DTS Magazine Winter 2021

DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Winter 2021 | Vol. 6, No. 2

A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Hello & Welcome to Winter 2021 MARK YARBROUGH, PRESIDENT, DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

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here is little doubt that we are living in unprecedented times. Yet we at DTS, like many of you, are pressing forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Because of this, it is a privilege to pen my first “Letter from the President” for DTS Magazine and to share briefly with you why and how we press forward.

Living through a pandemic is a new challenge for all of us.

It is a moment to experience the words of both the books of Isaiah and Revelation that speak the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Let us not look back and hope for the things of yesterday, but be delighted and see this moment as an opportunity to make an impact for Christ. This new normal has opened the door for us to create new systems and pathways for the world to come to know Christ. We press forward because we serve a great and mighty God! It is more apparent than ever that Dallas Theological Seminary cannot forget why we are here. Let us remember our mission to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide. With this mission comes five priorities for DTS in the coming years: First, we must preach and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Like the Apostle Paul, I remind you “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3–4). Some of us are purposed to preach this message.

All of us are purposed to proclaim it through our gifts and talents.

Second, we must address the head and heart. Meaning, we must master the Scriptures and hide it within our hearts.

All of us are broken people. God’s Word is the divine adhesive that holds us together so that we can be the salt of the earth. We are God’s vessels to retain the comprehensive depth and richness of His Word to preserve ourselves and the world for salvation.

Third, we must be in the classroom and the church. It is a privilege for us to grow in the classroom context, but let us not forget that we exist for the local church. We have an incredible opportunity to partner with our local churches to train and equip them according to our gifts and education— an education that is indeed rooted in the local church.

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Fourth, we must equip ourselves with cultural intelligence that is rooted in biblical relevance. We must master the Scriptures and the art of being all things to all people. As heralds of Scripture, we are equipped for all good works in this post-Christian culture. Being the salt of the earth is about preserving the Word and people. When we, through grace and transparency, meet people where they are, the Word that is alive and powerful can reign over our interactions and accomplish its purpose in them and us.

Lastly, let us remember that our work in the kingdom is not about us; it is for the world. Our commission is to make disciples of all nations. I encourage you to seek God more fervently, to seek new relationships, and build community pathways to honor the clarion call of discipleship.

Let us not succumb to fibers of fear that infect our culture, nor to the discouragement that comes from living through a pandemic. Instead, let us see this as an opportunity to teach truth and love well as we press forward. God created us for such a time as this. May His grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, you have all that you need to perform your good work.

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Living through a pandemic is a new challenge for all of us. It is a moment to experience the words of both the books of Isaiah and Revelation that speak the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, 'Behold I make all things new.'

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® Winter 2021 Vol. 6, No. 2 ISSN 1092–7492 ©2020 Dallas Theological Seminary. All rights reserved.

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

Mark M. Yarbrough, President Edward Herrelko, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Rebecca Walton, Editor & Content Manager

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Amelia Palmer, Graphic Designer

LONGING FOR HOME Rebecca McDougall (MABS 1986) writes about what it means to pursue Christ as our home and how believers should grow in their readiness to live with Him forever.

Debbie J. Stevenson, Production Manager Ryan Holmes, Don Regier, Christine Zhang, Staff Photographers Lisa White, Linda Tomczak, Margaret Tolliver, Copy Editing Amelia Palmer, Matt Snyder, Ad Designers Special thanks to Raquel Wroten, our former Editor-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief, for the content in this issue.

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.

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DANCING THE ONE-STEP: LIFE AFTER SEMINARY

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WALKING WITH GOD THROUGH GRIEF

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THE LEGACY CONTINUES: THE ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP FUND

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BECOMING NUMBER SIX: A PROFILE OF MARK M. YARBROUGH (THM 1996; PHD 2008)

What does life look like after seminary? Sarah Stiles (ThM 2018) talks about what it means to stay in conversation with God, especially during hardship and suffering.

Michael Ward (ThM 2013) explains how God met and ministered to him after the loss of his mother. He also shares the things God taught him in his journey through grief.

Contact Rebecca Walton | magazine@dts.edu to submit articles, request reprints, or make comments.

DONATIONS For information on how you can support the ministry of DTS, call 214-887-5060.

ONLINE/SUBMISSIONS Visit voice.dts.edu/magazine to view the editorial policies or DTS Magazine online.

