Wait, is it WEDNESDAY already?

Crazy week, so far. We've been interviewing another candidate for our open Youth and Family Ministries position, so I've been acting as tour guide, buying dinner etc., PLUS teaching my normal classes, getting mid-term grades turned in, etc.

Lectures have gone well, although I HATE teaching the first few days after the spring time change. My students yesterday were comatose, much sleepier than normal.

In my 75 minute classes, I sometimes break about 45 minutes in to give people a chance to get up, go to the restroom, get a drink, etc. In my 9.25 class yesterday (Gospel of Matthew), I took the "get out of your seats and WAKE UP" break after about ten minutes. (They STILL were comatose.)

My 12.15 class (Biblical Theology) was much better. I was teaching about Jesus' preaching about the Kingdom of God. One of the things I said was that Jesus NEVER makes a simple offer of salvation, the offer is always for people to become part of the Kingdom of God. And what is necessary if you're part of a kingdom? You must acknowledge and submit to the King.

Which led to a good discussion of the whole Lordship salvation debate of the 1990's. Can you receive Jesus as your Savior without acknowledging and submitting to him as your Lord? I conclude that you cannot have one without the other.

As for the interviews, they've gone well. We have two good candidates. Prayer, deliberation, and phone calls dead ahead.

PS: my daughter got a ticket yesterday for running stop sign. Now: my daughter is beautiful, a gorgeous 18-year-old blonde.

Well, she tried to get out of the ticket. She batted her eyelashes at the police officer, and she cried, and he gave her the ticket anyway.

Serves her right.

Lectures, 26 February

Two 75-minute lectures today; Tuesday & Thursday are my heavy days. (I have an online class that I tend on MWF, no lecture classes.)


In my Gospel of Matthew class, we covered Mt 12.22-50 (which sets the stage for the parables in chapter 13) and then chapter 13.

It's always interesting to watch students, most of who are VERY familiar with these parables, try to read them historically. I take them through the parables once in a very surface reading, something like what they'd get in Sunday School. "The farmer represents _____? The seed represents _______? Why does some seed grow and some seed NOT?"

But then I back them off and show them how critical difference changes the meaning of a text. In Matt 12.22-50, Matthew shows us how and why (from his perspective) Israel as a group was rejecting Jesus as their Messiah. Their reasons: Jesus wasn't doing what they thought a Messiah should do! They thought the Messiah would come with force, and immediately reward the good people and punish the bad. That's what they expected when the Kingdom came.

Instead, Jesus says:

• When the kingdom comes, it comes through teaching.
  
• It comes by invitation, not by force.
  
• It comes in secret, and works secretly until BOOM suddenly it's taken over the whole place.
• It coexists with evil; you won't be able to tell who the good people are and who the bad people are, because appearances will be deceiving.

It's one of my favorite lectures every year; in fact, I give it both in Gospel of Matthew AND in Biblical Theology class.

As for my theology class; I tried to cover the high points of OT theology from Moses through Jeremiah in a single 75 minute lecture. Simply not possible.

The high points as I see them:

• The law, how do New Covenant people relate to the Old Covenant?
• Theological patterns from the Exodus; the tenderness and harshness of God;
• The conquest;
• David: 2 Sam 7.11 "Son of David," David and Bathsheba, how his sin effects his reign as king;
• Isaiah 1-39 and the military messiah; Isaiah 40 - 66 and the Suffering Servant;
  
• Jeremiah 31.31-34 and the new covenant.

I covered all of this EXCEPT Isaiah. I was running out of voice, and I knew that I would not have time to cover all of Isaiah and Jeremiah. So I jumped ahead to Jeremiah. Next lecture, I'll go back and cover Isaiah and how confused the Messianic expectations were when Jesus came. Then I'll get into the gospels.

Thursday, I only have one lecture to give (GMatt.) My Theology class will be meeting in the library, where I will show them tools for their vocational theology papers. I told them; "If you need help with your vocational theology paper, I will be available Thursday to do crisis counseling, show you what books you should begin with and how to use them, etc."