Seminary Studies and Devotional Time
Written by W. Ryan Burns · February 9, 2008
Lots of Christians have a “devotional time” or something like that… a time that is set aside daily to study God’s word, pray, and worship. Me, I try to do it first thing in the morning. Starting my day focusing on God and his word helps me to get going in the right direction from the get-go.
While at orientation the other day, one of the speakers said something that was really interesting. He said that he recommended that you use your studies as the content of your devotions. I’ve thought about that for a couple days and recently began to apply it. I really think it is a great idea.
The greatest benefit of using your class studies as the content of your devotions is that it helps bridge the gap between “class” and “real life.” As seminary student we have the very real threat of taking our class work and separating it from our worship and devotion of God. Integrating your studies into your devotional time helps take down this mental dividing wall. Now, learning and worshiping are no longer at odds (a trap we must avoid at all costs).
Now, by way of clarification, I do mean that the bulk of your devotions should be focused on scripture… So, I don’t mean to imply that you should read your textbooks during this time. However, in your classes you, no doubt, have various portions of scripture to read in a given week (and likely some commentaries on those scriptures). THIS is the content I am suggesting you integrate into your devotions.
Now, don’t take this to be a hard and fast rule… sure, there are certainly times when you are lead or desire to study other parts of Scripture in your devotional time. Go for it. However, I think the point is that you don’t have to separate your studies and devotions. You aren’t more spiritual if your devotions are “on top of all your other studies” and you aren’t “lazy” if you use your devotions to read class assigned scripture readings.
Like I said, I’ve been doing it this week focusing on Hebrews (I’m taking a class on Hebrews this semester). So, in the mornings I read a portion of the text, pray through it, and then read some commentaries. It has been refreshing as I feel that I am both learning the content for class and truly worship as I do it.
Anyone else got some thoughts on this?
And so it begins…
Written by W. Ryan Burns · February 5, 2008
So, I just returned home from my first official, residential, seminary class. Before the class started I was just sitting there, taking it all in… 6 years to get here… wow!
So, the class was great. The 3 hours FLEW by. While the material wasn’t the most interesting content I couldn’t help but smile and try to suck everything I could out of the professor. It was GREAT!
I went vintage notes style and was in the minority BIG time (only one other vintage note taker in the class).
A big lesson I learned tonight is that that it is distracting to sit towards the back of the class because you can see everyone’s computer and what all they are doing… I almost had to rend my garment and braid a rope together for an old fashioned temple cleansing as I watched a girl in class go online to pay her tuition, check and reply to several emails, visit a website, and, the icing on the cake, create an Evite for a birthday party. Least I REALLY rant about this young lady, I’ll bite my tongue and simply call it a night.
One day down… many, many more to go.
Wow… thanks!
Written by W. Ryan Burns · February 4, 2008
Just wanted to thank everyone for the encouraging words today. Very cool!
Orientation was good… nothing spectacular, but good.
As I was walking out I got a call from my mom (a flight attendant) who happened to have an unexpected layover in our town. So, went to pick her up and hung out with my mom, bro, and the kids all evening. Was fun… and tiring…
Have a long day tomorrow… work in the morning, interview at lunch (might have a steady PT job lines up), work in afternoon, and class from 6-9… HERE WE GO… I just keep reminding myself… This is what you signed up for 
Again, thanks for all the encouragement. It really means a lot to me to hear that this site is actually helping people.
God bless and good night.
Seminary Orientation
Written by W. Ryan Burns · February 4, 2008
I’m 30 years old… the last time I went to an orientation for school was… 12 years ago.
Today is new student orientation at my seminary and me and Just a Gal will be heading over to campus while Just a Brother watches the Little Man and Sweet Pea (a funny blog post in its own right, I’m sure).
After orientation tomorrow, it is GO time… my first class begins Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. I’m a little bummed about that because I am a morning learner… So, we’ll see how I handle 3 hours at night.
It is kind of surreal to think that it is all happening now. After 7 years of thinking about attending seminary… I’m about to being my first full-time semester. I have mixed emotions… will it be all I hope it will be, will it be harder than I think, can I really handle the pressure, am I as smart as I think I am? The question keep coming and, I guess, only time will tell.
