Next

This past Friday I completed the last course necessary to finish up my studies at seminary. It only took me three years to finish what is officially a one year full time course of study. I found study at seminary to be hard and the fact that I did not like being a student didn't make it any easier. I cannot imagine doing it and trying to learn Hebrew and Greek as well. And they are such useful languages to have in everyday conversation. 

It all becomes official next weekend (it can't be official yet, they haven't given me access to the alumni portion of the seminary website yet). Now I have the opportunity to audit classes (listen to lectures, no papers, no reading requirements, no exams. Why didn't I think of that sooner? Oh yeah, they wouldn't let me) and observe the classes I would have had to take had I stayed in the original degree program I was in. 

I never would have thought in 2008 that I would be working full time in ministry but I am. I never thought I would be working through seminary at a pace that it would take me 6 to 7 years to do what I thought I could knock off in 2 or 3, but it did, and that only worked because I reduced it to a one year requirement.  My hat's off to the men and women who do it in the officially allotted time. You are better than me, but chances are I am older than you. The mid-50's is not the ideal time to be a student in my book.

So what is next? Full time ministry, yes. That will continue. But also doing what I find the hardest thing of all to do. Being more like Christ as I move through the world. His standard of perfection is a struggle for me daily, and it is the thing I really wish to do well and do full time (unlike being a student).

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.Romans 7:18-19 (New King James Version)

Trying to meet His example, the standard He lived up to perfectly. That's what's up next. Trying to live a life He would have me live, doing it daily and not getting hung up in the book smarts and the study, but in people. Doing His will as I move along, and not worrying about the things I would have chosen to make important.

Funny thing is that has been what has been up next all along.

The Nuggets on the Mount

The class I am taking at seminary is a harmony of the gospels called The Life of Christ on Earth. It is a incredible lecture series taught by an incredible professor that is deepening my understanding of the Lord. Given the winter we have had in DFW, we have missed three classes, so we are moving fast in what appears to be the attempt to get back on track (I had thought we would have make up days, but have not heard anything yet about that).

The other day we spent time in The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5- 7, as well as the much shorter passage in Luke 6. The fact that it was probably a sermon on a plain given the number of people involved is another story for another day (see Luke 6:17). There is so much in that teaching you could probably dedicate a whole semester just to that. We moved more quickly than I would have liked, and my head felt like it would burst open and my brain would spill out like a rotten tomato. Or maybe I would have found out my brain is a rotten tomato. It surely feels that way at times when I try to fully grasp what the Word is telling me.

Here is a brief summary of The Sermon based on my lecture notes:

• The beatitudes of Matthew 5 are characteristics of the truly righteous; the woes of Luke 6 compare godly righteous to the ungodly practices of men.
• Being salt of the earth should create a thirst for righteousness.
• That which generates thoughts of violating God's Law is a violation in and of itself.
• The holiness of God is the true test of righteousness.
• Right things done out of the wrong motives is not righteousness.
• Righteousness can only be obtained through the narrow gate of Christ.
• Stand on the rock of Jesus you are in His Kingdom; stand on the sand of man you are out.

These are just some brief nuggets, but they brought some clarity to me in walking through The Sermon on the Mount. There is so much more, why don't you get into it yourself and have a go?

I just wanted to share a littler bit of what I am hearing and learning.

Avoiding A Spiritual Caldera

Caldera. I like that word today. A caldera is a basin like depression formed by the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano. You have all the heat and energy and activity. Then the bottom falls out of the top and you have a caldera. A kind of sunken look, a mere shadow of the former power and energy you once saw flowing from that volcano, when it was full in its' passion and activity and rocking the world immediately around it.

Doesn't sound like a good idea to have a spiritual caldera, does it? Who wants a collapse, when we need the fires to be burning as hot today as when we came to faith in Jesus, as hot tomorrow and each day until He comes back or calls us home.

I clearly want to keep the fire stoked, don't you? So I am in the Word daily, recently I started participating in an on-line bible study (my first) on Psalm 119 with some really cool and very godly women (and a guy or two), I work at an  evangelism training and outreach ministry, I attend seminary part time, I try to focus hard on my prayer life.

I am stoking my fires as best I know how right now. (Know how right now. How now, brown cow? Not sure where that came from. Possibly a mini-caldera, an attention implosion.) I am a little shy of 8 years into my faith walk, and I want to make sure that fore keeps burning bright. 

