Briercrest College and Seminary Student Blogs

How to Survive a Mod-Week Class

Amanda MacInnis-Hackney — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:03:56 CST

I love mod classes. Even before I came to Briercrest, where the seminary is built around a mod-week structure, I took classes both in college and at another seminary in the mod format because it fit very well into my work schedule, especially when I was serving in a church ministry setting.

There seems to be a better rhythm and �bonding� that occurs in the classroom setting of a mod, than in two regular 75 minute weekly classes. But I guess that is expected given that we end up together eight hours a day for an entire week.

That being said, I always come out of a mod week exhausted. So I�ve decided to post a few tips on how to survive a mod-week class.

* Sleep. Get a good night�s sleep before the mod week begins. Don�t be ashamed if you come home from class and go to bed three hours earlier than normal. Go with it!

* Caffeine and snacks. Healthy snacks are best. Sugar snacks will just make that mid-afternoon crash worse. Bring a thermos of coffee with you for the day (or, if you�re like me, a non-coffee drinker, bring caffeinated diet soda). Assuming the professor lets people have snacks during the class time, the snack can be a good distraction for your hands and gives your body something to do while listening to the lectures.

* Participate in class discussion. If you sit and are passive through the whole week it will be a very long week. Ask questions. Participate in discussion and debate. Don�t be afraid to put up your hand, or even just speak up. The professors appreciate lots of class participation as it takes the pressure off of them having to talk the whole time.

* Take a break. There seems to be a mix of short and long breaks. Some breaks are a quick five minutes, others are a good fifteen minutes. Don�t skip on the five minute breaks, figuring that �it�s only five minutes�. Get up, stretch your legs. Go check your mail box. Go outside and get a breath of fresh air. If you sit through all the five minute breaks because it�s only five minutes, it will make for a very long day of sitting.

* Be aware of the Wednesday Wall. This usually occurs around 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. It is characterized by your brain shutting off, and the professor turning into the teacher from Charlie Brown. You end up with this overwhelming feeling of �Oh this class is torture, won�t it ever end!� This Wednesday Wall is completely normal. And it�s not just the students who feel it; professors experience it too. So don�t worry, you�re all in the same boat. It will pass.

* Don�t plan anything for the weekend following a mod class. Don�t book a church retreat to speak at all weekend. Don�t try to work 12 hour shifts at work all weekend. Know that you will be tired, and your brain will be busy sorting through the mountains of information you learned in class, trying to process it and absorb it. Make it a quiet weekend, allowing for lots of sleep. If you have a family, make it a family non-weekend, where you just sort of hang out and relax together. (I made the mistake a couple of years back of agreeing to preach the weekend following a mod class. I didn�t have the stamina to make it and I struggled Sunday morning, even though I had written and prepped the sermon in advance of the class).

Why Study Theology?

Amanda MacInnis-Hackney — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:56:47 CST

In an age of being practical and relevant, many pastors, counselors and ministry workers find that it is more important to focus on practical "how to" classes, rather than take classes in theology.

But there is definitely a benefit to taking theology classes, no matter what discipline God has called us to.

Karl Barth says it best:
"Theology is committed directly to the community and especially to those members who are responsible for preaching, teaching, and counseling. The task theology has continually to fulfill is to stimulate and lead them to face squarely the question of the proper relation of their human speech to the Word of God, which is the origin, object, and content of this speech." [Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, pg 41]

Get Real.

Caitlin Nelles — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:25:28 CST

The theme for Bergren Dorm this year is "Get Real"At first it comes off as a cheesy movie title, but if you really get familiar with it you'll realize it's so much more. I'm in no way perfect, I've messed up and I've hurt many people here on campus and at home in Ontario. This needs to change, and it starts this year... more specifically, it starts today. I am making an effort to Get Real. I'm giving up the lies that I've told and the things I've done that have hurt people and Getting Real with myself, my family and my friends. More importantly I am Getting Real with God. I've been challenged by the leadership team in Bergren this year to Get Real and recognize that I can NOT do this on my own, but only by the grace of God will I get through. I challenge you today to do the same. "This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." 1 John 1:5-10

God, the Master Orchestrator

Kendra Joy Jaarsma — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:12:38 CST

Sometimes I'm just blown away by how God orchestrates things.

