round 2

well school starts back tomorrow.. this summer break has felt like the longest break I think I've ever had whilst (hehe) in school so needless to say, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.. I miss being on campus, learning more about Christ, opening every class in prayer (still the coolest thing ever), and heck, I even miss the drive haha.. I know, crazy right?!

the Seminary posted a Katrina 5-year anniversary/reflection, showing some pictures of the devastation the storm caused to campus and the restoration that has happened to make it more beautiful than ever.. the SBC wanted to move NOBTS out of New Orleans because of the financial reasons of restoration & the neighborhood around the seminary has only degraded more, especially shortly post-Katrina.. luckily, Dr. Kelley, the seminary President, maintained the original vision of NOBTS, to be a lighthouse to the city of New Orleans (my own paraphrase haha).. there have been tremendous opportunities that have arisen because of the seminary staying in the city, showing their dedication to the city, which has opened up doors to ministry & evangelism that were shut beforehand.. it's incredible how God can work such a sucky situation out for the better and further His kingdom in the process! if you want to see the current weekly newsletter with some various articles, including one by Dr. Kelley, as well as the aforementioned (hehe) photos, click here

this semester I'll be taking Pastoral Ministry (more of the application side of the pastoral role, but also includes administering the ordinances, conducting weddings/funerals, and baptisms.. we actually do an in-class mock baptism one day haha.. quite interesting), Greek Exegesis: James (simply put, exegeting the book of James.. haha who woulda guessed right?!), Encountering the Biblical World (basically, biblical geography), The Church and Political Involvement (how the church is to relate to the political culture of the day in various aspects), and World Religions: Islam (understanding the Islamic worldview in order to better understand how to discuss Christ with a Muslim.. the prof was a missionary in Egypt, then Iraq after the war started, developed all of the Muslim literature for the International Mission Board.. so he definitely knows his Qur'an.. should be a great class). so, it's definitely not the easiest semester I've ever had, but I'm really excited about all of the classes (except for geography maybe), so it should be a really good semester. I'm excited!

well thats all for now. I'll be updating this more regularly hopefully, so I've got some other things worth mentioning but I'll save them for a later post (hopefully the next day or so).

peace and blessings, trent.

(that's from a youtube video I saw the other day, but I just looked it up (to make sure I had it right) and it's actually a religious saying from Islam.. interesting.. and more fitting to this post haha)

stay tuned

hola mis amigos. it's been over a month again since i last updated this thing.. i'm really not doing so well at keeping this current.. probably why i don't have hardly any readers..

i have, however, come up with an idea to make this blog be much more frequent in its updates (personifying the blog haha), more relevant in its information, more enjoyable and hopefully more beneficial to you, the reader. i am going to start writing small reviews on the books i am currently reading.. to still be coupled with (hopefully) frequent updates of life and all that jazz (read like the song hehe)

i went into this summer with a stack of about 7 or 8 books i really wanted to read and people are always asking about particular books, books to recommend, etc. so this will be a good way to provide you, the reader, with my take on the books i am reading, as well as give me the opportunity to look back and remember what i liked or didn't like about the book. i started looking at my bookshelf and realized a couple (not many) books on there i hadn't ever read.. so i put them in my stack of books to read. i don't want to have any books on there that i've never read because.. well, i can't really provide any feedback on it or recommend it to someone if i've never read it myself.

the books that will be coming in the near future range in topics from refuting calvinism to a small book about angels (they gave it to us for free during red carpet week at seminary).. from open theism to renewing our passion for God.. i'm excited to begin reading them.. and to re-read others.. and to enlighten you on how they were.. who knows, maybe my reviews will cause you to read one or more.. or perhaps you could suggest some to me.. that'd be great too!