I know it isn't about the volume of activity but the level of intensity. So I am trying to do all these things as deeply, as sincerely, with as much fire as I can. I hope I am succeeding. I will keep going. I choose to avoid the caldera of a cooling passion for the Lord. I want the fire kept hot so I am stoked for the Lord, but that the fire also burns away what is worthless in my life, what is worthless in the pursuit of the Lord and the giving to Him of all glory.

I hope you are doing things to keep your fires stoked up to their full potential. Anything less than a blazing bonfire is not giving God the glory He so richly deserves from each and every one of us.

We (I) are open to suggestions as I (we) keep stoking things up at our (my) end.

What Did He/Does He Look Like?

To you that is.

What mental picture do you have of Jesus? What did He look like when they took Him off the cross, what does He look like now, while we await His glorious return? These questions came up in the study of Revelation in my seminary class today. The question came up as we studied the following verse (emphasis is mine):

And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
Revelation 5:6 (New American Standard Bible)

The question is that Christ stands in heaven, the Lamb, as if slain. Does He bear the marks of His crucifixion, will He for eternity, not as a remonstrance to us, but as a reminder of His love? Clearly, the marks of crucifixion were evident after the resurrection, before He ascended into heaven:

So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing."
John 20:25-27 (New American Standard Bible)

Look at what some of the Old Testament prophecy had to say about His death:

Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness
Isaiah 52:14 (New International Version)
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Isaiah 53:7 (New International Version)

I do not even have to go into the crucifixion accounts of the Gospels, easy enough to find and read, for you to get a sense that it was a broken body taken down off the cross, and I believe that when we meet Jesus we will see the marks He bore in love and continues to do so even in His glory.

It is interesting that there is no physical description of Jesus in the bible, and I think not for good reason. while we can surmise some from where and when He walked the earth as a man, we are left to let our mind's eye capture for us what Jesus looks like. I think that allows us to approach Him on terms we are comfortable with, at least until He comes back in glory and removes all doubt.

What did He/does He look like to you? I hope whatever that image is, it is the picture of your Savior.

The Beginning of the End

Today in my seminary class we move on from Daniel into Revelation, where will be for the remainder of the semester. I cannot wait to dig into this part of the study. I have always wanted to spend time in the Book of Revelation, but have never done a detailed study. This one, led by Dr. Pentecost, will be from the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation school of thought. Which is fine, as that is what I hold to personally, I would probably not be studying where I am if I wasn't of that frame of mind.

As I go through the reading of this section, as I hear the events laid out in the bible and compare them to what is going on on the world, I see things developing in a way that one can see Revelation playing out in the future. I am not saying today nor tomorrow as no one knows the day except our Father in heaven, if I may paraphrase Matthew 24:36 a bit.

I can imagine how John struggled to get his mind around this divine revelation, how he must have struggled to put it on paper. (And remember, he had to do it in Greek with all those funny squiggles. You can tell I am not taking languages in school). What did he see, how did he describe it as he did? I am sure without divine inspiration he would be completely lost understanding what it is that was revealed to him. I wonder if he saw it in his mind like we see on a TV or computer (maybe a little 3D or HD action?), if he saw it as it will happen or in images his mind could grasp from the world around him.

That we are heading towards the end of days, I have no doubt. I mean, we are a day closer each day. Will it happen in my lifetime, or the lifetime of anyone alive on the earth today? Who knows. But it is possible that this is more likely true today than it was yesterday, and will be more so tomorrow. All I know is that it will happen when God wills it, and I will be in it those days if that is His will for me.

I do not know what to expect, but I know what to do. Follow hard after the Lord as I walk down The Narrow Road.

Off To A Good Start

Started class today, Daniel and Revelation, started with the Book of Daniel. We made it almost all the way through Daniel 1:1 before class ended. A great start.

Seriously, a great start because of all the background we did in Deuteronomy 28-30 (on the blessings of Israel, on the curses on Israel, on obedience and disobedience. You can guess which one gets you the blessings and which one doesn’t). A bit of time on Ezekiel 10 and 11 (the call for repentance of the nation and the departure of the Shekinah glory from the Temple) and a little side detour into 2 Chronicles 7:14 (for a biblical concept of repentance - humble yourself, pray, seek His face, turn from your wicked ways).

I am not feeling that great today, but those 50 minutes were quite the boost. If only the rest of schoolwork jazzed me up like the lectures do, I’d be working on my doctoral dissertation right about now (the second or third one, that is).

