Two Cent Tuesday - To Twitter or Not to Twitter

It would seem that Twitter is the new cool thing these days. You can’t get very far on the blog-o-sphere without people talking about twitter. Pastors twitter, Missiologists twitters, Professional Bloggers Twitter, Moms Twitter (not mine, of course…) Twitter is everywhere…

Up until now I’ve stayed away from Twitter because, seriously, do I really have time for another distraction? However, I’ve been thinking about it more and more, so today I wanted to hear from all of you out there. Do you Twitter? If so, why? and, more importantly, should I Twitter and why?

The post is open, what is your two cents?

Writer Introduction - Terry Delaney

Today we continue our writer introductions with Terry Delaney.

Terry, how did you come to know the Lord?

The short, short version is that one of my close friends’ girlfriends would not shut her mouth about going to her church for this play. In order to shut her up, we decided we would go to the play. It was there that God showed me that I was not what I thought I was. The play was called “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames” and will always have a special place in my heart as that was the means by which God showed me mercy.

So, why did you decided to go to seminary?

Quite honestly, I decided to go to seminary because I was told to. I finally graduated college when I was 29 (I was married with 2 kids at the time) and had my resume out to hopefully pastor a small church in my home town of St. Louis. Everyone kept telling me I had to go to seminary because I “just didn’t have the experience” to pastor. So, I confess I came to seminary with the mindset of “playing the game” in order that I might somehow qualify to pastor a church. While my attitude was not the greatest when I decided to attend seminary, God has blessed the decision beyond measure.

What has been the hardest part of seminary for you?

Balance. The hardest part of seminary is finding a proper balance between school, ministry, work, and family. The fact that I list family might be more telling than I care to admit. I find that it is very easy to allow the family to be back burnered. Rather than maintaining a nice balance, I usually feel like I am running back and forth on a plank that is supposed to be balanced on a fulcrum but I keep running from one end of the other so that neither end will touch the ground.

What has been the most rewarding part of seminary for you?

I would say watching God bless the decision beyond my wildest imagination. Being able to become friends with a couple of the professors has been nothing short of amazing. To see how God has allowed me to have some ideas that are being implemented on campus in the coming months is truly a testament to God’s grace and mercy.

How’d you start blogging and Why do you Blog?

I started blogging because everyone in the leadership at the church I was attending at the time was blogging. I also enjoy writing and have found it a great outlet for many of my thoughts and ideas. I continue to blog for a couple of reasons. First, in regards to the diary, I find that I can’t not write in it. To be able to have a record of how God has worked in mine and my wife’s life since we made the decision to attend seminary is priceless. Second, the ability to sharpen my writing skills and be a blessing to others is a nice bonus.

Believe it or not, I also continue to blog because of the encouragement that has come from many areas of my life. One guy has told me that my blogging is being used by God to bless him and his family. One lady told me that it helps her to pray for my family. I will be honest; I am selfish when it comes to prayer. If someone wants to pray for me and they are able to do so more effectively because of a blog, then by all means, I will blog!

Finally, I would not have met many of the men and women I have met. I was able to help a guy move and another to attend a conference from blogging. I have become friends with a pastor in my hometown because we both blog. More than likely, I would have never met any of these people.

Writer Introduction - Jake Belder

Today we get to know Jake Belder a little better:

Jake, how did you come to know the Lord?

I cannot point to a specific moment of conversion, as I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home, by parents who loved and served the Lord with all their heart.  The example they set for us was a great inspiration.  There was, however, a period in my mid-teens when I came to a much greater awareness of my faith.  Gradually over time, I found myself growing more interested in things like theology and came to understand that having faith meant more than just believing that God existed—it meant that my belief should transfer into action and should transform the way I live.

This is about the same time I began to think about ministry.  I guess this growing consciousness was something visible to those around me, because people began to hint at the idea that I should be a pastor.  After I took a world religions class in high school and was introduced to apologetics, I knew that this was the direction I was going to be headed in.

Why did you decided to go to seminary?

