Bound for Boston

Tomorrow I am headed as far north as I've ever been in the U.S. The next two days I will be taking part in the "Discover" weekend at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary outside Boston, Mass. I really don't know what to expect, as I've never really had any experience at a Seminary. I went to Southeastern last February for an Apologetics conference, and also went down to Columbia International University in high school to visit. My experience at Southeastern in some ways ignited a passion for me to pursue Seminary, as I sat in on a lecture on worship led by a professor there, and also heard a professor named Bruce Ashford speak a couple times. Anyways, I'm excited about visiting Gordon Conwell, and hope to gain more understanding as to what to look for in seminaries. In a way it's hard to believe these sort of decisions are right around the corner, but on the other hand I'm excited about seeing where God directs my paths. I'm also excited about visiting Boston in general. It seems like a city with a rich culture, a lot based on the history of its location. However, with the Red Sox looking like they won't be in the playoffs this year (actually I think it's impossible for them to get a Wild Card spot at this point), I'm wondering if that will affect the mood of the city. We'll see. This past week at school has been stressful as I had 3 tests this week, but Fall Retreat this past weekend was awesome. I'm really glad I decided to go at the last minute, and it was probably the best Fall Retreat of my 4 years up here. It's hard to distinguish between the different ones, as they all had the common themes of being held at Camp Tapawingo, and all usually consisted of Packy and Jon Bass decked out in camo, and me having run-ins with barbwire during Capture the Flag. This year managed to leave out both of those, but it was made up for by some solid games of volleyball, cornhole, and Mafia, as well as chillen with the fellas late Saturday night, and some incredible experiences that made me feel like some things just aren't about me. What I mean by that in terms of this weekend is first of all cabin time. In leading the discussion time, I asked one question: simply, "What did you all learn from Daron's talk tonight" (Daron by the way was the speaker). For the next 30 minutes, the 13 or so guys in Cabin 3 proceeded to encourage one another with truth God had been teaching them, whether from the talk, or other experiences or reading. It was incredible to see guys being honest with each other, while at the same time sharing truth. That's something I think I've been learning this semester, namely the importance of being honest with my brothers in Christ, like Andrew, Dan, Nate, etc... and then also sharing truth from God's word with each other. Louie Giglio put it really well in a talk I listened to through Itunes from Passion a couple years ago, called "Waking up to the Whole Gospel." This talk is one that stands at the forefront of my mind in terms of radically changing my view of the way the Christian life is lived. Even though I forget how to live it everyday, I am hopeful that I am in the process of waking up, by pressing up and in to the Gospel which changes everything - as Daron put it this weekend. I'll be sure to let ya'll know how Boston is.

- MB