As some of you know, a few months back, I took some of the kids from the student ministry at NCF on an overnight trip to a concert featuring a number of Christian musicians. We had a great time at the concert, and the trip itself was a great time of fellowship and edification.

Like many people who come into contact with musicians, athletes, and other celebrity heroes, some of the kids at the concert (both from my church and others) wanted autographs from tobyMac, Jeremy Camp, and Matthew West. However, instead of signing glossy photos, ticket stubs, CDs, or whatever common things one might get signed, apparently it is somewhat of a custom at Christian events for the artists to sign the person’s Bible.

I had never seen that before, and honestly, it didn’t sit well with me. 

Now, to be clear, I’m not the kind of person who thinks that your personal Bible is a special book that must be kept perfectly pristine. If anything, the best Bible is a well-read one, and use results in wear and tear. The Word of God is inspired and holy, but the physical book you buy from Barnes and Noble isn’t divine. I have no problem writing in a Bible, and have notes all over the text of the Bible that I use to preach and teach from. My main Bible for the first few years of my Christian walk was covered in duct tape, and I only got rid of that when I switched to the ESV in 2004, so for me, it isn’t an issue of presentation or thinking that the book is sacred. And I’m certainly not a goofball who thinks that having tobyMac sign a Bible is a violation of the scripture in Revelation which says adding to scripture is sinful.

That said, I don’t know, maybe I’m just a legalist…but I just don’t like some random person signing the Bible. I’m not dogmatic about it, and I’m not going to scream at someone who gets his or her Bible signed by some Christilebrity. It just seems like there are better items to use for that. Am I the only who thinks this way?

2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV):

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

I am a graduate of Davis College in Johnson City, NY. I earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Bible (while the school was called Practical Bible College) and a Bachelor of Religious Education degree in Theology and Church Ministries. Since graduating in 2005, I have continued to study independently, always seeking to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. In some ways, I have grown more during this period of non-matriculated study than I did in the years I spent in college.

However, like many pastors, I do truly value formal education. I originally planned to attend seminary about a year after I graduated from college, but that plan didn’t mesh up with what God had in store for my family and I.

God has given my wife and I two incredible blessings in the form of our kids, Elijah and Moriah. He has also chosen to use me as a pastor at North Country Fellowship Church, and I currently split my work time between the church and a secular job in the healthcare field.

I still very much want to complete an MDiv, but if I do so, I don’t think it would be possible for me to do so as a full time resident student given my family responsibilities. Also, since God has called me to service at NCF, I doubt I’ll be able to enroll in a regular residential program. As far as I can tell, that leaves the following options:

The first option is to find a commuter program. There are a handful of seminaries within a couple hundred miles of my location. MidAmerica Baptist (Northeast Branch), Nyack, Northeastern, and Rochester Colgate are all here in NY. Baptist Bible Seminary is just over the border in Clarks Summit, PA. Theoretically, I could commute to one of those schools if they had an appropriate commuter study program (such as MidAmerica and Northeastern do). However, depending on the school, I may not be a good cultural or theological fit. Also, with the hazardous travel conditions of our harsh winters and the rising cost of gasoline up here, it may not be feasible.

The second option is a distance-learning program. There are a number of online seminary programs, however many are simply unaccredited degree-mills. Liberty has an online MDiv program that looks interesting, however, Ergun Caner’s rhetoric does bother me, and I am still concerned with the degree being perceived as less quality than a more traditional degree. Regardless, it’s an accessible and affordable option.

The third option is a hybrid program. Bethel and Western both offer InMinistry programs for pastors who are just that: in ministry. Both are ATS accredited, and involve online and in-person coursework, generally completed through on-campus intensives. Western looks especially interesting, as it is missional in its approach, is affiliated with CBAmerica (offering scholarships to CB pastors like myself), and recently graduated one of my heroes, Mark Driscoll, with an MA in Exegetical Theology.

So, the question is, given my circumstances, do I put off (or perhaps never engage in) traditional seminary education, or do I get further equipped by availing myself of some of these atypical options? 

Better yet, does anyone know of a conservative missional seminary campus or extension site opening up in Syracuse in the next few years?

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV):

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

God’s sovereign plan often amazes me, especially when the plans that we make for ourselves are overruled and we are sent on a different path than the one we might choose for ourselves.

After my first year of college, I decided to persue a degree in Theology, and transferred to Davis College.  When I arrived I made a number of new friends, many of who wanted to serve as pastors, missionaries, and in other ministry positions.  Two of the guys who desired to be pastors are still dear friends of mine.  

When I arrived at Davis, I had absolutely no desire to be a pastor.  I wanted to know more about my newfound faith, as I had only been a Christian for a year, but occupational ministry was not on my radar.  I thought it might be good to get an undergrad degree at Davis, and then go on for a masters in counseling or political science, with the goal of serving as a counselor or professor.

