This past weekend after 3 years of study, I finally walked across the stage and received my Master of Arts in Contemporary Theology from Lincoln Christian Seminary. It was sort of a strange celebration considering I finished everything long before this ceremony took place, but it was fun to have my parents and Tracy’s parents come up from down south to celebrate with us.

One of the more laughable moments came as I walked across the stage to have my servants towel placed over my right arm. As my future plans about planting a church in San Francisco were read off, the associate dean who “toweled” me began to chuckle, looked me in the eyes and said, “Wow, you’re crazy!” To which I responded “thanks.” As I walked down the steps and back to my seat I began to think about all the other graduates and where they were heading. Many returning back to ministries they have been a part of for years, others looking for ministry teams to join in on, but then a select group were heading off to Afghanistan with the military as chaplains, or to Uganda or Indonesia as missionaries and it struck me—I’m crazy?! What about the danger that many of my fellow classmates are putting themselves and their families into? I’m simply heading off to San Francisco within the confines of the continental United States, they’re heading to distant lands and distant shores in far different contexts than I will ever experience.

This theme seems to be a pretty common occurrence when people find out that Tracy and I are going to SF. We get a particular look, then almost a conciliatory “good luck with that” response. I’m still confused and dumbfounded by that look and response… maybe I’m naive to the intricate culture of SF, and if this is the case I hope to remain in my naivete long enough to make a difference. However, maybe SF has been viewed as one of the last greatest conclaves of iniquity in our country by those in the Midwest and conservative America. Could this be the reason for their response, their reaction? I’m not sure, but it is interesting to me and somewhat encouraging to know that of all the students in the Seminary, I’m the crazy one.

*//update 2
i’ve decided to consolidate the three threads into one so that it’s easier to find everything and i’ve placed it once again at the top of the page… what else have you got?
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*//update
alright it’s been a few weeks since posting my paper on the emerging church and i’d love to get the conversation started… some of your thoughts, critiques, etc.my friend glenn, posted the paper on his site as well calling it “fair and scholarly”… so, that was great, but i’d like to get some discussion started about it. so, if you haven’t read it take a look!
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Well, it is completely finished. The Extended Research Paper (mini-thesis) that I have been working on for Seminary is finally finished, and it finished with a bang! Not only did I get a good review of the paper from Dr. Castelein, I didn’t have a single re-write! This was amazing, exciting and brought about a great sense of euphoria to my home…

The introduction of the paper starts with a brief history of the movement before moving on to the more controversial elements of the movements. I think as a whole it turned out really well, but I’d love your feedback and a discussion if you’re up for it…

The Emerging Church

it is finished. never again will i have to take another greek class in my entire life (unless by my choosing). it is finished.

approximately 5 minutes ago i took the second half of my final exam (the first oral, the second a matching test) and aced it. this is very significant in the course of my seminary education as the completion of this class not only marks the completion of the semester and the completion of my greek education, but it also marks the completion of my final class in this round of seminary. all that is left to complete is my extended research paper (mini-thesis) which will be done in november and then i’ll walk in may (’08)—i’m actually scheduled to graduate with honors barring a horrible job on my research paper! (this is a stark contrast from my college days—i still can’t believe they let me into seminary.)

although my seminary education isn’t over yet, i already miss the classes and i already miss the challenging and thought provoking work in which i have been engaged in for almost 2 years now. seminary was everything that i had hoped it would be—and more. i look forward to another round in the future but first i’ll have to work on paying off this one…

so, here’s to greek and my love/hate relationship with it. may you be as happy as i am never to have to engage in learning you ever again!

well, in a bit of depressing news i won’t be graduating from seminary in may like i originally thought/planned/hoped, instead it looks like it’ll be in december. unfortunatly because of all the craziness of this past year—the year from hell—i’m so terribly behind on writing my “mini-thesis” that it’s almost pointless to try and cram it in in the next couple of months, so december will more than likely be it.

i’m a little frustrated, a little ticked, but at least now i can do my paper some justice and actually think through it a whole lot better than just “getting it done” in time for graduation.

well, it’s that time again–time to go back to school.  it’s not that i ever stopped my seminary education–i just put it on hold for a few months even though i was registered and technically taking a class or two.

thank God for extensions!  i’ve been feverishly working to complete my first semester greek class, and only have a couple of weeks in which to complete it.  so, i’ve been averaging about 4 1/2 hours a day of greek studies the past few days in order to catch up—i’m still not half way through and i need to be done in order to start up my second semester in the next couple of weeks and get started on my extended research paper (mini-thesis) in order to fulfill my requirements and graduate in may… 

why did i ever turn in my intent to graduate form!?  (it’s probably a good thing i did since it’s motivating me to actually get back to work on it all!  at least now i can devote some time to it–i don’t think the church will fall apart any time soon!)

i’ve prolonged the pain long enough and yesterday i finally bit the bullet and started my greek course.  i decided towards the end of last semester that instead of taking the proficiency exam (who knows if i would’ve even passed it) i would go ahead and subject myself once again to the torture that is greek.  the reasoning was simple… if i ever decided to go any further in school i’d have to take it again anyways–so why not now on my own terms.

the beauty of it this time is that it’s on video.  i watch the classes on tv in the comfort of my own home, walk back to my office and do the exercises.  the frustration of it all is that i’m starting once again at the very beginning… for the 3rd time.  no, not the third time this semester… rather, the third time in my life.

