Thursday, September 07, 2006

[LIF] Cough, cough, etc....

I hate colds! I've had a tickle for a few days now and last night it ruined my sleep. I woke up with a great radio announcer voice. How I feel seems to be on a rotating basis of good to that of being juxtaposed with the ethereal realm. Could be worse, but still I hate getting sick.

My first class, Grace and Christian Existence, started up today. It is going to be awesome! We are exploring the idea of grace from Augustine to Gutierrez. And we have an opportunity to explore one area on our own in depth. The prof is Ken Melchin, I've had him before and he is an excellent teacher. I hear he's quite a jazz guitarist as well, but we've only chatted about guitar so far (over coffee, not in class).

I also bumped into Prof. John Gibaut in the halls, it was nice to see him again. I am hoping to corner him and talk about some possible research projects at the grad level. he has been very encouraging in the past.

I'm likely switching my Monday AM class for an intro to Eastern Orthodox theology. It will be a lighter class but expose me to some thinkers I wouldn't normally go looking for. I still haven't done this yet, I've had my head buried in a book called the Hallelujah Revolution. Freaky thing that book, I had breakfast yesterday with my good friend Rudy Pohl. Rudy has been leading a congregation in our city through the adoption process into the Vineyard. He's a great guy actually. So I drop off my mother-in-law and decide to hit this mall that has a cast-off bookstore (me and cheap books, mmmmmmmmmmm cheap books). In there I picked up "The Hallelujah Revolution" by Ian Cotton and another Penguin classic "Early Church Lives". So at the coffee shop I straddle a stool, take a slug of java and thumb through my new purchases. Well I almost fell off my stool when I read a quote from Rudy Pohl! Right underneath is a quote from Don Kantel (his son Tim reads this blog so I hope he'll catch this). Freaky to say the least. The book is a somewhat cynical look at the rise of the evangelical/charismatic movement, the cover says it is often funny but it is a little too close to home to be funny. But I do love his perspective, I just wish he'd stop with some of the sweeping generalizations about evangelicals and charismatics. And some of how he situates these movements sociologically and historically is like reading a list of words swirling down a sink drain (I wonder if they read backwards in Australia?).

Saturday we need to hand a Ned Flanders "Gone Baptizing" sign on our door. Cause that is what we are off to do. I still need to finish the Eucharistic portion of the liturgy, but the rest is in place. It should be awesome. Potluck after and I, with my cold, get to stand in an outdoor pool pushing people under in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit! Sweeeeeet!

6 comments:

Tim Kantel said...

That's so crazy that you found a book with Rudy and Dad (especially) quoted.

I have a vague memory of him being asked to contribute to a book years ago but I don't know if it was this one. I'll need to ask him about it by e-mail.

One of Freedom said...

The book is not really that favourably written, quite sarcastic actually. He does make some good points. The book was written in 93 IIRC, it is way upstairs.

Tim Kantel said...

I asked Dad about the book and he e-mailed this to me today.

"The book reference sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't remember anything specific about it. Early dementia, I expect."

Thought that would give you a laugh.

One of Freedom said...

That's funny. I'll post a review of the book when I'm done. I've been eating it up, but had to put it aside for me class readings.

Tim Kantel said...

Hey Frank,

I'm quoting you in my talk tomorrow morning. I'm talking on Faith and some of what you said in our discussion of my parent's e-mail really fit well.

One of Freedom said...

Sweet! I wish I could be there. I am recovering with no voice. But God did give me strenght to make it through the whole baptismal service. It was soooooo awesome. Everything just fell into place including my message which I wrote like three times (I wanted it 5 minutes or less). God is good man, God is good! Let me know how your talk goes.