Tonight, Sean (see http://blogs.briercrest.ca/profile.asp?id=54 ), gave me a call from the Inn (where he works), asking me to bring him something that he had forgotten at my house. So I drive over and give him his cord and a hug and head back to the house. Since it's already getting late and I have to clean the post office in the morning, I thought while I'm up, I might as well clean the post office tonight so I can "sleep in" tomorrow. When I get to the post office I see a good friend of mine (whom I rarely ever see) standing there reading something on the bulletin board. Apparently he was just thinking about how he wanted to congratulate me on my engagement to Sean (did I forget to mention that?) but he wanted to do it in person-not over facebook, and was therefore conflicted. And lo, and behold there I came.. in person! (not over facebook) and he shook my hand and congratulated me and then we got talking about wedding plans (because, being at "BridalQuest" and all, he is likewise engaged to be married this summer!). Our conversation then turned into sharing about how great our God is and the amazing and humbling things He is doing in our lives. A wonderful and refreshing and much-needed time of catching up and encouraging one another. Something that never would have happened if Sean didn't forget his power cord at my house so that I'd have to prolong my bedtime and decide to clean while I was up and if my friend hadn't stalled by reading some interesting tidbits of Influenza info (or something).

Ha. I love it when God orchestrates these things into his perfect masterpiece we call "life". It just goes to show that in the midst of all our stress and chaos He's still the one in control.

TESOL-pedia

Sean Rice — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:45:32 CST

Just a late-night reflection on taking TESOL, here:

For those of you who think that theology has a ton of specific terms that you need to know (justification, sanctification, imago dei, ex nihilo, transubstantiation, incarnational missiology), you should give yourselves a real mental exercise: pick up the textbooks for a first-year grammar class in my current program of choice. For every part of language there is a term, and for every part of a part of the English language there is at least one term, and you need to know ALL of them.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it? Internalize the inner workings of the English linguistic contraption, adopt its cogs and gears as your own brain's types of thoughts and patterns, and become a walking encyclopedia of the mechanics of English usage: a TESOL-pedia.

Here are the benefits:

-If you have a "concept"-oriented mind (like me and, let's face it, most of you) and not a "formula"-oriented mind (what comes in handy for people who actually *like* math), this program will test you and will make you exercise yourself in new ways of thinking.

-If you plan on studying Greek or Hebrew, then learning to teach English grammar will get you up-to-date on some terminology you might be using. My copy of Mounce's book on Biblical Greek includes a chapter on English grammar precisely because this kind of knowledge is necessary for learning a Biblical language.

-If you plan to translate the Bible into English some day (maybe by sitting on the board for the 2033 NIV update?), knowing your English grammar exhaustively could be a big help in getting across a certain meaning.

-If you read the Bible in English, knowing grammar will help you pick up on the nuances of structure and word order that the translators have used to convey a certain meaning.

-Unless you plan to be a Bible College prof, knowledge of English grammar will get you further in life (ESL teacher?) than knowledge of theories on transubstantiation will (janitor?). Not saying that you shouldn't study theology -obviously, I love theology or I wouldn't refer to all my TESOL subjects for their theological value- but you're going to need something to pay for all of your hobby books, theology student. Why can't that book-funding thing be English teaching?

How Do You Read?

Amanda MacInnis-Hackney — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:06:15 CST

I�m gearing up for a couple of classes. So, I am knee-deep in pre-course reading and in preliminary research for my papers. The classes at Briercrest are in modular format, meaning that you take one class in an entire week-long intensive. In many ways it is great for those who have work/life commitments, but in some ways it changes how a student studies.

The work-load goes something like this:
Pre-course Reading
Pre-course assignment, usually interacting/reviewing/critiquing one of the assigned reading materials
Week-long lectures
Post-course assignments, usually a major research paper.

I have found that I have had to adapt my learning style and study habits to match this modular format. Gone are the days of doing weekly readings in advance of a weekly class. Instead, I find myself buried in reading material all at once.

What this has highlighted to me is that I read to gain knowledge, to learn; I don�t read to evaluate and critique. And unfortunately most of the pre-course assignments require a critique/evaluation method of reading.

