Category: Spiritual life
Sexual Sin is the Atomic Bomb
Your personal sexual integrity is as important as anything else. A pastor friend of mine put it this way: Sexual sin among ministers is the atomic bomb. Nothing else can destroy so much, so fast. It will wreak havoc and destruction in the church on a scale that nothing else can. But among you there [...]
Category: Spiritual life
Don’t Be Lazy
In the face of all the multiple demands at seminary, the temptation to laziness can be acute. I’ve spoken with a number of students who succumb to laziness, to their own hurt. They have much to get done, but cannot get themselves to do it. Often laziness will show up as procrastination; or choosing to [...]
Category: Academics, Spiritual life
My First Semester Shock, or Seminarians Without Chests
I approached seminary with many of the common illusions seminary students have. I thought it would be a spiritually vibrant and intense time, full of people who were overflowing with passion for Christ. Boy was I surprised. My first semester, I enrolled in Hebrew class, like many beginning M.Div.-ers. I made friends with some other [...]
Category: Featured, Spiritual life, Stories
“Mr. Ask a Question in Class to Try to Look Smarter” Guy
We’ve all seen examples of people who, when the scene plays out, we know that we do not want to be “that guy.” For example, when you see the guy who has just barely learned a new theological term throwing it around among people who know what that term means so as to make people [...]
Category: Spiritual life
Stumbling at Seminary: Laziness
In the face of all the multiple demands at seminary, the temptation to laziness can be acute. I’ve spoken with a number of students who succumb to laziness, to their own hurt. They have much to get done, but cannot get themselves to do it. Often laziness will show up as procrastination; or choosing to [...]
Category: Featured, Spiritual life
Learn to Confess Your Sins
Confession is a much neglected discipline in Protestant life, despite the clear biblical command to “confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed.” (James 5:16) Speaking your depravity out loud to a listening brother or sister in Christ is one of the most powerful means of sanctification [...]
Category: Featured, Spiritual life
45 Ways to Waste Your Seminary Education
Last week, while I was vacationing in the Keys, Derek Brown posted a devastating list every seminary student should read, entitled “How to Waste Your Theological Education.” Here’s a sample: 1. Cultivate pride by writing only to impress your professors instead of writing to better understand and more clearly communicate truth. 2. Perfect the fine [...]
Category: Links, Spiritual life
Using Mentors in Seminary
Having a learning coach or ministry mentor is a great way to leverage your seminary experience. Our research on theological education as well as surveys with people in the field led us to make mentoring a significant part of our learning model. Many seminaries will involve mentoring during the last two semesters of their study [...]
Category: Academics, Featured, Spiritual life
Seminary Evangelism Class Must-See
This woman should teach a seminary evangelism class. If you haven’t yet seen this clip about this sweet woman sharing Christ with a would-be mugger, you must watch. This stirs me up. “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2 HT: Timmy Brister
Category: Links, Spiritual life
Learn to Love People
(“Learn to…” Series, part four) Seminary cannot teach you to love people. If you are going to lead God’s people, however, you must learn to love them. Seminary by its nature is primarily devoted to the formation of the mind, to think right thoughts about God, to master theology. This is an important pursuit which [...]
Category: Featured, Spiritual life
