The Tulip Driven Life

By: Thomas F. Booher The difference between Bible college and seminary is deep and wide, for me at least. There are many reasons for this, but the fundamental difference is that I am now preparing to be a minister of the Word of God. Better, I am now being prepared to be a minister of the Word of God. This is not the case at Bible college. Here are some challenges I have found peculiar to seminary: 1.) Private Worship: No, it's not like you shouldn't do personal devotions and family worship before seminary. The point is, if you do not develop good habits of doing that now, you never will. And if you can't read the Word yourself devotionally and be regular in prayer at seminary, you simply aren't called to be a pastor, at least not yet. I am learning more and more the importance of reading the Word and communing with God. Studying passages for a class or report doesn't replace private, devotional worship. If you think it does, you will suffer. You need a re...

By: Thomas F. Booher 2 Corinthians 13:5 is an exhortation for Christians to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith. It says that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you fail the test. This is not because failing the test takes Christ from you, nor does the passage mean that passing this test is how you came into union with Christ in the first place. No, the reality is that passing this test is evidence that Christ is in you, because Christ works in believers both to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). This test is a working out of your salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). It is a check on how well you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the power of the Spirit. In my experience, and taking the temperature as best I can of American reformed preaching and teaching today, it seems right to say that we are no longer preaching the necessity of sanctification in order to obtain final salvation. Put another way, it seems to me we do not really teach, ...