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.

Campaign T-Shirt Test

My cousin, and good buddy, Cal alerted me today to a great article in the Chicago Tribune.

The article is about a teenager in Oak Park named Catherine Vogt. Since the Obama campaign was preaching tolerance and togetherness, Catherine decided to test how open-minded her classmates and teachers really were.

So just before the election, Catherine consulted with her history teacher, then bravely wore a unique T-shirt to school and recorded the comments of teachers and students in her journal. The T-shirt bore the simple yet quite subversive words drawn with a red marker: "McCain Girl"

The article goes on to explain how many of her classmates says she deserved to die for wearing the McCain shirt. To me, her classmates easy to dismiss because they are, after all, teenagers. What surprises me is the reaction she got from one of her teachers. Catherine notes, "In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain." I love this quote because it typifies our culture today. In essence she's saying, "I'm not going to judge you, but I am judging you." (Don't get me started on the phrase "with all due respect".)

So what's my point in citing the article? Once Obama is inaugurated I really feel there could be some backlash for anyone who criticizes him. Considering our racist past, we have achieved a milestone in our nation's history. However, that doesn't mean we should throw our brains out the door and canonize him. It's great that people trust the President but we might be crossing the line by believing he is going to solve all our problems.

Friends' Blogs

Some of my buddies have some pretty good blogs of their own. Check 'em out.

Calvin's Unnamed Blog is written by my favorite 9-year-old. Calvin has done a really good job updating his blog each day, and he would really like it if you check it out.

Zack Rock's Illustration Blog is loaded with spectacular water colors and witty commentary. He's my good buddy from our days at Logos Bible Software.

Every Thought Captive is the blog of sarcastic scholar , Mike Heiser. Mike has his Ph.D. in Semitic Languages and writes on a variety of topics at his various blogs. Every Thought Captive is his blog hub.

And it's not really a blog but if you're into good music (and who isn't?), check out Classic Rock Liberation. These podcasts are done by Chris Lopez, who is my wife's sister's best friend's husband... but he's also a pretty good friend of mine as well.

My First Time Voting (in a Voting Booth)

Since the state of Washington has concocted the most anti-climactic way to vote (via mail), this was the first time I've ever gone to vote in a voting booth. What an experience!

The lady behind me was irate (and close to going insane) over how inefficient the voting process was. The guy in front of me was complaining about how voting should never be done in a church and how offended he was by the poster on the wall with pictures Christians helping poor people in Haiti. Once I got into a different line (of which there were many) the guy behind me was raving about how voting "is the least I could do for my country."

The best moment of the day came when a hyperactive little kid made a break for the table on which the "I voted" stickers sat. Upon getting there he grabbed the stickers and chucked the roll in a manner that would put any experienced high school TP'er to shame. Every person in the crowded gym quickly learned this child's name was "PAAAATRIIIIICK JOSHUAAAAAA!!!!!" and a disciplinary swat was administered post haste.

Voting was maddening, fun, intense and generally weird experience. For all you readers in Washington, you don't know what you're missing!

Crossroads Bible Institute

This past week I sat in on a presentation by Dr. David Schuringa of Crossroads Bible Institute. This organization creates and distributes Bible studies for people in prison. Dr. Schuringa started off with some staggering facts:

• There are currently more than 2 million people in United States correctional facilities.
  
• The United States has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
  
• Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States because it is the fastest growing religion in US prisons.

Quite obviously, this means that Christians have a huge mission opportunity right on our proverbial doorstep. The Crossroads Bible Institute believes that every man in prison needs to know that someone cares about them, so it's their mission to connect Christians with prisoners. Here's how the program works:

1. A person in jail hears about the institute. (CBI takes care of that.)
   
2. The student (who is in prison) receives a lesson and mails it to the CBI.
   
3. The CBI mails that lesson to the instructor (AKA you!).
   
4. The instructor corrects the lesson and mails it back, along with an encouraging letter of discipleship.
   
5. The instructor reports the score and evaluation to the CBI.
   
6. When the student completes the course (which is several lessons) he/she receives a certificate of completion.

Sounds pretty great doesn't it? To me there are two statistics that make this organization even more attractive.

1. Eighty percent of prisoners never receive any mail while they are incarcerated.
   
2. Seventy-Five percent of people who were in prison will commit another crime upon their release. However, only 14% will commit another crime if they studied the Word of God during incarceration!

Dr. Schuringa told us of his first visit to a prison. He left with an overwhelming sense that if Jesus were around today he would be hanging around in prisons. I think he hit the nail on the head with that statement. I also think this is the kind of thing Jesus was talking about when he called us to store up treasures in heaven rather than on this earth.
If you want to get involved send an email to mail@crossroadbible.org.