From here to there – Part II

So, when Kim asked where I would like to go to seminary if I had my choice, I knew immediately: Denver Seminary.

Denver has a long history with my Conservative Baptist Association of America. (The full story can be found here.) Located in Littleton, CO, it is the Alma Mater of my close friend and elder, Mark Marchak. It also has a pedigree with which I was familiar. Books by people like Bruce Shelley, Bruce Demerest & Gordon Lewis already were on my shelf. These were some of the founding thinkers at Denver. Of the current crop of teachers, I am familiar with the works of people like Blomberg & Groothius. So there were a number of connections which drew me initially to Denver.

We looked at Denver's web site and found that they had a Preview Day coming up (October 2006). I registered for a full day worth of classes and we packed up the family for a weekend jaunt to sunny Littleton.

Here was the interesting thing: Kim was finishing a degree at NYU in Media and Religious Studies. It had been an area of interest to her for a while and she had presented on the topic of digital media in the Christian church at a conference in Finland. One of the keynote speakers at this conference was a teacher and director of a think tank called The Center for Media and Religious Studies, Dr. Stewart Hoover. His Center is located at the University of Colorado at Boulder, about 45 minutes from Denver Seminary. Kim figured, "Hey, we're gonna be out here, why not get a Masters Degree in a field I care about with some of the premier thinkers in this area?" So as I went to class, Kim would travel to UC-B to see about a Masters degree.

First, Denver's campus is beautiful. Only one classroom building which also has the chapel. But the Rockies, in their full "purple mountains majesty", spread out behind the campus as the most glorious backdrop, with a couple of miles of aspen trees (at this time in their autumnal yellow) between you and the mountains. The air was dry which made the upper-80s day comfortable, especially with the slight breeze that was blowing.

I had a great day of classes and spoke with each of the professors. Some of the classes were large (my first one had more than 100 students, easily), while others were much more intimate (10-15). The facility was nice with a Wi-Fi system in place. And everyone had a laptop. Everyone. (Sidenote: I will not be taking my laptop to class. If I do, I'll end up watching Red Sox games during class or some other stupid thing. Sadly, I know how fickle I am.)

But at the end of my day, Kim picked me up from the campus (we were staying at a near-by hotel), and shared with me a most interesting thing that the head of the graduate department at UC-B said to her.

More later. J

The end of an era

Today is my last day of work. After 5 years, I am leaving my job at MMC. I've been training my replacements for the past month or so and I have to say that the process has been good.

One of my bosses said this morning, "Well, we'll be having pizza today in celebration...er, honor of your leaving." It is a fine line between the two, I guess. But that also shows the type of people that I have been working with. Great folks with a sense of humor.

I have truly been blessed to be a part of this crowd and I have had a number of great times here. I administered (successfully, for the most part) a database with more than 10,000 records in it. Designed two intranet sites from scratch, which look awesome, if I do say so myself. Lots of unique graphics and functionality. Hardly cookie-cutter. I've trained, groomed, and been a part of a great (if dramatically underfunded and understaffed) division.

But, today is the "first day of the rest of my life," as they say. And ya gotta love what is on the horizon.

Pack and go

We are nearing the end of our packing. It had been a lot of work (mostly done by Kim as I kept RJ occupied), but we are down to the last parts. These are also the hardest parts. Lots of little things that break easily and lots of heavy books. A number of people have come over to help pack books and some have committed to helping us move on Monday, which of course is really great. I have three people scheduled for Monday. Another two and we will be golden. Somehow we will get it all in our new apartment.

I have been mapping the route to Littleton, CO, and it should take about 3 days total to get there. The final day is only a two-three hour drive, so there will be plenty of time to unload once we arrive. Since we are only taking so much, it should not take long to get the truck unpacked. I'll put up posts on the road as far as where I am and what is going on. This will also be a good way for me to schedule regular stops…and, of course, the daily nap which will keep me going.

