For those of you who regularly check my blogs (and hopefully pray for me as well), I won't be able to update regularly till Feb. That's because I'll have limited internet access over the holidays. Check here occasionally, but don't be disappointed if there's no new post.

A number of things you can pray for over the next 2 months:

Pray that I will have a relaxing break and be refreshed for my last year of Bible college.

My mum is coming over to visit! Pray we can spend quality time together. But pray also that there will be opportunities for her to hear the gospel again and be challenged to follow Jesus.

I am preaching 5 times over this holidays (2 new sermons, 2 "recycled" sermons). Pray that God will use me to reach people with his Word.

Pray also as I start planning for 180FM next year, that I will be able to improve on this already excellent ministry. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

That's all for now. Please do pray for me and those whom I serve. Hope to catch up with some of you in the near future.

Last Sat, as a mini-break from studying, I went to a Christian concert with some friends. This is the latest album by Sons of Korah. They are an Australian Christian band (like Revive) who put the Bible (mainly Psalms) to contemporary music. Their music is very cool and they've got a good range of styles (ballads, rock, celtic, etc). I especially liked the song they wrote to Psalm 147a, which was in a Latin American style. It won't be available commerically until their next album is released. I hope it's soon. :)

I'm preaching on Psalms next year, so I'll probably play some of the their songs in English Service. I think it's a great way to mediate on God's Word, and it helps in memorising it too!

Give thanks for the ministry of Sons of Korah and for renewing my enjoyment of the Bible. Pray that they may continue to serve God through music and songs.

Finished my last exam yesterday. Overall I think I did ok. Friday's exam on Wisdom Literature (Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs) was probably the worst, but hopefully I'll pass.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and spoke words of encouragement.

Over the holidays I'll be housesitting for Phil & Fiona. For those not at ND, Fiona is our Children's Worker. Phil is her husband, who is also studying at SMBC with me. They'll be going away for 2 months to visit friends and relatives in the UK.

I still don't have much planned yet for the holidays. I have work to do, like sermons, KYLC prep, and a little bit of Greek translation. I'll probably catch up with a bunch of friends. Oh, and I'm long overdue for another newsletter. So that should be coming in the next few weeks.

Give thanks for the chance to relax and enjoy the company of friends. Thank God also for the provision of a house to stay in. And pray that I'll be productive (even if it's only a little bit) in the holidays.

1 down, 3 to go.

Just had my first, and probably hardest exam today. It was on the Gospel of Luke. Thankfully it wasn't as hard as I expected (yes - mercy!). I didn't manage to study enough topics, BUT, everything I studied was in there! Yippee!

Well, I still don't expect any D or HD of course, but a C will be fine. :)

Now onto the next exam...

Students obviously need books, and my college has it's own bookshop. Some of you might know that I've been managing this bookshop this year, with a team of 9 staff (everyone has a duty to do at college in order to keep fees down and to encourage people to serve). My duty is not the easiest to do, but I was warmly encouraged today when my team bought me a present to say thank you.

Here it is. The Guinness World Records 2006. Lots of very interesting (and weird!) facts in there. Some that I found were (yes, I was procrastinating from my studies):

• Strangest Diet: Michael Lotito has eaten 9 tonnes of metal over 38 years (but bananas and hard-boiled eggs make him sick!)
  
• Most people wearing balloon hats: 1,039 in Singapore on 13th March 2004
  
  
• Longest kiss: 30hr 59min 27sec (ewww...!)
  
• Most dominoes toppled by a group: 3,992,397 by 81 people on Domino Day 2004 in the Netherlands
  
• Most expensive ice-cream sundae: The Serendipity Golden Opulence Sundae in New York City, costing US$1,000
  
• Largest mobile phone: The Maxi Handy Mobile, measuring 2.05 x 0.83 x 0.45m
  
• Largest permanent cinema Screen: the IMAX!!

Anyways, that's enough time wasted. Back to my studies...

Give thanks for the encouragement from my bookshop friends at college.

My 2 sec of fame on Australian radio...

For those of you who are really bored this Sat arvo (5th Nov), you can catch me on 90.5FM being interview some time between 2-4pm for Weekly Wrap. It will be part of a series on "Life after the HSC".

I must say, I normally find talk show radio boring. And I'm afraid my impromtu interview will do nothing to change that. In fact, if you decide to tune in to it, you'll come away all the more certain that talk show radio is boring. If I had time to prepare what I was going to say, I'd try to be funny, or at least interesting. But as it is, it will be neither of them. Bleh! At least they play nice jazz music.

In other news, I've finally finished all my essays - YAY!! Sorry I didn't blog much in Oct. I'll try to pick it up again this month. I've really found it hard writing essays this semester. But it's not the end yet. I have 4 exams coming up, and that will involve around 10 essays. *sigh*

Pray that I may be diligent in my exam preparation. Pray that God will help me to learn from his Word and to actually remember it!

Can't wait till holidays!! - even if I haven't got anything planned (yet).