Furniture is heavy. Conversations while moving furniture can also be heavy.

I did a day's temp work yesterday shifting furniture at a local furniture shop - double beds, sofa beds, bookcases, wardrobes, that sort of thing. Turns out that a) they don't sell cheap and nasty mdf furniture, and b) real wood is really heavy.

I also spent a fair chunk of the afternoon debating belief in God with one of the other temps who was there that day. I used to do it loads at school in philosophy lessons, but I've been learning recently about the distinction between simply arguing generically for the existence of 'god', and actually pointing someone to Jesus. The problem with arguing in the abstract is that I'm not really trying to defend belief in 'a god', only belief in the one true God of the Bible. I'm not trying to say 'religion is good' - false religion isn't good - I'm actually kinda with Richard Dawkins on that much.
Ultimately the reason I believe in God, and think Him worth following, isn't because of the Design Argument or the Cosmological Argument (or even the Ontological Argument), it's because I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus - who was God and man and died to take away my sin, rising again to prove that He had succeeded.

These are the most important questions to answer: who is Jesus? Was He really God? What did He do when He died? Did He rise again? And therefore - can I have a relationship with a God who loves me?
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus is the thing that the whole Bible hinges on - the Old Testament points towards it, and the New Testament exists because of it. All other apologetics are to some extent secondary, they are bridges to these questions - the identity and work of Jesus is of first importance. It is the proof of the validity of the whole Bible and it is the revelation of the character of the God of love and it is the way we can be reconciled to God. (For more on the love of God, check out the latest post on Denise's blog.)

How people respond to Jesus will govern how they respond to God ('if you've seen me you've seen the Father'). I still think apologetics questions are worth answering - but if you never come to the question of Jesus and the Gospel, you won't be coming to the true God.

I'm still learning how to effectively move a conversation from abstract intellectual stuff onto the Gospel - any thoughts? How would you go about that kind of conversation?

And what do you think of Jesus? Is He who He said He is - and why?

I'm alive, and exams are dead!

So, I finished my last exam of university this afternoon. It's a strange feeling, thinking that I have no more work to submit towards my degree. 4 years and now it's done. Weird.

The last two weeks have been really intense. I had four exams in five days in the first week, and between then and my exam last Wednesday I had been spending long hours in the Learning Grid. I don't think I've ever revised with this level of intensity and focus, although I'm sorry to say my discipline dropped off for this final exam, as I had nearly a week to prepare from Wednesday's. Nonetheless, the exams seem to have gone pretty well (maybe better than they have a right to), and God has been gracious. Moreover I also feel more satisfied with this year's work than previous years.

I've been keeping a spreadsheet of marks from my degree - incorporating all my previous module scores and my coursework marks from this year. We've had a much higher percentage of coursework this year, and it's gone very well (including a third year module I took to overCAT). I need roughly an average of 75% from this year to guarantee a 1st (although if you're close the exam board may decide to give you one if your projects are good) and with my coursework, it's basically left me needing to average 70% from my exams and Group Project. It's impossible to predict though, and I've made some conservative entries in my spreadsheet. We've had good feedback on the project, and I'm hopeful, but I'll know for sure on results day.

Regardless, God has been good throughout my time at university. I've not been proud of my workrate all the time, but God, thankfully, does not work on the basis of Karma - He gives graciously and according to His will - and I know I can trust that whatever the outcome, it will be with my best interest in view.


On a lighter note, I think my exams highlight was hearing the account of a (nameless-for-their-own-protection) fellow student who was writing in an exam and went into a daydream mid-sentence. On returning to the hear-and-now they discovered to their horror that they had written an obscenity directed at the lecturer in place of the rest of the sentence. In panic they scribbled it out and then went to hit ctrl+f to find if it had happened at any other points - then realised it was a paper exam...