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I am a little confused and I need help to understand; the apostles during Christs earthly ministry taught salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. John 3:16, Acts 3:16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. And the other letters of Peter, James, John.The apostle Paul teaches that salvation comes from faith in what he did at the cross and then live in faith , in his name. 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. And 1 Corinthians 18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. I ask because it seems that all the churches I go to sing and preach only faith in his name. It used to be we sang and preach the cross and faith in Christ. If we only need to believe in his name, then he wasted his time going to the cross and there is no power in what he has done and Paul was a fool. Am I missing something, Am I nit picking a point that doesn’t really matter? Dan

Regarding "seminary education" episode. I have started taking classes at Christian Leaders Institute which has many options for bachelors degree and ordination or just plain Christian education. I already have a degree in nursing and did not need another degree but just wanted the biblical education without the debt. I have taken classes elsewhere and I think these classes are more superior. They are donation based and provide free education all around the world. You really should check them out. I am not a spokesman for them, only a student, but when you spoke about graduates not being able to afford to take a job because of their debt, I wanted to let you know about this option. Before you enroll, they require you to take a short class that explains their whole program. It takes around 1 to 2 hours to complete but well worth it for the free education. Don't let the word free discourage you. You won't be disappointed. Since I started going there around 6 months ago they have progressed by adding different options for ordination and chaplains. I believe they will eventually add masters degree optiions in the future.

Love these videos. The "Gripe Outloud" session was my favorite (so far).  I won't get into all the ways this struck a chord with me, but suffice it to say that there were many notes ringing bells. My personal experience is that I took classes locally and with a college/seminary that isn't the mainstream-seminary places.  Many would say where I went is a degree/diploma-mill.  It was accredited, but not the same as others. I invested a lot of time and effort in those classes over many years. I ended up with a Bachelor's in Divinity, and a dual masters in Christian Education, and Media/Technology in the church.  this happened because I was not seeking a degree, and ended up having credit hours applicable in those fields and was encouraged by the staff to finish them into degrees. Because I moved away from that local setting, I am "forced" to not go further in degree-seeking.  The responses I get from those places essentially is that  work is deemed "invalid".  So far, none of the places I have applied  will take anything I have done in any kind of consideration. And now, these 35, or so,  years later I can't justify "starting over", just because they don't think I learned anything or they just won't accept any of that education as being appropriate or valid for me to continue with them. Fortunately, I am blessed to be a pastor of a church that does value that education, and the "degrees" I have.  Discipleship is paramount, even though it is a small congregation.  so while we have about 40 members, I am working with 4 of them, very closely in discipleship - as a "log cabin" movement/learning.  I will NOT discourage them from degree seeking, but will certainly teach them lessons I learned in that area.   My congregation allows me a lot of leeway to not have to put out fires and be the social director/ event coordinator.  It is my experience with my peers though, that this way of thinking is anomalous. (I still don't have nor do I need an MDiv.)