Going to Seminary

As seminary students, we realize a mantra that matters much in church life is “IN ESSENTIALS UNITY, IN NON-ESSENTIALS LIBERTY, IN ALL THINGS CHARITY.” We believe this and know this to be true. This is why we have had conferences like Together for the Gospel and can have debates regarding Baptism and church polity. We can agree to disagree on many doctrines within our local congregation and that is a good thing. My concern is not so much with the body as it is with the staff and leadership found therein. This applies to most of our readers at Going to Seminary since most of us will be involved in a leadership role in the local church.

Unity

According to Merriam-Webster online, unity is defined as “A condition of harmony.” The staff must strive to be unified as they seek to lead the church. There is room for doctrinal disagreement, but there cannot be room for disagreement regarding the vision for the church or for that matter what the role of each staff member is. If there is, there is “trouble a-brewin’” as one of my good friends likes to say.

Satan can use the disunity to sneak into the church and disrupt everything. From off-hand, inconsequential remarks to outright sabotage, Satan will use the disagreements to his advantage. May this never be!

One way this can be avoided is to be humble enough to be honest with one another. Humility and honesty should be hallmarks of a church staff. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. If you have a problem with your pastor, you need to be able to take that problem to him and discuss it without it blowing up into a huge altercation. If you are the pastor, you need to make yourself open and available to critique. This must be done in more than word. You need to show yourself humble and react appropriately to the critique listening to what is said and not be so quick to defend yourself.

Uniformity

Uniformity is defined as “the quality or state of being uniform.” Uniform means, “having always the same form, manner, or degree” or “consistent in conduct or opinion.”

The problem really turns ugly when the senior pastor–a.k.a. chief undershepherd–oh wait, that’s Christ!–recognizes a disunity and basically commands for what he calls “unity” but in all actuality is “uniformity.” Most are not as blatant about uniformity as this, but it seems to be very easy to think your call for uniformity is actually a call to unity.

As “pastors-in-training,” we must be aware that we, too, will fall into this trap at some point. As leaders of a particular ministry (music, youth, children) it is much easier to demand that everyone fall in line with your vision and think everyone is unified. Be sure you know the difference between unity and uniformity. Be sure you are humble enough to be corrected and challenged. Be sure you are always critically looking at what you are doing in the church and for Whom you are doing it.

Being a pastor is not like other careers (I agree with John Piper, Brothers, we are not Professionals!). We must be humble. We must be critical of our motives; after all, the heart is deceitful above all things, who can understand it? Humility cannot be taught. More often than not, it is learned. I pray that we all as seminarians learn this lesson before we move into a leadership role in a local church and become an open doorway by which Satan enters the church.

I recently heard a couple discussing reasons as to why they left a certain church. They kept telling me that they loved the doctrine, they loved what they heard from the pulpit, and they loved what they learned. What drove them away from this church was the attitude of some in the congregation. As they have been searching for a new church to attend, they said they had found many churches with good doctrine but most lacked a good attitude.

As I asked them what they meant, they stated that they were looking for a church without cliques. They were tired of seeing favoritism and partiality. Some in the church they left made them feel part of the body, but most did not. They came to the realization that it was time to move on from that church when they found themselves engaging in gossip at home.

As I sat and listened with horror to their being hurt by a local church body, I was amazed at their maturity to recognize their own sinfulness and need to find another church home for the sake of their spiritual growth and maturity.

After the conversation, I prayed to the Lord that I would not only guard my doctrine (1 Tim. 4:16) but that I would also use my doctrine to drive my practice. The scriptures teach that the church consists of many different parts functioning as one body (Rom. 12:12-13, 1 Cor. 12:12-13) and that the Lord shows no partiality (Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11).

May we be ever mindful as ministers in training that we need more than just good doctrine. We must love the people we are called to serve. As an under shepherd or leader in a local congregation, it is our responsibility to see that we are meeting our people where they are and not expecting them to meet us where we think they should be.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men
Colossians 3:23

This is the third post in a three part series. Read God first, family second if you have not read them yet.