Send email address changes to jglorvigen@dts.edu or mail to DTS Magazine 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, Texas 75204 Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

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F R O M O U R N E W E D I TO R

Hello! I'm Your New Editor FROM: REBECCA WALTON, EDITOR & CONTENT MANAGER

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AM LIMITED in words to express how I am resting in the privilege of being the new editor of the DTS Magazine and content manager for Dallas Theological Seminary. With all my heart, I am grateful, and to God be the glory.

What a year it has been! If there were a Richter scale measurement for the upset this world has experienced this year, then it would be a 7 (destructive power: critical loss of life, economic plummet.) Yet, the spiritual pivot of Christian believers is turning, slowly grinding around the world, powered by the blood of Jesus.

Judging from a carnal perspective, one can argue that the church has failed. Sound bites of unanswered prayers and unaffecting sermons are streaming online. Church buildings are empty across the country, albeit a few congregations that have chosen to gather. The daily global struggle does not seem to be relenting. We are living in a pandemic! Political wars, culture wars, and race wars fill media platforms. In some respects, it is inconceivable for anyone to experience the joy that comes from winning an unwinnable battle or crossing the finish line in an unfinishable race. Suffering has encapsulated us all, regardless of demographic.

However, there is another perspective to consider. It yields to what is conceivable. This spiritual perspective opens the door to what is happening and has happened in the spiritual realm. Jesus Christ won the strategic victory on the cross by opening the salvation door for everyone to come in.

Despite universal suffering, there are Christians who are winning tactical battles daily with the resurrected Jesus Christ. Christians are experiencing joy in the darkest times and are living in a peace that surpasses understanding. So far this year, we are acquiring dream job assignments, marrying long-awaited spouses, purchasing dream homes, graduating from post-grad programs and accomplishing real community impact by bringing the world under the authority of Christ.

Most of all, we are growing deeper in love with God. It is almost inappropriate to expound on a suffering-to-victory story during a universal time of sorrow. But this is our life.

These are the physical happenings that reflect the spiritual happenings in the invisible realm.

Our Christian lives, as varied and as multifaceted as they are, will encompass three realities that are witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ. The first is suffering; the second is death, and the third is resurrection. It is the destiny of all Christian believers to experience all three moments

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that defined the life of Jesus Christ in relative degrees. I am a witness to all three. These seasons of our lives fruit in our specific journeys through trial and testing.

For this Winter 2021 issue, we are highlighting the transition of the season and the spiritual seasons we experience as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Despite the many changes—the sufferings and successes, we are on a fixed course headed straight toward God’s ultimate glory. We have some dynamic contributors who have written soul-stirring imagery that communicates change, suffering, moving forward, and Gods glory.

Despite the daunting challenges we are experiencing in the world and the kingdom, Dallas Theological Seminary remains a catalyst for kingdom-living. We have been a milestone for nearly 100 years on the fixed course toward God’s glory. Our students and alumni are teaching truth and learning to love well. In our comings and goings, we have been the palatable spiritual seasoning salt that has preserved the United States and many countries across the world. Look inside this issue and see how we are enduring this season of change. We are celebrating record enrollment, our 6th DTS president, and infrastructure expansion. To God be the glory!

I am thrilled to serve as your new editor & content manager!

DTS Magazine is Jesus’s magazine (LOL), and I will perform with absolute integrity according to His mission and talents He has given to me. I love people, and I love creating imagery with words and graphics. Connect with me, and send me your kingdom stories and happenings: magazine@dts.edu.

Mark 4:35-38 | #WelcomeDrYarbrough #ThankYouDrBailey

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Despite the daunting challenges we are experiencing in the world and the kingdom, Dallas Theological Seminary remains a catalyst for kingdom living.

At Dallas Theological Seminary, we remain committed to providing a biblical and theological framework to help you thrive in the different ministries to which God calls you. With many of our programs available 100% online, you can complete a seminary degree or certificate no matter where you are.

Degrees & Programs

CREDIT

HOURS

MA in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care (MACP)

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MA in Apologetics and Evangelism (MAAE)

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MA in Christian Education (MACE)

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MA in Christian Leadership (MACL)

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MA in Media Arts and Worship (MAMW)

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MA in Cross-cultural Ministries (MACM)

64

MA in Christian Studies (MACS)

62

Master of Biblical and Theological Studies (MBTS)

36

Certificate of Graduate Studies (CGS) in Bible and Theology

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dts.edu/online

100%

ONLINE

Longing

for Home

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n East Africa, when people want to know where you live, they always ask, “Where do you stay?” But if they desire to know where you belong, they ask, “Where’s home?” This contrast is a subtle but essential difference among people who consider their tribal homelands “home,” and think of the houses they inhabit as merely temporary perching places. Roots, they believe, lay deeper than bricks and mortar, fixed into areas where their tribes and families have generations of life, where the bodies of those who pass away are carried back for burial.

