Finding the Will of God

Trying to decided if God is calling you to seminary or not can be difficult. While you could give the magic eight ball a try, there is probably a better way to determine what God is calling you to do.

For me, I found Finding the Will of God by Dr. Bruce Waltke to be tremendously helpful. While I already knew a lot of what Dr. Waltke had to say, it was refreshing to be reminded that I was on the right track as I sought to discern God’s will.

In the book Waltke reminds us that God is not some conman trying to hide his will from us… Rather, God is our loving father and his will is probably easier to discern than we sometimes think.

Waltke spends the first 1/4 of the book bringing correction to what he calls “Christian divination” that appears to be nothing more than what every pagan does when trying to conjure the will of the gods.

After his professorial/pastoral rebuke, Waltke offers biblical council on how we can rest assured that we are hearing and following our glorious and loving father.

Incredibly practical and biblically based, I often recommend this book to friends and family who are struggling to make big decisions.

Two Cent Tuesday - Is it ok to take out a loan for seminary?

Well, today is Two Cent Tuesday… your chance to let everyone know what you think about the question of the week. Today is a fun and occasionally controversial question:

Is it OK to take out a loan for seminary?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe
• I don't know

View Results

Let your two cents be heard. If clicking a box is not enough for you, then feel free to drop your pennies in the comment section.

Have fun and… play nice.

Tough transition day

My heart broke today.

I walked into the kitchen to fix some lunch and saw my wife crying… enough said, right?

I walked up and simply held her.

“I’m sad,” she said through her tears. “I miss my friends.”

There wasn’t much to say except that I understood and that I wished I could make things easier… but I can’t. I can simply hold my wife, love her, and pray for God’s grace during this time in our lives.

The fact of the matter is that I’m sad too… Moving is hard, no two ways around it. We’ve left our best friends in the world hundreds of miles away and now we sit in a new house, new town, new church… not much is familiar… no walking into church and looking to your left to see ____ and ____. No knowing that when you go to the coffee shop you’ll likely run into ____. No calling up _____ and _____ to come over for dinner. It is tough.

I’ve spent time today dwelling on the Gospel and reminding myself that my King also had to leave the place he knew, a place he loved… he left the throne of heaven and came to live and die on earth. That has helped… staring at Jesus usually does… but it is still a battle.

I’d be humbled and honored if you could take a moment and say a prayer for my family.

My hope is built
on nothing less
than Jesus blood
and righteousness.

I dare not trust
the sweetest frame
but wholly lean
on Jesus name.

Edward Mote c.1834

Free Books

If you’ve never heard of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library you are missing out on a truly great, FREE, resource.

The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) seeks to build up the church by making classic Christian literature widely available and promoting its use for edification and study by interested Christians, seekers and scholars. The CCEL accomplishes this by selecting, collecting, distributing, and promoting valuable literature through the World Wide Web and other media.

The CCEL is truly amazing as they have hundreds of classics all digitally tagged and available to read online and/or download in numerous formats. Every time I go to the site I am amazed at the efforts of the project… with a few clicks of the mouse I can have access to the church fathers, both well known and obscure.

This is a great site that everyone should have bookmark.

Enjoy.

Date Night, Marathons, and Seminary… huh?

Just a Gal is a runner. She loves to run… Me, not so much…

Last night was date night and I took Just a Gal out to see Spirit of the Marathon. Chronicling the lives of 6 individuals preparing to run in the 2006 Chicago Marathon, the movie takes a look into the motivation, drive, and training necessary to complete the grueling task of running 26.2 miles.

As I sat in the theater (eating my buttered pop-corn and drinking my soda) I couldn’t help but be amazed. From the over weight single mom trying to get back in shape to the Olympic bronze medalist trying to finally win a marathon, these men and women ran… and ran… and ran…

Watching the movie I could not help but think about life, ministry, and seminary. Here are a couple of my musings:

Training is important - You don’t just wake up one day and go run a marathon. It takes training… lots of training…

The same goes for ministry. Whether you are going to pastor a church or pastor your family you have to work hard. You have to read. You have to pray. You have to study. If you don’t the race will probably crush you.

Training requires community - All the runners had a community that helped them train. Whether it was going on runs with them, watching the kids while they went out on long runs, or just cheering them on. All the runners had people supporting them and would not have made it without their support.

