{"id":3398,"date":"2008-03-27T00:30:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-27T00:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/grand-rapids-theological-semin.html"},"modified":"2008-03-27T00:30:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-27T00:30:41","slug":"grand-rapids-theological-semin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/grand-rapids-theological-semin.html","title":{"rendered":"Grand Rapids Theological Seminary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was in Grand Rapids — speaking twice at GR Theological Seminary<\/a>. First, in chapel (more below) and then later to the Faculty (about future seminary education — I’ll keep this under wraps for now). It was good to see Doug Fagerstrom and Peter Osborn again, but I’m making enough friends there that I can’t mention any more names. And, it was great to see John Frye and some Mars Hill folks in chapel. Here are some observations:
\n(By the way, Jeremy Bouma has a link to the chapel talk here<\/a>.)
\nBefore I say any more, let me say how much I like what is going on at GRTS. They have developed a new church planting program and in the last 4 years or so they have planted more than 50 churches. They are also deeply involved now supporting the pastors in the inner city of Grand Rapids … I could go on. These are the sorts of things that visionary and creative leaders and schools are now doing.
\nIn chapel … although I must have originally said something about addressing Spirituality and Empire, as the time passed I was prompted more to speak about the reality of pastoring and how to prepare for pastoring. (After all, I was speaking to future pastors.)
\nI began with Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness<\/em>: humans have a frontal lobe in which the brain can “next” (make linear logical connections) and “imagine.” Imagining a future triggers emotions of happiness and much of our happiness, truth be told, is based on a future that is not likely to happen.
\nFuture pastors are prone to think of “what it will be like when they begin to pastor”.
\nThen I suggested that the Roman forum, filled with destroyed and corroded and broken and no-longer-existing columns and buildings, is what many of our imaginings and hopes of future pastoral ministry is like … (negative, to be sure).
\nSo, what to do? We turned to James 1 and I brought up three points that speak to the need to let ministry flow out of the present realities of our own spiritual life …
\n1. Be receptive to the Word (1:21)
\n2. Do what you hear (1:22-26)
\n3. Be holy and compassionate now (1:27)
\n(I finished with my blue parakeet story — which story will have to be restricted in analogy when the book comes out next Fall).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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