Helps for faithfully sharing the Gospel

sub•text is a recent addition to the web and blogosphere world, headed up by pastors Joe Thorn and Steve McCoy. It may be a helpful resource for all of us who live on the outskirts of the City (and for those who live anyone, for that matter).

Description from the site: sub•text is a discussion on the preaching and practice of the gospel in the suburban context.

Also, check out one of the posts, “Gospel Connections in Suburbia.”

Google is 10

Happy 10th Birthday to Google. You have changed the internet for good.

Six Preacher’s Notes

Josh Harris recently post the last of six preacher’s notes in a series. The most recent one is Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Mark’s notes as he preached from John 17? Two post-its in his Bible. One of expository notes on the text, another as a reminder to himself.

• Mark Dever
• Mike Bullmore
• C.J. Mahaney
• Ray Ortlund, Jr.
• Tim Keller
• Mark Driscoll

It would probably be difficult to emulate the last two’s notes and be an effective preacher — at least for most of us. Each of these men is uniquely designed by God, and gifted as a preacher and pastor.

Enjoy!

(I particularly found Ray Ortlund’s a joy to read.)

Humbling ourselves BY casting our cares upon Him

Greek has seemed to be a little disjointed until we arrive in the relative deep-end of participles this semester. I am certainly still wading around in the shallow end, but being pushed further into learning how to swim in this new language (but still with those orange arm-floaties!). Last week I read a couple fascinating notes about the participle of means (”by means of”) while reading Wallace’s Greek Grammar (p. 630).

Humble yourselves … by casting your cares upon Him

The first illustration comes from the oft quoted passage in 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God …” Many times I’ve heard the next clause quoted in isolation: “Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” Do this! Yes, how needed and true it is, for He does care for us. But “cast your cares upon Him” is not an imperative clause (casting is a participle, not a verb). We miss the point when we think of the phrases separate as “Humble yourselves. [And] cast your case upon Him.

The point of the Apostle seems to be that the specific way we humble ourselves before God is to cast our cares upon Him. We show humility by casting our cares upon Him. Dependence and submission in all of life — even the small stuff — reveals an attitude of humility (and creates it too).

He emptied Himself … by taking on the form of a servant

The next illustration came right underneath, where the famous kenosis passage is in view (Phil. 2:6-8). Specifically, in verse 7, where the participle should be translated “he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant.” Debate has gone on for at least the last two centuries as to what it means that Christ emptied (ekenosev) Himself. Wallace notes the typical pattern of this specific participle, that it follows the verb, and that the verb is vague, even needing (’begging’) to be defined. “By taking on” shows the means of Christ’s emptying Himself. He did not subtract His deity, but rather added the form of a slave, willingly, becoming a man, suffering and dying — even death on a cross (v. 8).

But wait, isn’t emptying normally thought of as subtraction, not addition? Wallace notes that as well, and points out the poetic features of the whole passage (most likely it was used as an early hymn). Earlier in verses 1-4 he commanded them to think and do “nothing from selfish ambition and vain conceit.” The word for conceit (kenodoxian or “empty glory”) is used by Paul to remind them of what not to do. Then Jesus comes along and shows them what to do — what it means to empty His glory (the words almost rhyme) — they are to have that same mind towards one another. Brilliant and powerful insights, Dr. Wallace!

The opposing directions in view in both passages are startling. We receive God favor by humbling ourselves, and specifically by casting our cares and burdens upon Him. (He opposes us directly even second if we go the other way, which is revealed in our not taking our cares to Him.) The antidote to seeking empty glory is to stare at the One who emptied His own glory to reveal His infinite worth in the lowliest form of all, a slave unto death. He will change us. Let this mind be in us, continually, Lord Jesus.

Our work is faithfulness, God takes care of the fruitfulness

I first heard the audio of this short interview with Pastor John Piper about a year and a half ago. (Audio of the whole thing here.)

Apparently one of the pastors in the gathering took a live video of it. Enjoy it, and allow the truth to sink into your soul.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor. 3:5-9)

Also see Kent & Barbara Hughes’ book, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome.

Check out the Seminary Survival Guide Sampler

Over at Said at Southern, guest blogger Mark Warnock, General Editor of SeminarySurvivalGuide.com, gives an overview of some of the best posts from his site (SeminarySurvivalGuide.com) in the last few months. Check them out, from making the transition to seminary, to keeping perspective, to starting up classes, and some commentary on “time wasters.” None of those posts will be a waste of time, for sure.

His site gives “a perspective on ministry training from the vantage point of someone in ministry” — originally aimed at helping the several seminary students in his church.

Mark and his writing team write as those who’ve been through seminary; we write here at GTS as those in the middle of the journey.

BDAG for about $100

Greek students may be delighted to know that A Greek-Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition (aka, BDAG) is on sale at Amazon.com for $103.95 new.

List price $150, normally found on sale in the range of $125. (Note: you will not want to get the 2nd edition, even if you find it for cheap in a used book store.)

Starting Seminary Year 4 of ?

For the last couple years I’ve been blessed to be a teaching assistant for first-year Theology at Multnomah (actually co-TA, as Kari does most of the paper-grading). Once or twice a semester I get to fill-in for our prof and teach (preach!) on Soteriology, Ecclesiology or some other section in our unit of systematic theology.

Inevitably, my intro includes a reminder to proofread their papers (Please, I beg you!), mentioning that my aim in life is for the Gospel and being a faithful husband and loving father, and the little caveat is that while I am an MDiv student teaching you today it is likely that some in the room may graduate before me. I am totally serious.