During that first (sophomore) year I felt God calling me to the pastorate.  I did a pastoral internship at North Country Fellowship in the summer of 2003, and haven’t looked back.  I’m now serving bi-occupationally as a Pastor/Elder at North Country Fellowship, and would like to go full time at some point in the future, Lord willing.

You know what happened to my two close friends who wanted to be pastors?  One discerned that he wasn’t called to be a pastor, but was called to counsel professionally. He is now working to finish a masters degree in marriage and family therapy.  The other guy is currently serving as a Youth Pastor, but is working on his MDiv, with the ultimate goal of earning a PhD and a professorship.

Funny how we all sort of swapped paths a bit, eh?

My mom always told me so, but I didn’t know it until now!

No, but seriously, I won a contest at the hospital.  They are getting ready to unveil a new Intranet for employees, and needed a good name.  I submitted a few ideas, and as they picked one of mine, I won an 8GB iPod nano (3G).

I’ve been using a 4GB nano (2G) for a while.  I welcome the extra capacity and the video capabilities.  And Diana welcomes having an iPod of her own.  

Sweet!

According to a post on a LGBT site, this is a pregnant man, Thomas Beatie.

Beatie, who was born a woman, chose to undergo medical procedures aimed at changing her gender to male.  Her reproductive organs were not modified when she chose to become he.

I’m almost at a loss for words with this one.  I guess I can make the obvious statement that I don’t think this is “right”, not just from a moral or theological perspective, but even from a secular social and cultural perspective.  

I mean, heck, I struggle to refer to Beatie as a he, simply because he’s a she, and I’m of the (non-religious) opinion that gender isn’t something that can be “reassigned.”  

On the other hand, I do feel badly that these folks feel they are being discriminated against, particularly in regards to medical care.  If indeed this isn’t a hoax, and there is a baby involved, I sincerely hope that appropriate medical care is found.

We’re going to be seeing a lot more of these types of currently-atypical cases in the years to come, and if the only thing we do is condemn people, we’re stupid.  At the same time, one must recognize that this sort of thing is so severely out of the revealed will of God for marriages and family units, that it must be commented on.

So how is the church to respond?  In what ways can we as Christians both love God and love others, in this case?

The folks over at Logos Research Systems recently released an alpha version of the forthcoming Libronix Digital Library for Mac. This is literally the one program I was sad to lose when I made the switch to Mac over a year ago. (I had Parallels, but didn’t use it much.)

Since that time, I literally lost my Logos discs off the back of a truck, during our move from the last apartment we were in to the one we currently occupy. I didn’t have much of a collection; certainly not the Scholars Edition or anything cool like that, but I was sad to see it go.

However, I do still have the free ESV CD that came as an offer with one of my ESV print editions. So, I installed the Alpha, got my licenses plugged into it, and copied the resources over.

I now have a (surprisingly reliable) copy of Libronix running on my Mac with the ESV and KJV, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and a number of other resources. Sweet!

I’ve been using the English Standard Version of the Bible as my standard translation for about four years now. I preach from it, teach from it, do personal study with it, and generally use it for everything. It’s a great translation.

One of the first things I noticed about the early ESV product line in 2004 was the lack of a solid study bible, containing notes and commentary. Over the years, there has been the Reformation Study Bible, as well as a Literary Study Bible, however both of these have a specific audience in mind. I was looking for more of a general purpose study Bible. The ESV site said they had one in mind for long-term planning, but no details were available.

Over time, my personal desire for a Study Bible has lessened, primarily because I’ve found my other tools and scholarly texts to be more useful as study aids than any one condensed study bible could be. However, I do actively teach verse-by-verse studies through the Bible in my church, and more often than not, the folks I teach don’t have the resources or desire to purchase dozens of commentaries and systematic theology volumes.

That brings me to the point of this post. Crossway is about to announce information regarding the release of the ESV Study Bible. This is quite exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with, and have signed up for email news bulletins as info becomes available.

Justin Taylor has confirmed that Wayne Grudem is also the General Editor of the Study Bible. This makes me even more excited. I’ve found Grudem’s Systematic Theology to be immensely helpful, and am sure this study bible will be great for my people.

Okay, so my wife tagged me to do this random things list on my blog.

Once you’ve been ‘tagged’ you have to write a blog of ten weird/random facts/habits/goals about yourself. At the end choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and WHY you chose them.