It is going to be fun in class, whatever the rest may hold!

School Redux

Today I start class again at Dallas Seminary. I say class because I am taking one class this semester, that is all I can handle while working full time and all the assorted other stuff that has attached itself to me like so many magnetic mines over the course of the past 30 years or so.

I am doing well in class, at least when I contract for a grade that can be classified as doing well. But I have been struggling as a student since I got here, being a student has not changed all that much for me since the 70’s. I really do not like it all that much.

This is a great institution, I just do not like student-hood. I view it as a negative form of childhood I guess. I will soldier through, I have a plan mapped out in my head that gets me to a desired end in a time frame and frame of mind I can live with. I am working the plan and getting it done.

I will enjoy this course, it is on Daniel and Revelation and is taught by Dwight Pentecost, a favorite for me here at DTS. I hope I will be educated enough over the semester to be in a position to share some of it with you.

Details to come.

Now it is off to school, where’s my lunch pail?

The Momentum of Inertia

I have not posted a blog entry in over a month, and I have to tell you the time pretty much sped by, blog-wise at least. At first it did not bother me, then I started to feel like maybe I should pout a post up, but nothing came to mind. Then an very interesting feeling set in; I felt it had been so long that any post needed to be deep and profound, as if to justify my lack of activity. It was sort of, hey, I know I have been missing, but look at what I have for you now. Aren't glad I waited? Aren't you glad you did too?

Well, this is not that post. Sorry, and I do not mind if you stop reading now. No profound revelations are forthcoming, so profound to allow you to revel in the profundity of the moment.

Just spent the last two weeks in a seminary course, 3 hours every morning studying the Gospels. Great lectures by Dr. Mark Bailey at DTS, but oh so fast the material sped by. Bible study should be a marathon, not a sprint. But I think I got through, although time will tell if I made the grade when it posts on my transcript. We shall see.

So, having spent two weeks studying the most profound text in existence, I decided I needed to post an entry here and break the string. One of my goals was to keep the blog alive in 2010. This post is tantamount to me yelling "Clear!" and trying to shock it back to life. The text of truth led me back to one realization; I can never get as deep as scriptural revelation; and no one is expecting me to anyway. So I might as well jump back in the fray.

I hope things get deeper moving forward, but I know that things at least need to get started. No one goes deep standing still. One goes stale instead. If you are struggling with your own blog posts (and I know some of you are), take comfort from the fact that movement is movement and

That's the depth of things today.

A Colossians 1:18b Christmas

I just finished the Fall 2009 semester at seminary. Christmas is straight ahead with school in the rear view mirror for a month. A time to reflect on what the season means, a time to reflect on my Lord. And here turns out to be a great place to start:

and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:18b (NASB)

This is the Bible reference one of my professors for this term, Dwight Pentecost, put with his signature in a couple of his books (Things To Come and The Words and Works of Jesus Christ. Great stuff) I asked him to sign yesterday. Did not get to ask him why, I did not see them until I got home and school is done so it will have to wait. But it means something to him, enough to write it with his signature twice. And the class I took was a study of Hebrews, but no quote out of there (Another great book, Faith That Endures. I love reading him). Something about patient endurance or about let us go on, two phrases he used to summarize Hebrews yesterday. Or maybe this one:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 (NASB)

I wrote my notes right in my copy of Faith, I have a bible study of Hebrews all lined out just by following what he taught us this semester. It was an incredible privilege to study it under him.

Getting back to Colossians, I will think about this verse, what it means to me, what it might mean to him. And his meaning will go way deeper than mine. after all, he has been teaching over 50 years, and ministering over 70. With a love of the bible that is awesome to see in a man in his 90's. I hope I remember to ask him next time I see him, which might take a while since I will not be on campus next semester as I am taking an online course.

Jesus is my hope and my assurance, my comfort and my strength. He has become the great constant in my life in a world that is ever-changing and more rapidly so as time goes past. Yes, it is the season of His birth, I need to meditate on it, and I have been pointed in a specific direction by a professor I admire deeply and have come to both respect and love. Thanks, Dr. P!

Let me know what you think of the verse and maybe I will come up with something pithy by the time I have to respond in the comments box.



Technorati Tags: Dwight Pentecost, Hebrews, Colossians, DTS, Dallas Theologicial Seminary, Christmas, seminary

Time is Short

I just recently listened to this chapel service from Dallas Theological Seminary. It is a sobering message to say the least. If you have the time, give a watch.

