It's official. I am applying to Duke Divinity School in an effort to earn my Master of Divinity degree. I arranged for an official campus visit yesterday.
And I'm also applying to Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. My buddy Dave is set to finish up in May, and I'm at least familiar with the dormitory setup :)
My decision to pursue such a thing was empowered by the Spirit. It would be blasphemous to suggest otherwise. I wasn't even seriously considering seminary at this time last year. I spent 2011 searching for a professional direction. I would bring up a lot of possible directions to my friends and cohorts, but they never got off the ground.
God is awesome. He moves in mysterious ways. He made me to do this ministry thing in some sort or fashion when He created me 28 years ago. I believe He did. Heck, he called me to ministry in a bar, for crying out loud.
I know that there are challenges ahead for me. I refused to consider private schools in my previous graduate school forays for financial reasons, so how am I going to pay? Will I even get into any seminary given my past? Will I even be a credible minister given my unique personality and interests???
I don't care about that right now. I'm just going to go for it.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a mandatory tool that one must master as a follower of Jesus Christ.
The ENTIRE message of the Gospel is centered around forgiveness. Jesus forgave your sins, no matter how numerous or vicious those sins were. Once you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and recieve His gift of everlasting life, you are called to forgive others for whatever wrongs they committed against you. Some people pick up this trait pretty easily. Others have to learn how to forgive.
Unfortunately, I stand in the latter.
I've been accused of being grumpy and/or negative on occasion. These observations have been made by Facebook observers since I've been freed.
You can tag that flaw on my struggles with forgiveness. I admit it....I struggled with forgiving Methodist University for their failure to provide me with any legit connections for employment, devising a poor academic advisement system, or failing to have a respectable guy to girl ratio.
I've had to forgive my parents (mostly my mother) for trying too hard to protect me at crucial times in my life.I had to forgive the socio-environment of Eastern North Carolina for failing to provide me with some of the tools that would be essential to survive in academia and the real world. Most of all, I had to forgive myself for being lazy, choosing the wrong schools, feeling inadequate in my efforts to reach certain subcultures for Jesus Christ, for being ridiculously passive in the face of opportunity, and for my lackluster academic performance in college.
But Jesus forgave me for my many sins, and He's reminding me that I need to forgive myself and others.
Adieu.
The ENTIRE message of the Gospel is centered around forgiveness. Jesus forgave your sins, no matter how numerous or vicious those sins were. Once you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and recieve His gift of everlasting life, you are called to forgive others for whatever wrongs they committed against you. Some people pick up this trait pretty easily. Others have to learn how to forgive.
Unfortunately, I stand in the latter.
I've been accused of being grumpy and/or negative on occasion. These observations have been made by Facebook observers since I've been freed.
You can tag that flaw on my struggles with forgiveness. I admit it....I struggled with forgiving Methodist University for their failure to provide me with any legit connections for employment, devising a poor academic advisement system, or failing to have a respectable guy to girl ratio.
I've had to forgive my parents (mostly my mother) for trying too hard to protect me at crucial times in my life.I had to forgive the socio-environment of Eastern North Carolina for failing to provide me with some of the tools that would be essential to survive in academia and the real world. Most of all, I had to forgive myself for being lazy, choosing the wrong schools, feeling inadequate in my efforts to reach certain subcultures for Jesus Christ, for being ridiculously passive in the face of opportunity, and for my lackluster academic performance in college.
But Jesus forgave me for my many sins, and He's reminding me that I need to forgive myself and others.
Adieu.
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