My family moved shortly after that period in early high school when people began to tell me I should be a pastor.   After a few months in a new church, I was asked to lead the high school youth ministry in our church.  Eager to do so, I jumped into the two-year task with excitement.  However, that excitement did not last long.  I met with a lot of resistance from the leadership of the church, and other members of the group.  After two years, I was tired, frustrated, and completely drained.  In addition to that, I had begun to see the damage that church politics could cause to a congregation, and the idea of being in ministry and surrounded by that all the time was not appealing in the least.

Towards the end of high school, I was all ready to transfer into a police foundations program at the local community college and become a police officer.  But God had different plans, and through the encouragement of family and friends, I applied to Redeemer University College for their pre-seminary program, and was accepted.  Those four years were some of the most formative of my life.  I was immersed in theology and surrounded by people passionate to serve the Lord, and it was infectious.  Also, shortly after meeting Robin, who is now my wife, we joined up with a new church plant.  It was exciting to see what God was doing with his church, and I knew that ministry was where I had to be.

I initially applied to one seminary, but towards the end of college, I determined that my gifting was more oriented to an academic life of ministry, and with the guidance of some mentors, I decided that RTS/Orlando would be a better fit for me.  I was accepted very quickly and knew that this is where I was to be.  Having to relocate to Florida wasn’t that bad of a proposition either, especially when I had to trudge through 25” of snow to get to the mailbox to get my acceptance letter.

What has been the hardest part of seminary for you?

Without a doubt, the hardest part has been balancing life and work.  Robin and I had only been married for a few months when I started seminary, and so we were still figuring out what it meant to be married.  Combined with a bit of a tendency to procrastinate, I struggled all the way through first year to try and get most of my work done during the day so I could spend the evenings with her, and also so I could go to bed before 2am.  It got better toward the end of this first year, and I hope that next year will be even better.

The other difficult thing about seminary is that you hardly have time to think about what you’re learning when you’re taking a full course load.  There is always so many ideas to sit and mull over as I’m reading or listening to lectures, there’s often not a lot of time to do so.  That can be a bit disheartening sometimes, but I’ve learned to make notes in a little notebook once and a while when something comes up I want to think on some more, and I plan to go back to that over the summer and give it some more thought.

What has been the most rewarding part of seminary for you?

The point I just made at the end of the first question is largely a rewarding thing as well.  It really is a great blessing to be surrounded by other students and professors who are passionate about the Word and the Church, and to be able to interact with them on a number of different levels.  I am sure there are a lot of things I’ve heard or read this year that I never would have really thought about before, but have ended up playing a role in continually shaping me.  It is a blessing beyond all measure to be able to learn at this level and to study what I love.

How’d you start blogging and why do you Blog?

I started blogging in college when it was a new trend.  A couple of friends suggested I do so, and so I signed up for it.  Initially it was just fun to be part of the crowd, but I began to see a lot of benefits come out of it.  For one, I found my writing style continually improving.  I also found that it was serving as a medium for me to put my thoughts down on (virtual) paper and sort through things.  As I spent more time online, I also began to meet new people as we discovered each other’s blogs.  These people came with different points of view and new insights, and I found all this to be beneficial in thinking through all kinds of issues.

I keep blogging today for all the same reasons as this.  It’s been a rewarding experience for me, and I hope that in some way my thoughts have been of benefit to others as well as they are thinking through different issues and topics.

Wasting Seminary

I’ve been meaning to point this out ever since it was posted, but so much has been going on I haven’t had the time.  So, if you haven’t already seen it by now, check out Derek’s list of 45 Ways to Waste Your Theological Education.

I was digging #’s 2, 19, 20, 25, 36, 45 and, for those interested, Terry will be tackling #20 in a upcoming post.  Surely with all those numerical references you’re intrigued enough to go check out his list!

After you read it, let me know your thoughts.

