SaggyWoman
Active Member
And your answer is...............
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Do you have a degree?
- Thread starter SaggyWoman
- Start date
There was a laddie in college named Breeze,
Weighed down with BA's and BD's,
Said the doctor, "It's plain,"
"You are killing yourself by degrees."
In the early days we got three years of Bible college and got out into the ministry. Many of those men never did get a degree, and they ministered quite well.
I never allowed a church to publish my degrees. They just didn't matter. Shucks, people might have expected me to be intelligent!
Cheers,
Jim
Weighed down with BA's and BD's,
Said the doctor, "It's plain,"
"You are killing yourself by degrees."
In the early days we got three years of Bible college and got out into the ministry. Many of those men never did get a degree, and they ministered quite well.
I never allowed a church to publish my degrees. They just didn't matter. Shucks, people might have expected me to be intelligent!
Cheers,
Jim
Bought a coffee mug years ago.
I got a B.A.
I got a M.A.
I got a Ph.D.
Now all I need is a J.O.B.
:laugh:
I got a B.A.
I got a M.A.
I got a Ph.D.
Now all I need is a J.O.B.
:laugh:
High school diploma...with "certificate of merit" whatever that means
B.S.
B.S.
M.Div
Ph.D
B.S.
B.S.
M.Div
Ph.D
Tom Butler
New Member
I have an AB degree from Union University, a Tennessee Baptist school. My major was English, with only the requisite religion courses required for graduation.
I was one of those kids who made fun of the ministerial students, who suddenly learned to say Gawww-duh. We called the minis-teeee-rial students.
We were just having fun, preparing our fellow ministeeerial students for being pastors of members who thought they, not the pastor, should run things.
I was one of those kids who made fun of the ministerial students, who suddenly learned to say Gawww-duh. We called the minis-teeee-rial students.
We were just having fun, preparing our fellow ministeeerial students for being pastors of members who thought they, not the pastor, should run things.
Jim Response
Jim,
In times gone by I wanted all to know my "academic pedigree," and am still that way probably to some "degree" (pun intended). But as I get older it seems to mean less and less. (FTR [For the Record], my academic credentials are published in a different thread on the BB that asked that question a long time ago when I first joined the BB. They are here but you will have to go and find them.).
I will quote a scholar of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. When I was about to graduate with my MDiv, I did the J-Term of 1996 with him, he made a comment that has stuck with me. This was in the context of what doctorate I was to do, where, when, how, and all those questions that most of us have considered at one time or another. A comment of which I have turned over in my mind many-a-time since then.
Dr. Marvin Tate, an OT Scholar of some renown said: "It seems to me that the doctorate you get is of little consequence--it is what you do with it that is more important!"
This is rather simplistic but so so true. I hope someone will get some use from this "golden nugget."
"That is all!":smilewinkgrin:
Jim,
In times gone by I wanted all to know my "academic pedigree," and am still that way probably to some "degree" (pun intended). But as I get older it seems to mean less and less. (FTR [For the Record], my academic credentials are published in a different thread on the BB that asked that question a long time ago when I first joined the BB. They are here but you will have to go and find them.).
I will quote a scholar of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. When I was about to graduate with my MDiv, I did the J-Term of 1996 with him, he made a comment that has stuck with me. This was in the context of what doctorate I was to do, where, when, how, and all those questions that most of us have considered at one time or another. A comment of which I have turned over in my mind many-a-time since then.
Dr. Marvin Tate, an OT Scholar of some renown said: "It seems to me that the doctorate you get is of little consequence--it is what you do with it that is more important!"
This is rather simplistic but so so true. I hope someone will get some use from this "golden nugget."
"That is all!":smilewinkgrin:
Last edited by a moderator:
RD,
As you know, I have been around a few years. I have heard men with degrees, whose sermons were hollow in their academia. On the other hand, I have heard men without degrees lead me to tears.
The most important instruction I received early on was....to be available. When we preach, we address all the people, and this includes those without an education. The lawyer, doctor and professor will understand that message, and so will that person without any degree. Now, what is more important?
As you get older, you appreciate all people, and serve them well.
Cheers,
Jim
As you know, I have been around a few years. I have heard men with degrees, whose sermons were hollow in their academia. On the other hand, I have heard men without degrees lead me to tears.
The most important instruction I received early on was....to be available. When we preach, we address all the people, and this includes those without an education. The lawyer, doctor and professor will understand that message, and so will that person without any degree. Now, what is more important?
As you get older, you appreciate all people, and serve them well.
Cheers,
Jim
David Michael Harris
Active Member
BA in Christianity = Born Again 
Have various achievements in Agriculture, studied also for HND Agriculture University of Scotland. SAC.
Have various achievements in Agriculture, studied also for HND Agriculture University of Scotland. SAC.
SaggyWoman
Active Member
bump it up.
following-Him
Active Member
I have a BA (Hons) in Theology with Religious Studies.
I have yet to complete my MA.
I have yet to complete my MA.
Bachelors in Music Ed.
M.Div.
Doctorate
The most valuable things I've learned wasn't from seminary, but from working with people and studying God's Word for over 25 years.
M.Div.
Doctorate
The most valuable things I've learned wasn't from seminary, but from working with people and studying God's Word for over 25 years.
North Carolina Tentmaker
New Member
I have several degrees. I had a secular engineering BS degree before I was called to preach. After being called I earned (over time) an associates degree in Bible, a bachelors degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity, and then a Doctor of Biblical Studies. My wife laughs that my Dr. degree is in BS.
A degree is nothing more than a door opener. I have received engineering jobs that other men could have done just as well, but I was hired because of my education. Likewise there have been opportunities for ministry and witness that were a direct result of my religious education. In order to get that first opportunity it is often not what you know or can do but what you can prove you know that matters. Over time in a church or job those education creditials matter less and less, because people know you and what you can do.
A degree is nothing more than a door opener. I have received engineering jobs that other men could have done just as well, but I was hired because of my education. Likewise there have been opportunities for ministry and witness that were a direct result of my religious education. In order to get that first opportunity it is often not what you know or can do but what you can prove you know that matters. Over time in a church or job those education creditials matter less and less, because people know you and what you can do.