Free seminary classes online

With the advances of technology these days it is truly amazing the education one can get just by hoping online. Which raises a question, “How important is getting the actual seminary degree?”

Now, as I mentioned in my “which degree is for me” post, if you want to be a pastor in a denominational church, then the answer to this question is pretty obvious… very important. But, say you’re just wanting to expand your education, or you simply want to gain some deeper understanding in a few areas, but the actual degree isn’t something you need… or maybe the finance just aren’t there…or maybe you just want to test the waters.

Well, there is an option. Many seminaries are starting to make their class lectures available for FREE! That’s right, you can sit in on literally hundreds of hours of seminary teaching and never leave the comfort of your iPod.

Here is a list of some of the seminaries I know who are giving away their lectures. If you know of anymore, please post a comment and share the goodness.

SEMINARY COURSES AVAILABLE FOR FREE:

• Reformed Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
• Fuller Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
  
• Covenant Theological Seminary
• Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Registration Required)

Going to seminary - a professors perspective

Professor, pastor, and theologian, Dr. John Frame wrote a pamphlet called, “Learning at the feet of Jesus: A Case for Seminary Training.” This is a quick and easy read that will, hopefully, help you in your decision making process.

Here is an excerpt from the opening page:

LEARNING AT JESUS’ FEET:
A CASE FOR SEMINARY TRAINING
At some point in their walk with Jesus, many Christians ask whether they should attend seminary — either to earn a degree or just to take a few courses. I’ve been teaching in seminaries for thirty-five years, and I’ve done some thinking about this question. In this pamphlet, I’ll encourage you to go to seminary if you can, and I’ll try to help those who are seeking guidance for this important decision.

I want to thank the good people at Reformed Theological Seminary for making this available, free of charge, on their website.

Finding the Will of God

So, one of the books that helped me the most in finally making the decision to attend seminary was Bruce K. Waltke’s book, Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? In his book Waltke masterfully addresses an issue that is all too common in the church, namely divination.

Somewhere along the lines we have come to the conclusion that God is some con-man trying to pull a slide-of-hand trick with us and keeping his will from us. So, with that in mind we try all kinds of cooky ways to try and find out what God’s will is (anyone else played bible roulette before?).

Waltke points out that what most Christians try to pass off as “finding God’s will” is really nothing different from pagan divination. To remedy the situation Waltke offers (the last half of the book) practical suggestions on how a believer can “know God’s will.”

Now, I’m not typically the kind of guy who like “step” books… 12 steps to a better prayer life, 101 ways to evangelize the lost… But Waltke’s recommendations are so simple, practical, and pastoral, that I couldn’t help myself from saying, “Duh… I knew that… maybe I should remember that next time.”

Now, pretty much, if I know someone who is trying to make a big life changing decission, I recommend this book… So, to you trying to decide if God is calling you to seminary… check it out.

When Sinners Say I Do

Ok, if you’re going to seminary I am going to assume that you like to read. If you don’t… um, yeah, seminary is not going to be fun for you. So, here at goingtoseminary.com you’ll probably find lots of book recommendations. Today is no different.

While books can’t, in and of themselves, make your marriage better, there are certainly books that will help you to focus on Jesus a little more clearly and thus better understand how to be a better spouse. I was recently give a free copy of When Sinners Say I Do: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage, by Dave Harvey, thanks to the very kind folks at the Westminster Bookstore and want to say that it is really amazing.

Harvey dives into the often neglected fact that we are sinners (yes, saved by grace and made righteous in Christ… but sinner) and that this is ultimate reason for conflict in our marriages… Two sinners, together, till death. Thankfully, the very gospel that saves and transform our personal lives is the very gospel that will save and transform your marriage. Harvey is a great writer and this one is well worth the read.

Anyone else picked this one up? What did you think?

Reading the Bible to your kids

Anyone else read those children’s bibles and find yourself going, “oh, that is so wrong.” If I’m reading one to my kids and I find bad theology, I’ll typically just change the story to be a bit more in line with the original text. Or, sometimes I’ll read a sentence and then pause for a moment… then tell little man that what I just read was wrong and that is should say “…”.

Well, recently my wife and I found, what I believe to be, the absolutely BEST children’s bible I’ve ever read. The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, by Sally Lloyd-Jones, is amazing. Remaining quite true to the the intent of the original text, Lloyd-Jones masterfully tells the biblical story, keeping Jesus where he blongs… at the very center of it all.

I commend Lloyd-Jones on her work and pretty much recommend this book to every parent I meet. And, if you’re willing to lay down you I’m-a-smarty-pants-seminary-student attitude, this book might actually teach you something about Jesus.

So, help your kids learn early, and remind yourself at the same time, that the Bible is about Jesus and every story whispers his name.

You’ll need a computer

Going to seminary? You’ll need a computer.

I’ve gotta say that we’re a mac family… so we’re taking the 20 inch iMac and the (old) 15 inch powerbook (512 mb). However, I’d really like to get the 19 inch MacBook Pro with 4 gig upgrade… that would be pretty darn sweet. I could write some mean papers on that bad boy. Oh yeah!

Big issue with computers and seminary is that lots of bible programs don’t run on macs… Thank goodness for parallels. Running 2 OS’s at the same time is sweet. We’ve got it on the desktop and it works great. If you’re going to be running something hefty like BibleWorks, then you might want to think about boosting to the 4 gig of ram. That should be able to handle it. Down side… for all the money you’d drop on the Pro, XP, Parallels, and memory… well, lets be honest… you could buy a used car… but you can’t write a paper on a car, now can you?

What about you? Mac or PC? Ding Ding Ding… let the battle begin!

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