Confessions of a Seminarian

A New Chapter for Confessions of a Seminarian

At last, it is time for me to “unveil” that which I have been ambiguously alluding to throughout the past few weeks.

Over the course of this blog’s existence, I have noticed some recurring themes. The discussions I have been blessed to participate in have centered on clearing up misconceptions about Christianity, apologetics against both modern and postmodern culture, and exclusive truth communicated with Christian love. Averaging 20 views per day and totaling almost 3,000 views over the course of the last five months, and currently maintaining a solid 35 views per day, the majority of visitors have been non-Christian. The irony in this is that I originally intended my writing to be a resource for Christians to be missional. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the writings themselves seemed to be accomplishing their missional focus.
As a result of this and other experiences, I have realized that:

1. There is a great need for contextualized, intelligible, and beyond-the-surface exposition of the gospel.
2. There is a sore lack of Christian love displayed to both believers and non-believers.
3. I am ill-equipped to fill the almost infinite variety of perspectives, culture, and experiences encountered by myself.

Thus, this blog is no longer mine alone. As of today, it is a multi-contributor Web site staffed by fellow seminarians and students of religious studies. I owe much of this idea to De-Conversion, as their multi-contributor approach has illustrated how effective a wide base of knowledge and experience is in relating to the various perspectives of visitors to their forum. While I made the decision to adapt this blog in the spirit of this philosophy, it was not done with the intention of providing a Christian mirror image of De-Conversion. Far more than that, this blog is a ministry. The vision for this ministry is three-fold:

1. In reference to Christians, that it would be a missional and culturally engaging example suitable for imitation (II Thessalonians 3:7) and a one-stop-resource for articles, media, and other information helpful for developing a missional focus and attitude in all of life.
2. In reference to non-Christians, that it would be a loving and respectful medium for discussion, disagreement, Q&A, and insight into the gospel played out on the internet.
3. In reference to all people, that it would be a window into the truth of the gospel through debunking misconceptions, general apologetics, presentation of the Christian worldview, and objective truth proclamation.

Our goal is not to change anyone’s mind, but to be gospel-faithful in proclaiming the objective truth and reality of the risen Christ while simultaneously loving our neighbors as ourselves. With the publishing of this post, we have also added a new “Contributors” page, where you can find information about each of the authors on this site, as well as a brand new “About This Site” page, where you can find far more information about our philosophy, goals, and vision. As time goes on, we will be adding a few more contributors, and creating a process for “guest authors” to post articles. If you are interested in this, let us know, and we will contact you as soon as we develop an application and article review process.

Also, the “Resources” page will be getting some much love and attention as we seek to fulfill the “one-stop-resource” aspect of our vision in ministry. Check back frequently!

Please join me in welcoming Josh, Jim, and Mike to Confessions of a Seminarian! It is our collective hope and prayer that this would be a “safe-house” for the exchange of ideas, questions and doubts, and a catalyst for growth in gospel faith.

Romans 1:11-12
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.