Two Cent Tuesday - Influential Factors

I was thinking yesterday about the process I went through that lead me to seminary.  It was a long  and drawn out process (here are some excerpts).  While there were MANY factors that influenced my decision to attend seminary, for me the Bible was most influential.  The more I read Paul’s explanations to Timothy and Titus about the role of the Elders in the church, I continually felt as if I fell short in the area of doctrine.  I knew I was called to vocational ministry and that I’d be spending the next 60 +/- years doing it… so I thought that an investment of 3 or 4 years was well worth it for me, my family, and those God would entrust into my care.

So, how about you… what was the most influential factor for you?  No right or wrong answers here… I’m just wondering.

How I got to Seminary

I am sure that there are many unique stories about how people end up getting to seminary. On our forums there is a topic describing peoples top choices in regard to different schools. I didn’t chime in because the only school that I applied to was Asbury. Here is a quick version of how I ended up here.

I grew up a preachers kid so the usual entanglement with religion that PK’s have was a part of my life. In high school I learned about what the church could offer me, so we can just say that my level of involvement was just enough for me to have benefits from it. My life really changed when I hit college. Through a series of events that stretched out over several years I had tremendous experiences with God and also managed to screw things up pretty good too. When I was around 18 I felt a call to vocational ministry, but had no idea what on earth that looked like. My life consisted of various stages of pleading for forgiveness to God and thinking that I had everything together.

You can say everything changed with my life hit rock bottom when I was about 22. I wasn’t quite done with school, but I had cleaned up (literally inside and outside), was working at a small Southern Baptist church (the denomination I grew up in), and was dating the girl who felt called to be a preachers wife. I was presented with a great opportunity, but some friends felt that I wasn’t “religious” enough, and everything pretty much fell apart. I ended up having a nervous breakdown and a bout with alcoholism.

It was at this time that I started doing sound engineering for money and ended up touring with a great group of guys leading worship all over the country. I meet a local college minister and we would talk from time to time. By now, I was realizing that I could make nice money running sound at a mega-church and was planning to enter that world when I finally graduated from college.

Life went forward for a few years, and I met my wife Meredith. My plan was to sell furniture while waiting for her to graduate after we got married. One day I was slipping through the Louisiana Tech Wesley foundation, the home of our previously mentioned college minister. After finding out about the furniture plan, he offered me a job interning at Wesley. I spent the next year and half ministering there.

Wesley changed my personal view of ministry. There was alot that I didn’t say in this little essay, but we can say that my view of God was completely re-organized. One of the things that was promised to me was not ever running sound. While I did end up doing it, I was thankful and I understood why this “rule” was made. My director Scott had been watching me for years, and knew that I had other skills that had never really been brought out. While I was there I learned that I was gifted in organization, teaching, discipleship and just making friends.

You are probably starting to wonder where seminary comes into this…..

I had been thinking about seminary for years, since I was around 20. While touring I always carried a few books with me and attempted to teach myself Greek. Most people knew that I was thinking about seminary. In fact, the first time I sat down with Scott (my director at Wesley) was under the auspices of Asbury Seminary. It actually took around 3 years to get to that conversation. I was raised on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and I had friends that went to plenty of other seminaries around the country. There was something about Asbury graduates that made me want to check the school out. After spending a weekend here, I saw that many of my own interests were shared, specifically how liturgy can used in the 21st century. What sealed the deal was spending time in the chapel office with J.D. Walt, and seeing how the school puts together a reader for every season of the church calender. Asbury just made sense to me.

I tell people now that I wasn’t sure why I wanted to come to seminary. But I knew I wanted to be at Asbury. I would have come to Asbury if it was a welding school because of what the Holy Spirit has done and is doing in this place.

When searching for a seminary, the most important thing is to find the place that makes you stay up at night with excitement. Asbury is part of my soul now, and I pray that your choice in attending seminary will be part of yours.

Considering Seminary When Others Do Not

So you think God wants you to go to seminary … now what?

How do you know you are meant to head to seminary? Especially when some in your life think it would be a waste of time and resources? So, just how does one proceed to investigate, select and make preparations towards seminary, especially when not many in one’s personal sphere have gone that route?

Perhaps you are like me and Christ rescued you while in college. Or perhaps you grew up in the church, trusted in Jesus at a young age, but only in the last few years began to get “serious” about knowing, loving and enjoy God. It takes a unique person to thrive in seminary. Certainly the rigorous theological training is not meant for all. Yet, if you are on this site you probably are pretty serious about seminary.