Just a Gal is pretty nervous too. She’s only taking one class, but school has never really been her thing… top that off with being in a class, most likely, 95% guys… 95% of which have been in seminary for more than 1 class… and you can imagine how she feels. That said, I’m really excited for her (and her classmates). Just a Gal is truly amazing. She knows her stuff and I think it will be good for all these future pastors to hear the theological thoughts of a mother and wife who is at seminary so that she can simply be a better mother and wife. Sure, these guys will probably know bigger words than her and will have a lot more books on their shelves… but Just a Gal wrestles with the Gospel every day as she deals with two kids under 4 and a husband that… well… is me!
I think it going to be really cool to see how it all goes… for her and for me.
Ok… strap on your seat belts… the ride begins now!
I might have a problem
Written by W. Ryan Burns · February 2, 2008
My favorite question was, “When you finish this quiz do you plan on blogging about it?”
I laughed out loud because I knew I would… HA!
Have a good Saturday everyone.
Tough transition day
Written by W. Ryan Burns · January 28, 2008
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
Date Night, Marathons, and Seminary… huh?
Written by W. Ryan Burns · January 25, 2008
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:
he(B+)rew
Written by W. Ryan Burns · January 23, 2008
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 |
My son is going to seminary
Written by W. Ryan Burns · January 16, 2008
At dinner I was explaining to Little Man that I was learning Hebrew and that Hebrew has a alphabet (he has learned the English alphabet so I was trying to bridge that connection).
So, I got out my Hebrew alphabet sheet and we went through the letter with him repeating after me. After we went through one time Just a Gal grabbed the sheet and asked Little Man what each letter was… he really enjoyed it and each time would look to me for the answer. However, about half way through Just a Gal asked, “and what is this letter?” to which Little Man answered, “Lamma.” Sure enough it was “Lamed.” He gets mad points for being that close on the second time through with no help. I’m such a proud papa!
Taking Virtual Hebrew
Written by W. Ryan Burns · January 11, 2008
So, I’m five days deep into taking Hebrew 1. To make the class harder the seminary has it as a winter session class (2 weeks) and it is done online! That’s right… online Hebrew.
Here is how it works:
The class has a CD that essentially contains a ‘web’ based class. Meaning the CD runs off your internet browser showing the pages that have been hard coded onto the CD. The CD has 2 sections. One section is the language section and the other is the software section. This class utilizes Logos Bible Software, so the software section has lessons dealing with how to use the program to study the original language… however the first couple lessons were more like, “this is a computer… to open the program double-click the…” which was a little annoying.
The language section is divided into 10 lessons. Each lesson covers different aspects of the language… from the alphabet, to grammar, to pronunciation. In the lesson you basically read about how the language works and then work to apply it. So, yesterday was personal pronouns (weeeee). So, I read all about how personal pronouns work in Hebrew and then did a lot of practice problems applying the lesson.
While the pages aren’t much to look at, they are very functional. Every time you see a word there is a button to click so that you can hear the proper pronunciation and make sure you are reading it correctly. The practice questions all have mouse-over effects that allow you to immediately check to see if you have the right answer.
Along with the class CD we are using Blackboard. This site is pretty common for distance education classes and it is pretty good… I feel like it could be a lot better, but it gets the job done. Specifically, this area acts as the actual classroom. In there are announcements from the professor and a classroom forum. In the forum the students and professor interact by asking questions and discussing class material. Even though part of your grade is class interaction, the forums are surprisingly well utilized (you can tell people aren’t just posting for the grade). I find myself checking the forum more than my email (and I check email a lot).
Finally, in Blackboard we have daily quizzes on the day’s material. We’ll also have a midterm and final.
In all, I was VERY skeptical to begin with… I had no idea if this was going to work… especially based on my previous record with online seminary classes… but I am actually enjoying the class format and feel like I am really starting to grasp the basics of the language.
I’ll try to post again towards the end of the class to let you know how it wrapped up and my final thoughts on taking a seminary Hebrew class online.
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