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QUESTIONING IS OK. DISAGREEMENT IS OK.
John 7:45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what…
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GOD FORBID
In the late 1990s, when I first announced to my parents my intention to go to seminary so that I could further my theological studies in the interest of a career in ministry, my father’s reaction was this: “God forbid!” But it wasn’t what it sounded like. My father had been on many church committees over the years and he knew how the sausage was made. His concern was that I was too idealistic and that when I got to my first church I would get chewed up and spit out. Dad was honestly fearful that if I entered the…
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SUNDAY MORNING LECTURES
I had breakfast with a pastor friend this morning. In the midst of our conversation, it came up that he – like me – considers himself more of a teacher than a preacher. So I asked him what he thought was the difference between the two. And he gave the answer that I think most people would give: A preacher speaks about the application of Scripture to our lives and usually appeals to emotions while a teacher gives background on Scriptural texts and appeals to the intellect. What they have in common is this: both are monologues. In this sense,…
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IS SEMINARY NECESSARY
If the first seminary didn’t come into existence until 1563, it does make me wonder how pastors were being trained before that. And if the church survived (and spread across the globe) for 1500 years without seminaries, are they really necessary now? I loved my time at Asbury Theological Seminary back in the late 90s, but I’d have to think real hard to list things I learned there that turned out to be indispensable to any ministry I’ve been involved in since. Though I suppose my seminary classes may have been slightly more useful to my ministry work than my…
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HISTORICAL ANGLE
Apparently, my dissertation will require a chapter focused on my topic’s historical angle. And each chapter should be 25 to 35 pages in length. To be frank, this prospect is not super exciting to me. I am not even sure how much information will be available on the only historical aspect I really want to explore. Since my project involves the teaching skills a pastor should have, I am somewhat interested in knowing how early in church history any sort of official training of church leadership began. When were the first seminaries established? What was done to train leaders before…
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SMALL DISSERTATION MILESTONE
I passed a small dissertation milestone last night. When the first draft of my prospectus was rejected, one major weakness – according to my advisor – was the “Theological Reflection”. It was not “robust” enough. And even though I knew first drafts were almost never approved, I must admit that it stung a bit to “fail”. I have spun my wheels for about two years, intimidated by the thought of revising my prospectus, especially the Theological Reflection. Those years weren’t wasted, though. They turned out to be useful in giving me time to ponder my project and deepen both my…
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TEACHERS ARE HELD TO ACCOUNT BY GOD
Here are some tough words from the prophet Hosea (Chapter 4) to the “children of Israel” AND, in particular, Israel’s priests: 1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,and no knowledge of God in the land;2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.3 Therefore the land mourns,and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the fieldand the birds of the heavens,and even the fish of the sea are…
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MORE THAN HEARING
How did I forget this one? Tonight I need to add to my list of practices which are basic to effective teaching: In your lessons, whenever possible, find opportunities to involve senses beyond hearing. The more senses which are engaged, the greater the students’ engagement will be. And, thus, the stickier the lesson. Include visuals at the very least. We all loved “show and tell” in kindergarten and, if you think about it, the fun part – the interesting part – was the “showing”. (In fact, if you forgot to bring your object, you wisely asked for your turn to…
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CLARITY
Paul’s final reference to teaching in Colossians is found in chapter 4 where he asks the congregation to pray for him as he “speaks”. His prayer request is twofold: First, that God would present opportunities, and second, that when those doors opened, Paul would be prepared to make “the mystery of Christ” “clear”: 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that…
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MULTIPLYING TEACHERS
The “renewal in knowledge in the image of the Creator” Paul places at the center of Colossians is also at the center of a chiasm, bookended by a list of things to be PUT OFF (e.g. sexual immorality and covetousness) in verses 5-9 and a list of things to be PUT ON in verses 12-15: 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.…