Writer Introduction - Jeff Patterson

A couple days ago I introduced you to Kari Patterson.  Today, we’ll meet her husband Jeff:

Jeff, how did you come to know the Lord?
God is so good. I grew up in a mainline Protestant denomination and probably heard the Gospel at some point, was an altar boy, and overall a “good” kid, but I didn’t know Christ, wasn’t aware of my own depravity, and then at the age of 18 everything changed. Jesus rescued me and His life came into my soul. As a freshman in a fraternity at Oregon State University a Campus Crusade for Christ Staff person shared the Gospel with me. Right then I first came face to face with the Gospel of God’s Grace and Jesus became my Savior and Lord, my joy and my all. Before then I literally did not know John 3:16, who this John character was, nor what the 3, 16, or colon meant. The Bible became my daily bread and campus ministry at Oregon State was where I first cut my teeth in church life.

Why did you decided to go to seminary?
Kari and I had considered seminary for a while, and for me I had thought about it since college. We took some steps to explore it back in ‘03, but God showed us not yet. After some jarring ministry experiences culminating in ‘04 we simply sense “the call” and explored some more. Crazy as it sounds, we hadn’t even considered Multnomah before, while longing to return to Oregon, the land we love, as missionaries we connected with friends who had just started at MBS. Providence took over in God’s unfolding of our path to school, and the best part of it is being able to go together, both as students.

What has been the hardest part of seminary for you?
Balancing life. Work. Commute. Our son. Finances. Digging deeply of Christ as our Fountain daily. Did I mention my of wonderful wife? Okay, I’m probably the hardest part of her seminary experience. Seriously, the experience has been awesome, but not for the faint in heart nor with those lacking a little sense of humor. Our schedules have had to adapt and change and nothing has gone perfectly-has-planned (like when my car became a paper weight). This year living with Kari’s parents has been a challenge mixed with joy all the same.

What has been the most rewarding part of seminary for you?
Doing this together with Kari. I probably wouldn’t have the same experience if I had enrolled as a single straight out of undergrad. Now seven years later and a few years in the “real world,” all of this has helped make me a better man, and seminary is all part of this trajectory of growing in Christlikeness. All of life is preparation in God’s economy.

What do you want to do after seminary?
We get this question quite a bit. We don’t know exactly, but we are less picky than we were a few years ago. Teaching, pastoring, loving and serving in the church, and of course being a faithful husband and loving father. We sense God’s call to be missionaries to the Pacific Northwest, our homeland, and potentially church planting in or around Portland. Anyone have any prophecies for us? In the meantime we would love the opportunity to serve in the church vocationally while finishing up school.

How’d you start blogging and Why do you Blog?
I first started blogging during our pregnancy with our son Dutch. The DutchBlog was a place to share thoughts and ultrasound photos and anticipate our miracle boy being knit by our Creator in the womb. I wrote every page and post in raw HTML with CSS, and then transitioned to using a CMS platform (boy does that save time!). Started mixing in my thoughts and eventually Kari got hooked as an outflow for her passion for writing.

Someone mentioned to me in person a few weeks ago they really appreciated my thoughts on a specific post. I truly didn’t know who was reading my words, if anyone was a regular reader outside of family and some close friends. He asked me, “Who is your audience?” I don’t know exactly. Anyone who is breathing? Well, God is my Audience of One – may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart and mind be pleasing to You O Lord. I also blog because it is enjoyable, and helps shape my thoughts, collect quotes, form my theology and hopefully help others make much of Jesus who is to be their Treasure. Lastly, I love the Church, and want to see Her become all Christ has redeemed Her to be. I hope all five of my readers are able to burn brighter in unconditional love and sacrifice for the church, having connected to my small flicker of a light.

My life purpose is to know, love and enjoy the Triune God above all else, and I think blogging helps me do just that, and hopefully helps others do the same.

Writer Introduction - Kari Patterson

As promised, over the next two weeks we are going to be introducing you to all the new writers at goingtoseminary.com.  First on deck is Kari Patterson.  We shot Kari (and all the writers) a list of questions. Here are her answers:

Kari, how did you come to know the Lord?
For God’s mercy I will be forever grateful.  I prayed to receive Christ at the age of five, after my mom explained the gospel in 5-year-old language for me.  I’ll never stop praising God for the amazing godly heritage I have in my parents and grandparents, who prayed for me even before birth.

