Ken's Summer Reading

Well, break is over...now I must begin studying and reading for summer classes. I have ten books to read this summer. I will also need to keep up with my Greek because I have one more Greek class in the Fall that builds upon the Greek class I just finished. Here is the list of books I will be reading this summer:

Baptists and the Bible by Russ Bush & Tom Nettles
Uneasy in Babylon by Barry Hankins
A Hill on Which to Die by Paul Pressler
The Baptist Reformation by Jerry Sutton
Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel by Eugene Merrill (who is also teaching the class, he is a godly, pastoral scholar, I took an exegesis course on the books of Judges and Ruth from him last summer)
The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges
An Earnest Ministry by John Angell James
The New Guidebook for Pastors by James Bryant & Mac Brunson
Preaching & Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd Jones
It's Still Greek to Me by David Allan Black

Ken's deep theological thought while on campus...

Today I (Ken) was walking from the seminary library to class, and I learned something profound. My favorite candy bar is not Reeses Peanut Butter Cup as I had always thought. As I munched on a Butterfinger, I realized that Butterfinger is much better.

And you thought seminarians spent all their time pondering the trinity and the providence of God.

What are we doing these days?

We haven't disappeared...we've just started school again. And "we" is very accurate. Last week, I took a J-Term Seminary Wives Institute course called Conflict Management. I am still working on my assignments, which are all due at the end of January. Ken is in a J-Term class this week called The Worshipping Church. He has really enjoyed it. He finishes up today, maybe even as I am writing this post. So we have been trading off on caring for the boys, and trying to get them to bed early each night so we can both do our class reading.

Ken's reading update

I am in the midst of reading numerous books. My most enjoyable reading is from the Bible. I am reading and meditating on the books of Colossians and James. Great reminders of the supremacy of Christ (Colossians) and the reality of living faith (James) and how they impact the way we live our lives. As far as seminary reading, I am really enjoying the reading for my church history class. We have been focusing on the Patristic period (~ AD 90-150) and the Ante-Nicene period (~ AD 150-325). The primary sources are a tough read but very profitable. We are also reading a couple of secondary sources that are very readable and factual. The two books are: The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez and Historical Theology: An Introduction

Wonderfully busy

Sorry for the delay in posting. Kimberly and I are adjusting to the new schedule. A typical day begins around 6:00 am and ends around midnight. The exciting news in the Schmidt house is how well Teddy Dean is crawling. He loves the action so he scoots after Calvin from room to room giggling all the time. Calvin was just gifted with a blue life jacket for swimming. He loves it and so do mom and dad. Calvin has absolutely no fear of the water. Combine that with the fact that he cannot swim and you can see why we really love the life jacket. Kimberly began her two classes in the Seminary Wives Institute this week. The courses are Discipleship I and Essentials I. I will let her write about the courses. I am so excited for her, she has been dreaming of taking these classes from the time we were engaged. I still love my classes. The amazing thing is that Hebrew Syntax & Exegesis is my favorite course! It does require a lot of work; probably 1-2 hours of study each morning, but it is worth it. The reading load for this semester's classes is about 50-75 pages a day.

We are going to the seminary's Annual Fall Kickoff Festival tomorrow evening. The big draw is hot air balloon rides for everyone. Check back this weekend for pictures...

Louisville is feeling more and more like home...

We had a great week. The highlight for me (Ken) was studying the books of Judges & Ruth under Dr. Eugene Merrill. He is an amazing scholar, he has written books on the history and theology of Israel and a commentary on Deuteronomy in the New American Commentary series. One of the major blessings of his class is that he is not only a scholar; he has a pastor's heart. The class was academic and pastoral at the same time. This is what we should hope and pray for in our seminaries as they prepare men and women to minister in our churches.

Our family has had some precious times this week as well. Last evening Louisville really felt like home. We were at one of the numerous parks we go to, Veteren's Park, when we heard someone yell my name. It was our friends, Scott and Marcie. They were there for Scott's softball game and had spotted my Gophers shirt. We joined them for a slush at Sonic (we love Sonic!), where we ran into one of the pastors from church. Kim and I decided that this was our first "small world" moment in Louisville.

Calvin is doing great. He makes dad, mom, and Teddy laugh all the time. He talks, and talks, and talks...I wonder where he gets that from? Kim is keeping a notebook full of the funny things he says. Might be a good idea for a post someday...

Teddy has such a pleasant personality. He loves to play with his toys and laugh at Calvin. He is also finally eating solids. He eats pears and sweet potatoes. He is still our beautiful little chub. He is so in love with his mommy. When she walks into the room he lights up.