Pastor’s Blog

It’s been a while since I updated, so this blog will just summarize some of what I did during the seventh week of my sabbatical.

The end of the D. Min course went well. In addition to finishing up the good content of the course, I also got to talk to Dr. John Reed and a few others about my ideas for a thesis project. It’s still too early to put anything in concrete, but they seemed intrigued by my thoughts about communicating on the visual channel. I also got to use the library a couple of afternoons to see what, if any, research has been done. It’s too early to tell for sure, but it looks like not much right on topic, but quite a bit on learning modalities and design of graphics and other related subjects.

On Saturday after the course I drove with Bethany out to Amarillo and then flew back. That went well and I got to see the home where she is living for this clinical rotation and the outside of the clinic where she is working. I refer you to her blogs for more information (at the Chronicle and on Xanga).

On Sunday, while Gail and I drove back, I asked myself ‘what are my priorities for the rest of the sabbatical?’ Conclusions: (1) run – Between back pain, travel and rain, I just haven’t gotten a lot of running in on the sabbatical so far. But this week I did 25 miles, and I hope that’s the minimum between now and the end.

(2) D. Min course project – 90% of the grade for this course is tied up in two sermons which I have to submit by August 6^th and September 6^th. Naturally I’ve chosen two sermons from the early part of my fall series in Genesis. I’ve done a draft of the first one and hope to finish it in the coming week.

(3) 3dBibleScenes. I’m working on a few pictures that fit with the sermon I’ve been writing and will also make good scenes for the commercial web site. I hope to really focus on that later in the coming week.

(4) Everything else. I’ve come to the unsurprising conclusion that I’m not going to be able to do everything I hoped on this sabbatical. Oh well. I’m still hoping (and trying) to get some relaxation and refreshment. One thing that has been good is a personal Bible study on contentment. No real conclusions yet, and (surprise) no sermon series yet, but a lot of good time spent in the word pursuing the teaching of words related to contentment, like ‘satisfied’ and antonyms like ‘covet’ and ‘fret’

My first Doctor of Ministry Course runs from Monday to Friday, July 9^th to 16^th, at Dallas Theological Seminary. I’m going to blog a paragraph or so each day.

 

First Day, Monday: I was more tense about the logistics of being in the right place at the right time than I needed to be. I drove up to Dallas Sunday afternoon and got settled in at Abbie and Tim’s in Crandall. Then on Monday I drove up to the seminary near downtown Dallas. It’s only about a half an hour drive, but I left myself an hour and a half, because I was worried about finding the seminary, getting a parking permit, finding the classroom, etc. Didn’t need it. Everything went well, logistically. Furthermore there was good internet access in the classroom (unlike Abbie’s house) so I’ll be able to post this first thing in the morning.

The class is going to be good. It’s called ‘Communication Relevance in Preaching’ and it’s taught by Dr. Donald Sunukian, who teaches at Talbot Seminary, and on the D. Min level at ten other seminaries. There are only nine students, and we sit at a round table with our laptops, taking notes and talking (and in my case, multi-tasking a little bit on some 3d Bible Scenes stuff). The quality of the students is quite exceptional. There is one Bible School prof from Russia, a musician and denominational leader from the Faroe islands, and others from all across the U.S. I’ve got seventeen years in ministry at this point, and that’s about typical for the group. This makes the discussions of preaching lively and interesting, coming as they do from people who have devoted much time and thought to what they are doing every week. It’s good stuff.

Second Day, Tuesday: We’ve been working through the process of creating a sermon from a given text. Dr. Sunukjian’s approach is very similar to what preachers such as Haddon Robinson and Ramesh Richard teach, but with a few worthwhile differences in approach and emphasis. But his ‘big thing’ is what I’ll call ‘exemplary applications’. From the very start of the message, Sunukjian will develop two or three stories, mostly fictitious, but about people very much like the people in his congregation. In these stories the people will encounter a vivid instance of the problem the text addresses in their own contemporary lives. For example, if Abraham and Sarah are called to leave from Ur and go to the promised land, then Bill and Wanda will be called to leave Houston by a job transfer and go to another state where just to be a Christian is to be a missionary. The Biblical text of what happened to Abraham has a great deal of contemporary relevance for them under that circumstance, and for others who identify with them. Sunukian will develop Bill and Wanda’s story, along with one or two others, in two or three episodes as he moves through the outline of the text, and bring his understanding of the Bible’s message to apply to these contemporary examples. It’s a powerful technique; I’ve done something similar on occasion, but being in this class, listening to Dr. Sunukjian do it has clarified it in my mind. Thoughts anyone?

