The Student’s Desk

Last semester was yet another intensive time, in more ways than one. Although I was only doing 1½ subjects, which left people with a confused look when I told them. I guess it was like telling them I boarded the train from platform 9¾. The 2 subjects I was doing were Romans (in Greek) and Intermediate Greek. Intermediate Greek taught us how to use our editions of the Greek New Testament, and, well, basically to remind us of everything we learned last year and had since forgotten. As well as looking at how the Greek works after having been reminded of the basics. But the only assessment required was turning up.

This allowed much more time and effort to be given to Romans. Now, if you’ve ever studied Romans as part of a Church Bible study group, or simply read through it, you know something of the juggernaut that the letter is. So imagine studying it from the original language it was written in – Greek. Are you starting to feel the intensity? I sure did! We were given a choice of questions for the main assessment, and I picked the place of [Old Testament] law in the life of a Christian being answered from Romans 7. I picked this question because the issue was brought to my attention last year, and I wanted to be much more clued up to form my position. So for me, this wasn’t simply an academic exercise in ticking a box. I worked very hard at understanding not just the issues in Romans, but the issues more broadly. By the time I had done all my research, my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton-wool, and I really struggled to write the essay. But, I managed to squeeze it out, and my essay was well received. Unfortunately, I’m reluctant to share it around. The essay looks like it was written by someone who swallowed a Greek New Testament, along with a few Greek dictionaries – and I’m not sure that I didn’t! I’d have to write a much more pastoral work before I distribute any of my conclusions.

Occasionally, I’m reminded by friends what a privilege it is to study God’s word at Bible College. Such reminders seem to come when I’m stressed, or recovering from being stressed. So I tend to respond with a silent grumble. But I can honestly say, even at the heights of the stress, it was an absolute privilege. I rarely give unqualified statements, but anyone who says studying Greek is a waste of time is WRONG! I really thank God for my stubbornness in not heeding the advice not to do Greek, and the determination to keep going with it. I was able to draw our so much more from Romans. I don’t want to discourage people from reading their English translations. Everything you need for salvation is made clear in English. There is no secret knowledge to be had in reading Greek. But being able to read Greek helps me understand even more what I’ve come to know from the English translations.

Enjoying a rare puff of wind sailing on Jervis Bay

It wasn’t only studies that made the semester intense, but physical activity as well. I was invited to go sailing for the beginning of May at Jervis Bay. I jumped at the chance, but quickly thought, “I know what an afternoon of sailing does to me. What’s a whole weekend of sailing going to do to me???” So I was quickly back on my bike in the weeks leading up to the trip to get my fitness back up. This was just as well! There wasn’t much wind the whole weekend, so lots of peddling was done (remembering these boats can be sailed, peddled, or paddled). While returning to camping on the Saturday I was treated by a pod of dolphins, porpoising right next to my boat. I hadn’t seen wild dolphins before. I could have just about reached out and touched them. It was and amazing experience. Happily I got through the weekend without any sign of exhaustion.

The services at the Spastic Centre are continuing. Though it’s becoming increasingly evident that this is an aged ministry, and not just a disabled ministry. Often we have had to pray for members who are quite sick, or dying. Even still, glimpses of extraordinary faith can be seen at these times, and these are such a powerful testimony to the grace and work of God in their life. I attended the funeral of one such man. Although Paul was not a full-time resident of Venee Burges house, he was there when recovering from operations, and was determined not to miss out on a church service – even in his last week. His funeral was none I had experience before. It was more a time of celebration than one of mourning. Paul was confined to a wheelchair, and had no speech, and very little use of his body. Yet, this man was able to have such an impact on people’s lives for the gospel, and had a great influence on his church, simply because he exercised his faith, and refused to let his disability to get in the way of anything! This was a great encouragement to me to keep persevering, and to see my disability as an opportunity, not as an obstacle, to minister. Unfortunately, many have considered my disability as the latter, much to my discouragement. So hearing of Paul’s life and faith was a great blessing. It is also a reminder what a privilege it is to be able to teach the Bible in this place, that people may hear and respond to the grace of God.

I was also given the opportunity to speak on college mission. This time at Forster. I was to speak at a youth discipleship group, and to give my testimony (that is, how and why I became a Christian) at a men’s breakfast. I don’t pretend for a second that I’m easy to listen to. Even still, both talks were well received. Especially at the men’s breakfast where my message had a big impact as I found out later.

