Briercrest College and Seminary Student Blogs

YQ and Mod Week

Denver Krushel — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:52:41 CST

All right, here�s another entry with YQ over and headed into mod week. In a bit of a humorous turn of events, I will be taking a mod class this week even after firmly deciding last semester that I�d never do another mod class. Unfortunately, this is the only chance I have to take this class. In this case though, it�s a class on songwriting, which is a little different (no major paper and no final :D). Anyway, now that Monday is around the bend, a good chunk of students are gone which is actually kind of nice; peace and quiet is not a common occurrence here.

First things first, though: Youth Quake. To begin with, my hat is off to the design crew, who did a fabulous job converting the school into a youth convention. Everything was modeled after a particularly famous Italian character (goes by the name of Mario�) and the world he lives in. He and his friends also made an appearance in the YQ skit, which was also quite well done. Seriously, on both accounts I haven�t seen that much awesome packed into one place in a long time. The rest of YQ of course followed suit: Sid Koop had quite a few insightful things to say about how to "Make It Count." Namely (in my case at least) that if we want to make anything count for Christ and his Kingdom, we must be dead to ourselves and the earthly identities/recognition we so often look for as those can disappear in the blink of an eye. Instead, we must put our identity in Christ so that our actions advance Christ and the Gospel. In addition, Matt Maher did a marvelous job leading worship. I�m sure there were quite a few great experiences shared by all thanks to Maher and his band.

As for the concerts, I unfortunately cannot comment. Being the old fogey I am, I was in bed long before they were over. I stopped in for about 15 seconds at the House of Heroes concert and promptly left on account of the unbearable volume at which the show was being performed, but I�m sure everyone else had a good time (HINT: if you�re going to YQ bring a good pair of ear plugs). All in all, it was definitely a good experience.

As for mod week, I�m actually excited to finally take an actual course on songwriting. I was a sciences guy all through primary and secondary school but God has been slowly but surely turning me into an artist since then. I think, as a closing comment, my final verdict/advice on mod classes is that it will probably be better for you in the long run if you only take mod classes that aren�t offered in a regular 3.5 month format; I find it�s just too much otherwise (you�ll get to the end of the week retaining little to no information you covered and paid tuition for).

YQ, Death and Love

Nathan Plant — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:36:33 CST

So, my last blog said �see you in a few weeks!� I guess it�s been a bit longer... I can�t believe we are almost at the end of February! This semester has been flying by, which is exciting and scary at the same time. I�m excited to graduate this year � to complete my studies at Briercrest and start a new chapter of life, but it�s scary to think how quickly the time is approaching when I will not just be getting a summer job, but will actually have to find something to do in the fall!
Only a few hours ago, this campus was full of high school students for Youth Quake �10. Leading up to the weekend, I braced myself for the bad smells, the cold showers, the lousy food, and the very full dorm rooms. God surprised me, though. Of course, there were still bad smells, cold showers, etc. but the Lord gripped my heart this weekend. He changed it and turned it towards him. He softened my heart and opened my eyes to his love and to what he has called me to do � that is, to die to myself, take up my cross and follow him.
I cannot simply die to myself, though. If I try, I know I will fail. I have failed. But the Good News is that Christ has done it for me � for us. In his love, and his strength, and in his unremitting desire to do God�s will, there I can die to myself. And when I die to myself, then (and only then) can I love God and my neighbour.
So, as I sit here wondering about what comes next, I am assured that it won�t be easy (how could dying to myself possibly be easy?) but it will be worth it. And it will be done by God�s strength and love, not mine. Maybe I should stop asking God what I should do next. I know what I�m supposed to do: die to myself, love God and my neighbour. Maybe I should ask: With what God has given me, where and how can I do that?

So Far, So Good

Pauline Yee — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:38:27 CST

Hello readers, I haven�t forgotten you!

My semester so far is going well. My classes are getting tougher, but I enjoy them more. The courses I�m taking are very interesting. This semester, I�ve been learning a ton about Proverbs in class. It�s very applicable to everyday situations. Just last week I remembered to hold my tongue because I remembered what we learned about virtuous speech.

This semester�s Day of Prayer was amazing. We experienced true freedom in worship. It doesn�t happen very often because a lot of people are very conservative in praise. However, a lot of people were dancing and there was even a congo line. Arguably, it was one of the more rewarding Days of Prayer yet.

YQ is coming up VERY soon. I signed up to run the Olympic Village at the Point. I�m not really sure what that will entail, but I�m very excited about it! The whole campus is about to get very busy, very soon.

Also, presidential elections are coming up in a week or so and it�s going to be the buzz on campus until it�s over. There are a lot of events coming up, along with midterms, and all the students are enthusiastic about what is to come.

I�ll see you in a few with more updates on fun campus activities!

