Many may not know, but I’m a HUGE fan of professional tennis. I mean HUGE. My biggest dream came true this weekend when I got to hang out with my favorite pro, rising ATP star Adam Davidson. I got to watch his match, then my friend Chris and I got to take him out for dinner and jazz. Fun times were had by all.

The past several weeks have been cold here in Dallas. But let me tell you about some stuff that you couldn’t have learned from weather.com. Last week I got to visit Watermark Community Church with my friend Chris, and it was definitely different from any other church I’ve visited - but in a good way. They meet at a high school, which to me as a Californian meant that the church must be of moderate size. Incorrect. Like everything else in Texas, the high schools, and their respective auditoriums, are much larger than normal. This church has a membership of somewhere around 3,500 and they fit everyone into two Sunday morning services. It was very young (probably 70% of the people under 35) but there was a very strong emphasis on involvement in small groups and using your gifts to serve the body. Over all a great church, and it’s probably where I’d go if I lived in downtown Dallas.

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.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here in Texas for two weeks now, the time has flown by. The first week was mostly getting things moved in and setup and this last week has been really busy with school, church, and “inclimate” weather.

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.