DTS Magazine Fall 2018

Fall 2018 | Vol. 4, No. 3

DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

INSIDE:

GOD’S WONDERS IN THE PLACE OF DARKNESS

SERVING THE WORLD IN A CITY: PROFILE OF CAMERON MULLENS

SELF-CARE: ENJOY THE RIVERS OF FLOWING WATER

A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Dark Corners of Our Praises FROM: DR. MARK L. BAILEY

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n his exposition of Psalm 88, Spurgeon wrote,“The mind can descend far lower than the body, for it, there are bottomless pits. The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour.”

While some would think becoming a pastor at the age of nineteen was the most astonishing fact about Charles Haddon Spurgeon, or that he preached so many outstanding sermons in his time at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, few have known or have imagined that Spurgeon suffered from severe depression throughout his entire ministry.

The problem of suffering is one of the most significant theological challenges we face. The curious, as well as the critics of Christianity, will undoubtedly ask, “How can a good God allow these things to happen? Where is he in the midst of all this suffering?”

These are the questions that keep us awake at night, tie our emotions in knots, cause friction among families, and may even attack the very foundations of our trust in God. Often in our lives, the desire to control our circumstances and destinies displaces our confidence in God. We want to fix our problems. We want to correct them. We want immediate answers. And we don’t want the darkness we experience even if we believe God remains by our side.

However, we know from the Scriptures, and from our own journeys, that our pain and sufferings are often the means by which we are motivated to seek God, surrender to his will, and submit to his sovereign work in our lives. God uses all of our difficult experiences to develop our faith, and often as a testimony to others. He nurtures our deepening trust in him and develops our character toward Christlikeness.

By the sheer fact that the number of lament psalms almost matches the number of praise psalms in the Hebrew Psalter, the answer to the storms in our lives is a “truth-mentored trust” in God. Even when we can’t see what will happen, we can trust what we know about him. That alone should cause us to reach out in faith toward God and believe him and his Word.

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The Scriptures declare God is trustworthy. And we too can confess this statement of confidence toward him even when a problem still exists. When we address God in times of trouble, we reach out through petitions and laments for that handle of faith to sustain us.

Knowing the plan of God did not prevent Christ from lamenting. In Gethsemane, he voices Psalm 88: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matt 26:38).

On the cross, he cried Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

Let’s continue to prepare our hearts to pray—to lament—and ask God to deal with us, to hear us, to help and save us. And like most psalms, we can end our petitions with a vow to keep worshiping, to keep praying, and to keep crying to our great God even in the dark corners of our praises.

Spurgeon wrote that the “only ray of comfortable light which shines” throughout Psalm 88 is the hopeful title by which the psalmist addresses the Lord—Lord God of my salvation. “The writer has salvation, he is sure of that, and God is the sole author of it. While a man can see God as his Saviour, it is not altogether midnight with him.”

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While a man can see God as his Saviour, it is not altogether midnight with him.

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DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Our mission is to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of his Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.

IN THIS ISSUE

DTS Magazine® Fall 2018 Vol. 4, No. 3 ISSN 1092–7492 ©2018 Dallas Theological Seminary. All rights reserved.

Published three times a year by Dallas Theological Seminary 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, Texas 75204

Mark L. Bailey, President Edward Herrelko, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Raquel P. Wroten, Editor David Malphurs, Amelia Palmer, Keith Yates, Layout and Design Debbie J. Stevenson, Production Manager

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Ryan Holmes, Caroline Khameneh, Don Regier, Christine Zhang, Photographers

GOD’S WONDERS IN THE PLACE OF DARKNESS Wayne Braudrick (MABS, 1994) writes about his family’s challenging journey with chronic and crisis illness and how God keeps his promises even in deep suffering.

Kathy Dyer, Melanie Munnell, Margaret Tolliver, Copy Editing Matt Snyder, Ad Designer Aeriel Eichenberger, Greg Hatteberg, Alumni Connection SUBSCRIBE Subscriptions are free of charge to addresses in the United States. Go to voice.dts.edu/magazine or call 800-DTS-WORD and ask for the DTS Magazine subscription office.

EMAIL Contact admissions@dts.edu for information about DTS’s graduate degree programs.

Contact rwroten@dts.edu to submit articles, request reprints, or make comments.

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Send email address changes to ckirchdorfer@dts.edu or mail to DTS Magazine 3909 Swiss Ave. Dallas, Texas 75204 Unless noted otherwise, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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FREEDOM FROM OUR CONDEMNING HEARTS Linda Marten, associate professor in the Biblical Counseling department at DTS, explains the role Christ’s followers have in freeing one another from fear, trauma, and judgments.

I GOT AN “A” IN TRAUMA Current MABC student Jennifer Roth shares her journey on learning why God leaves scars behind and why he allows the

restorative process to take time.

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SERVING THE WORLD IN A CITY: PROFILE OF CAMERON MULLENS (THM, 2011)

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SELF-CARE: ENJOY THE RIVERS OF FLOWING WATER French Jones (THM, 1980) explains why God’s people should prioritize psychological health and what it means to depend upon the Lord for his perspectives in life.

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GOD’S WONDERS IN THE PLACE OF DARKNESS

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“I WOULD GIVE ABOUT TO NOT HAVE TO SAY WHAT I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU.” The speaker was our family physician, a friend of twenty years, and the conversation occurred six years ago.

“Among other brain malfunctions, I strongly suspect Michael is suffering from paranoid-schizophrenia . In short, that means as he completes puberty his brain has lost the capacity to regulate certain hormones like endorphins. The over-stimulus completely swamps the brain receptors. Desperate for control, the mind will organize this into voices and forces that overwhelm him.”

because of the terror he felt at the uncontrollable thoughts in his head. Confused and frustrated, Ben played the fool, employing sin as a desperate dulling agent. Though he excelled academically, he fell apart spiritually.

Our mind-set as parents proved the hardest blockade. We didn’t, and possibly couldn’t, grasp the amount of care our son would need. About one year into this journey, a turning point came while vacationing with my parents in England. Having left Mike with his sister and brother-in-law, we received a panicked call describing an amazingly difficult obsession episode that had them all at wit’s end. Mike actually fled for a bit, perilously close to joining the large population of mentally ill homeless people.

Thankfully, he came back.

We all went in to join our son Michael, and cried together—our friend doctor, me, my wife, and patient. All, but Mike, knew God had embarked us on a challenging journey that combines some of the worst features of both chronic and crisis illness. Mike only knew he hurt. He described his brain as “a cotton candy machine. But instead of sugar, it’s broken glass spinning around and around.”

Upon returning home from that trip, we decided to have Mike come live with us. He resigned from all his jobs, and we set fulltime to the task of managing his illness. Slowly, the medicines started to work well. He eliminated the self-medication that his brain falsely desired. His siblings soon better understood the situation. Ben transferred colleges and got on track with his Lord. In fact, he graduated with honors last May. We found a new normal that seemed as stable as chronic crises can be.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

ALL INTO BATTLE

Referred to a psychiatrist, who has done an excellent job caring for our family, he minced no words. “I see that you have been very intelligent, Michael. Tons of awards. Graduated high school early. You will not be able to rely on intellect to get you through any longer. In fact, your fight will get worse.

Much worse. You are very severely disabled with more than schizophrenia. With your amalgamation of dysfunctions, you have about a thirty percent chance to live past twenty-nine years old.”

Those words proved prescient. The first hurdle? Medicinal, as it takes a difficult process of trial and error to find the drugs that work best for each person. During the time of medication adjustment, Mike often felt terrified. He would sneak alcohol or marijuana in a desperate attempt to dull the voices and pains in his head.

These, of course, would negate or dangerously heighten the effects of his prescriptions.

We made a second serious adjustment to our family mind-set.

Our other children, who had for years found Michael increasingly difficult, suddenly understood why. That comprehensive relief was countered by the reality that because of their brother’s incapacity, they could not reestablish a simple peer relationship.

Our daughter managed well in her Lord, but Mike’s little brother, Ben, struggled.

A year into our new reality, Ben headed off to Ouachita Baptist—the small school from which his sister had graduated and where I teach in the Frisco extension. Michael had also attended, but returned partway through his freshman year

Of course, each day is a serious battle. Michael has to fight for his sanity every day. The medicines are great, as is prayer. The environmental changes to our home—including an outdoor covered retreat for Mike to decompress—are very helpful. The strategies we have learned to guide him through paranoid and obsessive episodes prove important. Yet none of it makes a difference if the mentally ill person himself doesn’t fight the good fight. He must let the Lord empower him and then put his all into the battle.

Mike realizes this. In fact, his capacity to “gird his mental loins” for daily battle amazes me. I first saw his determination about two years after the diagnosis. He felt angry, sitting outside fuming over some part real, part imagined slight. I came out and sat with him, saying nothing. I only sat with him.

After a long silence, he said, “I am not going to be a statistic.”

Bewildered with no context, I said, “Pardon?” He replied after a bit, “A statistic. I am not going to be one of the 70 percent that doesn’t make it.”

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I AM NOT GOING TO BE ONE OF THE

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THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT.

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Determination is not all I have learned from my son. Probably the most significant lesson is the command to take every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5). If Michael doesn’t obey—taking each thought captive—it can spell death for him. He must continually guard his thoughts and use his trusted caregivers as a filter, since the consequences for him are truly life and death.

Watching and helping him in this work, I have felt ashamed to realize that I treated God’s command as a suggestion. Instead of an imperative, I viewed thought-capturing as an exercise only for “important” matters. Of course, the truth is that the stakes are no lower for me. More eternal than temporal, probably, but no less important.

INSTRUMENTAL GIFTS

As a lifetime reader, Mike cannot focus well on books anymore.

This saddens him greatly, but we have met the human need for story through video games. He saved up and purchased many systems along with hundreds of games. Role-playing games have proved particularly useful, as his mind can get off of his ache and engage in the joy of gaming.

(Note: these “screamer” albums have also received airplay in Russia, where a few stations picked up Mike Braudrick as “a dark-metal genius.”)

Mostly instrumental, his later albums reveal beauty and sometimes his brilliance. Mike felt especially gratified when a few local moviemakers used his pieces for scenes and when the Southland Athletic Conference played his tunes for “bumper” music on ESPN broadcasts.

One of the most important shifts came about three years into our journey. My sweetheart and I figured out we felt inappropriately grumpy with Mike sometimes because we had little opportunity to decompress together, away from his continuous needs. A man in our church, who has dealt with mental illness in his own family, formed “Mike’s guys.” He recruited three other men from the small circle of people with whom Mike feels very comfortable.

DETERMINATION IS NOT ALL I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY SON. “PROBABLY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT LESSON IS THE COMMAND TO TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE (2 COR 10:5). ”

Michael still reads a bit, as a bunch of grade-school girls whose parents are family friends come to our house weekly for twenty minutes of Mr. Mike reading The Chronicles of Narnia (which exhausts him), followed by copious snacks and games with me.

Our psychiatrist predicted that little kids, especially girls, would be the only people the paranoid-schizophrenic brain would not view as a threat. This is true for Mike, making me think that Boo Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird was schizophrenic. In fact, I once titled a painful memo to my fellow elders “I am Boo Radley’s father.”

Music also evolved into a critically important tool. Mike, a gifted orchestrator, has recorded over three hundred albums of music during the past four years. The early ones express his pain, screamed through a heavy metal sound. Hard to listen to, the lyrics reveal the mind of a mentally ill family member. Many families who seek to understand have listened to his music.

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On rotation, they come over every Tuesday night to talk and play games with him, giving Michael needed interaction. My wife and I go eat, see a movie, double-date with the other kids, or read a book aloud together in the park. It is life-giving.

