GroshLink

i think one-on-one works best when it's about something else...not "i would like to meet with you just to spend time with you",  but "i have some work that has to be done here at the house, and wonder if you can come over to help..."...then conversation comes naturally...cs lewis in "four loves" says real friendship is focused on some common interest the friends are focused on outside themselves...it's not staring at each other and thinking, "let's talk, let's get to know each other"...i think that's why meeting students or whoever for lunch, or late night snack is productive in developing a relationship, and providing a context to talk about a lot of things...in teaching this math class, students make appointments to meet about problems they're working on...but in the process of working through and discussing their questions, we usually talk about many other things in their life...and one history prof in virginia said that he finds that students who need academic help usually have other areas where they're hurting...so before they leave his office, he asks if he can pray for them ...he said no one has ever said no...and one jewish student came back later in the day and said, "i have some other things i want you to pray for" -- contributed by Miller Peck, Mathematics Professor Emeritus, Westminister College

I appreciate Miller's thoughts on this topic and many others.  Previous contributions by Miller include:

A heart divided between career and minstry
Teaching with a long view

Update: Please join me in prayer on this Sunday for many to choose the TBA Alternative Game Night over the annual TBA pornographic film at CMU (note: more prep time as the date was pushed back from Easter Sunday).  Rejoice in the continued growth of a new, countercultural tradition on campus.  FYI:  Some notes from last year's coversation posted at CMU Pornography Conversation Continues and check out the article on the Harvard group which promotes abstinence

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4/22  TBA Alternative Game Night
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In response to the annual pornographic film shown on CMU campus, a collection of campus organizations (including InterVarsity, Muslim Student Association, and others) have organized an alternative game night on campus.  It is completely free!

When: 7-11pm on Sunday
Where: UC
What: Video & board games, free pizza and ice cream in Kirr Commons (black chairs in the UC) Also an interactive table to raise awareness about sex trafficking at the value of human beings in Wean Commons, UC
Who: Anyone!

Looking to catch-up with my tech support at the IVCF-CMU reunion on Saturday, came across the below piece at David Koyzis' blog 

The Role of the Christian Artist in the World (Christy Sanborn 01/02)

Note: written for the Graduate Christian Fellowship's (GCF) vocation project (VP).  Now that the GCF site has been taken down, over time I'll post the pieces for your blessing.  Thank-you to all the alum who participated in this work.  Alumni friends, I would love to have to hear your current thoughts on your vocation.  Maybe we can have that conversation at the alumni reunion on April 21.  We'll have a 9am breakfast at the Seigfrieds, a 1pm reception most probably at the Adamson Wing, and an evening opportunity yet to be confirmed.  Email me for more details.  Current GCF activities can be found at http://www.u-connectpgh.org

In both the Church and the world, the Christian artist invites the kingdom of God, his presence, to govern by praising God to the audience through song, dance, drama, etc. For the Church, the artist participates in constructing a building. For the world, she constructs a bridge.

I'm on CMU Wireless at Chris and John's in D.C., staying overnight before an IVCF team mtg at the Offners, and just came across India Attracts Universities From the U.S. which opens:

It was an unusual university entrance interview. Late one recent evening here in steamy southern India, Vijay Muddana sat in a mercilessly air-conditioned room, leaning forward in his chair and talking to the wall. There, projected on a screen via videoconferencing equipment, were administrators from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where an early morning snowstorm had caused a power failure, delaying the interviews by an hour. The Indians found it funny that even in Pittsburgh, there were power failures.

We've had some of the students from the programs described in the article part of the Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF), e.g., pic of Varun chatting with Jason at the Moore's Christmas 2005 party, at which we had a focus on Narnia. What a small world!

Note:  CMU has work in other places, e.g. Qatar is also menionted in the article.  Take a moment to pray for followers of Christ at CMU to be Christ as they have opportunity to share their life and story as the world comes to CMU and CMU goes to the world.