Why do I do this? Part of it is probably because very often the course subject is new to me. For example, when I took �Gospels� I had never read N.T. Wright�s �Jesus and the Victory of God�, nor had I really done much studying in the field of the Quest for the Historical Jesus.

I think that I have this assumption that the text I am reading is correct. The person who has written the book, journal article etc is a) highly educated; b) usually an expert in the field; c) aware of arguments and counter-arguments surrounding the given topic. I then assume that the author is correct, and that it is my job to absorb the knowledge that they have spent so much time and effort in putting together.

Unless the author says something completely bone-headed, I am not very good at finding nuances in the argument to disagree with/critique/evaluate. Even if I am reading two or three different positions on the same topic, I tend to not take sides, recognizing that very often each of the different positions have something of value. (Is this a symptom of growing up in a post-modern culture?)

So I read the material, struggle with the reflection paper, and then once we have discussed the issues in class discussions, the light-bulb goes on, I have my �ah-ha� moment and I find myself being able to better say, �I agree/I disagree and here�s why.�

While I realize that the pre-course assignment is a way to ensure that the students actually come to class prepared, I wish that there was a better way to evaluate preparedness, rather than a paper done in isolation.

I�m pretty sure much of this comes out of the fact that I tend to be an �auditory� learner. I learn and retain and can synthesize information better when I hear it in lecture format, and in discussing/wrestling through the material orally in a discussion format.

Every Place Where Your Foot Shall Tread

Kendra Joy Jaarsma — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 13:01:11 CST

"Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you" (Josh 1:3, Amplified) .

When God wants to give us something, he really gives it. If only we are "strong and courageous" enough to claim and receive! Imagine: every place in the spiritual realm in which we tread with our prayers, the Lord will conquer and give. Yet I notice that it is through meditation on the word of God and obedience to it that we will be prosperous and successful. (Josh 1:7-8)

I've been thinking about this a lot in the past,,, thirteen hours or so =p I had an incredible time of prayer with two beloved sisters in Christ last night.. I haven't prayed or been prayed for like that in quite some time and I am anticipating how God will work through those prayers. But I wonder, if God really keeps means what He says, why I don't tread my feet more often in more places?

Today, I (as part of the TESOL family here at Briercrest) received an email from David Catterick highlighting four major answers to prayer that we had been praying about in our classes over the weeks. Testimonies of healing, salvation, obedience to callings, protection and deliverance in Ethiopia, Canada and the USA! I love our very Awesome and Powerful God =)

"Be Strong and very Courageous!"
for "I will give you every place upon which the soul of your foot shall tread."

Thanksgiving.

Caitlin Nelles — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:55:55 CST

So, I was super excited to be a student blogger but feeling rather uninspired to write anything, I had a lot of reading, and finally to top it off my laptop died.. Those are my excuses for not blogging until now. I am aware they are flimsy excuses, but hey, I'm blogging now. Thanksgiving weekend just ended and I sure was thankful for it, it was a great time to get away from dorm, and campus, and reading, and all things academic and just relax. My weekend consisted of putting on my stretchy pants and stuffing myself with turkey, and pie..Looking back on my weekend I am thankful for so many things, and if i was to write down a list of things I am thankful for immediately as they came to mind the first would be family. I did not get to spend thanksgiving weekend with my immediate family because of the distance, which I really struggled with, but I spent it with one of my best friends and her family. I've always had an understanding of the body of Christ and how we are a family, but being with someone else's family for 4 days, many of whom I have never met before this weekend, really opened my eyes to see how God uses other people in our lives to help and guide us through tough times, or even just to make us laugh. (which happened a lot this weekend) Family is something we can easily take for granted and overlook when thinking of things we are thankful for, this weekend reminded me of the many blessing my family, and my family in Christ, has given me. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."Psalm 100:4,5

Living in Caronport

Amanda MacInnis-Hackney — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:49:23 CST

Living in Caronport

After my husband and I made the decision to come out to Briercrest, I had a moment of panic. I had lived my entire life in the Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario, an area that takes only a couple of hours to drive from end to end, and home to 6.5 million people. Now I was moving to a province whose entire population was a sixth of that. I was moving from a bustling city of over half a million to a village of less than a thousand. Was I nuts? Granted, I had known since the time I was a little girl that I was a small town girl at heart. But I had always assumed that the small town would be something like Dundas (population 25,000).

