It is FINISHED: Reflections on Seminary

Well, my time as a student here at Talbot Seminary has come to an end. I just walked out of my last class. In a couple days, I'll be awarded my Masters of Divinity degree. It's been a long journey since 2004. Many people can't wait to get out of "Cemetary" (uh, you mean, seminary?). I, on the other hand, have honestly loved every semester of it.

I figure I reflect on what I've gained from my time here.
"The unexamined life is not worth living", says Socrates.
"The unexamined degree, is not worth learning" says Gregorius Claudius I.

Of the bazillion useful things I've learned, I'll share with you 10. Here are my reflections:


1. Context, Context, Context: Don't read anything from God's word in isolation, it can ruin your life. Here's a modern day illustration:

I received a text on my phone from Monica after mom got into a car accident. It read:
"bones broken."
I started freaking out... after I gained consciousness from fainting, I later found out that it was the second part of another text that read:
"We are at the hospital now. The doctor took x-rays. Praise the Lord! Tell Ed that the doctor says everything is fine and there aren't any..."

(Dr. Russel, Hermeneutics)

2. Greek is awesome. It seriously adds color to black and white. However, Greek is like underwear: It's great support, but you shouldn't flaunt it. I personally seem to always have a wedgy... I don't feel totally comfortable with it. However, it does me well not to go "commando" when preparing a sermon. Brothers, 'nahm sayin?! (Staff, Greek I, II, Exegesis)

3. Church is family. Literally. It's not just a cute metaphor. We're supposed to view fellow believers as if they were part of our own household. Implications are heavy. (Dr. Hellerman, Exegesis of the Gospels)

4. God still speaks. We just need to listen. He's not deaf, nor dumb. We need to Practice the presence of God. (Staff, Spiritual Formation)

5. Good Idea: "I see Jesus in the Word" :)

Bad Idea: Eisegesis of the Word :(

Eisegesis (pronounced "i-see-jesis") is reading your own situation into the Word of God. The Word was written for us, but it wasn't written to us. (Dr. Russel, Hermeneutics)

So stop Eisegetin'! or Eiseebeatin' in your future.

6. People have different learning languages. Learn your audience, and teach them accordingly. The Word of God is like potatoes. Old people need them mashed, some like them baked, teens need them French Fried, kids need them as tater tots. It's all potatoes. Give it to them in a way they can digest it. (Dr. Kim, Christian Education; Dr. Holoman, Theology I)

7. Praying to God isn't about getting what we want. Prayer is about wanting what we get.
Our prayer life will be powerful once we start conforming our will to the Father's and stop trying to form his according to ours. (Dr. Holoman, Theology and Prayer)

8. In preaching, restate important points three times. When you give a sermon, repeat key ideas in multiple ways. In delivering your messages, reemphasize what you want your audience to remember. (Dr. Sunukjian, Expository Preaching)

Did it work?

9. God has gifted all believers. Don't worry and don't be jealous if another person has greater gifts than you. God has given some 10 talents, others 5 talents, and yet others, 1 talent. It's not about how much you're able to accomplish for God's kingdom... it's about how faithful you are with what you've been given. (Dr. Hutchison, Life of Christ)

10. I don't have to apologize to anyone for who I am. I am who God has made me. I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Dr. Martinez, Evangelism and Cross Cultural Ministry)


So... I'm going to receive my Masters of Divinity degree. Sounds pretty holy if you ask me. But one of my profs keeps me sober. He said to us one day,

"When you graduate after 3 or 4 years of studying theology, do you REALLY think that you're going to be a Master of Theology? Do you REALLY think that you're going to master the study of God? PUH-LEEEEZE! You will hardly be a master of Divine things. I seriously doubt that God will be looking down from Heaven thinking, 'Oh, my wonderful Master of Divinity. How I am so well please with how much you know!' Please. God cares much more about what you do with it. How will you take what you've learned, and how will you teach people to love God more?"

Dear Father, my Lord and my Master, thank you for filling me with a deeper and fuller understanding of who You are and your wild love for me. Help me now to help others fall more in love with Jesus, with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

At the Master's Service,

greg

UPDATE II: Pumpkin in the Yard

I think I'll just keep you guys posted here, since I'm telling the same story over and over (thanks for all the phone calls, prayers, emails, im's and texts!! Seriously lots of love).

