{"id":1261,"date":"2009-10-19T11:08:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-19T15:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=1261"},"modified":"2009-10-19T11:08:25","modified_gmt":"2009-10-19T15:08:25","slug":"seminarycheck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=1261","title":{"rendered":"Seminary…check"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As of today, I am officially finished with my seminary degree. \u00a0I have completed a Masters of Arts in Christian Leadership from the seminary at Liberty University<\/a>. \u00a0It has been a great experience that started back in the spring of 2007. \u00a0I have always loved reading and writing and enjoyed the process of digging into some deep theological and doctrinal discussions in order to help solidify my Christian worldview.<\/p>\n

I grew up going to a public elementary<\/a>, middle<\/a>, and high<\/a> school. \u00a0I also went to a large public university<\/a>. \u00a0I was very blessed to have godly teachers and coaches and received an excellent education all along the way. I know that God was protecting me from some of humanistic teaching that can be found in public schools. \u00a0As a Christian school administrator, I am glad that I have now had the privilege of graduating from a Christian school. \u00a0And…not only a Christian school, but one that is very well respected in all walks of life.<\/p>\n

Many people have asked me why I decided to go to seminary. \u00a0I actually began seminary almost 9 years ago when I started for the first time. \u00a0I was living in Memphis, TN and was about to graduate from college. \u00a0I know that God had called me into full-time ministry. I was serving on the staff of a local church leading their sports and special events ministry. \u00a0I really enjoyed that, but knew that God was leading me to student ministry. \u00a0I was also being encouraged by several people to pursue a seminary degree.<\/p>\n

I graduated from college in December of 2000 and moved to Acworth, GA to become a youth minister in a local church. \u00a0I jumped right in and could see right away that student ministry was the area that God had created me for. \u00a0As I became more and more involved in the ministry of the church, I decided it was time to pursue a seminary degree. \u00a0I was very blessed to be able to enroll in a seminary here in Atlanta and receive a full scholarship.<\/p>\n

I began seminary in August of 2001. \u00a0I was torn because I was having to drive into Atlanta two days a week for class and missing out on opportunities to minister to students. \u00a0I didn’t feel that seminary was really practical. \u00a0After several weeks of praying and seeking the Lord, I felt that He had released me from seminary at that point. I went to the dean of the school and told him I was withdrawing. \u00a0I enjoyed the experience, but felt a stronger call to what God was doing in and through my own students at that point in my journey.<\/p>\n

Six years later, God reminded me of my desire to go back and finish what I had started. \u00a0That meant starting from scratch. \u00a0The seminary I had started at was also a lot more liberal than I had ever been, so I knew I needed to find one that was closer to my own theology. \u00a0I am a conservative Southern Baptist at heart, so there were tons of options available as far as good seminaries go.<\/p>\n

Here at North Cobb Christian School, we have tons of connections to Liberty University. \u00a0Some of our teachers and administrators graduated from there and we have tons of alumni that are currently students up there. \u00a0I decided to look into their program and found out very quickly that their online program is one of the most highly respected around. \u00a0I was very intrigued by their Christian Leadership degree and knew that was the direction God was leading me.<\/p>\n

I could have pursued the Master of Divinity, but I just don’t feel like that would have given me the skills I was looking for. \u00a0I don’t really have a need for the languages and definitely know that I haven’t been called to pastor a church. \u00a0I really wanted to equip myself to be the leader that God designed me to be. \u00a0The courses on Teaching, Theology, Administration, and others are all very beneficial to my role as an administrator in a Christian school.<\/p>\n

There were several reasons I decided to pursue a seminary degree and here are some thoughts about that. I know that more and more pastors are not pursuing the M.Div. and even more pastors are skipping seminary all together. I do believe that you can be a very effective pastor without seminary, however, I think that it is a critical step for a pastor that desires to impact the world for Christ.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I believe that a seminary degree with give you the opportunity to have a seat at the table of influence in your community. The seminary degree might just be a piece of paper on the wall to some people, but it is a way to prove that you have satisfied man\u2019s requirements for education in this particular area. You wouldn\u2019t want to go to a doctor that had only watched ER and read books about surgery would you? Regardless of how skilled that doctor might be, you want to know where they went to medical school.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think the seminary degree is a beneficial tool because it gives you access to a seat at the table of influence that otherwise might pass you by. That seat will give you a platform to influence others for Christ\u2026and that\u2019s the main point right?<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Head of School at NCCS, Todd Clingman, tells a story about his first teaching job out of college. \u00a0He went back to teach at the school he grew up at. \u00a0He knew that he needed to be mentored by someone a little further down the path and asked a more experienced teacher to mentor him. \u00a0One day as they were eating lunch, the mentor asked Todd when he was planning to start on his Master’s degree. \u00a0Todd was thinking…give me a break, I just finished college. \u00a0The man went on to explain that Todd should get his Master’s because it would be really sad if a great opportunity was presented to Todd that he had to turn down because he wasn’t qualified for it.<\/p>\n

God has used that thought as a great motivator for me these past 2 years. \u00a0God has created me and predestined me to accomplish great things for His glory. \u00a0I graduated from seminary because I want to make sure that as opportunities present themselves for me to be used for God’s glory, I will be ready and equipped to serve…even in the world’s eyes.<\/p>\n

I Peter 3:15-16<\/strong>
\nBut in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,\u00a0keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. <\/em><\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 10:5<\/strong>
\nWe demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. <\/em><\/p>\n

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As of today, I am officially finished with my seminary degree. \u00a0I have completed a Masters of Arts in Christian Leadership from the seminary at Liberty University. \u00a0It has been a great experience that started back in the spring of 2007. \u00a0I have always loved reading and writing and enjoyed the process of digging into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}