Wednesday and Thursday: Sorry, didn’t get a chance to blog earlier, being busy. Wednesday evening Abbie, Tim and I went out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Napoli’s in Crandall. It’s (obviously) an Italian place, a real good one; their stuffed mushrooms with crab meat are to die for (and of).

Wednesday was the middle day of the course, and of the sermonic preparation process. I’ve decided that one of the key values of a course like this is putting terminology to things that I’ve done without knowing (or remembering) what to call it. One of the big ideas for Wednesday was that every sermon is either inductive or deductive. Do you know the difference? Dr. Sunukjian’s distinction between the two is simple and memorable. If you approach a sermon by stating up front the central idea of the text, it’s going to be a deductive sermon. If you only state the question that the text raises in our minds, and answer it by developing the text, it’s an inductive sermon. Those of you who listen to me often know that I usually use the deductive approach, but occasionally the ‘big idea’ sentence that you see in the bulletin is a question – those are weeks I’m going inductive on you.

On Thursday we began to focus on details, especially those that make oral delivery effective. The big one Dr. Sunukjian promotes is restatement (which I keep accidently calling ‘recapitulaiton’). Actually the parentheses is an example of restatement – saying the same thing in other words. If the central idea of the sermon was ‘God’s grace toward me is awesome proof of how much I am loved’, I could restate it as ‘God convincingly proves how much he loves me by the greatness of his grace’ or some such. I don’t do this as much as Dr. Sunukjian would, though some who listen to me have remarked on the way I always have two or three synonyms for key words – that’s restatement too, and it is especially effective in oral communication.

Ryan, a recent college grad, asked me for some recommendations for reading history. I told him I didn’t read general histories very much any more. For the past ten or twelve years I’ve tended to read works by historians who focus on some small set of events, putting a specific moment or place or person in historical perspective. Ryan asked me to make him a list, and this is it. Most of these books read like novels, even those that are not historical fiction – but sometimes the fiction conveys more history than the ‘fact’. You’ll notice that one of my key areas of interest is World War II history.

I’ve created this as an Amazon Listmania List (here)

Byzantium (Harper Fiction) by Stephen R. Lawhead

“Historical Fiction: Lawhead gives a compelling glimpse into the history of Europe and the Byzantine Empire.”

The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy by Penelope Wilcock

“Historical Fiction: The inner lives of medieval monks. As portrayed by Penelope Wilcox, these lives give tremendous insight into souls, suffering and even aging.”

The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester

“Simon Winchester gives a series of superb snapshots of mainland China, present and past. Don’t miss the story of the boneless pig.”

Miracle At Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May – September 1787 by Catherine Drinker Bowen

“This account of the Constitutional Convention gives some of the best insight into the lives and politics of post-colonial America I’ve ever read.”

The Fatal Shore: The epic of Australia’s founding by Robert Hughes

“Fascinating true account of the founding of Australia.”

East of the Sun the Conquest and Settlem by Benson Bobrick

“The well written, fascinating story of the colonization of Siberia by the Russians.”

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

“Fantastic account of survival in the Antarctic”

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Simon Winchester

“Simon Winchester can take the dullest thing in the world – the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary – and make it fascinating.”

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 (P.S.) by Simon Winchester

“Simon Winchester makes a fascinating mix of the geology of volcanoes with the early growth of media.”

The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein

“America, 1911. The industrial revolution unchecked. 146 dead.”

Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War by W. Bruce Lincoln

“W. Bruce Lincoln is one of the premier writers on the history of Russia. Here he writes the mostly untold story of the tumultuous civil war that followed the Russian revolution in 1917.”

The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine by Robert Conquest 

“A hard book to read, but clear documentation of Stalin’s cold blooded genocide in the Ukraine. (Russia, 1930’s – 20 million dead).”

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk

“Historical Fiction (barely): If I had to take one book beside the Bible to a desert island, this, along with the second volume, War and Remembrance, would be what I would take. Though fiction, this is the best history of World War II I have ever read.”

The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury

“You will never forget the start horror of the seige. Though the book is from before the fall of communism, the research is sound and the storytelling compelling.”

Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose

“Ambrose is one of the best contemporary World War II historians. His ‘Band of Brothers’ was made into an acclaimed PBS documentary.”

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer

“Excellent example of a great story of a small chapter in the biggest naval battle ever fought.”

Colditz: The Definitive History: The Untold Story of World War II’s Great Escapes by Henry Chancellor

“An escape glider built in the attic of a German prisoner-of-war camp! And much more.”

The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler’s Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies’ Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them by Andrew Williams

“Another example of a look at a specific topic that yields some amazing insights. Yet another place where a very small ‘if’ could have changed the whole outcome of this war.”

Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain by Len Deighton

“Spy novel writer turned history writer. This is just one of many good books he’s written.”

Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy’s Greatest Sea Disaster by Richard F. Newcomb

“Still another example of the kind of story that can be told when the focus is narrowed from the whole Pacific war to one chilling incident.”

Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

“Three generations of Chinese women: during the communist revolution, during the great leap forward, and today.”

October Sky: A Memoir by Homer Hickam

“Historical Fiction (barely): Originally called ‘The Rocket Boys’, changed after the making of the (fine) movie. The book is better. (America, 1950’s and early ’60’s)”

Another privilege of sabbatical time is that Gail and I have gotten at least one chance for a bit of a longer get-away than usual. We try every year to get three or four days away together, but it’s never been much longer than that. But recently (June 25-July 1) we got almost a week. Our friends the Casselberry’s in Bartlesville, OK were going away to camp at Pine Cove, and Caroline generously offered us the opportunity to come and stay at their house, which is gorgeous, in the country, and equipped with every amenity. So we left on a Monday afternoon, spent that evening with Abbie and Tim, and arrived at Bartlesville on Tuesday, in the rain. And rain turned out to be the dominant feature of the week. All in all we only left the house three times, once to go grocery and supplies shopping, and twice to eat a meal out. We only got to take walks twice and use the swimming pool once. Nevertheless, we had a great time resting, cooking gourmet meals and working on our stuff. Gail brought her new sewing machine and mastered embroidery and quilting. I brought my computer and did some 3dBibleScenes, preparation for my Doctor of Ministry course and miscellaneous stuff.

 

The bit of adventure came at the end of the week w8en the continuing rain, especially north of us in Kansas, resulted in significant flooding along the Caney river, which runs through Bartlesville and nearly through Caroline’s back yard. We woke up Saturday morning to rising water on both the main north-south road and the road that runs east from Caroline’s house. The Casselberrys were supposed to return home that day, and they barely made it, driving through about eight inches of water in the flooded intersection. After that it continued to rise, and the forecast was that it would come up another five feet that night. That would not threaten the house, but would thoroughly isolate it, probably for several days. Since we were supposed to leave early Monday morning, that meant we would be blocked in. We considered trying to get out Saturday night, but by the time we went down to look at the intersection, it was already too deep to traverse in the van. So we thought we were trapped.

But, a God thing, the water that was supposed to rise Saturday night didn’t. The flat spot in the chart at 15 feet river gauge is the period from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. In fact, when we got up Sunday morning, the water had gone down enough for us to easily drive the van through the intersection. So we did, around noon, and got home around 10:00 p.m., a day early. And by Monday morning the river had in fact risen about another five feet. Caroline had time to get out and get some groceries, and then was trapped for a day or two, but with no dire consequences that we know of.