So I went with Monica to see my Pumpkin in the tow yard today. TOTALLY nervous. We were saying it felt like going to the hospital to see our baby for the first time. We had no idea what to expect and what we'd see.

They allowed me to go in by myself. I was shocked at what I found.

They took EVERYTHING:
- Brand new Ipod (gift from Monica. doh.)
- Brand new camera (gift from Monica's Mom. DOH!!)
- Snowboard Roof Rack
- GPS Navigation (worth $500!)
- Two backseats
- New Longboard (my mid-life crisis remedy)
- Broadview Mirror. (Not to look at myself, but the road behind me. Well, ok. both.)
- baller Sunglasses
- Cross hanging on my mirror. CROSS HANGING ON MY MIRROR!!!
- Bible. BIBLE!!! Pray that they read it.
- Jumper cables
- Wong Lee Hom CD album
- all 65+ cds
- hand sanitizer. you'll need them fellas. there's dirt on your hands.
- surf magazines
- coins. Come on, guys.
- sandals
- pens and pencils.
- and yes, they took my BUBBLE GUM. That's low.

Crazy thing is, they cleared out my car and made room for all their stuff. I found crates of electronics:
- DVD players
- Mini TV's
- receivers
- cable box
- Flashdrives
- Portable Harddrives
- tons of tools, like saws, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.
- antique spoons and forks (I immediately thought about my favorite movie, Home Alone.)
- A clove of Marijuana
- antique rings

A good trade? Probably not. I want my stuff back.

But then again. That's what it all is. Stuff.

1 Peter 1:24-25 "The grass withers and the flowers fall,but the word of the Lord stands forever."

UPDATE: The Lord Taketh away, and the Lord giveth back!

Hey all! I JUST got a call from Long Beach Police Department. They found my car!!! It's in the Long Beach tow yard.

I don't know what to expect. I hope everything that was in it (digital camera, ipod, gps, longboard, and bubble gum) is still there! Thanks for those of you who were praying for me and calling me to see how everything is.

I love you like a fat kid loves cake.

Dude, where's my car?

Last night, after coming home from Cindy and Jason's wedding, Corrine sent us a picture she took of me and Monica. I opened it and was very well pleased. I literally sat there for nearly five minutes staring at the picture and thinking to myself, "I LOVE my baby!" After 6 years, I'm still in love.

And then I thought, "Oh yeah, I love my Baby Evan too!"

And then I thought, "Oh yeah, and my baby Monica. I love her too."

I was staring at my Pumpkin, my Sunset Orange Pearl Honda Element that I've come to love more and more as each year goes by.

This morning, we were going to church- I had a sermon to give for our English Service. I got to our parking space, and I stood there, scratching my head. "Dude, where's my car?" I stood there utterly confused, trying to rerun everything that happened the night before at the wedding. I didn't drink... did I? I'm pretty sure I didn't.

Long story short. My car got stolen. Pumpkin-no-more. Jacked-O-Lantern.

It's suiting that I was prepared to go and preach about how Jesus tells us in Matthew not to worry about anything, but to make His Kingdom and His righteousness our priority in life (Mt. 6). Jesus teaches not to worry about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. I don't think we're supposed to worry about what to drive either.

I'm glad I know the Lord. I'm glad I have the hope of eternity.
Otherwise, I have no idea what I would do with myself right now.

Blessed be the name of the Lord!



"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'... your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:31-33

NOTE TO SELF: Stop the Hypocrisy!

Dear Greg,

I've been convicted regarding the issue of Hypocrisy. Well, fine. I've been convicted of hypocrisy.

But it just feels so good, doesn't it? I mean, who cares if you'll be counted last... you can worry about that later. But for now, you'll be first in everyone's eyes. All the glory, all the attention! It's all you boy.

So anyway, here's what you gotta keep doing to make people think you're all spiritual and stuff.

1. When praying in a group, make sure you recite what you're gonna say in your head first. Don't even listen to what other people are praying... how you say your prayer is more important. You want to make sure your prayer sounds all flowery and filled with Christianese jargon. Then people will say, "Wow, he's so holy! He must talk to God like that all the time!"