Here’s my list:

1. I once worked at a public television station. They had employees who dressed up like a purple dinosaur. It was a scary place to work.
2. When I was a teenager, the last thing I wanted to be was a Christian, let alone one of those born again ones. Now I’m a pastor.
3. My regular reading list of periodicals is somewhat eclectic. It includes Your Church, Leadership Journal, Relevant Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Time Magazine, and 2600 (The Hacker Quarterly).
4. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, along with Hyperfocus, which is an autistic-spectrum disorder. Results? I twitch. A lot. And I have a hard time communicating my torrential brainstorms to others in a coherent and useful way.
5. My first job was selling cellular phones and other retail electronics at RadioShack. It was awesome.
6. I love books.
7. I’d like to complete an MDiv degree, and some sort of doctorate as well.
8. I tend to be a cynic and and a grump. Mark Driscoll says that Irish people have two emotions, angry and asleep. I see the truth of that statement evidenced in my own life.
9. I wasn’t a great person before I came to Christ (immediately prior to college). Now, since I’m pastoring in my home town, conversations with old acquaintances are often quite uncomfortable, but I still love having them.
10. Having children of my own has changed my understanding of God the Father in amazing, healing ways.

Now… I’m supposed to tag ten more people. But I’m not going to. I’m just going to tag Calvin, Mandy, and Earl, since they are the only regular readers I have!

I listen to a lot of theological, social, and political commentary on my iPod. One theme I keep hearing, especially among Christian commentators, is that today’s kids aren’t expected to “grow up” the same way they used to be. There are two trends I’ve seen in our culture, or at least highlighted by commentators, but I’ve never seen the two trends discussed together as related topics.

The first tend I keep hearing about is for men to continue being boys even into physical and chronological adulthood. You can blame it on a lack of fathers. You can blame it on video games. You can blame it on poor discipline. Blame it on whatever you want, but we’re being told that more and more twenty-something males are taking on less and less responsibility. We’re told they all stay indoors and play their PlayStation 3’s, watch Family Guy DVDs, and get pizza delivery to their homes (read: mom’s basement) all day.

I don’t know if this is true nationwide or not. I do see a lot of twenty-something’s in my area who are just slackers, but that may just be human nature. When many of my peers, especially those from high school, find out that I’ll be 25 next month, have been married for almost four years, have two kids, and am a bi- (or soon, tri-) vocational pastor, I get the same blank stare I see in the catatonic psychiatric patients in the IMHU at the local hospital. And I’m not an overachiever. Any of you who read this blog and know me personally know that I have a bad tendency to be a slacker.

The second tend I hear about, is for girls to be hyper-sexualized into incredibly young “women.” Now that 8-year olds are buying (they have more money than me?!) makeup, and shopping for bras and thongs at Victoria’s Secret, we have an entire generation of single-digit “women”. Barbie is one thing, but the culture and message presented by the newer doll toys for these kids is amazing. Take a look at the Bratz line, and then tell me Princess Barbie isn’t a wholesome toy for our post-post-post-postmodern (which iteration are we now?) culture. There are one or two little girls in my church who fit into this category. It breaks my heart. They are boy crazy even before puberty, using appearance and flirtation to get attention.

So, combine the two trends together, and what do you get? Start with thirty-year-old women who have been “adult” for twenty years and have the spiritual, emotional, and even physical scars from decades of trying to get male attention. Then add thirty-year-old men who are just waking up from their pre-teen years, who have been emotionally disconnected and disinterested in any meaningful pursuits, except that of spiritual, emotional, and physical pleasure. Mix in a theoretical fifteen-year social development gap, and bake for a year and a half. Recipe yields one nuclear-level relationship meltdown, two people who have significantly different priorities and values fail to integrate into one cohesive unit.

Clearly, there is considerable room for debate in these issues, and some may not even agree with the statement that women are “growing up too quick” and men are “growing up too slow”. However, I think there may be some truth to those statements, and the implications are interesting, and scary.

When I was in Bible College, multiple guys failed out because they were busy playing Halo to go to class, sleep, or eat. Some of those same guys got married to very career- and ministry-oriented women. As with any marriage, as two become one, stress and tension ensued. I don’t know if any of these folks have divorced, but statistics show that the church doesn’t do any better than the world in the realm of marital success, so I am sure the juvenile habits have caused issues in some of those marriages.

Maybe I’m wrong, but if these social trends are true, in a general sense, is it any wonder so many relationships, and marriages in particular, end in failure?

Will the church stand up to redeem and reform the roles of boys and girls, men and women, in culture? (And I’m not even talking about gender roles as it applies to offices in the church, headship, and all the rest, though that may well be the next related topic one would address).

And if all history moves in pendulum swings, from one extreme to another, will my son Elijah, and my daughter Moriah, be part of a more socially conservative generation that will over-stress gender roles to the point of oppression, and become puritanical in regards to entertainment?

I hope not. Redemption is great, but over-reaction may be worse than what we have now.

I’ve registered for the Pastor’s Conference to be held on Tuesday, April 22nd at Davis College. Are any of you planning to attend? I’d love to meet up with old friends, or make some new ones.

I’m especially interested in seeing and interacting with the college’s new president, Dr. Dino Pedrone, who was scheduled as the “guest speaker” before his presidency was announced.