First Day of School

Seminary classes begin today. I know all of you COGTS grads are envious! Go ahead admit it...you're feeling a little sentimental right now!

I have Community of Faith on Tuesdays and the course Women in Pentecostalism meets at 5:30 or so (I get confused with the new time schedule!). Tomorrow morning Divine Healing meets at 8:00 and interestingly it is my largest class this year! Thursday morning Historical Theology 1 meets at 8:00.

Tell you about my day when I get home!

The Blame Game

Yesterday's sorry news out of Utah:

The operator of the Crandall Canyon coal mine says no one will be going back into the tunnels where six men have been trapped since Aug. 6.

That means the bodies of the miners may never be recovered.

"I told (the Mine Safety and Health Administration) it is an evil mountain, it is alive, and I will never go back there," Robert Murray said today.

How like humans to place the blame on something else, anything or anyone else other than themselves! By saying the mountain is evil, by placing the blame on it, Murry escapes the responsibility, and the awful truth, that it is his greed that has caused the deaths of three, probably nine workers and rescuers. Under his [and the Mine Company's] orders, the mine was being mined for the last remaining coal in the pillars supporting the ceiling of the room being mined, a method called retreat mining. According to one mine safety official, "...the reason the practice is used is that it pays off: The last bit of coal taken from pillars is pure profit. Plus, if someone violates rules during pillar removal and there is a collapse, the evidence of rule violations are gone."

The mountain isn't evil. In this case, greed goeth before a fall.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction...and Scarier

The following is a press release from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary:
‘Homemaking is Noble,’ Patterson says on Fox News
By Staff
August 13, 2007

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, endorsed the College at Southwestern’s new Homemaking Concentration on Fox News’ morning program, Fox & Friends, Aug. 13.

“If a woman chooses to stay home, and she chooses to devote her full energies to her husband and to her children and to the development of her home then that is noble and not ignoble,” Patterson said.

The interview took place after recent media interest in Southwestern’s new 23-hour Homemaking Concentration in the College at Southwestern’s Bachelor of Arts in Humanities degree.

When asked if Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary believed all women should stay at home and take care of their children, Patterson responded, “We believe that every person is free, as Baptists, to do anything they want to do,” but also added, “We do believe she ought to have that opportunity.”

This interview came just before the start of a new semester as Southwestern plans to continue one of its founding purposes of training women for all aspects of ministry. In 1909, the seminary’s catalog reveals classes in domestic sciences including cooking, housekeeping, and sewing. In the fall of 2007, the almost-one-hundred-year-old-seminary will again offer these classes as part of its Homemaking Concentration—one of the seminary’s several programs in Women’s Studies. In addition to these classes, women will study classic Greek and read the classic literature of the western world.

According to the seminary’s Web site, the program “endeavors to prepare women to model the characteristics of the godly woman as outlined in Scripture.”

“The apostle Paul admonished women to “learn” (1 Tim. 2:11) because he expected women to be grounded in the Word of God,” Terri Stovall, dean for women’s programs, wrote on the Web site. “Our Lord Himself praised Mary for sitting at His feet to listen and learn (Lk. 10:42). Women in this generation need women teachers who are not only committed to the importance of studying God’s Word but who are also formally trained to do biblical exposition. Woman-to-woman teaching is the biblical method of choice (Tit. 2:3-5).”

Modeled after a similar program at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, California, Southwestern’s Homemaking Concentration provides “practical experiences for skill development for the most important job a woman may have: the nurture and care of the family.”

The Web site describes further the intentional design of the Homemaking Concentration stating that, “It is unique in that we recognize the need to challenge women both intellectually and practically. It is our mission to equip a woman to impact women and families for Christ.”

As Patterson told the Fox & Friends interviewer, “Society will do better when the home is placed in a prominent position, and I do believe that any society is endangered whenever the home is not given the importance that it has in its biblical context.”