As a child living in Central America, I perched lightly in my homes. From the time I was born, my missionary family moved to a new house and city every two years, sometimes more frequently. By the time I went to college at the age of eighteen, I had lived in thirteen different houses. Maybe that’s the reason why I connect my pursuit of God with my desire to “dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).

WHERE THE LORD GOES

When the disciples left their homes to follow Jesus, they began a three-year trek with a man who said of Himself, “Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ ” (Luke 9:58). Willingly they left behind their houses and jobs to learn from the Messiah and stay with Him. They had times when Christ gave them instructions and sent them on missionary trips, two by two. On some journeys, they took nothing with them. Wherever lodging became available, they stayed there. On this trip, they took extra clothes and money. Little by little, Jesus weaned their trust and sense of security away from their houses, from their lands, from their people, from their own families, and bound them to Himself.

The disciples felt most at home when they gathered together with Him. On the evening of His betrayal, their distress grew with every thought of Jesus leaving them. Jesus spoke some of His most comforting words in that hour of anxiety.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” ( John 14:1–3).

Jesus connected their desire to stay with Him and their longing to be home. In their pursuit of Christ, they instinctively felt that He had become their fortress, and they wanted to live with Him forever.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

(Psalm 23:6)

Fundamental to our relationship with God, our pursuit of Him can be expressed as a deep desire to be with Him in His place—a longing that where He is, we may also be. David said that his soul longed for the courts of the Lord. Paul considered that his mortal body was no better than a tent. Still, one day he would receive an imperishable body with which to live with Jesus eternally in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5). We don’t want to have a heavenly fellowship with Him as disembodied spirits floating in space, but we long to be physically together with Him, forever in His house.

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STRANGERS AND EXILES ON EARTH

It’s a great thing to pursue Jesus by learning to be at home in Him and thinking of Him as my home in preparation for the time when I will physically be with Him forever. Pursuing God means growing in my readiness to live forever with Him in His heaven. It keeps the lightweight nature of all this world’s stuff in a proper perspective.

If the Spirit of Jesus is my daily honored guest, welcomed into all the corners of my soul and dining with me, then I am happy whether eating off plastic or china (Revelation 3:20).

Whether I’m living in the same house as last year, whether its walls are mud or brick, whether I have running water or electricity, my essence—the heart of myself and soul that is burrowed and grafted deeply into Him—is well. My windows are clear; my rooms are all full of light, and the wallpaper I trace is the Word of God.

Another great thing about pursuing Jesus as my home is that God is not ashamed to be my God, for He has prepared a city for me and for all the others who diligently seek Him by faith

My pursuit of Jesus and my desire for a home is being answered most deeply during this life within this spiritual family and temple.

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(Hebrews 11:15). Since now I’m a citizen of heaven, I no longer need to bow to the god of my appetite, glorify my shame, nor set my mind on earthly things.

Instead, I can eagerly wait for my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come bodily to receive me to Himself and transform my body to be like His—ready to live in God’s holy city forever (Philippians 3). I don’t need to get discouraged or frustrated when no place on Earth fully satisfies me, nor when the citizens of this earth don’t speak my language or appreciate the customs that are part of my spiritual heritage. I don’t have to feel “left out” of some inner circle, nor “cheated” if I don’t have the kind of house the world admires.

FABULOUS FAMILY

I love the honor Jesus bestows on us who belong to Him, making us into a house for His Spirit. He is making a home for us in the heavens; meantime, He is building a house for Himself with living stones (1 Peter 2:5). As we are built into a dwelling of God by the Spirit, we grow more and more into Him (Ephesians 2:20-22). The prayer Jesus prayed on the night He was betrayed, that just as He and His Father are One so His people would be One, is being answered brick by brick as He builds.

Whether sitting on the sand under a tree or on wooden benches under a corrugated steel roof or in a soaring cathedral, when I am with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I give thanks for this spiritual family into which I have been born again. We get to feast at the Lord’s Table, remembering His promise that one day we will feast in His house; my pursuit of Jesus and my desire for a home is being answered most deeply during this life within this spiritual family and temple.

Recently I hosted a group of fourteen ladies for lunch.

