over to New Orleans for two nights.  What a fun city.... to visit!  I don't think I would ever want to live there, but it was definitely fun to see once.  We stayed in the French Quarter so we could do Bourbon Street and Jackson Square and all of that without driving.  We did do a driving tour to see the Garden District and some other parts of the city, but it was nice just being able to walk to restaurants and tourist shops.  I had a beignet and a Po boy as well as some cajun, jumbalaya, and crawfish.  The food is definitely worth visiting for there!  I have a friend from college who lives down there, so we met up with him. He was telling me that truly even after almost a year of being there, he is still just amazed by the crazy things you just randomly see.  That city has a culture all of its own.
     Then we drove over to Mobile, Alabama, for no other reason than to drive through Mississippi and Alabama.  I have now been to 33 states in my life.  It is my goal to be in all 50 states and Mississippi and Alabama were not on my list yet.  However, the way we went worked out perfect because we missed all the bad weather farther north as we drove up to Tennessee.  The roads went down to one of the two lanes on the interstates, but that one lane was clear and dry.  We made it to Lynchburg and as soon as we pulled off the main roads into the hotel parking lot, it was one giant sheet of ice.  The Lord was good to us with clean clear roads.  We stayed there for the night and the next morning hit up the Jack Daniels distillery.  We couldn't take the entire tour because it is an outdoor walking tour and the sidewalks were too icy.  However, we did get to see the grounds and still do the tasting samples.  We also got to see the town that is only there because of Jack Daniels, and we ate lunch at an awesome little BBQ joint.
     Then we headed for Nashville which was our last stop before coming home.  Nashville was not as exciting as I had hoped it was going to be, but after ten days on the road, seeing several different cities I think we were just tired.  I definitely want to go back some time and do it again when it is a trip by itself, and I plan to go back for the full tour at Jack anyway.  We made it safely home to St. Louis on Saturday (March 7th).  I went to field work church and hung out with friends on Sunday and just like that break was over.  We did cover 11 states and 4225 miles in 12 days though on our adventure.  I let Buck drive about 200 and I drove the other 4000 miles and was ready to keep driving.  I love road trips and love to drive.  I do want to give a huge shout of praise to God for being with us, keeping us and my car safe, and blessing us with so many memories though. He is good!!!
     Now as I said, my final quarter has begun.  However, I only have two classes this quarter.  Monday, I worked, went to my one class, went to the driving range, worked out, and worked supper and that was my day.  Then yesterday I went to my one class in the morning and then worked at the farm for 7 hours.  Today I worked at the farm for 6 hours and then went golfing.  I almost forget I am even a student any more.  The farmer I am working for is the coolest old guy.  He pays me at the end of each day and gives me a hug as he hands me the check.  I think he has been extremely impressed and truly grateful for the amount of work I have been able to do in two days.  Yesterday, I planted 125 trees, helped move machinery around, oiled a disk, and stacked bales.  Today, I finished stacking bales, cleaned up two sheds, moved a bunch of heavy equipment, oiled two more disks, and cleaned up a bunch of brush piles.  It is just so good for me to be working outside again.  The farm is about 45 minutes from campus, so it is a drive but it is worth it.  Plus, the extra money will come in handy as I will soon be paying back loans.
     I am on the golf team as well and we get free range balls any day of the week on top of playing two days.  I hit the range Monday, but today was my first round of golf for the year.  I played a lot better than I thought I would and even had a tee shot land a foot from the hole on one of the par three's.  Softball starts tomorrow, so with golf and softball and working on the farm, it is definitely a good thing I only have two classes.
     I had an interview on Monday with a church from Minnesota.  The church is in Hermantown (right outside of Duluth).  It is only 25 years old, but is growing like crazy.  They have a pre-school with the church as well.  This was my first and most likely only interview for team ministry, but I loved it.  The pastor and the people he brought with him were fun and easy to talk to.  I think I presented myself well, and they seemed pleased with me as an option.  One of the questions they asked was if I could field dress a white tail deer and I said, "ABSOLUTELY!"  They also at one point started arguing over which one of the two church's softball teams I would be on.  It got me really excited thinking about call day, but I have to hold myself back again to keep from getting anxious.  I know God will put me where He needs me, but I am ready to find out where that will be.
     Well I have taken up enough of your time, but that pretty much covers the last month.  I have three sermons due in the next month so I will be posting those for you as well.  Blessings to you all as we continue through Lent and prepare ourselves for Easter!  God be with you!