Well, I've been a less motivated to write in this blog since I have heard from several people lately, "I was reading your blog while you were in Africa..." Yeah, yeah, the exciting adventures of a white, suburban pastor in a Pentecostal African church are much more riveting than the mundane adventures I've had since then. But, for the few of you who are still hanging with me during this sabbatical experience, I thought I'd record some of the less-than-thrilling but no less important lessons I'm learning.
Two weeks ago I drove my daughter to her new home in Fort Worth, Texas so she can begin seminary at Brite Divinity School. We drove all day on Sunday to arrive in time for the 5:00 pm service at University Christian Church called The Search. It was an emergent-style worship service with stations for people to explore after the sermon. After the service, Bethany found some other incoming Brite students, so she felt right at home. (She told me that she went back to The Search last Sunday, and she's planning to go again tonight.) As I was driving home after moving her in, I prayed for Beth and all the new students at Brite. Seminary is a place that can often be a trial by fire. In many ways, for me, this worked to my advantage as it burned away the chaff and left me with a strong conviction and identity in ministry. But I have seen other students wilt under the pressure, unsure of what they believe or even if they believe. I praised God that Bethany is already finding a place where she can go for spiritual nourishment, worship and fellowship. It is a strange but true phenomena that many seminary students do not have a church home where they can worship. They have church JOBS, some which are life-giving and some which are not. But if ever a person needed to be grounded in a church, in a community of believers to hold us and remind us who we are and what God has called us to be, it is during this time of intense study and preparation for vocational ministry. Beth, too, is looking for a job to support her financially during her 3-4 years of study. But I'm very encouraged and grateful that she may also have found a church home.
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