Weekly Email: January 13, 2025
Please keep everyone affected by the LA fires in your prayers. I've spoken with some fellow online students from the area, and it's a challenging and heartbreaking time for them. A few students have had to evacuate, while others are nearby and dealing with various impacts, especially those with family members closer to the danger. Thank you for continuing in prayer during this time.
As we enter the final three weeks of the Winter term, we're also gearing up for the Spring 1 term, which starts on February 3. Whether you're wrapping up your semester, getting ready for the next one, or juggling both, know that our team is praying for you in your studies.
Student Tip: Mastering the Art of Focus
This week’s student tip is a guest post from my friend, Tanner Williams. He is currently the Executive Assistant to the Dean of Boyce College and is pursuing his Ph.D. in Higher Education at the University of Kentucky with his research focusing on educational research methods, critical thinking, and the development of intellectual character.
Below is a summary of his recent article “Mastering the Art of Focus” which is part of his Cognitive Skill Stack series. You can read the full article here.
Tanner highlights the vital role of attention in achieving excellence in thinking. Attention is the ability to focus on a task while ignoring distractions and is not only fundamental to productivity but also trainable, like a muscle. In an age where interruptions are inevitable, the key lies in reducing the time it takes to refocus. With consistent practice, you can strengthen your “attention muscle” and enhance your cognitive fitness.
Here are some practical strategies from Tanner to begin sharpening your focus:
Create a Routine: Signal your brain that it’s time to focus by developing consistent routines. Whether it’s prayer, coffee, or another ritual, a predictable pattern helps prepare your mind for deep work.
Design a Focus-Friendly Environment: Choose a workspace dedicated to important tasks. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just a place where distractions are minimized.
Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in focused intervals (e.g., 25 minutes) followed by short breaks. This method trains your mind to engage deeply while balancing recovery time.
Engage in Focused Play: Activities like lifting weights, solving puzzles, or playing an instrument challenge your attention while being enjoyable. The goal is to balance enjoyment with the demand for concentration.
By cultivating attention through these practices, you’ll unlock your full potential for learning and problem-solving. Strive to make focus a daily habit as you grow in our studies and faith.
Many thanks to Tanner for allowing me to highlight this excellent blog post. You can subscribe to his Substack here.
Program News: Spring 1 Experiential Modular
We are just three weeks away from the start of the Spring 1 term, and there are still spots available for our Spring 1 Experiential Modulars! These unique courses combine seven weeks of online content with three immersive days on campus from February 24–26. During your time on campus, Southern will cover your lodging and meals, allowing you to focus on connecting with peers and faculty in a meaningful way.
Here’s what’s being offered this term:
22400 - Beginning Greek with Dr. Plummer
27080 - Systematic Theology III with Dr. Allison
34330 - Typical Problems in Biblical Counseling with Dr. Jones
Our Fall Experiential Modulars were a huge success. Students left with new friendships, deeper faculty connections, and a renewed sense of purpose in their studies and ministry.
Don’t miss out as spots are filling quickly. Click here to register.
Faculty Devotional
This week’s faculty devotion is from Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, Vice President for Doctoral Studies; Chair, Department of Apologetics, Ethics, and Philosophy, and the C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Family Ministry
Scriptures for reflection:
“He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, CSB).
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
“He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22 CSB).
“You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him” (1 John 3:5 CSB).
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the New Testament claims regarding the sinlessness of Jesus. What has occurred to me is that these statements are more apologetically valuable than I had considered before.
When it comes to descriptions of Jesus, the authors of the New Testament don’t simply suggest Jesus was “righteous” or “blameless.” As true as those traits have been, such claims had been made many times before regarding persons who were ordinary human beings, faithful yet far from sinless. The New Testament authors repeatedly declare that Jesus was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
The suggestion that Jesus never sinned is a particularly jarring claim when you recall that the first adherents of this belief were Jewish. According to the Jewish Scriptures, everyone sins both intentionally (1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20) and unintentionally (Psalm 19:12). And so, the initial spread of this belief happened among people who assumed every human being sins. What’s more, this claim began to circulate in the early churches at a time when people who had actually met Jesus were circulating in these same churches (1 Corinthians 9:5).
Consider this for a moment: Have you ever spent extended time with anyone about whom you would say, “That person is ‘without sin’”? I have known many people who were exceptionally faithful in their commitment to Jesus. And yet, you could never convince me that any one of them has lived a sinless life.
First-century Jewish persons assumed that every human being sins at some point. Yet Jewish eyewitnesses of Jesus concluded that one particular man never sinned. How could a group of individuals who knew Jesus arrive at such a conclusion unless there was something so extraordinary about Jesus that it upended their most basic assumptions about human nature? The more I think about this, the more confident I become that these claims of sinlessness provide a powerful apologetic for the utter uniqueness of Jesus.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and check in next Monday. You can find an archive of each week’s email here.
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Brian Renshaw
Vice President for the Global Campus
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
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