(Specifically I have in mind those who come from a church or family background where the influential people in your life do not think highly of a seminary education. My wife and I came from a very healthy and vibrant Bible-saturated church tradition, but one that views seminary as essentially a “cemetery.” Our personal experience has been the exact opposite. While we remain close with many of the leaders of that church movement, we knew that heading to seminary might have closed the door to serving there. We were and remain that convinced of God’s call for us.)

Consider all aspects

Both the good and the bad. Jesus commanded that we truly “count the cost” before following Him (Luke 14:28), and this must certainly include life-shaping decisions like heading to seminary. What are your motivations to attend seminary? What school(s) are you considering? Do you know anyone who has gone or is going there? Are they more mature, godly, worshipful, and joyful as a result? What are the theological bent of the schools you are considering? What are their positions on the exclusivity of Christ, the Gospel, biblical authority and inerrancy? As for the “bad”: What will school cost? How far is it from home? Is there a healthy church in the community? Is it too soon to go, or shall you wait another year? (If married: be sure your spouse is on the same page. Whatever you choose, as long as you are of one-mind, you will do well.) Lay everything out on the table and make an informed, honest and wise choice. And while the gravity of the decision may overwhelm you, know that God is sovereign and He delights in the deliberate thinking and humility of His children. By all means make the process towards seminary one of prayer and worship (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Consider others who have gone before

Do you know a pastor or mentor who navigated through seminary? Any men and women you hope to be like? Much of mentoring is informal, yet can become more intentional, as you ask. Paul wrote to imitate him as he imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1); thus following in the steps of others, while being our own unique person, is part of this Christian life. Have you considered asking others to help you make this decision in community (and not on an island)?

Invest in the meantime

Not financially specifically, but relationally, in people. As Jake pointed out recently, this vital aspect of life is key while in seminary. It is also important before (and after) seminary. The academy is aimed at serving the local church, and well, if you aren’t investing in people now you likely will not later.

A few practical considerations

• Clean your room. A wise pastor noted how his Dad reminded him about discerning God’s will of when and where to go in His will, “Johnny, be faithful in cleaning your room, and God will open the door to the room next to it.” Sound advice on excelling from the heart.
• Take your time. There is perhaps a fine line here, as all schools have deadlines. Yet know that if God wills it for you to start in Winter or Spring instead of Fall it will be alright. Wherever you are, be all there. (In our case, we arrived on campus (at a different school than we first planned) two years after dreaming about heading to seminary.)
• Do the necessary paperwork. Be on top of school applications and deadlines, and especially the financial aid documents with FAFSA. Relates more to organization than to be being in hurry.
• Get out of debt; at least as much as possible.
• Talk about it. Are there legitimate reasons why some resist you going to seminary? Specifically, are they against a certain seminary? Can you interview anyone who has “successfully” completed seminary? How about those who are students now?
• Live with an open hand. Praying, not begging. All of life is preparation and the end goal is to know God (John 17:3), even more than fulfilling a lifelong dream.
• Be ready. This relates to consumerism, debt and unnecessary ties to our world.
• Love the Church. The Church is Christ’s chosen Bride, and with her He had determined to share the glorious truth of His Gospel of grace. God will not do it without the church and He purposes that you see yourself wrapped up in the story of others, broken and in need of the Gospel (me and you too!)
• Interview others. Worth mentioning twice, especially because even a campus visit and the best publications cannot convey the value of a seminary education. (Note that any of the writers on this site are more than willing to discuss personal considerations and our own journey. Let us know how we can help - the Forum is a good place for discussions.)

Make Yourself at Home

In an earlier post, Ryan discussed how seminary can sometimes come to be viewed more as a means to an end or as a stepping stone than a time of formation and growth. Asking questions such as what plans we have after we are done with seminary only fuel this kind of perspective.

One of the problems with having this mentality is that you will not properly establish yourself in whatever area you move to in order to attend seminary. Understanding seminary as a stepping stone to something else will only lead you to view your whole life at that particular time and place as a stepping stone. You will never fully unpack the boxes, so to speak. Your apartment will be more like a hotel room than a home.

As a result, a few things might happen. First, you will likely not develop many solid and authentic friendships. Perhaps you are thinking about returning to wherever you came from, and so you focus your energy on maintaining those friendships and those ties. While there is not anything inherently wrong with this, it will keep you from building bonds between the people around you for the next several years. Those friendships are essential for getting through seminary. Your close friends will challenge you, encourage you, strengthen you, rebuke you, and just be there for you like your friends back home cannot practically do. If you do not establish those sorts of friendships, your time in seminary will be very lonely. If you are married, this will likely be an even greater struggle for your spouse.

