Well, I'm home for Christmas. My finals went very well and my trip home was fine. I will be getting my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow and will probably be working for two weeks at AOP starting next week. Merry Christmas everyone!

I forgot to say this. My class schedule is set for next semester. Here are my classes:

Algebra & Trigonometry for Physics
Theology of the Bible II
Latin II
Rhetoric
Western Literature I
History of the United States II

It's 18 credits, which is one more than I did this semester but I think I can handle it. It sure will be different without Biology and R&W. Much better without R&W. ;)

My last class of the semester ended yesterday afternoon. I am glad to be moving on, but have really enjoyed learning what I learned this semester. All my papers are turned in, quizzes are taken, and most of the proficiency tests are over. They all went pretty well. Next hurdle: FINALS. So I'll be studying all today and Monday, focusing on History, Latin, and Logic.

Even with all the papers and quizzes, Daniel was able to shoot two final (for this season) episodes of Hitman over the last week. They resolve the story, to some extent, and are the best episodes so far. I think so at least. The fifth episode includes a great fight scene between the Hitman (Daniel) and Red Fox (Me). Last night and this morning Daniel is finishing up editing episode six, so it can be premiered at the cast party tonight. We have about 40 people involved in the show (mostly actors) and will be celebrating tonight by watching all six episodes and some outtakes as well. Anyway, Hitman has been a good outlet for our creative side and a needed break from studying.

Now I'm looking forward to finishing my last final on Friday afternoon and going to see Return of the King Friday night. And one week from today I'll be getting on a plane bound for Phoenix! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's 28 degrees outside and supposed to snow in the next couple of days. Brrrrrr!

Yes, I am back and have been all week. I just haven't taken the time to post anything. My Thanksgiving break was great. I spent most of my time playing video games with Daniel, watching TV, and hanging out with Daniel's family. We went to a steakhouse for our big meal on Thursday and I had ravioli, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. I also took my first taste of wine - three sips - and it wasn't that appealing to me. It tasted like grape juice mixed with rubbing alcohol, I guess because that's sort of what it is. Anyway, dinner was good, except for the service at the restaurant. The poor waiter couldn't get the orders right and took forever to bring some of the meals. Oh well.

On Saturday, we took a train into New York City and walked around for a couple of hours. We walked down 34th Street, up Broadway, through Times Square, to Rockefeller Center. The tree was big, but the lights weren't on. The sidewalks were extremely crowded, so we had an interesting time getting through. Oh, we also went into the Toys R Us at Times Square which is three stories high and has an indoor ferris wheel! We had very good pizza as well. The weather was cold, but not unbearable.

I've been working on papers and getting through the second-to-last week of regular classes. Tuesday was my Theology presentation and my topic was the atonement. I tackled the controversial debate over the extent of the atonement and I think it went very well. Now my next hurdles are my Logic paper on Locke and my Research and Writing paper on Internet piracy.

My fingers are now more comfortable typing on a Dvorak keyboard layout than a QWERTY. It has slowed me down temporarily, but I'm confident that it will improve my speed in the long run.

Well, I better get to studying. I'm reading Alvin Plantinga this morning for Logic class. It should be interesting.

I'm leaving for New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving with Daniel's family. So I won't be able to respond to any e-mails until next week.

Thank you God for this break and for all you do for me.

I finally have pictures from the Fairfax campaign, so here they are:

Jeremiah driving his trusty Subaru that worked very hard for us all weekend

Me in the car

Jeremiah

Me

Leeann and Christy with our campaign signs early morning on election day

A blurry shot of me holding a sign on the morning of election day

Jeremiah, me, and another guy that volunteered with us on election day morning

Mrs. Brickner getting interviewed before she voted

Our core team of PHC students that stayed until the end

Thursday night I attended a lecture by one of the professors here, Dr. Mitchell. He teaches my Logic class and is very good. He spoke about the loss of community and the break-down of the family in democratic society. It was very interesting. He's writing a book about the subject and presented what he had written so far. He took Q&A afterwards and I asked the question: "Do you think possibly that one of the symptoms and/or causes of the mobile culture and loss of community is the prevalence of two people coming from distant locations getting married to each other?" He agreed. After hearing his talk, I was reinforced in my desire to 1. marry someone from Arizona and 2. live and work in Arizona after college is over.  The weather has also been making me wish I was in Arizona. After warm rain on Wednesday, we have had cold wind for the last two days. Veerrry cooold. Brrrrr!