The worst part about mission was not being able to go sailing. Anyone who’s been to Forster knows the water is a clear, light blue colour. I considered it a great injustice to be forced to drive past the water each day, beckoning me to sail it when I couldn’t. It left me exclaiming, “I WANT MY BOAT!!!” Which of course really isn’t my boat. I did get out on the water thanks to Jason Summers, which was an interesting experience doing a precarious balancing act with 3 other grown men in a tiny dingy. But it was fun!

Well, looking at the college timetable to choose my subjects these days is like arriving late for a party only to pick at the scraps of food left over. That can only mean I’m getting closer to the end of course. Next semester I’ll be studying more Greek looking at the letters of Hebrews and 1 & 2 Corinthians – a man can never have too much Greek! But when I’ll actually finish is still uncertain. Somehow, I’m still intent on studying Hebrew! It also means my anxiety is increasing concerning future ministry. I keep praying for opportunity, and I have such an opportunity at present. So I am also praying that this will lead to other opportunities. I ask you would do the same.

I am very glad to get to the end of another year, and for once my final exams could not come quick enough. And I truly am amazed and what I’ve managed to cram into my head! I just hope it all doesn’t fall back out over summer. I’ll need it for next year.

This past semester I studied Homiletics (or preaching), and the second half of the Greek course. Greek was particularly challenging as the pace was really ramped up. It seemed we had to learn three times as much material compared to the first semester. Most of it was variants of what we had already learned (supposedly!). At least I had my study methods worked out, and I was able to get to work on it straight away.

Homiletics was a very interesting and exciting subject to study. Though I must admit, I was expecting a semester of being told how to suck eggs! I thought, “I know how to preach. I’ve been preaching for years!” About the third week into the semester I realised, I didn’t have a clue when it came to preaching! I had always struggled to make my talks relevant to the people listening. But the method we learned of witting a talk helped me a great deal to make my talks relevant, and I put it into practice straight away with my talks at the Allambie Heights Spastic Centre. Part of the assessment involved preaching three sermons. I was very interested to see where this would end up given my communication difficulties. Nonetheless, my sermons were very well received, encouraging comments were made, and my results were much better then expected.

Another important discovery was mind mapping software. This allows me to jot down ideas and link them to other ideas. This way I can quickly put all my thoughts down on a given subject and the write the essay or talk once all my thoughts are clearly laid out. I have found it very helpful for writing talks, and should be even more helpful in writing lengthy essays.

Life Beyond the Theology Books

Church services at the Allambie Heights Spastic Centre are still going on strong. Some people have left, others have come, and I still get around 10 people coming along. We have continued looking at the miracles of Jesus, and I, personally, have been enthralled by the biblical presentation of Jesus in contrast to the popular sensationalist ideas that tend to float about our modern society. Jesus just did not fit in to his own time and culture, and was really quite controversial. The reason for this was he was bringing in the Kingdom of God with values that were very different to the culture of his day, and even our culture. I hope some of my excitement has rubbed off on the people there as we’ve talked about the miracles of Jesus.

One thing I am growing more aware of is I’m not only ministering to people with disabilities, I’m also ministering to people who are aging. So it is sad to see people who I once communicated with fluently, now struggling to hear or comprehend anything that is said. Still, it’s always encouraging to see the come along. We recently had our Christmas service, which was again enjoyed by all who came. I also am very grateful to those who help me put the service together. The job seems to get bigger each year, and having the right people on the day makes a big difference.

Well, now that I’ve done 1 year of Greek, what else does one do other than another year of Greek? Seriously! Next year I’ll be doing Intermediate Greek which looks at how the language is actually used, along with canonical issues (that is, why we have the books in the Bible that we have); and Romans which will be looking at what the book is all about, except I’ll be doing it, you guest it, in Greek! I’ve already been introduced to one of the debates that goes on which has left me confused, so I should be in for a fun year! So to prevent all my Greek from falling out of my head before then, I’ve decided to start translation Romans over the Christmas break.

The really good part is I’m getting closer to the end of my degree. From what I can work out, I’ve only got a few years to go, which in my time frame isn’t that long. That’s if I study the Hebrew language as well, which I’m still very keen to do.

There is still no clear direction on what I’ll be doing after my studies, so now is the time to start thinking seriously about this, and praying for opportunities so I can get the right training now when it’s available.

This past semester was quite different from the scholarly grind I’m used to of having to form and present arguments. Instead, I found myself back in a universe where I was either wrong or right, and having to reflect on my own experience rather than what someone else said. It was also a busy semester as I took on some big challenges, and excelled in my objectives.

