One more post before work.

A terrific seminar with Michael Ramsden (European Director of the Zacharias Trust) on the C.S. Lewis Institute website about answering tough questions from the skeptic. You can either listen to the four part seminar audio or the two part seminar video. Both are free.

http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/apologeticEvangelism/resources2.htm

Three-Way Marriage

Probably a bad idea for someone like me to write a blog about marriage, but I'll take that risk!

Marriage in God's eyes isn't just a contract between two people. It's a covenant between man, woman, and God. The couple is brought together by God and is accountable to Him. It's an image of His fidelity to us and our fidelity to him. So seriously does God take marriage, that being faithless to your wife or mistreating her has terrible consequences....

You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
Malachi 2:13-16 (ESV)

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Peter 3:7 (ESV)

It seems these actions anger God so much that he ignores the prayers of the men who do these things. It also affects the man's spiritual well-being. I do find it interesting that God aims all these consequences at the men. For the one or two people who read my blog, what are your thoughts on this?

Hard Hearts.

In an earlier post I mentioned how God commands us to do something because it reflects His holy character. However, there are some things that obviously don't. Divorce is one thing. Jesus makes this clear when talking to the Pharisees in Judea:

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
Matthew 19:3-9

It seems that some things that God allows are to be seen as concessions to the hardness of the human heart rather than reflections of God's holy character. God is pretty blatant here:

"I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and I hate it when people clothe themselves with injustice," says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 2:16

The same can be seen with slavery. It exists because of the hardness of the humans heart, not because God wants it to. God doesn't completely ban it from Israel, but he sets rules to limit it's evil. You could not kidnap a man and sell him to slavery (Exodus 21:16), you couldn't return an escaped slave to his master (Deuteronomy 23:15), and anyone who harmed so much as a tooth of his slave had to let him go free (Exodus 26:27). So it may be good to make a distinction between what God commands because it's good in His eyes and what God allows for now, but still hates. My prayer is that we reflect Him.

Wisdom and Doubt

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Those who doubt should not think they will receive anything form the Lord; they are double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:5-8

These verses fill me with much joy, but also scare me. I love wisdom. I love learning about God's Word, about Jesus, and how His Truth corresponds to reality, whether historically, scientifically, or philosophically. It's wonderful that I can ask God for wisdom and He gladly gives it! However, I'm kind of a doubter. When I pray to the Lord for some kind of sanctification to my heart and mind, I feel this inexorable doubt creeping in my mind. Uh oh! Now I'm afraid that this doubt is going to keep God from giving me wisdom! What do I do?!......... I have no idea. I usually end my posts with some kind of hope or solution or pointer to a solution, but I'm a little perplexed this time. Perhaps this just shows the impatience in my heart. God does everything in His timing, not Kyle's timing. I've only been a Christian for about a year, I can't expect to perfectly image Christ in about a year. God doesn't work that way (though He could if He wanted). So I will be patient and keep praying. I will keep knocking on God's door and seeking Him. Jesus gives us this wonderful analogy to illustrate this.

"Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' And suppose the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened."
Luke 11:5-10

Why Historians Take the Resurrection Seriously

A good series of short videos by John Dickson, a Christian writer and historian, about why historians take the Resurrection seriously as a historical puzzle.

http://www.publicchristianity.com/resvid1.html

False Hope

This is inspired by the speech Ryan gave yesterday at Veritas.