 

I started to feel stressed yesterday because I'm going to have 1 paper due the week before Thanksgiving, 1 paper due the week after that and 2 papers due the week after that! So I will be doing a lot of writing for a while.

 

Yesterday I something happened to me that hasn't happened in a long time. Dr. Gruenke was explaining the circulatory system in Biology class and towards the end of class she demonstrated how the valves in our veins work by applying pressure to her wrist. I was sitting in the front row and began to feel woozy. My dizziness got worse as my friend Jeremiah who was sitting next to me asked the question: "Why do people faint when they hear about things like this?" I could feel the blood leaving my face and as Dr. Gruenke was answering his question, I guess my mind decided to take the suggestion and I demonstrated the phenomonon of fainting. From my perspective, I just started dreaming. After a little while I opened my eyes and found myself lying on my back staring at the ceiling. I was told later that from the perspective of the people around me, this is what happened: My face was white as a sheet and after my eyes rolled back into my head, my body straigtened, stiffened and fell to the ground, my head hitting both the table behind me and the hard floor beneath me. My body convulsed for about a second and then I opened my eyes and looked peaceful. It was a pretty scary experience for everyone else, but not that bad for me. The appropriate personnel were notified and Mr. Hall, a trained parametic, stayed with me until I regained enough strength to go back to my dorm. What I learned from this experience is that I will immediately lie down and close my eyes the next time I feel dizzy like I did, and hopefully I can refocus my thoughts on something pleasent so that it doesn't happen again. I rested for a couple of hours and then went to History class and felt fine.

 

Last night I went to Josh Harris's church and heard him speak about the need for sex to be rescued. He emphasized our need to know God's perspective on this subject and made the following points:

 

1. God invented sex (and He designed it to feel good)

2. God reserves sex for marriage (He values it so much that He put boundaries around it)

3. God punishes those who misues the gift of sex.

4. God is merciful and has provided salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

It was a good reminder of the importance of maintaining purity in my life and I enjoyed visiting Covenant Life Church, a very nice church. Well, I better get to dinner before everyone else takes all the food.

Last weekend I was given the opportunity to work for the Mychele Brickner campaign. Brickner was a conservative Republican running for the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County, VA. About twelve PHC students worked on the campaign at various times throughout the weekend. Since Fairfax county is about an hour from PHC, the campaign put us up in the very nice home of one of their supporters. After arriving Friday evening and getting to know the office and the people a little bit, we got to work. Our first job was to pound wooden stakes into the ground in the median of one of the main streets and staple campaign signs to the stakes. That was Friday night. Jeremiah and I were the only ones that packed Friday afternoon so we stayed the night while everyone else drove back to PHC. Saturday morning, we went to the office and got our assignments. For most of the day, we knocked on people's doors, handed them literature, and asked them to vote for Brickner on Tuesday. Saturday night we went out to eat with some of the campaign staff at a Mexican grill that was very nice. Sunday morning, we hit the churches with literature. Jeremiah and I had time to put literature on the cars of church members in 3 services at a Catholic church, 2 services at an Episcopalian church, hang out in Starbucks, and attend an English service at a Korean Presbyterian church as well. It was a fun morning. Some of the other groups got kicked out of the church parking lots, but we didn't. We walked around neighborhoods all afternoon and evening, hanging door-hangers on all of the Republicans' doorknobs. Monday morning, we stood outside the train stations that filled up with commuters heading for DC and handed out literature reminding people who to vote for the next day. The rest of the day Monday was spent doing more lit-drops in neighborhoods. Jeremiah, Christy, Allis, and I found that we were a pretty good team so we stuck together. Aaron, Jeremiah, and I went out to a nice Italian restaurant Monday night. We got up early Tuesday morning and joined Mychele and her family at their polling place. There were I believe four or five television stations there, covering her vote and we waved signs in the background as she was interviewed. Then we went out to neighborhoods and reminded the Republicans to get out and vote, dropping off literature about Brickner of course. At about 3pm, Jeremiah and I were assigned to a fairly busy polling place and we got set up in a system. There was a Republican gentleman running for the local school board, shaking hands with the voters. The Democrat lady running against him was also there. So Jeremiah would greet the voters and funnel them to the Republican, while I stood directly in front of the Democrat, handing out Brickner literature. After they shook hands with the Republican, there was a girl handing them sample Republican ballots, and then I handed them my flyer. We hoped that by the time they got to the Democrat, they would be so tired of the whole thing that they wouldn't stop and listen to what she was saying. The Republican ended up losing, but it was a lot of fun. Tuesday night we stopped by the Brickner party for a short time, and then went back to PHC.