2. When you're worshiping, make it look like you're all into it even when you're not. If you're sleepy or distracted by random thoughts, you can always close your eyes and have that constipated look on your face. People will really think you're so in love with God!

3. If everyone's standing during worship, sit down. If everyone's sitting down, stand up. Trust me, it'll make you stand out.

4. When you know that there's gonna be some testimony time, like sharing around the campfire at retreats, make sure you do extra good deeds for people and act more holy than usual so that you'll get your name mentioned in front of everyone. The more people who mention you, the better.

5. When you're on a streak and doing more quiet times than usual, make it a point that people know about it. Be subtle. You can say things like "When I was reading my Bible early this morning...", or "You know, Jesus says in Matthew 8 that..." People will think you ALWAYS read the Bible!

6. Make sure everyone at church knows about all the ministry opportunities you get. It'll make you seem like you're in demand, and then MORE opportunities will be coming your way!

7. Keep yourself really busy with lots of ministry. Even though it's not true AT ALL, it'll make you feel like you're important because you're doing all these "important" things for God. Then you can complain and say to people "Man, I have SO much stuff I need to do- Small groups, bible study, so and so wants to talk to me about stuff..." and so on. People always think that the more you do, the holier you are. Actually, they don't. Keep thinking it though.

8. Exaggerate. Exaggerating a little bit won't hurt. In fact, it'll make you seem so much more than you are. If one person compliments you, you can say to other people, "A few people have told me that I..." And if a couple people compliment you, you can say things like, "All these people say" or "SO many people think I'm..." They'll never know how many people actually said those things.

So anyway, keep it up. Keep running for first. Sure Jesus says, the first will be last, and the last will be first. But what does that mean anyway?

Insincerely,

Greg

Wow... TOUCHING video

I found this video online. I can't believe I cried watching it!! I feel like a girl... Hope you guys will be moved watching this. I sure was.

Myth Busters: Accepting Christ will save you

I have seen many friends “accept Christ as their Lord and Savior”. What does that mean?!? Everyone in the U.S. accepts Obama as President... what does that mean? 5 bucks to anyone who can show me that the Bible says we're saved by "accepting Christ".

I have seen youth raise their hands at praise rallies. I have seen people go down onto the field at Gospel Crusades. I have seen friends come forward at retreats.

I have seen many of the same people walk away from faith and into the ways of the world.

In Joshua 24, the book closes with this intense scene where Joshua’s giving one last speech to the people before he passes on. The scene kind of reminds me of a rally or a some kind of revival meeting. After reminding them of all the crazy things God has done for them in their past, Joshua peforms an altar call: "Now choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... as for me and my household we will serve the LORD."

4x the Israelites raise their hands and cry out: "We will serve the LORD! We choose God!"
Joshua, not too concerned about numbers, pushes back at them and says: 'You can't serve God. He's too holy!"
Yet they insist: "We will serve the LORD!"

One generation later, the Bible says that after Joshua died, "Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals" (Judges 2:11).

It's tragic when we make Christianity merely about "praying the sinner's prayer" or coming forward at a gospel meeting. Seriously, thank God if you were one who made a decision to follow Christ in such a way... I hope you're still pursuing Christ faithfully . But it's a tragedy when we fatally mislead people by telling them that all you have to do is say a prayer and "accept Jesus into your heart", and Wha-La! You're saved!

Being a Christian isn't a one-time commitment. It's a FULL-TIME commitment. Some reading this right now want to stone me because "It's by faith we are saved, and faith alone!"

Amen to that.

But faith isn't demonstrated in an instance in time. It's demonstrated by a life-time of commitment.

Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross DAILY, and follow me." (Luke 9:23). I don't seem to ever recall Jesus calling for passive acceptance... I hear Jesus calling for active obedience, intentional discipleship, and persistent committment driven by faith.

I like Hebrews 4:13. Check it out: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

In the same way, I want to challenge you, as long as it is called "Today", to face up to Joshua's challenge each day you wake up in the morning: "Choose this day whom you will serve."

Each day, choose him, and chase after him. Pursue Him, because he has pursued you. Then pick up your cross, and follow him... by faith.