I will pursue ordination. I will do it with a strong sense of personal direction, rather than being directed in the process. Instead of submitting to a predetermined list of things I have to know, I will propose the process myself, and then submit to the directives I'm given. In any ordination process I've heard of, the primary component has to do with systematic theology. I plan to reinvent that. I'm not sure theology is even a biblical word. I've thought about it and determined that a better approach is integrational doctrine. I know that doctrine is a biblical construct and it's important that I be able to answer well and teach well when called upon. Systematic theology is just too, well, systematic. It's linear and brings to mind stupid thoughts like, "If I put everything down on paper in an outline or chart, I can understand God." The fact of the matter is that I will never understand God or His ways . . . at least not in this life. Integrational doctrine, on the other hand, is something that by definition must be lived in. It's not enough for me to say that I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. If that belief is worth a flip to me, it needs to applied and grappled with as I eat my cereal, as I drive my car, as I talk with students, as I prepare a sermon. The fact that I believe in the Holy Spirit will be of no value to me if I don't rely on the Holy Spirit for direction. Another aspect of integrational doctrine is that if it is a lived experience, then it is necessarily evolutionary. This does not mean that it's watered down or shallow - but the fact is that because of how I have watched God work in my life, I have a different perspective now than I did ten years ago. Shouldn't my doctrine reflect that? If not, it's not integrational.

That's all.