When I began seminary, I thought I was one of the more unique students. I was Canadian, of Dutch heritage, and wanting to pursue and academic career instead of pastoral ministry. It turns out that I am the only Canadian, one of two people of Dutch...
So you think God wants you to go to seminary. Now what? How do you know you are meant to head to seminary? Especially when some in your life think it would be a waste of time and resources? So, just how does one proceed to investigate, select and...
Many seminary students like books. Some of us, I being one, are book geeks. This means that we drive our spouses or housemates crazy with the amount of books that we seem to go through. So why is it important for the seminarian (and minister) to...
People wash out of seminary and out of ministry all the time. Sometimes the most promising people in ministry self-destruct, abruptly landing in the hospital, divorce court, or on the front page. Others just tire out and change careers. In every...
Towards the beginning of the semester, a professor gave out an article written by Mike Yaconelli titled, “Getting fired for the Glory of God.” As one who has worked in a local church for over nine years, I found his article challenging...
So, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to this semester and trying to determine how I will know if the semester is a success. Is it a successful semester if I get straight A’s? Is the number of pages I read this semester a measure of...
When I was in high school, I occasionally got lunch detention (a.k.a. Study Hall). Looking back, I couldn’t tell you what I did, but I’m sure I deserved it. That said, I will admit that it wasn’t really punishment. I mean, I got 30...
1. Master List The first step for me when shopping for my seminary books is to make a master list of all the books I need for the semester. Much like Santa, I make a list and check it twice… but mostly to make sure that I haven’t missed...
For those who have read about my experience with taking distance education seminary classes you might think that I am not a fan of them… quite the contrary. I think they are great. In fact, here are six things I think are great about online...
There are so many seminaries. So, how do you decide on which one to attend? Well, this is seminary, so prayer is always a good starting place. As you prayerfully submit your decision making process to the Lord, there are a couple things to think...
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Jake Belder
Ryan Burns