Humans always put their hope in something or someone. It's natural to us. What is also common is disappointment. Most of the time what we hope for opens a door of opportunity for us then it quickly gets slammed shut right in our face. I often times hope for a fun night of hanging out and socializing, then suddenly my work schedule changes and I have to miss it. I always hope for a sense of belonging in the community I'm in, but so often I feel utterly alone and ignored. During the Summer I had the opportunity to go to Houston to see my mother. It was a good chance to see some family I haven't seen in a while and my only chance for a vacation that Summer. However, once I got to the airport the door of opportunity quickly slammed shut as they told me that I couldn't go because it turned out the ticket wasn't under my name. My mother was very upset that she wouldn't get to see her favorite son for who knows how long now. After that I felt stupid for ever thinking that something like that would actually happen. Vacations and fun stuff only happen to other people, not to you, Kyle. Now, these are really small hopes that don't affect life as a whole, but if I can't even have hope in these small things, it makes it much harder to have hope for something infinitely bigger like the Resurrection or Heaven. I often times hear people say that they just think about a certain verse in the Bible and it comforts them and makes them feel better. It's not the same with me, but that doesn't mean I don't believe the promises that it makes. I'm reminded of this well known verse:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Also, C.S. Lewis has a terrific insight that I also believe.

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exist. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

I pray that God returns and restores the world. I pray for all the wicked to get punished, for all the suffering to end, for sin to disappear, and for everyone to know and acknowledge that God is our Lord.

Forgiveness

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive someone who sons against me? Up to seven times?" Matthew 18:21

Peter probably thought he was being pretty generous and merciful when he said seven times. I believe the number of times Jews would typically do was three throughout their history. However, Jesus probably surprised him with His answer.

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:22

Other translations say "seventy times seven." Either way, it's a pretty big number! I don't think Jesus is being literal here. Think about it, who would actually count to seventy-seven or four hundred ninety! I think what Jesus is saying is don't count! Always forgive! Jesus says in Luke...

"If a brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them." Luke 17:3-4


We are commanded to be holy because our Father is holy (Leviticus 11:44). If we are commanded to always forgive, it must be because it reflects God's holy character! God always forgives those who humble themselves and repent! It's all because Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the sins that we commit in this life. Thanks be to God for forgiveness!

Calming the Storm

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:23-27

Our lives are like this boat on the lake. As we sail through life there will be "storms" that threaten to overtake us. In those times, it sometimes seems like the Lord doesn't even care. He's just a distant God who is sleeping through those storms while we face them alone. But this story shows that our Lord is with us in the boat at all times. He is the Lord that we can call on for help, and He will answer. He'll always be there to calm the storm.

A Prayer by Saint Augustine

This was my prayer to the Lord this morning as I was desperate for His embrace.

"Who will enable me to find rest in you? Who will grant me that you come to my heart and intoxicate it, so that I forget my evils and embrace my one and only good, yourself? What are you to me? Have mercy so that I may find words. What am I to you that you command me to love you, and that, if I fail to love you, you are angry with me and threaten me with vast miseries? If I do not love you, is that but a little misery? What a wretch I am! In your mercies, Lord God, tell me what you are to me. 'Say to my soul, I am your salvation' (Ps. 34:3). Speak to me so that I may hear. See the ears of my heart are before you, Lord. Open them and 'say to my soul, I am your salvation.' After that utterance I will run and lay hold on you. Do not hide your face from me (cf. Ps. 26:9). Lest I die, let me die so that I may see it." (Oxford World's Classics, Confessions by Saint Augustine, pg. 5)

The Trinity

The Trinity is an important and fundamental truth about God that Christians teach. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some, however, don't understand it (I'm sometimes scared to talk too much about it myself for fear of blaspheming). Isn't this polytheistic? It is not. Overall how there can be one God and three persons is a profound mystery to us, but we do have some illustrations to explain it. God is three persons but one essence. He is three persons but only one in nature. Think of a triangle. A triangle has three corners, but is still one triangle. God isn't 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, He's 1 x 1 x 1 = 1.

It's also fundamental for understanding some of God's nature. Christians all agree that God is a God of love (1 John 4:16), we also agree that God never changes (Hebrews 13:8). He's the same yesterday, today, and will be the same forever, so we can safely assume that God has always been a God of love. However, in order to love, there must be a lover. Before creation, who was God loving? The Trinity makes that more clear. There's a lover (Father), a loved one (Son), and a spirit of love (Holy Spirit). There is an "I - You" relationship within God Himself. This is a profound mystery and one of the most beautiful truths about our God!

