day 1

today started my first day of seminary at nobts. first day of grad school. i haven't been to all of my classes yet, in fact, i've only had 2 so far, but i can already tell its going to be a good bit of work.

intro to greek is going to be interesting for sure. i am excited about the end product of learning greek, but not all that excited about actually learning the language. as far as the work goes, the course is nothing unreasonable and the professor seems like a pretty good guy.. its just the task of learning a new language with an unfamiliar alphabet, structure, etc. i'll keep you updated.

philosophy of religion is going to entail an enormous amount of difficult reading, as well as a number of pretty lengthy, in-depth papers. dr. stewart is an awesome guy and is very knowledgeable in the study of philosophy, apologetics, religion, etc. he has an incredibly dry sense of humor, which makes class extremely enjoyable. i'm really excited about getting deeper into the subject matter of this course because i know he has a lot of knowledge to offer and i can learn a great deal from his lectures and from the course readings. but its definitely not going to be a cakewalk either.

next up is worship leadership. haven't been to it yet so my only knowledge is what i read on the syllabus online. it'll definitely have some nuggets that i can take from the class and apply in worship, ministry, and just in my daily walk. one of the projects in the course requires us to attend 3 different styles of worship service.. examples included Jewish, charismatic, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Vineyard.. anyhow, it'll be really interesting not only to attend these services, but to be there with the primary purpose of taking notes and learning from the way in which these other groups "produce" worship services

spiritual formation is a thursday only course. it's basically a small group (8 people) discussion course designed for first year graduate students. i'm also taking an Old Testament hybrid course which meets on Fridays once a month and supplements the rest of the course with online material and independent readings.

so thats where i'm at. not much else has been going on in life. i need to find a job and i need to find one soon. if you know of anywhere that is hiring, please let me know! tuition and books wiped out the rest of the money i had collected for the trip to ecuador, which, by the way, was incredible! i just realized i still havent posted a "post-ecuador blog" so i'll have to get on that pretty soon.. if you havent seen the pictures, head over to the facebook and look at em there. the landscape/scenery/terrain was amazingly beautiful. everywhere i looked there was another view that just blew me away.

enjoy.

t-minus 2 weeks and counting

so i made this one about half as long as the last one.. more concise = better viewability. i tried playing a little music in the background to help spruce it up a little bit, so hopefully that turned out decent enough. oh and btw, i'm not quite sure what the chirping sound you'll hear in the background is. it happened on the last video too. i think it might be the fan in my computer spinning but i'm not all too sure. anyway, happy viewing =)

chapter nine

so i figured it was time for an update. lots of news. well not really, but it sounds good haha

the trip to boston was great! the weather was in the 60s the entire time, and although it rained pretty much every second of everyday we were there, it was extremely enjoyable. much better than the 100+ temperatures down here.

tuesday, dad and i moved the rest of my big stuff (bed, dresser, nightstand) home to help get the pool house/game room finished for me to move into and live here for.. well, i'm not really sure how long it will be. i just knew that commuting to seminary, working a part-time job, plus other expenses would be much easier without a rent bill over my head every month so here i am. there's still some work that needs to be accomplished, but i hope to post some pictures soon. stay tuned :)

tonight is my first night to stay out here. i've slept out here countless nights over the years when i was growing up.. sleep overs. late night n64 parties (haha), watching tooth and nail compilation videos, shooting pool. good times. great memories. but tonight is different. its not just a sleepover-esque night with friends over and back to the house tomorrow.. no, this is now my home. i'm excited about it though. excited about what the future holds in store. everytime i've moved into a new apt or whatever, i can look back and notice a distinctly new chapter being written in my life. i'm excited to see what this one holds.

i received my official acceptance letter to seminary earlier this week! classes start august 17th, with orientation the thursday and friday before then, so i'm not quite sure what courses i'll be taking yet, but i have a general idea. i'm really excited to get started with seminary, immersed in the study of God's word.. it can't get much better than that!

all of the money i needed to raise for Ecuador was raised, plus some, so excess money is being set aside to help fund my tuition/books for my first semester in seminary, but it was definitely a blessing to have the Ecuador trip fully funded. thank you all for your help and support, both financially and prayerfully.

much love. trent.

greater things have yet to come

i want to start out by saying, i don't have a job. i've finished college. i really don't have much to do on a daily basis.. but i am extremely excited about what God is doing in my life right now.

as some of you know, i've been attending Christ's Community Church in Denham Springs for a few months now, and nothing against the church, but i never felt like it was my home. i basically settled because thats where my parents were going and i knew some people there. God had other plans in mind.

as of next sunday, i'll be the bass guitarist for Purpose (the 1130 band at Live Oak Methodist). Jonathan Hetrick is attending seminary, getting married, and thus moving away from Watsonopolis (hehe). Mrs. Terrie called me up and asked me if i was interested and, at first i wasn't 100% certain, so i did some praying about it and definitely knew God was calling me back to Live Oak. i attended the past two sundays and am really glad to be back. i know its all for a reason and can't wait to see what God has in store.

meanwhile, Christ's Community is moving into the building formerly known as Eden Baptist Church and will have their first service in there next Sunday. so i'm helping them do some construction/maintenance/repairs/remodeling around the church this week in preparation for their big move. the church members are really excited about it and moving to their own facility (even though only somewhat temporarily) will give them the opportunity for tons of ministry opportunities that were just unfeasible during their tenure at DSJH.

the mission trip to Ecuador at the end of the summer is shaping up nicely. the group that is going has really connected very well and i'm excited to see what God has in store for us in ministering to the kids in Ecuador. i know the experience will be an eye opener for me and can't wait to get that rejuvenation.. it'll be perfect timing too. we'll get home about a week before seminary starts.

seminary update: i contacted the seminary at the end of the previous week asking what documentation they were still waiting on. two of my references hadn't submitted their papers yet, and judson hadn't mailed off the church statement yet. i got in contact with all three at the beginning of last week and everything should have arrived at the seminary on wednesday or thursday. so hopefully, now that the seminary finally has all my paperwork, i will know something within the next couple weeks and i will be certain to let you all know.

God is doing a lot in my life right now and i feel like He's definitely preparing me for even greater things to come in the weeks and months ahead. i'm just excited to be a part of it and can't wait to see all that He has in store.

much love. trent.

video killed the radio star

I thought it'd be cool to change it up a little bit and do a video update instead of just tons of boring text. Who actually reads anymore?! Haha anyways.. hope you enjoy.