Seminary will give you plenty of practice writing papers. By the time I graduated with my M.Div, I could easily write ten pages about nothing. (Some would allege that my sermons are exactly that…but I digress.) Writing papers on the scale that seminary requires can be daunting if you haven’t done it before. Ten page [...]

The first week of seminary is over, and looming ahead are due dates for reading, papers and tests. You know this because you should have a syllabus for each class, which contains all the assignments you’ll need to complete this semester and their due dates. This is awesome. It’s a time management bonanza. If you [...]

Great words from James MacDonald or Harvest Bible Chapel about the critical difference between ministering equippers and servants in the church. (Video not working? try here) This is a pretty important distinction. In particular, I’ve seen people go into youth ministry because they love working with youth. Then they become full-time ministers and realize that [...]

Nothing like the perspective of an outsider to give us pause.  Over at Theophilogue, Brad reports an encounter with a coffee shop employee. You should read it.  (It’s short.) So my questions: How much do you tip? What does that say about you? Is generosity an important virtue for people in ministry?

Your seminary isn’t responsible for your education.  You are. In the past week, I’ve had the chance to visit with a few current and just-graduated seminarians, and some of their observations have been strikingly similar: The seminary environment is too academic. The assigned readings are too long, and not really related to the subject matter. [...]