the big day is coming!

A Match Made Under Heaven, July 5 2008, San Antonio, TX
Tonight, Allison and I sat down beside the Riverwalk. The stars had emerged to watch us from beneath the evening clouds after a calm summer shower. Allison, in the dark, only saw their usual twinkling performance. The stars, however, were winking at me knowingly. “I am so thankful God has brought us together. I think we would serve well together for His kingdom. I don’t want to imagine a future where that is not so.” Then I knelt. Taking her hand, I kissed it. “I love you.” With a gaze and a smile, Allison echoed the sentiment. It was our first exchange of these words. Reaching into my pocket, I retrieved for her the star I had chosen for her. “Allison Haley Bryant, will you marry me?”

Can you believe I'm getting married!? Thank you all for your perseverance in prayer for me all these years. God in the wisdom of His timing and love is wonderfully answering your prayers, far beyond what I ever imagined to think and ask for. Please pray for the planning and provisions for our wedding and future life together. If you’d like a wedding invitation, please let me know, especially if you’re out of town. The wedding will be in Norman, OK on Saturday, Nov 29. Stay tuned for further details!

Allison and I both recently
graduated with Master’s degrees

culture shock: a new jersey farewell

On my way back to Philly from a Check-IT-Out conference in Hudson Valley, NY on Sunday, Jim Moore and I stopped at a full-service gas station to fill our rental vehicle up. I was confused, since I had thought we had planned to come down I-95, and I had planned to rendezvous with a friend on the north side of Philly. Jim had made alternate plans, but we hadn't discussed it. So I asked Jim to ask our attendant where we were on the map, just to make sure we were as far south as he thought we were. The attendant shook his head saying, "Ah, Jeez. Look, go down the road to exit 3 and ask someone there where you are in the map."

Quite a different response from what I've been accustomed to in Texas and Oklahoma. If you're lost you ask people at gas-stations. That's just common sense. And people who do full service are typically very friendly and helpful, tip-worthy service. I later discovered that NJ enforces full-service pumps by law. So, I guess the guy's just "doing his job."

PS3 and gospel economy

Jayson and I were strolling passed the local Target after our dinner at Thai Bangkok Orchid on Thursday, when we noticed a gang of guys playing video games outside the front entrance.
"What are they doing?" Jayson asked. I walked over to the first set of guys bundled in coats.
"Are these your systems or Target's?" The guy said the systems were theirs. You could see his breath.
"Do you guys typically hang out here playing video games here at night or weekends?" I asked in amazement.
"We always camp out for the latest console."
"Which one is coming out?"
"The PS3."

A handful of souls, playing video games all night outside Target so they can be the first ones in the doors hoping not to miss out on the limited supply. Now those are devout worshippers! They probably wonder what strange world I live in that I hadn't heard the gospel of the coming kingdom of PS3. Would they have any interest in a new world that can't possibly run out of supply? That economic strategy is bound to disappoint any supply-and-demand based worldview of value.

I am loved

Every so often my friend, Phil asks, "So when are you coming? It's time for you to visit us again." The last time I visited was last year right after Katrina hit. I watched his family mobilize others in the church to house huricane refugees. I was due for another visit.

Phil helped me carry my bags and clothes into the guest room. When we opened the door, it appeared that several items were still on the bed. My initial thought was, "Oh, is this not where I'm staying?" Phil asked his wife Amy. She explained that she had not yet taken the time to cleanup the room after their son's birthday party. I thought it was funny that she had not cleared off the bed in expectation of my coming. I told her it made me feel like I was part of their family that she didn't feel anxious about making everything look all perfect just for me. Sometimes you know you're loved when you don't receive special treatment. I'd much rather people feel they can be "at home" around me than running a hotel in their home.

I am sad.

During Ed Welch’s lectures in Dallas this past weekend, I just heard for the first time that one of my favorite professors Al Groves is in the latter stages of melanoma cancer. I’m not sure how I missed the news. Even when our new professor Adrian Smith prayed with boldness for Al’s health during our Convocation ceremony, I guess I just wanted to believe it was a special prayer for Al’s chronic fatigue.

Dr. Welch spoke of Al most gloriously during his lectures on Suffering. How everyone who visits him goes to encourage and to bless, and leaves surprisingly encouraged and blessed by Christ in him.

My brief conversations and times with Prof Groves seem especially heightened in significance for me. I had the honor providing transportation for him after one of his lecture visits in Dallas. We talked about Sailhamer and movies like Magnolia. I think it was Al who introduced me to Magnolia, which continues to be a redemptive treasure full of treasures.

