Here’s a couple of the books I’ve been reading… you know, just for fun:

This book is actually way different from the title. It’s really, basically, Bible interpretation. There are several good chapters about things I learned in college and had since forgotten. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the history of hermeneutics. Did you know that hermeneutics was at the center of the reformation and that for hundreds of years before that nobody interpreted the Bible literally? Yeah me too, but I had forgotten.

Unlike I expected, this book did not tell me to bow down and worship psychology. Instead, Dr. Crabb says a lot of what I heard throughout college in the student life department, i.e. deal with the issues of the heart rather than external sins. I haven’t read many counseling books, and I’m not sure that I will, but this book was definitely convicting for some self-examination. Shhh, don’t tell anyone at TMC that this book was required for one of my classes here.

Its been a while since our last post here and we make no excuses. The last few weeks have been pretty eventful for the staff of powellblog.com. We now have four less wisdom teeth, one less job, one new school, and soon, hopefully, one less car.

First among the events of said time line was the extraction of wisdom teeth. While this wasn’t, and I expect never will be, a pleasant experience, it wasn’t that bad. Which is kind of like saying, “I got beat up the other day, but it wasn’t that bad. I’ve seen other people get beat up waaaay worse.” Not fun, but not nearly as painful as the experience was for some of my friends. For that I am very thankful. I’ve learned three main things from the ordeal: 1. When your diet consists entirely of low-carb ice cream and stout antibiotics, your stomach does not approve 2. Vicodin has just about zero effect on me, which is another reason I’m thankful the pain wasn’t unbearable 3. It’s utterly amazing how much food can get stuck in your tooth sockets as they are healing. Very gross. If you, dear reader, find yourself needing this procedure, I highly recommend Baywood Dental. While it did take a while to actually get my appointment started, I was in and out of the operation in 20 minutes. Pretty impressive.

Second on the time line is my finding out that I will soon be leaving my place of employment, Beldin Technologies. December first, which oddly enough will be my three year anniversary with the company, will be my last day working with Charlie at BT. Thankfully, because I’ve been with the company for three full years, I’ll be receiving four months salary and a new Cadillac upon my retirement. Thanks Charlie! Seriously though, these last three years working there have been BY FAR the best employment experience I’ve ever had. I’m pretty sure as far as the software industry goes I couldn’t have worked for a better boss or a better company and I’m very thankful for these last three years. I’ll be very sad to leave next Friday, but excited to see what direction the business takes over the next few years.

Which leads to point C, or III, or 3 – the new school. As you probably already figured out from my not so subtle graphic at the top of this post, that school is Dallas Theological Semiary, aka DTS. I found out this morning that I’ve been accepted to the Master of Arts in Christian Education program. I’ll be moving in January to study under some of the top professors in the country, taking classes like “Theological Education in Intercultural Contexts” and “Designing Biblical Instruction”. I’m really excited to start working through my 65 units. Indeed, I have much to be thankful for this holiday.

And finally, speaking of being thankful, the time has come for me to sell my Nova. After almost two years, and hundreds of hours of work, and more dollars than I care to admit, it is time for me to wave goodbye. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a buyer within the next month, which could be somewhat difficult. The car is basically done, with the exception of body and paint, which usually makes a car like this much harder to sell. Most people who are willing to spend money on this type of car either want it totally finished, or not yet begun. So if you happen to know anybody who wants a great deal on an awesome 66 Nova that they can paint whatever color they want, be sure to give them my email address.

One final note, I got a new CD today, actually a box set, that I highly recommend. It’s called Songs For Christmas and it’s a 5 disc set from your favorite eclectic folk singer and mine, Sufjan Stevens (see review below). I broke the cardinal rule of Christmas music by listening to it a whole day before Thanksgiving, but I did it for you. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.