ALL THE DIFFERENCE

About four years in, Michael’s obsession struggles swelled. Four or more times a week, he would latch onto a game he had to have immediately. Amazing and lifesaving, he corrals the obsessive aspect of his illness, turning his focus away from destructive things (like self-harm) to video games instead. Nonetheless, it grew exhausting. Systems and games purchased and then sold at huge loss churned emotions and pocketbook alike. The situation developed into something so marked that our concern about our ability to keep him safe grew.

Frightened, Mike asked to go to a facility. A precious few still exist in this age with the “Cuckoo’s Nest” overreaction of the twentieth century having shuttered most state facilities. (For more information, see the Wall Street Journal essay “The Case to Bring Back the Asylum” from May 18, 2018.) We did find one not too far away that specializes in schizophrenia.

Managed caringly, the residents were all severely low-functioning.

Michael’s crisis times seemed more severe than most of them, but his chronic state proved more normal. Nonetheless, he demanded we move him there. On Easter week, of course, the most stressful week of the year for a teaching pastor whose church holds special services, we moved him there. And this fell immediately after the completion of a successful but exhausting capital campaign!

It was a total disaster. Four hours in, Mike realized this was a horrible fit and he would feel safer at home. In tears of frustration, we bundled all the stuff we had settled into his room back to the cars. We brought him home nearly at wit’s end. Nonetheless, the message of the Resurrection did not stay completely lost on us.

In our fear, in the face of losing our son, the power of eternal life truly made all the difference.

The blessing of our church helped as well. I have never known the particulars of my salary, only that it is more than adequate.

Yet in light of the need for help, our elders dramatically raised it, doing so by faith during a year of church financial tightness.

They instructed we use the largess to hire an in-home caregiver for a few days a week.

None of the services we researched had people that fit perfectly, but the three-day-a-week respite for us felt incredible. After a few weeks, I spoke to Dr. George Hillman’s class at DTS. At the end, George said, “Wayne, tell them a bit about your son.” I did so, and two wonderful doctoral students contacted me, desiring to care for Mike. We chose one, and he spent most of the next year bonding with and blessing Mike. We even left them for a full week in order to teach in Russia—our first journey away since the horrible phone call in England.

STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Now, Mike is so strong that he doesn’t need a caregiver. We leave him alone during the daytime three days per week. Every day is still hard, and some are wretched. Nonetheless, he continues to succeed. We all notice more and more the positive changes in our souls God has wrought through this scenario. Most significant, Mike recently formed a nonprofit foundation to help others in his situation.

The Fundamental Arts Foundation builds on Mike’s experience with music, reasoning that artistic creation is a main tool God has employed to keep him alive. With our help, Michael established a board of wonderful people, the chair of which is a DTS grad. The IRS approved the 501(c)3 designation in less than a month, and

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WE ALL NOTICE MORE AND MORE THE IN OUR SOULS GOD HAS WROUGHT THROUGH THIS SCENARIO.

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the first supporters have given. The foundation exists to help the adult mentally disabled in two ways:

1. GIVE THEM A VOICE. The mentally disabled understandably feel marginalized and hidden. By placing their music or fine art on the Foundation website, Mike hopes to grant them presence in line with their import to the Lord.

2. GIVE THEM MATERIALS. Many of the mentally disabled don’t have the resources Mike enjoys. Art supplies are costly. Even in the age of computerized orchestration, recording equipment can prove expensive.

“Of course,” the psychiatrist has reminded us more than once, “those who make it to thirty years old face a completely flipped situation. Seventy percent of them end up living semi-independently—many of them married.” There is no guarantee Mike, now twenty-five years old, will see thirty.

God doesn’t promise he will live in the positive majority if he does survive.

Yet the Lord does promise to stay with us always, and that is enough.

WAYNE BRAUDRICK (MABS, 1994) is the lead pastor at Frisco Bible Church in Frisco, Texas.

He also serves as adjunct faculty and director of the North Dallas Center for Ouachita Baptist University. Wayne teaches on the daily All the Difference radio broadcast and is the author of many books for Lampion Press.

For more information on the Fundamental Arts Foundation or to suggest an artist, please go to fundamentalartsfoundation.com or write to fundamentalartsfoundation@gmail.com. To listen to Mike’s music, visit Band Camp at mikebraudrick.bandcamp.com.

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verywhere we turn, we compare ourselves—we look, measure, evaluate, and then rank ourselves—with others around us. If we’re honest, we can unfailingly find someone who stirs up our feelings of inadequacy and therefore inferiority.

This starts a cascade of problems that, if undealt with, will fester into other issues.

We expect these types of feelings of worthlessness from those who have experienced abandonment, mistreatment, abuse, extreme trauma and so forth, but this can also sprout from the smaller wounds in our lives—even the thoughtless words of others.

INITIAL WOUNDS

I remember when I was in ninth grade and received a new fall outfit—my favorite at that time. This ensemble included a brown and orange plaid skirt, a burnt orange sweater, and this little brown tie-on leather collar. With it, I wore brown leather shoes with laces and burnt orange leotards. I was cool and felt very confident looking so hip and groovy! So the first time I wore it to school, I strutted my stuff as I walked into the building.

I felt secure, maybe even smug, and somewhat envied during my first three classes.

“You look all orangey. You look like a pumpkin!” Donald, a fellow classmate, later announced. The other kids started laughing, and that’s all it took. I felt humiliated, mortified, and from that day on, I hated the outfit. I felt as if everyone had stared and had judged me as “less-than.” My confidence in my appearance lacked at school after Donald made that comment.

And I carried a sense of shame that I should have somehow known that I appeared “orangey.” It left me with a nagging question, “What do others really think of me?”

As a therapist, I’ve heard thousands of stories, predominantly from Christians. So I know that none of us are unique in coping with judgments from ourselves and from others. Oftentimes we will develop a tough, “outside shell-self ” to protect the true, “vulnerable-self ” to survive the threat of potential wounds.

The “outside shell-self ” can manifest in different ways—it can develop into a persona designed to please others to elicit approval or it can create a tough, hardened persona that ensures distance. Either way, we think both lead to safety.

Some of us may overcompensate with perfectionism or indifference, perhaps running to busyness or other addictions that will help numb and distance the fear, pain, and shame.

We will then inevitably feel disconnected from God and people—no longer living authentically, so we hide more— seeking complete isolation from the rest of the world. Our true essence inside starts to shrivel and disconnect completely.

In isolation we feel a slow death.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

If we feel devalued, we oftentimes have little choice but to live in the shadows of our assigned lowliness or to push back.

We convince ourselves that only when we’re perfect can we regain that lost security of love. That’s what our deceived hearts tell us, so we try over and over to appear better—perfect.

The range of woundedness is immense.

It goes from insecurity to severe trauma and torture. The damaged ones are not confined to a gender or age, nor to one race, faith, educational or economic level, or country.

We follow the directions of the media, the magazines, the advertisers, the trendsetters, and the financial elite. We buy the look, wear the latest trends, and hide ourselves and imitate those who ooze success. We keep our “flaws” secret, and we convince ourselves everything is going well. Meanwhile, the heart secretly collects condemning counterevidence.

The range of woundedness is immense. It goes from insecurity like my “orangey” episode to severe trauma and torture. The damaged ones are not confined to a gender or age, nor to one race, faith, educational or economic level, or country. And I wish it were only the “bad heathens” who perpetrate such pain, but that is just not true.

Abuse happens in good families, communities, businesses, and churches, including by those in leadership. The secrecy of this runs deep in churches because of the added confusion, shame, and sense of betrayal for the victim when the crime is in God’s house or by one of his representatives.

Trauma with the resulting PTSD does not stay confined to military war zones. Sometimes the war is in our home, church, school, or work. The body may survive but the soul can get attacked and mortally wounded anywhere.

We can talk, tweet, post, and protest these things. We can even feel a glimmer of satisfaction when a perpetrator faces justice.

But how do we really deal with it all? How do we handle damaged and condemning hearts?

Freedom from Our Condemning Hearts

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Romans 12 tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (v. 2). That is so true! But when someone has a problem, an issue, or even a deep wound, should we just give them the appropriate verse? Maybe, “Cast all your anxiety on him,” or “He will also provide a way out,” and so on? How would they respond to this? By saying, “Oh good, thank you! I will feel better now”? I doubt it.

We need the compassion of God’s love delivered through God’s people so we can experientially know Romans 8:1.

RELEASING EACH OTHER

Most times, words are just not enough when someone is deeply hurting. Quoting Scripture and hoping that’s enough won’t work. The heart needs repair through an encounter with love. This love may come directly from God in a miraculous way, but more often, God radiates his love through us, his people.

When Jesus brought life back into Lazarus’s decaying body, raising him from the dead (John 11:33–44), he called him out of the tomb. Scripture tells us Lazarus walked out still bound and in his smelly grave clothes—his hands and feet “wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face” (v. 44). Would it have been more difficult for Jesus to have Lazarus come out unbound and smelling good? Of course not. Why the smelly way?

Jesus told the people standing around the tomb to come close and unbind Lazarus, and they obeyed. In doing so they became part of God’s healing miracle.

Today Jesus calls people to eternal life, and he has asked us to get involved in the untying of each other’s “grave clothes.”

He wants us involved in freeing each other from the smelly bindings of our histories, our trauma, our abuses, our fears, and our judgments. The condemning heart will always hold tight to those remnants of death. To remove the effects of death, God’s people must see it, get close to it, touch it, and help carry it. In doing so, we take part in the birthing of the new life and our faith grows.

Not too long ago a courageous student spoke to my class. She said that when she arrived on campus she felt as if she didn’t belong—“all the people at DTS are holy.” Deep inside she held a shameful secret. In her past, she had aborted her baby. Her story was a tearful one, but later it also proved one of healing.

By letting these Christian women know her guilt and shame, and allowing them to be the forgiving face and loving heart of Christ, she experienced forgiveness, freedom, and belonging.

She multiplied their gift of love to her by encouraging those in the class to also risk and let others come close.

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Does that sound like a big job to “be the face and hands of Christ”? How are we supposed to know what to do to help others with their shame and self-condemning heart?

FOR THE GOOD DEEDS

Ephesians 2:10—I especially like it in the Moffatt translation— tells us, “God has made us what we are, creating us in Christ Jesus for the good deeds which are prepared beforehand by God as our sphere of action.” In other words, relax! Believe that the Lord has equipped us to do what he designed us to do.

Do you realize that all it takes is for us to show up, be us, and remain willing to let Jesus work through us? He made us, and he knows how to use us to accomplish those good deeds that he has planned.

It’s easy for people not to seek help, but undealt-with trauma and grief wounds will fester and spill out in destructive ways.

The needed journey is for our mind to again be a reflection of God’s perspective on our life and worth. Satan attempts to degrade the high value God placed in us, to divide us, steal our peace, discourage us, and weaken our faith by intensifying hardships and rancor, and to keep us defending ourselves from the accuser.

God has made us what we are, creating us in Christ Jesus for the good deeds which are prepared beforehand by God as our sphere of action (Eph 2:10, mnt).

If our heart condemns, it is a sure sign we lack confidence before God and people, and we need to examine the source of condemnation. We must all stay on guard, first listening to each other, then encouraging and reminding each other that we have a perfect defender in Christ. We need the truth of God’s love through his Word so it can transform our mind.

We need the compassion of God’s love delivered through God’s people so we can experientially know Romans 8:1 where we read, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Christ has called us to help each other and boldly step into each other’s processes everywhere we turn, so that we can unbind each other from the stinky remnants of our brokenness and feel accepted and deeply loved.

DTS professor LINDA MARTEN has worked in the counseling profession for thirty-plus years with clients in private practice. She is an LPC supervisor, member of the Christian Association of Psychological Studies, and a clinical member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

BOOK EXCERPT ELIZABETH OATES // MACE, 2005

FINDING YOUR SIGNIFICANCE IN CHRIST

The television blared in the background of an otherwise quiet home. I was only nine years old and not yet a Christ-follower.