Pauline

Forever Forged

Brandon Crain — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:56:53 CST

It's time. The end draws near. Sadness. Joy. But not yet.

That is the feel of entering the first semester of your graduating year. I began to reflect on what I have learned here at Briercrest and discovered a few things: 1) Man, I�ve learned a lot. 2) Man, I�ve forgotten a lot. I often say to myself, �I�m gonna have to read that book again after I graduate.� I get so saturated with what God is doing inside and outside of the classroom. I am in a class called Church and the Kingdom and this class, taught be David Guretzki, is formative for entering into the world of ministry. It is ecclesiology. It is about God in relation to his people. The Kingdom of God is at hand yet it is not fully here. This concept and the rest of the material really grabs a hold of me. Not to mention, David Guretzki�s philosophy of theology centers on stirring the church towards Christ, which adds passion to the high intellectual nature of the class.

Passion. Its what we�ve been missing a lot of in the church. We just had Day of Prayer yesterday and the lack of passion seemed evident even in myself. But, by the end of the day God was met with praising, singing, dancing, and rejoicing. Though it took a song in Swahili to drive us, God is faithful in bringing his people here at Briercrest back to a place of praise and awe.

I ended my last post hinting at a part I missed in the dorm swim and it is this: the 20 some of us saunter into the Sauna and sit in anticipation. Before too long a song is chosen and we sing. We sing in 20 part harmonies even. Though 19 of them may be in an off key. But it doesn�t matter. We are a dorm. We are brothers. The unity that comes from being in the dorm is astounding. Eliason has been known for this in a great way. Though at times we have been labeled �The Vortex,� we take care of one another and know what it is to be brothers. This is one of the greatest aspects of life at Briercrest that I will miss. Though, in our memory it lives and the imprint of that community is forged on our hearts and will shape how I live in the future.

Back in the swing of things

Denver Krushel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:15:04 CST

Hello readers! I�m not actually dead; I�ve just been busy and forgetful� my apologies. Unfortunately there have been more than a few loose ends this semester requiring attention but everything is sorted out now. Looking back at this year, another piece of advice I can give (I�m looking at YOU transfer students) is that it is that one ought not be too set in one way of doing something as there are many different ways to accomplish the same goal and it is never a good idea to get frustrated when you have to change your mode of operation. Also, especially for transfer students, try to hone your negotiation skills; there�s no telling when you may need them. And you WILL need them.
Anyway, on to what is happening on campus. Today was the winter semester�s Day of Prayer. In many ways, it was similar to the one in the fall but this time around, prayer for the nations came up a few times which I think was great; prayer for the world seems to get overlooked. In a lot of cases I�m not sure if we even aware of the need for prayer in other countries (even developed countries). Also, it never happened to me the first time around but now that Day of Prayer has ended, I am exhausted (something else to keep in mind when studying at Briercrest).
Other than Day of Prayer, YQ coming up and all the craziness that goes with it. Excitement is beginning to rise as all the different projects that have been in preparation are starting to come to light. Suffice to say, it should be a good time. For fear of ruining the surprise however, I will say that you will want to be here and leave it at that. So dear readers, you shall hear from me again after YQ � don�t miss it!

- Denver

Ah, The Life of A Student!

Pauline Yee — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:01:18 CST

Wow, it has been such a long time since I blogged. Although there are really no excuses, the fact is I had quite a busy semester, but I do promise to be more diligent in my blogging next year.

So much has gone on this semester, and as the life of a student, it was hard to keep up with all the activities happening. First off, I started my first semester of introductory Greek. Learning a biblical language is required in biblical studies, and I�ve been busy tackling that all semester. It�s hard and time consuming but completely worth it. A lot of the times it�s hard to understand what�s going on. However, I have to say it�s one of my favorite classes and I think a lot of people would agree with me.

Also, the last couple of weeks have been so tiring but such a blast. We had the Christmas celebration here with a whole bunch of festivities. There was a hall Christmas tree decorating contest in the cafeteria and since our hall won, we will be rewarded with a huge hall party. The most enjoyable part of the Christmas celebration, though, was the banquet. It�s always about the banquet, really. Everyone dresses however way they want from informal to formal. My personal favorite Christmas attire: old Christmas sweaters with bells that actually jingle. (For future Briercrest students, remember to keep those sweaters your grandma gave you! They actually come in handy here.) Other fun activities were listening to Resonant sing carols, watching a Christmas movie at the Point, skating, and other types of entertaining events.

As great as the events at Briercrest are, the really important part is the reflection that comes at the end of a semester. What I really learned is how God�s grace really sustained me. It amazes me that I haven�t flunked out all my courses, and that I was able to function properly with a few hours of sleep. Throughout the semester I was so frustrated in that I felt like all the effort I put into my courses were futile. However, I have since learned that God has a massive plan and that whatever you do for him will be rewarded in a much greater way than anything imaginable.

