The Christmas Bells That Still Ring

Yesterday morning, I attended Trinity Lutheran Church with my family, and Pastor Virgil Cain gave a brief yet excellent meditation drawing from a poem-turned-into-a-hymn penned in 1863 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), a great poet and literary scholar, titled “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” As I listened to the pastor, my heart was encouraged and comforted by his message and I had to share this poem with you.

Winter Prayer Update

At this moment, I am home sitting in my parents’ house’s family room under a blanket, surrounded by Christmas lights, as I happily write this prayer update letter to you, my valued readers.

Yuletide Morning

I was the first one to awaken this morning, and not a (human) creature stirred in the house. Calm and quietude reigned the place this yuletide morning.

A Thanksgiving Hymn and Prayer

We Gather Together

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

A Contagious Virus of Thankfulness

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100)

Fall Prayer Update

Rest assured: I am still alive, and I know it has been a while since my last update. Since this is the first day of my thanksgiving break, I think it is probably time for me to let you know how things have been over the past few months.

5 Lessons Learned by a First-Year Seminarian

A milestone has passed in my life recently: I moved to Alabama to begin my Masters in Divinity (M.Div.) studies at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University last year! I have never been this far from my family and friends, and I was naturally nervous about what life would throw at me. I am constantly amazed with the Lord’s gracious providence and the new mercies he pours in my life everyday like a refreshing rain in summer. God has taught me many profound lessons about my life and how I can relate with the transcendent yet intimately personal Trinitarian God.

Farsi Language Learning

Some of the guys in our group got together for a practice session of Farsi late (really) last night. We were able to learn about 15 words and a few basic verb phrases. And let me say this: learning a spoken language is hard, especially for a deaf person who can't speak every English word correctly. While it is helpful to know how to say a few useful words that Turkish people use, it is hard to remember how to say it.

Amsterdam and Taksim

It is my second full day in Istanbul, Turkey, and I am still exhausted from my flight a couple of days ago. Since we are on a break for a little over one hour, I decided to write some things that we have done and seen so far. I apologize if it seems a little halting or random, but I wanted to summarize the best I can.

Bon Voyage!

I am departing Birmingham in a few hours with a group from Samford University on a 14-days trip to Istanbul, Turkey. After a brief flight, we will hop onto another plane in Atlanta for an overnight flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands (eight hours total). We will have a seven-hour layover in Amsterdam until we depart for Istanbul, Turkey. We expect to arrive around midnight on Sunday, and I think all of us will be exhausted by then!

The Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Struggle for Freedom

A little over one week remains until I head to Turkey for a trip, and I am eager to see how dad is using various workers in that country! I am in the process of reading four different books on the countries of Turkey and Iran in addition to Islam. I just completed a book called The Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Journey to Freedom by Afshin Molavi. The author currently holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, reports on Iran for Reuters, is a columnist for The Washington Post, and contributor of several publications. He did an excellent job of integrating cultural, political, economic, and societal aspects of Iran in this book. Since I have to incorporate some of my reflection on this in my paper, I figured I could write a blog post about it and share with you as well! While this is not an official review of the book itself, I hope that some things I will point out here will whet your interest in exploring the history of Iran and how it continues to struggle for freedom.

Summer Prayer Update

Summertime has officially begun for me, and things are just starting to heat up in the Deep South! My first year of seminary is officially over, and I survived it! I even had the opportunity to show a piece of Birmingham to my sister who flew in town for a couple of days after my finals was done (see picture on the right taken at the Peanut Depot where they roast simply amazing peanuts). I just got back in town after a week-long vacation with my family in North Myrtle Beach, and my time with the family was a sweet one.

Turkey: Ministry and Missions in an Ancient Land

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I am almost finished with my first year at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, AL (only 4 weeks remain until my final exams begin), and this past year has been an amazing one for me! I thank God daily for your constant prayers and words of encouragement as I dedicate this portion of my life to studies for future ministry to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Bound to The Strong Name of the Trinity

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“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful” (Col. 3:14-15).