that’s right, i’m learning the greek alphabet for the third time… learning about nominative and accusative, genative and dative nouns, declensions and prepositions… see, i’ve been here before.  i took 3 years of greek in college but only passed a year and a half of it (basically i took 3 different classes two times a piece).  so, here i am back at the beginning once again.  who knows maybe this time it’ll click.  third time’s a charm right?

so here’s to taking first year greek (2 semesters in college) crammed into one semester of seminary…  i think God is trying to spite me.  did i mention i hate greek?

i’m tired of hearing how worthless bible college and seminary (bcs) were for people. the complaint often times goes a little like this: “bible college did nothing to prepare me for ministry. all the time i am faced with situations and instances where i don’t know what to do or how to handle the situation.” typically then an example will come protruding from their mouth about how they were sitting with a pregnant girl and didn’t know how to approach the situation, or they were with a family that was facing or dealing with hard times and they didn’t know what to do… so of course the rant about how useless bcs is soon to ensue.

i think we’ve got this faulty, dangerous idea about what bcs is supposed to do for us to prepare us for ministry, and that’s where a lot of the frustrations come from. bcs was never meant to give you all the answers to every situation that you’ll ever face–if that were the case you’d never, ever study anything else but situations. bcs isn’t mean to teach you practical things, and why would you want it to? the practical things that you would learn in bcs would eventually become impractical as the culture shifts in a different direction leaving you to re-learn how to do ministry–only this time for the first time on your own.

bcs is meant to challenge your thinking, to get you to learn how to think and it’s also meant to prepare you spiritually and prepare you as a person, because if you’re not prepared in those ways you’ll never get to the point of needing any of the practical stuff in the first place. bcs isn’t meant to teach us how to do ministry, but to prepare us to meet the challenges of the future with a pure heart, a pure mind and with fresh, pure looks at Scripture. it’s time to stop moaning and complaining about how bcs never did anything for me and take notice of the amazing things that were accomplished inside of you during your “pointless 4 years”. it is then and only then that we will realize that we were prepared more than we actually thought.

yes, the “summer of no school” is biting me in the butt.  i never officially declared a summer of no school, but i certainly slacked off on my homework–in my one and only class– and here i am the night before it’s all due cramming to finish up a little over 1/3 of the work for my class on the Holy Spirit.  it’s not so bad, it’s just taking a while… only a few more assignments to go, the only problem is i continue to find myself so unmotivated to actually do it….

strange thing is registration for the fall semester is only a couple of weeks away… how could this be!? at least this year of school will be a whole lot easier… only 3 classes total to take–2 greek classes and my research paper.

update (2:41a): it is finished!

for some reason i feel like i’m getting dumber… not smarter. this is a recent occurrence in my journey as a student. i fly around on my friend’s blogs and i see some brilliant, thought-provoking ideas, theories, epiphanies about God and the like… and yet for some reason i feel like i’m dumb. dumb for not thinking about it already, dumb for not understanding what they’re saying, dumb for being dumb. i don’t feel like i’ve been growing much lately, or even being stretched… rather i feel like it’s all i can do to keep my head above water and just float on to the next stage. maybe that’s what summer vacation is for (if you can call what i’m doing a vacation.) maybe it’s just an educational plateau… i have been stretched and forced to think and wrestle with quite a bit over the past year and maybe my brain is pleading with me, "take a break! please take a break!" so, whatever it is, i’ll just blame it on seminary.

well, this semester i expected a pretty big drop off in my grades considering i jumped into a full-time ministry. this semester was really rough trying to balance everything out. i was extremely overwhelmed from time to time and nearly thought i would go insane. i had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that my grades this semester weren’t going to be nearly as good as last semester. so, without any further ado… here’s the grand unveiling of this semesters results:

A- = Shaping the Heart of a Leader
B+ = Hebrew Exegesis
A = Ethics and Legal Issues
A = Systematic Theology

3.67 = Cum. G.P.A.

(I finished my first semseter of Hebrew during the winter break and ended up with a B-)

Now that I’m taking this Intensive week class (Holy Spirit) for credit this summer I’ll have that and my Extended Research Paper (a mini-thesis, if you will) and I’ll be all finished!

well, it’s time to move away from being brain-dead to actually having a coherent thought once again… school has started again. “but i thought you just finished?” one might think… yes i did… but now it’s time for summer school, i’m taking a class this week from 8-4 everday by choice. what class am i taking that would make me want to give wake my brain from the slumber? castelein is teaching a class on the Holy Spirit. i’m looking forward to it, hopefully he’ll spark some new lines of thinking for me in the area of the Holy Spirit (i’m sure he will)… this is an area where admittedly i have very little understanding or even the slightest grasp on.

so, here’s to a good, long week of discussion about the Holy Spirit…

it is finished! the semester is over and i have finally wrapped up my 2 semesters of Hebrew. this week was all about busting my balls to finish all my Hebrew, and it is finished, with 2 hours to spare!

now, it’s time for a break… i get one week, then it’s back to class for an intensive week of summer school. i’m a glutton for punishment i tell you!

but as of now, i am completely done with all of my classes for seminary (the intensive week is just for fun). all i have left is my extended research paper… i can’t believe i finished all of my classes in a year. it’s flown by, and i’ve enjoyed every minute of it… but i’m glad to be finished, and i look forward to completing this degree by the end of the fall. kinda funny how it took me nearly 8 years to finish my bachelors, and it will only take a year and a half to finish my masters… but maybe i shouldn’t get too ahead of myself!