As I mentioned this morning, our family recently returned from my study break. In this post, I want to share a few more things about our experience than I was able to mention in the service this morning.
There are multiple purposes for the study break:
- To disconnect from daily and weekly pressures of church ministry so that I can connect to God in a more focused way
- To spend time praying and studying through the sermon series beginning in the fall
- To listen to God regarding issues related to my personal life, the church, ministry vision and direction, and anything else God wants to talk about
- To study and write on subjects that might be helpful for Calvary
- To work on research projects
- To read broadly so as to be able to engage with what is happening in the culture and deeply so as to continue to learn new biblical and theological insights to be able to share with the staff, elders and congregation
- To network with other Christian leaders and visit other churches
In order to accomplish these purposes, I try to find a place outside of Grand Rapids, where there will be other Christians studying and working, as well as significant biblical library resources. This year the Lord led us to England. We spent time in Oxford, where as an alum I have access to the whole university library system, and Cambridge where we stayed at the Tyndale House (www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk), a fantastic research facility for biblical scholars from around the world.
Almost every day, I studied in the library from 8-5:30 and then often worked for several hours after the kids went to bed. Lunches were usually reserved for fasting and prayer time with the Lord, networking with other Christians, or having lunch with my family. While these are long hours, the change of pace from sermon preparation is refreshing for me. Because my study break is not vacation, I usually combine it with a week’s vacation. This year we had the chance to take the kids to London, as well as explore Oxford and Cambridge with my five days off.
Each study break takes on its own personality. This year was the study break of major projects and there were four that I spent a considerable amount of time on:
1) Sermon Series – I laid out the rest of our summer sermon series on spiritual warfare. I also laid out the sermon series for the next school calendar year, which will focus on 1 and 2 Samuel.
2) Research – I researched and wrote information for the elders to discuss relating to the area of spiritual warfare.
3) Commentary – I studied and wrote sections for a commentary on the book of James.
4) Reliability of the Gospels – I studied technical issues related to the reliability of the Gospels.
One of my favorite things to do on my study breaks is to read widely. Including a reading week a couple months prior to the study break, I read nearly 20 books, including:
- Sit-Stand-Walk by Watchman Nee
- Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson
- Spiritual Warfare by Clint Arnold
- Powers of Evil by Sydney Page
- Christian in Complete Armor by William Gurnall
- In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism among Early Christians by Graham Twelftree
- Men Behaving Badly by John Goldingay
- Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
- Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham
- Leap Over a Wall by Eugene Peterson
- Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Thantos Syndrome by Walker Percy
- Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
- Imagine by Jonah Lehrer
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Treasure Island by Robert Stevenson
In addition to reading books, I also try to look through the latest issues of dozens of magazines and major journals for important and interesting articles. This year, I looked for articles that our pastoral staff could read together this year. Some of the articles I brought home include:
- Jared Compton, “The Origin of soma in Heb 10:5: Another Look at a Recent Proposal”
- Abraham Kuruvila, “Pericopal Theology: An intermediary between text and application”
- John Barclay, “Believers and the Last Judgment in Paul: Rethinking Grace and Recompense.”
- Mark Rogers, “A Dangerous Idea? Martin Luther, E. Y. Mullins, and the Priesthood of All Believers.”
One of the greatest benefits of the study break is the opportunity to interact with amazing and inspiring Christians from around the world who are striving to further Christ and his kingdom. This year:
- I spent time with members of both the NIV and ESV translation committees.
- I attended the Oxford New Testament seminar, and was able to interact with my former supervisor.
- Lisa and I spent the evening with the pastor of Calvary Church in Valparaiso, IN and his wife. This was greatly encouraging to us, not the least because students from Calvary attend the church.
- Two students working on PhDs in the Psalms helped me think through some important issues for our sermon series this year.
- Our family formed a relationship with a family from Hungary that was wonderful for our entire family.
- We became friends with a PhD student and his family who are planning to do a church plant in Toronto next year.
- We interacted with evangelical Christians from Australia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Mongolia, Japan, Great Britain, Uganda, Tajikistan, and even one from West Michigan!
All in all, my study break is a real blessing. There is nothing that can compare to having time away from the daily pressure of concern for the people of Calvary to pray, study, meditate, read, write and listen to God.
However, we are so thankful to be home and part of the Calvary family again.
Blessings,
Jim