Seminarians

Tonight, almost all of us hung out together at the Guest Center and had a potluck dinner. I had a tremendous conversation with one of the pastors about church growth and church planting.

Most of the time, we start classes at 8:15 a.m. with half an hour of worship. The morning session goes until 12:15, and after an hour lunch break, we have class until about 4:30 or 5:00. In the first week, everyone gave a presentation at some point in time about their spiritual journey, current ministry context, and hope for growth from the MAGL program. In addition to that, we heard several short lectures. This week, there's a continuous lecture (mostly - there are some group exercises etc.) on God's story of missions, which is an ongoing thread throughout the Scriptures. You cannot find five chapters in any book of the Bible in which you will not run into some reference of God's desire to be known and worshipped by the world.

After class, we sometimes go to the Fuller Bookstore, or just hang out at the guest center. We've also gone into town for something to eat (one restaurant has a $1.95 cheeseburger meal during Happy Hour!).

Saddleback Church

This was one of the baptisms I had longed to experience (not literally). I went to worship with Saddleback Church yesterday. Unfortunately, I missed the first part of the service. However, it was good to have been there, and I learned some good things. I'll try to report more soon.

Fuller

I have finally arrived! I flew into LAX Sunday morning, and have been taking classes last week. I will have another week of classes coming before I return home. Our cohort is absolutely fabulous, and I am thoroughly enjoying my time - though I do miss my girl, and my girls, and my baby boy. I'd write more, but there's another paper to finish before tomorrow night.

What to Do with Your Logos Box

I know, I know, you're all going to call me crazy. So, here goes nothing...

Most Logos resources you'll buy will be downloads or single CDs. However, when you buy a library, you get a box that measures two by three feet and 15 inches deep, with a single CD in it. Alright, I was stretching the truth. There are two CDs in it (one has training videos). Anyhow, here is my genius idea: hold on to the paper casket you got with the library, and put all your loose CDs into it. Now, wasn't that clever?

It took me 101 days to come up with that.

Choosing Bible Study Software

As most of my friends now, I am a firm believer in Logos bible software. Let me give a few reasons why:

1. It is by far the largest collection out there, which means you can do one search and get lots of results, not just from two or three commentaries. "It has critical mass."

2. The software is extensive, and has a substantial community backing it. There are newsgroups, training videos, and a blog, for instance. Last time I checked, I couldn't even find a product page for Zondervan's Pradis, other than a mention with a few product bundles they offered. It also offers a format that other publishers can write to, and software to write your own books. "It's around to stay."

3. Logos does a marvelous job getting you quick access to extensive search results. I especially like that you don't have to wait for the search to complete, but that it shows what it has already found as it continues searching. "It gets the job done."

4. There's great student pricing. "It's a great value."

I ought to write a few more, but my lunch break is only so long... Sorry.

Addendum: Logos would love to do a link exchange with you: you add them to your blogroll, and they put you into an April 28 post (if you tell them about it).

Do The Owl

The most amazing thing just happened. My mom was looking out the window at our patio, and there, on a patio chair, sat an OWL! I don't remember ever seeing one in the wild, and certainly didn't expect one to sit six feet from my living room window. It was pretty good size, too. Ly and the girls got to see it, too, and Ch and La were quite amazed. I can't believe the range of birds we have seen in our backyard. God's creation sure is awesome!

You're Doin' So Good

We went to the 6-month appointment for Jo today. He's 22 pounds, 8 ounces, which puts him in the 97th percentile. He's also 27 inches tall, and the doctor said that because of his size, the weight is just fine. The doc also complimented him on his head shape. The little man only cried for a few seconds when he got his vaccinations. Then again, maybe he didn't feel them that much through all the fat on his legs... . We put him into a regular rear-facing car seat Monday, since he's too big for a baby carrier. The backseat is nothing but a wall of car seats. Jo also rolled over both directions this week. Ly says, she's not sure how much he may have done it before she noticed. He likes to sleep on his side, so you never know. He hates being on his belly, though, so he's probably not too excited about his new skill. We've tried a number of solid foods as well. By and large, he's eaten quite well, though he does have his favorites.

