I love the possible irony of my previous post about not letting this blog slowly fade into non-existence. I will definitely make a more conscious effort to update it for all my friends and supporters so everyone can be know about the current events of my life and the ministry to which God has called me.
Unlike previous posts this one will not be any sort of wisdom, sermon, or testimony. I wish first to start off with how life is going for me as a seminary student. I'm attending Criswell College in Dallas, Texas where I am pursuing a Masters of Divinity focusing in Pastoral Care and Counseling. This first semester consists of four classes which are New Testament Introduction, Baptist History and Distinctives, Hebrew I, and Human Growth and Development(Counseling class).
Baptist History and Distinctives has been challenging in the sense that studying the history of Baptists is incredibly boring. It's a struggle to see the importance of this class to me as a disciple of Christ and its relevance to my current and future ministry. However, I am beginning to understand. While I do not classify myself as a Baptist as I find my identity in Christ, Biblical doctrine is an important part of being a follow of Jesus. I've learned how there are some serious errant doctrines out there such as those who do not believe in a physical resurrection of Jesus or even the divine nature of His virgin birth. These are some serious doctrinal beliefs that are completely averse to what the Scriptures say. So while I may not enjoy the boring reading, I am becoming stronger in my faith in Christ through sound doctrine.
New Testament Introduction is an interesting class. Our primary goal this semester is to begin to understand the context in which the New Testament is written to the people of that time period. When marriage is discussed in the NT it is not talking about how we view marriage with our dating and engagement period but the arranged marriages that were the process by which one became a husband or wife. This does not mean we should stop dating and start arranging all our marriages; it's just important to understand the meaning the NT authors were conveying to their audience and how it would be received.
Human Growth and Development is one of my favorite classes. Right now, I'm not learning anything exceptionally new to me since I just took a Child Psychology and Adolescent Psychology class last semester. However, we will be moving beyond adolescence soon. What I am learning is some spiritual aspects of psychology that is left out in secular psychology classes. This class is very fun due to my fellow students and professor always having a good attitude during class. We joke around a bit which starts my week off just right since it's a Monday night class.
Hebrew I.....WOW! That is all I can say. I LOVE this class. There is something so exciting, encouraging, and edifying(high five for alliteration) about studying the language that God chose to speak to His chosen people. Imagine for a second that I will eventually be able to read the Old Testament in Hebrew. How awesome will that be?! Currently, I am nowhere near that point. I know my alphabet, articles of speech, some prepositions, and about 80 vocabulary words, but this is only the beginning.
That seems like so much yet there is more to share. Aside from seminary, I work at Ridgeview Ranch Golf Club. I have one of the best part-time jobs. I get to work outside cutting grass at the course where I spend hours of time in solitude listening to Christian rap and hip-hop and praying. There is something so peaceful about sitting on a mower while praying to God. Plus, I get opportunities to talk with golfers about God as well as the people I work with. I got an opportunity to share the Gospel with one of my co-workers. AMEN for that!!! Aside from that my job allows me to play golf for free which lets me relax a little bit from seminary.
As if seminary and a job weren't enough there is still more to share. I have finally been assigned into the ready reserve of the Army. Now I am just waiting to be assigned to a unit so I can start my duties as a chaplain candidate. This will begin the next 3 years that I will spend preparing to be a full chaplain so I will best be able to care for soldiers.
And last, I am a missionary with the American Missionary Fellowship. My focus is one of the projects called Rosemont homes where I am part of our Kids for Christ and Teens for Christ ministry. For Kids for Christ, we go around the neighborhood to pick the kids up and bring them to the activity center. Once there we have a couple songs of worship, play a game or two, have a bible lesson before breaking up into groups to talk more about the lesson, and then take the kids home. With our Teens for Christ, I disciple 4 teen guys(Darrius, Desmond, Victor, and Shabrydrick.) Right now I'm helping ground them in their identity in Christ such as being declared righteous and blameless through Christ, loved, forgiven, having the strength to do all things through Christ, and so much more. In just the past few months I've seen these guys grow so much in their relationship with God. We meet once a week as a group and then I take one of them out each week for some one on one time.
It has been tough moving from Wisconsin to Texas. I miss all my Wisconsin friends from Campus Crusade for Christ. It has been tough finding a new community and building new friendships. God has divinely orchestrated events to provide me just the friend I needed in this time. A friend of mine from high school and I have reconnected. Since high school we both have really started to walk with the Lord. As a result, the Lord brought us together to have a Jonathon-David friendship. We meet up every Friday to spend time in prayer, reading the Word, and encouraging each other. We talk throughout the week, and God has used us to help each other grow closer to God.
So much going on and it probably won't slow down anytime soon. If you'd like to support my ministry, please contact me at steelwolf1988@gmail.com and I will let you know how. I need your prayers and your financial support to continue doing this ministry. Here's some of my praises and prayer requests:
1) Praise God for re-connecting with my Ryan from high school.
2) Praise God for finding a church
3) Praise God for seeing some early fruits of the labors in my ministry
4) Pray to raise the financial support needed to continue attending seminary and move to downtown Dallas
5) Pray for finding a mentor.
6) Pray for diligence to study and complete assignments for my classes
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