Next steps – where am I headed?

So I’m sure that some of you are probably asking, “Okay, so you’re working in a career in computers. Why are you going to school for theology and what are you going to do with that?” And I’ve even had a couple of friends ask, “How are you gonna make money doing that?” These are good questions. And, I have some good answers. Here goes…

I love my career in IT. I work with a great team of people and we build websites for a living. I don’t really feel like leaving this career path. It’s been very rewarding and it continues to provide sufficient challenges and opportunities for growth that I would have some serious problems with walking away with it for good.

That being said, I feel quite lucky to be able to live my double life as an IT professional, as well as being a student. And, I really enjoy the fact that I’m expanding my knowledge base on something that contributes to my personal growth.

So what are my priorities for the next five years or so? I’ve got four main “buckets” that I will be devoting my energy over the next five years or so:

1. MY CURRENT CAREER – For the time being, my first priority remains my current career. This is my livelihood and it’s also a great passion of mine. So, if my boss is reading this post, until I say otherwise, I am committed to my job and am not looking at going anywhere anytime soon. Don’t worry!
2. MASTER OF DIVINITY – Obviously, my most important next step is to finish school. I am committed to finishing my masters degree. Doing it part time will likely take me another four or five years.
3. GAIN EXPERIENCE – This four or five year period will coincide great with my practical time spent at my home church. I am the student pastor at my home church. That means shadowing the rest of the pastoral staff, giving sermons, leading worship services and teaching sunday school. All of these activities provide excellent opportunities for me to apply my studies and to become more comfortable in a church leadership setting.
4. WRITE – Writing has provided me with a great outlet for my creative energies. In fact, I am seriously considering writing as my long term ministry outlet. This would allow me to continue my career in IT while practicing my craft at the same time. I will continue to write my blog. And I am also interested in writing to get published as well. I would like to write some articles for magazines and I have some ambitions to write a couple of books as well.

So yeah… that’s where I’m at right now. These are my priorities. I hope you’ll continue to read my blog, to provide me with words of encouragement from time to time, and I hope that I’ll be seen as a positive encouragement to all of you in your faith.

This is the last of my biographical posts for a little while. It’s been great sharing a bit about myself with you. I thought it was important to explain a bit about myself and to give everyone a grounding of who I am and where I’m coming from in my writing.

What’s next, you ask? Well… I’d like to start developing a couple of book ideas that I’ve had for a while. I’ll be using my blog to stretch my legs a bit and to help develop some sound arguments before I put them into book format. So, you’re gonna get a look at some topics that I am extremely passionate about in the next little while.

Coming up next: My critical reflection on The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.