Weekly Email: November 17, 2025

Weekly Email

Nov 17

In this week’s email:

Student Tip: Two questions you should ask yourself this week
Program News: Southern Seminary Community App

Some of you have been in the online program for quite some time, and others are brand new. If you have been with us for a while, I hope you have noticed many of the improvements to the online course experience over the past several years.

I want to highlight our Associate Vice President of Online Learning, Jonathan Ahlgren, who has been leading the online learning team since 2022. Many of the course-level improvements (not to mention the Course Snapshots!) you experience were initiated, shaped, and led by Jonathan and the Online Learning team he leads. I was recently thinking about what traits that emerging leaders embody, and he checks all the boxes: thinking clearly, multiplying value, leading a team well and much more. He thinks carefully about what will serve you best as an online student and, just as importantly, knows how to turn those ideas into reality with his team.

If you have a moment this week, I would encourage you to send him a brief note of gratitude at jahlgren@sbts.edu. And as always, if you have suggestions for how we can continue improving the online program, I would love to hear what is working well for you and what could be better.

In his addition to his work for the Online Learning team he is also the Webmaster/Administrator for the wonderful Daily Dose Ministry with Dr. Plummer, an Old Testament PhD candidate, and an author.

So, let’s do a giveaway this week featuring some of the work he has done. All you need to do is fill out this short survey to enter. The giveaway closes on November 24 at 6:00 am EST.

Illustrated 1 Kings in Hebrew by Adam Howell and Jonathan Ahlgren
Illustrated 2 Samuel in Hebrew by Jonathan Ahlgren
Daily Dose of Hebrew coffee mug
Daily Dose of Greek coffee mug
Psalms Volume I & II in the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary series by Jim Hamilton (Jonathan's PhD supervisor)
Living Faith: A Theology of James by Robert Plummer

Student Tip: Two Questions You Should Ask Yourself This Week

Take 3–5 minutes this week and look back over the last couple of weeks of class and start with a few diagnostic questions:

What actually happened in the time you planned for schoolwork?
Where did your attention go when you sat down to study?
Is your current pace something you can realistically keep for the rest of the term or the next one?

Then bring it down to two core questions:

Am I keeping the study commitments I have made to myself?
Am I doing this at a sustainable pace for my life, family, and ministry?

If either answer is “not really,” that isn't a failure but a sign that something needs to be adjusted while there is still time to do it.

The goal is not to redesign your entire life. The goal is to get out of autopilot. A few minutes of honest reflection can save you hours of frustration later.

Program News: Community App

If you have not used the Southern Seminary Community App yet, I encourage you to check it out. Inside you can find a study partner or study group, join focused spaces like biblical counseling or biblical languages, and take part in networking groups that connect students with similar ministry roles or interests.

You can get started here