I decided not to do a blog post starting like this:“Well, this has been a very difficult year….” Or like this:“I am sure many of us can’t wait for this pandemic and election to be over….” However, I believe Scripture directs us differently.
In the month of November, I took the “Matthew Challenge.” No social media. 30 minutes of prayer every day (almost). Three chapters of Gospel reading, daily. It has been life giving and re-orienting. I have never read so much of the Gospels in a month.
Thanksgiving, I mean thankfulness that is genuine, overflows into love for others.
“A sense of social responsibility, buried too long, perhaps under the wrong kind of conservative instincts, is rising to the surface, and demanding a place in the sun.”
At times it seems like the pandemic will never end. At times it seems like the election animosities will never end. At times it seems like the Church will never be united.
In ancient times the high places were places of worship, devotion, and often of idolatry. They got Israel in a lot of trouble. I have been told that Gordon-Conwell is on the highest point on Cape Ann. Such a point of elevation may have some positive symbolic value. I believe it does.
Character can not be formed without developing rhythms of life. Patterns for living make it possible to develop virtues.
How does a seminary with a tradition going back over 130 years change its culture and ethos? Here is a good place to start.
In my first year at Gordon-Conwell, we had just moved from Virginia with a 2 month old and a 2 year old.
Gordon-Conwell is about the Bible.