O Yeah, Baby!

Gotta love those Bayer-guys. They lost again, letting us reclaim 5th place. Hamburg only tied, too, putting us on one level with them, too. I want that champions league ranking!

Amplified Bible for Logos

A helpful soul just pointed out on the Logos Bible Software Blog that the Amplified Bible is available for Logos after all. It's part of the NAS Electronic Bible Library package for $29.97.

Incidentally, if you feel that you just absolutely can't afford even the cheapest Logos package, this could be a very reasonably priced means to get started on Logos. Remember that you can download the Libronix software for free, and this package will then give you the NASB, Amp, ASV, and KJV, Easton's dictionary, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, NAS Topical Index and concordance, Nave's Topical Bible, and more. Don't forget, though, that if you're a student, you already get incredible discounts, and should thoroughly consider a more complete package.

Planting Time

We have decided to keep hacking away at making our garden more beautiful. Except for some tree bark to cover up the dirt, we completed the front yard today. To the very left of our three azaleas, we added a gorgeous Autumn Twist Encore azalea, completing the flower bed in front of the bedroom. In the garage bed, we added two Rose of Sharon trees, a purple "Ardens" hibiscus, and a white "Jeanne d' Arc" hibiscus. No idea how the french lady made it past my eagle eyes. A few days back, we had also planted a Hydrangea into the small square beds on each side of the path to the front door, just before the porch.

For the backyard, Rebekah had already purchased a plethora of smaller plants which she will put into pots. In addition, we procured a cute Variegated Ficus Bush. We had already purchased a Forsythia the other day to cover up the meter, and a Lilac to go under the small tree in the back corner. We will buy wasp repellant next.

Follow Me and I Will Make You...

We have been quoting the same Bible verse every night for quite a while now ("Jesus calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out - John 10:3"). It is clearly the girls' favorite. To stem the tide, we have tried to get them to remember others they haven't said much lately. Tonight, Ly tried to help La with a verse she hadn't said in quite a while.

Ly: "Follow me, and I will make you..."
La: "Happy."

Hard to argue with that.

Going Nowhere Fast in San Francisco

San Francisco has a public transport system. Obviously, the city is near the sea, which is fortunate. You can dump the bodies of those visitors who didn't make it from point A to point B.

We arrived at the airport (the nicest airport I've ever seen, and I've seen an airport or two), and took the BART into the city. You put your credit card into a machine, figure out how much you have to pay from a table on the machine, and decrease the amount via buttons from the default of $20 to the $5.35 you have to pay. You put the ticket into a machine to access the station, which spits it back out at you (hey, I'm used to handling spit-up). When you leave at your destination, the machine at the exit swallows the ticket. That part went well. It was the last part that went well for a while.

We had heard that we could buy 3-day passes on MUNI (which aren't valid on BART). Turns out, the places where they sell them are closed on Sunday. Trust me, it's not because they're all conservative Christians there. Did anyone ever tell them to sell their passes via machines? We returned to Powell station the same afternoon to buy some type of ticket to get us to the Japanese Tea Garden. Unfortunately, MUNI expects quarters there, six of them per person. Of course, you need the same to get back home. How many people do you know who run around with 24 quarters (Ly and me) in their pocket? Fortunately, they have change machines. You can change 20s and 10s. They give you 5s for them. You can also go to the BART machine, which under option H changes dollars into quarters. To change the 5s they gave you into dollars, you need to go to Starbucks and buy something, and beg them to give you 1s for change, so you hopefully end up with six dollars that you can change into 24 quarters. There was a guy in a booth, but he wouldn't help you, and didn't know much English, either. There were a few beggars that offered help...