For a much better explained look into the Trinity I recommend reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias. Also chapter one of Who Made God? gives a brief answer to the question.

The Question of Evil with Ravi Zacharias

I got this interaction from many of Ravi's lectures and from his book, Can Man Live Without God (pg. 182).

Ravi Zacharias, a Christian philosopher, had an interesting interaction with a student at the University of Nottingham in England. As soon as he finished one of his lectures, the student shot up from his seat and blurted out, "There is too much evil in this world; therefore, there cannot be a God." Ravi said, "If there is such a thing as evil, aren't you assuming there is such a thing as good?" The student paused, reflected, and said, "I guess so." Ravi countered, "If there is such a thing as good, you must affirm a moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. When you you say there is evil, aren't you admitting there is good? When you accept the existence of goodness, you must affirm a moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. But when you admit to a moral law, you must posit a moral lawgiver. That, however, is who you are trying to disprove and not prove. For if there is no moral lawgiver, there is no moral law. If there is no moral law, there is no good. If there is no good, there is no evil. What, then, is your question?"

The student responds with, "What, then, am I asking you?" Indeed. What is the question?

Isaiah 9:6

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given" Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah chose his words very carefully here when he predicted Christs coming. The "son" is not born, the Son has always existed. The Son is given, the child is born. Such a vivid expression of the incarnation of Christ!

An interesting discussion

Here's a very interesting discussion between Richard Dawkins (atheist) and Francis Collins (theist) on Time magazine.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1555132-3,00.html

Biblical Dating

Holding Hands Holding Hearts by Richard D. Phillips & Sharon L. Phillips

What does the Bible say about dating? Nothing. And everything!

That's the catch-phrase of this book and the closest thing to a summary provided for it. Holding Hands Holding Hearts is a book by a husband and wife couple about how to date as Christians devoted to Jesus, not as people of the world do. For all 1.5 of you who have been reading my blog, you're probably surprised to see a book this frothy on my list. I usually read more intellectually engaging books rather than practical or self-help books, but I had nothing to read at the time and this book is short so I got it. Since this book is about single people dating they naturally spend about half of the book talking about marriage. Wait... What? As exasperating as that can be it is a necessary thing as Christians should date in order to lead to marriage. One thing I did enjoy about the book was their in-depth look into the curses that God places on men, women, and the earth and how it affects our relationships with each other in this fallen world. Unfortunately, I didn't agree with everything they said. In chapter 9 they say, without equivocation, that singleness is not a gift. I kept rereading it to see if I misinterpreted them, but I don't think I did. What is singleness then? It is a trial. While it is not untrue that singleness is a trial, and that marriage and parenthood, even though they are gifts, are also trials, and that there certainly are people who have this gift of being able to stay single for the Kingdom (all things that they claim), I think their insistence that singleness itself is not a gift is an erroneous claim. Indeed, I can't say I'm always happy to be single, but does God not have a loving reason for giving it to me? I'm more in agreement with Paul Matthias, a pastor at the Village Church, that singleness is a gift and marriage is a gift. Both have their own trials in this fallen world and both provide us with opportunities to serve God and serve the church.

Despite some issues I have with it, I did enjoy the book. The fact that it's simple and quick helps. I recommend it to anyone curious about gender roles, the value of men and women, and how to date them well. Now if only I could put the advice to use!

Recommended Reading (pt. 5)

Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias

In Can Man Live Without God, Ravi Provides a brilliant and compelling apologetic defense of the Christian faith-the likes of which we haven't seen since C.S. Lewis. With forceful logic, insightful illustrations, and passionate convictions, he shows how affirming the reality of God's existence matters urgently in our everyday lives.

