Going to Seminary

When I was in High School I occasionally got lunch detention (aka. Study Hall). Looking back, I couldn’t tell you what I did… but I’m sure I deserved it. That said, I will admit that it wasn’t really punishment. I mean, I got 30 minutes of peace and quiet to finish all my homework… then when I got out, there was no waiting in the lunch line… PERFECT!

Seminary requires a lot of reading, studying, and thinking. Without giving adequate consideration to these three areas, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble. So, here are 5 lessons I learned from study hall that I think will help us be more productive in our seminary studies:

1. No talking – If there was ever a rule that you remember in study hall it was “NO TALKING.” … total silence … With no one to talk to you had three options, read, study or think (I know… you think there is a fourth option, but sleep was the second sin after talking).

   When approaching your studies try and find a place that you will be able to devote yourself wholly to your task. This means avoiding the front of the library where you see all your classmates coming and going and avoiding the coffee shop where everyone knows your name. It also means you might need to leave your house (unless you live alone or with roommates that hate you).

   Do your best to find a place where you can sit and truly engage in your work without distraction… One thing I know for sure, I was never more productive with my home work than in study hall.

2. Lunch is long – Since my study hall lasted for half the lunch period, it felt like I was being robbed of eating time… Everyone else got the entire period to eat… but not me. Surely I’ll have to run out of here and scarf down the mystery meat with barely time to get to my next class. Wrong! The reality is that I was never rushed for lunch. I always had time to get my food, eat it, and even hang out with my friends.

   When studying, you might feel like you’re missing out on a whole lot or that the rest of your life will be a mad rush when you get finished with your assignment. The reality is that you aren’t going to miss as much as you think… in fact, it might make things better (see #3)

3. No lines after study hall – I don’t know how your school did it, but I remember a mad rush to get to the cafeteria. There was alway a line and if you were one of the last people to get in the cafeteria then you could easily wait 10 or 15 minutes in line. However, when study hall let out I always walked calmly up to the line and got my food… no waiting at all!

   The lesson here is that you don’t always have to rush with the crowd. Evaluate your time and realize that sometimes it is just better to sit and study while other “stand in line.”

4. The tie that binds – Study Hall always seemed to bond people… remember The Breakfast Club. This should be especially true for seminary students.

   As we sit and study our creator and his work in the earth it should transform us. After a good study session we should be, I would hope, changed and transformed more into the image of Jesus. Our relationship with and passion for our King should be stronger than when we first sat down.

5. You don’t ask for extra study hall – I never walked out of study hall thinking, “No, I don’t want to hang out with my friends and eat lunch… I’d rather go sit in that quite, uncomfortable room with the teacher constantly saying ‘shh’ and staring at me.” No, when it was over, I was ready to get out and live my life.

   When studying in seminary, set aside your time and place for study and then leave it there. As you give yourself fully to study, so to give yourself fully to other people in your life. When your “study hall” is over, invest in your friends and family. You’re family doesn’t want to hear, “not now, I’m studying.”Having a place to focus and study without distraction will allow you to focus on other things once you’re on “the outside.”

All this talk of high school cafeterias has me craving tater tots… mmmmm… tater tots…

As you may or may not know, I recently completed a 2 week intensive for Hebrew 1.

Today I got my grades and was very pleased with my B+.

The grade however got me to thinking… do all seminaries have the same grading scale? My B+ was a 91-93… I remember in undergrad (oh, so long ago) that 90-100 was an A… Not anymore…

So, here is my seminary’s grading scale. Is this what everyone else uses?

So, I’ve decided to spice things up around here and start adding some questions. I think it’ll be interesting to see how people weigh in on various seminary related questions.

Today’s question is one that I think is particularly interesting:
Should seminary be required for someone to pastor in a church?

Cast your vote and feel free to expound on your answer in the comments section.

A recent conversation with Little Man:

Just a Guy (JG) – So, what did you learn about in class (Sunday School) today?
Little Man (LM) – Ummm… Jesus… and Matthew.
JG – Oh, what did you you learn about Jesus and Matthew?
LM – He was a co-wek-ter… a… a…
JG – tax?
LM – Oh, yeah, a tax co-wek-ter. He was Jesus friend.
JG – Was Matthew Jesus’ disciple?
LM – No, he was a co-wek-ter… uh, tax co-wek-ter.
JG – Right, Matthew was a tax collector but when he met Jesus he became one of his disciples. Do you know any other disciples?
LM – Uh… Peter? and uh… John… and uh, Jesus…
JG – No, Jesus wasn’t a disciple… that’s silly. So, did you learn anything else in class?
LM – People didn’t like co-wek-ters but Jesus loved them… OH! I was silly (giggling). Jesus isn’t a disciple, he’s a King.

… He’s a King! Yeah, I almost wrecked the car trying to turn around and give the kid a high-5 for that gem. I love it when my son drops bombs like that one.

