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.