Stuff I Learned During My First Quarter at Seminary

Sorry the the long gap between blog posts. I thought I'd take a minute to put in writing some of the cool stuff I learned during my first quarter at Calvin Seminary.

In one of my classes we talked a lot about spiritual disciplines. I was aware that I should be praying and reading the Bible (which are both spiritual disciplines) but felt that there should be more I can practice to be more like Jesus. We read excerpts from several great books including Celebration of Discipline, In the Name of Jesus, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, and my personal favorite Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Through all this reading I learned that spiritual disciplines such as silence, solitude, secrecy (which is not telling people whenever you do something good), fasting, worship, celebration, fellowship and service are extremely effective when practiced for the right reasons.

During my courses I heard more metaphors than you could shake a stick at, but the best one I read all quarter was from John Chrysostom. This guy lived in the late 4th century and was one of the first great Christian preachers. He said that discipline is like surgery: too little will leave someone unchanged and too much could cause permanent damage.

Another great moment came when we were discussing humility in one of my courses. My professor, John Rottman said something so profound that I immediately committed it to memory. He said that humble people very seldom ruin things (meaning community, progress, or even the world's perception of Christianity). This caused me to contemplate relationships I have that might be slightly fractured, and I instantly realize that my problems are caused by my own arrogance, pride, and outspokenness.

So what's the point of my post? I would recommend reading any of the books that I mentioned earlier. By learning about the spiritual disciplines therein, you too might realize what your strengths and weaknesses are and where you fit into the body of Christ.