Time out for a status update

I have been on sabbatical since the beginning of May, and it winds to a close at the end of this month. What a precious gift has been given to Doris and me by Bible Fellowship Church, in allowing us this time off! Thank you, BFC'ers! And what a delight to know that BFC has been in the capable hands of Pastor Robb, and our pastoral intern, Scott Gruber. Thank you! And I appreciate our Board and their good work supporting Pastor Robb and Scott. Thank you!

Doris and I are doing our sabbatical here in Greenville, and it has been a great pleasure to worship at BFC. The congregation has been careful to allow us the sort of isolation needed in a sabbatical, and we are so grateful for that, too.

I had set several goals for this time away, some personal, some "professional." We have made good headway on some, not so good on others.

Professional Goals

• Recover working skills in Hebrew: this has been a success, though I want to go much further. If you hear me talking about "reading backwards," it is my way of referring to that beautiful ancient language.
• Read good prolegomena on Psalms studies: complete. I have read a good deal on this, and am benefiting from it in my Psalms studies.
• Translate and study 5 selected psalms: this has not been as successful. I will only complete Psalm 90. Though the translation and study has been thorough, I see once again how slowly I produce.  I am wrapping up an extended commentary on Psalm 90, and will produce some materials based upon that, hopefully completing before August. The other 4 psalms will have to find their way into my personal study when I return.
• Enjoy a spiritual refreshing: this I can't quantify, as I have no metric by which to measure it. But I do feel renewed, and eager to return. I suppose that counts as a success.

Personal Goals

• Get some chores around the house accomplished that have been on the list too long: success. Our bathroom remodeling project is finally complete (Larry Addis finished his part way, way back in the Fall, and did an excellent job). I have finally gotten my part done!), and other tasks have been wrapped up.
• Visit my mom and Doris' mom and dad. We had a wonderful time at Broad Reach (my mom's home) in May, and a wonderful time in Cedar Rapids with Doris parents in June.
• Renew exercise disciplines: this has been an overwhelming success. As far as I can tell, I'm still alive and kicking, so the P90X has not killed us yet. We have done several 5K runs, with more on the schedule, and the glimmerings of something a little more challenging, maybe, next spring.
• Finish the rewrite of Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix. I have made good headway, but will not complete this by the end of July.
• Worshiping at Lauri's church in Cincinatti, and Dani and Erik's church in Columbus: We will have completed this by the end of July. Would have liked to get to Josh and Abbies, but its just too far, this time.

What's Next?

• I am back in the saddle at BFC in August. Looking forward to returning!
• As far as a Preaching/Teaching schedule, I will be preaching a series on Psalm 90 in August, and then beginning a longer series on the book of Acts in September. I will be finishing up our ABF class on a biblical view of Church and State in August, and then teaching on the book of Romans in the Fall Quarter.
• With respect to writing, I have decided to abandon the traditional publishing route (an easy decision, based on the number of rejections I have received!) and self-publish. As soon as Outlander is done and out there, I will be writing a novel entitled The Candidate, hopefully completing it during the current presidential election. I have a stack of projects after that, that I can't wait to get to, probably enough to last the rest of my life, especially since I typically don't have time for writing except on days off and at night. Besides a sequel to Outlander, I also need to write a prequel for Makatozi's Revenge, and then edit MR to fit what I have done in the prequel.