Second, if you do not make that place authentically “home” for the time you are living there, it is likely that you will not develop the type of relationship with the church you choose to attend that you need to. You will certainly be a part of a church, especially as you are required to serve a certain number of hours as an intern at a church in order to get your degree, but you will not really become part of that church. You will do your duties, but you will miss out on the type of communal fellowship that belongs to the local body of Christ. Again, to miss out on this will make for a very lonely experience–not to mention the fact that this will seriously impede your spiritual growth and development.

These are only a couple of things that may happen if you take this perspective, but they are significant things. And while maybe you have plans to return to where you came from or to move somewhere else once you are completed seminary and serve in ministry there–and these plans are good–do not let them be your sole focus while you are in seminary. Cherish this opportunity with all your heart, and seek to immerse yourself in the blessings that come with being in this situation. Make it home for you (and your family) for the next few years, with all the connotations which that word conveys.

For some people this will be easier than others. If you have moved around a lot, making a new place home is maybe not that difficult. If you have lived in the same place your whole life, this will be more of a struggle. If you are newly married and this new place is where you are starting your lives together, the transition will be a lot easier. If you have friendships going back to your childhood, it will be tougher. But this is where God has placed you and has called you to for this point in your life, and you will mine all the riches of this experience if you allow yourself to. It may only be three years. But a lot can happen in three years. Grab hold of it.

Thrifty Thursday - Student Advantage

I thought I’d throw this one out there in case anyone might be interested. Student Advantage is a savings card that is only available to students and offers discounts on both local and online retailers. Much like the Entertainment savings guide we’ve mentioned before, the Student Advantage card does cost some money. However, it looks like you can recoup your expense in one or two purchases. Along with that, Student Advantage is offering a free trial month… So, if anything you can give it a try for free, save some money, and if you’re not happy you can cancel before you actually have to pay for the card.

If anyone has a Student Advantage card, let us know what you think.

Resisting Sedentary Seminary

Remember the “Freshman Fifteen”? What about the “Seminary Several”? Perhaps you escaped the undergrad weight gain only to find that now seminary hits you with the one-two punch of entering your *ahem* shall we say, less than prime years, coupled with devoting an inordinate amount of time to sitting, studying, and consuming large quantities of coffee and Snickers bars. Jeff and I thankfully haven’t added the Seminary Several, but we have discovered that Seminary equals Sedentary, and after a life of sports and activity, these past three years of seminary have taken their toll on our fitness to say the least. So, this past month Jeff and I took a weeklong summer intensive course. Even though I committed to staying alert, focused, and purposeful in gleaning as much as I could from class, by 11am on the first day I was drowsy and guiltily clicking through Facebook to keep myself alert. By the time lunch rolled around I was ready to ditch my healthy brown bag in favor of French fries and a Caramel Macchiato.

The Lunch Run

But (!) I was fiercely determined that I was going to take the opportunity to get some exercise during this summer class. So, I decided that during the lunch hour each day I would go running. Fortunately the weather cooperated, and I had just enough time to go to the gym, change into shorts, run for thirty minutes, then splash some ice cold water under my arms, and get back to class a little red in the face but energized beyond what any Starbucks would ever be capable of achieving.

I was amazed at the results. I found it so much easier to focus during the afternoons (and I’m a morning person so I can’t blame it on that!). I found myself energized, positive, enthusiastic, and feeling motivated to eat my healthy lunch rather than ditch it in favor of the McLunch I would later regret. On the last day of class it started to rain, and since I’m a wimp, I forewent a run in the drizzle, and instead chose to explore the weight room of our campus’s gym. I was amazed! While not the most state-of-the-art fitness center, they had great equipment and free weights. And I practically had the place to myself. I realized that I’d been through three years of seminary without ever taking advantage of the free fitness facilities (Perhaps free is not the word considering the size of our school loans). How many days did I shuffle through my classes, unable to keep myself alert without shocking doses of caffeine, when I could have been taking time to exercise my body, relax my mind, and recharge for the studies ahead?!

Read, Ride, and Run

So it made me think, I want to tell Seminarians to take advantage of the free (”included with tuition”) fitness facilities available to us as students. Play “Noon Ball”, go for a quick run or walk, lift a few weights, sit on the recumbent bike while reading that theology textbook. Don’t neglect to exercise the body God’s given you in your quest for exercising your mind. Both are important in our service for Christ. And you might just be surprised how much easier it is to focus on Greek after running around the block for Jesus. Don’t let Sedentary Seminary lull to sleep. Instead, stay one step ahead of the Seminary Several.

Two Cent Tuesday - Going on Vacation?

