Fast Cars and Seminary?

I took this picture by our Fuller Seminary Northern California Menlo Park Campus. I have no idea who's car that is but I am pretty sure its not one of our students! Talking with out Student Services Coordinator in Sacramento the other day, I recalled while in Bible College the Dean of Students thought our dorm building needed some artwork. They had come across a picture of a huge mansion at the top of a long driveway that had a long row of open garage doors. Each garage door had its own sports car or expensive SUV. The caption at the bottom simply read: "Justification for Higher Education".

In a building full of young idealist future pastors and missionaries you can imagine that this poster did not go over well!

The reality is that no one attends Bible College or Seminary to become rich - its certainly atypical and some would say hypocritical to do so. Its and investment in the development of your skills specifically in the areas of understanding what God is saying through his Word, how that has played out through the history of the Church, what God is up to in culture and what He uniquely desires you to do about that. Its the development of skills that help people think theologically deep about what God is up to in this world.

But like one of my lead board members at a church I once pastored liked to say, "The pay's not so great, but the retirement plan is out of this world."

Blessing on your pursuit to follow God's will in your life.

Students Shaping Each Other's Ministry

For many, Introduction to Preaching is an intimidating class since it involves delivering sermons to fellow students! This is one of three preaching groups at Fuller in Sacramento this past spring on the last night of class, and they were happy to get to the end with their sanity intact! Actually, like many challenges in life, once your are prepared for and get to work on them, they are not as bad as first feared. In this class, because pretty much everyone is in the same position, students cheer each other on and provide a very positive and supportive atmosphere. Typically their is significant growth by just the second sermon and students take every chance to celebrate together. Preaching classes are among my favorite to work with.