The group included women from the US, Kenya, Ethiopia, Laos, Cambodia, Brazil, Morocco, and India. Five of us were believers in Christ; the rest are not yet in Him. I hoped that in my home—eating, laughing, and meeting my other sisters in Christ—those who did not yet know Jesus would sense His presence and love. The warmth would awaken in them a desire to pursue Him. As we finished dessert, my Muslim friend, with whom I always read Scripture, said, “Before we go, aren’t we going to read the Bible?” I opened the Bible to Psalm 16 and read verse 11, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” The prophet David, I explained, had a longing that is universal in human hearts. He had the desire to find happiness. And in this psalm, he wrote about where a person can find the fullness of joy. “My prayer for you,” I said, “is that you would come to know Him and the fullness of joy in His presence.”

PARTICIPATING IN HIS PURSUIT

Even though I lived in many different houses as a child in Central America, I do not remember feeling like a person who didn’t have a home. Instead, I felt like a person who had hundreds. I felt this way because, within my loving family, we had the Lord. He, our warm Comforter, brought peace, joy, and blessing into our home.

I’m so grateful the Lord opened my eyes to the terrible plight of people who desperately needed to find their home and life in Christ. So often, I feel like a child feasting at a beautiful table while poor beggars looking in the window from the dark outside. How I want to open the door, draw them in, give them clean clothes, and share with them the living Bread.

Eventually, I grew up. I got married, and we came to East Africa, where we have lived in some homes that appear far more rustic than any of my childhood. The one we live in now seems almost palatial. At every turn, however, I still meet people who need Jesus.

Like Christ, I feel that yearning desire to draw people to Himself so that one day we can all be home with Him in heaven.

I’ve learned that part of my relationship with God throughout my life involves sharing His pursuit of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. I have a deep desire for them to be at home with Him forever. When His house is full, then my joy will be complete, too.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’… And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." (Revelation 7:9-10; 21:2-3, esv).

REBECCA MCDOUGALL (MABS 1986) and her extended family has loved and attended DTS for generations. She and her husband Colin serve with Africa Inland Mission in Kenya.

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CAMPUS NEWS Expanded Online Options and Two New Degree Programs DTS is excited to expand the number of master’s degrees that are available 100 percent online by adding six degrees to the two already offered. The seminary also announces the addition of two new master’s degree programs to the curriculum for the upcoming academic year.

Fully Online Professional MAs Starting in fall 2020, the MA in Christian Education, MA in Christian Leadership, MA in Cross-cultural Ministries, MA in Media Arts and Worship, the new MA in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care, and MA in Apologetics and Evangelism will be available entirely online. As a result, students no longer need to travel to a physical site to complete their degree programs, enabling them to continue serving their local communities while they learn.

As part of the seminary’s desire to be more innovative and flexible, DTS now offers online courses in a variety of formats. Many online courses continue to remain available as pre-recorded lectures with interactive components.

On-campus classes are making use of video conferencing platforms, allowing for live, real-time, interaction and collaboration between remote students and their classmates and professors. Find out more dts.edu/online.

Along with the new programs launching this academic year and the expansion of the online degrees, DTS is well-positioned to meet the changing needs of its students and their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced that trained men and women are needed to minister to people where they are, while simultaneously having the ability to earn their seminary degrees.

By answering today’s challenges through innovation and adaptability, DTS is training more students with these programs. With the increased availability of our online offerings, DTS will be able to train more students to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and fulfill our mission to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.

MA in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care (MACP) The new 79-hour MACP degree program equips those called to ministries of care, such as vocational chaplaincy roles in the military, law enforcement, hospital/healthcare, and corporate arenas. Students are trained to counsel others in the areas of trauma care, grief, sexual wholeness, ethics, and more. “I’m thrilled this degree will allow us to extend what the Biblical Counseling department aims to do,” explained Chip Dickens, chair of the Biblical Counseling department. “In our MABC program, we love training people toward licensure (Licensed Professional Counselors), and with the addition of the MACP, we can broaden that care to people serving outside of a formal counseling ministry.”

Find out more about the MACP at dts.edu/macp.

MA in Apologetics and Evangelism (MAAE) The new 69-hour MAAE degree program is for those passionate about sharing their faith and defending the truth in a winsome and gracious manner. The program builds on DTS’s Bible and theology core, adding in courses in philosophical apologetics, relational evangelism, and a defense of the key issues such as the reliability of Scripture and the historicity of the Resurrection.

“We’re in an age where more people are questioning faith, so it’s vital that we equip people with a passion for evangelism to ask and answer real questions in ways that are wise, gracious, and compelling,” Dr. Michael Svigel, chair of Theological Studies, wrote. “We’ve designed a program that genuinely embraces the classic Christian dictum, ‘faith seeking understanding.’ ” Find out more about the MAAE at dts.edu/maae.