I thought a lot about this in relation to seminary. As students we need a strong community to help us train. We need our fellow students to challenge us and keep us on pace. We need loving family and friends to understand what we are doing and help us through the long hours of training. And, finally, we need some people to cheer us on and let us know we can do it. Community is important.

Having a goal is a great motivator - Race day is coming whether you like it or not. If you want to make it to the end of that 26.2 miles, you gotta get out of bed and get to work.

The apostle Paul knows what he’s doing when he uses the race metaphor 1 Corinthians 9. We are running for something far greater than a fancy t-shirt and a medal to hang around our neck. As we go through seminary, let us keep our eyes fixed on the goal… living a life to the glory of God.

It isn’t about the race - While the race is great, it only comprises about 1% of the experience. As cliche’ as it might sound, the marathon is more about the journey than the race.

When you are in seminary, don’t just look forward to some day when you be in “real” ministry. Look around you. God has placed you in a community, a city, a church… What you are doing right now is just as much a part of your life and ministry as “the race”…

For those who are interested, the movie (which was only scheduled to play for one night) is having an encore showing on February 21 (locations). Here is the trailer:

5 Lessons I Learnd in Study Hall That Will Help in Seminary

When I was in High School I occasionally got lunch detention (aka. Study Hall). Looking back, I couldn’t tell you what I did… but I’m sure I deserved it. That said, I will admit that it wasn’t really punishment. I mean, I got 30 minutes of peace and quiet to finish all my homework… then when I got out, there was no waiting in the lunch line… PERFECT!

Seminary requires a lot of reading, studying, and thinking. Without giving adequate consideration to these three areas, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble. So, here are 5 lessons I learned from study hall that I think will help us be more productive in our seminary studies:

1. No talking - If there was ever a rule that you remember in study hall it was “NO TALKING.” … total silence … With no one to talk to you had three options, read, study or think (I know… you think there is a fourth option, but sleep was the second sin after talking).

   When approaching your studies try and find a place that you will be able to devote yourself wholly to your task. This means avoiding the front of the library where you see all your classmates coming and going and avoiding the coffee shop where everyone knows your name. It also means you might need to leave your house (unless you live alone or with roommates that hate you).

   Do your best to find a place where you can sit and truly engage in your work without distraction… One thing I know for sure, I was never more productive with my home work than in study hall.

2. Lunch is long - Since my study hall lasted for half the lunch period, it felt like I was being robbed of eating time… Everyone else got the entire period to eat… but not me. Surely I’ll have to run out of here and scarf down the mystery meat with barely time to get to my next class. Wrong! The reality is that I was never rushed for lunch. I always had time to get my food, eat it, and even hang out with my friends.

   When studying, you might feel like you’re missing out on a whole lot or that the rest of your life will be a mad rush when you get finished with your assignment. The reality is that you aren’t going to miss as much as you think… in fact, it might make things better (see #3)

3. No lines after study hall - I don’t know how your school did it, but I remember a mad rush to get to the cafeteria. There was alway a line and if you were one of the last people to get in the cafeteria then you could easily wait 10 or 15 minutes in line. However, when study hall let out I always walked calmly up to the line and got my food… no waiting at all!

   The lesson here is that you don’t always have to rush with the crowd. Evaluate your time and realize that sometimes it is just better to sit and study while other “stand in line.”

4. The tie that binds - Study Hall always seemed to bond people… remember The Breakfast Club. This should be especially true for seminary students.

   As we sit and study our creator and his work in the earth it should transform us. After a good study session we should be, I would hope, changed and transformed more into the image of Jesus. Our relationship with and passion for our King should be stronger than when we first sat down.

5. You don’t ask for extra study hall - I never walked out of study hall thinking, “No, I don’t want to hang out with my friends and eat lunch… I’d rather go sit in that quite, uncomfortable room with the teacher constantly saying ’shh’ and staring at me.” No, when it was over, I was ready to get out and live my life.

   When studying in seminary, set aside your time and place for study and then leave it there. As you give yourself fully to study, so to give yourself fully to other people in your life. When your “study hall” is over, invest in your friends and family. You’re family doesn’t want to hear, “not now, I’m studying.”Having a place to focus and study without distraction will allow you to focus on other things once you’re on “the outside.”

