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CTS Abroad: Interim in Greece
Changes abound in the 2009-2010 academic year
Turkey and Greece. Twelve seminary students. Two professors. One Reverend and his wife. Three Calvin students. Ten thousand pillars. Welcome to the ruins of the Roman Empire. On January 6, 2010 the first ever Calvin Seminary January term off campus program began. The itinerary was simple in concept and demanding in practice: see as many sights related to Paul and the book of Revelation as possible within a twelve day period. The list of sights included Smyrna (modern day Izmir), Sardis, Philadelphia, Didyma, Laodicea, Colossae, Ephesus, Assos, Pergamum, Troas, and Canakkale and that was only the Turkey part. In Greece the pace slowed down some and the sights included Philippi , Thessaloniki, Berea, Vergina, Meteora, Delphi, Olympia, Corinth and Athens.
Worship Symposium
One of the many perks of studying at Calvin Seminary is the free access to the many great events offered on the Calvin campus. I have been aware of the Calvin Symposium on Worship and the Arts for a few years, but this was my first engagement with it. My anticipation had been building for some time leading up to the event - not only had I registered to hear some great presenters, it was also a few days off from my normal academic routine.
Book Review
Origins by Deborah and Loren Haarsma
Red Chili
A hearty meal for a blustery winter day. Serves 1-6 people. Great with a crusty bread or rolls.
Archbishop Elias Chacour
Lenten Reflections
Editor's Corner
Lent is upon us once again this year, a season of expecation and waiting. Lent captures both ends of the emotional spectrum, allowing joy and sorrow to exist in tension, finding its expression most clearly on Good Friday.
Worth Fighting For
In 1998 Disney released a movie titled Mulan and in the movie there was a song that was called, ‘A Girl Worth Gighting For’. I am sure that most of you have seen the movie, but for those who have not, there is a group of fresh recruits who are marching off to battle and after a while they are getting tired and worn down. They begin to sing a song that is inspiring them, as they go off to battle. It is what gives them their motivation to fight and to have the strength to get through. They sing about a girl who will make them food or a girl who thinks that they have no fault, they all want a girl worth fighting for. The song ends with these lyrics, “What do we want? A girl worth fighting for! Wish that I had… a girl worth fighting for! A girl worth fighting… for!”
Dividing Blood Brothers
I am grateful for the encouragement to read Elias Chacour’s Blood Brothers and for the three panelists who helped us in our reflections at the Town Hall Meeting on November 19. What is so moving and powerfully encouraging about the book is Father Chacour’s profoundly Christian heart-posture to his blood brother Jews: “Do not demonize the Jews!” After our hour-long town hall I left disquieted because I was not sure we had been faithful to that spirit---the conversation moved increasingly to an assumed anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian stance.