Unfortunately Brickner ended up losing too, so it was the second year in a row that I've worked on losing campaigns. :( I had hoped to be posting pictures from the weekend when I wrote this, but I can't seem to get them from Allis. Once I get them, I will post them.

The rest of last week was pretty much playing catch-up. The Biology quiz on Wednesday, Latin exam on Friday, and History quiz on Friday all went pretty well. I feel confident that I knew what I was supposed to know.

Last night, I went to see PHC's Eden Troupe in their last performance of Arms and the Man, by George Bernard Shaw. They did a wonderful job. The convincing acting, stunning makeup and costumes, and beautiful sets combined to produce a very enjoyable presentation. The show is a romantic comedy and everyone in the audience found it hilarious. The message was to be always true in life and love, and it came across very well. Well, I better get ready for the 12:30 church service...

I just found out that I will be in Fairfax until Wednesday working with the RNC on a political campaign. So if you try to contact me before then, I probably won't respond.

Last night was the "Hoedown." It is basically an old-fashioned country dancing party held in a barn and is one of the two school-sponsored social events held yearly. So as of Friday, I didn't have a ticket and wasn't going. This was mainly because none of my closest friends here were going. But, for various reasons, Daniel and I decided to buy our tickets and try it out. So your next question is...did Paul dance??? And the answer is: Yes I did, and it was a lot of fun! When Daniel and I arrived early, there were a few people that wanted to learn the Virginia Reel. We joined in and so I learned that one pretty quick. Throughout the night they always explained each dance so that those of us who didn't know what we were doing could join in. We did a lot of dancing in a circle and a few times I got pretty dizzy. It was great exercise though. The only dance I didn't join in on was the waltz, but I want to learn it and try it at some point. I can't wait until the Liberty Ball, and I might even try going to one of the contra dances they hold locally before then.

My Biology exam on Friday went very well. I got my grade on my Theology exam and it was very good. This weekend has been pretty slow on the school side because we don't really have any exams or papers coming up this week. On Monday I'm meeting with my advisor (Dr. Gruenke) to register for the Spring semester. Tuesday is my birthday, of course, and I'm looking forward to the start of 24 Season Three! Speaking of action drama television, we filmed some more Hitman scenes this weekend. I am actually in the next couple of episodes, and there are some really funny parts coming up. Well, I better get to church. We turned our clocks back this morning - what a stupid thing that is! I will admit that it was nice to get an extra hour of sleep. Later...

I keep having this irrational fear before I take an exam that I will somehow bump my head and forget all the information I need to know. Thankfully it hasn't happened. :) I just came back from Logic and I'm very happy with my midterm grade. Logic and Latin are my best subjects right now I think. My last exam this week is Biology tomorrow. I feel pretty confident with the material. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the genetics word problems. We learned all about how genes are passed from parent to child, and we have to figure out what the chances would be of a trait appearing in a generation given the genetic makeup of the parents. It's interesting, but I don't have a good grasp on it quite yet. I will be going over that this evening in depth. Logic class was very interesting today. We analyzed the argument of Peter Singer in his article called All Animals Are Equal. He basically argues that modern philosophy has no justification for inherent human dignity, and so there is no real moral difference between humans and animals. Our conclusion as a class was that Singer's argument helps clarify the stark contrast between theism and atheism when it comes to the value of human life by cutting out the middle ground position that "human dignity" can exist without God.