It makes you think what we should be doing to be responsible citizens as well as responsible Christians. Given the current economy and our deficit spending that is only growing, you have to wonder when it reaches a breaking point. An interesting message to hear in a seminary chapel service, not the daily topic, I can assure you. Which makes it all the more intriguing to listen to.

All this was addressed recently in a chapel featuring Ethan Pope, founder and president of Foundations for Living, based in Dallas. Mr. Pope gives a lot of food for thought. As he says in the talk you may disagree, but what if he is right? Are you ready for the type of scenario he is depicting? Can anyone really be ready, or can we just be prepared to face it?

Humility

Humility:

the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc. Synonyms: lowliness, meekness, submissiveness. Antonym: pride.

The above is a dictionary definition of humility. It focuses on self. But here is a definition we discussed last week in seminary in a class that covers angels, man and sin with Dr. Lanier Burns. Humility is God centeredness. Humility is living with God as the focus of your mind. Jesus was humble but bold in His actions. He was submissive to the will of the Father but boldly went about His ministry. You think not, try the following:

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." John 2:14-16 (NASB)

The apostle Paul was humble in Christ but fierce in proclaiming the Gospel. You think not, try the following:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. Acts 14:19-20 (NASB)

You do not go into a building in the center of town in broad daylight with a whip, you do not get left for dead outside of town and head right back in if you are not focused on God and His purposes. True humility is making the Lord the center of your life. You do not have the strength, the courage, the passion to do so without His presence in the center of your life.

Never Ending

One of my professors at seminary this semester, Dwight Pentecost made a very simple but very powerful statement in class the other day:

The wealth of Scripture is inexhaustible.

It was made in the context of his reviewing a passage in Hebrews and how he now views it, how his thoughts about it have changed, and changed for the better in his opinion. For the purposes of this post, it really doesn't matter what the point he was making is (another story for another day). The point is the power and grace and faithfulness we get from a loving God when we seek Him in awe and obedience. A seminary professor since 1955, 94 years old, and God, through patient and devoted study and reflection, is revealing a little more of His truths on a daily basis. Incredible how loving and patient with us our Lord is.

God will never tire of revealing Himself to His children

How lucky I am to serve such a wonderful God.

A Thought For The Day

I attended an Igniter Lunch at Evantell yesterday and heard Dr. Stanley Toussaint from Dallas Theological Seminary give a talk. As usual, Dr. Toussaint was on top of his game, and deep into the Word. Some of the thoughts he conveyed:

• The Cross is 3 dimensional: up and down, across and out
• When you think of the Cross, the about sin, God and people
• When you think of sin, think about our redemption; we are bought by the Lord, it is permanent We are never back out on the market to be bought again.
• When you think of God, think of propitiation; God is satisfied by what Jesus was done
• When you think of people, think of reconciliation; we need to turn back to God. It is one way, God never turned from us

He summed it up nicely in what I like to think of as a thought for the day:

• Sin is paid for
• God is satisfied
• All that is left is for people to turn to God in faith

He also gave what I thought was a great point from his first year of seminary. If someone has trouble accepting that Jesus died for all of their sins, past, present and future because how could He die for our future sins; ask them how many of their sins had they committed before Jesus died on the cross. Great way to think of the sufficiency of His sacrifice, the atonement is still working 2000 years later.

Dr.Toussaint packed a lot into a short talk, so glad I went.

Burn Out

I have often wondered about people working in ministry who appear to be suffering from burnout or have actually burned out and have stepped away; often with lives broken, family hurt, the glory of God seeming to fade a little bit intot the background. Have heard some chapel services at DTS preaching on something similar.

I say to myself, how can that be? Why would God allow it? The answer is, as usual, with us and not God. I like the way my dear friend Mr Chambers addresses it in these excerpts:

Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God... A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him. But the opposite case is equally true--once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone. There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work. The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him.

Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest: April 23 Devotional

I need to remind myself that when I feel the burn (or more appropriately, the burn out) building, I need to step back and over to the center, back onto God's path. He will not let me burn out if I am in His will and His way. He will not let anyone else either.

If it is happening, you or I are doing something very wrong. We should be able to do God's work and fulfill our responsibilities to spouses, family, and those around us. Because that is God's work too.

And God does not give us more that we can handle.