Good Morning—Welcome to -1°F

It was -1°F when I stepped outside my cabin door at 7:30 am. Kind of took my breath away! I know I should be experienced in this type of cold after living in Canada but Texas has a way of making one "soft" in the area of cold weather.
I taught from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm with 53 students in class. They seem like a great bunch of young people, eager to learn. After lunch I took a 50 minute walk down the plowed road leading up into the school/camp area. I usually walk up in the mountains but the trails are a little too deep for me this year. As I walked along the road I saw the tracks of numerous animals (esp. deer) all over the snow-covered meadows and forest trails. Last year two mountain lions were shot on the school property (one is hung now in the dining room!) and a third close by. One of the mountain lions had killed one of the dogs living on the property so they felt they had to get rid of them. Just yesterday a staff member saw another set of tracks so I'll probably stick to walking on the road these days. In Dallas all I would have to be afraid of is a drive-by shooting or something similar.
The students are learning how to share their faith in a class tonight and soon I'll meet them down at the Hob Nob (coffee shop with a wood burning stove in the new gym building). Pray for our time together.

A Week in Montana

Each October I make my annual pilgrimage up to Montana for a week. I spend this week teaching approximately 60 young people who are attending Montana Wilderness School of the Bible (http://www.mwsb.org/). My goal is to "cover" the Pentateuch over the next five morning with these young people who are investing a year of their life (mostly right out of high school) to learn the Bible and how to live Christianly in this world. I've been coming here since 2004 and it has become for me not only an opportunity to reconnect and teach young people but also a spiritual retreat in a wonderful part of God's creation.
I arrived here around 4 pm today (after a flight from Dallas to Minn/St.Paul, another flight to Great Falls, MT, and then an hour and a half drive west to the edge of the Rocky Mountains. We drove to the end of the road, right where the Lewis and Clark National Forest begins, and right where the school/camp is located.
There is about a foot of snow on the ground (see picture on the left taken outside the door of my cabin), the clouds are hanging over the peaks of the mountains, the smell of a wood fire is in the air, everything is silent, and the presence of our Glorious God is everywhere if you chose to recognize it.
Dinner will be in the dining hall (see the picture above right) in an hour. The students are returning this evening from a long weekend and I am looking forward to meeting them all for the first time.
I am enjoying the warm weather in Texas but a long icicle hanging from the roof of the cabin is still a thing of beauty. I'll probably break one off to eat it tonight (I'm on weight watchers and whenever I find something I can eat that is 0 points, I'm trying it!).
Pray for my ministry here to these young people.

After 56 years

Yesterday I turned 56 years of age. I don't feel that old. But my hair is no longer dark brown and my beard is almost completely gray. I know I'm not a teenager but I still feel I have good energy and a desire to serve the Lord with all that I am. After 56 years I wish I knew a little more, was more holy, communicated better, and trusted the Lord more in the routines of life. But I am not once I once was and I hope to keep growing.
This past year I preached over 30 times (my home church Waterbrook.org and 7 others), taught 10 courses at DTS (280 lectures), spoke at 2 weekend retreats and at a family camp (Northern Pines), led and taught on 2 Israel Tours, traveled to Jordan to teach at JETS and speak at churches, did an "academic" river tour down the Grand Canyon, had a great vacation with my wife in British Columbia as we visited Sarah and John, saw my daughter Charity (and husband Justin) face melanoma cancer, rejoiced with Joshua as he got engaged to Haleight (wedding this coming May), saw Jeff Denton come to be our lead pastor at Waterbrook, took on a new position as Department Chair of Bible Exposition, postponed my sabbatical from next year to the following year, and enjoyed life.
I'm still in love with my wife Sharon after 34 years, I am enjoyed my adult children and their spouses (still waiting for grandkids, hint), glad my mother and father, brothers and sisters are still healthy and following the Lord and I still enjoy ministry at DTS and when I get a chance to travel I love to preach (last week Joshua and I did a sermon-duet at Bayside (http://www.baysidecommunitychurch.net/speakers.html).
Sometimes I think I get a little too busy but I do want to make my life count while I'm here on earth these few short years. This November I will celebrate 20 years of my kidney transplant (thanks Eleanor for the gift) and so I am perhaps conscious more than most that our days are numbered and we are responsible to the Lord to use each day for his glory. I take time to watch TV, read, eat, meet with people, etc. My wife helps keep my feet on the ground and and my life practical.
This coming year, besides my regular duties at DTS and Waterbrook, I am planning to help lead the IFL Swindoll tour to Israel (http://www.insight.org/ministry/events/israel-2010.html), to teach at Word of Life in Hungary (and possibly also in Romania), to teach in Hong Kong, preach at Crier Creek Family Camp, to teach at Montana Wilderness School of the Bible, perform the wedding of Joshua and Haleigh, go to Ontario to celebrate my parents 60th, and lose some weight. I'll report, Lord willing, next year on how my 56th year went!

