Month in Review:
Another month has come and gone and by the grace of God I am still breathing and working hard at my work here at Westminster Theological Seminary! As the mornings get colder and the days grow shorter I find myself becoming more and more tired, or maybe this is just my course load! October was an incredibly month full of ups and downs! I want to start off this MiR (Month in Review) by saying how thankful to God I am for the wonderful friends He has put into my life. They have been such a reprieve from the day-to-day work and school routine and I am truly grateful for them!
This month I got to kick everything off right with the celebration of a wedding between my good friends Bounchan and Taylor! They have been so kind to me and so encouraging and I was so happy to be able to attend their wedding as a groomsman! They looked, both of them, absolutely stunning and wish them the best of futures in this new journey they are starting out! Amidst the storms this life will throw at them I hope that they never grow distant from one another and may they always find oneness together!
As the month moved onward I found myself deep in my studies, with barely anytime to do much else! The major class that I think I want to call out this month is my New Testament Introduction class! Having passed Greek 1 last year I was able to take this class this semester and it has not been a disappointment! Learning about the origins of the New Testament, the manuscript tradition, and the wonderful ways in which the New Testament has been preserved over the course of centuries is an amazing thing to study! Taught by Dr. Brandon Crowe, the class engages with the manuscript tradition of the New Testament and the ways to go about studying the codex’s and ancient documents we still have left over from the ancient Church. I will comment more in the book review section but this class has been chicken soup for my soul and I look forward to it every week!
As the nights grow a bit cooler and jackets start to come out, that means something very important among Reformed Seminary students…the Pipe’s come out! Smoking my pipe on a cold night, smelling the nice aroma of the tobacco as it cooks in the pipe bowl, the wonderful, deep conversation with friends as we talk about our homework, our studies, our lives with one another is a wonderful point for fellowship! As I said in the opening paragraph, my friends have been an incredible buttress for me this month and have kept me sane when all I have wanted to do is have a book burning of my textbooks and hid in my room! (yes even bibliophiles like me get frustrated with books!) Noble and Juan Jose, you guys are incredible and I look forward to many more years of friendship!
One of the true highlights of my month was the Westminster Preaching Conference where I got to hear Rev. David Helm speak to not only the importance of preaching but also the methodology and the how to of preaching! This was an incredible asset to attend and I intend to hit it up next year when it comes back! As a quick side note, one of my favorite professors in Practical Theology, Dr. Timothy Witmer, is retiring, I am gonna miss you professor!!! Finally, rounding up the month, I was able to use some of the know-how I learned at the conference and as a result of Dr. Witmer’s teaching to craft and give a sermon to my fellow students in my expository preaching class! The sermon was on Philippians 3:4-9 and I intend to, after a bit of tuning up, exhort the same sermon later this month at Living Hope Presbyterian Church! Thank you Pastor Young for giving me the opportunity!!!
Books of the Month:
One of the benefits of having no time to read anything but schoolbooks is that you usually get to finish your schoolbooks at a rapid rate so as to move onto the next textbook!!! Here are a few of the books I finished and the reviews I wrote on them!!!
The first book I read and finished was “Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and the Authority of the New Testament Books”! By Dr. Mike Kruger! This book has been crucial in my New Testament studies and establishing the reliability of the New Testament as a faithfully transmitted, God breathed text! You can find my review here!
The Second book I read was by Rev. Dr. Timothy Keller, titled “Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism”. How does one go about preaching in a modern context? Dr. Keller explains, and brings to bear his decades behind the pulpit to comment on the topic! This certainly was a short, but complex book, and it is one I intend to return to in years to come! You can find my review here!
Thirdly and finally, I was able to finish my Marriage Counseling textbook ahead of schedule and so I wrote up a review on it here! “Marriage Matters” by Professor and Counselor Winston Smith examines the importance of a Biblical view toward marriage counseling ! Bringing the whole Word of God and the whole Council of God to bear on marriage is just as important as communicating. Please check it out!
Some up and coming books that I have not been able to finish yet but still want to try to get done this coming month can be found in the short list below! Keep an eye out for them!
“The Gift” by Dr. Brian M. Litfin
“ Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution.” By Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach
“The Light of the World: A Basic Image of Early Christian Thought” By Jaroslav Pelikan
“The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration” by Bruce Metzger and Bart Ehrman
Prayer Requests:
As things begin to pick and the screws turn tighter moving into the last month of the semester I would be greatly encouraged by your prayers and encouragement. The following things are on my mind and I would ask for your prayer in them!
- I want to praise God for helping me to pass my midterm exam in Greek II but this is not the end of my semester. I still need to pass both the class and the Final exam so your prayers that I may be well in Greek would be incredibly appreciated
- Please pray for Stockton Christian Fellowship, at my Undergrad as they go and try to be lights of God on that college campus. I was able to give my talk last night and will write more about it in next month’s edition of Month in Review
- My car’s breaks need to be replaced and it is quite expensive to do that so please pray for God’s provision in that matter!
- Please keep our national leaders in prayer, and our election in prayer, we need it.
- Finally please pray that I would finish this semester well and that I would give my exhortation at Living Hope OPC at the end of this month (November) well in a way that would make my Lord proud!
Closing:
Thank you for taking the time to read my month in review and I hope it is a quick incite into the month life of a Seminary student in America in 2016! If you feel like talking hit me up! I can always use a bit of distraction from my homework!!! May you all find your next month, November, a blessing from God!
With Love,
Your Neighborhood Seminarian,
Dom
P.S. If you liked this and want to see more from me feel free to peruse my other posts here on my blog! If you want to talk about it or just to say hello feel free to email me at dsilla@student.wts.edu
P.S.S. If you are so inclined please donate or share my fund raising campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/2bj6tvn9) to help me be able to continue my work at Westminster Theological Seminary, that I might faithfully learn to preach the Gospel and draw ever nearer to my Lord! Blessings!
Dom After Seminary 
Keep it up, brother !
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