My hardworking, single mother sat on her bed paying bills, her anxious sighs slipping beneath her door and into the living room with each check she wrote. My older brother, distant from me in both years and emotional connection, was out with his friends, and I sat alone on the couch.

I longed to watch Kids Incorporated on Disney Channel, but cable television was one of many luxuries we could not afford.

Bored with the news, I made my way up the stairs to my bedroom, but I stopped after just a few steps. The news anchor was reporting on children and divorce. Immediately my ears perked up.

The reporter is talking about me, I thought.

He churned out the latest research and some dismal statistics on the high school dropout rate of children from “broken homes.”

His words struck my heart with a chill. That was the moment I realized I was broken…flawed…second-class…insignificant.

I stood paralyzed on the steps, seething at the bleak future this news anchor had just assigned to me. My fighting spirit refused to accept his prophecy. (Being a strong-willed child does have its advantages, so hang in there mamas of tenacious two-year-olds.) That won’t happen to me, I remember thinking, my anger boiling within. I will not be a statistic!

With that resolution, I stomped up the stairs to my room. I’ve heard and read these kinds of statistics all my life; maybe you have too. If not, let me summarize the popular view for you.

Children from divorced families are more likely to do the following:

• • • • • • • • • • •

Develop health problems Have trouble getting along with their peers Be more aggressive toward their peers Drop out of high school End up in prison as adults Engage in sexual activity at a young age Use drugs and alcohol at a young age Grow up to fear conflict Commit suicide during their teen years Experience teen pregnancy Suffer from depression (in childhood and adulthood)

Fortunately, my feisty spirit—and God’s grace—served me well in life. I avoided those grisly statistics and graduated from high school, college, and seminary. I made plenty of mistakes in my life, but I did not fall into the temptations of alcohol, drugs, or sex as the news anchor had predicted. God protected me from a grim future and opened doors for me that, according to the statistics, had already been shut, thanks to my family history.

Most importantly, when the world told me I was second-string, God told me I was significant.

No matter how many times we fail, no matter how many times our past disappoints us or points a finger at us, our God defies statistics so that the world may see us the way he sees us—as the child he adopted into his family. Nothing could give us more significance than knowing God chose us and loves us with an unchanging love.

Content taken with permission from Mending Broken Branches: When God Reclaims Your Dysfunctional Family Tree by Elizabeth Oates, Kregel, 2018.

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I GOT AN “ A”

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’VE GONE THROUGH SOME DARK SEASONS IN MY LIFE. HARDSHIP AND HEARTACHE HAVE EVOLVED INTO UNINVITED COMPANIONS WHO HAVE STAYED FAR LONGER THAN I WOULD HAVE EVER CHOSEN. Depression, loss, sickness, and betrayal are all chapters in my story. Over the course of my life, I have learned that God has a purpose for all of these things, and I feel confident of his call to walk with others in their pain.

IN TRAUMA

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Cor 4:7–10).

Like the outset of any semester, I have always felt eager for a new beginning and a fresh start. With coffee in hand, I enter the classroom and walk straight toward the front row. Even at forty years old, the first day of school feels exciting.

This particular day, my fourth first day of school at DTS, things seemed no different. Like always, the white screen on my laptop awaits the paragraph of notes I will take once class starts—a blank canvas that expects something beautiful.

Anticipation fills my heart. And I know God will do something new in me.

During the first few months in trauma class, I realized that I knew someone who could identify with every topic discussed in class. Behind every PowerPoint, I saw the faces of those personally affected by abuse. As I listened to the detailed descriptions of the exploitation of little children, my stomach churned. I thought of those I know whose childhoods were similarly robbed from them and the overwhelming confusion and unfair consequences many of them continue to wrestle with in their lives.

When I had to study and discuss the effects of rape, I thought of loved ones who have experienced this kind of evil and who continue to battle the pervasive thoughts of the horror forced upon them—friends who live in fear and struggle with shame and confusion.

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All of this proved more than a lecture because this is the reality of many people I know. I felt uneasy, but the information deepened my level of empathy and gave me new insight into the lives of those I love and cherish.

A significant lesson came during a discussion on psychological abuse and the effects of narcissism. I know—all too well—the hurt and shame of what dishonesty and manipulation can do. In fact, some of my deepest wounds over the years have resulted from people I trusted in the church. When I sought help, some threw salt on those wounds. “Get over it,” they would say. “And don’t tell anyone!”

As my professor gave examples of the evil that can happen in the church, I nodded my head in agreement with every single bullet point of the lesson. My eyes had opened to the fact that what I had experienced in the church was, in fact, traumatic.

I knew those events as wrong and horrible, but to have someone recognize them as such validated my experiences.

I now had words to articulate what I once struggled to describe. While a lot of healing had already taken place in the years leading up to that moment in class, the simple acknowledgment of it recognized as abuse instantaneously provided salve onto a scabbed wound.

TRAUMATIC COMPASSION

When the class got deep into the trauma of war, our professor decided to show us a portion of a documentary. The desert camouflage uniforms, the combat infantry badges, and the servicemen I saw may just as well have existed in the same platoon that my husband did—ex-husband, that is. You see, back in my mid-twenties, I had married a soldier. The shortlived marriage may have lasted only a few years, but the effects of abandonment and betrayal remained with me far longer.

God, however, had done a deep work in the years between then and now—a powerful work of healing and forgiveness.

The memories from that season no longer hurt, so why did the documentary take me by surprise? Lord, this is old news. Do I have an open wound I don’t see?

Years prior, after an incredible revelation from God, I chose to forgive my ex-husband finally. It did not happen overnight, but eventually, a breakthrough occurred. And while I hold no animosity toward him, I hadn’t fully empathized with what he faced personally. How could I? After all, I was on the receiving end of his actions. Now, in this new chapter, pursuing a career in counseling, I saw things through a different lens.

Both in the classroom and in my heart, something had shifted.

Yes, forgiveness had already taken place, but what I sensed that day felt more like compassion. Though I had suffered immensely as a result of his choices, he also had suffered deeply in his way. That afternoon, I saw him in a different light—the same way I want to see my future clients and how God wants me to approach all people—in the light of Jesus.

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Christ’s light began to shine brightly into my heart to show me the magnitude of the restoration that had taken place previously. The miraculous healing of a deep wound meant the sting no longer hurt—the shame no longer existed. Once agonizing and debilitating, it now faded into a memory that God did not want me to forget. In class, he brought my scars up to the surface for me to share with others.

VICTORY ON DISPLAY

Like me, Jesus has scars. Our Savior, in his resurrected body, could have returned without any indication of his suffering.

His sacrifice had already paid the price. And yet, after the wounds that had left him unrecognizable, he appeared a week later ( John 20:26) with nail-pierced hands and a hole in his side to show his disciples his scars. Word had traveled that Jesus rose from the dead. For some, that word proved enough, but Jesus knew others would doubt and need to witness him and his scars.

STORYTELLING SCARS

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6).

Jesus had opened his arms wide on the cross—his wounds open for all to see—and took on the worst agony imaginable.

And “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24). Christ’s scars remained on his body to display his victory over death and sin.

In his sermon “The Wounds of Jesus,” Charles Spurgeon said, “Jesus Christ has scars of honor in his flesh and glory in his eyes. He has divided the spoil with the strong: he has taken the captive away from his tyrant master; he has redeemed for himself a host that no man can number, who are all the trophies of his victories: but these scars, these are the memorials of the fight, and these the trophies, too. His testimony will prevail through all eternity.”

God knows we are prone to forget all he has done in our lives.

He leaves scars behind to show us that healing is possible and to show us his healing power. He allows the restorative process to take time, so we depend only on him.

Do we genuinely believe healing will take place? Perhaps it won’t happen on this earth, but definitely in eternity for those who acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. Many people doubt victory especially when they find themselves in darkness.

It is in these moments that they’ll remember the wounded versions of those who walk alongside them in life. They’ll desire a firsthand account of the transformation that has happened. They will reach for hope. They will need to see the scars.

God did not bring me through those agonizing years to only attend DTS, get an A in trauma, and earn my degree. Through the sorrow I have experienced, I came to know the Man of Sorrows, and in the painful aftermath, I clung to the one whose wounds made me whole. The deep place in my soul that once had a gaping hole, now reveals a scar. No pain, no hurt, just a memory that points to Christ. The comfort I receive from him is something that I now offer.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Cor 1:3–4).

I did get an A in my trauma class—the evidence of more than just assignments completed. No textbook will provide what I learned through suffering and in my personal experiences with the Lord. Though I never want to walk through such agony again, I rejoice in how I’ve come to know Christ better as a result.

The pain and shame of divorce once felt so heavy. And yet, I can honestly say that I thank God for allowing me to go through that dark season. Was it his will? No. God did not create us to carry that kind of pain. Had I known what I know now, I am sure I would have approached it all differently.

But regret does not exist in this chapter. In a time where darkness engulfed me, my soul experienced the love of God in a profound, unique, and intimate way. I look back and see how he poured his grace out on my wounds in abundance and molded me into the person I am today. I would not trade it.

Our scars provide hope. Our stories testify of the healing power of God. Those scars shout, “I made it!” And like Christ, because of his death and resurrection, victory is now displayed on our lives. When the hopeless see our scars, they will see the Lord.

Yes, depression, loss, sickness, and betrayal are all chapters in my story, but so are hope, victory, and grace. At one point, like the psalmist once wrote, darkness was my old friend. I know to not hide my scars because God’s wonders shine in the places of darkness, and his righteous deeds are exceptionally bright in the land of oblivion.

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27–28).

JENNIFER ROTH is a current MABC student and serves as an academic advisor at DTS. She was born and raised in New York City and studied psychology at Liberty University. Jennifer is passionate about prayer, fellowship, and strong coffee. After seminary, she hopes to start an organization that provides counseling, mentoring, and respite to pastors and their families.

Photography by ELIJAH MISIGARO (MABS, MAMW, 2016). Elijah serves as senior video producer at DTS and is passionate about telling compelling stories through visual art. You can find more information and see some of his work at elijahmisigaro.com.

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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT Meet Nate Hoff. His academic interests include biology, hermeneutics, dispensationalism, and biblical theology. Dr. Hoff has gained a strong desire to help those in academia and in the local church develop in the discipline of Bible exposition. He and his wife, Abby, have four boys: Judah, Jeshua, Jordan, and Josiah.

I wish I could: speak Russian.

Education: • BA, Biology, Temple University • ThM, Bible Exposition, DTS • PhD, Bible Exposition, DTS

Currently I am reading: Relevance Communication and Cognition by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson.

What is the most important thing you do to strengthen your Christian faith on a daily basis? I meditate on Scripture.

DR. NATE HOFF Assistant Professor of Bible Exposition

My favorite thing about DTS as a student: was studying under and being discipled by godly professors.

Before DTS I was: a science teacher at Providence Christian School of Texas.

Meet Scott Harris. He has served in leadership and administrative roles in education and ministry for most of his career. Dr. Harris and his wife, Kathryn, have four sons: Jonathan, David, Mark, and Noah.

Education: • BBA, Marketing, University of Oklahoma • ThM, Academic/Christian Education, DTS • PhD, Higher Education, University of North Texas

DR. SCOTT HARRIS

Director of DEdMin, Associate Professor in Educational Ministries and Leadership

My favorite thing about DTS as a student: was being a part of the Spiritual Formation Team and working with Dave Kanne, Erik Petrik, Neil Tomba, Dave Ward, Jim Neathery, Martin Hironaga, and Drs. Hendricks and Lawrence.

Before DTS, I was: on staff at a large church in Oklahoma City as director of facilities and taught at a couple of local Christian universities in the evenings.

I wish I could: make some choices over and make some choices again.

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Best thing to eat in the middle of the afternoon: is a protein shake.

Last movie I watched: was Avengers: Infinity War.

