Last week you saw a new look to the blog and heard about some of our new year events. But this week we wanted to update everyone, at least in part, as to a new vision God is giving us for our time here seminary in Minnesota. Part of my (Marcus) educational emphasis here has been the Biblical languages. They are both an emphasis of my school and a personal priority while I'm here at Bethlehem Seminary. But that little seed of study was expanded seven-fold last semester.
While at a conference in Atlanta, a classmate and I learned about a study program in Israel that teaches the Biblical languages like living languages (e.g.-French, Russian, Arabic...). For a number of reasons I'll tease out in the future both he and I got incredibly excited as we saw it as a clear next step to what God had been doing in each of our lives individually. When we talked with our wives about it they were both extremely excited as well seeing this course of study as fitting for the God-given trajectory of our families. So, the short story is, we're making plans for me to go to Israel this summer and study Biblical Hebrew via this method. There are lots of details still to be worked out but we've been seeking counsel from many friends and advisors, all seem to say, "go for it!"
So, expect more updates on this in the coming months, and please do pray for us as this is a huge undertaking that is beyond our abilities. But we serve a God who is not bound by our abilities!
AND...
How could we not add a few more pictures of Benaiah (בְּנָיָהוּ) -
Yes, he did stand up all by himself!!