The weather has been getting colder. Today has been really cold. In fact, right now it is only 48 degrees outside. Brrrr! This weekend is looking to be somewhat uneventful. Jeremiah is out of town at a debate tournament. Tuesday is my birthday. 21 years! :) And next weekend we get Monday and Tuesday off of school because of the election. It doesn't look like I'll get to go to Mississippi; I guess the RNC had too many applicants. So I'll probably hang out around here and help with local campaigns. Maybe I'll study a little too...

Well, I wish I could say that my quizzes went fine, but in actuality I don't feel too good about them. Especially the History quiz. Oh well, at least it won't destroy my grade entirely. I know what I need to do to study History better. I just need to read Johnson more actively, highlighting the key points and creating my own study guide rather than depending on the ones that other people make. For Latin, I just need to spend more time reviewing the paradigms.

Last night, I went to Scott and Kim Walker's house for dinner. They are a local family who has "adopted" me, and three other guys here. John couldn't make it, but Kyle, David and I went over and had a great time. We met the Walkers' two kids. After eating chili for dinner, we each took a turn playing tag with their 2 year old son. Then, for most of the evening, we played two board games. The Walkers are huge board game fans and have some really cool games that most people don't know about. First, we played Settlers of Catan, which is a strategy game that reminded me somewhat of Risk except that instead of conquering nations we were building cities. It was complicated, but I enjoyed it. Then we played another game (the name escapes me) in which we tried to gain points by owning castles and farming lands. I won the second game.

This morning I got up early and worked all morning with other students at a home for elderly people. We did yard work and I just got back. I'm now going to lunch and this afternoon I will probably be working on my Latin workbook and studying Logic.

Well, I got an A- on the "Eating Meat" essay in Logic class. Academically, I'm doing pretty well. I have three quizzes tomorrow: in Latin, Biology, and History. Next week will be Logic and Theology midterms as well as a Biology exam. Research and Writing class has gotten a little better because we've started to work on our research paper. I'm writing about intellectual property rights, specifically the legal issues relating to pirating media on the Internet.

When I'm not studying, my friends and I have moved on from just watching movies to making them. My roommate, Daniel, and friend Matt have started a series of short, continuous, dramatic videos called Hitman. I'm one of the main actors, and it's been a lot of fun so far. I'm looking forward to quite a lot of twists in the story as we continue through the semester.

Naomi gave me an early birthday present: 24 Season Two!! Daniel, RJ, Jeremiah and I finished season one a couple of weeks ago, and we just started season two. The third season starts on my birthday (Oct. 28), and I'll definitely be watching. To be completely honest, 24 did inspire Hitman to some extent and Daniel has borrowed from it just a little bit.

Coming up in two weeks is election weekend, which means two days off of school. RJ, Jeremiah, and I applied to work for the RNC in Mississippi on the governor's race there. If we get accepted, the RNC will fly us out and pay all of our expenses while we help out on the campaign. Plus, we can earn a college credit for our major.

Today is Logic and Theology. Tonight is studying for the quizzes tomorrow. Tomorrow night I've been invited over to a local family's house for dinner. They've adopted me and a few other students through their church's "adopt-a-student" program. I'm looking forward to it. Saturday, I am doing ServeAmerica, which is a project to help out the local community. We'll probably also film another Hitman episode this weekend and watch more 24.

Eating Meat: Is it healthy?

 

Cooked animal flesh is a part of the diet of most human beings. Americans, in particular, eat a large amount of meat every day. In fact, the American culture is such that most people expect the main course of both lunch and dinner to contain primarily meat. However, there are many people who exclude meat from their diets entirely, and this practice is growing in popularity. Some of these object to eating meat because they care about animals and believe that killing animals is murder, while others simply argue that eating meat is not good for the human body.

My position is that eating meat is unhealthy. I will not argue that meat should always be excluded; rather, I will say that eating meat can be excluded from a human’s diet without consequence to health. Furthermore, I contend that meat contains harmful elements and since meat is both unnecessary and harmful to the body, it is therefore unhealthy. The following is my argument in standard form:

1) If a balanced diet that excludes a food still provides the body with enough of the nutritious elements within that food, then that food is nutritionally unnecessary.

