I entered into seminary at the AWKNG School of Theology as a newly married twenty-two year old lacking the necessary Bible and theology knowledge needed to help lead others. I also lacked ministry skills and experience. Seminary, for me, was a necessary training ground, and a needed formative experience so that the coming years of…
All posts in seminary
5 Takeaways From Seminary After Graduating in 5.5 Years
This past Friday I walked across the stage, shook the hands of some professors, and celebrated the end of a very long journey. This journey started in the summer of 2007 when I decided to enroll at Multnomah Biblical Seminary in the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies program. Five and a half years later,…
What Evangelicals Can Learn From the Eastern Orthodox
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend some time at an Eastern Orthodox church (Saint Nicklaus Church, yes the guy known as Santa Clause) in SW Portland with my World Religions class. Having grown up within the evangelical church I had not spent much time with other Christians outside of that circle,…
4 Things I’ve Learned in 4 Years of Seminary
Someone asked me the other day when I was going to be done with school. Most everyone I know through my church has only ever known me when I’ve been taking seminary classes, so it’s been a question I get asked quite often. I started thinking about it and I realized I’ve already gone to…
Has Art Changed Your Life?
Last week I took a course on preaching narrative literature. One of the big areas we focused on was the power of story. The Bible has one overarching story with many great stories within it. It is a beautiful piece and it is a work of art by God that has changed the world. To…
The Gospel is For Me
The gospel. The story of the astonishing act of God himself in coming down to be part of our alienated world, to endure the full horror of our rebellion against love, to take the whole burden of our guilt and shame, and to lift us up into communion and fellowship with himself, breaks into this…