It�s been a more challenging semester, and since it�s getting late for me, so I�ll leave you with this thought: that God hears all our pleas and that he won�t leave you in the shadows for long.

I�ll �see� you after the New Year�s. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Pauline Yee

This one is a little late... (my bad)

Denver Krushel — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:59:45 CST

Okay, so now that classes are over I can kick back and relax until finals are done� KIDDING! I�ve been crazy busy this semester, but things definitely are drawing to a close here. I am definitely looking forward to going home for Christmas, though, and I hope all you readers will have a good time during the break as well. So, reflecting on this semester, I have a little more advice and pointers for you guys. Admittedly, this will probably start to sound like my first post, which was full of advice that I probably did not do a very good job of following. Nevertheless, here goes:
First off, I did not know that the month of November is called "Miracle Month" here, and I also did not know the reason it was given this name. Namely that everything--papers, assignments, concerts, master classes, etc--happens in November and most of it seems to happen in the last half of the month. This was not the case at the college I transferred from. So what ended up happening was that the lighter course work of the early semester made me think I could take on a larger amount of credits (19 to be exact), but it just about killed me ounce Miracle Month rolled around. So, the moral of the story: never take more than 15 credits and don�t ever take more than five classes. Oh, and even though it may seem like a good idea, don�t ever put off papers with the thought that you still have lots of time to "do it later" (that�s a trap, trust me�) In hindsight this is all kind of humorous as the first semester of my third year of college; I took an overloaded semester and at the end of it, vowed never to do it again�
The other thing that has come to my attention runs along the lines of stewardship. For the longest time I was telling myself to put serving God on hold because I wanted to wait until I had worthwhile to offer him. This, I can assure you, is a terrible idea in that God is most interested in us rather than what we can offer him. Long story short, I finally came to the realization that actually, truly surrendering everything to God will end much better. Also, in doing that, I have learned to be faithful with what I�ve been given rather than thinking about how I could be faithful with what I have not been given and therefore neglect what I have. Anyway, that�s all for now; I hope to make another post during the break for you guys. �Til then!

- Denver

Seeking the Kingdom

Nathan Plant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:27:40 CST

Hello! It has been over a month since I have written anything in here, so it is due time to do so! I hope this blog finds you in good health in this season of sickness and swine flu!

Tonight, I took in the �Matthew Joel CD Release Party� here on campus. I wasn�t able to attend the whole show, but what I did see, I really enjoyed. I enjoyed listening to good music, first of all. I�m always happy to listen to creative riffs, chord progressions, rhythms, and good vocals. After a busy and somewhat stressful day full of books and writing, it�s really nice to relax and listen to good music. I also enjoyed the fact that I was listening to good music by college students. I think we are blessed at Briercrest College and Seminary to have a good and expanding art culture. Music is one of God�s good gifts to us, and we need to take advantage of this gift. Much of the Christian culture has over-simplified music and has not really created music, but simply reacted to secular music. As witnesses of God�s truth who seek to bring about the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, we should be the ones leading in the music industry, developing new sounds, better sounds, skilled and polished sounds. So, thank-you Matt and others who are striving for this. I know this is an ambitious goal but, as a music major, I am passionate about this!

Earlier today I had the opportunity to sit in on a philosophy lecture by a candidate for a philosophy position at the school. Now, to some, listening to a philosophy lecture might sound as exciting as watching the national bowling championship. Thankfully, philosophy is a much more mentally stimulating activity than bowling is (nothing against bowling � I love bowling!). I was quite happy to listen in as the professor spoke about the relationship between philosophy and theology. He spoke about natural philosophy (now called science), human reason, and Scripture. I could not help but think about how intricately all these things are related. They all point to God. And they are all given to us by God. Nature is God�s. Reason and logic comes from God. Language, in spoken and written form, comes from God. All these things have been given to us and need to be used for his glory and praise. As I have studied theology, history, music, philosophy, and sociology at Briercrest, this fact keeps popping up. And it is so freeing to know that studying these things (and more) is not only permissible, but actually beneficial for bringing glory to God and seeking God�s kingdom on earth.

I think this is a good reminder, certainly for myself, that in this busy season, we are still called to praise God for what he has given us and for how he has created us, in large part by striving for excellence in all that we do. Well, take care for now! I�ll e-see you in a few weeks!

Peace,
Nathan

Day of Prayer and Mod/Reading Week

Denver Krushel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:46:01 CST

Okay, now that we�ve all had time to adjust and get used to things at Briercrest College and Seminary, I�ll give you readers a report of sorts on two big events here that you may not have experienced before. The first is Day of Prayer, which was on October 20.