2) A balanced diet that excludes meat still provides the body with enough protein.

3) Meat is nutritionally unnecessary.

4) If a food often contains substances that harm the body and it is nutritionally unnecessary, then it is unhealthy.

5) Meat often contains substances that harm the body.

6) Meat is unhealthy.

Certain foods are not needed for a healthy body to function. Ice cream is a good example. While many people eat ice cream, they recognize that it is not a necessary part of a balanced diet. There are no special vitamins or minerals in ice cream that are essential to the human body. The same could be said for tomatoes or blueberries. Actually, most individual foods can be excluded from one’s diet without ill effects, as long as the nutrients found in those foods are gained by eating other foods. One of the blessings of God’s creation is the abundance of nutrients in a variety of foods.

While people realize that avoiding the ingestion of ice cream or tomatoes would not be harmful, they often believe at the same time that meat is essential to the body. This is simply not the case. The element in meat that our body needs most, protein, is present in many kinds of vegetables, fruits, and whole-grains. The best sources of protein outside meat are beans, nuts, lentils, and legumes. These plant proteins contain the same twenty-three amino acids as animal proteins contain, which is evident when you consider that an animal’s body builds its protein from the plants it eats. So, animal proteins are in no way superior to plant proteins. As long as people eat a wide variety of healthy foods, their bodies will be provided with enough protein even if they do not eat meat.

Meat is not essential to health. Since the part of meat that the body needs, protein, is found plentifully in other types of foods, meat is unnecessary just like ice cream and tomatoes. Meat and tomatoes are different in that the term “meat” encompasses many individual foods, while tomatoes are a particular food. However the principle stays the same. Since no single meat contains any nourishing element that cannot be found elsewhere, there is no dietary reason that people have to eat any meat. There may be reasons to eat meat, but nutrition cannot be one of them.

Ice cream is distinguishable from tomatoes in that ice cream contains substances that can harm the body. This is why health-conscious people feel a twinge of guilt when eating ice cream that they do not feel when eating tomatoes. Most people know that ice cream is an unhealthy food because it is both unnecessary and harmful. Tomatoes, on the other hand, are not unhealthy because though they are unnecessary, they are not usually harmful to the body. But if a food is both unnecessary and harmful, it is considered unhealthy.

Animal flesh is a food that often contains harmful elements. Meat is usually high in both cholesterol and saturated fat. The body needs very small amounts of these, and so it is not very hard for us to provide our bodies with the necessary amounts. The average meat-eating person is eating too much cholesterol and saturated fat, both of which contribute to heart disease and obesity. Additionally, other chemicals such as pesticides and preservatives are found in most meat products which can have adverse effects on body chemistry. According to a study done by the American Cancer Society, harmful chemicals in grilled meats can increase the risk of cancer.[1] Lastly, eating meat that is not fully cooked is risky because of diseases like E. coli. While nutritionists often differ on their recommendations, most would agree that meat often contains substances that harm the human body.

Since meat normally contains damaging materials and is not essential to health, it should be placed in the same category as ice cream. In other words, meat is unhealthy. Certainly, some types of meat are worse than others, but I am speaking generally of meat as a category. To summarize, animal flesh does not have to be eaten, and is generally detrimental.

Some may object to the idea that meat is harmful to the body. They might say that any food can be harmful to the body, if it is overeaten. Take the example of tomatoes. In and of themselves, tomatoes are not harmful to the body. However, if someone were to eat five pounds of tomatoes in one sitting, then his body would obviously react negatively. Eating small amounts of meat, just like tomatoes, is not a health problem.

In response to this objection, it is important to remember that I am speaking of the average meat-eater in America today. If someone were to eat only one small organic fish a week, the fish would probably not harm the person’s body. On the other hand, eating meat as the main dish in both midday and evening meals on a consistent basis is eating enough meat to cause adverse effects. If ice cream was the main course at a daily meal, most would recognize this as a health problem. Since meat is unhealthy like ice cream is unhealthy, there is a problem with the amount of meat being eaten.

