ShaneGarrison.org

The dissertation defense went amazing yesterday.  Just three of us were there.  Me, Dr. Williams, my dissertation chairman, and Dr. Jones, my second reader.  I did my 25 minute presentation.  Then they asked a few questions and gave me some minor changes I need to make the document.

The questions were about my conclusions and why I thought certain things were happening.  Very engaging conversation.  I haven’t found many folks who even think about my dissertation topic (Christian higher education administration), much less talk about the topic with some excitement.

Then they asked me to step out of the room.  While outside, they privately discussed my work.  Then they called me back into the room.

Dr. Williams then said the magic words.  Shane, we are going to approve your dissertation and move you onto December graduation.  Congratulations. Those words sealed the deal.  I have completed my doctoral studies and my dissertation.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7 (16 days before my 32nd birthday), I will sit for my dissertation defense. 10 AM at Southern Seminary in Louisville.

For a couple hours, I will present my findings and listen intently as my dissertation committee gives me their critiques of my research and writing.  I will have opportunity to ask them questions about ways the document can be improved before the final printing later this summer.

If everything goes good (as I predict it will), then tomorrow by around 12 noon, it will be all over.  My doctoral studies will be complete.  My dissertation will be defended.  And my name will be changed forever to Dr. Garrison.

Wow.  Big day.

We finished our 7-week stint at Main Street BC yesterday.  The final message was called Lydia: My Heart and Home.  Available at iTunes, search Sievechurch.

It was such an honor to return to our former church and be involved once again.  Friendships were rekindled and it really felt like we had never left.  The people were so kind to us and made us feel like home-folk.

There are not many churches in North America like Main Street.  The staff is amazing.  The people are truly trying to seek Christ first in their lives.  The times of worship are powerful and inspired.

I am sure I will serve in numerous churches over the years, filling in and doing consulting work, but Main Street will always a very special place in my heart.

For all my CU friends and alum, CU has launched a new website.  It is really nice.  Included in the renovation project was a complete revamp on the School of Theology area.  Dr. Hurtgen, my boss and dean, and I have worked on these new elements, pages, and aspects of our section.

I would love for you to check it out: www.campbellsville.edu or http://cu.publishpath.com/school-of-theology.

This past week I preached a message from Acts 10 entitled Peter: My View of Other People.  The message was dealt with the issue of race and seeing people for the character of their hearts, not the color of their skin.

We featured the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King had a dream that one day people of all nations, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant would stand together under the banner of freedom.  This is the same issue Peter was struggling with in Acts 10.  It was a powerful day and a challenging one all at the same time.

You can listen to the message at iTunes (keyword: Sievechurch) or by going to http://sievechurch.wordpress.com.  Only one week left at Main Street.  Boo hisss.

“What’s your cell phone number?”  My reply, “I don’t have a cell phone.”  “What! You don’t have a cell phone?  HOW DO YOU SURVIVE!  Everyone has a cell phone.”

I have this conversation ALL the time.  People are fascinated with our family’s decision to leave the cellular age 2 years ago.  Now in light of full disclosure, we do have a Pay As You Go phone, just like the one pictured.  But we only use it for traveling and babysitters.  We pay about $25 every 2 months.

So why did we leave the cellular age?  5 major reasons.

1.  The Cost.  When we had both our cell phones, we were paying nearly $80 a month.  On a Dave Ramsey budget, that was not a necessity to survive, so they had to go.

2.  The Availability to People.  The more I used my cell phone, the more I became available and accessible to people via voice messages, texts, and calls.  No place was safe to be away from everyone as long as the phone was clipped to my belt.  I needed to order my private and public life and the cell phone caused a blur in those lines of distinction.

3.  The Impact on My Family.  When I was on the cell phone, I was completely distracted from my family.  I go into the “on” mode and would forget if I was playing with the boys or having a conversation with Jennifer.  They deserve more.

4.  No Rings in Meetings.  I hate when a cell phone rings in a meeting.  I have always been one of those who doesn’t use the silence or buzz functions, I just turned the thing off so that there is no possible chance of a ring.  I remember someone saying once, “Why do you even have a cell phone, you never turn it on.”  Exactly. 

5.  Ministry to Real People through Real Connections.  A hand on the shoulder, a smiling face, a quiet moment of prayer while holding someones hand.  My view of ministry doesn’t include faceless communication, distracted conversations, and text message-type responses.  I want to be truly focused on people and ministering to them through the cell phone created distance and lack of intimacy.

Call me old fashioned.  Call me a Puritan.  Call me a freak of nature.  Call me whatever you like.  But we are probably not going back to the cellular age.

