James Cuénod's Newsletter 2012-05-02

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To those interested who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I wish I had more time to write. It has been a crazy term. Last time I'm
pretty sure I was telling you about the start of our next block course
(intensive module) which was Church History with Ashley Null. That
finished a week ago. The focus was the English Reformation and I must say,
my interest in history has been rekindled. I'm hoping to read Wolf Hall in
the holidays (a novel set in the court of Henry VIII) - tudor history has
been a lot of fun to peak into. It was a great course and Ashley Null is a
brilliant mix of academia and the pastorate. Church History was really
only a sort of break from the swift onslaught of exams. Perhaps I should
rather say, "The Exam". In the past staccato attacks have been the norm at
the end of each semester, hoping to beat us into submission by repeated
invocations of fear and dread. Not in Honours. On Monday I write the
single exam for the year (it's possible that there will be one more in the
fourth term but I'm not expecting one) and it's not going to be pretty.
Which reminds me, prayer for my fast frying brain and quick tangled tongue
would be much appreciated (prayer against them frying and tangling, that
is).

It seems that there is an inversely proportional relationship to my
ability to read and the time I have in which to do it. In the past few
weeks I've managed to finish Bonhoeffer (a biography about the guy - he
was a theologian involved in a plot to kill Hitler) by Eric Metaxas (it's
been criticised - and rightly so - but it's quite an enjoyable read) and
The Fellowship of the Ring (it's comprised of two books, I read the second
because I read the first earlier in the year). I have developed tremendous
appreciation for Tolkien; of all that I read, he most inspires me to write.

Not much (i.e. nothing) has happened on the dissertation front since last
we spoke. That's probably not good. I should probably do something about
that. I've spoken to my supervisor and I think he thinks I'm working. I
don't really want to break his heart though so I think I'm going to leave
him in the dark for now :).

I've been co-leading a Bible study this year. I think it's part of a
devious plot. I feel somewhat out of my depth and I think the other people
who come feel like I'm out of my depth too. It's rather like getting your
feet wet and not being able to dry between your toes; not pleasant. My
more spectacular, billboard-like, hold-the-press-type involvement at
church begins at the most opportune time: the day before The Exam. I'm
preaching tomorrow at Tokai (I know, it really is a plot). I'm preaching
on the feeding of the five thousand in Mark 6:30-44. I'm prepared for that
(I think I actually took preparation for that more seriously than exam
prep - that'll probably come back to bite me) but it's really not ideal
timing.

As far as prayers go, then, I think prayer that I wouldn't randomly pass
out while preaching if it should suddenly occur to me that I'm actually
about to write an exam - more seriously, the usual sort of prayers for
preachers; people would listen, preacher would speak clearly, preacher
would speak God's words (not his, even though he thinks his are quite
something), Holy Spirit would do what the Holy Spirit does in people and
preacher and sermon. And, that The Exam would be easily defeated and not
overly stressful (I'm planning on going to a piano recital on Monday
afternoon, that should be relaxing if The Exam is nasty) - and mercy from
the lecturer. Thanks very much for the prayers and thoughts, you rock.

In Christ,
James Cuénod


--
James, a bondslave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
http://www.rekindle.co.za