Once again, my contention is that eating meat is unhealthy. Meat is unnecessary nutritionally because protein can be found in many other foods. Meat is harmful because it is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. These two facts combined lead me to conclude that eating meat is bad for the human body. I am a vegetarian for this very reason. However just because meat is unhealthy does not mean it has to be eliminated. Ice cream is unhealthy too, but people still eat it. I understand that many people enjoy the taste of meat and could not give it up entirely. But I hope that people will at least think about eating less meat as a result of the argument I have made.

---

[1] Ted Gansler, MD, MBA, “Harmful Chemicals in Grilled Meats,” 2003, <http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_11_1_Harmful_Chemicals_in_Grilled_Meats.asp> (7 October 2003).

What is going on with me? Here's a synopsis by class:

Research & Writing - Wow, this class is boring. It's only one credit and all we've talked about is grammer and writing with "style." Some of the content has been useful, but most of the time I get the feeling that Dr. Smith isn't quite sure what to say next. We've written 2 one-page papers, corrected the grammer of a long list of sentences, and rewritten a paragraph. This Monday, the "research" part of the class starts so we are taking a field trip to the Library. I wish I could sleep in on Mondays...

Latin I - Latin is going very well. It's a lot to learn and sometimes confusing, but the language really does make sense once you understand the paradigms and memorize the vocabulary. Dr. Noe is a wonderful teacher and I always look forward to attending class. We've had 3 quizzes and an exam, and I've done pretty well. Actually, Latin is my best class right now when it comes to grades. The midterm is next Friday, so I know what Daniel and I will be doing on Thursday night. :)

Biology - This class has been very good. I really like Dr. Gruenke and I'm learning a ton of stuff. Most recently, we tracked the transfer of energy all the way from sunlight through photosynthesis, through aerobic respiration, to animal cells. It was fascinating. We had our second exam yesterday and I feel better about it than I did about the first. Bio lab has been fun also. We've used microscopes to see what's really in Lake Bob and last week we walked around campus gathering and identifying tree leaves. The Lab midterm is on Tuesday, and I really need to study for it...

History - This class is my focus this weekend, because the first exam is on Monday. My three quizzes have been OK, but I would like to do better. We just finished talking about the War for Continued Self-Government (a. k. a. American Revolution). I especially enjoyed learning about the importance of the Great Awakening. We have to write a critique of a book called Vindicating the Founders, which makes some good arguments defending the Founding Fathers against modern attacks by revisionists. I also have to write a research paper on John Jay, and I am looking forward to reading about him. Dr. Snyder is a good teacher, and this class rivels Biology in the amount of knowledge it is pouring into my head.

Theology - This class started slow, but has really started to get interesting the last week or so. Each student has to give a presentation on a particular doctrine, and we've started to touch on some controversial issues, like the age of the earth. Next week we will discuss God's providence, which I'm sure will be very interesting. We had our first exam already and I did pretty well. My report isn't due until December. It will be on the atonement and I wouldn't want to trade that topic with anyone. It's going to be a blast.

Logic - This is my favorite class right now. The homework is pretty easy, and the class time is very stimulating. We've learned the basics of streamlining and evaluating arguments and talked about how Christians should interact with culture. Next Thursday, one of the four assignments is due. I have to write an argumentative essay and I've chosen the thesis that meat is unhealthy. Here's my basic argument in standard form:

1) If the only nutritious element within a particular kind of food can be found in most other foods and a balanced diet excluding that kind of food provides the body with enough of the nutritious element, then that kind of food is nutritionally unnecessary.
2) The only nutritious element within meat, protein, can be found in most other foods.
3) A balanced diet excluding meat provides the body with enough protein.
Meat is nutritionally unnecessary.

 

1) If a food often contains substances that harm the body and it is nutritionally unnecessary, then it is unhealthy.

2) Meat often contains substances that harm the body.

3) Meat is nutritionally unnecessary.

Meat is unhealthy.

