Seminary Preparation...Part the First

As you may already know, I am planning on going to seminary beginning summer or fall 2009. I realize I've been saying that for a while, but I have finally started the application process and, Lord willing, I'll hear an affirmative back from Covenant Theological Seminary sometime in the early fall. I did my 'official' visit at the beginning of March and it really confirmed what I had already been leaning towards. Check out these pictures from my visit ... it snowed a foot the first day I was there.

This is where I stayed and when heading back across the field sunk in well above my knee more than once

Look at that snow, it was crazy, everything was closed for the day.

It was coming down pretty heavy for a while (thats the library)

As I prepare for seminary over the next year my coworkers and other friends who have gone ahead of me have recommended many resources to help me prepare for my studies. Obviously, spending more and more time in Scripture and prayer are foremost on that list, but there are various books and other resources that have been highly recommended. So I'll post periodically on these as I read them.

The first one is BB Warfield's The Religious Life of Theological Students. I've found it very helpful in thinking through my seminary prep and eventual studies. He starts out saying, "A minister must be both learned and religious. It is not a matter of choosing between the two. He must study, but he must study as in the presence of God and not in a secular spirit." He goes on to emphasize that, "A minister must be learned, on pain of being utterly incompetent in his work. But before and above being learned, a minister must be godly."

My hope is that I will continue in spiritual maturity and godliness, above and beyond any other preparation over the next year. It will be hard, no doubt, but much more beneficial than anything else I could do in preparation for seminary and eventual ministry.