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.

As far as school, I’m continuing to learn a lot. Not really much else going on to speak of, because the workload is quite a bit more than I anticipated. I’m enjoying it, but I’m extremely thankful that I’m not working right now while I adjust. I thought I was going to ease into things by taking a “light load” of 11 units. Along with all the lectures, notes and papers, my four classes require 4,250 pages of reading. So basically, that’s what I’ve been up to. Thankfully I’m taking a rapid reading class which is supposed to double my speed and increase my comprehension. So with the time savings it will be as if I only have 2,125 pages. Much less intimidating. I think I’m going to try to start making a weekly log of book reviews as I finish them so that I have a record of what I’ve read, and you all at home can get a glimpse of how my time is being spent. Here goes.

Introducing Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-first Century

This was the first textbook for my Christian Ed coursework, and it was basically an overview of all the different areas and topics that are classified under the umbrella of Christian Education, from philosophies and methods of education, to small groups and singles ministry. Very informative and it moved pretty quickly because each chapter is written by a different author who specializes in a different area. The only thing that bummed me out about this one was that I stayed up until the early morn hours to finish it for the due date on the syllabus, only to have the prof say the next morning in class, “You don’t have to report any of your reading until the end of the semester. The deadlines are just a guideline to help you schedule your reading out, but as long as you get it all done it doesn’t matter when you do it.” Thanks.

The Grace Awakening

This was the first book I had to read for a class called “Spiritual Life”, which is basically an intro on how to live out your faith on a daily basis, or in syllabus speak, “To understand Biblical, theological and pastoral dimensions of the doctrines, dynamics and disciplines of the spiritual life in preparation for a life of godliness and ministry.” Anyway, here’s the gist of the book: Chuck Swindoll hates legalism. So does the Apostle Paul. So does Jesus. Me too. The first half of this book makes the case that salvation and sanctification come by grace, and yet there are many people in the church who give way to legalism, sometimes without realizing it, and often without confronting it. The second half of the book goes into practical ways to live out grace in your life and in your ministry. Good stuff.

Due to said weather, Grace Bible Church was cancelled for my first Sunday here so I decided to visit FellowshipChurch.com, which happens to be both second largest church in the country and about five minutes from my house. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Here’s a brief play-by-play:

• Follow the long line of cars into the gargantuan parking lot, directed along the way by several friendly parking attendants.
• Enter complex through the children’s department, which rivals the set decoration and graphics of any amusement park I’ve ever been to.
• Walk up to the large information booth in the foyer, and get greeted by the singles’ pastor. When asked for a church doctrinal statement, singles’ pastor replies, “We don’t really have that, are you single? Here, take the singles pamphlet.”
• Enter into the main auditorium, complete with theater seating, rocking band, night club light show, and video setup akin to a Hollywood set.
• Listen while the worship team plays 3 songs, very skillfully, while the congregation quietly listens and grooves along.
• Watch the incredibly professional and efficient set change between the music and the message.
• Listen to a 15 minute sermonette by pastor Ed Young, as he talks about the current theme of “Larger Than Life” complete with video interview of Hulk Hogan, and how said theme relates to a fast that the church is doing. And by fast I mean vegetarian diet.
• Listen to pastor’s wife for 10 minutes talk about the challenges of doing the diet while preparing meals for the family.
• Leave the auditorium to a really cool acoustic version of a Switchfoot song.
• Get handed a list of approved foods for the “fast” as I walk out the door.
• Try to to laugh as I think about the irony of a list of approved foods for a fast.
• Browse really well decorated bookstore, containing approx. 3,572 copies of Ed Young books and sermon CDs.
• Walk out to the parking lot in sadness as I think about the current state of the church in America.

This was quite the contrast to my first week week at DTS, which was both very educational and spiritual enriching. I took the advice of Pastor Bob and sat in the front row of all my classes, and I was well rewarded. Sitting under the wisdom of Howard Hendricks has been amazing, and I’m already really excited about my education classes and how applicable they’ll be.

Also of note this week, I bought a new vehicle to get around in the inclimate weather and to learn the inner workings of the Land Rover. That way, when I’m stranded on the side of the road some day in India or Africa, I’ll be able to make the repairs needed to get home with a roll of duct tape and a paper clip. Hopefully this time next week I’ll be able to post some pictures of it along side my sweet ‘72 Datsun 510.

I plan to post something significant about my last times in Santa Clarita, the going away party, my new place, life in Dallas, and seminary. But that is for a later time. This will be the official road trip recap. We quickly learned that the governor on our Penske was set at 90mph. We learned this from reading the manual. I promise. To end the suspense, the rooster made it to the beautiful city of Ludlow, California. It was there that he breathed his last, however as you can see in the picture his legs were still firmly attached to the roof when we arrived in Grapevine. The strange part is, about 15 minutes before he left us, we herd a very loud, very distinctive rooster clucking sound coming from above us. Apparently he didn’t approve of the harsh hand that life dealt him.

In this next picture, you can see the ridiculous price we paid for gas in Needles, CA. You know how sometimes if you have a big car the pump shuts off before your tank is full because you hit a certain dollar amount? Well that happened here - only it didn’t shut off until $100. And we didn’t get our full tank. However, I was VERY happy to pay the exorbitant price. Why you ask? Good question. To finish Jeff’s first leg of driving, we ran out of gas in the no man’s land before Needles. This is the hard part to believe - we coasted over 8 miles to the gas station. Go ahead and read that again. Yes, 8 miles. It was crazy, and we have video to prove it. It was mostly down hill, but at one incline we got down to 2mph and almost stopped, but by God’s grace and some creative body momentum, we made it to the next downhill and onto the home of the $3.29 gas.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful - we stopped for dinner and Starbucks in Flagstaff, then drove through the snow all night in New Mexico, then had breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Amarillo before heading down deep in the heart of Texas. That last leg of the trip was pretty fun, we shouted country music lyrics as we drove through the small towns of north Texas, and I had my first encounter with the Texas State Troopers. Which is not the same as the Texas Rangers, and they don’t like it when you call them “Walker”. I got off with a warning though, and honestly I was surprised I even got pulled over because I was only doing about 4 mph over the speed limit. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.

The last few days have been pretty crazy getting everything unpacked and the house set up. Our new place is sweet, I’ll post some pictures for everyone (and by everyone I mostly mean mom) to ogle this weekend. Monday night I got to go out to dinner with all the Zellers and my friend Chris Pryor, then last night I had dinner with the Ochoas. I’m already so thankful for the friends the Lord has provided me here. It was really tough moving to Alabama without knowing anybody, and I’m glad I don’t have to go through that whole ordeal again.

A little car news - my Nova is officially sold as of Monday night. I got a price I’m happy with, but I’m really going to miss working on that car. Good times. But now on to new things. Speaking of new things, I went and looked at this car today. I think it may be mine sometime next week. I’ll keep you posted. I’d better get to bed, my first day of school activity is tomorrow. It’s test day. From 9 to 3:30. Should be fun.

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.