Would You Please Join Me In . . .

After my first few classes I realized how refreshing it was that the professors began each lesson in prayer. In a couple of them, the professors even asked for us to share our individual prayer needs. I appreciated the genuine concern from the faculty for each student as brothers and sisters in Christ. When I arrived in my fourth and final class of my first day, Intro to Theology, I figured that I had caught on to the routine when Dr. Holsteen said, “Would you please join me in . . . . . a hymn.”

A hymn? Yep, that’s right. He had us all stand and sing a classic song of worship to our Lord. On first glance, standing up in the middle of a graduate school classroom to sing seemed a little out of place. But what a perfect way to prepare for a class on the study of God! Not to mention a great way to step back from all the brain exercising to focus on energizing our souls. And this was an everyday routine for us!

What I Read Before the First Day

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6b (New King James Version)

This verse really spoke to me as I did my morning devotionals before my first day of school. I was on my way to learn a lot of good stuff. Not all this "stuff" is completely necessary for the average Christian (not everybody is called to seminary). However, properly trained leadership is very important for the church as a whole. And that’s why I am at seminary! Christianity is about love and relationship. But accurate knowledge of God’s word to us in scripture (the Bible) keeps us living in the Truth and from going astray.

Bringing seminary to my friends and families

My first semester at DTS has been incredible. I have learned so much -- in and out of the classroom. People have asked me all semester, "How do you like your classes?" Usually I find it hard to share much more than "Classes are great." and "Greek is really hard." There is so much more that I want to say! We learn alot of deep stuff and use some big words. But at the heart of all that are some really incredible and important truths that are't hard to understand. I want to share these truths on this blog. I will keep each entry short because many people probably have as little patience as I do when reading long things. During my next several posts, I am going to go back through the semester and share some of the most exciting and interesting things that I've learned. Enjoy!