more education

I've been accepted by Fuller Theological Seminary into their Doctor of Ministry program. The program is designed for pastors (such as myself) who are currently in the field (such as myself.) Here's how it all works. The campus is in Pasadena, California. I travel there for classes, two weeks every Fall for about five years. Before each class I have to do upward of 4500 pages of reading. After the course I have a few months to complete the projects. It's a really good program and I'm looking forward to it. Can you believe that I've actually bought most of the books I need to read and am making good headway on them? Me? A guy who never cracked a book in high school and college? I did a lot better with reading during my Master's degree, but these days I'm having a sense of discipline like never before. I prayed for discipline but didn't think I'd have to wait so long to get it!
The books aren't ones I've read nor even heard of, but they're great books. I've been challenged by the material and have had to search my heart about leadership in general and what spiritual leadership in particular, is all about. That's okay, though. I'm having my mind expanded and my heart worked on!
This past weekend I preached a sermon entitled, "A Witnessing Body" and it was about Christ's command for all of us to, "Go, preach the good news, make disciples, baptize them and teach them." I researched the word "disciple" in the Greek. I found that it literally means a "learner." I guess the only question now is, "Am I a true disciple? Am I constantly learning?" If you're like me you tend to read material that only affirms your already-established beliefs. That's one form of learning and it's valuable. The next step for a lot of us is to read material we wouldn't otherwise read. Material that will challenge our notions and make us stretch.
Learner. Life-long learner. I like that.