Just so no one misses – I have ATTACHED my Doctoral Project “Making the Supernatural Normal: Mobilizing the Local Church to Move in the Power of God Outside its Doors” – Instructions for reading this are at the end.
I’m glad you asked – haha. I don’t know why ANYONE would get their doctorate, I’m sure there are lots of nerdy motivations. I do know WHY I DID, and I think it might help you sift through your own motivations.
I did NOT pursue this because . . .
- I need to be called Doctor
- My dad did
- There’s a pay raise involved (there’s not in ministry, plus doctorates are expensive, so no, not a factor)
- I want to run for political office (yeah, no)
- I need more letters behind my name – the letters for my degree are Dmin (Doctor of Ministry) – say the phrase “Pastor Jared has a Dmin” out loud you’ll get why this isn’t a factor – haha.
I chose to get my Doctorate BECAUSE . . .
- God led me to
- I knew I had gaps in my knowledge
- I love to learn, I’m a lifelong learner, even though this is a “terminal” degree (sounds morbid), this is not the end for me.
- I knew our church would benefit from this
- Being called “Dr. J” sometimes is a perk – haha.
Now, here’s a little bit of the HOW of getting a Doctorate . . .
- Full support from my amazing wife Jessica!
- I’m a nerd – consuming and giving knowledge of God energizes me
- Support/understanding from my kids, and also extended family
- Support from Journey Life Church staff, board & church family
- Perseverance – LOTS of perseverance
- God’s help
Finally, attached is my Doctoral Project “Making the Supernatural Normal: Mobilizing the Local Church to Move in the Power of God Outside its Doors”. Let me set expectations for reading this (if you’d like to) . . .
- It’s academic – after 52 stages of editing (no joke), my voice is not clearly in the text. It’s ok. The content is great, it’s all there, but it has an academic voice. This also means it’s not meant to grab you or necessarily be an interesting read. It’s an informative read, with lots of research and documentation.
- Some people you may know are in it. Names are named, testimonies are cited – it’s fun! Find the Easter Eggs!
- Chapter 2 (tracing redemptive supernatural events through the Bible) is partially in my appendix (apparently 90 pages is too long for a chapter – haha). So to trace the entire thought there are times where the appendix is referenced and you might want to jump there, then jump back.
- Pay attention to the bibliography. It’s a veritable who’s who of people who are writing on the supernatural right now.
- I’m writing this in an interesting book form also. I’m UNDER CONTRACT through Supernatural Truth Publishing to write the book of the same name that will be story based, gripping, inspiring and practical (with discussion/refection questions and supernatural exercises after each chapter). My goal with this book is to write something my wife would WANT to read – haha! This book will have my voice thoroughly throughout.
jaredstepp 