But we knew that this was where God was calling us. So at the end of December, we packed up our belongings and loaded them into a U-Haul to begin the three-day drive across the country. We arrived in Caronport on New Year�s Day. It was cold. But I couldn�t really complain about that; it had been cold when we left Ontario as well.

We had arranged to rent a two-bedroom duplex from the housing department at Briercrest. This duplex had a basement, and someone had finished half of it at some time and put in an additional two bedrooms. It was as if we had moved into a palace. We had been living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Hamilton, and now we were in essentially a four-bedroom house, paying cheaper rent than we had for our tiny apartment in Hamilton.

We learned several things pretty quick. First, in the winter, the population of Caronport hibernates. There was hardly anyone outside. Which is understandable since, for the entire month of January, the mercury hovered at 20 below.

Second, you cannot buy a single Pepsi product within the town limits. Not at the convenience store; not at the vending machines; not at the school coffee shop. There must be some sort of theological implication to this, but I learned to stock up when we went to Moose Jaw to grocery shop.

Third, we learned that first full weekend to pay attention to the traffic reports. There is a handy website that gives the road conditions for southern Saskatchewan. We learned about it AFTER we had slid sideways down the Trans-Canada on our way to run errands in Moose Jaw.

Fourth, almost everyone here is from somewhere else. Even people who have lived here for 10-15 years are originally from somewhere else, and it is an amazing opportunity to talk to people from all different corners of the world. (That being said, most of the people I have met are from Western Canada).

Fifth, there is a different pace here than in Ontario. No one here is hurried. There is a feeling of �sure whenever,� and people do not hustle to and fro like they do in Hamilton.

Overall, it was a good move. If I could change one thing, though, I would have not moved in the middle of winter. But other than that, we have adapted to the rhythm of small-town living on the Saskatchewan prairie.

May I Suggest Some TESOL?

Sean Rice — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:54:01 CST

Hey,

Maybe those of you who are reading this blog are absolutely in love with theology. I get that. Maybe there are others who are looking into the biblical studies program. I respect that. But with all due respect, being a theology geek myself, I think that you should check out the TESOL program. Here are a few reasons:

(1) TESOL is a missions-focused, missionary making tool for those who want to reach the world for Christ. IT IS NOT JUST FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS - I plan to go off to Toronto after graduation to work with the immigrant community there. And besides me, there are other TESOL graduates who have opted to stay in North America.

(2) TESOL gives you access to countries (and communities) normally closed to the Gospel. Countries that do not like or want Jesus usually do need a lot of English teachers. The catch is that a six-month certificate isn't enough for some of these countries anymore: THEY WANT PEOPLE WITH A FOUR YEAR DEGREE, WHICH BRIERCREST HAS.

(3) TESOL helps you see that words mean things. There is, or was, a big push in the North American church recently to sort of break down and deconstruct things, and to talk circles around different words and bits of terminology until they didn't mean anything anymore. The big names in this push were Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones - Emergent church types. The really great thing about learning English is that you regain confidence in the fact that words can actually mean specific things, and that you can use them, and that you can understand them, and that not everything is just completely open and vague and up to interpretation.

(4) TESOL classroom teaching technique helps you become a better disciple-maker. Studying learner types, personalities, and motivations has definitely borne fruit (in the first month of taking classes!) in how I disciple younger Christians and pre-Christians (when they aren't Christians yet, but you can tell that God is working on them). I'm starting to tailor the way that I say things or present things to best match the personality of the person that I am trying to mentor.

- I now know to look for their motivation--why are they going to church and reading their Bibles?--to see how to encourage them.

- I am starting to recognize the value in looking at their personalities--are they more practical, theoretical, emotional, or structured?--to figure out how to present biblical truth to them.

- I am still trying to figure out how visual, auditory, and hands-on learner types fit in with trying to learn the Bible. Maybe I would give visual people a comic Bible, and the auditory people would get Bible mp3's, and I would have to figure out how to get the hands-on guys to act out Bible stories without feeling like they're five years old.

Point is, even for a theology geek like me, there is plenty to appreciate in the TESOL program. If you have questions you should send me a message or add me on Facebook.

Jesus bless,
-Sean