Weekly Email: July 27, 2026

We are now in the week between terms. The Summer term wrapped up last week and the Fall semester is right around the corner. This week I want to share something a guest preacher said at my church this summer about how our limits expand one comfortable decision at a time and what that has to do with the good decisions you make as a student. I also want to point you to the Counseling Workshop coming this October, one worth passing along to your pastor.

This past weekend my assistant, Amy Leatherman (previously Gillham!), got married here in Louisville. It was a beautiful wedding and I'm so excited to see her and Jerod flourish in marriage.

I also want to give a shout-out to Amy for all the hard work she does behind the scenes. I'm sure many of you have interacted with her before. She helps me keep everything organized and in place, especially on events like the Experiential Modulars and the Pastors Workshop, which you'll see in the program news below. Having an excellent assistant is a blessing. There is so much going on and someone who can handle the various inputs and take ownership of different things is something special.

If Amy has helped you in the past, I'd encourage you to send her an email thanking her. She'll be on her honeymoon until August 3rd.

In this email:

• Student Tip: One Comfortable Decision at a Time
• Program News: The Counseling Workshop

Student Tip: One Comfortable Decision at a Time

Our church has been going through Proverbs this summer, a series on wisdom and what the Bible teaches about living a wise life. Recently a guest preacher was preaching on Proverbs 21:3 and he said a couple of things I've been chewing on ever since. He described wisdom as doing the right things in the right way at the right time.

Then he went on to say that our limits of what we deem to be okay expand one comfortable decision at a time. You've probably heard a version of this before, that the person who leaves their family didn't wake up that morning with that goal. It came one decision at a time. But the word comfortable puts a different spin on it.

When we think about sin getting a greater and greater hold on us, we usually picture crossing a line we knew was there. We cross it a little bit, then a little more, then a little more. And often that's exactly how it happens. But ending up in a place you don't want to be doesn't always mean crossing a sinful line. Sometimes it's the good things, without the proper guardrails, that take us there.

I've seen this in my own life. I've been on a multi-year journey of getting healthier and over a year and a half I lost a significant amount of weight. Then I took some maintenance time, which was a good thing. But that good thing without guardrails slowly gave way to comfortable decisions I was okay with in the moment and I ended up gaining back more than I wanted. Not all of it, but more than I wanted. So I've been working at it again.

The same thing can happen to you as an online student. Putting your studies aside for a night to do something with your family is a good and godly decision and you should feel the freedom and flexibility to make it. But if you haven't organized your life in a way that makes room for family and makes room for school, you can start substituting one for the other until you're running out of time on an assignment because of all the good things you said yes to. Now the shortcut is tempting. Maybe it's using AI in a way your professor hasn't approved because it's quicker. The decisions that got you there were good ones. But one comfortable decision at a time, they gave way to a temptation to cross a line you never planned to.

Or maybe you decide you need a break and take an eight-week term off to reset. But without a plan for getting back, one break turns into two, then three, because the momentum is gone. All for a good reason and a likely justifiable cause.

The preacher rounded all of this out with God's Word. Scripture gives us a reframing of how to live. And when our boundaries expand one comfortable decision at a time, we can expand them beyond where Scripture goes. I know the examples I've shared aren't sinful ones, so it's not a one-to-one comparison. But the pattern is worth paying attention to.

Don't get me wrong, seminary takes sacrifice. If you weren't in seminary there would probably be more time for family and church. That's why God calls us into certain seasons and certain sacrifices. So much of this is a balance, making those sacrifices, giving flexibility for the ebbs and flows of life, and staying in it for the long haul.

So as we head toward the fall semester, I just want to encourage you. Seminary is hard work. Taking one class at a time with everything else you have going on is hard work and you should never feel bad about needing respite. Those are good things. Just have a plan for getting back into the weekly rhythm of studying, family, church, and the rest of what God has called you to.

Good decisions still need guardrails.

Program News: The Counseling Workshop

This October 12 through 14 we're hosting the Counseling Workshop, part of our Pastors Workshop series, here on campus in Louisville. It's a unique opportunity to hear lectures from our counseling faculty, including Dr. Jeremy Pierre, Dr. Robert Jones, Dr. Matt Haste, and Dr. Colin McCulloch. And it's not just lectures. It's also a time to be refreshed, with extensive discussion alongside other church leaders about counseling and ministry and shared meals with your fellow attendees.

As an online student you can take the workshop on its own ($800, which includes lodging and meals) or add a course with it that counts as an elective in Biblical Counseling, with tuition on top of the workshop cost.

This may not be for you as a student in this season. But if your pastor or someone else at your church comes to mind, I'd encourage you to share it with them. Registration is open through September 1 and the Counseling Workshop page will guide you from there.