Semester Retrospective Spring 2007 - Your Opinion Needed

We're all frantic about finishing the papers and preparing for finals. Here's your chance to slow down and reflect on what God has been doing this semester in your life.

Said at Southern is taking open nomination for our first ever “Semester Retrospective." Please leave your nominations in the comments. Multiple nominations are ok. We'll need everyone's help to get a decent run of comments on this - I'm even granting a temporary indulgence of the weird blogger word verification, so comments will be easier!

1. Professor: Who was your favorite professor this semester? Only nominate professors you actually had this Semester.
   
   
2. Chapel: What was your favorite SBTS chapel message this semester?
   
   
3. Buzz: What created the loudest buzz this semester? This can be a theological topic or an event.
   
   
4. Epiphany: What was your biggest “ah-ha” moment this semester? Did you learn something that will change your life or impact forever change your ministry?
   
   
5. Classes: What was your most demanding & least demanding classes this semester?
   
   
6. Books: What was your favorite book(s) you read this semester?
   
   
7. In Sum: How would you characterize this semester for future students. Complete the sentence, “That was the semester that _____________________________.” I’m looking for campus wide significance here.
   

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Comments are open. But first be sure to review our User Expectations.

- posted by Tony Kummer

Letting a Gift Be a Gift: Seminarians and Pregnancy

This blog touches on a topic that is quite relevant to a seminary community stuffed full of young married couples possessing a robust theology of the family. It is important that we possess such theology, for we live in an anti-child age, in which couples forestall marriage, swear off pregnancy, and ultimately produce far fewer children than in generations past. This is a troubling change, and it is right that we deliver the Word to those who will not deliver from the womb.

But I wonder whether we young folks who are able to make a theoretical case for marriage sometimes falter in putting such a case into practice. In the busyness of seminary life, and the assumption of financial debt that often comes with marriage, and the various and weighty pressures incumbent upon young couples (church, school, work), I wonder if our approach toward children slowly, quietly shifts such that children become a weight rather than a gift. The Bible's perspective on this matter could not be clearer: children are a gift (Psalm 127:3). The issue is settled with one solitary sentence. Children are always a gift. They are a gift whether you've been married for a week, a month, a year, or ten years. They are a gift whether you're indebted, doing fine, doing swimmingly, or nothing's doing. They are a gift whether you expected them, planned them, adopted them, or had no idea they were coming. In all situations, and to all couples, the Bible's word is this: "the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Ps. 127:3). We should thus receive every child as a miraculous present, one whose blessings take a lifetime to fully appear.

With my point clearly stated, I should point out a few things I'm expressly not saying. I'm not advocating the Catholic view that every marital act must potentially produce children; I'm not saying that certain forms of birth control are not acceptable; I'm not saying that couples should not make tentative plans regarding children. I'm also not saying that unplanned pregnancies are not challenging and do not necessitate some time for adjustment. I am saying, however, that the Bible's simple but unmistakably clear word on children should stamp our familial theology and direct our attitude toward children--whenever (and, importantly, if) God chooses to give them to us. When all is said and done, we future pastors will display love for the Word not simply by preaching it, but by receiving every child the Lord gives us as a living embodiment of His kindness.

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Comments are open.

- posted by Owen Strachan, April 23, 2007

Seminary and the Local Church: What's the Difference?

I don't know how many of you aware of the current controversy and lawsuit filed by Dr. Sheri Klouda against SWBTS, but the latest news is that SWBTS has made a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the following grounds (emphasis mine):

"The seminary's relationship with its professors has been held by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to be the same relationship as a church has with its ministers. Any decision the seminary may make regarding the employment of one of its professors is an ecclesiastical decision, which this court is bound to accept out of deference for the free exercise of religion, protected by the First Amendment."

[It goes without saying that the situation is serious and sad, as you read this, consider praying for our sister seminary that the truth would be told and righteousness reign during these difficult days.]

When I first read this, I was struck by the grounds for dismissal being that the seminary treats its professors the same way a church treats its ministers. What do you think about this? Are decisions made at a higher educational institution to be considered "ecclesiastical" decisions? What is the discontinuity of being a student at a seminary versus a member of a local church?

To be clear, I am not speaking about this from a seminary-professor standpoint but from a seminary-student standpoint. With that said, similarities can be found that both seminary and church have a covenant, confessional statement, worship services, and community. So what's the difference between the seminary and the local church?

Feel free to discuss this in the comments section below.

- posted by Timmy Brister, April 12, 2007