But, as any parents will tell you, raising kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord is no easy task. For as many times as I hear things like “Jesus is a King” I hear, “I don’t want to pray” or “I don’t want to read the bible book” or countless other things that break my heart. It is a tough job and I thank God that he is gracious and merciful to us as we seek to honor him in raising our kids.

The thing that I’ve learned most with Little Man is that kids are the best seminary study guide. See, you and I sit in a stuff classroom with some uber-genius professor and a bunch of bible nerds discussing eschatology, antinomianism, and countless other “ologys” and “isms”… but leave the classroom and I have a big “so what” for you. Does the information you learn in seminary actually translate into information that can help you be a better pastor, spouse, parent, friend?

Deep down I think that in order to get your seminary degree you should have to write a children’s book. Can you actually take all these big words and phylosophical concepts and communicate them clearly in such a way that even a child can understand?

Little Man is 3 years old right now and at least once a week we have a discussion about the trinity… uh, yeah… and, as much as I’d like to explain it using big theological words, the reality is that he is three… so, now I must not only communicate truthfully and with correct theology, but it must be in a way that a 3 year old can understand.

Now, let me say that I haven’t mastered this one yet. But every time Little Man asks me a question I am forced to not give pat answers or to change topics. I must wrestle with what I believe and how I can explain it to my son. Therefore he has become my very best study guide.

Thanks Little Man.
I love you.

I took a little time this weekend and updated the Seminary Bloggers blogroll. Check it out and see if you’re on the list and to visit some of the bloggers out there who are going to seminary.

If your blog isn’t on the list and you’d like it to be, just add a useful comment on a post in goingtoseminary.com and let me know. Also, if you’ve already dropped some comment love and don’t see your blog, then just let me know and I’ll take care of it.

Want to win a $50 amazon card?

At goingtoseminary.com I dream of the day when I’ll give away an actual scholarship (my goal is to have a $1000 scholarship available by this time next year). Until then, I have to start small… So, for our first competition the prize will be a $50 gift card to amazon.com and a new copy of A Reader’s Greek New Testament. While it is not a scholarship… you could consider this a small book stipend. (Thanks to Bible Geeks Gone Wild for the book donation.)

THE COMPETITION:
Between now (January 20th) and February 14 the site that refers the most visitors to goingtoseminary.com will win a $50 amazon gift card.

THE RULES:

1. Competition is open to anyone who has a blog or website (not just seminary students).
2. Visitors must come from your website to be tracked and credited to your tally.
3. Encouraging people to click a link multiple times is against the rules. So, no posts like this: “I’m trying to win $50 so click this link 10 times a day for me”
4. You may, personally, only use a link on your site ONCE per day.
5. Visitors from your site will be counted from the time of this post through 11:59 pm on February 13th, 2008. The winner will be announced on February 14th (get it? share the love… February 14… get it?).
6. This is the first competition I’ve ever run, so I reserve the right to add rules if I catch any shady activity.

IDEAS TO HELP YOU WIN:

• I created a bunch of link icons below. Feel free to copy the code and paste it into your sidebar on on your website. I have them for both white and colored backgrounds.
• Write a post about something you’ve read at goingtoseminary.com and link back to the article.
• Write a review of goingtosemianry.com and link to the site.
• If you use wordpress, add the goingtoseminary.com feed into the rss sidebar widget
• Be creative… we’re talking about $50 here… that’s like 2 or 3 books!

WHY A COMPETITION:

Well, the truth is that we’ll have more of these in the future… this is just the first one. I’m thinking that the next one might be the most creative non-web advertisement (as suggested by Shaun). Anyway, this is just a fun way to help get the word out about the site and all the resources I’m trying to make available here… That, and I like to give things away.

LINKS FOR YOUR SITE:

-For White Backgrounds -

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-link-1.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-text-link.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-money-link.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-question-link.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-link-comp.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

-For Colored Backgrounds-

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-link-1-boarder.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-text-link-boarder.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-money-link-boarder.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-link-question-boarder.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.goingtoseminary.com"><img src="http://goingtoseminary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gts-link-comp-boarder.jpg" alt="Going to Seminary" border="0" /></a>

I love technology. In particular, I love computers. In more particular, I love macs.

That said, I think it might be time to unplug the drug and start taking notes the old fashioned way… with pen and paper.

“Crazy” you say. “Next you’ll suggest we use a quill and ink… or maybe we should go back to stone tablets!”