On February 4th, Beeson Divinity School hosted a day-long Spiritual Formation retreat for all Beeson faculty, students and their spouses at the Aldridge Botanical Gardens, and it was a wonderful time for me to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of my life and spend the day in solitude and quietude. Little did I know that God would use this retreat and a specific Celtic prayer to strengthen and encourage me, deepen my personal prayer life, and aid me during times when I struggle while in seminary.

In Christ Alone

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The Lord continues to do amazing work in my heart, especially when I pause and consider what has transpired over the past few years and especially since I moved to Alabama, but there still remains much work to do in my heart for the rest of my life. As I continue to read the Bible daily and ponder what Christ has done for me, I become more aware of my depravity and how dependant I am upon the Holy Spirit for my sanctification. On my good days, I am careful to obey his commandments and emulate Christ's example in my life.

However, there are times when I chose to deliberately rebel and dishonor God by, for example, doing things that is explicitly forbidden in the Bible, not loving my neighbors as myself, or not doing things that should have been done. I may have minimized certain sins in my life or even sinned against God without knowing it. When I sin, I am convicted of what I have done by the Holy Spirit and thus turn back to God. I have been sobered by the truth that I have not loved God as much as I should have, and I suspect that this is something that everyone struggle with, regenerated or not.

March Prayer Update

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Flowers are beginning to bloom in Birmingham, and spring is just around the corner! Although I didn’t take the picture on the left, this was taken by someone at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a place I have visited on several occasions. I love to take a walk around the park and always find this time to be spiritually refreshing!

I am settled down with my studying habits at Beeson right now and have been enjoying all of my classes and a relatively mild winter weather common in the “the heart of Dixie”! While I do miss snow and cold winter weather, I have found this weather extremely beneficial for me to maintain my running and cycling hobbies. Not intending to draw any ire from my Northern friends, but I have not wore my winter coat once this winter in Alabama to this date and I am thrilled! :)

Update: The Baby Hope Project

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The past couple of weeks have been crazy at school, and, as expected, I only had a little sleep. I am just happy that it is Friday today - not only because I can catch up on my sleep, but also because I can finally update you on the Baby Hope project that transpired on February 11, 2011! Make sure you read the follow-up letter at the bottom of this post from the Williamson family!

On Quadragesima, plus several ideas

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When I mention “Bourbon Street,” what does it make you think about? New Orleans and, if you are in the South, Mardi Gras!


I live around 4-6 hours from New Orleans right now (this is just a quick guess), and I had the opportunity to visit this lovely city last summer and toured a small part of New Orleans during a ministry conference. I would not be surprised if some people from this area made an annual “pilgrimage” to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. And it is appropriately named as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday; I think it should also be known as the day of gluttony where people stuff up on food and donuts. Actually, this brings back good memories to me when my ex-boss along with a few other co-workers cooked up donuts for all employees last year where I worked. And I would be lying if I said I only had two donuts because they were delicious!


Why do people partake in gluttony on Mardi Gras? That is because it falls on the day prior to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season marked by fasting and abstinence. Lent is a Christian observance of the liturgical calendar that spans over a period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday (the six Sabbaths during Lent are not counted toward this total), and it is practiced by millions of Protestants and Catholics across the world. This is perhaps one of the most important seasons of Christian calendar events apart from Christmas and Easter.

February Prayer Update

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My first semester is well underway, and I find myself in a familiar place once again: buried in my books. Since I am taking Old Testament (OT) Theology and New Testament (NT) Theology classes in addition to Greek Syntax and Translation and Reformation History and Doctrine this semester, I have to read every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations (66 books in 15 weeks is not a bad thing but is not a small feat!), in addition to new paradigms and verb tenses for Greek. Things are getting a lot harder (who said it would get easier?!), but rest assured: I am still loving seminary and the mild weather in the South! :)

I thought I would update y’all about two things: 1) what I have been thankful about over the past month and 2) how you can continue to pray for me in the near future.

