Asbury theological blog?
If you're anything like me, the word Blog is probably a fairly new addition to your vocabulary. Apperantly, it means something like Biographical Log or is short for web-log, I dunno. The point is, it is basically an online journal. I'd been doing this sort of thing ever since I graduated from high school and we got our first Windows 95 PC, I just never knew it had a specific name.
I was finally enlightened by Jeana Clark, a friend and fellow student at Asbury Seminary. She's the boss-editor for our on-campus magazine, The Witness, which I do cartoons for. She also has recently been the brains behind the launch of the new website AsburyBlog.net, in which we as an institution link to individual students, so that the community at large can share in the happenings of its people, whether that be at the Wilmore, Orlando, or Virtual campuses (or beyond w/ alum).
So when you get a chance, go over and check it out:
That being said, here's what's been going on in my life the past few weeks…
We had our first day of classes on Tuesday, September 2nd, as well as opening convocation. That was pretty cool. There are alot of new students on campus, and most of them seem to want to become very involved in community life. I got to lead a TAG Group this semester, which is short for Transition And Guidance, as most of you already know. That was really neat. Even more recently, just this past Wednesday, we had Student Body Council elections for the incoming class. I was glad to see that many students showed up not only to run for office, but to make their votes count.
Everything has been going great as far as classes go, save for the CL510 class in which the professor Coleman Howlett was a no-show. Apperantly, he thought he could get out of teaching the class this semester since only 4 students were registered. But, there is a logic-flaw in that reasoning, since it takes a faculty signature to get into the class in the first place. So, yesterday morning at 8:00am, the rest of us were waiting for him to sign our registration sheets. I said "Well, tell him to get the doughnuts and orange juice ready, cuz we're bringing the class to him!" Anyways, it was just a misunderstanding, and the class will still be taught.
In one of my other classes, the professor posed the question, "What is the singlemost largest challenge facing the United Methodist Church today?" We were given 10 minutes to discuss the issue, after which I raised my hand and said, "Our group felt that the greatest problem today is that most choir members cannot actually read sheet music."
I really like my Intro to Old Testament and Intro to New Testament classes. Dr. Ben Witherington III, my teacher for NT is one of the world's foremost experts on Biblical-related archeology, and was one of several people consulted during the verification of the Burial Box of James. I hadn't realized the far-reaching implications of this.
Last week, he mentioned in class that many people in Israel, who fear anti-Semitism as a result of the validation of this find, are really pushing for it to be dubbed a fake, or hoax. Likewise, the Roman Catholic Church's stance on the view of Mary could be at stake, especially if bone fragmentations in the burial box match the DNA of the blood on the Shroud of Turin. This would shatter the Catholic claim that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin for her entire lifetime, because it would show that Jesus did indeed have a blood-related brother, and by implication, other brothers and sisters.
So yeah, that's some pretty interesting and exciting stuff. Other than that, things have just been pretty hectic with all the new student orientation stuff, as well as Student Body Council starting up again along with my new position as SBC Communications + Publicity Director. I've also started my new job in the Information Technology department here at the seminary. I'm now one of the webmasters for AsburySeminary.edu. Also, I'm going to be a regular contributor over at AsburyBlog.net so check that out as well. I guess that's all to share for now, check back later for more exciting (depending on your definition) news!