Now, we have come to the last third of the mantra my mom used to say to me as a kid. God first, family second, and career third. My greatest concern here is for the seminary student, and by extension, the minister. How do you balance career third with God first when your “career” is God? I have been in the ministry for 4+ years and have time and again found this to be a difficulty.

This post is not a how to because I have no idea how to do this. This post is not a this is what I have learned–other than this balance is very difficult to maintain! What this post is is a warning to everyone that it is very easy to allow your “career” in ministry or serving God to become an idol and actually subvert God Himself…all in the name of Christian ministry!

The previous two posts, God first, family secondbus, were my thoughts on how to keep these in proper perspective. Because I have personally yet to figure out how to deal with this third aspect, I (and I can only assume others) would love to hear how you have maintained a balanced approach to keeping your ministerial “career” in check and beneath your loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. I humbly submit to you that I have failed numerous times and would love to hear from you.

And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:39

This is the second post of a three post series. The first one, God First, discussed how God should be number one in our lives in everything that we do; specifically, where it concerns the seminary student. As I said in the previous post, this series is based upon a mantra my mom always said to me as a child growing up: God First , family second, career third. I would like to take a look now at where our family fits into the picture.

First and foremost, as has been detailed quite a bit here at Going to Seminary, make sure your spouse is with you as you begin your seminary studies. If your children are old enough to understand what is happening, I would certainly include them on the discussion as your decision to take classes every semester will have a direct impact on their lives, too.

My greatest concern here is the concept of “family second.” It is un-American to think of putting something, in this case Someone, before your family, but the Bible teaches us that we must. Christ referred to this when He answered the lawyer as to what the greatest commandment was and then followed that up with, “And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” Mt 22:39. He concluded His answer with verse 40, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

While finishing your seminary degree, you will sometimes be challenged by why you are “putting your family” though all of the rigor that is required to complete said degree. The answer must always be because God has called you. Yes, your family is second to God. Yes, there will be seasons (think mid-terms, finals, and papers) where you really won’t get to see your family. However, this does not mean that you should not consider your family’s well-being.

You must regularly consult your spouse and children (if they are of age) as you get deeper and deeper into your degree program. It may mean that you drop down to one or two classes for a semester. There is nothing wrong with allowing your family to help guide you. However, keep in mind that God must be first and therefore you should be praying and asking Him for direction before turning to your family.

The good news is, if God has called you, and your family is on your side so-to-speak, then you will find that during those lean times of seminary, your spouse and children will become closer. You will (hopefully) look back on your seminary career with fondness and see how the Lord used that time to make you a better father or mother and spouse.

May you use your time in seminary to begin to cement your legacy in the lives of your children!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deut. 6:5

I was raised in a nominal Catholic home, but there are a few theological points my mom would make that actually make sense. One of those was the saying, “God first, family second, career third.” I would like to spend the next three posts discussing how we can apply this little mantra to our lives as seminary students and ministers.

Jewish children would learn Deut. 6:4-9 as one unit. Verse 4 was known as the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” With that massive theological statement as the foundation for all of Jewish Law, Moses instructed them to love God with everything: heart, mind, and soul. Later when Jesus Christ was asked what the greatest commandment was in all of Jewish Law, He quotes Deut. 6:5 to which the lawyer replied that Jesus was correct.

What does this exactly mean and how do we apply it to our seminary education and ministry lives not to mention our lives in general? Obviously, every thought we have should be of giving glory to God. Every act we do should be to give God glory. Even more obvious, we fail every day in following just this one command! Oh! the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior!

As a seminary student, a husband, a father, and a minister I have discovered that putting God first is extremely difficult. I lose focus on God sometimes as a student. I certainly lose focus on God as a husband and father. Even as a minister, I have been fleshly in my approach to ministry on occasion. I would like to specifically look at our seminary studies and putting God first.

