Seminary Social Media Sound-off
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 15, 2008
This afternoon I upgraded GoingtoSeminary.com to WordPress 2.6. Along with doing that I added a social networking feature that allows you to share articles on a couple social media sites (please share the love). After doing that I started playing with some of these social sites and got to thinking about how amazing the internet is. While, sure, it can be a big distraction during those long seminary classes… and when your writing papers… and when you supposed to be reading… and… yeah, it is always a potential distraction. That said, how amazing is it that you can get stay in touch with people all over the world with the click of a mouse. Not only that, but think of all the people you’ve met online! Heck, of the people who write for this website, I’ve only met 1 in person… I’ve never even heard these guy’s (and gal) voices before… CRAZY.
Well, that all said, I thought it would be a cool experiment to have everyone share their social network connections in one post so that we can connect on other sites. That said, leave a comment below and link to your social connections.
Here are mine:
Thrifty Thursday - Win a Free ESV Study Bible
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 14, 2008
According to our current Two Cent Tuesday poll, you folks are pretty big fans of the ESV. That being the case, I’m sure that you’re planning on picking up the new ESV Study Bible when it gets released in October. Amazon has the list price at $49 and $31.49 as their offer price. That’s a nice little chunk of change… Wouldn’t you rather just get it for free?
Well, if you want to give it a try, Best-Bible.org is giving away a free ESV Study Bible. All you have to do is leave a review for something on the site and/or link to the website. The more reviews you leave the more entries you get in the drawing.
Potentially save $30 while helping people learn about Bibles… sounds like win/win if you ask me.
Top 5 “secret” tips for your first semester.
Written by Chad Brooks · August 13, 2008
There are plenty of resources on the net about how to write good papers, take the right classes…you know that sort of thing. Here are is my Top 5 “secret” tips (in no particular order) that will help you out in your first semester.
1. Get a job on campus.
If you live on campus, you may be trying to do this already because it means you don’t have to commute to work. But this is a great option for any student. I have two (sometimes 3) jobs on campus and it has allowed me many opportunities that the average student would never have. I work in the office of Community Life and I lead the Worship Design team, a group of students that is responsible for planning the three chapel services a week. Through my jobs I have worked with all of the Vice-Presidents of Asbury, had lunch with our President, interacted with our Board, had countless individual interactions with some of the professors that most students would love to have, and many other cool things.
I would not be as involved with so many things around campus if I didn’t work on campus. I would say that as much of my learning has taken place in meetings and planning sessions as has in the classroom.
2. Go to chapel.
At Asbury chapel isn’t required. This surprises many of our prospective and incoming students (I know many Christian colleges require chapel, but do any other seminaries?), and just that barrier being down makes chapel more meaningful to some people. It is possible to just go through the motions at seminary and not involve yourself at a spiritual level, but this is the biggest mistake that you can make. When you become a part of the worshiping body at your school, you instantly have a time to let the “minister” in you take a back seat to your primary role as a worshiper.
Different school’s chapel services look different, but no matter what, becoming involved in yours will make a big difference in your life at seminary.
3. Find a hidden place in the Library.
I go to the library at least 4 times a week to study. I have joked with friends that work at the library (let’s make that a sub-tip, make friends with the library workers) about how full the library gets before mid-terms and finals. We all know why it gets so full, but it is wild to see how many people don’t utilize the library except for the computers. I know of several “hidden” places in our library where I can go and be completely uninterrupted. Your school may allow you to check out a carrel for the entire semester (I wish Asbury did). I don’t know how my friends claim to get work done at home. I can do it for an hour or so, but spending 8 hours writing a paper is impossible at home. I can do it easily in the library.
When you go to the same place session after session, your mind gets into “study mode” when you sit down. This allows you to concentrate on your work and fully pour yourself into it. Our time here at school is an act or worship, so why not try to offer God your best.
4. Make friends with the students about to graduate.
Within a month at Asbury I met my friend Isaac. Isaac and I worked together for two years until he graduated and it is one of the best relationships I have had while here. There are several reasons why our relationship was so important to me.
1. The academic level: Isaac and I came from the same situation, preachers kids who didn’t have religon degree’s from undergrad. We were also both under-achievers in college. Isaac had already navigated through some rough waters in seminary and passed down so much to me. When I was thinking about asking a professor for a grade change, Isaac walked me through it. I used Isaac to figure out what teachers to take, because we both were interested in similar developments in theology and biblical studies.
2. The personal level: Isaac and his wife were just a few years older than Meredith and I. There have been so many pieces of advice he has given me that have proven to be golden. Seminary can be hard to navigate for the first year or so, and having a friend that had done it successfully was a huge help.
