Today we celebrate my wife Kari , who will walk across the platform to receive a Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies (emphasis in Women’s Ministry). We entered seminary at Multnomah in ‘05, full of energy, no kids, both working full-time, and making a 90+ minute commute each way. She is the first of us two to graduate — an excellent student, a true friend, the best mom possible, and the most faithful wife I could imagine. It is ironic my wife doesn’t know her own GPA (3.9+), and our son doesn’t realize she was even in graduate school, as most of her work was accomplished...

Kari piggy-backed on my reminder about seminary professors being human and thus in need of encouragement and our intentional efforts to bless them. Read her post at goingtoseminary.com: "Give Graders a Break ." She ended with a short how-to list for blessing TAs/graders: Don’t tweak your margins or your font size (follow directions!) No plastic binder/covers Use the appropriate citation form Consider your voice as you write — for humility goes a long way in presenting an argument. Use quotations sparingly. Quotations are meant to support your claims .  When possible, incorporate...

Over at GoingtoSeminary.com there’s a new post hot off the press. Brief, but pointed. (By the way, the list below is relevant for anyone, whether for a boss, employee, friend, spouse, whatever. People are people, and many are having a worse day than you/me.) My ending: Do you pray for your professors? When you sit down with classmates and are tempted to criticize a certain prof for a certain viewpoint or project he assigned, stop yourself and consider how this is my brother in Christ pours of his life for you sake. Let’s stop and pray for him. Today or this week, be mindful of your professors,...

Wrote an article on GoingtoSeminary.com titled, "Starting Seminary Year 4 of ? " My hope is to encourage those who must take longer-than-average in their studies, specifically as a reminder (to ourselves as well!) that God’s process on the journey is so vital. While I could perhaps envy those who are able to breeze through seminary without delays, no debt, employed by their church, and with relatively little hardship or disappointments, there is no way I’d change this work of God deep in the soul for another path. After all, isn’t it my own contention that all of life...

“I have firmly decided to study Greek. Nobody but God can stop me. It is not a matter of personal ambition, but of knowing the most Sacred Writings.” (Ulrich Zwingli) I start my Greek intensive class today at Multnomah. Excited to get back in the original language of the NT, as my Greek has slipped a bit since taking a similar course a couple summers ago. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "I have firmly decided to study Greek", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/07/28/i-have-firmly-decided-to-study-greek/" });

[Looking for a little feedback here.] Kari and I took a pre-marital and marital counseling course earlier in the summer and are wrapping up our final project for it. The task is to organize/compile a resource notebook for future pre-marital counseling sessions. Eight total sessions have been organized, ranging from biblical view of marriage, a wedding policy, family of origin, expectations, personality and communication, finances, in-laws, intimacy, and a final checkup after the honeymoon. (The table of contents and outlines are all set, but you get the idea about the general categories. Didn’t...

Not from me, but from a fellow student on the East coast. Jake Belder writes in "Make Yourself at Home": "… seminary can sometimes come to be viewed more as a means to an end or as a stepping stone than a time of formation and growth…. Understanding seminary as a stepping stone to something else will only lead you to view your whole life at that particular time and place as a stepping stone. You will never fully unpack the boxes, so to speak. Your apartment will be more like a hotel room than a home." (He then offers some advice on two fronts: relationships and church.) Read...

I wrote a brief and hopefully helpful article on "Considering Seminary When Others Do Not ," aimed at helping those who sense the call of God to go to seminary while serving in a church context with leaders who don’t specifically rally around the idea. Here’s a brief excerpt: Consider all aspects Both the good and the bad. Jesus commanded that we truly “count the cost” before following Him (Luke 14:28 ), and this must certainly include life-shaping decisions like heading to seminary. What are your motivations to attend seminary? What school(s) are you considering? Do you...

This morning Kari and I were able to attend the Baccalaureate Chapel at Multnomah Biblical Seminary to honor our fellow students who have finished their studies and reached graduation. Congratulations to all Multnomah graduates! Tonight they will get their diplomas; this morning some of the seminary students received aways. One fellow student, a dear friend of ours, Adam Poole received the John G. Mitchell Award, given to the student who best embodies the grace and truth of the gospel (the specific description was a bit longer). While none of us ‘deserves’ anything, Adam is about as...

No worries — Kari and I are not failing seminary Instead, the title refers to a good reminder posted a while back at Goingtoseminary.com: "Failing Seminary for the Glory of God ." I left a comment about the article, and recently Timothy Paul Jones, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Church Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented: I may be wrong, but I do believe that some seminary professors are beginning to glimpse the truth in what you’re saying here—especially with reference to refusing to neglect your family. As a seminary prof, my students...