My wife rocks!  She is simply awesome.  She got me a Wii for Father’s Day. 

Now my last video game console was a PlayStation 1.  Some of my teenagers back at Trinity Bapt. Church gave me their old parts and put together the machine so I could have something to play in seminary.  So I am making a huge jump forward to the Wii.

Oh wait, I did buy what we called the “Woo” at JC Penney’s last year on Black Friday.  Not quite the same as the real thing.  It lacked a lot.  Even Isaac thought the graphics were poor.  And he doesn’t even know what graphics are.

Needless to say, I pumped.

It is hard to believe we are through 5 weeks at Main Street.  Only two weeks remain.  This has been such a wonderful blessing to be back at Main Street and to get reacquainted with so many folks who we consider dear dear friends and family.

This past week was Father’s day and I preached a message on Cornelius from Acts 10.  The week before was way more feminine and girly as we studied Dorcas in Act 9.  You can hear that message at iTunes or by going to www.sievechurch.wordpress.com. 

This week is probably the most heavy message of the entire series entitled Peter: My View of People.  Peter’s transformation in Acts 10 is nothing short of radical.  This message was partly inspired by my visit to the Dr. Martin Luther King Museum in Altanta last fall (read post here) and to reading the book, Becoming King, about Dr. King’s pastorate in Alabama.

This week is a busy one.  SBC Convention.  My summer classes finish Friday.  Two Maple Trail consulting appointments.  And then back to NKY on Friday for more visits and meetings.  I love summer ministry.

It’s Friday and I am just getting to recap Main Street Week 2.  We had two baptisms, which were both boys that I had spent time with as the CEC administrator.  We celebrated the Awana graduates and the High School graduates.  Great music and fellowship.

The message was focused on the life of Barnabas entitled Barnabas:  My Property & Calling taken from three sections in the book of Acts.  You can hear it on iTunes (search “sievechurch”) or go here.  I really felt God was moving.  His presence was close and I believe we all grew because of it.

Week 3’s message is entitled Ananias & Sapphira: My Integrity and Family Name from Acts 5:1-11.

I have relocated out of the Druien Hall basement.  One year in the basement was all I got.  Many others have lasted for years before they moved up.

So I am out of DH 5A, up to DH 122.  I now have two vents for heating and cooling (none downstairs), two windows with a view on the parking lot (absolutely no outside light downstairs), and a closet for the ole’ regalia.   I even share an old bathroom with my colleague and office neigbor, Dr. Dwayne Howell.  No plumbing but more space for storage and files. 

This is a huge step up.  I believe this is the former room of my dear friends Tiffany Schofner and Victoria Alexander Smith.  I am not for sure, but  think so.

Each summer I take on 3 books or so to read during the break.  Last summer it was all Oprah book club: Kite Runner, The Shack, and The Road.  The summer before that was Tuesday’s with Morrie, Lesson before Dying, and Harry Potter No. 7.

This summer we are going in a slightly different direction. The summer reading list is:

• Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Making of a National Leader by Troy Jackson.  This book specifically looks at the time Dr. King was pastoring in Montgomery, AL at Dexter Ave. Baptist Church.  After my trip to Atlanta last fall and visiting the Dr. King museum, I have wanted to learn more about his life, ministry, and preaching.
• God is the Gospel by John Piper.  I received this book a couple years ago at the Together for the Gospel conference and am now just getting to it.  I need to be challenged in my understanding of God.  I heard Piper preach that when we get a bigger view of God, we get a better understanding of the Gospel.  This book should do just that.
• The Autobiography of Malcom X by Alex Haley.  I have been fascinated with Malcom X since seeing the Denzel Washington film portrayal years ago.  With my study of Dr. King, I thought it would be interesting to read about a contemporary of King who took on a whole different direction in the Civil Rights movement.  I have also been interested in the Nation of Islam.

Last Thursday night (May 28) roughly 12:15 AM, I emailed my draft dissertation to my dissertation chairman.  It finally came to an end. 

Official title:  Models of Academic Governance and Institutional Power on Southern Baptist Related Liberal Arts Colleges and Univerisities.  182 total pages.  11 participating Baptist colleges and universities.  161 total surveys processed.  It took 12 months and 28 days to complete from beginning the prospectus phase to editing the final pages.

The process is not entirely complete.  I will defend, hopefully, in July.  The dissertation defense is a 2-hour process where my dissertation committee can ask me any question about my study and give me some areas that need to be revised.  Usually there about about 20-30 of editing and revising to do after the defense. 

