Should you pursue a PhD?

I am a PhD candidate in Church History/Theology. I am in my fourth year of study. I have 69,000 words out of 80,000 written on my thesis. I am attending a British university where the PhD is 100% research, no classes.

Many of my masters-graduated friends ask me if they should pursue the terminal degree. This is my answer to all.

If you can do the following: you can make it.

1. Study.  I mean study for hours a day.

2. Limit your social obligations. Here it is New Year's Eve and I am in my room with the door locked. I am not partying. You will have to give up many, many parties, events, that you once attended.

3. Rewrite. I remember vaguely the days of roughdraft-edit-final draft. Any paper or chapter that is a finished project has gone through at least eight drafts, usually more.

4. Take criticism. If your advisor/supervisor is doing their job, they will rip your work to pieces in the beginning. You have to be able to take it.

5.  Be disciplined. When writing a thesis/dissertation, you have to set your own deadlines. No one will make you sit your butt in the chair and type except you.

6. Be humble. Education is a long lesson in humility. If you think you know everything you need to know and just need the letters at the end of your name, forget it. You won't make it past the first semester.  The more you know, the more you will realize what you do not know.

Ordinary 22 Proper 22 Matthew 7:13-14 The Two Paths Roads

This passage is a short saying that people could easily remember. Jesus often used these. He speaks in opposites, in a parallel way. The text may be aligned in the following way.

NIV

Enter through the narrow gate

For                                                                              But

wide is the gate                                                        small is the gate

and broad is the road                                               and narrow is the road

 that leads                                                                  that leads

 to destruction,                                                          to life

 and may enter                                                          and only a few

 through it                                                                  find it

NRSV

For                                                                              For

the gate is wide                                                         gate is narrow

that leads                                                                   that leads

to destruction                                                            to life

road is easy                                                                road is hard

So much advice about life has to do with choosing one's path or road or way.  

How do we know which is the right or best way? Often we choose based upon the way that most people are going. Have you ever arrived at an appointment or event and did not know exactly where to go? You followed the crowd and hopefully arrived at the right place. However, this is not the direction that Jesus gives. The right way is the narrow gate, the one not easily found; most people do not even bother to look. It is rough, the road is hard. 

“For it is one thing to see the Land of Peace from a wooded ridge, and yet another to walk the road that leads to it.”  Augustine of Hippo

The Road Not Taken

BY Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Easter 3 Walk to Emmaus Luke 24:13-49

A favorite passage for many reasons. And so very easy to preach. But sometimes the easy passages to preach become difficult as you have preached them so many times. Perhaps this will give you a few insights.

1. They did not recognize him. Why not? Did he look different? Did he sound different? Or was it simply because, well, he died! Who expects the person they saw die 3 days ago to be walking next to them?

2. The Scriptures revealed to them who he was. The Gospels are careful to point out that Jesus as Messiah was a fulfillment of the prophecies.

3. They recognized him at the Table. Note he didn't ask if they believed before they sat down or even before he broke the bread. My tradition, Wesleyan, believes in an open table. We do not believe that there is any requirement for sharing the Lord's Supper except for a desire to know Jesus.

4. This passage may be used as a lens in which to interpret all of Scripture.
    a. We come with limited knowledge
    b. The spirit of Christ reveals the Scriptures to us.
    c. The Spirit reveals His Word at the Table.

Last Epiphany Year A Transfiguration Sunday Matthew 17:1-9 Exodus 24:12-18

There are two places in the Gospels where the disciples experience the full glory of Jesus. This is one; the other is the resurrection.

Jesus, on the mountain, like Moses in Exodus 24, encounters the glory of the father. The people cannot bear to witness Moses' face so he wears a veil. But the disciples look on the face of Jesus during the encounter and after. Jesus has revealed the power and presence of God in the flesh, something Moses could not do. Yet here we find Moses again!

Some questions that arise from this passage:

1. How did Peter know it was Moses and Elijah? Jews did not carve statues of their leaders nor did they paint pictures of him. The only thing he could base their identity on was the prophecies.

2. Why did Peter want to build tabernacles for the three? Did he think he could keep them right there forever?

3. Why did Jesus only let three of his disciples view this and not the 12?

4. Why were the disciples afraid when the voice said This is my beloved son. Was it particularly loud? How did they know it was God's voice? Did God's voice sound anything like Jesus' voice?

5. Why did Jesus tell them not to tell anyone about this incident?

Reflections on celebrity death [Philip Seymour Hoffman] and Superbowl Sunday

Why does social media light up when one famous person is found dead of an overdose of illegal drugs but doesn't seem to say anything about the millions dying everyday from this epidemic? 

Why does social media light up with complaints about lack of good commercials and bad defense over the superbowl but says little about the drug and human trafficking problems tied up with super sporting events in this country?

Where are our priorities? Drugs kill people every single day; not just users but innocent victims around the users. 

Speak out against drug use and encourage those you know with addiction to get help. I highly recommend 12 step programs. They are free and they are everywhere. Do a simple google search for Alcoholics Anonymous in your area. A Christian twelve stop recovery program is called Celebrate Recovery and it is now in most cities. Once again, these programs are 100% free.