I know that many of you were tracking my progress last week on my grad. school work. I just thought I'd post that I received my grade on Sunday and I received a 95.9 or "A" in the class. I'm very excited about that, but sincerely believe that I owe this grade to you for praying for me.
Some of you may not know the story of my Master's work, so I thought I'd share it briefly. When I graduated from Valley Forge Christian College I didn't have a real interest in pursuing higher education. I did have a friend though who told me that he felt it was important for me to continue my education, because he regretted being later in his career that he hadn't pursued it. My wife also started hounding me to live up to the potential of education that God had created me for. So then I decided to look into it. I chose AGTS because they had an extension campus at VFCC and offered one week intensive modules. After making my choice, my friend convinced Pasadena A/G to pay for half of my tuition and books, and give me the weeks away to pursue my studies. That was a great blessing.
Now I'm only 6 classes from completion of a 60 credit MA in Christian Ministries. But why am I doing it? Well here are the reasons:
1. I believe that as a leader I must be a life-time learner. I don't believe that education is ever wasted, and pays immediate returns as well as long-term dividends.
2. Anne Arundel County is one of the most educated counties in America. As we reach out to Well-Educated, Professional Families. I feel that a master's education is a platform to reach them.
3. The Pay Raise (Actually that's a joke. My pay will not change based on a degree of higher education.) It doesn't work that way in ministry.
My future aspirations? Well, I'd like to finish my MA. I am currently juggling the wishes of "Fast tracking" into a Doctorate of Ministry (D. Min.) <-- I think it's cool that Pastors can be D.Min.'s (sounds like Demons) and another MA in Contemporary Communication at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. So the choices are ahead of me. We'll see where my journey takes me. It will be a journey of choice. Life doesn't just happen, we make it happen. But I have some time to make this decision.
--Ben
4 comments:
"Anne Arundel County is one of the most educated counties in America."
Interesting. Where did you get this information?
Didn't education used to be frowned upon as "wordly" by the AG?
check out places like census.gov and epodunk.com for demographic information. AA county is the third highest educated in MD. The MD/DC areas among the highest educated areas of the country. There is a group that does demographic surveys for churches called Percept that is helpful too.
Yes, there have been times that education has been looked down on by contingencies of our fellowship. However, much of that has changed. It wasn't a worldliness issue, so much as a they believed that intellectualism replaced a dependency on the Holy Spirit. Therefore they referred to Seminary and a Cemetery.
Yeah, the thinking has evolved to believing the Spirit in the study is the same Spirit in the pulpit. Preparation and study only prepare us to follow the direction of the Spirit.
DMin? Have you thought about doing a ThD or PhD in homiletics? It can be done, and you have the gift to do it. DMin's are great, but go for the gusto!
After seven years in seminary (I've been here on the slow and painful track), I can assure you that many of the arguments of the Pentecostals of old are quite valid. Often I wonder if I have received the credentials to be "wise in my own eyes." The problem is, of course, that we don't have to go to seminary to get that degree.
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