If you missed the first installment of “Notes from the Ph.D.” (and if you care about these very technical and academic posts), you might want to go back and read the introduction so you know the guidelines I’m using as I share some of what I’m learning. Most importantly, I want to make sure that … More Notes from the Ph.D. (2)
Yesterday afternoon former USC running back and 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush took the unprecedented step of forfeiting the award for the best college football player of the season and returning the trophy to the Heisman Trust. I can still picture some of his spell-binding runs during that captivating year that culminated in the … More Kind-of Confessions
On Saturday morning 61 students from Boyce College headed out to the Jefferson Street Baptist Center in downtown Louisville to engage the homeless, serve the center, and learn more of the gospel. This homeless shelter has roots reaching back to 1888 and the post-conversion ministry of former riverboat gambler Steve Holcombe. It’s now run by a Southern Seminary … More Homeless, Human, and the Breaking of the Dawn
I’ve been deliberating about how to share the twists and turns of my Ph.D. journey without turning this site into an academic center. One of my solutions is to regularly share collections of notes, snippets, and observations from my seminars and studies. If an experience prompts more full-orbed reflection, so be it. But most often I will simply … More Notes from the Ph.D. (1)
How do the people of God gather to worship? At the building, with the church. We don’t gather at the church, because the church is not a location. We don’t meet in the church, because the church is not a building. We meet at a building (or a home or a park or a cave), with the church. … More At the Building, With the Church
My Good Friend, At many points in our academic journey together, we will meet surprises, obstacles, setbacks, and disappointments. Some will be merely annoying. Others will be devastating. We will be overwhelmed, overworked, and overworried. We will theorize about “balancing life” and will do our best, but such balance will remain an ideal, a mystery, … More See You at the Top
My semester class schedule is now finalized. I’ve already completed the initial online course consisting of nine brief online lectures introducing us to the Southern Baptist Convention and its main funding mechanism, the Cooperative Program. On Thursday I completed the helpful Graduate Research Seminar, the introductory course for all doctoral and Th.M. students which centers on research and writing. And Friday, … More The Classroom and the Crucible
Once again I sit upstairs beneath the vaulted ceilings of the Honeycutt Center on the campus of Southern Seminary. The room is still a bit warm from the day’s heat, the lounge has mostly emptied, and the friendly cleaning guy is bellowing hello to the few remaining students as he cleans tables and empties trash cans. For the past … More Full of Blessing
I’m sitting in the sprawling Honeycutt Center on the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s around 11:30pm Eastern Time, the majestic campus has been hushed by nightfall, and the crickets have picked up where the cicadas left off. This is my first post from “Loua-vull,” and if this new Ph.D. program … More New Kid on the Block
Three weeks ago, we were packing up the last of our belongings, saying final goodbyes to friends and co-workers and church family, madly finishing up projects to prepare for the new Dean, and preparing for our cross-country move into the next season of our lives. Three weeks from now, I’ll be exploring a brand new … More The Incredible Journey
Like some of you, I watched the United States’ national soccer team on its hair-raising journey into the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2010 World Cup. By allowing opponents to score within the first ten minutes of every game, the team ensured a tournament journey filled with tension and drama. Yet by producing comeback after comeback, … More The World Cup and the Wonder of Humanity
A couple months ago I was informally asked to give my thoughts on how seminary professors can train their seminary students to lead in areas that are theologically and practically important for women. In other words, how can (male) pastors learn how to better shepherd the women in their congregations and to provide healthy and relevant guidance to their … More Training Young Pastors to Shepherd Women
There are some things you just never dream of doing. There are other things that you’ll only do if opportunity beats down your door with a sledgehammer. And sometimes both kinds of things hit you all at once. So what happens when you combine the cost of living in Southern California, the upcoming bill for a … More Gunner at GAP
When the Lord began directing us to Louisville and Southern Seminary, there was a hint of Abrahamic calling involved. Only one aspect of the call was clear — the call to study. We didn’t know where we would live, where I would work, how much I would make, who our friends would be, or what local … More A New Job
Today we began our last thirty days in Southern California — our last month at The Master’s College, Student Life, Placerita Baptist Church, and Oak Manor. My last day of work is July 1, and the big truck will be pulling out of the lot that same weekend, destined for Louisville, Southern Seminary, and the beginning of the … More The Hills Are Beautiful
“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” — Proverbs 11:28 Very few well-taught believers would admit that we trust in our possessions, even in the prosperous West. We have money, but we don’t love money. We use our possessions, but we don’t worship our possessions. We … More Trusting in Our Riches
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