So I finished my first year of Seminary, exciting stuff, I am pretty sure my GPA is less than stellar. I know that may have repercussions if and when I decide I want to be a doctor but I was really just happy to get out with my head still intact. I have some great tools to use when creating sermons, I have made some good friends in class, I have also learned that I am not the smartest guy in the room sometimes. I haven't been one to try to aim for straight A's but getting pretty high marks in my first Master's degree made me think Seminary would be pretty easy.......-_-......not so much. There is always next year, but I learned a lot about myself, mainly that I have a lot to learn about myself and what I truly believe theologically. Now I have to catch up on the reading I wanted to do 'for fun.' I have a book on preaching I want to read, another one on revitalizing churches in decline, another on prayer, and 6 on the Kingdom of God, I guess I better get started. 

So I got my first real live Jesus chain letter. It came with a Jesus prayer rug on it and instructions on how to pass the prophecy on. I wasn't supposed to open it unless I was serious about the prophecy. The "prayer rug" was made of paper and had was about the size of an unfolded napkin. It had a picture of Jesus on it with His eyes closed and I was supposed to pray until His eyes began to open. -_-

What part of the game is this? Pray until His eyes open? Jesus chain letters!?!? People are taking this way out of hand. I first get a little frustrated as their is so much talent at SMU that doesn't have a church appointment, and then there is this foolishness running free without restrictions.Not that it is the fault of the denomination but I just see people doing such foolishness in the name of the Lord and and it gets frustrating. Somebody somewhere took that crap seriously and is following the instructions to the tee, looking for some sort of breakthrough in their life. There is more work to be done.

I've been working on my next sermon and the title will be God is Love part of me thinks that is "low hanging fruit" but part of me is looking for the challenge of bringing something new and fresh to the message (at least something new and fresh to me). I am preaching from 1 John 5:7-21, so I know I can talk about showing love instead of just saying it. I know that I can end with Jesus committing the ultimate act of love by dying on the cross for us. I also see some room in there for 1 Corinthians 13, and a description of the different Greek words for love, agape, phileo, etc, but my issue is EVERYBODY already preaches on those things when speaking on love. I am following the lectionary for the time being and I don't really want to preach on the other 3 scriptures offered for this week. The good thing is i still have time to hash this out.

So the semester is coming to an end for me, my head is bloodied but unbowed by the expectations of graduate level coursework. I was so used to getting by on the strength of my ideas that I did not care much for presentation. My idea are not tested in Seminary, but the presentation, and the coursework and research that I used to come to the conclusion are tested.

The church, Haven Chapel UMC is growing, so is the pastor ;-). I haven't started canvassing the community yet but that will happen as soon as I finish this semester. I am also waiting until we at least meet more than once a month. Which will happen in 2 months. My time at WVUMC seems to be coming to an end so I will have time to reach out to the community in West & East Columbia starting in May. Preparation and ground work will be my friends in this upcoming season of my life.

So I need to loose about 35-40 pounds as soon as possible. I have started drinking more water, getting some more rest, eating less double quarter pounders with cheese (lord help me that will be hard) and eating more fruits and vegetables. There is a gym in my apartment complex but I haven't been to it yet. I have also started doing push ups and sit ups during the commercial breaks of tv shows. Why? because I want to be around to see my son and daughter on the way grow up. I don't want to miss the major events of their lives and and I don't want to be winded walking up a flight of stairs. Plus being a pastor is supposedly a strain on your health so I don't want to be unhealthy in an unhealthy profession. Well see where this goes.

Back to School

Getting prepared to start my second semester of seminary. I plan to do a lot better than I did last semester. Last semester was an assault on my use (or miss use) of grammar and syntax. Last semester showed me that even though I have been able to will my way through a lot of things I must put in the work to accomplish earning an Mdiv. I cannot wait to get back in the stride of things.