Putting God first is perhaps the easiest thing to do even though it is the hardest. It is so easy to get wrapped up in reading and writing and studying and lose God even though you are studying about God! I have discovered that keeping up with devotional reading of my Bible to be extremely helpful in maintaining my true focus as to why I am in seminary. Sure, during my devotional reading, I will think to some homework assignment, but is not that the way our devotional life should be? Why can’t the rest of our life be affected by our conversations with God in our devotions?

Secondly, praying helps me to focus on God and His will for my life. Do I take that class or do I drop this one? I continue to discipline my heart and mind to only make decisions regarding seminary studies after bringing it before the Lord. Once I get a particular leading, I will discuss with my wife what she thinks. Hopefully, by that time, I know what God will have me do.

Finally, talking with other godly men in my life. It is so easy to think that you are the only one in a crisis or needing to make a major decision, but the more you talk with others, the more you realize you are just one of many. Talk to those men in your life who have been there and done that. They have more wisdom in that area than you know. Who knows, maybe they will save you from making a major mistake!

In conclusion, strive to make sure God is first in everything you do. As Christ said, “for apart from me you can do nothing.”

If you are anything like me, then you experience seasons where you either are not able to read your Bible for personal edification or you seem to just run out of time each day. What makes it real bad is that I am a seminary student. Even worse than that, I am serving as a minister!

I realize I may be sharing too much with my personal devotional life, but I do so knowing that I am not the only one who struggles with this. Therefore, I would like to share with you something I have learned “by accident.” Through my failures, I have learned that the accountability of doing family worship with my wife and children has helped me to remain focused on the Cross.

One evening while reading The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos with my family, I realized that I had not cracked my personal Bible in over a week. However, during that same time I had read through the book of Judges with my children each night. What is more, because it was a children’s Bible and I was explaining stuff to my children, I was actually meditating throughout the day so that I would be better prepared to answer my sons’ questions.

The lesson I have learned is that family worship not only helps my family to come together over the Word of God, but it also helps me to remain in the Word even when I am not. Obviously, this does not excuse me (or you) from your daily Scripture reading, but it certainly helps to keep me centered.

If you don’t struggle with reading your Bible every day, my hat is off to you and I praise God for your faithfulness. However, if you do struggle with this, and you are not doing family worship with your spouse and/or children, then, please, begin tonight. I pray that the Lord is able use my failures to be an encouragement to you.

ChristianBookNotes is giving away an autographed copy of Dr. Russell D. Moore’s newest book Adopted for Life.

I just purchased Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and to my surprise received a 30 day free “coupon” for my purchase. The orders on the coupon state that I should share with my friends. So, I am. Simply log on to MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com/gift and enter 30DGIFT to redeem.

From our family at Going to Seminary to yours, Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday.  May Christ’s atoning work on the cross be everything to you today and always.   God bless.

Confession

I have a confession to make. One year ago, I hated the concept of digital print media and swore I would never “cave-in” to the latest “trend” in books; i.e., Logos. My how times have changed! Over the course of this past year, I have come to see the upside and the stewardship that is Logos Bible Software. I have moved up from the Logos Scholars Library to the Logos Scholar’s Library: Gold and continue to be blown away by what an excellent resource I have at my fingertips.

Installation

The installation is very easy. However, remaining true to form, I found a way to make it difficult! Actually, the problem was not me or the software as much as it was the age of my computer. I tried to download the Gold edition from a DVD only to get stuck at about the 10 minute mark. I literally spent 2 hours on the phone with customer service going through every trouble shooting method they could think of only to be told that we I probably need the CD’s instead of the DVD.

Nevertheless, this is to your advantage for a couple of reasons. First, if your computer or laptop is more than a couple of years old, purchase the CD’s. They are the same cost as the DVD’s but will load much faster on an older computer than the DVD because of its multiple layers.

Second, customer service at Logos is truly second to none. In both instances (read my review on Scholar’s Library), they were patient and kind and extremely helpful. We got to joking around about the problem and was even able to share testimonies with one another while waiting for the program to run its checks.

