From Chapel and Student Life Team

Greetings fellow students of Briercrest Seminary!

 

We are excited about welcoming those of you who are new to our Seminary community, reconnecting with returning students and looking forward to how the Lord will work in our midst this year.

 

Whether on campus or off, you contribute to and give shape to the Seminary community as you participate in it.

 

Included below is some helpful information that can guide your participation in the coming weeks. Of particular note is the information on our Welcome and Kick Off below. If you are coming in for the Spiritual Formation class, we would invite you to come a day early and join with us.

First Seminary Chapel: On Thursday September 4th

 

11:15AM Seminary Chapel, Rm S113

“In seminary chapel, students, faculty and their families set aside time, space and themselves to worship the Triune God. Our gathering reflects the diversity of our educational community, as we worship in ways that creatively value both our differences and our unity as followers of Jesus. As God reveals himself, we often lament, find healing, and respond with thanksgiving and celebration.”

12:00 noon – Soup & bun lunch immediately following chapel in the same room. (Loonie/person). Families welcome.

 

Seminary Community Welcome and Kick off: Sunday, September 7th

New to Caronport Welcome & Introduction to Community life (for new students and their spouses, child care will be provided on-site) .

 

Time: 2:30 – 4:30PM

Location: Seminary Chapel, Rm S113

 

Come and meet with current members of our community (students, spouses, and faculty) and hear about their journeys at Briercrest Seminary.

 

Seminary Family Welcome & BBQ: Potluck BBQ and Fellowship Evening (new and returning students and their families)

 

Time: 5:30PM

Location: Besant Campground (West on Highway 1 – There is a $2/person or $5/car entrance fee at the campground)

 

We’ll meet at the Post Office at 5:15PM for car-pooling.

 

Returning students & staff : A-M bring a salad and N – Z bring a dessert. Burgers, Hot Dogs and Drinks will be provided. New students – You are not required to bring anything as we will be your hosts for the evening!

 

Monday Morning Coffee:

Classes break at 10:00AM for an opportunity where resident, returning and new students along with Faculty can enjoy fellowship and refreshments as we begin our week together.

 

Grace and Peace,

Clayton and Terry, representing the Chapel and Student Life Committee

 

 

 

 

Dr. Seuss and Dr. Barth

Many of you know my own regard for the work of Karl Barth. But I like Dr. Seuss, too.

For a delightful little poem showing the relationship between Barth and Seuss, check this post out:

http://tortoiseofdissent.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/dr-barth-and-dr-seuss/

David Guretzki

 

Update on Cor Hartenberg

Please be in prayer for Cor & Mieke Hartenberg in the coming weeks. Cor is going to be going through radiation treatment and the prognosis isn’t very optimistic. His blog address is:

http://corsjourney.blogspot.com

David

 

Marv Penner’s new book on cutting

If you haven’t heard about Marv’s new book entitled, Hope and Healing for Kids who Cut put out by Zondervan, you can link to it here:

http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310277552&QueryStringSite=Zondervan

Congratulations on yet another one, Marv!

David Guretzki

 

 

A Counselor’s Reflections on Luke 7:18–22 by Tony Schnare

Luke 7:18-22

John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

 

Luke’s recounting of this narrative points to Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic prophecy of the Suffering Servant; a prophecy central to Luke’s retelling of redemption history that transcends political aspiration. More contemporary, this passage is viewed as an affirmation of Jesus as the Messiah in the context of an evangelistic discourse in which those in need of wholeness are exhorted to embrace the One by whose stripes restoration is procured.

 

Within the contemporary church once this One has been “invited in” and spiritual restoration “received,” the discourse often and quickly mutates away from relational prose to inclusionary criteria of oppressive and legalistic prose. Sadly these exhortations, though well intentioned, lack the recognition that victory over sin does not imply imminent emotional, spiritual and developmental well being any more than the salvation of our souls implies physical well being.

 

To voice the question John posed would potentially be viewed as weakness of faith for any committed believer who considers him or herself to be a part of the contemporary church. But wait a minute, wasn’t this the same John who earlier with prophetic confidence proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one . . ..” Jesus’ response to John is one of invitation and re-assurance, not one of rebuke and correction as we might otherwise anticipate. John’s question, though reflective of his inability to make sense of the tension between his messianic-judgment construct and the reality of Jesus earthly ministry thus far, was met with compassion rather than censure.

 

Could it not be said that John’s question encapsulates the very anxiety the lurks beneath all of our uncertainties and doubtfulness, whether we have yet to cross the line of faith or have in fact been on the journey for some time? To that extent I would suggest, the message of Luke 7: 18–22 applies not only to evangelism but to the ecclesia, and I would go so far as to say, to the academy as well. The message of One who extends sight to the blind, freedom to the lame, healing to the longing soul, the capacity to hear, new life, and the good news is as relevant to the seminarian as it is to the secularist. To be sure the question may take many forms. However, at its heart, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else,’ may articulate our own struggle to resolve the tension between construct and experience.