But after that, you are done.  You send in the final copies to be bound and you walk in graduation.  After the defense, you are a DR.  I feel a huge relief.

I watched The Agony and the Ecstasy in a high school art class.  It is the story 0f Michelangelo painting the Sistine chapel.  I have seen his ceiling in art books and with my own eyes and it is beyond words.

In the film, Michelangelo takes a long time to complete the work.  In actuality it did take him 4 years.  As he began to complete his masterpiece Pope Julius II would walk into the chapel, under all the scaffolding and drapery and ask “When will it come to an end?”

Charlton Heston, who played Michelangelo magnificently, would always reply “when it is finished.”  He would never sacrifice his work for a deadline or pressure from the holy father to get done.

This week my dissertation, at least in the draft form, will come to an end.  This document is a little more than a year in the making.  My prospectus was approved in June 2008 and it has taken me about a year to get all the research and writing done.

Come Friday morning when I email the draft version to my dissertation chair, I will feel like Michelangelo.  The major work will have been complete.  Sure there will be some edits and touch-ups from the various review boards, but for the most part, my Sistine chapel will be complete.

Today, however, I am making many final edits, so I am feeling much more like saying “When will it come to an end?” than “It is finished.”

Week 1 back at Main Street Church in Alexandria was soo good.  It was good to be home.  It was amazing to see everyone, catch up with the news and get so many hugs.  You know you are home when you have been gone for a while and when you come back, it’s like there hasn’t been one day a part.  This summer is going to be awesome.

I preached the first message in the He Gave, I Give series.  We looked at Acts 6-7 and the life of Stephen.  Stephen gave of his time to serve, his testimony before the council and ultimately his life before his persecutors.  He called upon Jesus as he gave up life for the sake of the Gospel and our Lord.

Next week, we will look to Barnabas in Acts 4 who gave of his property and calling.

www.sievechurch.com

If you look close enough certain financial terms are interchangeable with spiritual terms.  Consider the fact that a “debt” can be either a loan or a sin.  A “debtor” can be either someone who takes out a loan or someone who has sinned against you.  Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12 NKJV).  Is this spiritual or financial?  More spiritual, don’t you think?

Could was instead pray, “Forgive us our credits, as we forgive our creditors.”  Forgive us Lord for borrowing money that we can not repay, as we forgive our lenders for trying to collect.

Debts and credit.  Are we not indebted to our creditors?  Of course we are.  We owe them money.  However, “indebted” is also a word used when someone gives generously and we are indebted to them for their gracious gift.  “I am forever indebted to you, my friend.”  Is that what is happening in our American credit system?  We have become indebted to our creditors for their gracious gifts to us.  I think not.

Jesus taught, “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.”  Is this spiritual or financial language?  “The one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?”  (Luke 7:41-42)  I believe this is a financial parable with a spiritual meaning.  The lesson teaches more about the forgiveness of sin, not the forgiveness of the debt.  Neither of the debtors could pay back their loans, but the creditor [one who extends mercy] forgave them both.  Sounds a lot like Jesus.

So the next time you’re checking out at the grocery story and the cashier asks “Debit or Credit,” ask yourself a spiritual question, “Have my debts (sins) been credited (atoned) by Jesus.

It is always good to finish your first year at something.  As of yesterday (Saturday – 5/09), I finished my first year of teaching on the college level.

As I look back, I taught nearly 300 students in 10 classes.  My ministry classes (Youth Min, Teaching for Life Change, Spiritual Formation, Grad Youth Min.) were great.  Getting to know students on a personal level.  Encouraging brothers and sisters in Christ in the Gospel for work in all sorts of ministries.

My Religion In Life classes (gen. edu.) were also great.  It is a challenge to teach the basic Christian faith to the Millennial generation (18 to 22 year olds).  Many have heard the Bible stories, but have missed the life application.  Others (very surprising to me) have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel.  Everything is tainted with cultural Christianity, revival preaching with “turn or burn,” and legalistic finger-pointing, which this generation does not care for at all.  The amazing gift of the Gospel is brand spank’n new to many.  I have a great opportunity to be the first exposure to what Jesus did on the cross.  I have seen lives changed.

There have been other significant adjustments.  Working for an institution, not a church.  Working with over 300 employees, not 20 or less.  Going from being a key leader in an organization to being a underling.  Understanding the systems, policies, and structures that no one really tells you about but expects you to learn very quickly.

All in all, it has been an amazing Year One.  One of the best years of my life.  I believe I am here to stay.   Oh and by the way, I got a Year Two contract.  PTL!

