November and Normativity
If you remember, almost a month ago I told you that October was going to be a very busy month for me. It was! However, I was able to finish all of my assignments on time.
Now, finally, we’re in November. I only have one more writing assignment due this semester: a hermeneutics paper due December 5. This means that I have the entire month of November to research and write this paper (plus my normal reading load for my seminars and my mentorship with Dave Black).
I’ve decided to research and write on the topic of normativity in NT narrative. I also hope to include a case study from the book of Acts. It will probably not be from Acts 20, but from a shorter passage. However, it probably will deal with a church meeting. I may even be able to include some of this research on my dissertation.
So, the month of November looks to be a little less busy for now. Perhaps I’ll even be able to squeeze in a couple of book reviews that I need to do. Of course, I hope to spend most of my time with people – serving and love and being served and being loved by the people that God has placed in my life. Those people are the church… they are most important. Everything else – even earning a PhD – pales in comparison.
How incredibly ironic – and tragic! – it would be if I studied the church and never spent time with them? (Unfortunately, this happens everyday in a seminary environment.)
October
In case you didn’t notice, it is October. I noticed because during the last few evenings Margaret and I have been walking so that I can break in my new hiking boots. But, I’m getting ahead of myself…
October is going to be an extremely busy month for me. I started the month behind in my school reading because of the eye problems that I had in September. During this month, I have to make two in-class presentations, write a response to another presentation, write a book review, and write a paper. However, once I get through October, November should be much smoother, with only one paper due at the end of the month.
Also, this month I hope to begin sending my CV to schools who are advertising open faculty positions. By next May, I should be finished with all of my PhD seminars and (God willing) will have passed my comprehensive exams. That means that I will be ABD (all but dissertation).
Next week is our Fall break. There will be no classes. A friend has invited my son, Jeremy, and me to join him and his son on a hiking / camping trip in Pennsylvania. Thus, the new hiking boots that I’m trying to break in. (If you’re on my friends list on Facebook, then you may already know about my new hiking boots.) I think this time with my son and our friends will be very important, both for our relationships and for rest and relaxation at the start of a very busy month.
So, I share all of this to state the obvious: October is going to be very busy. If you think about it, please pray for me and my family.
Resources
Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology
In April 2008, I had the opportunity to present a guest lecture on the topic of the church.
Download audio file: Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology (52 MB mp3)
Download outline: Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology (50 KB pdf)
Or use the audio player below to listen to the lecture (it may take a few moments for the audio to start):
I’ll update this page and post a notice on my blog as I add new resources.
New URL, New Look, Same Blog
So, I’ve finally updated my blog template, and I’ve finally switched over to my own domain.
I prefer a dark background with light text, but I could not find a dark background template that I liked – and I didn’t want to spend the time to design one from scratch. I’m still making slight adjustments to this template, so please let me know if something is hard to read – especially the sidebars.
I’ve changed my “blog roll” to the blogger widget on the left. If I left out your blog, it is an oversight, not intentional. Please let me know, and I’ll add your blog.
My new address is www.alanknox.net. However, the old address (assembling.blogspot.com) will redirect to the new address. If you have any problems, please let me know that also.
Finally, I did not change my blog feed. I still use a feedburner feed, and the address is still http://feeds.feedburner.com/assembling.
Eye Update
As I told you a few days ago (“Corneal Ulcer“), I have been diagnosed with a corneal ulcer (a hole in the cornea) in my right eye. According to the eye doctor, the hole continues to heal. So far, the healing has been very fast, because it has been healing from the outside. Now, the doctor says the healing will be slower because it will primarily heal from the inside out.
Once my eye is completely healed, the doctor said that I would need to wait at least another week before I could have a regular eye exam and be fitted with new contact lenses. So, I have probably 10 days to 2 weeks more of wearing glasses. Yes, I know that many of you wear glasses all the time. But, since I’m not accustomed to wearing glasses, they have been a big strain on my eyes – not to mention the number of times I’ve almost fallen down steps.
The pain has reduced drastically. In fact, the doctor said that because of the location of the ulcer, my pain has been alot less that most. I’m still very sensitive to sunlight and wind – which will be interesting with tropical storm Hanna moving into the area tomorrow.
The biggest problem for me is reading. My reading speed (and endurance) has dropped to about 1/3 of my normal rate. I was ahead in my reading load for my classes, but that is slowly fading. My professors have been very gracious though.
Thank you all for the prayers and phone calls. I thank God for friends and family like you.
Corneal Ulcer
Last weekend, my right eye started bothering me. It was itchy and watery. I thought it was caused by my allergies, which usually cause me problems about this time every year. Saturday was very bad, so I took out my contacts for most of the day. Sunday was better. Monday was bad again.
