Joel UsinaHere is an example of a real life process that lead me to attend seminary in a foreign place, leaving behind a comfortable life.
Paul Burkhartphoto credit: loreshdw I recently wrote an article about letting seminary change you doctrinally. In it, I laid out some broad ideas of Truth, doctrine, and how the seminarian needs to treat these things in order to get the most out of their...
Ryan BurnsI’ve been looking forward to this interview for quite a while now. Below is my interview with Ed Stetzer: Well, I feel it is only appropriate to start with Twitter. You are obviously a fan (Follow him here). Whenever you’re teaching a...
“I knew perfectly well at that time, as I had for years and years, that the Lord absolutely transcends any understanding I have of Him, which makes loyalty to Him a different thing from loyalty to whatever customs and doctrines and memories I...
Terry DelaneyAs seminary students, we realize a mantra that matters much in church life is “IN ESSENTIALS UNITY, IN NON-ESSENTIALS LIBERTY, IN ALL THINGS CHARITY.” We believe this and know this to be true. This is why we have had conferences like...
stephen-hessSitting in my first Covenant Theology class of seminary, Dr. Williams, in addition to speaking about the course, provided one of the most important “nuggets” of wisdom that I will ever receive during my theological training. He briefly...
I love this website. I started it a couple years ago as I began my transition into seminary. Finding helpful information about the seminary life on the internet was hit or miss. My goal was to create a site that would provide current and future...
I recently heard a couple discussing reasons as to why they left a certain church. They kept telling me that they loved the doctrine, they loved what they heard from the pulpit, and they loved what they learned. What drove them away from this church...
I’ve been reflecting upon an experience that my wife, Abbie, and I had not too long ago. I serve as a Youth Pastor at a church in Dunn, NC, called Stoney Run, which is a part of the Pentecostal Free Will Baptist (PFWB) denomination. Every...
This is a guest post written by Rev. Michael Shanlian. In my fifty six years I have never met an accomplished person who did not overcome adversity. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments...
I am employing the word “sojourn” in a very intentional way as I reflect on my current status as an individual who has traveled a long way to attend seminary. To be certain, I have physically moved quite a distance in the past five years...
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men Colossians 3:23 This is the third post in a three part series. Read God first, family second if you have not read them yet. Now, we have come to the last third of the mantra my mom used...
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39 This is the second post of a three post series. The first one, God First, discussed how God should be number one in our lives in everything that we do; specifically...
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deut. 6:5 I was raised in a nominal Catholic home, but there are a few theological points my mom would make that actually make sense. One of those...
This guest post is by Daryl Eldridge, President of Rockbridge Seminary. Seth Godin wrote an interesting piece about education at the crossroads today. And he raised an interesting point: School was the big thing for a long time. School is tests and...
Daniel MochGordon, T. David. Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped the Messengers. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009. 108 pp. $9.99. Homiletics will only get us so far. Something more is necessary in order for an average preacher to...
This guest post was written by S. Daniel Smith. He blogs at and is a US Navy sailor. A few months ago, Going to Seminary covered the four schools that offer an entire online degree program at the master’s level. I know how this works first...
It has been a while since we’ve had a book review on Going to Seminary, so I got in touch with the good people at Crossway and requested that they send me Adopted for Life by Russel Moore. I requested the book because adoption is not only...
The other day I received an email from a mom who was planning on starting seminary. She mentioned that she had trouble finding any sites or resources online that helped her with her unique situation. So, I did some investigating and was able to find...
Jake BelderI was in St. Louis a few weeks ago and was given a tour of the PCA Historical Center by its director, Wayne Sparkman. The Center is situated on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary. While he was showing us some of the collections, he noted...
It’s hard to imagine that I’m already buying books for the fall semester. Don’t get me wrong, I have come to thoroughly enjoy, and, even get excited about, buying books (endless thanks to God for the opportunity and the means!)...
This guest post was written by Daniel F. Wells. Daniel is a twenty-something year old with a B.A. in Bible & Religion and Philosophy from Erskine College and is currently a student at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte. He blogs at...
Over the course of the seventeen years that I have been in school, I have never taken any summer classes. Well, my streak is over. Not only am I taking classes right now, I’m taking 9 hours worth. That’s a hefty load to carry during the...
I have a way of getting through something tough and then wishing I could go back and do it again. It’s not that I enjoy torturing myself. Rather, it’s that I usually learn a lot under such stress. Because I knew more coming out of the...
If you are anything like me, then you experience seasons where you either are not able to read your Bible for personal edification or you seem to just run out of time each day. What makes it real bad is that I am a seminary student. Even worse than...
I think it’s time for me to start the site NotGoingToSeminary.com. It’s almost been five whole months since my last article was posted on this site. Much has happened. As I recently revealed in a recent post on my personal site...
Tomorrow is July 1st and summer is in full swing. Now, summer means different things for each of us so I thought it would be fun to see what everyone has planned. I’ve put a few items in the poll already, but feel free to add your own answer...
There is a book at the RTS Orlando Bookstore called Rural Evangelism: Catching the Vision. I haven’t read it yet, though I want to. The author’s intention is basically to help rural congregations avoid stagnation and decline by engaging...
Do any other seminarians ever feel as if your time in seminary is (or was) a sort of limbo (not “limbo” as in the Roman Catholic doctrine)? An in between stage? Or, perhaps a combination of the two? Well, if you do (or did), then...
If you’ve ever searched for a seminary scholarship then you know how difficult it can be. Well, good news, there is now a seminary scholarship that is open to all seminarians and only takes 15 minutes to apply. The $1,000 scholarship is given...