Living in a Psalm

Well, I did it -- I preached my very first sermon since my first year in seminary. Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it. God certainly showed his goodness to me through the whole process; in fact, he used the Psalm I studied and the message I prepared to encourage me!

When I preached in class, I felt incredibly peaceful and confident - and that confidence really didn't come from my preparation (since I hadn't even really practiced the sermon aloud and actually had no idea how many minutes it would turn out to be...). I really think I sensed the peace of the Spirit. That was cool.

Here's another cool thing: I had been kind of intimidated to preach in front of all the guys in my class (since seminarians are notorious for nit-picking at sermons), but after my sermon several of the guys told me it was just what they needed to hear that morning. The main theme of my sermon was joy in the midst of lament, and one guy in particular told me that he had come to class praying that God would show him how to be joyful. Now THAT's awesome.

Whew! I'm almost done with all the work for my MDiv degree... kinda crazy...

Liturgy of Lament? Done.
Sermon on Psalm 126? In progress. NOT panicking. Really
Books and reading reports for class on Sexual Identity? Thursday.

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By the way (particularly for Ryan), I think I figured out what my mysterious factor "X" has been, although I think the equation will actually have to include X1 and X2 . For me, X1 is the thought/feeling that since I'm not going to be able to complete whatever task is before me "perfectly" (at least according to my standards), what's the use in trying? Interesting and slightly twisted, eh? I think there's still an X2 floating around out there....

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One of the hats I currently wear at TEDS is that of the president of a group for women graduate students (the group has been through many names with just as many acronyms, none of which I remotely find enjoyable). We are welcoming a guest speaker next Monday, Carolyn Custis James, and I'm really excited! Among other things, I'm intrigued by the fact that she was one of the first women students to register at Dallas Theological Seminary... Check out her short Bio.

While I was looking at one of the blogs to which Ms. James occasionally contributes, I ran across an interesting article: The Rise of Gender Fundamentalism. Frightening. But I fear that in some circles, it strikes all too close to home...

Liturgy of Lament

It's amazing to me that the fewer classes I take, the harder it is to actually get my work done for said classes. You'd think the opposite would be true, right? But no.

I have an integration paper due this Friday for my "Loss and Grief" class, the only real paper required for the class. This is the last class that really "counts" toward my degree - you'd think that would be motivation enough for me to get 'er done. But no.

I chose a topic for this paper that should really engage me: putting together a "Liturgy of Lament" for our context at Church of the Redeemer and explaining how it functions to help those experiencing grief and loss. Worship + pastoral care = me being interested. At least, so you'd think. But no! The equation needs some tweaking: worship + pastoral care - ? = me lacking motivation.

Somehow, I know I'll get it done. And then I'll move on to my sermon on Psalm 126. And then I'll write another post about how I'm unmotivated to complete THAT assignment. Ahhh... grad school fourth-year-itis strikes again.

Image from this website.

Biblical Curse Generator

How'd you like to be able to whip out these zingers at the drop of a hat?

Hear this, thou child of Jezebel, for you will have more mother-in-laws than King Solomon!

May you fall under a speeding chariot, O ye irritating inhabitant of Gath!

I hope you will be taunted by the king's concubines, thou son of thunder!

Check out this link: http://ship.saintsimeon.co.uk/curses/index.html

Enjoy!