The Stages of Seminary

This is a guest post by John Dyer.  John is the director of web development at DTS and creator of the site Best Commentaries.

In my final year at Dallas Seminary I began to emerge from a time where I had become somewhat cynical. As I thought about how I had changed and observed students going through similar phases, a common pattern seemed to emerge among all of us. Not every seminary student will follow this pattern, but you might see yourself or someone you know somewhere along the continuum.

Stage 1 – Enthused - “I love Jesus”
First year students are often the most joyful people on a seminary campus. They love the Lord, and they are excited to dedicate their life to serving him and his church. They do every assignment with vigor, attend every chapel the campus offers, and tend to be a little mystified at those students who do not have the same fervor that they do. Stage 1 can as long as a year or two, but sadly has a tendency to fade out rather quickly.

Stage 2 – Smug – “I love Barth”
Sometime in the first year or two, students begin to notice that what garnered attention at their home churches – deep love for God and his people – is not as noticeable in the classroom. The academic setting naturally emphasizes the importance of knowledge – knowledge of theology, theologians, and theological positions. Slowly, students stop raising their hand in class to ask questions, and begin to raise their hands to make statements showing their brilliance.

The ancient spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and Scripture meditation tend to a backseat to skills that can be graded numerically. In conversation, students at this stage are more likely to drop the name of an obscure theologian (“It wasn’t assigned, I’m just reading it for fun”) than to speak of the goodness of God. This phase is one of the longest, and quite often students from Bible colleges or strong Bible churches tend to skip Stage 1 entirely and begin seminary at Stage 2 (I know I did!).

Stage 3 – Disillusioned – “I hate seminary”
All of the gesturing and posturing of Stage 2 eventually gives way into a third stage characterized by cynicism thinly veiled as “critical thinking.” The tell tale sign of students this stage is the tendency to be decidedly anti-something or other. They might have been pro-something before, but now they are very much against it. They regularly point out serious – grave, even – errors in their church, their tradition, or their seminary. Perhaps the student noticed his or her own smugness from Stage 2 and begins to question the entire concept of seminary itself. If you hear a student start a sentence with “The church never …” or “Christians always …” he or she is mostly like struggling through Stage 3 which, along with Stage 2, is often long and difficult.

Stage 4 – Broken – “I hate pride”
Somewhere toward the end of seminary or perhaps some time after it, something remarkable begins to happen. The finger that was pointed at everyone and everything in Stage 3 is supernaturally turned back toward the accuser. As the student enters this final stage, he begins to realize that the problem is not the American church, systematic theology, or Zondervan. “The problem is me,” he finally realizes.
Although the student is now an expert in critiquing sermons, theological systems, and church models, he begins to remember that the reason he entered ministry was to bring the Gospel to broken people, not already perfected people. It dawns on him, “Of course the church has lots of problems. Why else would we need to go to seminary to learn how to minister to them?” The sharp cynicism that was only able to point out the problems is now capable of illuminating needs and seeing opportunities to minister to the very people to whom God has called him.

My Journey
For me, seminary functioned a lot like how Paul described the function of the Law. There is no problem with the Law; it was not designed to save us, only to point out sin and point us to Christ. I used to think that seminary was supposed to save me, and instead it made me cynical. I finally realized it wasn’t seminary that had changed me, but my flesh that had ceased upon seminary as a way to amplify my pride. Thanks be to God that seminary eventually performed its function as schoolmaster to point me to Christ that I might point others to him.

The Ministry of Prayer

Introduction

The longer I am a Christian, the more I discover the power of what I call the ministry of prayer.  It seems as though praying is a difficult thing for most people to do.  According to one professor, quoting statistics from a prayer conference, those in attendance (lay men and women) prayed an average of five minutes a day.  The ministers did some 40% better.  They prayed seven minutes a day.  Take into account that these men and women were at a conference on prayer and you start to get the picture of how little most people pray.