So, I’m sitting in the airport with my wife and we’re getting ready to head home from a short mini vacation. We knew that we could use some time away, just the two of us, after such a crazy 6 (actually 12) months. So, I arranged for my mom to come watch the kids and we were cleared to take off. The destination was a toss up for us. It was between going to the beach and soaking up the rays or flying up to Richmond and spending time with our friends we’d been missing. In the end, the friends ended up winning out and I’m really glad. It was so great to go and spend time with those people who mean so much too me… yeah, maybe it wasn’t as relaxing as 3 days on the beach, but it was refreshing to our souls.

So, as we sit hoping to get on this flight (flying standby) how about you? You heading anywhere this summer? Are vacations a time to relax for you or just a time to cram as much activity into your trip as possible?

Forming the Character of our Future Ministry

Many seminaries advertise their core emphases, God-centered and Bible-saturated curriculum, world-class faculty, modern facilities and great equipping strategy. Thank God for these places of higher learning. We want to be prepared for ministry in the church today, and the church needs the academy, and vice versa. Yet, story after story reveals the crux issue with seminarians after graduation is one of character not competence.

In all our learning of theology, biblical languages, let us not forget the reason and focus of our studies, and for our being Christian: Christ.

He is our Source and our Joy, and the One whom we desperately need. Without Him we will perish, and with Him we can endure all things. Cultivating this relationship is essential in seminary as in all of life. For without Him we can do nothing (John 15:4). We can get a new church, retake a course, but we have no other Savior. Cultivating the inner life of our souls is key when hitting the books and preparing for ministry. The motives and habits we form now will continue for decades and influence all whom we come into contact with (not the least our families).

On this point, Robert Murray McCheyne offered some essential advice to a young seminarian more than 150 years ago:

“Do get on with your studies. Remember you are now forming the character of your future ministry in great measure, if God spare you. If you acquire slovenly or sleepy habits of study now, you will never get the better of it. Do everything in its own time. Do everything in earnest; if it is worth doing, then do it with all your might. Above all, keep much in the presence of God. Never see the face of man until you have seen His face who is our light, our all. Pray for others; pray for your teachers and fellow students.”[1]

Although McCheyne never made it to 30 years old, in his pastoral ministry he saw great fruit. The key, however, was not in the fruit, but in his own faithfulness, brought about by heading his own advice, to “above all, keep much in the presence of God.” He took the call to know, love and enjoy our Triune God above all else, and saw it work out in a thousand practical ways. His character was deeply rooted in Christ, the result of daily faithfulness in the small things.

While in seminary, are you likewise knowing, loving and enjoying God, intentionally in His presence, and watching Him daily transform your character as you stare at Him? (2 Cor. 3:18).

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[1] Robert Murray McCheyne, letter to seminary student, 1840. Memoirs of McCheyne, edited by Andrew A. Bonar (Chicago: Moody, 1947), p. xvi.

Keeping a home library

Many Seminary students like books. Some of us, I being one, are book geeks. This means that we drive our spouses or housemates crazy with the amount of books that we seem to go through. So why is it important for the seminarian (and minister) to maintain a good library?

1. It allows you to have access to your thought process.
Hopefully, you are reading things you agree and disagree with. When you decide to keep certain titles it means that something important went on when you read that book. The level of importance may vary, but you want to keep the book as a resource for future needs. After a while, you can almost trace the history of your theological development by what titles are in your library. I love finding a book that I went through a couple of years ago. I end up being transported back to that time in my life.

2. You gain the ability to have better citations in papers.
What this means is that you know your library. To really do this, you need to have some sort of collection system for your notes. I use a searchable document that is updated every time I finish a book. This way I am able to quickly find sections that jumped out at me (more on this method at a later date). I have learned that I have a rotating stable of around 20 books that I use most of the time in my specific area of research. Many of these titles were books that I caught myself checking out 2-3 times from the library and decided to buy them. Some are out of print and having constant access to them allows me to not worry about them being checked out (or archived out of the stacks). I know these resources really well, and having them at my house (or wherever you keep your library) just makes it easier to write papers.

3. You can work on something at a moments notice.
While I am in an academic track in seminary, I also serve at a local church as youth pastor. It is a smaller congregation with a retired pastor. From time to time, I find out on short notice that I am needed to preach the next service (sometimes with a four hour notice on Sunday afternoon). Since I have been conscious about buying commentaries and other books, I usually don’t have to worry about not having access to the library at school to work on my sermon. I am slowly buying several commentary series, and when I am devotionally studying a certain section of the Bible I try to buy one or two commentaries on the book, because most of my short notice sermons come from what I have been going through in my own personal study time.