So, why did you decide to go to seminary?
In college God clearly revealed His call on my life for full-time ministry.  I was also incredibly blessed to earn a full-ride graduate scholarship to be used anywhere in the U.S. Determined to use it, I planned to attend Columbia College in Chicago to get an MFA in fiction writing while Jeff earned an M.Div at Moody, but God re-routed us and showed me that it was Him, not creative writing, that He wanted me to study.  After a significant detour and wilderness experience in the SF Bay area, God opened the door to return to our own backyard and attend Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland…together.  His plan, as always, was perfect.

What has been the hardest part of seminary for you?
By far the hardest part has been the challenge of balancing a home, husband, son, work, and school.  I know of only two other women in our entire seminary who have small children…with good reason. It’s like living in two worlds.  I gave birth to Dutch seven days after finishing my last final of fall semester in ’06, then took a semester off before returning the following fall.  We also lived 1 1/2 hours away from school, so the commute was a bear.  But looking back, every second has been worth it.

For you, what has been the most rewarding part of seminary for you?
The personal growth in my walk with my Savior, and the personal growth in my marriage to Jeff.  I have fallen in love with Jesus over and over again as I’ve learned more of His nature, His love, His power, and His grace. And I’ve fallen in love with Jeff as we’ve gazed at the Savior side by side.

How’d you start blogging and Why do you Blog?
Blogging saved my life!  A year ago we left our home, jobs, town, church, and moved in with my parents so that we could finish seminary full-time and live on our savings and have help with our son while we were in class.  It was the most stripping experience of my life, but Jeff was wise enough to buy me karipatterson.com so that I’d have a creative outlet.  Without my blog I would not have survived this year.

Extra: What’s it like being a woman in seminary?
It’s like being surrounded by men!  took a Development of Spiritual Character class my first year that was all guys except me.  I called it Men’s Discipleship Class.  They were always talking about sexual purity and I just kept my head down.  But the great part was they always wanted my opinion—the “woman’s perspective” they called it.  Overall I’ve felt exceedingly respected and honored throughout my experience.

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Ok everyone, sound off and let welcome Kari to the crew!

Going to Seminary 2.0

Today is the official launch of GoingtoSeminary.com v2.0! So, first off, all you feed readers come check out the new digs. Second, let me show you around the new site. For one, you’ll notice that we’ve given the site a general face lift. We’re using the Revolution Pro theme by Brian Gardner. Not only is Brian a wordpress and design guru, he’s also a fellow believer. So, we’re pretty happy at goingtosemianry.com to support him (buy his themes!).

Along with the face lift, we’ve added an online forum. I went back and forth on this one for a while, but ultimately decided to give it a shot. It is designed to be a place where more dialog can take place than what happens within a given post. There are forums for issues relating to family, money, and other topics relevant to seminarians. Go give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

The third update in version 2.0 is the addition of 5, yes FIVE, brand new writers. You’ll begin seeing their work roll out this week, so give them some love and let them know you’re glad they are here. You can get a brief introduction to them in the bloggers section. Also, over the next two weeks we’ll be posting an interview with each of the new writers so that you can get to know them a little better.

Finally, as part of Version 2.0 the time has come to reveal the secret identity of “Just a Guy.”

…Drumroll please…

My name is Ryan Burns and I’m an M.Div student at RTS-Orlando. Hmmm… that was a bit anticlimactic. Well, none the less, the mystery is solved.

Welcome to GoingtoSeminary.com 2.0, we hope you enjoy then new additions.

Soli Deo Gloria
_ryan

Seminary Writers Wanted

The semester is winding down and summer “break” is approaching. On my to-do list this summer is launch goingtoseminary.com version 2.0.  One aspect of version 2.0 I am really looking forward to is the addition of more writers.  As the comment sections will show, I am not the end-all of seminary information.  There are many seminary students out there who have a wealth of experience and insight that would be tremendously valuable.