Bramer's book in Korean

About 6 years ago I coauthored a commentary on Genesis with Dr. Kenn Gangel (who recently passed away) in the Holman Old Testament Commentary series edited by Max Anders (http://www.amazon.com/Holman-Old-Testament-Commentary-Genesis/dp/0805494618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251556690&sr=8-1). Yesterday I received a copy of a book in Korean with the translated English title "Main Idea." Apparently (since I am struggling to read Korean!) it is the Korean translation of the commentary I coauthored. It does has my name on it (in English: click on the photo to the right and you can get a larger view of the front cover) and I'll get one of my Korean students at DTS to take a look at it and assure me that the translation doesn't have me writing heresy! I (By the way, the dedication of this book was to my daughter Sarah who proofread it and made great suggestions on it to me. Her name is still on the dedication page of the Korean translation!) I'll post the back cover and dedication page at the bottom of this post. I have a sabbatical coming up in two years (I was asked to postpone it from 2010-2011 so I could have two years in my new position as Chair of the Bible Exposition Department) and this encourages me to continue to think about writing something during that time that would be of help to pastors and other believers in the local church. I'm thinking right now of something from the OT prophets since they are not used much and many struggle to understand them even in their devotional reading. Any ideas from those of you who know me or have heard me preach or teach? (A really good suggestion could get you mentioned in the forward of the book!)

My son is engaged!

My son (and my wife's son too) Joshua got engaged tonight to Haleigh Garnett! Sharon and I are very pleased. We think the wedding may be next June/July (?) but we'll have to wait a few weeks until all sorts of people are consulted.
Joshua asked Haleigh "the question" down on one knee on the shores of a Texas lake. She said something like, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh . . . I would love to!" (I assume this answer can be taken as an expressive "yes")
The two of them came back to our house, where unknown to Haleigh, a group of their friends and her parents (both sets) and grandparents had gathered with us to celebrate with ice-cream cake and some sparkling grape juice for a toast. Lots of hugs, a few tears of joy, and lots of laughter.
I am so thankful to God for the godly young woman who will be marrying my son. Haleigh started her relationship with the Lord about four years ago shortly after Joshua met her at an AA meeting. She asked Sharon to disciple her and for almost a year they met in our kitchen every Monday night to learn how to study the Bible and get to know the Lord. At Haleigh's request and with the backing of our home church, Waterbrook Bible Fellowship, Sharon had the great privilege of baptizing her a couple of years ago. Haleigh is going to graduate this next summer from Criswell College where Joshua too will graduate at the same time. I believe God has something special in mind for these two. What a privilege to have had a part in their lives. Tonight I am rejoicing in God's goodness and mercy toward my son, my future daughter-in-law, and also to Sharon and myself.

34th Wedding Anniversary

August 22nd was the day of our wedding, 34 years ago. I was so excited that this year I would not be away at the DTS faculty workshop (which often occurs on our anniversary), and that it would be on a weekend (during the week we both have responsibilities of the starting of our schools), BUT then Sharon announced (rather sheepishly I think) that she had a women's ministry planning retreat for the ladies of DTS! So I got up had breakfast with my good friend Stan Johnson, shopped at Home Depot (no, not for Sharon!), fixed a broken light fixture, went to a jewellery store to get repaired Sharon's wedding ring which had (some years ago) lost a small diamond, bought some flowers, bought some special items for an at-home anniversary dinner (I only do stuff that can be cooked on the gas grill), and had everything ready for Sharon when she arrived home at about 8 pm. You might think I should be cheered for doing these things but those who know us well know that I have many, many such labors of love still to be performed to come anywhere close to showing Sharon the love she has shown me during these good years together.
I'm looking forward to many more years together with the love of my life.

Home from Jordan

Yesterday I started on a 24 hour journey from Amman, Jordan to New York, to Salt Lake City and finally to Vancouver B.C. I was supposed to meet my wife Sharon in Salt Lake City but her plane was late from Dallas. They wouldn't let me switch because I was on an "international baggage match itinerary" and Sharon made it to the gate while I was on the plane still waiting but they wouldn't let her board! She made it late last night and so we are together again for which I am very thankful.
My last few days in Jordan were great as I traveled to Petra, Wadi Rum (see pic), Lot's Cave (see pic), Dead Sea (see pic) and back to Amman and then to the airport. I met some bedouin friends in Petra who I have known over the years of visiting (and got two invitations for meals in the bedouin village). I will have some more pictures next week when I get my computer fixed (I'm using my wife's computer now).
Right now I am sitting in John and Sarah's apartment looking out over the city of Vancouver with the mountains in the background. It is green, snow on the mountains, cool — the exact opposite of what I have been experiencing the last few weeks in Jordan. But I have come home with a renewed love for the Body of Christ in the Arab world and an appreciate for all that we have here in North America, so much of what I take for granted until I am reminded of what some people in other parts of the world have or don't have. I hope to go back soon to encourage, teach, help again.