What’s your sleep routine like? Are you a night owl or an early riser? I am both a night owl and an early riser. I sleep from about 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.

Best advice about teaching at DTS: was given to me by Dr. Elliott E. Johnson. He said, “Teach people to be lifelong students of the Scripture.”

Favorite story of the Bible: is the story of God’s provision in Genesis 22 where Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac.

I like my coffee: with a little sugar, some milk, and crème brûlée.

Right now I’m working on: getting my home in order after our move and becoming reoriented to how my family and I can enjoy Dallas and the surrounding attractions.

Last book I read: for pleasure was Animal Farm; for work, The Professor’s Puzzle.

The best advice on marriage and family: is to enjoy simple things with your spouse and children—play games, ride bikes, make memories, sit at the table, and talk after dinner or on the front porch .

The classic car I’d like to own: is a ’65 Mustang convertible.

I’d like to travel to: Hawaii with my family.

The best leader I ever sat under: is Neil Tomba.

He modeled humility, authenticity, godly wisdom, winsomeness, and excitement for life.

Meet the New Adjuncts DR. JOSE L. CRUZ Adjunct Professor for Doctor of Ministry Dr. Cruz has served in churches in El Salvador and California.

He and his wife, Betsy, recently returned to Austin, Texas, after serving for over sixteen years in Turkey. Before going overseas, Dr. Cruz worked as a chemical engineer and earned his ThM at DTS, his DMiss at Fuller Seminary, and is currently working on a PhD at Northwest University of Potchefstroom, South Africa. Dr. Cruz and his wife have two children.

DR. RICHARD EVERSON DE OLIVEIRA Adjunct Professor for Doctor of Ministry Dr. Oliveira began his studies at Word of Life Bible College in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil. While there, he served as pastor of his home church. Dr. Oliveira later moved from southeast Brazil to start ministering at Word of Life in the northern parts of Brazil. In December 2006, he earned an MDiv from Faculdade Teologica Sul Americana, in Londrina, Parana, Brazil, and his DMin from DTS. Richard and his wife, Yohanna, have two children.

DR. JOHN CLARK LOWERY Adjunct Professor in New Testament Studies Dr. Lowery loves to teach and has a strong commitment to the well-being of DTS and its students. After earning his ThM from DTS, he received his PhD in New Testament from the University of Aberdeen.

Dr. Lowery loves to spend time with his family. He and his wife, Crystal, have been married for twelve years and reside in McKinney, Texas. They have two children, John Jr. and Jenna.

DR. EREZ SOREF Adjunct Professor for Doctor of Ministry Dr. Soref currently serves as president of Israel College of the Bible and is part of the founding team of Everlasting Arms, a national counseling ministry in Israel that helps the hurting and meets the growing needs of messianic believers. Dr. Soref holds a doctoral degree in psychology and advanced training in Bible and theology studies from Wheaton College. He and his wife, Sisi, have three children.

Faculty Promotions:

DR. DORIAN COOVER-COX Professor of Old Testament Studies

DR. ALEX GONZALES Associate Professor of Bible Exposition

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DTS AT HOME AND ABROAD 1 1

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Over the summer, Dr. George Hillman, vice president of Student Life, dean of students, and professor of Educational Ministries and Leadership reminded staff, students, and faculty about what it means to live and walk in the blessing that we have in Christ. During chapel, he spoke about the blessed life of believers, solidified by the sacrifice of Christ, resulting in the forgiveness of sins by the Father, and lived by grace administered daily through the Holy Spirit.

Go to voice.dts.edu/chapel to view all of this summer’s chapel messages.

1 Assistant director of DTS en Español, Williams Trigueros (STM, 2015) teaches expository preaching in postmodern times for faculty, students, and pastors at a conference in Puebla, Mexico.

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2 Who loves SuperWeek more than the students? Distance education coordinator and current DTS student Will Miller orients the students during the first day of classes.

3 From left: Lauren and Dr. Reg Grant (ThM, 1981; ThD, 1988), Britt Herrington, Kate Boyd, Sarah Stiles, Laura Rose Nieman, Marlene Graves, Hayley Brady, and Dr. Sandra Glahn (ThM, 2001) at Canterbury Cathedral during the British Authors/ Biblical Themes (MW206) class.

4 Current ThM student Duncan Perry is ready to help the DTS incoming class during new student orientation. Duncan serves as vice president for Advancement with this year’s student council.

5 It’s a matter of deep concentration for Dr. Nate Hoff (ThM, 2010; PhD, 2018), who played his violin at the faculty retreat this past August.

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6 Dr. Jerry Lawrence (MABS, 1991; MACE, 1995; DMCE, 2005) welcomes Rebecca Jowers (MACE, 2012), founder and executive director of the Poiema Foundation, to teach Human Trafficking 101 during this summer’s Children at Risk class (EML412/WM412). This course explores the biblical and theological rationale for meeting the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of children at risk both in the US and around the world.

7 Associate professor in World Missions and Intercultural Studies and director of DTS en Español, Dr. Michael Ortiz (ThM, 2008) teaches the Cru staff and leaders an introduction to missions course as part of their program called the Institute for Biblical Studies in Orlando, Florida, near their headquarters.

8 It’s not difficult for the Media Production staff to get Dr. James Allman (ThM, 1977; ThD, 1984) laughing. Dr. Allman recorded a Q&A on Romans as a bonus video for all of DTS’s Free Online Course subscribers.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Cameron Mullens (ThM, 2011)

SERVING THE WORLD IN A CITY Cameron Mullens paces across a room in a worn, weathered church building. He gestures and scrawls on the whiteboard in front of more than a hundred students. Women with heads covered with teal, crimson, or black glittery scarves sit in one section, while other women scatter themselves among the rest of the group. On one side of the room, brilliant marigold Congolese attire contrasts with the black robe of an Ethiopian priest. Some men stand in the back of the room, while an older man on the end of a row clutches his prayer beads.

The students repeat after Cameron, as he reads a Bible story phrase by phrase in simplified English: “Mary and Martha were friends with Jesus. Their brother was Lazarus.” As the group reads over the story, Cameron and others act out parts. He discusses the biblical account with the students.

After highlighting Jesus’s identity and the salvation he offers, Cameron concludes the lesson—as he always does—with the words, “Learning English is good, but learning about Jesus is much, much better.”

A JOB NO ONE WANTED

An unlikely cross-cultural worker, Cameron has lived in north Dallas his whole life. After marrying his high school singing partner, Kaitlyn, he started his seminary studies while he worked with church youth. His wife’s compassion and her first teaching job at a school with a diverse student population led her into a refugee ministry among her students’ families and friends. Her growing outreach included teaching English and helping these new residents fill out job applications, apply for a driver’s license, or register children for school. Their tremendous needs led Kaitlyn to quit her teaching job to work with these newcomers full-time.

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Cameron helped her during evenings and on weekends, but they both knew she needed someone to interact with the men, teach, and transport students. Cameron couldn’t escape the conviction that he was that man. He said, “When I gave up my job with the church youth, many people immediately applied for that position, but no one else applied to raise support and work with refugees.”

Cameron considered his new vocation a complement to his seminary studies. He said, “Interacting with refugees expanded my view of the body of Christ today, while my church history classes gave me a view of the other two thousand years of the church.” He expected a significant part of his role with these displaced people to involve evangelism, but he found himself interacting with a Burmese pastor and two Sudanese pastors. All of them professed Christianity and led about three hundred people in their congregations, but they all lacked basic biblical knowledge. Two of the pastors did not know the significance of the death and resurrection of Christ. All three men welcomed Cameron’s devotion into their lives. And he realized his work was influencing not just these men, but also their congregations.

By the time Cameron finished seminary, the Mullenses regularly invested their lives in about two hundred refugees through English instruction, after-school programs, practical help, and Bible instruction. In 2011 they founded For the Nations Refugee Outreach (FTNRO), and since that time, the staff has grown, as has the number of newcomers they reach.

In 2017, FTNRO reached 2,000 new residents in four locations in and around Dallas. The staff now numbers twenty-four, including Tristan Guthrie (ThM, 2003) and Todd Lindquist

(ThM, 2017). FTNRO also collaborates with other churches that provide individual volunteers, both young people and adults, to help with classes, special outreaches, and summer programs.

FILLING THE GAP

While refugee resettlement agencies offer thirty days to six months of follow-up for new residents, it takes two to five years for these newcomers to become independent and productive. FTNRO fills the gap for many families. Eight levels of English instruction, a General Educational Development (GED) class, and a citizenship class equip adult students to function in English, but the staff also helps them with practical needs such as obtaining medical insurance, getting rid of bedbugs, or replacing a lost green card.

For example, when the FTNRO staff first met one Somali refugee, she had no electricity and no food. Her husband languished in jail, and neither she nor he knew why. Her children couldn’t attend school because they lacked some of their immunizations.

So the staff showed her how to apply to reconnect her electricity. They assisted her in getting immunizations for her children and enrolling them in school. And they connected her with a food pantry. Finally, they helped her and her husband understand and resolve

his legal problems—unpaid parking tickets from another state. Now, years later, she and her family thrive on their own in Seattle, Washington.

In addition to the midmorning Bible story lesson at FTNRO, Cameron teaches the GED class. One of Cameron’s former students completed several sections of her GED exam, enabling her to get a job at a bakery.

An Iraqi student went on to get her associate’s degree at Richland College in Richardson and found employment in the area. Many students leave the FTNRO English program early because their improving skills enable them to better provide for their families. Each year 30 percent of FTNRO-trained students begin to work at sustainable jobs, 20 percent begin to attend college, and 48 percent advance to the next level of English and literacy. Afterschool and summer children’s programs help 85 percent of participating refugee children to catch up to their peers within two years.

FAITH TAKING ROOT

Cameron has invested his creativity and DTS education in the Bible instruction integrated into every level of FTNRO’s programs. Four days a week for more than one hundred days a year, students listen and interact with brief lessons from the Bible curriculum he designed.

If we don’t show up tomorrow, a lot of people won’t learn English.

And they won’t hear the gospel.

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We’ve seen the faith take root in families who have never heard the gospel.

“We want to articulate the central points of Christianity clearly,” Cameron said, while outlining the three-year program he developed. One year of the curriculum focuses on events of the Old Testament coupled with related New Testament passages in a chronological format. The second year covers the life and work of Jesus. And in the third year, attendees learn systematic theology. The program educates the students who identify as Christians and shares truth with the Muslims, Buddhists, and followers of tribal religions who attend.

Teaching new residents who have limited English and come from diverse cultures puts Cameron’s seminary education to the test. “Can I communicate the Trinity to semiliterate shepherds from Sudan?” Cameron asked. “If these concepts are so important that we learn them in seminary, they are important to teach here.”

After hearing the gospel again and again, men and women from different faiths do consider the new ideas they’ve heard. Many Muslims admit they have a sin problem and some acknowledge they need a Savior. Cameron recognizes that what he teaches now may influence the church in the cultures represented for years to come. “We’ve seen the faith take root in families who have never heard the gospel before,” he said. Other refugee ministries have noticed this fruit.

Several of them now use FTNRO’s Bible curriculum in their education programs.

Cameron and his staff navigate the changing environment of refugee ministry with grace and humility. “We still don’t feel like we’ve figured it all out yet,” he said. And his vision is for more than just the refugees he has grown to love. He and his team see a growing demand to educate Americans about their newly arrived neighbors and help them sort out facts from fear.

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The ethnic and cultural backgrounds of the immigrants they serve also varies from year to year. The current student body consists of about 40 percent Middle Eastern, 30 percent African, 20 percent Burmese and Nepalese, and 10 percent from other areas. The organization’s flexibility has allowed them to respond and grow in the midst of constant changes in the refugee population and national, state, and local politics.