Of course, none of this should surprise me. After all, this is the Seminary that offers an M.Div. in Women's Studies (for women only) and substitutes a "Communication of the Text" course for the required preaching course and requires courses in women's ministries in the local church, biblical models of womanhood, etc. How about Patterson's comment: “We believe that every person is free, as Baptists, to do anything they want to do..." What does that mean? Every person is free as a Baptist to do what they want? Does being a Baptist somehow alter the free will of women so that all they will really want to do is cook, sew and clean? Apparently so. And of course what is even more depressing is that once a Baptist, always a Baptist! Women will never have another choice once they cross that line! I have to stop.

Annual Faculty Retreat

I've just returned from a three days/two nights at Fall Creek Falls. The Seminary faculty gathers every year in August for a time of retreat, which normally consists of a lot of planning and assessment, from morning till night. This year we actually did some retreating! Our time together focused on vocational identity and call. This conversation was stimulated by a viewing of the film "Freedom Writers" (which I highly recommend).

It is our custom to have a time of worship which involves a celebration of the sacraments of communion and footwashing. This year, that aspect of the retreat was planned for Tuesday evening. But it was delayed by the Holy Ghost. Rickie Moore came to share with us and say good-bye, and we had a time of blessing and anointing for him. It was a very moving time for all and especially emotional for me as Rick was used by the Lord in a very direct way to call me to theological study (see my blog for a post on that) in 1983. This worship service was visited by the Holy Spirit in a powerful way and, in true Pentecostal fashion, we changed the liturgy. Communion and footwashing became our final act of worship together this morning.

Fall Creek Falls State Park is a lovely place which I had only visited once, several years ago with Corky and the girls. Jackie and Cheryl Johns and I took a very long walk to the Falls. We were disappointed in that due to drought conditions, the Falls were rather shallow, not at all like the picture, here, of the Falls in Summer. But I always enjoy being in the mountains and considered this entire retreat to be a time well spent with many of the people I'm closest to in all the world.

Adriano Moraes' Autobiography

During a very recent event in the city of São Paulo in Brazil, the Saraiva book store in Shopping Center Norte was the site of the launching of this autobiographical book, “A minha missão é montar” - História de Vida do peão de rodeio Adriano Moraes” (Riding is my mission – History of professional bull rider Adriano Moraes), not yet available in English). The event was a huge success and counted with the presence of many of his fans and journalists and representatives from more than 20 different media organizations.

Adriano, the only three-time professional World Bull riding champion from the Professional Bull Riders’ tour has dazzled the world with his ability and his faith. He paid a special visit to his home country on July 30th to launch the book published by the Canção Nova Press. Motivated by his faith and convinced that God is always by his side, he has made his life's mission in professional bullriding. Adriano knows that his riding means much more than just giving a good show to the crowd and the prizes and titles that he conquered. A convicted Christian devoted in the New Song Catholic Community, Adriano has made the art of riding into a testimony of his tireless journey to know God.

Read the full story.

No Global Warming, huh?

It's 90 degrees at ten o'clock tonight and there are tornado watches in effect for New York City.

New Friends

Chances are good that without the blogosphere I would have never had any ongoing communication with people in Australia. It is possible that I would have met someone here, or even there, but ongoing communication? Probably not! But one day I stumbled into a blog called "The Batcave". I can't remember how I found it. But the blogger, Glen O'Brien, is a Wesleyan pastor who teaches Church History at a Christian college in Australia. I commented on a post or two and lo and behold, I found out that he had been to the SPS/WTS meeting in Cleveland about eight years ago! He actually did research on the origins of the COG in Australia...at the Dixon Center! Since that first comment, I've read that article he was researching. A few weeks ago, through The Batcave I found a link to another blog belonging to another Aussie, James Garth. We've had a rather lively discussion going between James, Glen, a few others and myself about the nature of Pentecostal spirituality.

I'm really grateful for the opportunity to hear from others and of course to share my opinion!

I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you dropped in; after all, how often are you in the Australian neighborhood??

Being Marmie

For the last two days we've had the ultimate grandparent experiencee: keeping the grandson overnight! What a joy! Hope and Josh have taken the youth group to King's Island in Ohio. Emma is with them. And we have Lex (and Charlotte, the dalmatian). He slept pretty well last night, though of course I woke up with every turn he made. Just like the old days (speaking of old...I was a lot younger then).