Machetes, lipstick, and a thrift store hat

Thus far my favorite aspect of being 'institutionalized,' if you will, has been the sheer intensity of intellectual and spiritual stimulation, sharpening, and thought-provoking conversation, insight, and yes, debate! For the first few days there were several conversations with roomates where they either exasperatedly walked away or had to calm me down....ok, i admit, i was a bit hyper, if you will, at the prospect of extended conversation on such scintillating subject matter! Well i held most of it in until class, and now my outlet for debate has come in class with Dr. Del Tackett himself. This has not been, nor is, my specific intention. It is simply a product of God's giftedness in me oozing out when someone lectures so amazingly! How can i not respond in kind, with the full force and cogently 'Focus-ed' thoughts that generate from such an experience???

Don't worry, i'm not in detention, and no one is going to send me home, Dave! It's biblical, too! We're supposed to share what we learn with our teachers, yes? In all seriousness, i've calmed down some, but there have been good outcomes outside Dr. Tackett's or my own edification, as other students have told me they have me backed up, to keep throwing things out there, and still others mention to me questions they wish to ask but feel cannot due to their inability to hold intense debate with a man who regularly defends the Faith against world-class thinkers. Guess i'm just too dumb to not know i'm not supposed to be able to hold my own with him? And besides, does the class as an entity obtain more or less when the conversation moves further beyond the predetermined path of Powerpoint slides?

Well anyway, Dr. Tackett is the man behind 'The Truth Project,' which in my opinion is one of the most revolutionary advances in sharing the gospel. Much of the material we are currently learning oscillates within this framework, and i can see concise, crystal-clear connections of most if not all the books we're reading to this curriculum. Oh yeah, and he waves a machete around during class....its great! He's emphasizing at times our need to defend the faith, and the latest instance was a visual demonstration of God equipping the state to bear the sword at times...he was lecturing out of Romans 13. The thing I love about his lectures are they are multi-faceted, diverse, and stem from the Bible, yet connect, like spokes from the hub of a wheel, to so many other arts, literary works, current events, classics, etc.

Lipstick....yeah, i may get in trouble for blogging about this :) Let's just say it takes a real man to tell an embarrassing story about himself. And my respect level for him went up, way up, when listening to the anecdote. Actually it was a testimony to his committed dedication to sharing the gospel and obeying God in speaking to a group of people...he was so focused [well i guess i made that pun again] on what he was doing that he had forgotten about....yeah, well anyway, moving on....

Strange things have occurred ever since i arrived here, all of which have been very good. It started with an in-depth discussion on the deepest religious, spiritual, ideological, philosophical, and intellectual questions in life with a dear friend and cousin of mine. We have never spoken this openly, honestly, and confrontationally before. God was more glorified in my speech than ever before. This happened the first night i was here. I have had several instances of that same 'flavor' of conversation since, as well. God is communicating extremely transparently through me right now. Probably the strangest one was when a thought came into my head that ended up being exactly what the guy i asked [out of the blue] did for a living, which opened him up to talk about it with our group. A seemingly minor thing, but it was beneficial for what God wanted to do in that time and place for him, it seems.

Well i am rambling, i wish i could communicate the entirety and intensity of everything encompassed in my experiences thus far, but i will close with some details which i find incidental but most find consequential: we are reading between 100-150 pages a night. Well, not all of us are doing that, but it's my favorite [and most jealously-guarded activity] part of things, anyway. Class is followed by an open forum for questions with Dr. Tackett [and of course, sporadic machete-waving :) ] There is hiking once a week, it seems. I have gone once and will go again at some time, i think. We went rafting today, which was quite an experience. Romans 1:20 was screaming and streaming through my head with every glimpse of God's glorious grandeur greatly displayed through His created things. My roomates and i have taken the vast majority of spots in an early-bird [no this is not a typo, i am rising extra-early here!] pre-class discipleship group with Dr. Roc Bottomly. Ironically he hails from Oklahoma. He is one of the most humble, wise, gentle men i have ever been graced with the occasion to encounter. There was also a luau held by students in which costumes were involved. Apparently i was a prominent 'hit' during the festivities due to a hat purchased at goodwill by roomates [i like to think it's my amiable and effervescent personality, but they claim it was purely and only the hat]. It was a good opportunity for everyone to become better acquainted, I suppose. I guess it's just my 'learner' and 'teacher' heart that wishes everyone would attend to their readings with equitable diligence exercised concerning social activities, but alas, if the world was full of intellectuals it would indeed be a most dreadful place. At least we can clearly identify ourselves with machetes, lipstick, and goofy straw Hawaiian hats!