I'm a huge fan of Ravi Zacharias. I'm always excited to here another speech by him. That's why I'm glad I was finally able to find his books in stores. Can Man Live Without God is a heavily philosophical book where Ravi goes through what the loss of God as a point of reference does to morality and truth. He is a man who takes a lot of time to read what the biggest naturalistic philosophers are saying, so he spends time unpacking the things that have been said by people such as Friedrich Nietzsche and countering them with the logic of belief and the hope of the Cross. He goes into many different aspects, including philosophical, historical, and Biblical reasons why Christianity is the truth. I highly, highly recommend Ravi Zacharias to anyone who loves philosophy and apologetics. Ravi is one of the best this century.


God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis

God in the Dock contains forty-eight essays and twelve letters written by Lewis between 1940 and 1963. Ranging from popular newspaper pieces to learned defenses of the faith, these essays cover topics as varied as the logic of theism, good and evil, miracles, the role of women in the church, and ethics and politics. Many represent Lewis's first ventures into themes he would later treat in full-length books.

As described in the summary, this is a series of essays and letters by C.S. Lewis, considered perhaps the greatest apologist of all time. In these essays you'll get Lewis's responses to questions about Christianity and the church, philosophical defenses of the Christian faith, and the conclusions he's made about how unbelievers think about God and the church. Some profound thoughts by a great apologist.

My problem with "tolerance."

People these days often define tolerance as not only respecting other people's opinions and lifestyles, but also accepting them as morally ok. No lifestyle or opinion is better or worse than any other. None are more true or less true than another. It's all subjective. I have two main issues with this kind of "tolerance."

1) People who stress this kind of tolerance are themselves intolerant towards intolerance. It's a completely inconsistent lifestyle. It's also amazing how people who preach tolerance are quite intolerant towards Christianity in particular.

2) The logic of this belief says that morality is relative, so we ought to be tolerant of others. But how can we possibly have an objective moral duty to be tolerant of others when all moral duties are simply relative to the individual? What if I think it's morally okay to be intolerant of homosexuals? What right do you have to pass judgment on me? If I had a belief that they disagree with, they become moral absolutists pretty quickly.

Your Kingdom Come

When talking to some young Christians today, I see such individuality. I don't get the sense that they are aware that they're not just individuals, but they are part of a larger community. I don't get the sense that they know they're part of something bigger than just them. When they say "God's plan" they mean just for them, just within their lifetimes. When I say that it would be great if Jesus came back to earth now and restored it, I often hear them respond with an almost immediate "no." Usually it's because they want to get married first. When I hear that response my heart gets confrontational and I want to ask why they want Jesus to postpone his justice on evildoers and comfort to the suffering for a fleeting pleasure of theirs. As soon as that happens I reveal something in my own heart that still needs improvement. It's possible that I'm completely wrong about a lot of these Christians and I'm the one with the bigger problem than them. Perhaps I'm just ranting. I just think that it is important for Christians to pray for Jesus to return. It's good for us to be excited for Christs coming more than anything else in this life. It isn't fun that will be banned from Heaven, it will be sin. Enjoying an eternity with the Lord in a world without death, pain, loneliness, jealousy, and suffering. Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

Recommended Reading (pt. 4)

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

In The Prodigal God, he uses one of the best-known Christian parables to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation. Taking his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity, Keller uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a while new way.

While Keller's first book was an apologetic made to convince skeptics, this book was made to give a message of what the Gospel message is all about that can help believers in their faith and help non-believers get a better understanding of Christianity that they may have lacked before. It's an in-depth look at the parable of the Two Lost Sons. It's amazing how much a short parable like that actually has inside it! Tim does a masterful job at explaining the parable and showing what Jesus is talking about with it. I highly recommend this book to all Christian readers.



The Dawkins Delusion? by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath

Alister McGrath, along with his wife Joanna, is ideal to evalute Dawkins's ideas. Once an atheist himself, Alister gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins's critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. His exhilarating, meticulously argued response deals with questions such as: Is faith intellectual nonsense? Are science and religion locked in a battle to the death? Can the roots of Christianity be explained away scientifically? Is Christianity simply a force for evil? This book will be warmly recieved by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raises- including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning.

