Homework
Interesting Evening at Starbucks
01/17/09 03:54 PM Filed in: Personal
Last Saturday I went out to Starbucks in the evening
to work on some homework and drink a hot chocolate
(my usual drink of choice). Things started off fairly
normal. I ordered my drink, sat down, and began to
drudge my way through some back collateral reading. I
was sitting behind this older gentleman, probably mid
to late 60s, and I was amused (so shoot me) as I
watched him get more and more perturbed with a group
of young people (probably 24-25 years old) who were
sitting off in the corner just enjoying each others
company and laughing. At one point he turned around
and looked at me and muttered in a thick Russian
accent, "They're a bunch of nuts over there!", along
with a few other things I couldn't understand. I just
smiled, and politely nodded, but was rolling with
laughter inside. As the group was leaving, one of the
girls stopped to talk to him. Let's just say, he was
not quite polite 
I felt bad for her, and her group.
They turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and
they gave him a Watchtower Magazine before they
left, which he was not too thrilled with. He
then turned around and struck up a conversation
with me about the whole ordeal. I was very happy
to inform him that God's Bible School &
College was absolutely not a subsidiary of the
Jehovah's Witness Organization . We then talked about the riots of
'67 in Detroit, religion, his family, Starbucks,
and the list goes on. I found out his name was
Jim, and he was originally from Bulgaria. We
were eventually joined by his friend, David,
from Cincy. The topic again moved to religion,
and I was able to live out for them and explain
what I believe true Christianity is like. We
talked for nearly 2 hours about a myriad of
topics. All the while, I was sensing that this
was where God wanted me that night.
So, there we were, an Eastern Orthodox, a Catholic, and a Wesleyan Arminian. We had some in common, and many differences, but I am grateful for the opportunity that God placed in my Saturday evening to represent Him in a way that that was glorifying, enjoyable, and left a good taste for Christ, and the holy life in their mouth. It is truly an honor to live the Christian life. To witness for Him. To tell others about Him. We have been given much, and much we should share.
Ryan
I felt bad for her, and her group.
They turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and
they gave him a Watchtower Magazine before they
left, which he was not too thrilled with. He
then turned around and struck up a conversation
with me about the whole ordeal. I was very happy
to inform him that God's Bible School &
College was absolutely not a subsidiary of the
Jehovah's Witness Organization . We then talked about the riots of
'67 in Detroit, religion, his family, Starbucks,
and the list goes on. I found out his name was
Jim, and he was originally from Bulgaria. We
were eventually joined by his friend, David,
from Cincy. The topic again moved to religion,
and I was able to live out for them and explain
what I believe true Christianity is like. We
talked for nearly 2 hours about a myriad of
topics. All the while, I was sensing that this
was where God wanted me that night.
So, there we were, an Eastern Orthodox, a Catholic, and a Wesleyan Arminian. We had some in common, and many differences, but I am grateful for the opportunity that God placed in my Saturday evening to represent Him in a way that that was glorifying, enjoyable, and left a good taste for Christ, and the holy life in their mouth. It is truly an honor to live the Christian life. To witness for Him. To tell others about Him. We have been given much, and much we should share.
Ryan
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Dazed...
12/09/08 05:29 PM Filed in: School
It has been a very, very busy few weeks. The
Christmas play is now over (which is kinda sad), I
survived preaching in the annual service held at GBS
during the weekend of the Christmas play. Now it's
time to focus on homework. I admit, from where I
stand right now, it looks literally impossible to get
it all done, and I may not, but I know that the same
God Who was faithful to help me through last week is
still walking right by my side this week as well. The
pictures are of my in the Christmas play, in which I
played the statue (I was a walking, talking statue
when I wasn't frozen in place). It was so
much fun! The gray color was a mixture of face paint,
gray stage hairspray, and makeup. It took about 3
hours to put on every night, and about 30-40 minutes
to take off. The removal process involved scrubbing
my face and hair about 4 times thoroughly
with shampoo. Then using special makeup remover
around my eyes. The Lord was faithful to the cast,
choir, and orchestra, and the play went very well.
For more details and pictures see my Facebook. Will
post more when I have time.
Ryan
P.S. Photos compliments of Marilyn Muir, Jeremiah Parker, and Sharalyn Watters
Ryan
P.S. Photos compliments of Marilyn Muir, Jeremiah Parker, and Sharalyn Watters
This Is Your 4:30am Wakeup Call.
11/16/08 04:28 AM Filed in: School
Well, I just left the Schmul Center and arrived back at my room. The reason for my later (or early, depending on your point of view) arrival? The first major term paper of the semester. It's due Tuesday, and is...intense. I'm at 16 pages right now, and am not yet a third of the way through the outline. You see that beautiful picture above? That's where I'm heading! See yah!
Ryan
Too...Much...Reading...
10/23/08 08:35 PM Filed in: School
Alright, I like to read, usually, and I like theology, so it would seem to make sense that I would enjoy reading a commentary. However, I must admit, that after an hour straight of plodding my way through the depths of information overload (namely in the form of a commentary on Acts) I find myself, how shall I say this, stymied. I've just about reached the end of my hoarded resources. I can feel the information beginning to seep out around the edges. However, there is a silver lining, as I write this I sit in a Panera Bread, and earlier enjoyed their wonderful broccoli and cheddar soup, along with half of a chipotle chicken sandwich, both of which were, placidly perfect. Alas, they will be closing soon, and I must needs depart for another location not yet known (perhaps Starbucks). So, to thee, I bid adieu!