 

A Christ-centered seminary reflecting this awareness will be characterized by a recognition that its faculty and students alike are on a journey of personal growth and development. It will be intentional with the message of reassurance and hope; a message that acknowledges the reality of struggle, that calls forth relational longing, that invites exploration of spiritual maturity and inspires confidence and intentional imitation. A Christ-centered seminary will report and remind its students that He is the One to come, that they need not look for another, and that they are “entitled to all the rights and honors appertaining thereto.” Having experienced this in the academy of higher learning, graduates of a Christ-centered seminary will transition to the academy of life long learning where they will entrust to others what they have heard and seen.

Who am I?

It was on this day, April 9, some 91 years ago that 3600 Canadian soldiers lost their lives at the Battle for Vimy Ridge–a battle which became a turning point for the Allied forces in the Great War. But the war to end all wars only led to the Second World War during which a now famous German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was executed for his part in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Interestingly, it was April 9, 1945 when Bonhoeffer’s life was ended–just one month before the end of the war on May 8, 1945.

As evangelicals, we do not typically honour the martyrdom of the saints who have suffered death for the cause of Christ. Yet today I am compelled to remind us of this voice through a poem that Bonhoeffer penned in prison awaiting his own death. 

Who Am I?

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,

Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!

 

So I ask today, if someone were to ask, Who are you?  what would you answer?

David Guretzki

 

Church

A very good joke contributed to me by Bob Pond, one of our distinguished MDiv students!

—————–

There once was man who had been the sole occupant of a deserted island for over 30 years. One day, a plane flying overhead spotted his presence on the island and radioed for help.

When the rescuers arrived to the little island, they noticed three huts, two of which were fairly close and one farther down the beach. So they asked the man, “What are those three huts?”

The man answered, “Oh, the first hut is my house and the one beside it is the church where I attend.”

 ”Ok,” the rescuers said, surprised to hear that he had built a church despite the fact that he was the only one who had been there all along. “But what is that third hut a little way down the beach?”

“Oh, that,” the man said smugly. “That’s the church I used to attend!”

How Do You Get the Christ into the Christ-Centered Seminary? by Blayne Banting

 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Colossians 1:24-29 ESV).

We have been entertaining our individual efforts at defining what it means to be a Christ-centered seminary.  Like the proverbial blind men given the task of describing an elephant, we all are lining up to contribute our perspectives—each with some piece of the puzzle.  In all likelihood, the full answer we seek exists both among and beyond our combined efforts.  One perspective we have shared in common is the relative difficulty of this issue.  How can, or even should a seminary be Christ-centered?  It seems similar to the cosmic conundrum posed by the old Caramilk commercial: “How do they get the caramel into the Caramilk bar?”  The indirect answer was both simple and unsatisfying.  Basically it was: “Who cares how they got the caramel into the Caramilk bar, the fun part is getting it out!”  Maybe we face a similar situation today.  Could the issue be less, “how do we get the Christ into the Christ-centered seminary?” and more “how can we express the reality of the present Christ who is already in the seminary?”?

Could the above passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians be of assistance? While not equating the seminary with the church, Paul’s defense of his arm’s length ministry among the Colossians may present a paradigm for those of us who serve within the walls and halls of the seminary.  Paul begins by identifying himself.  This identity has implications for his role as an apostle to the Gentiles.  Dipping back to verse 23, Paul calls himself a minister (servant – diakonos) of the gospel which has some relation to his self-designation in verse 25 as a minister (diakonos) of the church.  The calling of this identity is seen to be the stewardship from God to make the word of God fully known (v.25b).  This ‘word’ or message is further described as “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (v.26).  The content of this mystery is revealed in verse 27b: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

So the mystery revealed is that Christ is in us (cf. Eph 3:6)—both Jews and non-Jews—as a present reality (i.e. the caramel is already in the Caramilk bar).  This is more than a present soteriological/existential reality, however.  It is an ecclesial one (Christ in you—plural) and an eschatological one (the hope of glory) as well.  The implications of this multi-faceted truth are many but Paul focuses his thought on what he does with this message.           

“Him we proclaim,” Paul writes, “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom…” (v.28a).  The act of proclamation is primary here (as you might expect a homiletician to point out) aided and expressed by the twin ministries of exhortation/warning and teaching.  These means of ministry are pointed broadly to all believers (‘everyone’ is mentioned 3 times in v.28).  While Paul was probably targeting the elitism endemic to the nascent Gnosticism in Colossae, there are other forms of intellectual elitism that tend to be more troublesome in the contemporary seminary.           

The purpose of this ministry is so “that we might present everyone mature in Christ” (v.28b).  The ‘already-not yet’ dynamic is prominent in this ‘outcome’ which may relativize our current preoccupation with learning outcomes.  Paul also addresses the power available to him for such a task: “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works in me” (v.29).  Servants of Christ may employ this asymmetrical synergism (cf. 2 Cor 6:1; 1 Thess 3:2) in which God supplies the power for ministry as we offer God an obedient and moving ‘target.’  Such a posture might give an added perspective to our attempts at long range planning.           