What Do Seminarians Do?

I'm currently swamped with my readings for Old Testament Theology, New Testament Theology, Greek, and Reformation History and Doctrine classes. However, I saw this rather humorous picture and I had to share it with you. This does reflect pretty well what people think seminarians like myself do while in school.

Bring Baby Hope Home!

I have been friends with Angie for a few years now, and she has interpreted for several of my seminary classes at Beeson Divinity School. She is one of the most awesome people I’ve known in my life, and God has implanted something wonderful in her family’s heart!

Angie shared with me last summer at a ministry conference in New Orleans sponsored by the Fund for Theological Education that her family is seriously contemplating and praying about adopting a child from China. To make a long story short, God has led Angie and her husband over the past few months to a particular girl named Qian Yi or “Baby Hope” (see the picture above). Her brown eyes is what captivated the hearts of Angie and her husband (admit it – she does looks adorable!), and she has a bilateral cleft lip and palate, a condition that can be easily resolved through a surgical procedure. Angie shared with me that there are several reasons why she has the cleft palate and lips condition: the Eustachian tubes was not properly formed in her ears and her lips and palate was not developed properly. After an evaluation, she might have an surgery to have the tubes inserted in her ears so she can hear again. Moreover, she might never be able to talk clearly (even after the procedure), so the family will be teaching Hope sign language once she arrives in America.

The Williamson family at this point is ready to bring Hope home, but they need to raise some funds to be able to do this. And they came up with a nifty idea that entails serving a widow for one entire day!

Golfing at the Highland Park Golf Course: A Lesson on 1 Timothy 4:7-8

View from the parking lot at
Highland Park Golf Course

I do enjoy golf, but I am not good at it. In fact, “not good” might be an understatement.

You see, I almost hit a golfer at the tenth hole about a month ago while I was on the first tee at the first hole of a public golf course with a friend in Alabama (if he died, my spotless record would be ruined). And must I also mention that I lost almost all of the balls I hit that day and none of them landed in the fairway or the greens? So I didn’t have a good first day as a player on a golf course.

Topography of Faith

We have heard many times about the importance of sharing the gospel with other people (a.k.a. evangelism), but there is one problem: we are scared of it. Most of us are intimidated by the concept of going to strangers and sharing with them about Jesus. I have never been particularly passionate about evangelism or mission work in the past, but things have changed a bit with my perspectives on missions and evangelism since I started seminary.

January Prayer Update

I just arrived in Birmingham a couple of days ago after my four-week hiatus over Christmas, and I am refreshed and renewed to begin my new semester next Tuesday! In fact, I am looking forward to studying in Samford University’s Library once again.

A Billion-Suns-Size Star

Do you remember how you were taught in your astronomy class that a million planets the size of our earth could fill our sun in the solar system? Well, scientists just discovered an even bigger star in our universe that dwarfs our sun - in fact, it is a billion-suns-size star! See the video below for more.

Tim Tebow and Pure Religion

Tim Tebow is one of NFL’s most storied player this season. He has not only an uncanny ability to secure victories when all odds are stacked against him but also bears an uncompromising Christian message and example while playing for the Gators and Broncos. He did not shy away from wearing “John 3:16” on his eye black prior to the 2009 BCS Championship game. He told a reporter that he is still a virgin and waiting to have sex until after he is married. He has kneeled in prayer after college and NFL victories, consistently thanked Jesus during his interviews, and even used scriptural passages in the locker room. He even appeared in a thinly veiled anti-abortion commercial by Focus on Family for 2010 Super Bowl. Tim has been an inspiration for countless people ever since he entered the public scene as a quarterback.

Why I Love Koine Greek

I have a strange love-hate relationship with Koine Greek. And here’s why.

A Brief Word of Welcome

Greetings!

My name is Bruce, and I am a Northern boy living in the Deep South! In August 2011, I decided to begin a new chapter in my life by relocating to Birmingham, AL to begin my formal education and training as a minister for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.