Personal Prayer

No, I am not going to pontificate on our need to pray more often and more regularly.  I am certainly not the person to say that even if I do believe it.  However, what I have called the ministry of prayer is just that–a ministry.  Yes, we should set aside time for personal prayer each day.  Yes, we should set aside time for family prayer each day.  Yes, we should set aside time for corporal prayer in church each week.  But, that is not all.

On the flip side, we should be ready for spontaneous prayer at any moment.  When you are walking around the house and you see a picture of someone, you might say a quick prayer.  When you are driving, you might say a quick prayer for those next to you on the highway.   When you are at a restaurant, you could pray for your waitress.  You get the picture.

What I have found is that this helps to cultivate a lifestyle of prayer.  Paul tells us to pray without ceasing.  I am one of those that believes he means pray all day and all night.  I believe Paul is telling us to live such a life of prayer that everything we do, from getting dressed to going to bed, is bathed in prayer.

Prayer as a Ministry

This leads me to a sort of pet-peeve of mine.  Have you ever told someone you would pray for them only to either forget about what you were going to pray for or, worse, not pray for them?  I know I have…a lot.  I would get so mad that I forgot that I would actually blame God for letting me forget.  Talk about a snowball of sin!  I had to do something about this so as to no longer sin against everyone and God.

Now, when I say I am going to be praying for someone, I will usually stop (if able) and pray with that person immediately.  There have been many times where I have stood in the middle of a parking lot or a hallway or classroom praying with someone over a particular issue.  One of the neatest moments is when I asked a waitress if I could pray for her while blessing the meal.  She joined my table while we prayed and then sat and listened as I explained the gospel to her.  Unfortunately, I do not know what has become of her.  Only God knows that.  However, prayer led to a gospel message.  How cool is that?

The Effect

I have noticed at least three by-products from doing this.  First, I am much more likely to remember what I was supposed to be praying for as well as for whom I was praying.  Second, others have seen this take place and have offered to pray as well.  I figure the more prayer the better.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you minister most effectively to the person’s soul when you pray for them immediately.  Most people take it with a grain of salt when you tell them you will pray for them, but if you do so immediately, and with them, they usually leave much more encouraged and ready to face whatever it is they will be facing.

Conclusion

I am not going to sit here and challenge you to go live a life of prayer (we should be doing that already) or to begin praying for every person you run into.  However, I would like you to consider the magnitude of prayer.  When you pray, you approach the throne of God on someone else’s (or your own) behalf.  Is there anything more honorable than that?  Most people would love to plead the case of a good friend in trouble to someone who could help them.  We should be more urgent in pleading these cases to the only One who can help all of us.

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!

Starting Another Seminary Semester

It is that time of year again.  For many seminaries, this will be the first week of classes.  It is an exciting time for most.  For some of you, this will be the first time you step into a seminary classroom.  I remember my first class like it was just… six months ago. So, I thought this morning, in honor of the start of a new semester, I’d share some advice.

For First Timers

For all you guys and gals who are just starting out, have a great time.  Seminary has its challenges, but keep your eyes on Jesus and it will be amazing (not easy… but amazing).  You might meet a few seminarians who want to rain on your parade with the “realities” of seminary… for now, just ignore them.  You’ll experience the realities yourself. For now, just soak it all in.  Have fun.  After my first semester I remember sitting in a chair, talking to a friend and saying, “It was all I hoped it would be and more.”  I  hope that is what you say at the end of your semester.

For Regulars

For others of us, the start of a new semester is just one more notch on the belt.  For all of you, same advice as above.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  It is easy in seminary to grow weary and fall into the rut of simply going through the motions.  My advice, find one of those bright-eyed newbies and instead of crushing their joy with the harsh reality of exams, papers, and stress, why not just sit down and be reminded of why you came to seminary as you listen to the passion they have for the journey ahead.  Don’t be cynical… try to rekindle some of that zeal.  End by praying for these new students.