3. The Spiritual level: I had accountability in Isaac. Asbury tends to be an immersive academic environment with the professors sometimes turning a five minute pre-class devotion into the full blown lesson for the day. Learning how to connect personal devotion to academic excellence is a common discussion. When I was struggling through rough theological decisions, Isaac had been there before. When Meredith and I were trying to make decisions regarding our denomination, Isaac had been there before.
Why not have a friend that is farther along the journey than you. This will prove to be one of the best moves you can make at Seminary.
5. Make friends with a lesser-known professor.
Your school probably has at least one teacher who is known at a large scale. We have several at Asbury and their classes always fill up quick. Everyone tries to get office time with them, and crowd around them after they speak at chapel. I don’t want to encourage you to never take their classes, but you should investigate other professors. More often than not, the professors that don’t publish yearly aren’t sub-grade scholars, but are more active in their church communities and other areas. I have two professors that I enjoy spending time with that have mentored me along my seminary journey. Both of them are brilliant and have taught me tons. I have learned about what a pastor-scholar looks like through both of them. When I need help with something, I can go to them.
Building a relationship with a professor or two who has more time under girds you and better prepares you for the ministry. While you can try to do this with the most popular professor, it will be more profitable if you are able to be mentored by someone who has more time for you.
These are just a few tips that have greatly bettered my time at seminary. I hope that they are helpful to you too.
Two Cent Tuesday - Bible of Choice?
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 12, 2008
I spent most of last week working to launch a new website (www.best-bible.org). The site is designed to help people understand the differences between Bible translations and offer some resource suggestions, like Bible software, Bible mobile applications, and other Bible resources. Since the project was pretty big and I didn’t have time to build the site and write all the material, I hired a freelance writer to help me out. Not only did she do an amazing job, but her articles on all the different Bible translations were actually quite helpful to me… I mean, I could give you a rough idea as to what each translation was all about, but now I feel like I have a much better understanding. So, if you’ve ever wanted to know what the different translations were all about, go check out the site. Also, keep it in the back of your head for the next time someone asks you why we have so many different bible translations.
So, as I was finishing up the site I thought, “hey, this would be a great Two Cent Tuesday question.” So, here ya go, “what is your bible translation of choice… AKA, what is the best bible?”
Also, if you visit the site, please leave a review under the Bible you use as it will help future visitors… oh, and link love is always appreciated!
What Is Your Preferred Bible Translation?
Starting the Off Week Right
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 11, 2008
My son recently got his first calendar. It was an excellent way to explain important and fun dates that are coming up in the future without having a constant “when are we going to grandma’s house?” every 5 seconds. Every night before bed he gets his marker and Xs out another day. It has been really fun.
So, with calendars, did you ever notice that Sunday is the first day of the week? Yeah, I’m sure most of us have, but have you ever really let that sink down into your soul? Sunday is the start of your week.
How do you start? With work or worship?
I’ll admit, while I knew that Sunday was the first day of the week… my week really began on Monday. To me, Sunday was the day of rest that came at the END of a, typically, long and stressful week. I saw church and fellowship as the culmination of all that had transpired the previous week and, to me, it was the capstone.
For me, if I were honest, the week began Monday morning. The alarm would sound (aka, I’d hear my kids outside my door) and I’d look at my phone, “yup… its Monday.” I’d drag myself out of bed thinking, “Here we go… another week… I can do it…” and I go off about my business.
Then, a couple weeks ago something happened. I was in Church, I think it was nearing communion, and it dawned on me… THIS is the start of my week. The first thing I am doing this week is gathering with the body of Christ to celebrate in worship and communion. WOW, that was an eye opener. Since that day, Sunday has been the first day of my week.
What does it matter?
Well, I guess in technicalities, it really doesn’t matter. The apostle Paul tells us that it isn’t important that we honor one day over another. However, for me it was a big deal. For the past several weeks I’ve woken up on Sunday and reminded myself that the start of my week belongs to the Lord. My first act will not be to worry about web projects or term papers… my first action will be to gather with the saints and worship our King. I will declare that the first fruits of my week are holy to the Lord.
Now, I’m not saying that my weeks have been magically different since I’ve flipped this mental switch. However, I will say that throughout the week I, for some reason, keep reminding myself that I started my week on Sunday and have found a very interesting bit of peace in that thought.
So, what about you? You ever thought much about this or am I just slow?
Thrifty Thursday - Free 2 Day Shipping at Amazon
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 9, 2008
Yeah, I know it is Saturday, but it has been a busy week. If you haven’t heard, Amazon is offering a free trial of their Amazon Prime service. Sign up and you can get free 2 day shipping on most products offered on Amazon (or pay only $3.99 for NEXT DAY service). I’ve used Prime before on a free trial and was really happy with it.
To make the deal even sweeter, if you order $100 worth of books, you get the amazon Prime membership free for THREE MONTHS! Imagine not having to pay shipping for three months AND getting 2 day service… now that is a great deal for Thrifty Thursday… even if it is Saturday.