Here's some thoughts from Miller, inspired by A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, as to a long view of teaching . . . students can see progress just by the fact that each term they have more courses and credits on their transcript . . . a writer can see certain works completed . . . my cousin was pastor of a conservative baptist church in wyoming . . . now he does ministry on the side and does cabinet making in his shop in las vegas . . . so each day he can see visible results . . .

teaching math is a long term situation . . . presently i have the same students for two terms back to back . . . i can see gradual changes in some students . . . for that i'm thankful . . . with others i'm not sure what's happening...that takes a long obedience in the same direction . . .

As I remember my Anglican friends in Western PA, it's hard to read a title such as A Divorce the Church Should Smile Upon.  The NY Times opinion piece talks about the Anglican Communion as having already split and some anticipated implications. No new content here,

except that I anticipate further discussion of the manner in which communications technology has led to the current situation will be picked up by practical theology (if it hasn't already, its definately already in Youth Ministry training), and later church history. It's hard to have perspective on the new ways of doing church.  Although many movements/ideas have failed 'to take' despite their media hype, a number have gained significant strength through the use of the new communications technology punctuated by significant face-to-face conversations/events. In addition to the various Anglican networks, Willow Creek (Seeker Church), Saddleback (Purpose Driven Church), and the Emergent Church immediately come to mind.

In the midst of Lancaster County's Plain Country, I'm reminded of how some of the more restrictive Anabaptist sects delimit conversation in/to the wider world and there is not the ability for mass communication, mobilization, and planning which we see in the above mentioned movements.  E.g., local assemblies of Amish do not even know who their teaching elder will be on given week.  This is to avoid following particular teachers as the local assemblies are based on proximity (I guess you could call it the parish model). 

Father, As we enter a new stage of how various members of the Body of your Son Jesus Christ pursue ministry/authority, by the power of your Spirit grant us humility, love, and direction.  Grant us the grace to offer our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength wherever we find ourselves AND to love our neighbor as ourselves, even if we find them hard to love in the context of difficult conversations.  We lift all of this up to you in the name of your Son Jesus, who gave His life that your Spirit might in us call out to you as Father.  Amen. 

Conversation after conversation, speaker after speaker at CCO's Jubilee 07 encouraged me in the call to campus ministry, highlights included:

1. hearing excerpts from my Grove City College Church History mentor Andy Hoffecker's soon to be released new worldview piece
2. an extended lunch conversation with David Naugle, who referred to Hoffecker's work in his Worldview seminar, focused on 'Why be a follower of Christ in academia' and the various programs he's developed at Dallas Baptist Univeristy, check out Paideia College Society
3. picking Byron Borger's (Hearts and Minds bookstore) brain on resources for addressing 'Why be a follower of Christ in academia'
4. exploring the possibilities of partnership with Geneva's Higher Ed program
in developing material for the Emerging Scholar's Network
5. staying up way too early in the morning (posting this at 2:30am to see the Amazing Grace the soon to be released film on William Wilberforce's efforts to end slavery in Britain. Wow! More tomorrow. Time to take a rest.

Christianity Today just posted an Interview with Francis Collins which includes the opportunity for feedback on The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (thanks for the link Miller). Looking forward to joining the CMU Faculty Book Discussion Group next Tuesday as they consider Chapter 7 and encouraging their participation in Ted Davis' (Historian of Science from Messiah College) visit to Pittsburgh February 21-22. If you're in the area please join us for his presentations on ID on Trial and Protestant Modernism, the “Warfare” of Science and Religion, and the “Religion of Science"

Here's a quote from the Christianity Today Interview with Francis Collins:

If evolution and the Christian faith go together, then what's all the fuss about? One of the main reasons I wrote The Language of God was to try to put forward a comfortable synthesis of what science teaches us about the natural world and what faith teaches us about God. Yet it seems to be a pretty well kept secret these days that the scientific approach and the spiritual approach are compatible. I think we've allowed for too long extreme voices to dominate the stage in a way that has led many people to assume that's all there is. The thesis of my book is that there is no need for this battle. In fact, it's a destructive battle. And we as a society would be well served to recover that happy middle ground where people have been for most of human history.