Usability

I do not get into the technical jargon when it comes to the interfaces and what-not of a computer software program. I only want to know one thing. Can I simply download and begin using or do I need, as we called it in the military, a block of instruction?

I have found Logos to be one of the easiest Bible software programs to use without first sitting through a bunch of training videos. As soon as the software was downloaded to my computer, I was able to begin checking everything out with no problems. That is very important to me since I truly do not have the time to meticulously learn all of the features.

Now, I realize that a block of instruction will only help the user to become familiar with all the various components and features of Logos, but not everyone has time to sit through tutorial videos let alone attend a class on how to use a particular Bible software program. However, because I am writing a review, I “researched” the tutorials and found them to be extremely beneficial. You do not have to sit for hours on end to learn how to use this software. There are a ton of videos you can watch on an as needed basis in order to increase your information and decrease the time it takes to get that information.

Perhaps one of the greatest features is the ability to search your entire library for one subject, hit return, and see which of your books mention that subject. Imagine the time saved from going to your library or the Internet and looking up all the books!

Content

Ok, the main thrust of the Logos Scholar’s Library: Gold is that it is truly the most cost efficient way to build a quality library quickly. The Gold edition contains more than 700 titles—which includes sets of books so that a commentary set may contain 12 of those titles. Allow me to share the importance of this. I currently own about 2,000 books in my personal library. I have moved four times in the past four years. Obviously, my library was not always at 2,000—it has grown considerably in these past four years. Every time my family has moved, the first thing that had to be done was to pack up the books because they take up the most boxes and space. At one point, I had over 100 boxes of various sizes of books moving into a third floor apartment!

With that picture in your mind, imagine being able to carry 700 books in something as small as a compact disc but no bigger than a CPU. Next, think of how many bookshelves 700 books take up. I will give you a hint–think one decent sized wall. It is obvious to see how having digitized books can only help. This is not too mention how much your back will thank you let alone how much your spouse will thank you for giving her part of the house back!

Another nice feature is the ability to study the original languages and do some solid exegetical work before looking through all of those commentaries and other resources. For many, this is the most important function when it comes to making a choice regarding Bible software. Logos can easily stand toe-to-toe with any other software when it comes to diagramming and studying the original languages.

If you are going to work on a sermon, simply type in a passage and you bring up commentaries (turned to the exact pages you need), parallel passages, key words found in the passage, sermons from SermonCentral.com and even power point presentations (if any exist). You can also get a list of hymns and worship music that are based from the passage as well as a list of all of the topics that can be discussed. In other words, this could be your one-stop shop for your sermon preparation.

Counting the Cost

At a price of $1,379.95, this product will clearly set you back a nice chunk of money. But, before you freak out over the sticker price, you need to keep in mind a few things. First, Logos offers payment plans for their more expensive products. They are able to work with everyone to make their product as affordable as possible. Perhaps, you can’t afford to start with Gold, but you really want to work with the original languages. You can purchase their original languages library and begin to build your very own library from there.

Second, Logos offers generous discounts to any degree seeking student, faculty or staff member as well as various other discounts throughout the year. Also, Logos is offering Going to Seminary readers a generous 25% discount on any of the base packages by using the coupon code GOINGTOSEMINARY. This, in addition to the payment plan, brings the total for Gold, their absolute largest package, to just under $1,035.00—that is only $36.00 more than their silver library!

Third, the inclusion of just two commentary series, the New American Commentary and the New International Greek New Testament Commentary, practically pays for itself. What is more, you still have over 650 other resources! The bottom line is you are receiving over $11,700 worth of print books for about 90% of the price!

Finally, I have found that because I now have duplicated copies (in print and Logos), I am able to sell (or give away) my print editions. This also helps to offset the cost of software. Some books I want to keep in print and therefore I do. However, my resource books, like commentaries, sell nicely and have would have already made a couple of the monthly payments for me.