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The Progression of the Chapel & Student Life Building | Coming 2021 Preparations began last year for the new Chapel and Student Life Building.

This addition will allow DTS to continue growing as a seminary while providing state-of-the-art facilities for our students. Scheduled completion is spring 2021.

To see continuing updates on the construction, please go to dts.edu/construction.

The site is prepared to pour the foundation.

—April 2020

The foundation is set.—July 2020

The bones of the building are in place.—August 2020

Transitioning through insulation installation & texturing.—October 2020 VOICE.DT S .E DU /M AG A Z IN E DA L LA S TH E O LO G ICA L SE MI N ARY

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Dancing the One-Step:

Pursuing God after Seminary 12

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I love the rain. I mean love with a giddiness that often turns into a jig and sometimes a barefoot run in falling water. Might as well burst out in song as Gene Kelly: “I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain. What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again!” Most of the time, I restrain myself from singing, but not from jumping in the puddles.

I have a friend who also finds happiness when the Weather app predicts imminent raindrops. One time we anticipated a week of storms due to the forecast, and we immediately planned a day inside filled with reading novels, taking teatime, and cuddling up next to the TV’s fireplace image. Within a day of these preparations, our excitement was washed away by the dreadful prediction of sunny days all week. “Preposterous,” my friend texted. I blamed Texas.

CARRYING AN ERASER

How easy for our plans to disappear as quickly as the swap of a cloud for a bright sun. I enjoy planning, which means I have a knack for making everything fit snuggly and neatly into my blue planner. However, life tends to ignore our plans, and I’m learning to carry an eraser.

Many ministries leaders warned me and my fellow seminary students about the false expectations of landing the perfect job after graduating.

I heard seasoned alums in classes and chapel share stories of their thriving ministries often built by suffering, loss, and disappointment.

Yet, as a student in the throes of memorizing sermons, translating Jonah in Hebrew, and studying more Greek paradigms, I only tended to envision seasons of recognition and a responsive audience. Much like the blind disciples, I skipped the suffering and only saw an empty throne filled with the possibility of my honored self (Mark 10:32–45).

FIRST YEAR OUT

The first year out of seminary proved one of the most trying years of my life. The vision of landing a sweet job, possibly finding my-long-lost-not-yet-found husband, and living the “stress-free” life evolved quickly into one of the fictional happy endings that lean on my dusty bookshelves.

I went to counseling, completed a twelve-step program, started medicine for anxiety and depression—switched those meds multiple times in nine months—ended a couple of dating relationships, and to top it all off, my job at the church ended abruptly. My ThM degree was not supposed to lead to these circumstances!

Finding myself stretched between the past and future with an unwillingness to find my footing in the present, I spent many evenings during this first year after seminary sobbing on my bedroom floor. Peace seemed fleeting in a reality I could not exegete. Life proved disappointing. Uncomfortable. Lonely.

I wasted countless mornings in bed weighed down by impending panic attacks. With a tightened chest and pseudo-closed eyes, I made it a habit to roll over to the other pillow, hoping to escape the unwelcome responsibilities that would accost me when my feet hit the floor.

Much like the blind

disciples, I skipped the suffering and only saw an empty throne filled with the possibility of my honored self.

When I graduated and began my first full-time job at my home church, I thought I had received an invitation into the Promised Land.

Done with classes, debt-free, and full of homework-free nights, I jumped into a position I soon found to be ill-fitting, challenging, and humbling.

I had completed the requirements for a ThM, and for the first time in my life, I felt I could not do the work essential to my new job. It felt discouraging and debilitating. Many times, I sat at my desk in defeat, holding back tears.

LEARNING TO ONE-STEP

And yet, as I sit here writing these words, tears from a content heart trickle down my face and into my smile. I’m happier than I’ve felt in a long time. Still single. Still on meds. But for the first time in years, I continue to learn to enjoy the today (Matt 6:24–34). God crafted this day for me with moments that will soon grow into memories For so many years, I passed by the present for the hope of dreams— now turned to dust.

What caused the transition from a tear-stained face to the smile of contentment?

While searching for a job, God introduced me to the simplicity of stopping for a conversation and not rushing to the next task on my to-do list. He ushered in the discipline of sleep and taught me that my body needs three meals a day. I even learned how to breathe better. (You’d think an adult would have these skills down by now.)