To get the free three months, you’ll need to:
- Add $100 worth of eligible textbooks and other items to your cart and proceed to checkout.
- Click on “Free Two-Day Shipping” to complete your Amazon Prime sign up.
- Get Free Two-Day Shipping for three months, starting with the current order.
Also, there are rumors on the internet that you don’t actually have to complete the order to sign up for the three free months. Just add books to your cart, got to checkout and sign up for Prime. Then remove the items from your cart. I haven’t tried it, so it might just be a rumor… but no matter what, three months of Amazon Prime is a sweet and thrifty deal!
A Proverb a Day Helps Keep the Devil Away
Written by Terry Delaney · August 8, 2008
Many ministers-to-be decide to attend seminary because they feel they need the education, experience and wisdom that comes with a degree from seminary. While these are not necessarily bad reasons to attend seminary, they cannot replace the education and wisdom that comes from God’s Word. Yes, experiences must be lived, but even those can be found in the Holy Scriptures.
James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” I know many who simply ask for wisdom “in faith” (vs. 6), and never actually seek wisdom. God, through the Holy Spirit, gave us the Bible, and found in the Bible is a wonderful book of wisdom (actually, a few books) called Proverbs.
A Schedule
It turns out that there are 31 Proverbs and no more than 31 days in a month. Coincidence maybe, but I believe at the very least it offers a schedule of sorts to drink in God’s wisdom. No matter what day of the month it is, you can have a place to turn in your Bible already selected for you based on what day it is. For example, I am writing this post on the 5th and therefore turned to Proverbs 5 before I started my day.
Benefits
The first benefit is that, like the “Psalms of the Day,” you do not waste your time seeking a passage to read and meditate upon. All you have to do is know what day it is and where the book of Proverbs is located in your Bible (just right of the middle) and you are ready to meditate on God’s wisdom.
A second benefit I have found to reading a Proverb a day is that the devil has a much harder time getting at me. Personally, the first 23 years of my life were extremely worldly and Satan knows this and uses it against me. However, since I starting reading a Proverb each day before I get going, I have discovered that my “sword” (Eph. 6) is more able to deflect any blows. Also, the hedge of protection that I pray for seems to be getting stronger and stronger.
Proverbs and the Seminary
While I do believe a seminary education is of importance and is extremely beneficial to those who are able to attend, I do not think it alone will suffice in the daily spiritual war in which we are engaged. The Word of God is the best education we can ever receive. The best part is that it can be absolutely free depending on how you go about acquiring a Bible.
Never think that you are supplementing the Bible with your seminary education. Rather, we should view our Bible being supplemented with the education you are receiving in seminary. It is one thing to read about the Bible. It is something completely different to read, and wrestle, with the Bible-especially, in the context of this article, the book of Proverbs. In viewing your education in this manner, you will soon discover that the wisdom you crave has been at your finger tips all this time. May God bless you as you drink from His well.
What else to bring to seminary?
Written by Jeff Patterson · August 6, 2008
In his last post Chad gave some good pointers on what to bring to seminary, and then concluded on the note: “Navigating seminary is different from college, it is an immersive experience that should be taken full advantage of.”
I totally agree. There were times a decade ago when I would (ahem) doze off during my civil engineering classes as an undergrad. But now? No chance of dozing off. In fact, when a prof lets us out early I usually get a little ticked. (I’m paying for this … for another decade on student loans!)
Chad’s list is good (a system for notes, a good bag, an organizational method, and a Bible) - see the comments too. To add, let me offer three others, two abstract and one practical.
A mind to work
Seminary is flat out hard work. Many never finish, and hardly anyone is there to just skate by. (Besides, in church history it seems God doesn’t use lazy people. It doesn’t all depend upon us, by we get to participate fully, carried along by grace.)
Be ready to be challenged and stretched, and to love every moment of it (even worshiping late into the night pining away on a research paper).
A heart to grow
We’ve all heard the classic stereotype … seminary = cemetary. With all my heart I can truly say the exact opposite has been our experience at Multnomah. The more I know about God, the more I love Him. The mind and heart are so interconnected that Jesus said He was here to usher in the new area of “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) — the heart and the mind fully engaged with God. We cannot genuinely love God with our hearts and not think of Him rightly in our minds, and vice versa.
Still, somehow there are students who go through the motions and get the “A” and miss the whole point of knowing, loving and enjoying God above all else, especially in our studies. As a side note, immersing one’s self in the local church is key as well. Making ourselves ‘at home’ is essential to allowing God to form our character.
A budget to follow
(Here’s the practical one.) Your budget will ebb and flow, and often simply dry up. (Things won’t go as planned.) If you are married the tensions on your soul to be the provider will grate on your soul. You will learn faith and dependence. (That is good for us!) This is the ‘class’ that’s not in the syllabus.
