Sunday, April 15, 2018

A Glimpse of What's to Come

Well, it's official. As of Wednesday, April 11, 2018, professors and other students began referring to me as Dr. Andrew Hollingsworth. Though technically speaking, the status Doctor of Philosophy will not be conferred upon me until the graduation ceremony (May 19, 2018), I have fulfilled all of the requirements necessary for the Ph.D. degree in Theology following my dissertation defense on April 11. So what does this mean? First, it means I have a lot of small edits and corrections to make for the final copy of the dissertation before May 4. Second, this means that I will now have time to write these blog entries I've been wanting to write, which brings me to restate my purpose in having this blog.

     As I stated before in my first entry, which I wrote a couple of years ago, my goal in this blog was to get some of the ideas in my head out for others to read. This goal has changed slightly. Though I will, out of necessity, be writing a lot of my ideas down for others to read, this is no longer my primary telos. I have decided to take up this blog, now, because God has provided all of the means necessary for me to earn a Ph.D. in Theology so I can better write for and teach his Church. Heath Thomas of Oklahoma Baptist University once told me to consider the following questions when trying to decipher God's will for my life: 1) What is God's agenda? 2) What is God's desire for all nations? and 3) How can I, with the education he has provided me, be a part of God's agenda? God's agenda is to establish his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. God's desire for all nations is to acknowledge him as their God and enter into fellowship with him, i.e. be part of his kingdom. So how can I play a part in this?

     Throughout my education, I have believed that God was equipping me and leading me to teach and write in theological academia. He has given me an insatiable desire to search for the truth, and he has given me the desire to relay the truth to others. I believe that God has called me to be a theologian. Granted, everyone is a theologian to some extent, but I believe that God has called me to the ministerial position of theologian. In other words, I believe that God has called me to teach his Church the truth about him and to lead his Church to pursue him. I believe that God has called me to do this from the platform of the classroom and through publications. He has not yet, however, provided me with that platform (which is not surprising since I have yet to graduate officially!), but he has provided me with access to this free blog! To clarify, though I believe God has called me to the classroom, I do not believe that he has called me to teach only in the classroom. He has not called me to be a theologian that can only talk to other theologians. Regardless of the ministerial office, be it pastor, teacher, missionary, student minister, church planter, worship leader, professor, etc., all ministers have the same instructions from Jesus: feed my sheep. With the desire to teach and write, God also has given me the desire to feed his sheep that are not in the classroom. That's where the ministry of writing, and this blog, enter.

     I want this blog to be a place where theologians and non-theologians alike can come and read stimulating articles that inform them about who God is, who they, the readers, are, and what God is doing with his creation. Regardless of your level of education, I want you, the reader, to read the posts on this blog and, as a result, have a better understanding of who God is, have a better understanding of who you are, and have a better understanding of what he, God, wants to do in your life. So this blog is intended for interested laypersons, college students, seminary students, as well as other professional theologians (I say other professional theologians because they need to be ministered to as well). If you fit any of these categories then this blog is for you!

     Some/most of these articles will be very practical in orientation. They will attempt to provide basic descriptions of theological and biblical topics that aim at aiding the reader to better understand God and themselves. Other articles will be denser, and maybe more abstract, but that does not neglect their importance. Some of the topics in these few posts will be more difficult to wrap your mind around, but if you can work through them, I promise that their content can have profound implications for your life! And yes, I will do everything I can to make these more difficult posts as ascertainable as possible!

     That is all I have for this post. Hopefully, you did not fall asleep while reading it! I look forward to writing these posts for you, and I pray that our Lord uses them to help you know him better and better walk through life in faith. Blessings!

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