But stay tuned! Next stop: Allentown, PA!! Home of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, the PP&L Building and Mom!

Agnus Dei

For those who may be wondering what I was listening to as I was working on this past sermon, this piece of music was very influential in my thinking, especially in the final section regarding "How We Get Back". It is so simple, just three or four lines of lyric, but so profound. And beautiful. What I think I like about this particular version is the audience singing for five minutes or so. Just amazing.

From here to there...(Part 1)

For the next couple of posts, I'm going to tell the story of how Kim and I (and Robert Joseph) ended up going to Colorado for school. So sit back, relax, put your feet up and enjoy the lovely tunes of the troubadour.

The story starts, as all stories do, at the beginning. I had wanted to go to seminary for a while, but looked at my options in New York since Kim and I had just gotten married and recently bought a home. Of course, there was one thing standnig in the way of me getting a graduate degree: the fact that I never got my undergrad degree.

I had left Hofstra University in 1995 because of a lack of funds, mostly as a result of my own laziness and foolishness. The sad part was that I was only 6 credits short. Two classes. Yep: two...But the time had come for me to finish my degree. So, off to Hofstra I went and in the Spring of 2006, 16 years after I started, I finally graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre, with a focus on Performing.

Kim had begun asking me where I wanted to go to seminary because she knew the direction I had decided for my life, one of the pastorate. After looking at the skills and gifts that God had given me, I had decided that the best way to use them was in full-time practice of preaching and teaching. So I looked at what was in the New York area.

Alliance Theological Seminary had some good things going for it. Ravi Zacharias, one of my favorite teachers, had been a professor there for a while. The main school was relatively close. And they had a satellite campus in the Empire State Building.

Bethel Seminary seemed interesting, but nothing ever really developed with that.

Union Theological Seminary was not an option, even though it is a mile from our house. Way too liberal. Which is a shame because some great people of the faith have attended there, Bonhoeffer being one.

And then, about a year and a half ago, Kim asked me, "If you could go to seminary anywhere, where would you go?"

We'll end our story there for today.

Sometimes, you just gotta trust

I have to say that the response to yesterday's sermon, "I Would Like To Apologize", has been pretty special. For those that were not there, I had an opportunity to preach on one of my favorite verses, 1 Peter 3:15-16. If possible, I'll put up the mp3 when I get it.

The sermon focused on the need for a Christian to have a proper apologetic and the fact that the moden church has moved from focusing on the truth of who Jesus is to the experience of God. I have more to say on the topic of experiencing God, specifically the Henry Blackaby material of the same name, but I will hold off on that for now.

I was nervous about this sermon, as can happen when you are speaking about something so personal. On Saturday, I removed about two pages of material from the sermon and on Sunday morning I did some editing on the fly as I was preaching. (As Mark Marchak has said to me a number of times regarding sermon preparation, "Edit mercilessly.") The danger was to overstate and I wanted to avoid that. And I have seen how the Spirit works when I am preaching and some of my most memorable statements have come "off the cuff", so I wanted to leave room for that to happen.

But I knew that this sermon was going to hit in a personal way with a number of congregants. I knew that it was going to be a hard pill to swallow for a number of people and that can be a frightening thing to speak about sometimes. I'm human and I want to be liked. And I also don't enjoy making people upset or bothered. I know what I am commanded to do through the scriptures, but that doesn't always make the task easy. And yesterday was an example of that.

Plus, it was an exhausting sermon. Both times. (On a funny note, I fell asleep inbetween services and didn't wake up until the opening hymn for the second service.)

I offered a challenge to the congregation that I could be wrong in the things that I was saying on Sunday morning, and that I would give my sermon notes to whomever wanted them for a price: they had to read them and they had to come to me with any questions/ corrections. About 7 people asked for them at the door to the sanctuary when they were leaving and I have sent them my notes. I am looking forward to their thoughts and ideas.

If you would be interested in my sermon notes, please send me an email or leave a comment in the comment a section.