GroshLink

You might remember my June 6 post The Other Indiana Jones Movie.  This morning Peter T. Chattaway's Indiana Jones and the Deadly Blather: Notes on the devolution of a franchise establishes itself as the must read article on Indy's Devolution. Here's the conclusion which hits the mark (Note:  If you're a fan, I'd encourage you to take the time to read the whole piece):

For fans like myself, it is impossible not to feel disappointment at the note on which the franchise has now concluded. A number of critics have suggested that there is no real difference between the aliens of Crystal Skull and the religious artifacts of the earlier films; they're all just mystical MacGuffins, and equally silly, or so these critics say. But no matter how pulpy the earlier films were, they at least turned our attention to matters of the spirit and stoked a sense of awe. Crystal Skull has nothing that compares to this; indeed, the characters even perform autopsies on the "gods" of the past. It's safe to say this is one Saturday matinee that won't be getting much play in Sunday school.

Your prayers and the prayers of many others were heard Friday night as God spoke through me as a little Christ in one of the most humbling experiences of my life. In some ways I still don't have the words to describe The Last Lecture taken a step further except to say that the Spirit opened some powerful reflections as 30 or so students from around the world wanted more discussion and more time to explore the meaning of life and death.

Our second class began with a conversation regarding how the world/our culture understands Who is the Christ? and slowly moved in the direction of how we, as the people of God address the question of Who is the Christ?  Below are some notes which I took on the responses given by those in attendence and then quotes from SoulSearching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Stephen Nichols' Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ (InterVarsity Press, 2008) with which I wrapped up the class.  Next week begins a two session exploration of The Character, Person, and Story of God as a Proper Lens for Christmas, setting up a class focused on The Nativity Story.  As for the whole class schedule click here.

As many of you know, I've been in the process of upgrading Practicing a Christ-Centered Christmas. Below you'll find the class schedule for this fall's adult elective at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ. I'll create links for materials, including various reference articles, as they become available.  Note:  the class syllabus is available in PDF and material on week 2 can be found here.

In addition to the prayer requests given in Join our family in prayer, include Elizabethtown College. 

Background:  This morning at Conewago Coffee,* a first year student at Elizabethtown College asked if she could briefly chat with myself and a friend.  Why?  Because she had overheard part of our conversation regarding The Last Lecture taken a step further and realized that fellow believers were in room. 

A Harvard alum, who now teaches Mathematics recently shared this story with me (and some other followers of Christ) regarding his first weeks at Harvard.  Join me in praying for first year students to find their identity in Christ and not seek to overcome brick walls by their own strength.  Pray for me as I speak on Friday for an InterVarsity outreach at the University of Penn which will debrief Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.

This evening I returned from Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ's weekly Praise and Prayer with much on my soul.  In particular, a yearning for God's grace to rest upon His people in Orissa, India.  If you have not already done such, I encourage you to let this article guide a time of prayer for you this evening/tomorrow morning:  24 Sep 2008 - Leader from BIC Church in India reports on violence in Orissa

Last week when meeting with some students who are in the process of restarting a fellowship group at Penn State Harrisburg, I once again shared how each opportunity for campus ministry although with similitaries in the context of higher education is unique for a variety of reasons (e.g., type of campus, majors of those involved, diversity of campus, size of and phase of development of the ministry).  Along these lines, here's a preface to an email in which a faculty friend in Western PA gave testimony to how God connected him to and enables him to minister to students across the world:

because of the "manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit", there is no one way to do campus ministry ... everyday new doors open, new challenges, new requests, new battles ... and the awareness of being on God's side, and working alongside him, and seeing him arrange situations we could never have planned ... sometimes i think back to a chain of events that God worked out, and i can't believe we have a God capable of doing this for me when He has millions of others to care for ...

Amen!  And may God bless his work and the work of many other faculty as they follow Christ on campus today.

This Friday, I'm presenting on The Last Lecture taken a step further as part of an International Student Discussion Forum at Penn, sponsored by InterVarsity's International Student Ministry and Graduate Student Fellowship.  Below's the abstract.  As you may remember, I've shared some thoughts in various places including most recently at:

http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2008/08/randy-pausch-the-last-lecture/

If you have a few minutes and some well constructed thoughts, I'd love to have some wider input on the topic.  Note:  I've been asked not only to speak for 30-45 minutes, but also to create a handout for 30 minutes of discussion by small groups with young academics spanning a wide range of religious and ethnic backgrounds (so good discussion questions are also welcome).

Randy Pausch, who recently died, inspired many in his “Last Lecture”, given at Carnegie Mellon U. He overcame brick walls to reach his childhood dreams. But do we have possibilities in life even beyond our own dreams? Our speaker, who knew Randy, will challenge us to consider dreams for our souls even when we face brick walls.

Thank-you.  Your prayers and input (by post, email, or in person) are greatly appreciated.