For Finishers

Finally, there are some of you where this semester represents the final leg of your seminary journey.  The finish line is in sight.  For you, same advice… keep your eyes on Jesus.  Yes, you’re almost there.  You might be worried about finding a job when you’re finished this semester.  You might be just trying to cruise through this semester so that you can finally hold that piece of paper that says you did it.  You might be thinking about the next school you’re off to.  Whatever the case, don’t forget what all this is about.  It is about knowing Jesus and being transformed more into his image.  Take a moment and remind yourself why you’ve gone through seminary… why you invest all that time and money.  Maybe you need to sit down with one of those new students as well…

For Me

These are just a few thoughts that crossed my mind this morning.  As for me, well friends, this weekend I made the decision that I will be sitting this round out.  As I’ve mentioned before, things aren’t going as planned around here.  I’ve decided that I’ll take one class that meets on Tuesday nights and I’ll try to get a job-e-job.  My advice for me… keep your eyes on Jesus…

Seminary Social Media Sound-off

This afternoon I upgraded GoingtoSeminary.com to WordPress 2.6.  Along with doing that I added a social networking feature that allows you to share articles on a couple social media sites (please share the love).  After doing that I started playing with some of these social sites and got to thinking about how amazing the internet is.  While, sure, it can be a big distraction during those long seminary classes… and when your writing papers… and when you supposed to be reading… and… yeah, it is always a potential distraction.    That said, how amazing is it that you can get stay in touch with people all over the world with the click of a mouse.  Not only that, but think of all the people you’ve met online!  Heck, of the people who write for this website, I’ve only met 1 in person… I’ve never even heard these guy’s (and gal) voices before… CRAZY.

Well, that all said, I thought it would be a cool experiment to have everyone share their social network connections in one post so that we can connect on other sites.  That said, leave a comment below and link to your social connections.

Here are mine:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• StumbleUpon
• Delicious
• Plaxo
• Digg
• YouTube & YouTube
• Flickr
• Technorati
• LinkedIn

Starting the Off Week Right

My son recently got his first calendar.  It was an excellent way to explain important and fun dates that are coming up in the future without having a constant “when are we going to grandma’s house?” every 5 seconds.  Every night before bed he gets his marker and Xs out another day.  It has been really fun.

So, with calendars, did you ever notice that Sunday is the first day of the week?  Yeah, I’m sure most of us have, but have you ever really let that sink down into your soul?  Sunday is the start of your week.

How do you start? With work or worship?

I’ll admit, while I knew that Sunday was the first day of the week… my week really began on Monday.  To me, Sunday was the day of rest that came at the END of a, typically, long and stressful week.  I saw church and fellowship as the culmination of all that had transpired the previous week and, to me, it was the capstone.

For me, if I were honest, the week began Monday morning.  The alarm would sound (aka, I’d hear my kids outside my door) and I’d look at my phone, “yup… its Monday.”  I’d drag myself out of bed thinking, “Here we go… another week… I can do it…” and I go off about my business.

Then, a couple weeks ago something happened.  I was in Church, I think it was nearing communion, and it dawned on me… THIS is the start of my week.  The first thing I am doing this week is gathering with the body of Christ to celebrate in worship and communion.  WOW, that was an eye opener.  Since that day, Sunday has been the first day of my week.

What does it matter?

Well, I guess in technicalities, it really doesn’t matter.  The apostle Paul tells us that it isn’t important that we honor one day over another.  However, for me it was a big deal. For the past several weeks I’ve woken up on Sunday and reminded myself that the start of my week belongs to the Lord.  My first act will not be to worry about web projects or term papers… my first action will be to gather with the saints and worship our King.  I will declare that the first fruits of my week are holy to the Lord.

Now, I’m not saying that my weeks have been magically different since I’ve flipped this mental switch.  However, I will say that throughout the week I, for some reason, keep reminding myself that I started my week on Sunday and have found a very interesting bit of peace in that thought.

So, what about you?  You ever thought much about this or am I just slow?

Taking Systematic Theology via Twitter

Ever wanted to sit in on a Systematic Theology class?  Not able to attend seminary right now? Too lazy to go to iTunes U and listen to hours and hours of lectures? Well, here’s your solution, follow me through the wonders of a one week intensive of Systematic Theology via Twitter.