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

This year, FTNRO expects to serve 2,000 to 2,500 displaced people by providing them with English lessons, Bible teaching, outreaches, and acculturation help. Because the student body outgrew their rented facilities, the new school year began in a newly completed facility, which meets the need for more classrooms and gathering spaces. Students and staff are thrilled with the new building in Garland, Texas, which has room to grow with the ministry.

At the beginning of a school day last year, Cameron spoke of what keeps him coming back each day: “This is a need-driven ministry. If we don’t show up tomorrow, a lot of people won’t learn English. Many won’t get help with a job application or a problem. And they won’t hear the gospel.”

BETH BARRON teaches English to refugees and takes courses in the Media Arts and Worship department at DTS. She has been married to Richard (MABS, 1984) for thirty-seven years.

A LU M N I D I S T I N G U I S H E D S E R V I C E AWA R D

GARY DESALVO

// THM, 1981

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hirty-seven years ago a group of ordinary people called Gary DeSalvo to lead Temple Bible Church in Temple, Texas, straight, “fresh out of seminary . . . in 1981,” DeSalvo explains.

He was twenty-six years old, and he and his family “fell in love with the people.”

DeSalvo explains further, “There’s no other place we would rather serve than at TBC.” Now the largest church in the area, TBC is looking to expand.

DeSalvo grew up in New Orleans and studied premed at Louisiana State University. He soon became involved in Campus Crusade (now Cru) and led Bible studies, which shifted his passion. In the fall of 1974, having already said yes to God’s calling to pastoral ministry, Gary went on a blind date. After a two-year romance, he married his date, Bev, and they moved to Dallas so he could attend DTS. Four years later, with a daughter and baby boy in tow, DeSalvo accepted the call to serve as senior pastor at TBC.

THE NOMINATION

Doug Mackinnon, senior advancement officer at DTS, nominated DeSalvo not knowing him personally. “I had heard of him. I read an article by Jeff Osborne in the Killeen Daily Herald several years ago, and I was moved by how they described him as a faithful pastor of more than thirty years.”

DeSalvo’s dear friend for over seventeen years, Grant Kaul, wrote, “He is my friend, fellow senior pastor of Bible churches in central Texas, and I see him as a mentor who has been very helpful in navigating some of the difficult waters of pastoring a growing church.”

In 2013, DeSalvo received the diagnosis that he has a rare form of cancer, ocular melanoma. The disease has not slowed him

down. Instead, it has motivated him to make sure TBC prepares for the next generation of leaders. He reminds people that the work of the church is about spreading the Word of God. Casey Burke, family pastor at TBC, explains, “In the last five years, Gary has [fought] cancer…even through that battle [he] wants to be an example of a faithful man.”

HIS LEADERSHIP

In a recent blog post written by his wife, Bev describes DeSalvo’s undying passion for God. “We are finding refuge under the shadow of [God’s] wings. We are determined to enjoy every day we have together and to fight this battle to the end. Ultimately, like Jesus, we are trusting that our Father’s heart is for our good.

He never promised that this world would be easy, but he did promise that he would be with us every step of the way.” Her husband, she explains, desires to live his life “to the fullest, serving God until [his] last breath.”

“Gary,” Bev wrote, “has this quote on his desk at work: ‘With his sword unsheathed and his armor in place, he went directly to see the King with the stain of battle still on his garments.’”

Asked how he would like people to remember him, Osborne wrote DeSalvo’s response: “[Gary] picked up [his] framed inspirational quote that sits on his desk. ‘I hope one day this sums it all up.’”

ABOUT THE AWARD

All nominations for the Alumni Distinguished Service Award come solely from fellow DTS graduates. Nominees are prayerfully considered in light of 1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:6–9; Ephesians 5:1–33; Galatians 5:22–23; and Romans 12:1–21.

For more information or to nominate a fellow DTS graduate, please visit the Alumni Service Award page online at alumni.dts.edu.

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IN MEMORY

DR. ROBERT P. LIGHTNER

// THM, 1959; THD, 1964

Finishing Strong.” In it, Dr. Lightner gave an account of why he came to study at DTS. “When I went to Bible college, the dean was a graduate of [DTS], Dr. John R. Dunkin.” Dr. Dunkin (ThM, 1945; ThD, 1950) became one of the most significant influences in Dr. Lightner’s life.

Dr. Lightner later said, “I had high expectations, of course, and they were all met when I came [to DTS]. [Dr. Dunkin] stressed the conservative nature of the school, the covering of all the books of the Bible and dispensational theology. I found all of that here just as he had pictured it. So I was very impressed.”

Dr. Lightner began teaching at DTS in 1959 and served as professor of theology under four presidents—Dr. Walvoord, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Swindoll, and Dr. Bailey.

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n the early hours of Friday, August 3, 2018, Robert P. Lightner went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He served as professor at DTS for forty-seven years, and was an author, beloved friend, devoted husband, father of three, grandfather to fifteen, grandfather-in-law to seven, a great-grandfather to four, and mentor to many. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

MEMORIES Upon hearing of his passing, Dr. Mark L. Bailey, president of DTS, wrote: Dr. Lightner was a clear-thinking theologian. I knew him to be nothing less than faithful, principled, and a steady defender of biblical truth. He well deserves his eternal rewards.

Friend and fellow professor in the Theological Studies department Dr. Scott Horrell wrote: No one can doubt that Dr. Robert Lightner loved the Word of God and the simple, sound doctrine that it sets forth. He lived for this and sought to tell the truth in plain ways that all could understand. He was an encouraging colleague, a generous friend. Ruth and I thank God for Bob, and his wife, Pearl.

LIFE AND MINISTRY In 1998, the Threshing Floor, the DTS student paper at the time, recounted Dr. Lightner’s journey in a profile called “Lightner:

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Dr. Lightner explained: “When I came to teach here, there was great unity within the faculty on all the major areas of theology, especially in ecclesiology, eschatology, and dispensationalism. There was an amazing unity and core agreement. We always had differences and kidded each other about those, and there was a good deal of toleration, but on the basic foundational planks we all agreed. This impressed me greatly.”

Over his many years of faithfulness to Jesus Christ and God’s Word, Dr. Lightner himself became like his mentors—an admirable teacher, a beloved mentor to many, and a godly example of another of the faithful finishing strong.

DR. LARRY J. WATERS

// PHD, 1998

Bible Exposition professor, Dr. Elliott Johnson: I met Larry and Mary in the Philippines while they were establishing a number of churches. I came to appreciate their pastoral gifts. When they returned to attend DTS, we were blessed to have him share those gifts, teaching with us in our task in BE. As a colleague, I appreciated his gracious spirit. As a father, it was great to share in his daughters’ spiritual ministry.

As a grandfather, he loved to share about his grandchildren. As a husband, he loved Mary, and provided us all an example.

LIFE AND MINISTRY

D

r. Larry J. Waters, professor of Bible Exposition, editorin-chief for Bibliotheca Sacra, author, beloved friend, devoted husband, father of two, grand-father to five, and spiritual mentor passed away on Tuesday, August 7, 2018, after suffering a stroke. Although we trust that his joy abounds in the presence of the Lord Jesus he loved so much, our loss is great.

MEMORIES Dr. Mark L. Bailey, president of DTS, wrote to the staff and students: Dr. Waters developed a global reputation as a scholar on the theology of suffering and the Book of Job. His academic acumen was surpassed only by a pastoral care shaped by his own suffering. He ministered to those around him, especially his students, by sharing in their trials through prayer and presence, as well as modeling a deep reliance on the all-powerful God who warrants our trust and adoration.

Dr. Waters was involved in all areas of missionary work, including evangelism, preaching, teaching, church planting, and training church and Christian leaders. Along with his beloved wife, Mary, he faithfully served as a missionary in the Philippines for twentysix years. They would have continued their service overseas, were it not for Dr. Waters’s persistent and debilitating headaches.

Instead, they returned to the US to serve in a different capacity—in the ministry to those in the DTS community who were suffering.

At DTS, his ministry involved training and developing students toward a deeper knowledge of God’s Word through their seminary education. His aim as a professor, he wrote, “was to develop spiritual leaders and ministry skills among God’s people so that God’s commission (Matt 28:19–20) may be carried out.”

Dr. Waters was passionately committed to teaching the Bible and practical ministry skills, influencing his students through teaching, equipping, and illustrating the relevance of the gospel.

One student wrote, “No professor impacted my life like he did. He took personal interest in my well-being, not just spiritually, but emotionally as well.” Dr. Waters’s aspiration was to influence and mobilize others for the service of the Lord.

Bible Exposition professor, Dr. Ron Allen: When I think of Larry, several words come to mind. These are a few: kind, humble, loving, and compassionate. Another set of words include grit, determination, endurance, and pain. Larry loved being a prof at [DTS] but he also loved the people he and Mary ministered among for years in the Philippines. Larry was a lifelong learner. His own pain and suffering history became a catalyst in the development of his course on the theology of [suffering] and to a partnership with Joni and Friends.

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ALUMNI CONNECTION In Memory Robert E. Weinman (ThM, 1954) passed away on April 16, 2018.

David L. Meschke (ThM, 1956) died on June 25, 2018. David served as a chaplain in the US Navy for twenty years. For eighteen years he was the general director of Overseas Christian Servicemen’s Centers (now Cadence International), and then he founded a ministry to the military called Lands of Russia. David loved singing hymns and introducing young people in the military to Jesus Christ.

Robert F. Ramey (ThM, 1959) passed away on April 15, 2018. Bob was a lifelong artist, having penned the drawings in the first edition of Unger’s Bible Dictionary and produced many paintings and illustrations. He taught at William Tyndale College, Grace Theological Seminary, Emmaus Bible College, and Moody Bible Institute and published many magazine articles and book chapters. Bob loved visiting his children and grandchildren all over the world. During the final decades of his life, Bob devoted his time to Woodside Bible Chapel in Maywood, Illinois. He also led Bible studies at the Brookfield Zoo where he ministered to many on staff.

John B. Garst (ThM, 1961) passed away on May 10, 2018. John was a certified medical technologist and allergy physician assistant. He also taught English as a second language.

As an ordained minister and deacon, he served as a missionary in Peru

and Thailand. John enjoyed fishing, running marathons, bicycling, reading, and studying horticulture.

He was a member of Harvard Avenue Baptist Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he taught Sunday school and AWANA. John Wesley Voth (ThM, 1970) died on April 19, 2018. John pastored Immanuel Mennonite Church in Delft, Minnesota; New Hopedale Mennonite Church in Meno, Oklahoma; and Eden Mennonite Church in Inola, Oklahoma, until his retirement. He was known to deliver a clear and compassionate biblical message.

C. Stephen Kinnear (ThM, 1972) passed away on April 3, 2018. Stephen was a veteran of the 43rd Infantry Division in World War II, serving primarily in the Philippine Islands campaign in the South Pacific. After the war, his business career centered on accounting, financing, and banking.

Jerry Lee “Poppy” Lively (1976– 77) died on April 27, 2018. Jerry ministered with Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) in San Bernardino, California, before establishing a career in electrical engineering. He faithfully served alongside his wife, Carolyn, standing for the lives of pre-born babies and serving as a church liaison for the ministry.

Thomas Arthur Rodgers (ThM, 1976) passed away on June 30, 2018. Tom played for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Houston Oilers. He earned a DMin from Phoenix Seminary

and pastored Grace Church in Wichita Falls, Texas. Tom invested his time as an assistant football coach at Notre Dame Catholic School, chaplain for the Wichita Falls Police Department, adjunct professor of Biblical Studies at Michigan State University, member of a hospital ethics committee and board member of Christ Counseling Ministry and Faith Mission and Faith Refuge. It was his greatest joy to see people come to know Christ as their personal Savior and mentor them in their spiritual growth.

Luis “Papabelo” Velazquez (MABS, 1977) passed away on November 6, 2017. Luis was well known for his optimism and love for life.

He authored several books which included Bible study guides, charts, genealogies, timelines, story miniature models, and his memoirs.