Ryan
1am Run to IHOP
10/03/08 11:45 PM Filed in: School
I was just getting into bed yesterday morning
(12:30am) when my friend Shane called me and asked if
I wanted to go on a trip to IHOP. It seems that he
and my other friend, Brandon, had tons of homework to
do for the next day, and thought IHOP would be a
conducive place to do it. It sounded good to me, so
off we go, traipsing through the night at 1 in the
morning to IHOP. You know, you see some interesting
sights at IHOP at 1am...most of which you wish you
hadn't...'nuff said. What better way to spend the
very early hours of a Friday morning than
eating pancakes and laughing with friends? You would
be amazed at what you find amusing at 1:30-2:00am
So, after the food, we got down to
homework, and hacked away till about 3:00 when
our adrenaline began to wane. We looked a sight.
We finally headed back to GBS a
little after 3, and made the unduly laborious
trek up to the colossal height of the 5th floor.
I crashed around 3:30, and got back up at 6am
for my 7am class. It was a most unique feeling.
I went through the class in something akin to a
stupor. Perhaps, "languid" or "lethargic" would
be a better adjective (well, technically, a
better object of a preposition, right? No. Any
English majors?). It was a strange experience.
Thankfully, I was able to power nap right after
that, because I didn't have a class for another
50min.. But, all things considered, it was worth
it. It's like my Mom said, "Enjoy it
while your young, because if you do that when
you get old, it'll mess you up for three days."
No wonder everybody was looking at us funny
Ryan
p.s. In case you can't tell, I haven't yet recovered from my depravation of sleep, hence my scatty prose. Mr. Profitt would not be impressed...
So, after the food, we got down to
homework, and hacked away till about 3:00 when
our adrenaline began to wane. We looked a sight.
We finally headed back to GBS a
little after 3, and made the unduly laborious
trek up to the colossal height of the 5th floor.
I crashed around 3:30, and got back up at 6am
for my 7am class. It was a most unique feeling.
I went through the class in something akin to a
stupor. Perhaps, "languid" or "lethargic" would
be a better adjective (well, technically, a
better object of a preposition, right? No. Any
English majors?). It was a strange experience.
Thankfully, I was able to power nap right after
that, because I didn't have a class for another
50min.. But, all things considered, it was worth
it. It's like my Mom said, "Enjoy it
while your young, because if you do that when
you get old, it'll mess you up for three days."
No wonder everybody was looking at us funny
Ryan
p.s. In case you can't tell, I haven't yet recovered from my depravation of sleep, hence my scatty prose. Mr. Profitt would not be impressed...
Fun Weekend Away
05/11/08 07:05 PM Filed in: School
Well, it's almost over. Finals started last Thursday,
and end (for me) this Tuesday. Oh....SO much to do!
But, God will be faithful (Heb. 13:5). I had a fun
weekend by going up to my grandparents and surprising
my mom (who was visiting) for Mothers Day. I even got
conned into to preaching Sunday (on very
short notice I might add 
).Travis (my cousin) and I had fun
plinking around with a few of his guns. We are
the bottle and dandelion kings when it comes to
.22LRs Good times! Well, Monday is my
biggest day, and I still have much to do. If you
happen to think of it, pray for this busy
college student!
The sniper Himself
Just me plinking around
Ryan
).Travis (my cousin) and I had fun
plinking around with a few of his guns. We are
the bottle and dandelion kings when it comes to
.22LRs Good times! Well, Monday is my
biggest day, and I still have much to do. If you
happen to think of it, pray for this busy
college student!
The sniper Himself
Just me plinking around
Ryan
Quick Update
05/02/08 01:54 AM Filed in: School
I decided not to make excuses for my long absence from the blogosphere, but let me just say that it involves homework (well, I guess I just did anyway)... I just finished taking an assessment exam for Greek. Let's just say, better luck next time... Let me forewarn you, you may not see too much of me over the next two weeks as finals start Thursday of next week. But, hopefully after that I will have some time to relax, and blog, and sleep, and live!
May you have a peaceful, quiet, serene, slow-paced, lollygagging day
Ryan
I'm Tired
04/11/08 01:23 AM Filed in: School
Well, it's 1:24AM and I just got back from doing
Lesson 29 exercises for Greek class tomorrow with
Shane. I seemed
destined to never get to before before midnight
again. Let me introduce you to this wonderful
language (and I mean that seriously, even though
I don't always feel like it. Besides, you can't
argue with God because it was His choice to
reveal the New Testament in Koine Greek). Or
maybe should I say, let me introduce you to the
bane of 1st year Greek students. Infinitives,
and participles.
They're bad enough in English, now Greek?! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Ryan
They're bad enough in English, now Greek?! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Ryan
Late Night
03/27/08 10:02 PM Filed in: School
Ahh, it was another late night here at GBS for a certain college student (yours truly). It was about 2 am when I rolled into bed. Can I be done yet? I'm ready for summer. But, it's good for me, and I'm learning a lot. Well, on to Greek. Were working on aorist participles right now...the fog is pretty thick right now. And I'm taking 2nd year Greek when I don't have to?! I need my head examined! Or in the words of Festus, "much learning doth make thee mad" (Acts 26:24).
Ryan