2nd Week Down

Well, I have finished my second week of classes and things are moving along. This past week was a lot more engaging than the first week. The odd thing about it is that while there was a lot more reading and work to do this week, I enjoyed it a whole lot more than the first week. Why? Because this was the first week that we really started to interact with each other online. One thing that I love about working with others is learning from a different perspective. Each person brings their own background, culture and personality to the table and you get to see things through their eyes. I long for that type of interaction. At the church in Germany where I was an associate pastor (Victory International), I loved hearing from Germans, Polish, Africans, etc. on all of their experiences and how they were led to Christ.

Surviving Seminary

I took a “seminary survivability” quiz online today and through its magic, it determined that I have an 85% chance of surviving seminary. Well, those are good odds, right? RIGHT?!? After the amount of reading I’ve had to do in just this second week, those odds aren’t looking too bad right now.

Integrity

Well, the first week of classes is just about over. Yep, I’m still chugging along. One of the interesting things about this week was the realization that in one of my classes I only have an assignment to turn in on 5 of the 10 weeks. For the other 5 weeks, all I have to do is the weekly readings. Now here is where the integrity parts comes in. You see, at the end of the 10 weeks of class each one of us is responsible for submitting a reading report. This report basically says how much reading you actually did – 50%, 70%, 100%, etc. You write that in yourself each week, keeping track of how much you’ve actually read. In the end, the reading accounts for 20% of your whole grade.

First Bite Complete

Question: How do you eat an elephant?
Answer: One bite at a time.

I’ve always loved that quote, though I’m not really sure where it comes from. What it means for me today is that I have completed my very first seminary assignment. That’s one down with about a million more to go. Okay, so I might be exaggerating a little bit on that one, but who knows. Either way, I’ve just finished my first bite. Now it’s on to the next bite.

Herme – What?

Hermeneutics. That’s the new word in my life. While I have heard this word before and thought I understood it’s meaning, the very first reading in my BI 501 course really blew me away. Why should it, though – it’s just a word, right? Not if you really think about it. You see, so many times we read the bible and take what is there at face value without any consideration of the time in which it was written, to whom it was written, by whom it was written, under what circumstances, etc. etc.

Is that the proper way to read the bible? I read a great article on this just yesterday on the Parchment and Pen blog (I am an avid reader of this blog). This article along with what I read for class yesterday has really challenged me. One of the quotes in the class I heard yesterday really puts this into perspective:

“Wonderful things in the Scripture I see. Most of them put there by you and by me.”

Too Excited?

So here I am waiting for classes to start already. I have already posted my introduction (all classes are the same in that regard, right?) and keep checking back to see if anybody else is around. I know class doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, but come on! I am too excited to wait. Now I just wonder if that excitement will still be there as I roll my sleeves up and get into the actual assignments. Time will tell. ‘Til then, I’ll just keep looking for more introductions.

New Beginnings

I start my first seminary classes this Monday. Did I just say that? Am I really in seminary? If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be going to seminary, I probably would have laughed; yet that is exactly what I am now embarking upon. When God gets a hold of your life and leads you to where He is calling you, it might surprise you where you end up.

So I started this blog to communicate this spiritual and educational journey. So how did this all start? Well, I knew that I was being called by God to go to seminary. It was either I listened to that and act on it now, or choose to not do what God tells me and just keep on keepin’ on. But, didn’t Jonah do that? In the end, he ended up right where God told him to go, right? So, I am now registered with Denver Seminary and signed up for my first 2 classes.