That’s right, I’ll be twittering my way through my Systematic Theology III summer intensive at RTS-O this week.  Feel free to follow me throughout the day and study along as we study the doctrine of redemption (here’s the course syllabus).

I plan to post snippets from the course notes, great quotes from Dr. Scott Swain (who is both a brilliant and engaging professor), and other observations from the class…  For those who’ve ever wondered what a seminary summer intensive is like, this will give you a feel for it.

It all began yesterday, so for those who haven’t been following let me catch you up to speed:

• Systematic Theology III all week long… 8-5, M-F… I get tired just thinking about it. #
• Class is packed… roll call taking quite a while… #
• …an entire week talking about Jesus and redemption… this is going to be great! #
• the redemption of creation, from the curse, through death, for covenant fellowship with God in a new creation—all by the hand of a Mediator #
• 1 peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God #
• http://twitpic.com/5pau - Union and communion with God. #
• Using metaphor of music - Our present agenda: to trace and describe the movement of redemption. #
• For the record, I’m taking vintage notes - http://tinyurl.com/5demz2 #
• Five minute break. #
• B. God promises redemption to Abraham: the Covenant of Grace #
• God covenants to be Abraham’s God AND Father. Father? Hebrews 11:8 – Inheritance comes from a father. #
• God fulfills his redemptive promise through Moses (et al) in three stages: #
• (1) inauguration (redemption accomplished/covenant union secured), #
• (2) continuation (redemption sustained/covenant communion enjoyed), and #
• (3) consummation (redemption consummated/covenant communion consummated). #
• A mediator is one appointed and anointed by God from among God’s people to represent God to his people and to represent God’s people to God. #
• Hour and a half lunch break. #
• Lunch over… on to redemption inaugurated #
• http://twitpic.com/5pyy - Vintage notes for first half of day one. #
• What are the two reasons God chose Israel? Deuteronomy 7:7-8 - Because of his love and a promise made to their fathers. #
• Worship is the goal of redemption. #
• http://twitpic.com/5q4k - Time to take another break. #
• Atonement is the precondition of forgiveness * Forgiveness is always costly. #
• Interestingly, “redemption” in Israel (on various non-spiritual levels) is procured by a family member. #
• 3:26 - Officially feeling sleepy. #
• God promises in the Law to do what the Law could not do (cf. Rom 3:21) #
• 10 minute break #
• God continues to fulfill his redemptive promise through David-Solomon: mediation through King and Temple #
• He just said “Rad” #
• Calling it a day. Packing up and heading home. Looking forward to a relaxing evening. #

When Things Don’t Go As Planned

I haven’t written a personal post in a while, so I thought I’d give you a little update.

A Quick Recap

Jennifer and I have been in Orlando for 7 months now.  It has been just about a year since I quit my job as a campus minister in order to go to seminary.  I’m not going to lie, it has been a tough journey.  We almost didn’t come because our house wasn’t sold only weeks before we were planning to move.  That obsticle was removed and we went into high gear trying to get down to Florida asap. Once here, things were good but tough.

Though not an entirely smooth transition, seminary itself was everything I had hoped it would be.  I loved every minute of it (well… except the minutes spent writing papers… I don’t like papers).  The professors were amazing and I was growing in my understanding of God and scripture.  Not only that, but I could feel myself being transformed.  It was amazing.

The Summer Sets In

The summer has been really difficult.  For one, I have WAY too much free time.  I’m taking two classes this summer, so there has been some reading and writing, but generally speaking my academic schedule is pretty light.  Along with that, business has been really slow.  While this has allowed me to work on some other projects and catch up on some things I’ve wanted to tweak on goingtoseminary.com, it has been a constant source of stress… no work = no money.

I also think that the summer has been tough on my wife because I am home all day, every day.  Since I am self employed, I work out of an office in my house.  I think there is an added stress in the house when dad is home all day.  Not just for my wife and kids, but for me too… I’m not used to being in my house 24 hours a day… so, I think that is starting to wear us all down.