So, with that in mind I am now accepting applications for anyone who would like to join the goingtosemianry.com team.   At this time the job is unpaid.  Writing experience, link love, and the warm fuzzy feeling of helping people out is all I really have to offer.  Should the Lord provide some sponsors for the site then I fully intend to share the love with the contributors… but, right now, I can’t promise anything.  That said, here are the details:

Job Opening: Writer
Qualification: Current Seminarian, strong writing skills
Details: The position requires you to regularly provide articles relating to all aspects of seminary life.
How to Apply: Use the goingtosemianry.com contact form to let me know you are interested.  Provide your name, seminary, and a link to your blog if you have one.  In particular, if you’ve written any posts online that you would consider goingtoseminary.com material, please send me a link to that as well.  For those who do not have an example piece posted online, I will need you to send me an example article of something you would write for goingtoseminary.com.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.  I am truly looking forward to this next step in the life of this humble little blog…

OH, and part of the v2.0 launch will be the reveal of who Just a Guy really is… that’s right, for both of you who haven’t figured it out, I will finally reveal my true identity… I know! You can just about cut the anticipation with a knife!

Selecting a Seminary - Interview Current Students

I realized that it has been a while since I’ve written a post for all you out there who are considering seminary. Since the summer is approaching and there are a number of you applying and making final decisions about the fall, I thought I’d throw out an idea I was thinking about the other day… namely, interviewing current students.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, it is actually quite easy to hunt down seminary students online (hmmm…. that sounded shadier than I intended). Anyway, my point is that if you are considering a seminary, it is highly likely that you can find a student (or students) who attend the seminary and have a blog. Simply google: “I attend Seminary Name” or Seminary name blog student and see what you get. Odds are, the search will get you on the right path.

Once you’ve found a seminary blogger, find their contact info and shoot them an email. Explain that you are considering attending their seminary and wanted a students insight. Most bloggers are are MORE than happy to give you their opinion. It is kind of the whole concept behind blogging…

Now, in giving this idea I feel it is also important to also say that you should take any replies you get with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, you don’t really know the person you contacted… they could have just bombed a test and, at that moment, have very unhappy thoughts about their seminary. So, keep that in mind. But, none the less, this is another way for you to navigate the tricky and sometimes overwhelming waters of selecting a seminary.

(If you give this a try, report back to us and let us know if it was helpful!)

Seminary Meme Winner - Chuck

Note:  Chuck, please use the contact form so I can get you your prize.   

Congrats go out to Chuck (aka, Chuckles, Chucklebunny, Chork, Chubbs, Charlie Bucket, Bucket, Bucket-Boy) who was the winner of our April Seminary Meme Competition. For answering 6 simple questions, tagging 5 other people, and being the name Just a Gal drew out of my Windies hat, Chuck gets to go on a $100 spending frenzy at Eisenbrauns.

For the inquiring minds in the group… here are Chuck’s answers (oh, and if you wanted to know, he attends Asbury Seminary):

What class do you think has most impacted your spiritual life?

Wow…so far, probably OT720 Biblical Archaeology. Getting to dive into the physical remains of the Old Testament world has been amazing for helping me digest the biblical text.

What seminary professor has been the most influential while in seminary?

Gah…I think this is really a tie between Dr. Richter and Dr. Dongell, though I’m tempted to lean toward Dongell.

What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced in seminary?

Adjusting to being back in school full-time while my wife works full-time to support us. There have definitely been moments of tension there.

What has been the greatest reward you’ve experienced in seminary?

Primarily, being connected with an amazing local congregation in which to worship. This has been a huge time of refreshment and spiritual renewal for me.

What are your plans after seminary?

I’m hoping to go on to PhD studies somewhere (right now looking at Notre Dame) for Early Church studies/Patristics.

How many times have you been asked question #6?

5,636,220,184 times. Exactly.

Again, congrats to Chuck and, of course, MANY thanks to our generous sponsor Eisenbrauns!

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