BACK TO IT

I'm back to writing daily.

Because ...

1. I missed it. I have felt somewhat mentally adrift ever since I fell out of the habit. Writing helps me process life and reinforces whatever the Lord is currently teaching me. It's too useful to neglect.
2. I have a renewed purpose. Today (Noevember 5, 2025) I got notice that - unbeknownst to me - I am a full month into a 6-month class required for my dissertation! 

Yes, I have missed at least one assignment and a Zoom meeting so far.

Wesley Biblical Seminary decided they needed to light a little fire under a handful of their doctorate students who are stalled out - including yours truly. And so they established a new class.

Sure, it would have been nice to learn about the October start date in September rather than November, but I applaud the school's proactiveness. I NEED some deadlines if I am ever going to finish.

In theory, by the end of this class I will have my prospectus completed and, God willing, approved. 

In order to get everything processed and written by the end of March, though, I will need to invest time daily.

So THAT is my renewed purpose for this blog for the time being.

Hopefully, the things I write here in the coming weeks can serve as rough draft material for my dissertation. 

(The last time I tried to reignite my writing habit was in July, just before Melissa and I went to Scotland to celebrate our 25th anniversary. I was too much in the moment to write daily during that trip, but of course I now wish I had followed through with that writing!) 

SANCTUARY AS CLASSROOM

As I continue thinking about my dissertation work, one conviction is gaining some clarity: To be effective for the Kingdom, a pastor needs to function as a teacher. 

This doesn't need to be complicated. The basics of good teaching practice are pretty straightforward. I'm talking about things like:

• Probing for prior knowledge 
• Rooting out false assumptions
• Repeating main points
• Fostering curiosity and interest
• Drawing out an inward motivation for self-directed study
• Checking comprehension in meaningful ways
• Et cetera

I have started to look for resources which address these matters within the local church, but I'm not seeing much so far.

If you google "teaching and Christian faith", you will not get results outlining ways principles of good teaching practice can be applied to the teaching the Bible.

Instead, you get core doctrines that must be taught in order to consider the teaching to be "Christian". 

I looked for books on teaching and the church and ordered one off Amazon that looked promising: Everyday Christian Teaching by David Smith.

But the subtitle reveals its focus: A Guide to Practicing Faith in the Classroom. 

So ... this book is for the Christian classroom, not the sanctuary. 

And it's as dry as dust to boot. 

(Written by a Calvinist! 😉)

FOCUS ON REMOVING THE OLD SELF AND ITS PRACTICES GO WITH IT

I am planning a sermon series on Paul's letter to the Colossians to begin the new year at Sardinia Baptist. It will be killing two birds with one stone: a number of sermons plus material for my dissertation.

Colossians as a whole - with Paul's emphasis on the interplay between knowledge and change in the Christian's life - is the Scriptural basis for my ministry project.

My key verse comes in Chapter 3:

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

An initial observation:

"Practices" is a translation of the Greek word "praxis", which itself has been adopted directly into English, meaning deeds or actions. 

It's worth noting that, although most believers I know who take holiness seriously tackle bad behaviors one by one, Paul says we are to take off "the old self" as a complete unit - and the practices go with it. 

This is a major shift in framing.

We aren't just whacking away at the bad habits. Paul has already said in chapter 2 that various "religious" approaches appear to be worthwhile but don't actually rein in the "indulgence of the flesh". 

In other words, they don't get to the heart of the problem.

For the believer, the old self has been replaced by the new self - and that makes a world of difference.

Or at least it should.  

KNOWING

In Several short sentences about writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg (What a name!) outlines "the ways we know nearly everything about the world around us" in these terms:

1. What you've been taught.

2. What you assume is true because you've heard it repeated by others.

3. What you feel, no matter how subtle.

4. What you don't know.

5. What you learn from your own experience. (p.7)

Although Klinkenborg's main concern is how this applied to the craft of writing, I think this does apply to "knowing" in general. 

It seems to me that when it comes to theology, #1 and #2 - what someone's been taught and what they assume - somehow carry so much weight that they squeeze out #5 entirely. 

Is it because God is THE most intimidating topic of study in all existence? (After all, your own eternity may hang in the balance!)

Perhaps. 

If so, the starting point in forming "your own experience" is crucial. And it needs to be this: There is a God and He is GOOD.