Sharpe's little blog

Well, I didn’t give any Christmas posts this year. For one, I’ve been really busy. I just got back from a whirlwind trip to New York City with my brother, his wife, and her sister. It was a lot of fun. We got to see alot ot the city, especially considering that we were only there for a little over 24 hours.

One thing that we saw got my thoughts going more than I’d expected. When driving towards the Lincoln Tunnel from the NJ Turnpike, we saw a large billboard. Across the top were four words: Character, Identity, Family, Tradition. Under that was a rather non-descipt picture of a Middle-East city, and the web address for Why Islam. I pointed it out to my brother, remarking smugly that I don’t know that most Muslims would like that billboard. Greg pointed out that it was odd that the people who commissioned the billboard chose these four words, instead of the Five Pillars of Islam.

It reminded me of something else that I had seen recently. During the election, TV in Florida was flooded with political ads. Thankfully those ads are now gone. But they’ve been replaced by ads that are even more confusing. One in particular features a man and his family stuck in traffic. He is getting very angry that no one is letting him in, and begins bemoaning the state of the world. His little daughter then delightfully proclaims, “hey, this lady’s letting you in!” The commercial then closes with the daughter making another exclimation, this time because her father has let another car go infront of them. “Just this one, ” he says with a smile to his daughter. The announcer then tells us that life would be better if we followed this simple example. They hammer this home with the name of their organization: The Foundation for a Better Life.

When I first saw the ad, I could have sworn it would be either from some local non-denom mega-church or the LDS. But the FBL is not affiliated with any particular faith. According to their website, they just want to promote virtuous living. If everyone lives like this, the world would be a better place. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

But take another look at the above link. They have no less than 52 different vitues that they are trying to promote on this site. FIFTY TWO!

Another thing I noticed in NY was a new book by Steven Covey called The 8th Habit. The guy that wrote the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People has now come up with yet another habit for us to add to our lexicon of effectiveness.

All this just leaves me feeling really tired. Who can do this crap? Who actually lives up to this, or even really wants to try? I mean, if you’re looking for resolutions, you’ll find more than enough in all of these websites. If you want rest, I hope you know where to go…

I read the Da Vinci code over the weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to read some fiction, so I was looking forward to it. After all, it spent weeks at the tops of the chart; there had to be a reason. Remember all the controversy and hubub over the book a year ago?

Well, it turns out that Dan needed all that controversy, cuz his book ain’t all that good. First off, it reads like a script from 24. Not only does everything happen in one day, but you only get about 3 minutes worth of information about one scene before Brown inserts a pithy suspense! moment and jumps to another scene. This back-and-forth method is used throughtout the novel. It works fine for an hour-long TV show, where you expect to have your attention constantly grabbed at. When I read a book, I know I’m making a time investment. The author should weave an intoxicating world, not play the tease.

The other annoying thing is that, like a bad movie script, Brown telecasts every plot turn. You know how, in a movie, you’ll see a prop or hear a comment that seems extraneous in one scene, then three scenes later it becomes significant? That’s called foreshadowing. Steinbeck used it alot it his novels. JJ Abrams and Brown use it alot, too. Both Abrams and Brown use foreshadowing to make viewers/readers pay attention to details. The problem is, again, books aren’t TV shows. You use these elements in a TV show and you build continuity acoss a season. You use it in a book and, pretty soon, the reader catches on to what you’re doing and will figure out the rest of the plot on pg 180 of 450. Yeah.

Now I’m reading Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Murray’s Revival and Revivalism, Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small, and How Biblical Languages Work. So much for fiction!

For those who haven’t taken me up on checking out Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church, you really ought to check out some of the audio from the Reformission Conference that was held a few months ago. Mark’s talk on errors in Emerging Evangelicalism and the book of Genesis is an exellent introduction to his preaching style. I love it. I don’t always agree with the extent of some of his points, but I don’t agree with everything from anybody!

John Piper’s material from the conference is great, too. But you knew that before even hearing it!

cliky clicky for audio love

Well, exams are over and the blog is working again. So, I have to type something. Not that I really have anything to say right now…

I just signed up for Advanced Hebrew. At RTS, we have 2 options for learning Hebrew. The advanced track gives you a very good handle on the Hebrew language. Given the Hebrew OT and a lexicon (for the vocabulary that you don’t know), you can do a good job of exegeting the text. The basic track teaches you how to use tools for doing biblical exegesis. Translation: you learn how to use Bibleworks effectively. Um, yeah.

On a functional level, I definitely understand why RTS does this. Let’s face it, most people in ministry don’t read the original languages. If they do, they’re reading a Pauline epistle because they’re doing yet another sermon series through Romans or Galatians (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Most people don’t read Hebrew. It’s just a fact. The result is, after 3 years out in the field, graduates only retain about 20% of the languages that they learned in seminary. Not much of a return-on-investment, if you ask me. So it makes sense to find ways to equip the students to be able to do effective exegesis but not have to practice parsing Hebrew for the rest of their days.

But I’ve found that I really like looking at the original languages. I don’t know that I’m necessarily all that good at it, mind you. For some reason, I just love looking at a scrambled page and reassembling it, noticing the nuances of truth in every verse. Little things that we skip over having to do with tense and voice take on whole colors in the original languages.

So, that’s why I’m taking the advanced course. I’ll probably be lucky to pull Bs, but that’s ok. I want to gain the discipline from learning it as well. Of course, I can always use more prayer as I head into the new wonderful world of Hebrew…

Like I said, I have been writing lately. It’s just that writing hasn’t been in this blog. I’m coming back. Finals end on Wednesday…

But all my writing hasn’t been for classes. I’ve also been writing a few new hymn tunes. There are definitley more creases in my little paperback Spurgeon hymnal than there used to be.

One hymn that I’ve been looking at alot lately is this little thing by Watts. Everytime I read it, I’m blown away by Watt’s honesty in these simple lines. The problem is that it’s really long. I’ve already combined verses, so that you sing 2 verses before repeating the melody, but there’s still too many. Any suggestions on which ones to give the ax?

Why is my heart so far from thee, My God, my chief delight?
Why are my thoughts no more by day With thee, no more by night?

[Why should my foolish passions rove? Where can such sweetness be
As I have tasted in thy love, As I have found in thee?]

When my forgetful soul renews The savor of thy grace,
My heart presumes I cannot lose The relish all my days.

But ere one fleeting hour is passed, The flatt’ring world employs
Some sensual bait to seize my taste, And to pollute my joys.

[Trifles of nature or of art, With fair, deceitful charms,
Intrude into my thoughtless heart, And thrust me from thy arms.]

Then I repent, and vex my soul That I should leave thee so:
Where will those wild affections roll That let a Savior go?

[Sin's promised joys are turned to pain, And I am drowned in grief;
But my dear Lord returns again, He flies to my relief.

Seizing my soul with sweet surprise, He draws with loving bands
Divine compassion in his eyes, And pardon in his hands.]

[Wretch that I am, to wander thus In chase of false delight!
Let me be fastened to thy cross, Rather than lose thy sight.]

[Make haste, my days, to reach the goal, And bring my heart to rest
On the dear center of my soul, My God, my Savior's breast.]

By the way, it is such a sweet assurance of peace to know that the father of english hymnody wrote something this true to my own experience.

Well, I’ve been writing lately, just not stuff for this blog. The semester is coming to a close here at RTS, and I’ve got a bunch of writing to finish up and tests to take. So give me two weeks, then I’ll be back to…semi-regular…updates

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