Mark McElreath discusses the rewards and challenges of earning a seminary degree so that you can start, finish and get the most our of your seminary experience. Discussions with pastors, teachers, theologians, authors and students are both enlightening and helpful. Come alongside Mark on his own journey as he completes his doctorate.
If you are going to finish your degree, you have to begin at the end. "When am I going to finish?" and "How am I going to finish?" may be two of the most important questions you ask yourself as you begin your seminary journey. If you are in the middle of a degree program, and you haven’t looked at the end, this is an opportunity to make sure you are on track. Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
For some courses you will have to pick a research topic to write on. Often this is a large percentage of your final grade, so you want to do a good job on it. The instructions you receive on your syllabus may give you a broad area or topic, but you will need to hone in on what your paper is specifically on. Here are some ways to help you choose and refine your research topic. Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
In reading and studying varying sources, it can seem like everyone with higher degrees and years of education are the ones who don’t believe the Bible. So why do the “smartest” people reject Christianity?Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
No worries because Seminary Support is back!Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
In our ever-changing world of online education, many innovations have shaped the medium of how knowledge is communicated. Zoom, a video communications company that is taken off during the pandemic for both workplace and education settings, is now a key part of almost any online degree program. Today we talk about some keys to using Zoom as an online student. Zoom right.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
Season 2 is here! the Bible is 77% Old Testament, and the main genre of the Old Testament is narrative. Do you know how to preach Old Testament Narrative?Find the blog post with links here.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
Christmas is a great time to ask for things you probably are not as likely to splurge on during the year. People are actually asking you what you want at Christmastime! Here are some ideas that I think are an absolute must for every seminarian.I own or have owned each of these products at some time or another, and I recommend them.Find the blog post with links here.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
This is a late semester check in as we seminary students are finishing up the final weeks of class and final projects.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
Do you fell that? That soft, warm fuzzy cocoon of academia. Ah… well get out of there! That’s nowhere to live. Today we’re talking about five ways you can break out of your academic cocoon.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
In our conversation with Dr. Bill Giallourakis, we discuss overcoming seminary obstacles, the importance of your family and how to structure a writing retreat.Dr. Bill Giallourakis is the pastor of Columbia Road Baptist Church in North Olmstead, Ohio. Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
In our conversation with Dr. Bill Giallourakis, we discuss how God saved him as an Atheist, whether or not you should consider a PhD, and starting seminary with no Bible background.Dr. Bill Giallourakis is the pastor of Columbia Road Baptist Church in North Olmstead, Ohio. Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
This bonus episode is the full Bible message entitled "Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain" which I preached on Sunday Morning, October 4, 2020 at Peoples Baptist Church in McDonough, GA. This bonus episode is connected to episode 21 of the Seminary Support podcast.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
Biblical Studies is one of the fields you can choose to go into as you go deeper into your seminary training. Today we are going to take a look into Biblical Studies, specifically into the Old Testament talk about something you've probably never seen before in the third commandment.Special thanks to the Bible Project for permission to use a portion of their podcast from March 19, 2020 entitled "Taking God's Name in Vain?"Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
No one sits down and finishes seminary at one sitting. You and I both know that seminary work is completed over a long period of time through innumerable short sessions- what I call a study session. A study session is just a block of time you set aside to get work done. Planning a proper study session will boost your productivity and it can even be used beyond the classroom. Today I’ve got six ways you should plan your next study session. Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
My conversation today continues with Dr. Michael Kibbe, the author of From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research. We discuss why you should confirm your gifts, what it means to go to seminary with a community behind you and the "slog" of doctoral work. Find From Topic to Thesis here.Find all our episodes on the website.Send an audio message with a seminary question that may get featured on a future episode here!
My conversation today continues with Dr. Michael Kibbe, the author of From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research. We discuss the difference between a topic and a thesis, the value of a theological library and his five steps of moving from topic to thesis.Find From Topic to Thesis here.