I’ve been bragging ever since about his Deutoronomic history class. Definitely one of my favorite OT courses. If the Lord ever calls me to be a professor some day, I would cite Al as a chief influence and role model. I am ever thankful that His love for the Lord and intimate knowledge of the Scriptures has overflowed the banks of Philly and spilled down to us in Dallas, as annointing oil trickles down from the head and onto a man’s beard.

studying for biblical counseling final exam

Since I'll be devoting the next week or so preparing (coram deo) for my Theology and Secular Psychology final exam, I thought I'd leave you with a couple more papers I submitted to that class this semester: An eye opening movie with some pizza food for thought. Behold and bon appetite.

Next on Seinfeld: Mailmen are closet mailbox critics

Our mailman knocked on our door today since he had a package for me. I answered the door to receive the package and the mailman paid a compliment to our new mailbox:

"I like your new mailbox. It is much nicer looking than that old one."

"Yeah, it's a little smaller than the other one. I hope that works."

"Well, you don't receive a lot of mail. But there are heavy mail days and the smaller boxes just can't handle it."

"I went for the cheapest box." Pointing to the old box on the ground next to some bird droppings and a broken egg, I continued, "The birds were making a nest out of that one. I just wanted to get one that could close its lid." (Not to mention had the same bolt configuration. I didn't want to drill new holes in the wall to accomodate a different shaped box.)

"I suppose you get what you pay for. Next time when this one wears out, you should consider getting the longer box, instead of the deeper box model."

So, that's how it ended. He began with a compliment and ended with a critique of our new mailbox! He must have a lot to say about mailboxes. I bet that mailman walks around the neighborhood evaluating homes by their mailboxes: "Egads. Get a new mailbox, bud." or "Now this is a man who knows his mailbox." or "Hey, Fred, on the Bradford route, what did you think of the Johnsons' mailbox? Don't ya just wanna stand on their porch all day, taking mail out and putting mail in. Smooth, huh?"

Dallas worships the Stars

Last night, I went out with a handful of guys to see the Dallas Stars play hockey at the American Airlines Center. I'm not big on huge, loud pro sports events (OU college football is a completely different matter), but I thought it would be good to go out with the guys who work or study at the International Linguistics Center. I discovered it was "Christian" night at the hockey game which, as far as I could tell, means they have a Christian band play during intermissions and several church groups come. (I wonder if they consider that evangelistic outreach?)

A few phenomena ('fanomena', henceforth) struck me as a bit peculiar. One is that they'd have such a thing as "Christian" night for an event where the crowd gets most excited over the fights. Secondly, I saw several 30+/40+ men wearing Stars jerseys with some player's name and number on the back. Wearing a sports jersey as a symbol of allegiance is one thing; having a favorite player on the back just seems more appropriate for adolescents or teenagers who are clearly younger than those whom they admire. Furthermore, wearing an individual player's name seems to communicate intra-fan competition: "My favorite player is better than yours!" Thirdly, during the national anthem, the crowd liturgically shouts "Stars" whenever the word occurs in the lyrics. Now, I for one will admit that ever since becoming a Christian, I have struggled with how to sing the national anthem from the heart, because it so resembles the corporate sentiment of a worship/hymn. Perhaps for that precise reason, I found the sports cheer intrusions to be distasteful, a breaking of national corporate sanctity, for the sake of a local entertainment event. I wonder if such a thing could only occur in a culture that has so watered down church worship, that even lesser 'holy' realms of life are sacrificed to the alters of our local entertainment deities.

That said, I did have fun with the guys and the game was suspenseful, though no one lost their teeth or got a black eye. The Dallas Stars won over the Chicago Blackhawks in sudden death overtime, 3-2, winning the spoils of free Taco Bueno tacos for all the fans. Yeah, Stars! :)

V-day : the aftermath

Do couples have an exclusive right to Valentines Day? I think not. Romantic interests aside (but certainly not forgotten), upon my heart was to send something to a few of my friends, I've known over the years. In the past, Valentines Day to me, has been a time to remember friends that for one reason or another I feel obligated to send some token of love to. Sometimes to seek reconcilliation and forgiveness; sometimes to say, "Hey, I still remember you, sorry for not keeping in better touch."

This past Valentine's Day, I remembered my mother, who had sent me a card the previous week. In the morning on my way to work, I called my trusted friend Bill, 200 miles away, to see if he had time to get something for her for me. No sooner had my request left my mouth, Bill was out the door to do the good work. That's how he is, yet it never ceases to surprise me how quick, almost spontaneous his love is. My love for my mother was the goal, and yet I felt unexpectedly blessed by my friend's quick willingness to help out. That's just one instance in which v-day "backfired" on me, throwing love back into my face, even before my mom could thank me for the "three beautiful roses."

There were other such instances, a poem given here, a box of chocolates there, a number of e-cards here and there. Anxieties in the aftermath over how people would respond to these gestures. But, by the end of the week, all that has returned to me has left me surprisingly loved.