Well, before you get out the pitchforks and torches, hear me out. Here are my top 6 reasons to leave the computer at home and just bring a pen:

1. Your Professor isn’t on facebook - That’s right… I know you’re looking at facebook, or myspace, or checking your email, or reading articles on goingtoseminary.com… I know it and so does the professor. The fact is, if the computer is there then the odds of you getting distracted are good. Come on everyone, confession time, who has surfed the net during a lecture?
2. You can record the lecture if you want a transcript - When you have the computer you can get A LOT more information down then with pen and paper… but more isn’t always synonymous with better. When all you have is your pen and paper then you are forced to write wisely. Not every word is going to make it on your paper. You are now thinking about what is being said and evaluating its worth. No more mindless typing, rather thoughtful writing is now occurring.
3. Do you even know what your professor looks like – If you’ve ever preached you know that eye contact is worth its weight in gold… is anyone actually listening? Give your professor some nonverbal feedback. Look him in the eyes. With the computer gone there is no longer this 15″ screen between you and the professor. The air is clear… now he is talking to you and not the back of your screen.
4. You type too loud – It might not be you, but someone does… It’s like small arms fire in that room. click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click… How annoying. Lets have some quiet in here, I’m trying to listen to the lecture.
5. You can’t draw – No, this isn’t about your artistic ability… rather, some things are just better captured in a chart or diagram with arrows, lines, and smiley faces… ok, not that last one… but you get the gist. Yeah, you can do all that on the computer, but by the time you open the other program, make you chart or whatever, import it into your notes… sheesh, the class is over. Taking notes on paper make it easy for you to switch from the right to left side of your brain while listening to the lecture.
6. Your hero used a pen – Your theological heroes all used pens. Whether it is Calvin, Lewis, Wesley, Augustine, Paul… they were pen and paper guys. Join with all the great men and women of old and take note taking back to its roots. Leave the computer at home and start taking vintage notes.

Thanks to the folks at Said at Southern I stumbled across this video today. Nothing quite like watching a middle aged, white, Ph.D. rap about philosophy. While “technically” not a seminary related post, Dr. Jim Orrick is a professor at Boyce College which is on the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary… so I figured it was releveant enough to make it on the blog.

With that said, enjoy:

The other day we got a comment from Eric in our 6 ways to save money in seminary post about a book meta search site called addall and I was reminded that it is almost time to go book shopping. One of the great joys of being a seminary student is the opportunity to build your library… it is also a great challenge since books aren’t cheap. So, I’m going to share with you how and where I shop for books and hopefully you’ll share your tricks and tips as well.

Step one for me when shopping for my seminary books is to make a master list of all the books I need for the semester. Much like Santa, I make a list and check it twice… but mostly to make sure that I haven’t missed any as I shop. I typically do all my buying online, so having the list ensures that I don’t miss a book. The list is also helpful since it is rare that one site will have all the books I need. So, as I purchase a book I can check it off the list.

Step two is an easy one for me. I go to www.wtsbooks.com. Over the years I have found that WTS has some of the best prices online (95% of the time beating amazon). The kicker with WTS is in the shipping… $5 FLAT RATE (UPS Ground) no matter how many books you buy! See, shipping is going to typically be the kicker on many sites… you always need to keep in mind that a) shipping will be expensive or b) shipping will be slow. I don’t like either of those, so WTS gets bonus points in my book.

Step three is to consult the list and see how many books I have left. Now, I typically go to amazon on my second round of shopping for three reasons. First, amazon has a huge selection of books and, remember, when you buy across less sites you cut down on shipping costs… so knowing that I can get most all the remaining books I need in one spot is nice. Second, amazon typically has really great prices… not the cheapest all the time, but they are usually competitive with other sites (WTS excluded) within a couple dollars. Third, if you have amazon prime then 2 day shipping is free (free shipping is NICE! Also, if you don’t have amazon prime, just ask around and find a friend that does… or you can wait the 10 days for “super saver” free shipping). The fourth and final reason I use amazon is that I am an amazon associate which means I get a percentage of all sales generated off anyone who clicks one one of these amazon links… however, more so, if I use the link and then go buy something, then I get a percentage (I think up to 6%) back on my purchase. So, in all, amazon is just a good second stop.

Step four is for the books that WTS and amazon don’t carry. Typically, there is some obscure book that a professor wants you to get that neither of these places carry. In this case, the biggest time saver is to go to your seminary’s store. If it is on a professor’s syllabus, you can usually be confident that it is on the shelf at your seminary’s store.

Using the above plan, this is how my upcoming semester turned out:

WTS: 8 books = $135.20 (w/ $5 shipping incl.)
Amazon: 5 books = $90.06 (w/ free shipping incl.)
Seminary: 3books = $56.57 (w/ $11.45 shipping incl.)

Note: Yes I had my seminary ship my books… I live 20 minutes from campus, so it is a time/gas saver… and I might be a little lazy…

At dinner I was explaining to Little Man that I was learning Hebrew and that Hebrew has a alphabet (he has learned the English alphabet so I was trying to bridge that connection).

So, I got out my Hebrew alphabet sheet and we went through the letter with him repeating after me. After we went through one time Just a Gal grabbed the sheet and asked Little Man what each letter was… he really enjoyed it and each time would look to me for the answer. However, about half way through Just a Gal asked, “and what is this letter?” to which Little Man answered, “Lamma.” Sure enough it was “Lamed.” He gets mad points for being that close on the second time through with no help. I’m such a proud papa!