All this talk of high school cafeterias has me craving tater tots… mmmmm… tater tots…

he(B+)rew

As you may or may not know, I recently completed a 2 week intensive for Hebrew 1.

Today I got my grades and was very pleased with my B+.

The grade however got me to thinking… do all seminaries have the same grading scale? My B+ was a 91-93… I remember in undergrad (oh, so long ago) that 90-100 was an A… Not anymore…

So, here is my seminary’s grading scale. Is this what everyone else uses?

A	97 - 100
A-	94 - 96
B+	91 - 93
B	88 - 90
B-	86 - 87
C+	83 - 85
C	80 - 82
C-	78 - 79
D+	75 - 77
D	72 - 74
D-	70 - 71
F	below 70
I	incomplete
W	withdraw
S	satisfactory
P	passing

Two Cent Tuesday - Should Seminary Be Required to Pastor

So, I’ve decided to spice things up around here and start adding some questions. I think it’ll be interesting to see how people weigh in on various seminary related questions.

Today’s question is one that I think is particularly interesting:
Should seminary be required for someone to pastor in a church?

Cast your vote and feel free to expound on your answer in the comments section.

Should seminary be required to be a pastors?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe
• I don't know

View Results

Kids - The best seminary study guide

A recent conversation with Little Man:

Just a Guy (JG) - So, what did you learn about in class (Sunday School) today?
Little Man (LM) - Ummm… Jesus… and Matthew.
JG - Oh, what did you you learn about Jesus and Matthew?
LM - He was a co-wek-ter… a… a…
JG - tax?
LM - Oh, yeah, a tax co-wek-ter. He was Jesus friend.
JG - Was Matthew Jesus’ disciple?
LM - No, he was a co-wek-ter… uh, tax co-wek-ter.
JG - Right, Matthew was a tax collector but when he met Jesus he became one of his disciples. Do you know any other disciples?
LM - Uh… Peter? and uh… John… and uh, Jesus…
JG - No, Jesus wasn’t a disciple… that’s silly. So, did you learn anything else in class?
LM - People didn’t like co-wek-ters but Jesus loved them… OH! I was silly (giggling). Jesus isn’t a disciple, he’s a King.

… He’s a King! Yeah, I almost wrecked the car trying to turn around and give the kid a high-5 for that gem. I love it when my son drops bombs like that one.

But, as any parents will tell you, raising kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord is no easy task. For as many times as I hear things like “Jesus is a King” I hear, “I don’t want to pray” or “I don’t want to read the bible book” or countless other things that break my heart. It is a tough job and I thank God that he is gracious and merciful to us as we seek to honor him in raising our kids.

The thing that I’ve learned most with Little Man is that kids are the best seminary study guide. See, you and I sit in a stuff classroom with some uber-genius professor and a bunch of bible nerds discussing eschatology, antinomianism, and countless other “ologys” and “isms”… but leave the classroom and I have a big “so what” for you. Does the information you learn in seminary actually translate into information that can help you be a better pastor, spouse, parent, friend?

Deep down I think that in order to get your seminary degree you should have to write a children’s book. Can you actually take all these big words and phylosophical concepts and communicate them clearly in such a way that even a child can understand?

Little Man is 3 years old right now and at least once a week we have a discussion about the trinity… uh, yeah… and, as much as I’d like to explain it using big theological words, the reality is that he is three… so, now I must not only communicate truthfully and with correct theology, but it must be in a way that a 3 year old can understand.

Now, let me say that I haven’t mastered this one yet. But every time Little Man asks me a question I am forced to not give pat answers or to change topics. I must wrestle with what I believe and how I can explain it to my son. Therefore he has become my very best study guide.

Thanks Little Man.
I love you.

Seminary Blogs added to Blogroll

I took a little time this weekend and updated the Seminary Bloggers blogroll. Check it out and see if you’re on the list and to visit some of the bloggers out there who are going to seminary.

If your blog isn’t on the list and you’d like it to be, just add a useful comment on a post in goingtoseminary.com and let me know. Also, if you’ve already dropped some comment love and don’t see your blog, then just let me know and I’ll take care of it.

Next Page »