The second is mod/reading week. As a transfer student, I had not actually taken part in either of these. I also had never heard people refer to November as "miracle month" until transferring to BCS. So for those of you who aren�t aware, apparently everything (midterms, papers, swine flu out breaks, you know, all that *normal* stuff) happens in the month of November here. My little tidbit of advice for you in this entry then is to try and space everything out during your semester rather than leaving it all until November and get buried in it. :)

So, moving on to Day of Prayer. As the name may suggest, this is where everything at the college comes to a halt for a day and everyone spends a day praying and worshiping. Being my first experience with Day of Prayer, I was not quite sure what to expect, but it was definitely a good day for me as well as pretty well everyone else. It was a significant event for me firstly because it had been a long time since I was able to take part in worship that was as free and genuine as what I experienced on Day of Prayer. Of course, the challenge then is to make every chapel service afterward equally significant and genuine. This year�s main point/theme was freedom: freedom to worship, freedom from sin/freedom in Christ, and just freedom in general.

What got through to me the most, though, as I touched on above, was freedom to worship. Due to my experiences growing up I was chained, more or less, to the notion that worship was the music played on Sunday and that we "worshiped" by standing in the pews and singing. I knew that the entire life of a Christian was supposed to be a life of worship, but it never fully clicked until now.

Next up is mod/reading Week. This is where college students get a week off from regular classes and either get a break or complete an entire course in one week. It�s kind of like drinking from a fire hose � actually, it�s a lot like drinking from a fire hose. At any rate, I did the latter and it was good and bad. If you�re the type of person who can retain lots of information all in one go, then mod week is for you. I however, do not quite fit in that category. While it does provide you with the option of getting the better part of an entire class finished and out of the way (there�s usually some kind of a major assignment due at the end of the term), it is a lot to take in all at once. Anyway, my hope is that all of you potential BCS students who are reading this can benefit from my experience.

For now, I will have to say good-bye.

- Denver

Settling in to life in the bald (literally bald) prairies

Denver Krushel — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:52:39 CST

Greetings student peoples from the place to be. (That�s a deviation of a Strong Bad quote;I hope you enjoyed it!) I�m sorry it took me so long to actually get something posted here, but better late than never�or so they tell me. Anyway, I suppose for my first entry I�ll tell you a bit about myself, what brought me here and, now that things have started to settle down, what dorm life is like here at Briercrest College and Seminary.

So, to start with, I spent the first 18 years of my life in Peace River, Alberta and graduated from one of the local high schools, a situation I�d imagine many of you are probably in at the moment. My advice to you high schoolers (you can take it or leave it) is not to get too caught up with the �where does God want me to go after high school� question. If you haven�t, perhaps taking a different point of view could be helpful; try asking where YOU want to go after high school. Of course, God may say yes or no to your answer, but I�ve found that God, being God, is perfectly capable of accomplishing what he wants to accomplish through you regardless of where you wind up after high school. After all, God did see fit to give us free will.

To those of you not fresh out of high school (or finishing up), I wound up at Briercrest College and Seminary this year as a transfer student so, as a 22 year-old "freshman," I can identify with you and the thoughts of coming to a college full of people younger than you . I found the whole thing a bit humorous, though. As I recall, on one trip to my grandparents� house in Manitoba, we passed by Caronport and my mom was like, �Hey Denver, that�s where Briercrest College and Seminary is. I hear they have a really good music program, especially for guitar (my instrument of choice).� And I was all like �Oh�that�s cool.�

It was then that the everything-my-parents-suggest-and/or-are-interested-in-is-uncool stage was in full swing, so really, I was thinking, �Yeah, definitely not going to college there. Who wants to live in Saskatchewan, anyway?� (So while I�m on an aside, here�s some more advice: don�t say that you�ll never do/go somewhere and whatever you do, don�t tell God that you�ll never do/go somewhere as his sense of humour will most certainly have do exactly that.)

Anyway after I graduated from high school, I enroled at Taylor University College in Edmonton, Alberta. It was great actually, the profs were awesome and I learned a great deal that I would not have if I were in a larger institution. Sadly, the school shut down for a few reasons, all of them valid, some of them quite angering, but for better or worse, I had to transfer.

Wouldn�t you know it, Briercrest College and Seminary had the closest Worship Arts degree to the one I started at Taylor. So here I am at BCS taking "better," seeing as it�s infinitely more enjoyable than "worse."

As for life here in Caronport, Saskatchewan, I am in dorms (Eliason Manor to be precise), and it�s been pretty good so far. Dorm life, I�ve found, can be pretty sweet, but (and I�m still in the process of learning this lesson) it�s not something you can just expect to take from. If all you do is sit in your room and do homework or, in my case, finish your homework and sit in the practice rooms all day, you probably won�t enjoy it. If you take, you have to give as well. (Of course on the flipside, if all you do is socialize, you�ll have a blast but you�ll flunk out after the first semester. It�s not too hard a thing to balance though, just don�t let academics rule your life.)

On that note, I shall have to part. �Til next time!

-Denver