This semester included two subjects: New Testament Greek and Leadership. It was an odd combination, but I was glad to do a lighter subject along side of Greek.

Greek is a funny sort of a subject. It’s impossible when you don’t know what you’re doing, and a snap when you do. For the first 10 weeks I considered Greek the hardest course of study I had taken on. Particularly when I scraped through one exam with 51%! Then I conceded there are no shortcuts to leaning Greek, and put myself on a daily routine of paradigms (that’s like a times-table for language), translation and vocab. The real stroke of genius (even if I do say so myself) was making my own vocab cards that I could view on my mobile phone. This allowed me to learn my vocab on the train without the fear of hundreds of bits of cardboard ending up on the carriage floor! My Greek improved greatly, and I found the going easy, if monotonous. The rewards are worth the effort. I was recently told the difference between reading the New Testament in English and reading the New Testament in Greek is like the difference between watching TV in black and white and watching TV in colour. Knowing Greek provides so much more depth to the text. So any time I’m in the New Testament, I find myself looking up the Greek. It’s something I’ve really come to enjoy. Though throughout the course I felt sorry for the lecturer. Before he could teach Greek, he had to teach us degree students English! Such is our education system that failed to teach us grammar. Still, I’ve yet to find out how much Greek can a Greek geek speak if a Greek geek only speaks Greek. (Sorry. Just a little vent I came up during the semester to relieve frustration!)

Leadership was the first stage of me becoming officially “Presbyterianised” as I learned about the inner workings of the denomination. I guess it had to happen some time. This also included learning and developing leadership skills generally. For this I organised a seminar on Disability, the Bible, and the Church at my church in Gosford. This was the first time I had organiusd something like this on such a large scale. It was an invaluable experience giving me insight into the demands of leadership, and the type of person and leader I am. Happily, the seminar went off without a hitch. It was well received by those who attended, and enjoyed by those who contributed. Of course, I am extremely thankful to those who contributed and helped out in smaller ways.

Life beyond the theology books…

Church services at the Allambie Heights Spastic Centre are heading in to their 8^th year (I think – just where has the time gone?). God is continuing to bless this ministry with consistant numbers which is so encouraging. Also, plenty of people from my church have come forward to assist with the work. This year we finished our series on Daniel, which didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. We are presently working through the miracles of Jesus which is a very interesting study for anyone to do. I certainly have been challenged and corrected in how I think about Jesus as I prepare the talks (with the Greek text in hand of course!), and I certainly hope and pray the discussions leave a similar impression on the people there.

I was also involved in a disability camp as the speaker. This involved using technology which is always a challenge on the day, and talking to a puppet! Never in my theological training did I think I’d be talking to a puppet! Still, this just typified the whole semester – different! What I was encouraged by was the discussions after each talk. For the first time I set discussion questions for the different room groups, and wandered around to each group to hear good, meaty discussions taking place. This worked better than I had hoped.

From the crazy files…

I thought by the time I got to my mid-30s, I’d stop doing so many crazy things. But no. They’re continuing on. Last summer I learned to sail. Perhaps that doesn’t sound all that crazy, but bearing in mind I have cerebral palsy along with the fact I can’t swim, it doesn’t exactly put sailing within the realm of sensibility!

A mate has become really involved in kayaks that can be paddled as normal, peddled with your feet, or sailed. He through me in one of his kayaks to see how I’d coped. I loved it, and it wasn’t too long before I was out-sailing him! The picture on the left is from a trip down to Lion Island in Broken Bay (click on either for a larger image. But, it hasn’t always been plain sailing. (How else can you say it?). There has been some misadventures in some shocking weather conditions. But that’s all part of the fun! The only time I’ve ended up in the water was intentional. That was to see if I could get back in unassisted. What a fun afternoon that was – not! Gladly, I was able to climb back on board! And of course, I always have a life jacket on when on the water.

I am really thankful for these opportunities. This boat really has opened up a part of God’s creation that was closed off to me. There’s also video footage from the same trip.

It’s still uncertain of how long I have still to go in my course. It really depends on how much I want to do and whether I tackle Hebrew as well. At this stage, I dare say I will be studying Hebrew. As difficult as Greek has been, the rewards have been well worth it. I imagine the same will be true for Hebrew.

Getting nearer to the end of my course has not yielded a closer vision of what I’ll be doing after my studies. This is a source of frustration. However, there are many questions I want to pursue and write on as a result of my studies. One way or the other, I will have something to do.