That's all of my classes and as you can see, I'm pretty busy. Amazingly, I've still found enough time to squeeze in some fun times with my friends. Yesterday afternoon, for example, I went with a group of 7 others to see the movie Luther. It was very enjoyable. The story was historically accurate yet very compelling. The acting was good as well. It's one weakness was the editing; there were a few glaring mistakes. I recommend it highly, if it's playing in a theatre near you (that sounds cliched). Last night we finished 24 Season One. It was an awesome last episode. Too bad I don't have Season Two... Today is Daniel's birthday, so we'll probably go out and do something tonight and then watch a movie. Now I will go study History...

I was in DC last night at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. They held a special event honoring the life of Jonathan Edwards and the guest speaker was...John Piper! Probably about 20 or so PHC students went and it was wonderful. Dr. Piper gave a brief history of the life of Edwards and then expounded upon his own encounter with the God-glorifying vision in Edwards's theology. The conclusion was the central point in all of Piper's works: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. He gave five points of application, and here is what I wrote down:

1. To spread the delight of God is our solumn duty. Truth from God produces right and full affections. Our spiritual appitites should not be bound, rather they should be enflamed. The object of our delight is infinitely greater than our longings.

2. It is hypocracy to make much of God only because He makes much of us.

3. The gospel is clarified: God is made able to be enjoyed by us. He is the treasure that we seek.

4. Christ died in order that we might come into God's presence to enjoy Him.

5. Love is doing whatever possible to enthrall people with the ultimate satisfaction of their souls, namely God.

6. Heaven is eternally enjoying God and that which displays God.

His presentation was compelling and inspiring. I especially appreciated two other points he made:

1. We should not hinder the pursuit of intellectual knowledge of God in order to maintain a level of mystery in our worship. Rather, diving into the depths of God's truth will enliven and enrich both our ability to and enjoyment of worship.

2. Seeking to find pleasure in God alone is an ongoing struggle. We must fight to make Him central to our affections.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful evening. It was the first time since I came to PHC that I went into DC and on the way to and from, I could see the Capitol building and some of the monuments. I was excited to realize how close I live to our nation's capital!

School has been great. I had my first Latin exam yesterday and I think I did well. This afternoon is the first Theology exam, so I'll be studying all morning. The sermon on Jonathan Edwards last night was very timely and not just because of Theology class. In US History, our next topic of study is the Great Awakening. Very apropos, wouldn't you say?

My old laptop was found in the San Diego airport lost & found department. My brother had borrowed it this summer to vacation in SD and apparently left it in the food court at the airport. It's been sitting in lost & found for something like 3 months, and they finally looked at the tag and called my house. Pretty weird.

This weekend I might be helping at the Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign and will probably start working on some of the papers that are due in the next month or so. I'm also looking forward to reading Right Behind and Supergeddon, parodies of the Left Behind series written by Nathan Wilson. They are apparently hilarious. Thanks for visiting and reading!

Last Monday night, I played ultimate frisbee with my wing against another wing. We lost, but it was a close game. I am really out of shape and after playing non-stop for about an hour I was really worn out. The next day I was fine, but Tuesday evening my body decided to rebel. Clogged sinuses, overall weakness, and a fever came over me which made the next few days miserable. My need for rest overrode my need to study, so I got a little behind. I'm still trying to catch up and still recovering.

Meanwhile, the September 11 anniversary rolled around and the college had a classy memorial service. It included a montage of news footage, speeches by a Congressman and a Pentagon official, patriotic somber music, and candlelight. I was moved to tears and reminded of that dark day two years ago. 

I got my Latin and Biology quiz results back and was happy with my work. I had a quiz in History on Friday that occupied much of my study time on Thursday. It went pretty well; I think I missed one or two questions. Yesterday I worked mainly on Biology, studying for the exam tomorrow. It it proported to be the hardest Bio exam of the semester, and I'm not surprised considering the amount of information we are required to know.

Friday and Saturday night, we watched the CleanFilms version of Gladiator. It was a great film, although the edited DVD was altered to the point that I could discern a loss in quality. I decided to buy the DVD set for the first season of 24, and it arrived late last week. I'm introducing my roommates to this awesome show and probably watching the first episode tonight. I can't wait until season three starts (Oct. 28), it will be a great birthday present I'm sure.