This week marks the start of our fourth year in seminary, out of only-God-knows-how-many. It is formally known as the first term of Fall classes at Multnomah. On Tuesdays I have Preaching in the morning, Greek in the afternoon. The Hermeneutics/Bible Study Methods class on Friday will include most of those same students that I’ll be grading papers for in Theology. That’s technically a first-year (first semester) course, but I’m just getting around to taking it in my fourth year. Yeah, the Registrar knows me by name, always taking classes out of sequence.

Detour: When the Journey Twists and Turns

Ryan has chronicled his 6-7 year journey to arriving at seminary here and here, and first day in class about seven months ago — back when we all knew him as “Just a Guy.” He is especially encouraging as he (and family) can empathize with enduring trials and disappointments.

Come what may, one thing you can bet on is that things will not go as planned. Since you’re in seminary it’s probably unwise to bet ( = gambling), but perhaps we can all relate to the setbacks to flying through our graduate training in the Word. When we look on page whatever of the course catalog we normally don’t notice SF 101 The Triune God Rocks Your World. Spiritual Formation (seminary-speak for ‘growing like Christ’) comes in all shapes and forms, and God the Spirit will use any means necessary to form us into the image of the Son (Romans 8:28-30; Colossians 3:10).

Yet these trials are minor and brief and certainly not strange (1 Peter 1:6-9). Christ suffered and endured in infinitely more ways that we ever will, and we get to taste a bit of His love in the midst of following in His steps. (And let’s never forget that suffering comes before glory — Romans 8:14-19.) For the Apostle Paul, sharing in the sufferings of our Savior was the height of all Christian experience, knowing Christ (Phil. 3:7-11).

Pausing and Restarting

So, I better wrap this up. Actually, for me this is more like year 3.2 of seminary. After our first year, we were had our first big surprise: first baby on the way! So I continued working full-time in a construction management/engineering career, but dropped my classes for the year — seminary was on pause. Had to forfeit my scholarship for the year (which I later found out was given to my best friend; God knew He needed it more.) That was 2006-07, perhaps my best year of ’school.’ During that year as ‘not-enrolled’ I was able to devour a stack of books waiting to be read, reflect on the Word more devotionally, take a summer course, and began to see my job as a mission field and not just a means-to-an-end. When our son was born, Kari took a full year off in there too.

This Fall is her last in-class course, and I’m gearing up to grade papers of students who may yet still graduate before me. As we embark as a family on “year 4″ — pregnant with baby #2 — so grateful for Christ’s sustaining power, the fact remains that the Object and chief end of our journey is HIM, not us. That is why the process is so vital.

Oh, that the life and character of Jesus would be formed in us!

What else to bring to seminary?

In his last post Chad gave some good pointers on what to bring to seminary, and then concluded on the note: “Navigating seminary is different from college, it is an immersive experience that should be taken full advantage of.”

I totally agree. There were times a decade ago when I would (ahem) doze off during my civil engineering classes as an undergrad. But now? No chance of dozing off. In fact, when a prof lets us out early I usually get a little ticked. (I’m paying for this … for another decade on student loans!)

Chad’s list is good (a system for notes, a good bag, an organizational method, and a Bible) - see the comments too. To add, let me offer three others, two abstract and one practical.

A mind to work

Seminary is flat out hard work. Many never finish, and hardly anyone is there to just skate by. (Besides, in church history it seems God doesn’t use lazy people. It doesn’t all depend upon us, by we get to participate fully, carried along by grace.)

Be ready to be challenged and stretched, and to love every moment of it (even worshiping late into the night pining away on a research paper).

A heart to grow

We’ve all heard the classic stereotype … seminary = cemetary. With all my heart I can truly say the exact opposite has been our experience at Multnomah. The more I know about God, the more I love Him. The mind and heart are so interconnected that Jesus said He was here to usher in the new area of “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) — the heart and the mind fully engaged with God. We cannot genuinely love God with our hearts and not think of Him rightly in our minds, and vice versa.

Still, somehow there are students who go through the motions and get the “A” and miss the whole point of knowing, loving and enjoying God above all else, especially in our studies. As a side note, immersing one’s self in the local church is key as well. Making ourselves ‘at home’ is essential to allowing God to form our character.

A budget to follow

(Here’s the practical one.) Your budget will ebb and flow, and often simply dry up. (Things won’t go as planned.) If you are married the tensions on your soul to be the provider will grate on your soul. You will learn faith and dependence. (That is good for us!) This is the ‘class’ that’s not in the syllabus.

But by all means be intentional about being frugal. You probably don’t need a bunch of tricked out technology, and developing a contented heart is a sign of treasuring Christ (Phil. 4:8-13).

Does anyone remember little league baseball (or youth soccer) and the kids who had all the super expensive gear? You know the one with matching batting gloves and flip sunglasses and a neat-o bat bag and cool warmup? Yeah, that kid was almost always the worst in the actual game. Not saying you should show up with no ‘gear,’ but the name of the game is more than having the toys to play.

You will be looking around and seeing everyone else’s ‘gear’ and be tempted to grab the same for yourself. (That’s called coveting (Colossians 3:5), and I wrestle with it every day.)A good tip for considering a large purchase is to wait one day for every $100 of the price. That will help lessen impulse buying, and effectively stretch your budget.

What’s missing?

Some might add a laptop to this list. Good point. But there are students on campus who don’t have a laptop. A computer at home, and access in the lab can often suffice thanks to USB thumb drives. There are a few reasons to need a laptop in class (see comments from Chad’s post), but I dare say there are far fewer distractions sticking to the “vintage” style of note taking. At least some of your classes should be old school, no computer, and I’ll leave it up to you to sort out which ones. (Okay, full disclosure: I sometimes use mine in class, and soon into this adventure Kari and I realized that one computer at home was not enough for two students, so we have two, um, laptops.)

Anyone else have anything to add?

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.)

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