In short, God helped me implement simple steps I had lacked in my walk with Him. And I learned all of this from the simple

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concept of “one-step.” Many folks have heard of the two-step country dance, and most have certainly seen the three-step waltz, but what about the “one-step?” What is it?

While journeying through the twelve-step recovery program at my church, I sat with a small group of women who always encouraged each other with these five words: “Do the next right thing.” When I heard those five words each Thursday night, my mind learned that with a desperate dependence on our powerful God, I could take the next right step—the following “one-step.” And my disappointments would no longer overwhelm me to the point of paralysis.

Many days my one-step looked like a roll out of bed or stopping work to eat lunch or not canceling an early-morning gym class. Sometimes it was answering an inconvenient phone call or initiating a difficult conversation to strengthen a relationship. Some days I only had enough strength to share an embarrassing moment with my counselor. Other days, I could only pray.

To determine my next step, I approached each day in light of our Savior’s imminent return. One day while jobless, I read Acts 20: 22, 24, and Paul’s words stayed with me: “I don’t know what awaits me, … But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus— the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (nlt). Paul’s Spirit-filled statement remains in the background of my iPhone, reminding me that my steps must remain oriented toward the work Christ has assigned me before His return.

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SAVORING TODAY

For many years, my hope was built on a dream of a sweet husband and a ministry that was the perfect job. Through this challenging past year, God helped plant those hopes in their proper place—as undeserved gifts, not ultimate goals ( Jas 4:13–15). Some of my friends’ current seasons might taste as sweet as Texas tea right now, and if so, that’s great! But some people are genuinely struggling.

How do we take steps forward in an unwanted season? How do we live well in discomfort?

When my jobless bank account dwindled, and bills continued their steady pace, I noticed God shifting my faulty mentality that the best life would someday arrive. I learned to embrace the belief that this “best life” is present in seeking to love Him with all my mind, heart, and strength today.

Life is not about feeling accomplished. It’s not even about feeling anything. It’s about an all-out, all-in pursuit of the One who pursues His children. I seek the One, with my intellect, desires, choices, and actions. With my whole being, I follow Him in a step-by-step pursuit. During the time without a job, God opened my eyes to something so ordinary that I can’t believe I lived blindly for years. He helped me see the beauty of today.

So let’s savor today!

Today is the day the LORD specially planned before He created time. So let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24). Life is where life exists in the present. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Then why spend time striving to pull back to the past or zoom forward to the future?

God did not design His children to live in the past or spring forward to the year 3000. Discontentment will grow when people try to live fully in the previous “perfect” past or future.

Anxiety makes its home entirely in those self-fulfilling seasons.

Do you know why the next season always seems better?

Because dreams for it delete the main character of pain. But for today, and all the Christmases and Good Fridays to come, the pain will play a part while on this earth.

However, because of Christ’s Resurrection, there’s also the main character of hope that should permeate present thoughts that help in gaining perspective in pain. We, as Christ’s brothers and sisters, have inherited a future home and shalom. There will be a perfect day. So let’s embrace today’s cross or celebration in whatever God has planned.

THE NEXT RIGHT STEP

The next right step God has might include doing things that seem mundane. I try not to discount the ordinary days. I think about a baby born in a manger and raised in the home of a carpenter. That same baby grew into a man who faithfully taught truth and loved well—loving to the point of death. He died and rose again to redeem His people. Small things add up—all ordained by an all-knowing God, whose ways are higher.

He doesn’t ask for understanding. He desires us to seek to know and to trust Him. Like the crazy weather of Texas that can bring snow in April, a summer Christmas day, and ten tornados on a Sunday night, sometimes the seasons of life hit unplanned and unmarked.

As a new graduate, I thought I had an idea of what came next after walking across the stage. Little did I know.

I don’t understand why everything happened as it did, but I’m glad for it because of what I’ve gained—an appreciation for today and a stronger trust in my God. He created His people as desperately-dependent beings who live best in a one-step dance with Him. And when I dance with Him, I find contentment, and it always feels like rain.

SARAH STILES (ThM 2018) currently serves as the associate minister to women at Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Though a Texan by birth, she loves all things British. Her heart in ministry is to teach the Word and write about it to help serve and disciple women.

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DTS TEACHING TRUTH AND LOVING WELL 2

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President, Dr. Mark Yarbrough, and Dallas Baptist University president, Dr. Adam Wright, shake hands to finalize the DTS/ DBU student transfer agreement, September 2020.

