At-Home Seminary

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB) Sometime during the upheaval in 2020 and the resulting business slowdowns, which included my estate planning law practice, it became apparent that God was leading me to close the door on my forty-one year legal career. It was time to turn the page to the next chapter in life. After much prayer, both on my own, and with my wife, I sensed a call to begin a Christian masters level seminary program. My goal then was, and now is to know God better, and to love Him more. By the summer of 2022, God led me to enroll in the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies (MABS) program offered by Moody Theological Seminary (MTS). The program was then designed as a two-year curriculum. I began my studies that Fall, while winding down my law practice. Most of my classmates were a generation younger than me. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that several were in my age group, and like me, were following God’s leading into seminary studies. It had been more than forty years since I had attended law school, and longer still since my college days. But, I was more excited about the upcoming journey than I had been for any prior course of study. It took me twenty-six months to complete the program. During that time, I spent more than three hours each day praying, reading, researching, and writing about God and His sacred Scriptures. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at MTS. Successful completion of each of the twelve courses in Moody’s MABS program included the submission of several homework assignments. Of course, attendance and participation in class, as well as extensive study of the Bible, assigned books, articles, papers, and videos were also included in the program’s requirements. A little more than halfway through, I began praying for God to prepare my heart for the journey’s end. Soon enough, I had completed my classes and was no longer required to focus upon the things of God for three-plus hours per day. I continued praying for understanding of His will for the next chapter in my life. As I prayed, I pondered whether much of the biblical knowledge that I had acquired, might slip from my mind if I did not act to prevent that from happening. After all, I was able to clearly recall but a portion of the course work from the seven years that I spent in college and law school. I was thus led to assemble all of my written assignments into one well-organized document. I continued to pray as I began working on that project. I soon realized that the finished product might be of value to anyone who was thinking about attending seminary, and that it might also serve as a discipleship or small group curriculum. Those realizations led me to prayerfully consider making this body of work publicly available. That is how my anthology project developed into the book you are reading. The chapter titles roughly correspond to the required courses in Moody’s MABS program. I have prayerfully arranged both the chapters of the book, and the material within each chapter in a sequence designed to build upon one’s knowledge and application of the material. Every class at Moody included discussion board (DB) assignments. DBs were uploaded to Canvas. That is an online platform that supports both K–12 and higher education. Each time that a student posted a DB, she or he was also required to comment on the DBs of at least two classmates. I spent much time praying, reading, researching, and reflecting prior to composing each of my DB posts, as well as my responses to my classmates’ posts. Each of my DBs, and most of my other written assignments appear in this book. Classmate replies to my DB’s also appear. They vary in number from zero to several per post. A sample of one of my DB posts follows. After reading Bosch’s article that first week, I pictured myself fervently praying as if I was in Father Rodriguez’ position in Japan, waiting to hear from God, after being told that my denial of Christ would save the lives of many Christians. I was stunned into silence by the thought that God might place me in a position to make that decision before “far in the distance the cock might crow.” In addition to that humbling experience, God also provided another meaningful insight through Bosch’s material. He brought me to the realization that in the past I have exhibited a “crusading mind,” rather than a “crucified mind,” by having a “teacher,” rather than a “servant” mentality when speaking with unsaved family, friends, and neighbors. Thus, in the first week I received two powerful new lessons in my journey as a disciple that will impact my life, and future ministry. Having spent several years in a discipleship setting, I have come to value study questions and memory verses. Therefore, both have been included for each chapter of the book. The memory verses have been selected to enrich the reader’s understandings in each chapter. The interactions with my MTS peers and professors greatly enriched my seminary experience and my spiritual growth. I pray that this entire book will do the same for you. Now, I am blessed to welcome you to our At-Home Seminary!