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i leave sunday morning at 5am, headed for daytona for Student Life's college camp thingajig at the beach.. not really a camp.. we have a ton of free time and its for college students so the entire day doesnt have to be booked up like it is with youths, but anyway, Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman will be there for sure.. plus others most likely.

shortly after we get back from there, i leave the next monday (19th) for kansas city for the national worship leader conference.. where several leading worship leaders will be conducting seminars, etc.. including (heh) Chris Tomlin and others.

soon after I get back from that trip, I will be headed to Boston with the family to visit my brother for a few days.. i'm looking forward to that trip for sure.. well all of them really, but whatever.

the summer so far has been pretty laid back, focused on VBS and schoolwork for the most part, but its about to get quite adventurous.. traveling the country in just a few short weeks.. well i guess, mostly just east of the Mississip..

anywho, stay tuned. reading has already commenced, i just haven't had the time to write reviews yet. but 2 books are already down for sure.. more to come.

create a moment

i have now been school-less and job-less for one entire month. at the beginning, i didn't really notice how much free time i had.. all the holiday festivities were going on with christmas and new years, plus graduation and the crazy excursion to boston.. so my first truly "free" week was last week and i enjoyed it to its fullest.. i did absolutely nothing, played way too many video games, stayed up late, just acted like a complete bum.. and enjoyed every last second of it.

then monday came. video games were no longer appealing to me (and haven't been for the entire week), tv is getting dull and not entertaining me much, books lose my interest after a few short minutes.. basically, its hard to fill up a whole day with pointless, time-wasting activity. i have no commitments, no obligations, no nothing. just wake up.. find something to do to kill the day and go back to sleep. and none of it entertains me anymore. i need to get out of this apartment.

i've broken up errands into small duties.. meaning i have little errands to run each day, as opposed to getting them all done in one day. while that would feel extremely productive and make for a great day, i would then truly have absolutely nothing to do on the other days. today, i went to the post office to mail 2 documents, one an application, the other a thank you note. yesterday, i went to lsu to pick up 2 official transcripts to accompany the 3 applications i faxed from fedex kinko's to various employers (who knew faxing was so dang expensive?!)

yesterday was my first day back at lsu when school was in session and me there not as a student. actually, heck its the first time since spring testing (as a high school sr) that ive been to lsu when its in session and not been there as a student. the feeling of being finished hit me again when i was there yesterday. i saw a bunch of people walking around.. some excited to start a new semester, some still sleepy from not having re-adjusted their sleep schedules since the break. i thought of the first week enthusiasm, skepticism, and even anxiety felt for your new classes, new teachers, new faces. the pressure of seeing the syllabi, knowing what awaits you for the next 4 or so months of your life. i saw, and pictured, these thoughts on everyones faces.. and i was simply there. no anxiety over school work. no wondering what my next class will be.. whether this professor was putting on a show for the first day (whether positively or negatively).. i was simply there to handle business. i think the feeling would have been better had i had a job though.. i could have been there with no anxiety in my life whatsoever.

to return to my previous statement of "i need to get out of this apartment" also requires a look at my previous post entitled "Life Is Beautiful?" I understand that the majority of people, my friends included, work during the day. if they work at night, they sleep during the day. both of those provide no day-time relief for my symptoms (when did this turn into a dayquil commercial? hmm..) so during the day, i occupy my time with pointless nonsense (and redundancy). by night time, and i mean early night time, not this current time of night.. i am completely bored out of my mind.. seeking any sort of relief, any sort of escape from this repetitively bored state of existence. however, my friends, the ones that would hang out with me during the week, typically reside in the parish of livingston and don't have much incentive to drive out to BR just for me.. maybe i should provide more incentive.. hmm.. anyhow, so my night consists of even further boredom, leading to a great deal of ranting (as is exhibited through this post)

in closing (i know, finally! right?), i need something to do. something to occupy my time. i would love to stay busy the entire day and wonder where my free time went. at this point, it sounds like such a capital idea. people watching, eating, driving (not at the same time), catching up with old friends, anything really. heck, tennis would be nice! i need the exercise

scream your heart out

its been a long time since i've done one of these, but i've been having a lot of thoughts on my mind lately so i figured i would restart fresh and anew with a new blog, new site, new everything. xanga is dead.. or overrun by 12 year olds.. or both.

school is going well this semester. 12 hours. but likely the toughest 12 hours i've ever taken, but 9 of the most rewarding hours too. my spanish class sucks, although there is some lovely inspiration in there. the other courses are constitutional law, american foreign policy, and international terrorism.

in my international terrorism class, which is the best one this semester by far, we've had a lot of long, at length discussions on some very relevant, controversial issues. it seems to be a very rewarding class.

this post is more serious than i would have liked but.. whatev. enjoy. i shall return soon.

if terrorism is effective means for the terrorists to convey their messages and achieve their goals, does it become morally acceptable? ponder that one.