1 DTS President, Dr. Mark Yarbrough, teaches a weekend intensive at Christ Chapel Chruch in Fort Worth as part of our new Fort Worth regional location.

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2 Amanda Bodekker and Rebecca Carroll of KCBI pose for a picture at the Heart Strong Faith Conference in February 2020.

3 CEO of Greater Europe Mission in Monument, CO, Jon Burns, speaks during the World Evangelization Conference during WEC Week 2020.

4 Associate Director of Online and Distance Education, Michael Balbier (ThM 2005; PhD 2020) is hooded by Dr. John Dyer in his driveway.

5 Nancy Abbott (MACE 1990) is the chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio; she helps patrons live out the YMCA mission: Put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.

6 April Graney (MABS 1999) is the author of the 2017 Christian Book Award finalist, The Marvelous Mud House, a whimsical true story about finding contentment and joy based on her family’s trip to Kenya. Her second children’s book, The Marvelous Maker, just released in September and is a creation and redemption parable that follows the story of creation in Genesis through redemption and the final hope of restoration in Revelation. She, her husband, and their five children serve at New Life Ranch—a summer camp and retreat center in Oklahoma. April teaches math at a local Christian school for at-risk students. She speaks passionately about God's heart for the world to children and parents at schools, churches, summer camps and parent/child retreats.

7 Dr. Colin S. Green (MABS, MACE 1988; DMin 2008) has been pastoring for over 30 years in Canada and the US. He now serves as the director of Grace For Life Ministries in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. Colin uses his gifts and years of experience as a pastor and leader to counsel people and work with churches. He has just joined the DTS Alumni & Career Services department as its northern representative reaching DTS alums across Canada and the northern United States. Colin and Colleen have been married for 40 years and have 4 grown children and 2 grandchildren.

8 Senior professor of Bible Exposition, Dr. Ron Allen (ThM 1968; ThD 1973) exhibiting how to love well with the proper COVID-19 safety precautions during a flight.

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Walking With God Through Grief

The summer of 2012 stands in my memory as a great paradox of emotion. How can a few short weeks filled with such overwhelming joy change into such deep, aching sadness? On July 28, with great enthusiasm, I took Terri as my wife, and we fled away from the Texas heat for a honeymoon in the perfectly regulated climate of southern California. (We exchanged the 102 degrees Fahrenheit of our wedding day for a whole week of mid-70s in San Diego!)

road trip as husband and wife. During that one week of newly wedded bliss, Terri and I enjoyed all the family-friendly fun that San Diego has to offer: Perfect weather. Zoo. Sea World.

La Jolla. Hotel Coronado. Croce’s. Gaslamp Quarter. Torrey Pines. Room service. In-room movie rentals. Did I mention the weather in San Diego is perfect? Our honeymoon felt as close to heaven, as I believe one can get without dying.

We flew to Los Angeles and rented a convertible for the scenic drive down the Coastal Highway. Bathed in the California sunshine, the dawn of our marriage led us down our first

After we returned to Dallas in early August, Terri went back to work, and I mentally prepared for my final year of seminary.

What will this “normal” life be as a newly minted husband?

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A JOURNEY INTO GRIEF

But “normal” never came. On the afternoon of August 15, my brother Chris called me from Arkansas. “Mom is being airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Springfield. I found her lying on the floor at home, and it appears she had been there overnight.

The EMT said it looks like she had a stroke, and mom is unresponsive.” Chris also said I should come. So that evening, as the Texas sun descended, Terri and I departed together toward the deepening night on our second road trip as husband and wife.

Mom lingered in a coma for a few days. The stroke had caused a significant amount of bleeding in her brain. Medication given to prevent clotting and help her brain re-absorb the blood destabilized her blood pressure, so it was discontinued.

“If the brain swelling decreases within 48 hours, there might be hope,” the doctor explained. It didn’t. The medical team said there was nothing more they could do. On Saturday, August 18, three weeks to the day after my wedding, mom died.

A few days later, we lowered her body down into her grave, placed beside her father. Mom and Dad had purchased the grave plot decades before, never imagining death would come so soon. She was only sixty. My family and I said our goodbyes, and we left her there among her people on that grassy Arkansas hilltop.

DISCOVERING THROUGH LOSS

Over those first terrible days, and in the months following mom’s death, I searched the Scriptures desperately, hoping to find some sense of meaning in my circumstances. It proved harder when Granny (my mom’s mom) passed away three months later. Then thirteen months after mom’s death, my brother Greg was struck and killed in a roadside accident.

I had enough faith in the goodness of God to believe that something, anything, should come from these tragic moments.