So, in this light, we might be better served not to emphasize how to get the Christ into the Christ-centered seminary, but on how we let him out. 

The Christ-Centered Seminary by Marty Culy

A Christ-centered seminary will teach and constantly reflect the foundational confession of our faith: “Jesus is Lord” (Rom 10:9).  It will bring every subject, every lecture, every interaction, every opportunity for corporate worship—everything—under the lordship of Jesus Christ.  It will teach and model what it means to view all areas of life through the grid of a distinctively Christian worldview—a worldview revealed through the Word of God.  It will provide a context for students to explore what it means to be a disciple of Christ in the particular vocation to which God is calling them. 

A Christ-centered seminary will be founded upon Jesus’ unequivocal call to men and women to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Matt 16:24).  It will teach and model self-denial rather than self-actualization; putting obedience above one’s own dreams and passions; living to glorify the Master rather than seeking to be fulfilled.  It will emphasize the absolute call to absolute devotion that Jesus places on everyone who bears His name: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27).   

On the one hand, a Christ-centered seminary will intentionally teach students not to “love the world.”  For God has told us “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).  Such a seminary will work hard to train students to recognize what loving the world looks like and to help them abandon any such love of the world.  It will train students to walk in the light (1 John 1:6-7), not on the edges of the light where they can smell and taste the darkness, but right in the middle of the light, as far from darkness as they can get.  It will teach students to embrace the fact that Jesus tells us, “Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48); Peter tells us, “just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Pet 1:15); and John tells us, “Everyone who remains in him does not sin” (1 John 3:6).  This lofty standard of holiness that is set for us should not surprise us since “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).  Truly Christ-centered education will emphasize the ubiquitous call of the Scriptures to live holy lives and will engage the common and destructive fallacy that relegates such calls to “legalism.”   

On the other hand, a Christ-centered seminary will teach and model for students what it means to “love the world” as God loved the world (John 3:16).  It will emphasize the need to be other-centered rather than self-centered.  It will seek to open students’ eyes to the needs all around them, both within the church and “out there.”  Students of such a seminary will be trained to seek out and rescue those who are lost wherever they are found through the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ; they will be taught to view everything they own as resources entrusted to them by God for his kingdom purposes rather than for their own self-indulgence; and they will have faculty who model what laying down their lives for others looks like.   

In short, a Christ-centered seminary will exalt and imitate the Jesus of Scripture, while exposing the many “false christs” that are rampant in our churches. It will resist the temptation to turn to worldly wisdom to answer the challenges of our day, recognizing that the Gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16); the Scriptures are sufficient to make every follower of Jesus “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16); and Jesus alone is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). 

“Extravagance and Pragmatism” – by Dale Dirksen

John 12:1-8

 1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Marva Dawn wrote a book called A Royal Waste of Time. In this book, she observes that often expressions of worship in the Bible seem to have no pragmatic value. They are offered, apparently, without much benefit to the one who offers. There is a sense of abandonment of “what’s in it for me.” Imagine the pragmatist watching the prize winning bull go up in smoke in the Jerusalem temple. It seems that one of the elements of this story of spikenard John 12 is one of a kind of extravagance that is not pragmatic. A costly offering is given freely and criticised immediately. I wonder what it did for Mary. Did she say, “That was a great worship experience; I really need to do that again soon”?

Judas Iscariot had a good point. Why waste this resource with so little visible return? You would think that Jesus would agree – after all, he did care about the poor. Yet, in this situation, Mary’s irresponsible act of centering her extravagant offering on Jesus is received with approval. There is a sense of participation in something bigger than the simply pragmatic.

I believe that pragmatism remains a high value in seminary culture. We are dominated by the values of efficiency and success. We also have high demands on our lives. Many expectations require us to choose between things and activities that are all good. We tend to choose the pragmatic in most cases. What if we chose extravagant instead? How might a seminary professor choose the kind of extravagance that Mary modelled? How might a seminary become known for these kinds of offerings? Maybe the most significant kind of extravagance we could demonstrate in seminary is related to time. Our time is increasingly our most precious commodity. We often feel that we don’t have enough of it (although, everyone has exactly the same amount). What if we set aside ideas of the practical and gave time extravagantly? How might we be Christ centered in light of how we use our time?

I believe this will relate to the sense of participation in community. The academy is radically oriented around individualism. We do our studying by ourselves and often have to protect our time by avoiding others. As we consider the possibility of Christ centered community, this becomes even more important. How might we develop a sense of Christ centeredness in our seminary community? Maybe this is where we choose the “wasteful” option and give extravagantly of our rare spikenard (time) for the purpose of not just personal relationship with Jesus, but learning how to be a community that is centered on Christ?

On March 20 we will be invited to participate in an offering of time related to prayer. Staff, faculty and student leaders have been invited to do it together. This seems like a non-pragmatic thing to do in late March. But maybe setting aside these hours will be one example of an extravagant and Christ centered offering?

Dr. Dale Dirksen