When I first realized that the taking the Graduate Record Exam © was on my horizons, I trembled a good bit. As my friends burned, sold, and threw away their textbooks after finals, I ordered two test preparation books and settled down for two months of math, reading, and writing prep. It was in the midst of my math study doldrums that Tom Grosh IV [Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network] asked me to consider writing a post about preparing to take the exam. I told him I would brainstorm some ideas, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything I’d have to talk about. My draft post would have consisted of a lengthy stream of consciousness about what it feels like to look out at a beautiful summer’s day, to see children flocking to the river, and to stare a math problem in the face. (No worries, I’ll spare you the pain of reading that!) But the Lord re-fined my understanding of faithfulness in the midst of preparing for my standardized test. What was most important through all of this, I realized, was that this process was about remaining faithful to the Lord, and His remaining faithful to me. [Read more…] about Faithfulness In the Preparation
relationships
A Christian Theology of Mentoring: History, Scripture, Virtue, and Discipline
Christians are characteristically convinced of the importance of mentoring because of the deep way it is embedded in their faith. Understanding God as Trinity presses on us the conviction that loving relationships are at the center of reality. We note that Jesus’ own ministry was centered on the mentoring of the Twelve, and especially the Three. This focus on the intensive formation of a “school of thought and practice†accounts in large part for the durable power of Jesus’ influence. Further, the maintenance of convictional and corporate identity in a minority movement also requires intensive and influential relationships. This is particularly the case for a minority not based in ethnicity or geographical concentration, but on distinctive beliefs that are not accepted and even arouse hostility in the wider cultural milieu. Finally, we are reminded of Jesus’ summary of God’s commandments. Unconditional love to God and love to neighbor of the sort we show to ourselves are the hallmarks of discipleship in the Kingdom of God.
[Read more…] about A Christian Theology of Mentoring: History, Scripture, Virtue, and Discipline