Barry Lynn Morrow (ThM, 1981) passed away on May 8, 2018. Barry loved literature, movies, golf, and watching a good game of baseball. He enjoyed C. S. Lewis and exploring theological ideologies with friends and exercising his wealth of biblical knowledge by assisting countless men on their spiritual journeys.

Barry also published two books.

Dr. Musa Asake (ThM, 1991; PhD, 1998) passed away on May 11, 2018.

Musa was a member of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and chairman and member of several Christian boards and governing councils such as the Plateau State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board

Lisa Beth Hatteberg passed away on June 29, 2018. Lisa attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, where she met and married the love of her life, Greg (ThM, 1992; DMin, 2014). After graduation, they moved to Dallas where Greg began his studies at DTS, and Lisa worked in the placement office. During their first semester, Lisa was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

She battled the disease for thirty-four years, bedridden for twenty of those years. Lisa and Greg were junior-high youth sponsors at Grace Bible Church in Dallas before moving to North Highlands Bible Church. Lisa enjoyed being a mom. She loved needlepoint, cross-stitch, and quilting. Her greatest ministry was serving as a prayer warrior who brought the needs of others before the throne of her Lord. It was her joy to intercede on their behalf daily.

During her time of confinement to a bed, she was enriched and encouraged twenty-four hours a day by Moody Radio Network, an internet station of Moody Bible Institute.

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and the Ministers Development Initiative. He served as the general secretary of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and the national secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). While working with CAN, Musa pastored three different churches and lectured part-time at Jos Theological Seminary.

Annie Pearl Gray (MACM, 1998) passed away on April 17, 2018. Annie worked as a laboratory technician for the KU Medical Center and as a microbiologist for the Pfizer Corporation. She took early retirement to follow God’s call to full-time ministry. At DTS, she began teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) courses at Dallas Community College and continued to teach ESL at Johnson County Community College in Kansas City, Missouri, for almost twenty years.

Mianbé Njekoumé le Gondje (ThM, 1999) passed away on May 23, 2018.

Mianbé was the planner for Evangelism Campaign in Chad and headed the Department of The Service of Evangelism in the Cities and Rural Areas within the Fellowship of Churches and Evangelical Missions.

Foye Lynn Thompson (MACE, 1999; MACM, 2000) passed away on April 26, 2018. Foye earned a Bronze Star for valor while serving in the US Army.

For many years, he worked as an electrician and ministered as a substitute teacher. Foye enjoyed organizing his tools, driving his Mustang, solving combination puzzles, and talking with friends and strangers.

Oran West (MABS, 1999) passed away on December 8, 2017.

Leonard N. Barksdale (CGS, 2003) died on May 14, 2018. Leonard served as an attorney before pastoring Fifth Ward Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He also served on the board of trustees at The College of Biblical Studies and the steering committee for the Ministers Alliance in the Fifth Ward area promoting community involvement in schools.

He worked with many different associations and served as chairman of the Social Justice Committee for the Independent Missionary Baptist General Association of Texas.

Gail Miller (MACE, 2003) passed away on February 10, 2018. Gail worked in the children’s ministry and Christian education ministry at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship for many years before pursuing her doctorate at Dallas Baptist University. She enjoyed singing, dancing, spending time with family, traveling, and nonstop sharing her faith and love of the Lord with those around her.

David Victor Hirsbrunner (CGS, 2005) passed away on May 30, 2018.

David graduated from GM Institute and started his professional career at General Motors, retiring with over thirty-seven years of service in various capacities including district manager and advertising director.

Richard Clewell (ThM, 1962) retired after fifty-six years of faithfully ordained ministry.

After many rounds of radiation for throat cancer and by God’s goodness, Dick Reynolds (ThM, 1962) continues his post-retirement ministry as an interim pastor.

John Winterstein (ThM, 1963) retired after forty-two years as pastor of Salem Bible Church in New Holland, Pennsylvania.

Updates: 1950s Pictured above, Jack Fish (ThM, 1967; ThD, 1974), David Glock (ThM, 1968), and David MacLeod (ThM, 1969; PhD, 1987) celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness together at Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa, marking a combined 134 years of teaching.0

1970s Pictured above, Gordon (ThM, 1957; DMin, 1984) and Ruth Freeland celebrated sixty-seven years of marriage this past September.

At its annual meeting this year, the board of directors of the International Educators hall of fame nominated Dr. Elmer Towns (ThM, 1958) for membership. Towns reflected on the nomination, “I want this award to enhance my influence around the world to train Christian workers in America to respond to the Great Commission, to take the gospel internationally to people groups who have never heard that Jesus saves, and to train people in foreign cultures to serve Jesus Christ.”

1960s During his return to Brazil, Allan Stensvad (ThM, 1960) attended the annual convention of the Alliance of Evangelical Christians of Brazil and visited nineteen different churches.

After his recent retirement as dean of students at the Alliance Academy International in Quito, Ecuador, Rick Bovey (ThM, 1970) now lives near his three youngest children in Charlotte, North Carolina, doing grandpa duties and working with refugees.

This year, Fred Campbell (ThM, 1970) had the pleasure of sharing the basic concepts of servant-leadership in McAllen, Texas; Madrid, Spain; Birmingham, England; Kampala, Uganda; and Blantyre, Malawi. Fred will later lead workshops in San Juan, Dominican Republic, and El Salvador.

Hal Haller (ThM, 1971) is now partially retired and serving as a teaching elder at New Life Community Church in Blue Ridge, Georgia.

Don Lederer (ThM, 1971) serves as a chaplain for Continuing Care Retirement Community in Altavita Village, California, coordinating a team of over twelve ministers who

speak on rotation in their lovely village chapel. Don ministers to all the residents. He and his wife, Dana, praise God for the opportunity to share through Bible studies.

developing John 17:23 pastoral support groups for pastors to unite, encourage, pray for one another, and do kingdom ministry together in their communities.

David Reimer (ThM, 1971) retired after forty-eight years of pastoral ministry in Plano, Texas, and Pierre, South Dakota, and the last thirty years as founding pastor of Grace Community Church in Newton, Kansas. He continues to be active with Synergy Kansas, an organization composed of the pastors of GCC and the three thriving churches it has planted in surrounding communities. Dave and his wife, Marilyn, enjoy eight grandchildren in Kansas and Colorado.

John (ThM, 1977) and Charlene Lotzgesell love teaching at Rio Grande Bible College in Edinburg, Texas. The accredited, four-year degree program is designed to prepare Spanishspeaking leaders for the global church.

They come from all over Latin America and are excited to evangelize back in their home countries or wherever the Lord leads them after graduation. John is preparing classes on the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Mark, Ethics, and Ephesians to teach this upcoming school year.

After working in higher education for many years, Bill Brown (ThM, 1973) became Protestant chaplain at R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, where he had been a chapel volunteer. He and his wife, Mary, minister as volunteers and lead mission teams to Uganda.

Jim Kirby (ThM, 1976) is entering his twenty-third year of ministry at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Rico Rio, Arizona. He rejoices in God’s goodness to allow him to teach the riches of his grace.

Bruce Rulapaugh (ThM, 1976) stays active in semiretirement serving as a layman and as a part-time pastor in Oelwein Evangelical Free Church in Oelwein, Iowa.

As owners of Life Solutions Coaching and Counseling in Haslet, Texas, Jim (ThM, 1976; PhD, 1992) and Ann (MABC, 1997) Slaughter combine counseling, coaching, nutrition, musculoskeletal therapy, and medical massage with essential oils for pain management and wellness.

Their goal is to help people to the full potential God has for them through the truth of the Bible and overall health and wellness.

Bill Fillmore (MABS, 1977) is the executive director for Barnabas Ministries-West Michigan, a preventive care ministry that connects, inspires, and enables pastors for twenty-first century ministry. They focus on

Bob Osburn (ThM, 1978) celebrates thirty-three years of international student and educational ministry at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their mission centers on training international students to be Christ-redemptive change agents in their home societies.

After pastoring Chinese Community Church in Sacramento, California, Louis Lee (ThM, 1979) will return to MESA (Ministries for English Speaking Asians) on a half-time basis.

MESA facilitates greater harmony among evangelical English-speaking ministries through conferences and regional fellowship opportunities for pastors and other ministry leaders.

1980s After thirty-eight years as associate pastor of Lebanon Valley Bible Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, John Hunt (ThM, 1980) will retire at the end of this year.

Doug Tiffin (ThM, 1980) recently became the president of GIAL (Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics) in Dallas, Texas, after serving for seven years as the dean of Academic Affairs. GIAL now has regional accreditation (SACSCOC) and offers a full BA (International Service) as well as an MA with four majors (Applied Linguistics, Language and Culture Studies, Abrahamic Studies, and World Arts).

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ALUMNI CONNECTION As his current term as field leader with Greater Europe Mission (GEM) for Ireland comes to a close, Jesse Northcutt (ThM, 1981) plans to return to Ireland later this year, and transition to assistant field leader as his team looks to bring younger people into leadership roles. Jesse and his wife, Joyce, have served with GEM in Ireland for thirty-five years.

Grace Community Empowerment in Cebu, Philippines, recruits teachers like David Hine (ThM, 1982) to teach students a ten-week course in basic Bible and theology in preparation for evangelism and church planting.

Following graduation, they serve the poor in isolated communities in practical ways with the goal of planting churches in those areas.

Dave Hagelberg (ThM, 1983) keeps himself busy with Bible teaching in various Bible schools in south and southeast Asia. His present writing projects include preparing the camera-ready copy of a revision of a two-volume commentary in English and Indonesian. He is also working on Revelation and is updating a commentary on Romans and a threevolume commentary on John.

Bill McClure (ThM, 1983) celebrates ten years of teaching, spiritual coaching, and ministry mobilization for marketplace and local church leaders through Masterwork, Inc. Bill and his wife, Kathleen, are also celebrating thirty-two years of marriage and the joy-filled grandparenting phase of life.

After living and teaching in Nairobi, Kenya, for a decade, Gary McKnight (ThM, 1984) now serves in the US, traveling several times a year to teach hybrid courses (intensive onsite followed by student distance work) in Christian education and spiritual formation through SIM (formerly the Sudan Interior Mission). He also serves on the editorial advisory board of the Christian Education Journal.

A recent newsletter of the San Diego CCIM Chapter recognized Robert Harp (ThM, 1985) and his work as the program chair of the annual San Diego Hospitality Industry Outlook.

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Following twenty-five years as the pastor of family ministries at three different churches, Rich Batten (ThM, 1987) directs federally funded family strengthening initiatives. He oversees the development of the Colorado fatherhood initiative and currently leads program implementation training and technical assistance for Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) in twenty-nine states and one territory.

Having the influence of many Navigators in his life over the years was foundational to Bruce Lininger (MABS, 1987) choosing to learn God’s Word at DTS. In his partnership with NavWorkplace, Bruce works with marketplace people coming alongside them in their work and at their place of employment.

David Christian Payne (ThM, 1989) earned his PhD in systematic theology from Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. David serves as a professor at Trinity College in Trinity, Florida, and the Word of Life Bible Institutes in Florida and New York.

Based out of Maharashtra, India, Babu Pimplekar (MACM, 1989) serves the Lord in evangelizing, planting house churches, and itinerant preaching and teaching in Maharashtra and in different parts of the country. God is using his team in training and encouraging young and new pastors.

1990s

Mark Whyte (MABS, 1987; MACM 1988) is very grateful that his youngest son Steven will begin classes at DTS this year.

Tom Allen (ThM, 1989) is completing twenty-five years of teaching Bible and theology in the School of Divinity at Cairn University in Langhorne Manor, Pennsylvania, and his twelfth year preaching part-time at Riverstone Church, an EFCA church in Yardley, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Tammy, celebrated thirty-five years of marriage. Tom’s three grown children by God’s grace are all married and walking with Jesus. He and Tammy have four grandchildren.