My conversation today is with Dr. Michael Kibbe, the author of From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research. We discuss foundational principles of theological research including its goal, and why you can't just "wing it."Find From Topic to Thesis here.
Our world, and specifically our United States of America is seemingly on fire. Is now the time, when there seems to be so much at stake religiously, politically, and even constitutionally, to give so much effort in earning a seminary degree?
Last week I took my first module of my Doctor of Ministry program. I am going to tell you a little bit about it and give you my five takeaways including the importance of research and writing, why a Zoom module is so hard and a great textbook I recommend.
I continue my conversation with Dr. Herb Samworth as he talks about the greatest contribution of Baptists, the gospel order of salvation and how historical figures should be judged.Find out more about my guest at www.tyndalesploughboy.org.
My guest, Dr. Herb Samworth, talks about his own seminary journey, how he always had the heart of a pastor, the danger of academics without practical application and how church history is the most practical of the disciplines.Find out more about my guest at www.tyndalesploughboy.org.
Due to the way our lives play out in cycles, many time management experts recommend that you plan your week instead of planning your day. These principles are key for the seminary student planning out study time each week.
A simple talk about being a man of God.Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
My guest, Nick Leopper, talks about earning his second Masters degree (this one in education), the Lord's unconscious preparation for his current ministry role, how he found himself in the middle of Christian education as a Christian school administrator and how lay people in the church can play an important role in church ministry.
As you consider a seminary, you have probably jumped from website to website pouring over programs, costs, location, and faculty. One thing you may not look at or even think about is the question of accreditation. You may not even know what accreditation is. Today we will discuss what accreditation is, whether earning an accredited or unaccredited degree is better and whether or not it should be important to you as you make a decision on a seminary.
My guest, Dr. Scott Pauley, talks about his own seminary journey, what it took to earn his Doctor of Ministry degree, what his doctoral project unveiled to him to about unreached teenagers and how studying a prayer from Ezra sparked his new book. Find out more about our guest at www.scottpauley.org.Download his new book Revival Praying: Connecting Our Prayers to God's Purpose on Kindle for free here.
If you are listening to this podcast, you have probably asked the question at some point, “How do I choose a seminary?”. It can be a daunting proposition to consider where you may spend the next two, three, four or more years in diligent study. Here are several questions I recommend students ask when considering a seminary.
There comes a point for many seminary students where they stall in their program, and there are scores of things that can come along to derail even the best of intentions at finishing. Maybe you had a baby, you moved to another house, you took a new job, you are now serving in a new ministry. Whatever the reason, here are nine ways you can regain momentum in your program after you’ve stalled.
At some point we have all attempted to keep a journal. The Bullet Journal method may the simple and efficient solution you are looking for to take control of your day and your to-dos.
If you were to walk the countryside of Andover, Massachusetts in the afternoon of September 28, 1808, you would probably hear the chapel bell ringing long before you crested the hill and stumbled across a group of people who had assembled that day. As the cool fall breeze fluttered in the tall oaks of the Massachusetts countryside, an astute looking man with a receding hairline and premature gray hair is atop a wooden platform addressing the crowd that had gathered. This was not a church meeting. In fact, the man that was speaking was not even a pastor. The man speaking is Timothy Dwight and he is there to preach the opening message for the first academic institution of its kind in the new world.
For some, the summer is a break from Seminary. I know that some of you listening right now are not getting a break, and you may have a Greek project that you are putting off at this moment just to listen to this podcast. For many though, the summer can be a great time to hit the reset button in a way. It is a time to take stock of where you are in your program of study and get things in order for the impending fall semester.
Summertime is when a lot of men begin to consider going to seminary. It may be that you just graduated from college, be it secular or a Bible college, or it may be that you are in the ministry. Whether you are in the secular workforce or in church ministry, I think seminary should be a real consideration for your future and here’s why.
I want to take just a moment in this podcast to introduce myself. I know that many of you listening to this already know me, but for those of you who don’t, I hope this helps you as an introduction and also helps all of you to get an understanding of my heart and why I decided to start this podcast.