I had the great pleasure last week of serving Jesus in Ft. Lauderdale, teaching through the Discourse Grammar for a DMin class at Knox Theological Seminary. I have never been to Florida before, and am not sure that I would want to live there, but it was really a great week. The attenders were the prototypical group that all of my discourse studies have been dedicated to: seasoned pastors who are years removed from seminary, and whose Greek has gotten rusty in many cases.
I really enjoyed the interaction, and developed some analogies that made the information structure more clear and understandable. I need to update the PP slides from the class based on this content, and then I will post them for the public. Right now, the Knox knotes page is password protected.
My wife Glenda got to head to Key Largo with my long lost cousin and my sister on Monday. After completing class for the day, I was to meet them downtown for dinner. It was a beautiful day (like most days in Florida), I was in shorts and a t-shirt. I decided to cruise down A1A (the main drag along the beach) to get downtown. We chose to splurge and rent a convertible. I was listening to a classic rock station on the XM satellite station. Just as the light turned green for me to turn onto A1A, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf came on. It was like something out of a bad commercial, a pasty white grammarian cruising the strip. I had to laugh, but it was a fun afternoon.
To the students that made it possible, I will never forget the class. I have been waiting almost 10 years to do such a thing, studying, writing and trying to get things figured out enough to explain them in a meaningful way for those on the front lines of ministry. Sam Lamerson made it all happen, and he even seemed to get something out of it. Back to markedness tomorrow.
We had the great pleasure of learning from your serving! Thanks so much. And thanks to Sam Lamerson and Jim Dietz for their work to bring this about and the wonderful atmosphere and learning setting that was at Knox Theological Seminary. It was a joy.
What I was most impressed with was the systematic way that we worked through so many linguistic / narrative devices which resulted in clear understanding. The authors of the GNT were employing every means to develop their arguments (tell their story) about Jesus. In using these literary tools, the authors were saying, “Don’t miss this, this is important.” So, now my Biblical studies and teaching will emphasize those things. Thanks!
JJ
Thanks, JJ!
I strenuously protest against Knox’s shameless favoritism for Dr Steven Runge, and demand that Dr Sam Lamerson, he of the bowtie, arrange at once some opportunity at Knox that will allow me to escape the miserable wintry tundra for a week!
They made me wear a bowtie the first day, if that makes you feel any better.
I’m afraid that doesn’t make it any warmer in Michigan, sir! 😉
The pleasure was all ours. The course was great and I learned a lot.
I must tell you that when Steve talks about the great weather, it was pretty cold here. It got all the way down into the fifties (that is why Steve and Glenda are alone on the beach). Some people were talking about selling their houses and moving down South.
Many thanks Steve for a really great week. We loved having you.
SamLam
Took my wife there for our tenth wedding anniversary. We were able to meet Dr. Kennedy before he came down ill. He was so nice and friendly to us. He even allowed us to have our picture taken with him and his wife. Many souls will be ushered into the Kingdom of God because of him starting Knox Theological Seminary (and that’s something coming from a SBCer). Florida rocks!
any idea when the power point slides will be made available?
It is just a matter of time to make some changes. I used movie clips that I cannot be posted on the web. These links need to be removed. I also need to fill in more comments to make the slides useful. It will likely be a few weeks at this point. I will do a post to announce their availability. How’s that?