Mike Baer (ThM, 1989) has pastored several churches and has published several books including Business as Mission (YWAM Publishing) and How to Be Big and Yet Small (CreateSpace).

Mike is a recognized leader in the global Business as Mission movement.

As a professor, life coach, and director of FCA at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Gary Cramer (ThM, 1989; DMin, 1995) took over fifty athletes and coaches on mission projects to Costa Rica, Panama, and Germany this year. NFL Draft picks, Minkah Fitzpatrick (Miami Dolphins) and JK Scott (Green Bay Packers) refer to this spring break trip as a “gamechanger.”

Pictured above, Martin Deacon (MABS, 1990) was promoted from chief growth officer to President of Teach Every Nation. Bruce Wilkinson (ThM, 1974), founder of TEN, remains as the chairman and CEO and will continue developing new global courses and speaking for TEN around the world.

Ron Hoffmann (MABS, 1990) serves at Florida Bible College in Orange County, Florida. He also enjoys teaching pastors and overseas teachers who are not able to attend Bible college or seminary.

Quentin Washispack (ThM, 1990; DMin, 2002) has visited and led teams to China fifty-six times over the last fifteen years with New Life Church, in Conway, Arkansas, where he serves as pastor of missions and outreach.

Leadership Resources International, a ministry from Palos Heights, Illinois, started a four-year program to train Polish pastors in expository preaching.

As a leader in this program, Peter Wiazowski (STM, 1990) trains pastors not only to be better preachers but also to train others in expository preaching.

Peter also had the privilege of preaching

in Lithuanian churches and ministering to prisoners this past year.

Pictured above, Ron (MACM, 1991) and Diane (1987–91) Gullman love their DTS alumni cup. They serve with Reach Global EFCA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Following a career as a chaplain for the US Army, Norm Jones (ThM, 1991) now serves as the assistant pastor for the Protestant Gospel Service in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and as a pastoral counselor volunteer at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Bear Creek Bible Church in Keller, Texas, where John Salvesen (ThM, 1991; DMin, 2010) has served as senior pastor since its inception, celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary this year. John has taught at pastors’ conferences in Mexico, Ukraine, Kenya, and Myanmar.

Mark Scott (MACM, 1991) celebrates a new grandson, giving him and his wife, Julie, eight grandchildren (five in Alaska and three in Tennessee). Mark also served as last year’s ACPE chaplain resident at University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Once their six-month home assignment is complete, Peter (MABS, MACM, 1992) and Carolyn Bitner will return to Togo, West Africa, in 2019 to continue their ministry. Their two boys, Andrew and Josiah, are students at Cedarville University.

Alan (ThM, 1992) and Kim (MABS, 1988) Foster live in Clarkesville, Georgia, in the northeast Georgia mountains. Alan is the director of church planter recruitment with Mission to North America of the PCA. Kim teaches special education in the local public school system and coaches and mentors church planter wives.

In addition to contributing to the Global Ministries department of Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa, Georgia, Rick Kronk (ThM, 1993) has researched the factors cited as contributing to conversion among Muslim immigrants to North America. Christianity Today recently published a summary of the outcomes of this research.

Dexter Hardy (ThM, 1994) is excited about the ministry of LifePoint Church in Marietta, Georgia. Their vision is to be a safe place where people can encounter Christ. They have developed impactful partnerships with local schools and communities nearby.

Pictured above, Dave Rofkahr (ThM, 1995), who serves with Reach Global out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, poses with his friend, Dale Burke (ThM, 1979) in Pretoria, South Africa.

and his wife returned from a Uganda medical mission where they treated almost 5,000 patients and witnessed 421 confessions of faiths with nearly 2,000 believers strengthened.

Under the leadership of Tim Rogers (ThM, 2002; DMin, 2015), Grace Point Church in Paradise, Pennsyvania, hired literacy teacher Katie Beiler after learning about the school district’s need to have children better prepared for school. This partnership, called the Together Initiative Network, represents the church’s vision of being a transforming presence in their community.

Upon completion of his MA in philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Jesse Gentile (MABS, 2003) became aware of the emerging field of analytic theology. He is now working on his PhD in systematic theology at Fuller Seminary. God graciously provided for the cost of his education with a unique fellowship/grant. Jesse remains strongly committed to the importance of academic work for the local church.

2000s Directors of Goshen Health in Goshen, Indiana, have become aware of the increasing spiritual care needs of the hospital. Eric Eickhoff (MABS, 2000) now serves as staff chaplain at the hospital. He finds that this ministry benefits his pastoral duties in his church.

Nace Lanier (ThM, 2000) received his DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

James Foo (ThM, 2002) earned his DMin from Denver Seminary. James

Chris (MABS, 2004) and Joy Petty will be moving to the jungle areas of Bolivia to minister to the Tacana people after a year of training pastors in the city of La Paz. After several years of working in church ministry in Dallas, Texas, Michael Mills (ThM, 2005) changed positions to teach world and US history in a chartered high school in Austin, Texas. He uses his ThM in historical theology every single day in a very multicultural campus. His wife, Renee, teaches sixth grade English language arts at Regents School of Austin, a private Christian school. They both love their jobs and their daily ministry to their students and coworkers.

Laura Murray (ThM, 2005) recently published Pray As You Are: Finding Your Voice in Prayer (Lucid Books).

Miro Cizmanski (MABS, 1997) will now serve as director of the Christian Evangelistic Center in Serbia after working as assistant director at CEC for almost twenty years.

Lito Lucas (ThM, 1997) recently earned his DMin in pastoral counseling from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mandy Seymour (ThM, 2003), president and founder of Deeper Love International in Houston, Texas, helps individuals and leaders grow in Christ in every area of their lives. This parachurch ministry offers evangelism and discipleship training programs to churches and promotes deeper spiritual and personal growth in relationship with Jesus Christ, serving the US, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Brenda Eaton (MABS, 2006) retired after serving twelve years as a women’s ministry director.

Pictured above are Kevin Hawkins (ThM, 2003; DMin, 2017) and his wife, Erika. After fifteen years of service, Kevin retired from his role as Alumni and Career Services coordinator, one of many titles he held during his time at DTS. Kevin will be pastoring Bibleway Bible Church in Dallas, Texas, and will serve as the vice president of student services and development at the Southern Bible Institute.

Mark Heavener (MACM, 2003) serves as a specialist with the Office of Intercultural Ministries of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

He assists churches in developing outreach to communities culturally changing around them.

Rick (MACE, 2006) and Summer George adopted a daughter from Honduras this year.

While ministering to the senior adults at Pauline Baptist Church in Monticello, Arkansas, Larry Clements (DMin, 2007) also serves as an adjunct professor with Solomon Islands Missionary Baptist Seminary on Guadalcanal in Honiara. He recently had his commentary on First Peter and First and Second Thessalonians published in the Baptist New Testament Commentary by HPB Publications.

Wade (MACE, 2009) and Brooke (MABC, 2009) Bryant welcomed a new baby boy, Judah Noble. His older siblings, Zion and Oaklynn, love that they are now a family of five.

Aaron Ott (ThM, 2009) earned his MA in anthropology from the University of Houston in Houston, Texas.

2010s.

Pictured above, Arthur (ThM, 2010) and Olga (ThM, 2008) Alard and Doug (ThM, 1988) and Anne (MABS, 1988) Forsyth serve on faculty at International College of Bible and Missions in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pictured in the middle is Dale Burke (ThM, 1979) who had the privilege of speaking at their graduation this year.

Jason Snyder (ThM, 2010) earned his DMin from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Casey Christian (MABC, 2011) owns Live Your Best, LLC, a private practice providing treatment for managing the aftereffects of developmental injury or trauma including PTSD, sexual issues, shame, and other compulsive behavioral patterns. Casey works closely with those experiencing a life or identity disruption including marriage, breakups, or divorce, to help navigate the personal and relational impact and reach their goals.

While ministering at a small nonprofit organization in the Horn of Africa, Jessica Gardner (MAMC, 2013) operates a business that helps provide jobs to low-income women by selling jewelry made with paper beads.

Amy Kelly (ThM, 2013) teaches composition, logic, and rhetoric at Gloria Deo Academy in Bulverde, Texas. She delights in the opportunity to disciple students, teaching them to critically think so they can become better communicators of the gospel and God’s truth.

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ALUMNI CONNECTION As an ESL training coach and “Go Here” assistant for East-West Ministries, Janet Roberts (MACM, 2013) also certifies people to teach ESL/EFL in other countries with Oxford Seminars.

Janet is a substitute for ELS Educational Services, Inc., in Addison, Texas, a private ESL school for those needing better English skills before entering a university in the US. Through EastWest Ministries, she helps plant ESL ministries in France and coach ESL/ EFL for those teaching somewhere behind the bamboo curtain.

Megan Robinson (CBTS, 2013) serves as the assistant director of admissions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Charlotte, North Carolina, campus. Megan also completed an MA in communication at Queens University of Charlotte. She will continue research and hopefully minister at the intersection of communication, theology, and the arts.

Jonathon Hallett (ThM, 2014) wrote Rhyme & Reason: Poetic Reflections of an Aspiring Theologian (Xulon Press) and Why Must I Be Persecuted?

(Self-published).

During his time at seminary, Brian Schneider (ThM, 2014) always thought of himself as a youth person or one who loved working with large churches. Now, through God’s goodness, he lives in Pader, northern Uganda, training pastors and helping locals plant churches in neighboring villages.

Michael Vinson (MACM, 2014), ordained presbyter of the Reformed Episcopal Church, cofounded The Anglican Oratory, a church-plant of the Reformed Episcopal Church. He also serves as a curate at The Chapel of the Cross, a traditional 1928 Prayer Book parish in Dallas, Texas.

Jimmy Burnside (MACE, 2015), lead pastor of The Branch Fellowship in Waller, Texas, developed Discipleship on Demand, an online discipleship tool available on your phone. To register please visit the-branch.teachable.com.

Restore and Rebuild Ministries provides affordable counseling and therapy to the public where payment is based on a sliding scale and scholarships are available. Dave

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(DEDM, 2016) and Rebecca Friese work with pastors, their spouses, and ministry leaders and understand the unique challenges they face.

Justin Boyter (ThM, 2018), student pastor, Hilton Head Island Community Church, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

As a liturgical teaching artist, Jeremy Miller (MACE, 2016) actively shares the gospel of Christ through artistic interpretation. Over the past year, he has participated in several gallery exhibitions, church showcases, and private showings throughout southeast Pennsylvania. His ministry includes supporting the church through consulting on the place of art, commissions, and speaking on topics such as “Grasping a Theology of Creativity” and “Battered, Bruised, and Broken: When God Uses Art to Heal.”

Angela Cirocco (MACE, 2018), minister to women, Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, Texas Pictured above, DTS alumni gather for a time of fellowship with West Coast alumni representative, Dale Burke (ThM, 1979) in Westlake Village, California.

New Ministries Keith Bower (ThM, 1987), executive pastor, Bethel Church, Houston, Texas

Filipe Santos (MABS, 2016) and his family moved to South Korea to serve at Word of Life Bible Institute Jeju. Filipe also started his PhD in biblical studies at the Free University Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Paul Garrison (ThM, 1988), pastor, Grace Church, Mesa, Arizona

After working with discipleship and leadership in the local church, Joanne Tang (MACL, 2016) now serves with Carried to Full Term, a Christbased program that prayerfully desires to set moms on a new path by providing education, teaching, educational, and employment opportunities, and life skills through mentoring, Bible studies, and financial support.