Alister McGrath is no joke. He's a professor over at Oxford (just like Dawkins) and has degrees in science and theology. He already has a more drawn-out, more detailed book on the subject called Dawkin's God. This is pretty much a shorter version of that. Alister goes against the claims that Dawkins makes and answers the questions that many Christians probably had when hearing about this popular book. I recommend it for people who enjoy scientific or historical apologetics and want to be able to provide an answer for people who bring up the issues Dawkins does in his book.

Acts (pt. 3)

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under Heaven by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

That's about as exclusive of a claim as anyone could possibly hear. Jesus says this himself in John chapter 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." When one rejects the Son, he's rejecting what the Father sent him to do, so the Father's wrath is still on that person rather than on Jesus on the cross.

"The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." Acts 11:26

Christians themselves didn't designate themselves "Christians." Non-Christians gave them that name because they were like "little Christs." They were Christ followers, so they called them by that name.

"Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him." Acts 8:2

While we can have confidence that a Godly person is with the Lord, there is nothing wrong with mourning the loss of fellowship with that person. Jesus mourned the death of Lazarus. Paul mourned for his unbelieving brothers. Death isn't suppose to happen. It is an evil caused by sin. One day, however, there will be no disease, aging, or death.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28

Paul gives this talk while in Athens. What is interesting is that he approvingly quotes two pagan philosophers, Epimenides and Aratus. He was finding common ground with his worldview and theirs in order to help evangelize to them and help bring them to the truth about Christ. This must have taken a lot of studying. He probably spent a lot of time reading the philosophers and poets of that culture and learning about it in order to do this. It is also good for Christians to learn what other people believe and are saying in order to get a better understanding of them. This can help increase our own faith and help us evangelize with more effectiveness.

Reading list

Found Can Man Live Without God? by Ravi Zacharias! Didn't think I'd ever find a Ravi Zacharias book in stores! Also wanted to get The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel, but I'll have to get paid first. I've finally decided to read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Just need to find someone to borrow a copy from first..... Also at Barnes and Noble I read through the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary, and some of the Gospel of Thomas. They were boring, weird, and the fact that they were all written way too late in history to have any real association with Judas, Mary, or Thomas kinda hurts their credibility.

Reflection

First I would like to congratulate the newlyweds, Andy and Lindsey. May God's gift to both of you be a constant source of joy, love, and redemption. May God be glorified through your covenant. As God says in His Word: the two shall become one. What God has brought together, let no one separate.


"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." Lamentations 3:22

The life of following Christ can be a way of immense joy and freedom, but it can also be a great struggle. Indeed, it can be one of the biggest struggles. My depraved heart desires things that are contrary to the desires of the Holy Spirit graciously given to me by God. The conflict in my soul rages on. It's like Paul says in his letter to the Roman's, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?..." But God hasn't left us in our evil, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:24-25. Even though Satan fights hard to claim us again, I wholeheartedly believe Jesus when he says, "All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." John 6:37, and a little later, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." John 6:39. God's grace is greater than any amount of sin. Once we are chosen, God never stops working with us to bring us out of our slavery to sin. "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6.

Amen.

Glad I'm Not the Only One

Even Scripture writers like Peter thought Paul's letters were hard to understand often times.

"His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16b

So we've established that his letters are difficult to understand. Peter also says that unstable people will distort his scriptures, probably by using them to justify their sinful actions. I see this happen all the time. Next you'll notice that Peter calls his letters "Scripture." He includes Paul's letters as God's word along with the Old Testament. 2 Peter was probably written in the mid-late 60's A.D., so at this very early period Paul's letters were already widely distributed and considered authoritative. In Paul's epistle to Timothy he quotes a verse from Luke right next to a verse of an Old Testament book (1 Timothy 5:18), which means Luke's Gospel was already widely spread and considered authoritative during Paul's ministry.

Haven't updated in a while

I moved into a new apartment so I've been too busy to blog. The fact that the place doesn't have internet yet doesn't help.... Besides lack of internet and no washer and dryer, it's a pretty good place. I like it.

More updates in the future!