Church was good this afternoon. Pastor Butterfield preached on Joseph out of Genesis 37 and showed how he was a picture of Christ. The message was to forgive others and rejoice when we encounger suffering for righteousness. 

I should go get ready for AWANA this evening. I just realized that I forgot to read the required books for Research & Writing which is at 8am tomorrow morning. Ooops...I guess I'll have to get up early and skim.

School has been going very well. I have been learning a lot, especially in Latin and Biology. History has been good as well. Last night, I went over to the house of my advisor, Dr. Gruenke, with her other advisees for dinner. We had some good conversations. I went to church this afternoon at the Reformed Presbyterian church again. The message was on the importance of evangelism. It was encouraging as well as challenging. This evening I worked at AWANA with 8-9 year old boys. I'm looking forward to getting to know the guys better and helping them to grow.

I signed up for a free trial with CleanFilms.com, an online DVD subscription service which edits objectionable content out of films. I am looking forward to seeing some movies I've always wanted to see, but didn't because of a scene or two that I didn't want to see.

Now, I need to get to bed early because I have an 8:00 class tomorrow and a Biology quiz to study for in the morning. Good night. :)

Knowledge was pouring into me like a flood last week, but this weekend has been filled with much relaxing. Studies have kept me pretty busy although I recognize that the pace will gradually increase as the semester rolls along. I am enjoying my classes, especially Biology, Theology, and Logic. Latin has been a challenge and somewhat tedious but I think I'm beginning to understand its beauty and value a bit more. History is going to be very interesting as we take apart the origin and founding of America.

Life outside of school is wonderful also. The weather is nice and it rains quite often. My roommates and I are getting along fine and I'm slowly getting to know everyone else. Most of my free time is spent either discussing things with my roommates or watching movies. We just finished watching Star Trek IV, my first real exposure to Star Trek. It was pretty good. I have been taking a nap after lunch during school days and sleeping in on weekends, so I haven't experienced the infamous lack of sleep at PHC as of yet.

I went to a new church yesterday, called Purcellville Reformed Presbyterian. It is certainly different than what I'm used to, but was very good. The worship was simply psalms sung to hymn-like tunes without instrumental accompaniment. What I liked most was the solid expository preaching that delved deep into doctrine while highlighting life application. After the service at 12:30 pm, the attenders all ate lunch together and I got a chance to discuss reformed theology for a bit. Later, I went to the pastor's house where they started a dramatic reading of Pilgrim's Progress. I ate dinner there also. It was very enjoyable and I am thinking seriously of attending this church regularly.

Off to take a walk in the night and possibly in the rain...

I am sitting at my new desk, just hanging out before Chapel at 9:30. Yesterday was the first day of class. It started with my only 8 o-clock class in the week, Research & Writing. Like most of the classes on the first day, it was mostly introduction, but that is to be expected I suppose. We were given a short essay assignment and informed that we will be doing a research paper this semester. Chapel was at 10 and everyone dressed formally. Dr. Farris spoke on the Kingdom of God and how much of a priority it was to Christ. He sounded nearly amillenial for a bit, until he mentioned the physical kingdom that's to come. Next was Latin class at 11. Dr. Noe went over the syllabus and we started to practice some pronunciation. This will definately be one of my toughest classes, but challenges are good. Biology was next, another class I'm not looking forward to. However, Dr. Gruenke is a great professor. She seems very technologically minded because of all the material she has posted on the course website. Then I ate lunch, and it was Mexican! Yes! I called home after lunch and took a nap. At 3, I went to History of the US I with Dr. Snyder. It was very short because all we did was go over the syllabus briefly and then take an assessment test. I came back to my desk and studied Latin for a bit. Then we went to dinner. Oh, I want to mention that the cooks are very nice about having something for those of us who don't eat meat (I think there are 3 of us). Thus, the meals have been very good. Daniel and I took a walk after dinner and then I studied Latin until I went to bed around 10.

This morning I studied Biology after QT and Breakfast. I am really enjoying life here, and looking forward to Theology and Logic this afternoon. Now, off to Chapel...