But by all means be intentional about being frugal. You probably don’t need a bunch of tricked out technology, and developing a contented heart is a sign of treasuring Christ (Phil. 4:8-13).
Does anyone remember little league baseball (or youth soccer) and the kids who had all the super expensive gear? You know the one with matching batting gloves and flip sunglasses and a neat-o bat bag and cool warmup? Yeah, that kid was almost always the worst in the actual game. Not saying you should show up with no ‘gear,’ but the name of the game is more than having the toys to play.
You will be looking around and seeing everyone else’s ‘gear’ and be tempted to grab the same for yourself. (That’s called coveting (Colossians 3:5), and I wrestle with it every day.)A good tip for considering a large purchase is to wait one day for every $100 of the price. That will help lessen impulse buying, and effectively stretch your budget.
What’s missing?
Some might add a laptop to this list. Good point. But there are students on campus who don’t have a laptop. A computer at home, and access in the lab can often suffice thanks to USB thumb drives. There are a few reasons to need a laptop in class (see comments from Chad’s post), but I dare say there are far fewer distractions sticking to the “vintage” style of note taking. At least some of your classes should be old school, no computer, and I’ll leave it up to you to sort out which ones. (Okay, full disclosure: I sometimes use mine in class, and soon into this adventure Kari and I realized that one computer at home was not enough for two students, so we have two, um, laptops.)
Anyone else have anything to add?
Two Cent Tuesday - Blogs We Love
Written by W. Ryan Burns · August 5, 2008
I recently trimmed down my google reader account from 100+ blogs to 70 blogs. It is amazing how much great (and less than great) information is out there. At times I wonder what our church fathers and mothers would think about blogs… Think about Gutenberg. You think he’d be a blogger? And I wonder if Luther would have used a hammer and nail to post the 95 thesis or if he would have just gone out and bought www.hammer-and-nail.com or www.95thesis.com, installed wordpress, and gone to writing.
Whatever the case may be, blogging and the internet have (understatement) changed the way we communicate with the world. So, in those lines I wanted to find out who your favorite bloggers are. So, today’s Two Cent Tuesday question is “what is your favorite blog?” Feel free to vote for one that is on the list or add your own. No bonus points if you vote for GTS, though it will warm my heart. Also, no narcissism here and voting for yourself.
Also, feel free to talk about this one in the comments… are blogs good/bad, what are some of your runner up’s for the vote, what church father/mother do yu wish had a blog? Have fun with it.
What is your favorite blog?
What should I bring with me to Seminary?
Written by Chad Brooks · August 4, 2008
I remember when I was anxiously awaiting my first day of classes at Asbury. I had bought all of my books beforehand and had even started reading. I was really hoping that I would be able to find a Seminary 101 list of a few things that would come in handy but I never did. I am starting my third year this fall and I want to offer up a few suggestions to things that will help the new student (or the continuing).
System for Notes
Find a good way to take notes. Learning to use a certain piece of software or going ‘Vintage” notes are two options. Whatever you do, stick with it because it is a pain to switch mid-semester. I did that in one of the most intensive classes I have ever had and it was painful.
A Good Bag
Get a good bag. Unlike college, where just making it to class was an accomplishment, in seminary I find myself having to juggle three different roles every day. The student side of me has to have the course materials needed for the day. This could be as simple as a notebook/laptop or it could mean several books. For one of my jobs, I have to keep several up with paperwork and my “idea” notebook, so there is two more items. Lastly, I am always working on a few side-projects so I have a few extra books and materials with me. This means that I sometime carry a full load. Since I try to go into school in the morning and leave around 5 or 6, I have to have a step up from the Hannah Montana backpack I could have bought at Wal-mart for 10 dollars. You will be using this bag for several years, find a good one and invest the money.
Organization Method
If you are lucky enough to only have the responsibility of going to school you are a lucky person. Most students juggle at least one side job, if not multiple. At any given moment, I am working 4 jobs and maybe some freelance stuff. I would die if I didn’t have a good method of organization. Wess Daniels is a Phd student at Fuller and has a great post about his method here, it is pretty much the same thing that I use.
Bible
Get a good, simple Bible and stick with it. When I came to school I had a bible I had been using for several years and it was already marked up. I found it to be distracting when I was in class and my thoughts went to the notes I had made in previous study. Having a “class” bible allows me to keep things a little better organized. Find out what translation your school recommends the most and grab a simple one, with no study notes and wide margins if you can find one. In a future post I will show you how I made my “tricked out” class bible.
Navigating seminary is different from college, it is an immersive experience that should be taken full advantage of. I know others have some great tips and tricks out there, so please post them in the comments.
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