I also am a night owl. So when I am working on a project, or just a blog post at three in the morning, I can go over to my library and find what information about whatever I need.

Part of keeping a good home library is knowing how and when to buy books. Every Seminary student is short on cash, so we can’t just having shopping spree’s at the bookstore. How to build a library on a budget will be talked about in my next post.

Thrifty Thursday - Taking Care of Your Cloth Diapers

Last week I wrote about cloth diapers. This week I would like to elaborate a bit more on the care of the cloth diapers as well as a few more tips for being a good steward of your funds while keeping your children clean.

Rinsing the Dirty Diapers

Last week I talked about attaching a kitchen sprayer to your toilet to clean out the dirty diapers. It is not as hard as one would think and it does not take as much time as one would think. Another benefit of having the sprayer attached to the toilet is that it makes rinsing down the bath tub much easier than just using a cup of water. (Because I keep my hair short, I usually cut it myself in the bath tub so as to contain the cut hair.)

At the end of this article, I have included step-by-step directions for how to make the diaper sprayer as well as how to attach it to your toilet.

Containing the Diapers

There are a couple schools of thoughts on what to do with the diapers while they are waiting to be washed. The first is to fill the diaper pale (trash can or whatever) about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way full with water and sprinkling some baking soda which acts as a neutralizer for the odor. The problem with this is that when the pale gets full of diapers and the additional water from spraying them out or the other bodily fluids that come in diapers, it tends to get pretty heavy. Unless you have handles to carry it, it can become very awkward to carry.

The second school of thought is to just rinse them in the toilet and toss them into the container. Our trash can that contains the diapers has a lid that flips open that we bought at Wal-Mart for like $8. My wife and I have discovered that the odor is hardly there and that it is easier to not only carry but to get into the wash machine. If there is an odor, we use vinegar during the first rinse cycle.

Washing the Diapers

***This is only cost effective if you have a washer and dryer. I would not do this at a laundromat or on-site coin laundry at a complex.***

The actual washing (or warshing if you are from the mid-west!) of the diapers is a two-step process in the washing machine. First, you dump the diapers into the wash and set the machine on the second rinse cycle (after the first spin cycle) This will agitate the diapers and get any extra junk out of the diapers and then spin them out before actually washing them. This is an important step.

After this first step is done, you then act as though you are washing a regular load of laundry except you should use a liquid detergent (All or ERA is what we use) that does not have any perfume or dyes. To be honest, I am not sure why this is necessary, but everything I have read says that this helps extend the life of the diaper.

I always set my load setting on the largest load capacity in order that there is more water for the diapers to be washed in. I also use the hot/hot setting for the water temperature. It is my opinion that this helps with the sterilization of the diapers each wash.

Drying the Diapers

We use two methods for this as well depending on how much time we have on a given day. The first method is to throw them in the dryer and set them on the low heat setting. This usually takes 40 minutes to dry the diapers completely. If you uses the high heat setting, the diapers begin to crack and the longevity of them is much less.

The second method is to hang them on a rack or clothesline to dry. We do not set them in the sun for the same reason we do not set them on the high heat. We hang them on a clothes rack we bought at Wal-Mart (bet you wouldn’t have guessed that) and then put them in front of one of our fans overnight (or not). After they are done drying this way, we throw them in the dryer on the no heat cycle just to fluff them up a bit.

It may seem like a lot of work put into saving a few bucks on diapers, but it really is not. We have two kids in diapers which translates to about two extra loads of “laundry” each week. Spraying out the dirty diapers does not take very long at all, either.

I will write later on how to either make your own wipes out of paper towels or simply make your own cloth wipes.

Directions on how to make a diaper sprayer

Supplies needed- you can get them at any hardware store

3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee
barb splicer
sink sprayer
hose clamps 2
toilet supply line

1. Shut off water at the valve behind the toilet
2. Remove supply line to toilet from the valve
3. Install 3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee to valve (One end should be horizontal- the other two are up and down)
***One of the two “up and down” ends needs to be a male (with the ability to attach to something) end and the other a female (with the ability to receive an attachment) end. The horizontal part needs to be female.***
4. Take the removed supply line and install it to the tee-the top of the tee
5. Cut off large end of new toilet supply line
6. Insert the barb splicer (this will connect the toilet supply line and the sprayer)
7. Put hose clamp on the new toilet supply line
8. Cut off very end of the sink sprayer
9. Install on the other end of the barb splicer
10. Add all of this to the other end of the 3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee-which is horizontal
11. You are finished. You can buy a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall.

Total cost: about $17.00-$21.00.

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