A Nerd Moment

I returned on Monday from traveling down south to see some old friends. The missionary I worked with a few years ago. The professor I worked for for 2 years. A good friend who was who was a student when I was there was visiting at the same time. The whole department of Bible professors. It was a great weekend. When I get in that culture again, I am reminded of how much of a nerd I am. I sat in on 5 classes on Friday, and it makes me realize how much I miss school. I just love learning in a class format.

Anywho, I thought I would look back at my top 5 favorite classes at Evangel. It was hard to narrow it down to 5, but I think I have done it. Here we go.

5. Intro to Psychology with Dr. Grant Jones

I was a psych minor, but when I took this class my first semester, I knew almost nothing about psychology. It turned out the class was awesome and a great intro into the field. It was one of those classes where it was fun to study for the tests because the material was so interesting. In addition, Dr. Jones was so good at tying in Spirituality and discussing faith matters in the contexts we were talking about. It made the class great.

4. Acts Book Study with Dr. Wave Nunnally

Nunnally was the man. Still is. He has such a handle on the historical context of the scriptures, as well as other factors that we tend not to think about, like geography. He lived in Israel for grad school, so he was immersed in the culture. In addition, Acts is something of his specialty. He has since written a full length commentary on the book which is amazing. I learned a ton about the book of Acts in this semester and which I could take it again.

3. Composition and Rhetoric with Dr. Nathan Nelson

I never would have thought that a composition class could be one of my favorites...but it is. This course is a big reason why I like writing so much now. Again, this class amazed my by how often real life issues came up in the context of faith and living. We only had 4 grades in this class, and it was 4 papers. That was a bit intimidating to a freshman, but I did good and learned a ton. I sat in on this class over the weekend and they were talking about the last paper, which involves exploring music for lyrics on social action. It was a great class all around.

2. Synoptic Gospels with Dr. Wave Nunnally

This class was so amazing. We looked at the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and learned about the characteristics of each. This class is still with me, as it has provided a framework for how I read the synoptics now. There were so many great questions asked and discussed in this class. The word I would connect with it is profound. It was a great one.

1. Jesus in the Gospels with Dr. Robert Berg

There are about three courses I could put on this list from Dr. Berg. He is simply a great teacher. He may be the best I know at presenting material, and then getting discussions going on the topic. He would often play the "Devil's advocate" and argue against whatever side students were arguing. He had inventive ways of illustrating points and making teaching points stick unlike anyone I have ever seen. This course was a seminar course on Jesus and his life. The culmination of the course was a project where we had to research one area of the life of Jesus and then do a half hour presentation on it. I chose "Jesus and Gentiles" and thoroughly had a blast doing it. I took this my last semester and wonder if maybe that it why it is my favorite. Regardless, it was a great class and I would love to take it again.