i would like to go to seminary
Thursday, August 28

long before i was born, my parents met in seminary.

from my childhood YG, 4 of my friends, those clowns i came to church dressed in bball clothes with, guys i farted with to disrupt bible study, 4 are going to seminary.

while in college, several from my church attended seminary.

after graduating, several close friends departed for seminary.

now, while i am in the midst of medical school, several more friends are beginning seminary.

i confess: i'm jealous.

i was told by the YG pastor here when i first started, 3 yrs ago (JH, i will never forget these words) that youth will never remember sermons or bible studies ten years from now. however, they WILL remember who WE (YG pastor, teachers) are, our lives, our character (scary), and how we interact with them. how CHRIST lives in us. (completely true. i don't remember a single sermon or bible study from my youth)

i don't need seminary for THAT. it is not essential to ministry, true.

i know greek and hebrew won't radically change what i'm doing in terms of ministry. but it will help ME in my personal understanding of God and His relationship with people.

indirectly, that will also help what i do in living this life. theoretically, no one needs seminary. it's all in the bible, right? but practically, seminary is going to help a lot in my life, and in ministry. (after it hurts a lot, and drains one spiritually. HAHAHA ....or so everyone says)

the thing is, when some pastors preach, something in me jumps with sudden understanding, and i KNOW that i would not have understood that in my current way of studying the bible. i don't want to be solely dependent on these great speakers to feed me every time. i enjoy that, of course, but i need to learn to feed myself, as well.

when reading the bible, there comes a point when i become self-satisfied, when i think, yes, i've heard nearly every possible sermon on this passage (how arrogant...). i think that i underSTAND this passage (again, how arrogant) and my mind may glaze over, even as i study that passage.

i don't want my mind to glaze over, ever. i don't want to ever falsely think that i "know" this book, the Word of God.

time and time again, when that feeling creeps in, i hear a sermon, or someone shares something with me, and the bible becomes alive, breathing, speaking, to me again.

even as it humbles/rocks me, it's also exhilarating, that there is that depth that i have never touched before.

if this bible becomes silent to me, it's not because it is dead, or because it doesn't speak. it's because my mind/soul/heart has failed to delve deeper.

yakob at 1:58 AM

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