Tom Kang (ThM, 2001), senior pastor, Young Nak Celebration Church, Los Angeles, California

Chris Clark (MACE, 1990), pastor, Evangelical Free Bible Church, Walls, South Dakota

Daniel Lowery (ThM, 2007), senior pastor, Lakeview Community Church, Cedar Hill, Texas Wade Bryant (MACE, 2009), associate pastor of spiritual formation and member mobilization, Bentonville, Arkansas Matt Watson (ThM, 2010), lead pastor, Mount Calvary Church, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania Trevor Killip (ThM, 2014), senior pastor, Hope Community Church, West Salem, Wisconsin

Pictured above, Lacey Congdon (MACE, 2018) who works with Forefront Experience surprises one of her international students from University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas. Lacey, Karen Henson (MACE, 2017), and two other girls surprised her at the airport Ken Yu (MACM, 2018) and his family will begin their first term as missionaries in Bochum, Germany, with OMF International this year.

Nathan Rice (MACL, 2016), senior pastor, Christ Community Church, Ocala, Florida Matthew S. Snyder (ThM, 2017), online adjunct faculty, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois Ben Biles (ThM, 2018), college and young singles director, Chestnut Ridge Church, Morgantown, West Virginia

Daniel Hutchins (ThM, 2018), pastor, Elwood Park Baptist Church, Bradenton, Florida Ben Pereira (ThM, 2018), communications coordinator, Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, Carrollton, Texas Sage Pruett (ThM, 2018), senior pastor, Believers Bible Chapel, Corsicana, Texas David Shields (ThM, 2018), associate pastor of discipleship, Life Church, La Vernia, Texas

SPECIAL ANNUITY RATES CGA INCREASE TABLE

Age 60 65 70 75 80 85 90+

ONE LIFE

TWO LIVES

Rate 4.7% 5.2% X 5.1 X 5.6 5.6 X 6.1 6.2 X 6.7 7.3 X 7.8 8.3 X 8.8 9.5 10.0 X

Ages 60–65 65–70 70–75 75–80 80–85 85–90 90–95

Rate 4.3% X 4. 8% 4.7 X 5.2 5.2 X 5.7 5.7 X 6.2 6.6 X 7. 1 8.0 X 8.5 9.3 X 9.8

Map out your secure lifelong income. Through December 31, 2018, Dallas Seminary Foundation is offering a 0.5 percent higher income rate on our Charitable Gift Annuity.

Your future gift will help equip the next generation of ministry leaders who will reach the world with the training they receive at DTS.

Contact Kevin Kurtz at 214-887-5190 VOICE.DT S . ED U / M AG A Z I N E DA L LA S T H EOLOG I CA L S EMI N A RY kevinkurtz@dts.edu

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Self-Care:

enjoy the Rivers of Flowing Water

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sually, when we think of ministering to others, it is out of the overflow of our lives. What usually motivates us is the abundance of joy in the Lord and a desire to be used by him to bless others in need. But what happens when we feel physically tired, emotionally drained, and spiritually dry?

Too often we find ourselves feeling guilty—for not ministering more, or praying more, or studying the Bible more. That guilt can quickly turn to shame and a poor self-image. We often believe the lies we tell ourselves as we compare our good works with others’ and come up short.

During his TED Talk, “Why We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid,” Dr. Guy Winch, psychologist and author of Emotional First Aid, explains what happens to most people when conflicted. “We all start thinking of all our faults and all our shortcomings, what we wish we were, what we wish we weren’t. We call ourselves names. Maybe not as harshly, but we all do it. And it’s interesting that we do, because our self-esteem is already hurting. Why would we want to go and damage it even further? We wouldn’t make a physical injury worse on purpose. You wouldn’t get a cut on your arm and decide, ‘Oh! I know—I’m going to take a knife and see how much deeper I can make it.’”

creation, our human body. It is for that reason, we should respect and take care of how God designed us.

When I counsel Christians who feel stressed out and exhausted, our discussions often lead to self-care and what it means to depend upon the Lord for his perspectives in life. I remind them God has provided everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3), yet we live our lives, many times, as if it’s not enough.

SEE THE WARNING SIGNS

When it comes to navigating our lives, God created us with indicators. Merely ignoring warning signs is clear evidence of the many distractions in our lives. Why would we ever, for example, ignore a red warning light on the dash of our car indicating a need for oil? Or why would we ignore the flashing lights of a state trooper behind our car suggesting we have broken the law by speeding?

What does this concept of self-care mean? Simply put, it involves staying mindful of our well-being.

SELF-CARE

As a church, we seldom teach that we should prioritize our psychological health. Caring for ourselves emotionally is often viewed as laziness. Self-care mistakenly labels a person as shutdown, or worse, self-absorbed.

What does this concept of self-care mean anyway? Simply put, it involves staying mindful of our well-being. In school, my teachers called it paying attention to the discussions in class.

As an adult, self-management and personal care is part of our emotional intelligence.

There is a difference between living a well-balanced, healthy life and practicing spiritual disciplines. A well-balanced life develops practices that don’t necessarily involve God. Reading, napping, and eating healthily are all good disciplines.

Spiritual formation, on the other hand, develops the pursuing of God. For believers, framing good soul-care practices often overlap with our spiritual formation. Attending to our limitations and needs is stewarding and caring for God’s

God gave us feelings to tell us about our needs and wants. Too often, we ignore our emotions, just to go through the motions.

We tend to focus on our thinking mode rather than our feeling mode of awareness. We do because we should—not because it meets a specific need or want.

When our wants fall outside our ability to fulfill them appropriately, that is when we feel the most vulnerable. We frequently ignore our feelings and spiral downward emotionally by heaping even more discouragement or rejection upon ourselves. And so we get distracted from seeking to satisfy these desires in godly ways.

Often, my clients think they have to stay productive with time, energy, and efforts. So, with that mind-set, they set themselves up for exhaustion—physically, mentally, and spiritually weary.

Why are people so surprised when they feel tired and cannot go on or that the idea of burnout, as they often tell themselves, could never happen to them?

And yet, we observe domestic violence, road rage, and countless stories in our newspapers every day of people who live on edge and explode emotionally or physically in all sorts of violent ways. It seems a significant shift needs to occur in our thinking.

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Slowing down means accomplishing less—being less productive in some ways—but it also means staying healthy in other ways.

Our goal should involve a balanced life. In general, we often hear these words but rarely take any action steps toward that goal. Instead of focusing on productivity, perhaps we should consider how our activities and relationships affect our emotional well-being overall.

LISTEN TO CAUTION

I remember counseling a married couple who complained about the many problems in their marriage. As it turned out, they had agreed to dedicate their time to their children’s sports teams and various church activities every night of the week. Stress was a significant problem. In the name of providing extra activities for their three kids and remaining committed to their church, they inadvertently started destroying their marital bond.

Not only did their marriage suffer, but so did their work performance in their jobs. They needed two incomes to live in their upscale home and maintain their luxury lifestyle. Many would look at this family on the outside and think that they had aquired the American dream. But underneath all this activity, their marriage was falling apart. Divorce rapidly grew into an option for this couple.

Too often, as a counselor, I see adults and couples who live in burnout mode in their twenties and thirties. In fact, they believe the lie that tells them if they don’t keep going, they’ll never get it.

No wonder people feel stressed and emotionally and spiritually spent. Many refuse to pay attention and see the warning signs.

Why? Because our culture teaches that the external indicators, such as position, power, and financial statements, build the person. They provide self-esteem. Never mind the internal realities such as integrity, honesty, and personal responsibility.

Once, my wife, Amy, and I rented a car in Italy and found ourselves lost in Florence, two blocks away from the hotel we had booked. For over an hour, with a map, we could not figure out how to drive that last two blocks to our hotel. Frustration increased, tempers flared, and suddenly our wonderful dream vacation turned into a nightmare. So we decided to stop. We parked the car, walked to the hotel, and asked for help.

We had assumed we could drive to the hotel and park the car there. We thought we could read the map and figure it out on our own. After all, we knew the location of the hotel was nearby. It was only when when we abandoned all of our assumptions that we realized we needed help. We knew we couldn’t keep driving around in circles in a large and confusing foreign city. And yet, this is precisely what many couples in conflict with stressed-out family members think. If we keep going, we will eventually figure it all out.

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“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” ( John 7:38).

As Christians, many of us seek spiritual refreshment by doing and striving instead of looking to God, his Spirit, and the truth of his Word. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). We need to remember that as God’s children, we have the Spirit that wells up within each of us and gives us satisfying spiritual refreshment.

MADE FOR MORE

A meaningful life accepts that we are God’s creation made for so much more. We forget we do not have to earn value and worth by what we do—no! We already have it. Understanding what it means to live as his—created in his image—allows us the freedom to choose how we will live our lives for the kingdom of God. So if our worth and value dwell on our identity in Christ and not on what we do thus, we demonstrate our love for the Lord because he first loved us, not so that he will love us. And this is precisely tied to self-care.

Perhaps one way to think about these issues is to develop a sense of awareness that constant stress and anxiety is a symptom or a result. Changes need to occur, and that starts with prayer, seeking after the Lord.

Balance in our lives leads to good stewardship of the realization that we belong to him. We need to keep telling ourselves, “It’s not all in our mind—don’t shake it off!” Respond by asking, “Lord, what do I need to say no to and what areas of self-care do I need to make a priority today?”

FRENCH JONES (ThM, 1980) is a licensed professional counselor supervisor with a private practice specializing in marriage and divorce issues. Along with teaching at DTS, he serves as a pastor/counselor for singles and is the executive director and clinical director at the Swiss Avenue Counseling Center in Dallas, Texas.

F R O M T H E C H A N C E L LO R

Ask Dr. Swindoll DR. CHARLES R. SWINDOLL

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everal times a year, Dr. Swindoll preaches in chapel at DTS and engages in a question-and-answer time with prospective students. Here are some of the questions he answered recently.

I need to confront a friend and I don’t know what to say or do. What advice can you give me on how to handle this?

Many of us are guilty of not admitting we blew it. We have become experts at cover-up.

Wise counsel is not always easy to give or hear. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Did you know that the Hebrew uses an interesting verb stem here? It’s known as the “causative stem,” which allows us to render the statement: “Trustworthy are the bruises caused by the wounding of one who loves you.”

Many bury their mistakes—they keep them secret. Don’t do that. Instead ease off a bit and embrace the grace. Learn from it and move on.

In genuine love, confront them with the truth—alone, in private, and say the hard thing that needs to be addressed.

Remember that the bruising that comes after a verbal blow of one who loves is good and trustworthy. That bruise will stay with them—it stays with you—and you two will be better for it. Your friendship will grow. Such bruising is much more helpful and reliable than flattery. Good counsel is a good thing, even if it hurts to hear it, whether you are the receiver or the giver of that counsel.

Confrontation is never easy. Remember that, because it’s also hard on the person who took the time to confront you and tell you the truth.

I preached for the first time and completely blew it. How do you handle failure?

It happens to all of us. Professors as well as students. Staff as well as leaders. Bosses as well as workers. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even the president of DTS is immune to making mistakes, failing at something, and doing the wrong thing usually with the best of motives.

It happens with remarkable regularity too. So why are we surprised when we see it in others and we feel like quitting when it has occurred in ourselves?

If our perfect Lord is gracious enough to take our worst, our ugliest, our failures, our flops, and forgive them, bury them in the depths of the sea, then we can do the same and give ourselves and each other a break.

In fact, Christ promises full acceptance along with full forgiveness in print for all to read. Isn’t that encouraging?

Why can’t we be that kind of encourager to one another? After all, imperfection is one of the few things we have in common.

It links us close together in the same family!

So then, whenever you blow it again—and it will happen again—don’t try to hide it. Own up to it, accept it, and learn from it.

“

Good counsel is a good thing, even if it hurts to hear it, whether you are the receiver or the giver of that counsel.

”

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COMPREHENSIVE PREPARATION FOR TODAY’S HURTING WORLD The DTS counseling program includes coursework that covers a variety of psychological, spiritual, emotional, and physical conditions, and integrates it with the same Bible and theology courses taken by pastors and other ministry professionals.

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