The Money Well Runs Dry

As you might guess, the whole no work = no money thing is a big deal.  When we decided to come to seminary we made a step of faith that was informed by us crunching some numbers and thinking that we could make it for a year before things got really hairy (financially).  Our hope was that, once down here God would either begin to prosper my web business or provide for us in some other way that he saw fit.

With the sale of our home we were able to put a nice chunk of money into savings.  This money was designed to pay our rent and cover any monthly shortages (should we have them).  Well, as you guessed, we’ve had more than a few shortages and every month the savings disappears quicker than we had planned.  So, last night as I sat looking at course offerings for next semester I had to ask myself, “what do you do when things don’t go as planned?”

The Options

Well, since things are not going entirely as planned, here are some of the options I’ve come up with:

1. Have faith, register for classes, keep walking forward.
2. Have faith, register for only 2 classes, loose your scholarship, get a part time job
3. Have faith, don’t register for any classes, get a job
4. Have faith, move back to Richmond, get a job
5. Have faith, change from M.Div to MA in Biblical Studies, take out a loan, try to knock out all my classes in under 8 months
6. Have faith, play the lottery

Crunch Time

All six options have some merit and on any given hour I fluctuate between which one makes the most sense.  I do my best to remember that all six options require that I have faith.  I also try to remind myself that the challenges that we are facing are just as much a part of the journey and what God is teaching us.  Though this is not a course for credit, this is part of my seminary education.  Through these difficult days I trust that God is working in me and my family to shape us more into the image of his son.

That said, decisions do need to be made.  I do need to register or not register.  I do need to look for a job or apply for a loan.  I can’t simply hang out in the valley of indecision forever. So, it is crunch time.

Table For Two

If you’re in seminary or considering seminary, odds are you’ll be joining me at this table.  Now, your situation will probably be different, but from what I’ve seen we all face adversity of one sort or another while we are here (can I get an “amen” Terry?).  It is highly likely that things will not go as you planned.  In it all, just remember that God has not abandoned you.  He loves you and is work in you and through you… that doesn’t mean it will always be easy and comfortable… but have faith friend, have faith.

How I got to Seminary

I am sure that there are many unique stories about how people end up getting to seminary. On our forums there is a topic describing peoples top choices in regard to different schools. I didn’t chime in because the only school that I applied to was Asbury. Here is a quick version of how I ended up here.

I grew up a preachers kid so the usual entanglement with religion that PK’s have was a part of my life. In high school I learned about what the church could offer me, so we can just say that my level of involvement was just enough for me to have benefits from it. My life really changed when I hit college. Through a series of events that stretched out over several years I had tremendous experiences with God and also managed to screw things up pretty good too. When I was around 18 I felt a call to vocational ministry, but had no idea what on earth that looked like. My life consisted of various stages of pleading for forgiveness to God and thinking that I had everything together.

You can say everything changed with my life hit rock bottom when I was about 22. I wasn’t quite done with school, but I had cleaned up (literally inside and outside), was working at a small Southern Baptist church (the denomination I grew up in), and was dating the girl who felt called to be a preachers wife. I was presented with a great opportunity, but some friends felt that I wasn’t “religious” enough, and everything pretty much fell apart. I ended up having a nervous breakdown and a bout with alcoholism.

It was at this time that I started doing sound engineering for money and ended up touring with a great group of guys leading worship all over the country. I meet a local college minister and we would talk from time to time. By now, I was realizing that I could make nice money running sound at a mega-church and was planning to enter that world when I finally graduated from college.

Life went forward for a few years, and I met my wife Meredith. My plan was to sell furniture while waiting for her to graduate after we got married. One day I was slipping through the Louisiana Tech Wesley foundation, the home of our previously mentioned college minister. After finding out about the furniture plan, he offered me a job interning at Wesley. I spent the next year and half ministering there.