10 years ago, May 1999, I was finishing my last finals week at Campbellsville University.  I was getting ready to walk across that line, decked out in my black robe and hat, ready to receive my Bachelors diploma.  And now, May 2009, 10 years later, I am GIVING and GRADING final exams and will be watching MY students receive their Bachelors and Masters diplomas.  It is like the circle of life has hit all in 10 years.

10 years.  10 years ago, I hadn’t met Jennifer.  10 years ago, I hadn’t lived in Fort Worth, TX and in Northern KY.  10 years ago, I had no children, no wife, no job, only a calling by God to go wherever He leads.  God has been so faithful these last 10 years.

In 10 years, serving on three church staffs.  In 10 years, completing two Master’s degrees and my doctorate.  In 10 years, meeting, marrying, and serving alongside my best friend in the world, Rose.  In 10 years, growing way too much GRAY hair..but not loosing any.  In 10 years, praying for and seeing the births of my two beautiful sons.  In 10 years, returning to my alma mater to prepare students for the ministry and to share the Gospel in the classroom every single day.  All in 10 years.

What on earth will God do in the next 10 years.

It has been quite a while since I gave a dissertation update.  Well things have been moving along rather nicely over the past few months.  I began sending out invitations to Baptist related colleges and universities to participate in my study way back in December.  I had to wait until every one came back on campus in January to get any real responses.  Since that time, completed surveys have been trickling in slowly but surely. 

I had a secondary push to get more schools to participate over the last month.  One, last ditch effort to get 10.  10 was my minimum and I was stuck on 7 for months.  The result of the final push was I got a few more schools to join in.  As of right now, I have 11 schools (with one more agreeing to start, but haven’t completed any surveys yet).

Those schools are:

1. Campbellsville University
2. Mid-Continent University
3. Blue Mountain College
4. Bluefield College
5. Hannibal LaGrange University
6. Howard Payne University
7. Baptist University of the Americas
8. Soutwest Baptist University
9. Brewton-Parker University
10. Hardin Simmons University
11. William Carey University
12. Oklahoma Baptist University (agreed but haven’t started yet)

Even with a few surveys still to be completed, I have entered the statistical analysis phase (Chapter 4 for those who have done a research dissertation).  I have four main questions to answer and I am nearly through answering two of those questions statistically.

My goal is to finish analysis in April.  Then write Chapters 4 & 5 in May.  It should be sent off in the first draft form by May 30.  I will hopefully defend my dissertation in July.  That is my hope and my goal.  I would love to get this thing done before the fall semester begins.

Matthew 27:64 ESV  Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

The last fraud of the resurrection is astonishing…so the scientists say.  No man comes back from the grave.  No man returns from death. 

The last fraud, implied in this verse by the chief priests and the Pharisees, is the stolen body of Jesus by his disciples.  How does anyone roll away a stone without waking military-trained guards with a ordered to provide protection and security?  Not only open the tomb, but then steal the body without waking the guards.  The disciples were not trained in stealth black ops.  It would be like a 12-year old little leaguer pitching a no-hitter against the New York Yankees.

The first fraud, however, may be more outrageous.  The fraud of Jesus declaring himself to be the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Anointed One, the Deliverer heralded in the Old Testament prophecies.  The fraud is nullified by the fact that Jesus completely fulfilled over 60 major messianic prophecies.

Regardless of which fraud is more prominent, the first or the last, the resurrection must be dealt with.  Dealt with by looking at the facts.  Dealt with spiritually.

Check out the top 7 denials of the resurrection offered by scientists and historians over the years.  This is the best science has to offer to defeat the resurrection.  defense-of-the-resurrection-theories

I get  the special privilege of leading two sessions at the annual KBC Youth Ministers Spring Retreat in Georgetown, KY later this spring.  Joe Ball, KBC Youth Ministry Director, came to our campus back in November and helped me lead our inaugural Think Again conference.   After the conference, he asked if I would be willing to lead a couple sessions for him at his annual retreat.  30 to 40 youth pastors will be gathering to be encouraged and equipped. 

I am really honored to be used by God to serve these men and women who lead teenagers all over our state.  They work hard and are often unpaid and unappreciated by their congregations.  They give so much of their time, energy and passion to see students come to faith in Christ and be discipled toward greater spiritual maturity. 

Can you imagine what our state would be like spiritually without teenagers serving in VBS, teaching children in Backyard Bible clubs, on mission trips, doing construction through Kentucky Changers, and sharing the Gospel with their friends?  And usually they are led to do these things by their youth ministry leaders.

As a former youth minister in KY and TX and now as one who is training the next generation of youth ministers on the college campus, I hope I can encourage these heroes of the faith to keep fighting the good fight.