I received this email from Apple this morning.

Notice the subject line. It goes along with my post yesterday. Wasn't it horrible to give all those gifts and do all that shopping for others. But rest assured, now things can get back to normal.

Christmas Giving

I tried to stay away from stores and the mall this week. Most of my shopping or gift making was done a month ago so I was able to avoid the traffic, crowds, and angry consumers. Being back in the states has been a bit strange. It definitely is a comercial culture. One example, there will be a huge shopping boom tomorrow. Wait a minute....why would they need to shop tomorrow?--Christmas is today. The difference is today (or yesterday) they shopped for others. Tomorrow, most people will shop for themselves. It's true there might be some great deals tomorrow. But I think that it is interesting that yesterday we bought for others while there was an expectation that others were buying for us. But tomorrow there is no expectation of others buying for us so we will buy for ourselves. Maybe you were planning ahead. There is something that you need and you waited so that you can buy at a reduced price....good thinking. But maybe for others, there really wasn't a time of the season that your attention was really not on yourself. You bought for others because they are buying for you and tomorrow you will buy for yourself to compensate for their failure. And maybe that is me. There are some things that I have been researching to buy but I'm trying to think through whether I really need them or if I am just trying to appease a decieved heart, looking for happiness in stuff.

I pulled some verses which display Jesus as Giver, maybe tomorrow you will continue to buy for others, to use your money to edify another or meet needs.

Luke 7:21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.

Matt. 14:16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

Matt. 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Luke 14:12   And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”

John 13:15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Acts 20:35 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

2Cor. 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Rev. 2:17 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

Rev. 21:6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

Classes are completed
My students took their final exams last week. They have a few more to take before the winter break. The semester was very profitable for giving me great experience in teaching a course. I was able to see all the work that goes into preparation and gained a deeper understanding of New Testament Survey.

I was able to take a hike up to the old city of Krapina last week with a friend from TBA. From its height, there were great views of the new city. The site was impressive with huge caves and remnant ruins and abandoned excavations.







A week ago, I woke up to horrible sound. The squeals of a pig about to be butchered. It is common here for a few neighbors to hire a butcher to slaughter their pigs all at once.


It is getting really cold here. It was 4 the other day. But tomorrow I'll be in California!

The Last Croatian Supper

Recently, the students in my New Testament class hosted the professors and other students from Teoloska Biblijska Akademija (TBA) to a reenactment of the last supper of the disciples with Jesus before his crucifixion, as part of their Last Supper Project. Here is the promo banner:
Students greatly anticipated the meal and some came with costumes. Since our focus was on the narrative of the gospel accounts, the meal resembled a middle eastern meal. We basically served soup for dipping, bread, and lamb (well...chicken).

We did mention some of the customs of modern passover seders but mostly our focus was on the dialogue and discourse taking place. The dialogue was derived solely from the gospel accounts, viewed harmonistically, and given in 6 parts with breaks in between for further explanation, reflection on Jesus' teaching, personal examination and conversation on current topics.

We were impacted by Jesus as servant, humbling Himself before men preoccupied with their exaltation, and how He left us an example to follow.



"After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). To conclude the meal, we sang a song reflecting the words of Psalm 118 (which most likely is the hymn referred to): Ovo je dan (this is the day). I gave instruction concerning this song because it is very popular in Croatian church life and in American as well. We often sing the song (This is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.) and refer to each day as a day the LORD has made. The words certainly are true. God has made each day and we are to rejoice in His creation. But the New Testament often refers to Jesus as the fulfillment of this Psalm. To more appreciate the song, we ought to think of it in its context. Namely that the day of Christ's crucifixion (when Jesus sang it with his disciples) was the day that the LORD made. It is that day in history the Psalm is referring to. Maybe we ought to sing..."That was the day, That was the day that the LORD made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it." It is significant that Jesus invited His disciples to rejoice and be glad in it with Him. And perhaps, this is echoed in Hebrews 12:2 (For the joy that was set before Him...). On that day, the stone which the builders rejected became our chief corner stone (cf. 1 Peter 2)

Album Invitation

Derek Webb is actually giving away his latest album: Mockingbird. He explains why here. I've listened to the album. The songs are definitely message oriented. I'm a bit leary of some of things Derek has said in concert. But I found these songs to be definitely challenging (to my profit) and thought-provoking. As far as musicianship, he is very talented.



The album is free if you sell 5 of your friends (at least their emails) and the invitation is only good for another week. If you're wondering, I haven't recieved any spam mail as a result of soming referring my email to get the album...so in this case I believe that the only email that your friends will get is the one telling them about freederekwebb.com.

Deleting for a Testimony

A confession: This morning I had 2gb of music files on my computer that I hadn't paid for but accumulated through various means: napster type internet programs, "borrowing" a cd from a friend... I just deleted them. I made many excuses for having them before: "If they didn't want people sharing them, they should have made it more difficult to do", musicians charge too much for their music, its cultural--everyone does it. But no matter how many justifying reasons I could come up with, it's still not right. A testimony is worth more to me than music and I want to answer "yes" to "Are you really different?", "Are Christians really different?"