They are not prepared for strollers, either. When you get to the turnstile, lift the stroller over it, or you won't be able to enter yourself. Later, when the N street car finally goes above ground, station names end together with the darkness around you. Good luck guessing how far you have traveled. There are no announcements. We made it to the tea garden nonetheless (years of public transport experience, hah!). As we prepared to return, we expected to pay $1.50 again. The machine at the driver's said $.50. I dropped in the first quarter, and the driver handed me a ticket. I thought that was a little cheap, so I dropped in another quarter. Then, I explained that I wanted another ticket (for Ly). I handed him a quarter, counting myself lucky to travel so cheaply. He ripped out a ticket, and barked something about more money. So I gave him a few more quarters and sat down. They don't care much for people who don't understand their system (I think the machine wasn't reset correctly, and in addition, it counted up what you paid. You're expected to understand their system, even though they don't explain anything anywhere).

The next day, I took the BART to my training site, since the MUNI was a mess. I paid credit card to keep expenses on the same bill. Ly was going to buy a 3-day pass now, but they don't expect anyone to buy such things before 9:00 a.m. Go figure. I had settled on paying cash for my vacation-part travel. I met Ly for lunch later (I walked!!!), and was going to help her on the California cable car line. The driver barked at her that she couldn't leave Jo in the stroller so she said "forget it" and walked back to the hotel. Do you want to be on a crowded cable car going up a steep San Francisco street with a 25 pound squirming infant in one arm, holding on to an empty stroller with the other? That night, I was going to take the BART home. Unfortunately, the BART won't accept the same credit card more than once a day. Why would anyone want to buy two tickets in one day?

I did lots of walking while we were in San Francisco...

It's Time to Stop the Olympic Torch Relay

Call it off. You just turned it into a pointless exercise. If I remember this correctly, the olympic torch relay was supposed to call people to the games. If you tell people where to go to see the torch, and ten-thousands come, and then you play hide-and-seek and have them standing around for hours for nothing because you chose to clandestinely change the route, you've turned it into a farce. You saved face, because there were no riots. You also erased any reason to have a relay. So, call it off.

Thank You, Leverkusen!

Well, they did us the favor of losing to Dortmund, giving us our first UEFA Cup spot ranking of the season. Keep up the good work, Bayer!

Great Time in the Bay Area

After my first sitting-on-the-runway experience, we arrived safely in San Francisco. We took a few moments to rest at the Donatello, after which we went to the Japanese Tea Garden, a very nice experience. We had warm sandwiches (roast beef and barbecue chicken) from a little pizza place. The waiter recognized the VfB logo on my coat and asked me about Krassimir Balakov.

Yesterday, Ly had a great time with Jo following a historic trail, while I was in training. We did get to meet for lunch. At night, after calling the girls, we took the street car to Hyde and Lombard, and went down Lombard steet. We walked to Ghiradelli Square, and out onto the municipal pier where we were able to have a nice view of Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate bridge at night. We had supper at Nonna Rose (prawns, quite nice!), and took the F line, a historic street car back to our hotel.

Oh, Wie Ist Das Schoen!

Wir haben gewonnen!!! La and I celebrated our glorious victory with a duet of "Ein Stern, der ueber Stuttgart steht..."Oh, yeah, baby!

Home Game against the HSV

We're playing Hamburg tomorrow. A win should put us into contention for a Champions League rank. My tip: 2-1. Gomez and Khedira are out, which hurts, but the midfield will take us there. Look for Stuttgart to finish the season 2nd.

Travel Preparations

Sunday, Ly and Jo will join me on a trip to San Francisco. I'm going for training, and they will enjoy the city. We hope to see the Japanese tea garden, a sunset at the Golden Gate, and the Olympic torch, among others. The grandparents are staying with the girls. It's their first time to not see both parents for several days. However, at least Ch seems to be ready for anything if there's a "surprise" coming at the end.

The Perfect Time to Begin

It is 12:29 a.m. Sounds like the perfect time to start my blog. This time is quickly developing into one of the times I'm guaranteed to be up.