Wesley changed my personal view of ministry. There was alot that I didn’t say in this little essay, but we can say that my view of God was completely re-organized. One of the things that was promised to me was not ever running sound. While I did end up doing it, I was thankful and I understood why this “rule” was made. My director Scott had been watching me for years, and knew that I had other skills that had never really been brought out. While I was there I learned that I was gifted in organization, teaching, discipleship and just making friends.

You are probably starting to wonder where seminary comes into this…..

I had been thinking about seminary for years, since I was around 20. While touring I always carried a few books with me and attempted to teach myself Greek. Most people knew that I was thinking about seminary. In fact, the first time I sat down with Scott (my director at Wesley) was under the auspices of Asbury Seminary. It actually took around 3 years to get to that conversation. I was raised on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and I had friends that went to plenty of other seminaries around the country. There was something about Asbury graduates that made me want to check the school out. After spending a weekend here, I saw that many of my own interests were shared, specifically how liturgy can used in the 21st century. What sealed the deal was spending time in the chapel office with J.D. Walt, and seeing how the school puts together a reader for every season of the church calender. Asbury just made sense to me.

I tell people now that I wasn’t sure why I wanted to come to seminary. But I knew I wanted to be at Asbury. I would have come to Asbury if it was a welding school because of what the Holy Spirit has done and is doing in this place.

When searching for a seminary, the most important thing is to find the place that makes you stay up at night with excitement. Asbury is part of my soul now, and I pray that your choice in attending seminary will be part of yours.

Resisting Sedentary Seminary

Remember the “Freshman Fifteen”? What about the “Seminary Several”? Perhaps you escaped the undergrad weight gain only to find that now seminary hits you with the one-two punch of entering your *ahem* shall we say, less than prime years, coupled with devoting an inordinate amount of time to sitting, studying, and consuming large quantities of coffee and Snickers bars. Jeff and I thankfully haven’t added the Seminary Several, but we have discovered that Seminary equals Sedentary, and after a life of sports and activity, these past three years of seminary have taken their toll on our fitness to say the least. So, this past month Jeff and I took a weeklong summer intensive course. Even though I committed to staying alert, focused, and purposeful in gleaning as much as I could from class, by 11am on the first day I was drowsy and guiltily clicking through Facebook to keep myself alert. By the time lunch rolled around I was ready to ditch my healthy brown bag in favor of French fries and a Caramel Macchiato.

The Lunch Run

But (!) I was fiercely determined that I was going to take the opportunity to get some exercise during this summer class. So, I decided that during the lunch hour each day I would go running. Fortunately the weather cooperated, and I had just enough time to go to the gym, change into shorts, run for thirty minutes, then splash some ice cold water under my arms, and get back to class a little red in the face but energized beyond what any Starbucks would ever be capable of achieving.

I was amazed at the results. I found it so much easier to focus during the afternoons (and I’m a morning person so I can’t blame it on that!). I found myself energized, positive, enthusiastic, and feeling motivated to eat my healthy lunch rather than ditch it in favor of the McLunch I would later regret. On the last day of class it started to rain, and since I’m a wimp, I forewent a run in the drizzle, and instead chose to explore the weight room of our campus’s gym. I was amazed! While not the most state-of-the-art fitness center, they had great equipment and free weights. And I practically had the place to myself. I realized that I’d been through three years of seminary without ever taking advantage of the free fitness facilities (Perhaps free is not the word considering the size of our school loans). How many days did I shuffle through my classes, unable to keep myself alert without shocking doses of caffeine, when I could have been taking time to exercise my body, relax my mind, and recharge for the studies ahead?!

Read, Ride, and Run

So it made me think, I want to tell Seminarians to take advantage of the free (”included with tuition”) fitness facilities available to us as students. Play “Noon Ball”, go for a quick run or walk, lift a few weights, sit on the recumbent bike while reading that theology textbook. Don’t neglect to exercise the body God’s given you in your quest for exercising your mind. Both are important in our service for Christ. And you might just be surprised how much easier it is to focus on Greek after running around the block for Jesus. Don’t let Sedentary Seminary lull to sleep. Instead, stay one step ahead of the Seminary Several.

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