Archive for August, 2007

Kierkegaard

Published at August 31, 2007 in Spirituality. 0 Comments

I’ve been reading some Soren Kierkegaard lately, & I must say he is a truly challenging Christian thinker. I’ll give you an example of an excellent section from Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Soren Kierkegaard. Brian McLaren also uses this quote in his book The Secret Message of Jesus. Both are excellent books that all Christians should most definitely read. Anyway, here’s the quote that should give us all something to chew on for the weekend.

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget anything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the Living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

Teen Class cont.

Published at August 28, 2007 in Spirituality. 1 Comment

Great ideas everyone! I wish I could do them all. I met with our youth minister Chad & we talked about some of “my” ideas. We decided to go with a class about the Kingdom of Heaven. Its broad enough to go for the three months its supposed to & give me some wiggling room. Its also specific enough to give me some good focus. During this class I really want to incorporate some education about various global issues. I also want to incorporate as much scripture as possible. Its easy to talk theoretical & abstract about things like this & I want to make sure that I always try to relate what we are talking about back to both scripture & the world around us. Basically, I want relevance, authenticity, & fun. I am really starting to get excited about this & I’m optimistic about the possibilities. Watch out world, they’re entrusting me with young impressionable minds for 3 months! Lord, help us all!

Teen Class

Published at August 26, 2007 in Spirituality. 9 Comments

I am about to embark on an exciting & hopefully rewarding experience. I have agreed to teach a Sunday morning class for the senior high at my church. I haven’t really done any work with teens for about 3 years, so it should be interesting. I do have the small issue of figuring out what I have to teach these teens about. I know that I don’t want to come at them with boring old topics that they have heard a million times. I also know that I don’t want to come at them with trendy hip “youth minister” banter (no offense to any actual youth ministers that may be reading this. I’m merely talking about the stereotypical YM who tries way too hard to look cool & “speak the language”). So, I guess I’d like to be somewhere in between those two extremes. I guess I’m saying that if you have any suggestions or advice, I’d be more than happy to listen. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day & I hope your upcoming week is good.

The First Day of School

Published at August 20, 2007 in School. 2 Comments

It is the first day of school here in Cabot School District. As I have been reunited with so many students after a long summer break, I am truly excited to begin another year that, no doubt, will be full of failures & successes alike. However, I am a bit upset today because one of my very favorite guys is not returning this year. He’s being moved to another school in the district because it works out time-wise for his parents.

He’s a great kid. I loved working with him because he was a competitor. He never quit on an assignment just because he hated it or he wasn’t getting it. He was by gum gonna finish that sucker! He has dyslexia so his intelligence & work ethic are not to blame for his troubles at school. He is actually quite the advanced mathematician (Last year in third grade he was able to perform on the sixth grade level). His mature intellect makes his life more difficult though. You see, unlike many of the students that I teach, he is able to fully grasp the social & emotional innuendo all around him. He is quite aware of the fact that he is every bit as smart as his peers. He is also aware that he has to go to “special ed.” & they did not. He knows he isn’t getting it, but more importantly, he knows that they know he isn’t getting it.

He was also having a particularly rough time dealing with his parents’ recent divorce. I liked the guy & I also needed some hours for my counseling practicum so I stayed after school a couple days a week to talk & listen to him. He wasn’t real keen on the idea of “counseling” at first, but we really hit it off. He loved sports & was a huge razorback fan so we always had a lot to say about that. I was one of his teachers so we talked school. Anyway, long story short, he really started opening up to me about school, family, friends, hopes, fears, everything. It was so cool to me to see that even with all the crap that life had handed him, he was truly still an optimist. There was a goodness & a purity about it. He really loved his peers. We came a long way last year, & I was really looking forward to picking up where we left off.

I’m sad that he left, but I’m determined that a good year still lies ahead for my students & me. I suppose there will always be plenty of work to be done even if it isn’t the work that I was wanting & looking forward to. 

Tagged!

Published at August 17, 2007 in Humor and Uncategorized. 3 Comments

I got tagged by Chad, so I guess I’d better do this thang. I’ll tag Kristin & Alan

First Memory: I remember drawing something at our kitchen table with my older sister. I can’t remember what I was trying to draw, but I’m sure it was terrible considering I was only like 4 or 5. I’ve never been much of an artist.

First Real Kiss: As opposed to stage kisses?! Anyway, it was Monie Kirschner in 7th grade while playing truth or dare on a feild trip. If its asking about a “romantic” kiss then I suppose it would be when I was 17. I know! Sad, right? Anyway, there’s actually a funny story with this one. I was dating a girl named Tiffany who went by the nickname “Tigger.” She was both my first “real” kiss & my first attempted “real” kiss. I went in to kiss her, but I accidently hit her forehead with the bill of my hat. I was so embarassed that I couldn’t go through with it & ran back to my car. Ouch!

First Concert: Wow! This thing is just designed to embarass a dude. Carmen’s Riot tour came to Little Rock, & I went with the youth group. Sheesh!

First Love: Jennifer Pifer, 3rd grade, Landmark Elementary

First Crush: Same as above, that girl was so friggin’ cute!

First thing you think in the morning: I’d rather not curse on my blog.

First book you remember loving: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

First pet: A dumb rabbit we got for Easter. It ran away promptly the next day.

First question you’ll ask in Heaven: Bond’s was on roids the whole time wasn’t he?

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation: Dollywood, baby!

First best friend: Its got to be a tie between Joseph Stacks & Parker Nelms

Last time you dressed up: Noah Beck’s wedding last weekend.

Last CD you bought: The Ringing Bell by Derek Webb. I highly reccomend it.

Last book you read: The Last Word & The Word After That by Brian McLaren. Its the last book in his 3 part New Kind of Christian Series. Excellent reads if you enjoy thinking about church & theology.

Last time you cried: I cry a lot. Probably, last week when I watched I am Sam at my apartment.

Last movie you saw: In theatres- A Mighty Heart (don’t bother if you’re thinking about it. Jolie does a great job acting, but the movie is bad as a whole.) At my apartment- Cocktail, a great film.

Last time you told someone you loved them: Last night.

Last really funny thing you did: I just farted. Just now. Now that’s funny! And there’s another!

Last Halloween costume: I went as a nudist last year. For some reason nobody gave me a single peice of candy. Jerks.

Last concert attended: Guster & Ray LaMontagne. It was amazing!