Hey, Everyone!!!

I am here in Atlanta, Georgia, having attended some of the annual conferences of the Evangelical Theological Society, Evangelical Philosophical Society, Society of Biblical Literature, and Institute for Biblical Research, and also some of the Annual Dinner of the Evangelical Textual Criticism Blog. This is my first time attending some of such conferences in the US, and much of the experience has been great. One of the better aspects of the trip has been meeting or listening to people whom I had never seen and reconnecting with people who are normally in some other part of the country or the world. I've also attended talks on different topics, though, with this being my first time at these events, one of my main goals was to meet or listen to scholars whose academic work I have read or been aware of but whom I have never encountered in person. In some cases, I talked to them for no more than a minute. Even so, if I read some of their work in the future, I would be able to associate that work with a real person whom I have met, which would give a different slant and perspective to the task of research or reading.

Scholars or notable persons whom I met in person and also to whom I listened include Bryant Wood, Ed Yamauchi, Michael Licona, Craig Keener, Peter Enns, Craig Bartholomew, Eugene Merrill, Michael Kruger, Robert Gagnon, Mytro Theocharous, Charles Hill, Andreas Köstenberger, Angus Menuge, Don Barker (of Macquarie University), Daniel Block, Doug Petrovich, Brent Nongbri, Ellen Renee Lerner, Francis Beckwith, G. K. Beale, Steven Runge, Brant Pitre, Pieter Kwant of Langham Partnership, and Gordon McConville.

Scholars or notable persons whom I met in person include Miroslav Wolf, Richard Hess, Bill Warren, Darrell Bock, Lee Martin McDonald, John R. Yeatts, Paul Copan, John Walton, James Davila, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Tremper Longman III, Milton Acosta, David Wood, Markus Bockmuehl, Walt Kaiser, Rodger Young, Nabeel Qureshi, Hugh Ross, Peter Payne, L. Michael Morales, Buist Fanning, Dan Wallace, Robert Webb, Philip Barton Payne, Gary Habermas, Douglas Moo, Christopher Ansberry, Preston Sprinkle, Ross Inman, Paul Gould, Sean McDowell, Dan Gurtner (who did me an act of kindness that I shall not soon forget), José Scott (of Editorial Verbo Divino), Imad Shehadeh (of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary), Chris du Pond, Phillip Evans (of American Friends of Tyndale House, Cambridge), Bo Ljungberg (I think of Sweden), Christian Askeland, Stanley Porter, Pari Chowdhary, Niveen Sarras, Raymond Van Leeuwen, Constantine Campbell, Terry Mortenson, and David Bauer.

Scholars or notable persons to whom I listened include Jodi Magness, John Dominic Crossan, Richard Horsley, John Warwick Montgomery, Paige Patterson (to whom I talked afterwards, whether I said my name to him or not), Wesley Hill, Craig Blomberg (to whom I talked and said 'Paul' at or around the end of our encounter, whether or not that is meeting him), Francis Watson, Jens Schroeter, Gerry Breshears, Richard Burridge, Mark Goodacre, Andrew Lincoln, Joel Marcus, Bart Ehrman, R. Walter Moberly, Walter Brueggemann, Petri Luomanen, Paula Fredriksen, Scott Hafemann (I'm not entirely sure if I met him in the UK, but if I did not, I did meet him here in Atlanta), N. T. Wright (whom I met in London), Christopher Wright, Paul Foster (my primary PhD supervisor), William Lane Craig (whom I met in an airport on a trip to Hungary, if I had not met him before), Nathaniel Jeanson, John Barclay (I think I met him in the UK) and Pamela Eisenbaum.

Some Brazilian doctoral students that I met were Jonatas Ferreira (of Andrews Seminary or University), Mateus F. de Campos (of University of Cambridge), Guilherme Borda (also of Andrews University or Seminary) and possibly another student whose full name I don't know but who would be a doctoral student at Andrews Seminary or University. I also met a Brazilian, Uri Brito, who (I think) will start his doctoral program at Andrews next year. In addition to that, I met a number of persons who speak Spanish, including Jules Martinez, José Scott, and Bill Warren (from above).

On the family side, my brother Eric and his family moved into their home in Morton, and their first night sleeping in their home was on or around November 1. My sister Angela and her husband Joseph have also closed on the sale of their home and now just have the one home in Morton near Eric and Jill. Many of their possessions were moved on November 7, and I was able to help with both moves Now, Angela, Eric, and my brother Travis all live within a comparatively short walking distance of each other.

PRAYER REQUESTS
1. Fundraising. Financially, one of the hardest seasons for a ministry is the beginning. Please pray that God would bring monthly supporters alongside Credible Faith. Credible Faith is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are accordingly tax-deductible in the US as permitted by law.

2. Ministry Opportunities. Pray that doors would be opened for ministry in churches and on campuses and for relationships to be formed that would be mutually beneficial for ministry in those places.

Have a great month!!!

Sincerely,

Paul

Tuesday, November 24, 2015, EST

Quote of the Month

From the Book, Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing, and Dying: The Secret World War II Tapes of German POWs: It is striking that soldiers never discuss the legal dimension of what was going on. They showed no interest whatsoever in interpretations of the Hague or Geneva Conventions - the documents scarcely crop up in the surveillance protocols. "The whole question of what is allowed or not is finally a question of power," one first lieutenant opined. "If you have the power, everyting is permissible." Yet this speaker also distinguished between what forms of violence could be carried out and what forms should. "In spite of that, our troops should not massacre civilians who do not shoot (at them)," the lieutenant said.[Endnote 258]"