Seminary…So Far…

Okay, I know I said I would update this blog more and keep you all informed about my life, but these first 6 weeks of seminary have been kicking my butt.  I think I’m kind of getting a handle on things though, so I hope to write more.  Basically, I love it here at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary!  There is a ton of work and a ton of reading, but it’s all stuff that I am very interested in. This semester I’m taking: Intro to Old Testament, United Methodist Worship, Christian History 1, Vocational Formation and Church Leadership, and Bible Content.  My hardest class by far is Intro to Old Testament, mostly because there is a lot of work involved in it.  I will say that I’m lucky to have gotten to serve at the parish in Galesburg and had the opportunity to do a exegesis for my sermons every week, as our big assignment in this class is an exegetical paper.

I’m not going to lie; seminary is harder and a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be. From time to time, I find myself wondering if I’m really supposed to be here and if my calling is a true calling.  That’s when it’s nice to get my call story paper back and be encouraged by the comments that were given to me and by the grade that I received.  All in all, seminary is hard but I’m very blessed and privileged to be attending such a fine school with top-notch professors who are so willing to help me.  I’m working the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life here and I know that God will bless that.

In other news, I have resigned as the youth minister of the United Methodist Church of Antioch.  Don’t worry, there aren’t any bad feelings there, the 2+ hour drive to get there and back was just getting to be too much and was starting to weigh on my wallet.  To replace that job I’ve started working at the RadioShack here in Evanston, to which I can walk to work.  It’s much different than the store in Macomb and about 10 times busier!  I’m not working too many hours, just enough to help me cover my bills and give me some spending money from time to time.

I think that’s enough for now!  I will try and update this thing more!

Peace and Love,
Jeremy

Almost there….

In 6 short days, I will be moving to and starting a new life in Evanston Illinois.  I’m kind of nervous about moving to the big city, as I’ve lived a city of 20,000 for the past 20 years, but I’m very excited to begin the next phase of my life.  I’m also looking forward to starting seminary classes and being bogged down with papers and reading assignments and other random things.. That might sound weird, but I like being bogged down and not having a lot of down time.

That being said, I’ve had an amazing summer at East Bay Camp. It’s been such a blessing to me to get to know all of the counselors and staff members and to have some early pastoral care training.  It’s also been nice to see that the camping program in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference is beginning to grow(at least at East Bay).  This year was the first time that this camp has experienced any growth since around 2005 and that gives me hope!  Camping was a huge part of my call into the ministry and I would like to see it have the numbers that it used to have so it can reach as many kids as possible.

Quote of the day: “We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea.” — Paul Tillich

Forgetting to say thank you..

So, one of the themes that we at camp this summer is “Gratitude” and the passage that we use for this is Luke 17: 11-19 which is the verse where Jesus heals the 10 lepers, nine of which were what I assume Jews and one was a Samaritan and only the Samaritan returns to Jesus to say “thank you”.  The Samaritan is so thankful that he falls on his face at the feet of Jesus.  This verse has made me think about a lot of things.. one in particular being that we who live here in America take SO much for granted.. We have so much compared to other countries and we don’t think about it at all.  For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been on mission trips to Costa Rica a number of times and on one such trip, actually I believe it was our first trip, I remember seeing a little boy playing with a truck that had no wheels on it, but he was SO happy…He was so thankful because he had this broken toy to play with..  AND you should have seen the look on his face when we gave him a new toy!  He was OVERJOYED!!  He said thank you over and over again and he had the biggest smile on his face that I’d ever seen!!  That’s how we should be living our lives, being thankful for everything that we have.   We should be willing to fall on our faces at the feet of Jesus because we are so thankful for everything that we have.

This might make me unpopular but oh well…

I’ve been thinking a lot about this whole Osama bin Laden thing lately… I’ve been thinking about all the Facebook status updates and Twitter updates that I saw of people rejoicing and thanking God for his death.  I will be honest that it makes me shudder and it makes me mourn for humanity when I see people praising and thanking God that a human being is dead.  Yes, I know that bin Laden did a lot of horrible things and that he was a horrible and sick person, but that does NOT mean that he had to die in the hands of a so-called “Christian” nation.  Let me make myself clear in that as a Christian, I do not support the decision to kill Osama bin Laden and I think that he should still be alive today.

My opinion is not very popular, I realize this but I don’t think that the killing of another person for ANY reason is compatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Time and time again, we see Jesus teaching us to forgive no matter what and to love our enemies.  Specifically in Matthew 5:39, Jesus says: “Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”  I know it’s not good to proof text, but I believe as Christians we are to follow and live by the teachings of Jesus Christ himself and Jesus was constantly preaching love and forgiveness and was constantly standing against violence.

I want to end this post by quoting the famous pacifist, Dorothy Day.  The article/letter was written when the United States passed from undeclared war to declared war.  It’s exactly how I feel about the killing of bin Laden and the killing of every other person in war.  It is one of the main reasons why I am a Christian pacifist.  To read the full text of her article, go here:  http://bit.ly/mqcN46

“For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then are they to call upon Him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches? And how are men to preach unless they be sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace.”

Peace and blessings,
Jeremy

Almost there..

In just 26 short days(not that I’m counting), I will be graduating from Western Illinois University.  It almost feels surreal, as shortly after this, I will be moving to Evanston, IL(suburb of Chicag0)  to attend Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.  However, I do have an adventure before moving to Chicago, as this summer I will be working at East Bay Camp in Bloomington, IL as an intern chaplain.  I honestly never thought I’d be returning to camp but God is funny in the way he closes and opens different doors for us.  I mean, the same day that I decided I wasn’t going to attend Iliff in Denver, I ran into the program director from the camp and we started talking about this.  In the words of Regina Spektor, God can be funny.

Yesterday, I was at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Galesburg IL, preparing for the Palm Sunday service and one of the people who belong to my church came up to me and handed me a check.  They told me to use the money for school and for whatever else I needed.   I graciously thanked them but didn’t turn it over until they walked away.  When I turned it over, I almost fainted as they had just given me a check for $1,000.00.  This goes to show me that God provides no matter what.  Just a couple of days before this, I was balancing my checkbook and there was no way I could have paid all my bills with the money I had, but with this gift I am able to pay everything off and have a lot left.  When His people are in need, God provides.  I will never forget that.

With all that being said, starting today, I am going to start using my blog more.. I am going to use it to talk about life as a seminarian, life in Chicago, and anything else that I find interesting.  I promise!

Oh! Today is the first day of Passover!! Chag Sameach!!

Overwhelmed

This semester is turning out to be a bit overwhelming.  On top of taking 20 credit hours Western, I’m working about 12 hours/week at GameStop and writing a sermon every week for my job at the United in Christ Parish.  On top of all this, I have been preparing for my interview with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry and this involves a lot of paperwork, prayer and discernment.

We Made It!!!!

After a very long day of traveling, we have finally arrived in Costa Rica!!!  We have a really good group this year and are set to do some hard work!  This year is a bit different, however, as we aren’t staying in a hotel like we usually do.  This year we are staying in the houses that Strong Missions rents and are sleeping on bunk beds.   Anyways, I am super glad to be back here in the beautiful country of Costa Rica, and I can say that it honestly say it kind of feels like home..