Then, Tuesday morning, my eye was very red, swollen, and painful. I went to see the eye doctor early Tuesday afternoon – the earliest he could see me. It turns out that I have a corneal ulcer – a small hole in the cornea of my right eye. The doctor is treating the ulcer with antibiotic eye drops every two hours. Also, I cannot wear my contact until it is completely healed, and I have to go back to the eye doctor every day until he is sure that it has healed.
If the ulcer responds well to the antibiotic eye drops, then everything will probably clear up fine. I may have a small scar on my eye, but it is above the lid line and will not affect my vision much, if at all. However, if the ulcer does not respond to the eye drops, then there is probably some bad bacteria involved. This could be more serious.
I went back to the eye doctor this morning (Wednesday). The pain was much less, but my eye is still very red. The doctor said the hole has healed about 60% – which is very good news. He’s concerned about the redness, but he says everything else looks very positive. I go back to the doctor again tomorrow afternoon.
Besides the pain – which is bearable now – the only problem now is that I have to wear my glasses. I’ve never worn glasses. I was first diagnosed as being near-sighted (very, very near-sighted) when I was in the 9th grade, and I immediately started wearing contacts. I’ve always had glasses in case of emergency, but this is the first time I’ve had to wear them to drive, to work in, to study, to read, etc. I’m also finding that my eye gets tired very easily. So, both my computer work and my studies are a little more difficult.
God has been good through all of this. And, my family and friends have been very understanding and encouraging as well. I would appreciate your prayers as well.
Fall 2008
A new semester starts next week at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. On the one hand, since this should be my last academic year of PhD seminars, I’m excited to get started this semester. On the other hand, I have enjoyed the opportunities to spend time with my wife and friends during the summer when I was not taking classes.
This semester, I’ll be taking two PhD seminars: Hermeneutics with Dr. Andreas Köstenberger and New Testament Canon with Dr. Scott Kellum. I’ll also be taking Mentor Directed Studies with Dr. David Black, my PhD mentor. So, I’ll be taking more seminars than normal.
I’m teaching Greek again this semester in the college. Also, they’ve asked me to teach a section in Introduction to Computers. This is a new course for me, so it should be very exciting. But, again, I’m teaching more than normal.
Finally, I’m teaching a home school high school course in Latin for my son and some of his friends. This should be a great way for me to keep up with my Latin, as well as another opportunity to teach. But, again, this is more than I usually do.
So, all in all, this will be a very busy semester. Add my full time job as a web developer, spending time with my family, and caring for others, and my head is already spinning. Thank God that he has given me a great family (especially my wife), and good friends, who all help me stay balanced and focused on loving God and loving others.
The Millennium Post
I’m sorry to disappoint you – well, those of you who love to debate these things – but this post is not about eschatology. Instead, this is my 1000th post – my millennium post!
For the last month, I’ve been trying to decide what I wanted to write for my 1000th post. I honestly believe that the best thing about this blog is the interaction with the readers both in the comments here and at their own blogs.
So, for my 1000th blog post, I want ask you a favor. Yes, you. I’m talking to you. Will you please introduce yourself? I know it is customary to leave “congratulations” on milestones such as this, and that’s fine. But, while you are saying “congratulations”, please tell us something about you. You can tell a little, or alot. Whatever your feel comfortable saying.
If you comment here often, tell us about yourself. If you comment occasionally, tell us who you are. If you’ve never commented before, we still would like to know about you. Let’s use this opportunity to get to know one another better. Even I already know you very well, please leave some info anyway – my readers may not know you.
Meanwhile, I need to think about what to write for #1001.
Another update on my mother
A couple of days ago, I asked my readers to “Please pray for my mother” because she was having problems with her memory and being confused last Wednesday morning. After being taken to the hospital, she was diagnosed with Transient Global Amnesia (see “Update on my mother“), which affects short term memory for a few hours up to a day.
Today, she is feeling much better. She says that she still has a “blah” feeling, but she sounds and acts much better. She also has much more energy than she did yesterday. She still can’t remember much of what happened on Wednesday, and the doctors say she may never remember that day. But, she is able to remember things now. Her memory seems to be working properly.
Thank you again for everyone who is praying for our family. We appreciate your prayer very much!
Update on my mother
First, thank you to everyone who is praying for our family, especially my mother (see “Please pray for my mother“). Thank you to those who left comments on my previous posts.
The doctors have given my mother a preliminary diagnosis of Transient Global Amnesia. She is having trouble with her short term memory, but her long term memory is fine. The symptoms usually last from 6 to 24 hours. The good news is that this is not caused by a stroke or a seizure, and there is a relatively low recurrence rate. The prognosis is also very good. She should regain all memory functions soon, although she may never remember what happened during this event.
Again, thank you for your prayers, and I’ll keep you updated.