Humbled by the way the Lord met and ministered to me through these losses, below are a few things God taught me in my journey through grief.

Grief is Normal Grief is normal and healthy. It’s so normal and healthy that the Ancient Near Eastern world formalized its expression. In the days of Abraham, Jacob and Esau, and all Jacob’s sons, official days of mourning were observed. People commonly took a whole week off, put on special clothing, cried, and fasted. And they did all of this because they knew that the loss of a loved one is a weighty thing. Its magnitude needed expression in some shape in their lives.

Our skewed American notions of independence can whisper lies to us, suggesting that we ought to remain stronger than our grief, and we ought to push it down and overcome it. But this thought proves to be a self-destructive myth.

Instead, we need to embrace our vulnerability, feel our loss deeply, and admit that our hurts are significant. Our loved one played a vital role in our life, and our love for them equaled that significance.

As we acknowledge the real and gaping void left by our departed loved ones, we now have to learn to allow the Lord to fill that emptiness. The pain of grief should prompt us to seek the fullness that only the Lord can provide. Psalm 63:1 reminds us that when we find ourselves in a “dry and exhausted land where there is no water,” we most deeply sense our need for the Lord’s comforting presence (nasb). Amid our most considerable losses, we can pursue God and bring all of our pain and all of our emptiness to the Lord, asking Him to remind us once again that His “love is better than life” (Ps 63:3). He is sufficient to fill the deepest yearnings of our soul. And so, in the end, grief and lamenting is a call to worship.

Grief Testifies to the Goodness of God Grief also has a purpose—it points to something beyond itself.

In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote that pain is God’s “megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” The bellow of pain itself can prove deafening, and we often have trouble discerning its words. Turning down the distortion enough to hear the message requires a response of faith on our part. When we seek the Lord’s sufficiency, asking Him to calm our souls, we will hear what our pain has screamed in our ears: “What a gift!

How precious! How will we get by? They meant so much!”

Grief is pain over the loss of something so indescribably valuable that when it’s gone, our human finitude knows of no way to adequately express it, except with tears, sobs, and a broken heart.

Grief reminds us that relationships, indeed people, are gifts.

More pointedly, our pain reminds us that these gifts are good.

Almost unspeakably good, sacred even, once they’re gone.

But the Bible says that every good gift comes from a good gift giver. James 1:17 tells us that “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (nasb).

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The loss of someone valuable should turn our faces in thanks toward our ultimately precious Saviour. Grief, rightly understood, therefore, should result in thanksgiving to God. It takes a little time and perspective to arrive here, but to miss this is to disregard the primary purpose of grief.

Embracing this message permits us to freely admit that the pain is almost too much to bear and to accept that sometimes, in the moment of a memory, we will suddenly find tears running down our faces. And with wet cheeks, we can still honestly say, “Thank you, Father!” We are not thankful that it hurts, but we feel grateful that we had such a wonderful gift that its loss would leave such a vast emptiness in our hearts. And grief that ultimately leads to thanksgiving is healthy indeed.

Grief Reminds Us that God is God Sometimes we get angry because we forget or refuse to recognize that the gift we lost never belonged to us. Job, ancient and wise, is a famous example of someone who knew that God is a good gift-Giver. He lost everything, and his analysis of his loss is that the One who gives the gift always has the right to take it away ( Job 1:21).

Of course, Job’s wife provides us with an example of one who lost sight of the purpose of grieving ( Job 2:9). If we allow the pain of our grief to eclipse our vision of the good gift giver, we risk a spiritual disaster. King David reminds us that belief and confession of the Lord’s goodness is the antidote to despair: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living” (Ps 27:13, nasb, emphasis mine).

Grief Reminds Us We are not God Nothing reminds us so acutely of our human limitations than standing by the graveside of a loved one we could not hold on to, even though we tried. Could anything be more maddening to the human psyche? Those who stand at bedsides, watching their loved ones slip away often say, “I feel so helpless!” That’s why those who stay alongside their dying loved one, know the myth of human control better than anyone. They have seen

first-hand that the proud mouth of medical technology boasts miraculous things, but in the end, it’s powerless to keep anyone we love with us.

Death allows no illusions of control, but our grief points to the all-powerful One. Grieving calls us to cast our burdens on the Maker of heaven and earth (Ps 121:1–2), the One who manages global sparrow populations, tracks hairline recession on every balding scalp (Matt 10:29–31) and faithfully guards what we entrust to Him until the last day (2 Tim 1:12).

Grief Reminds Us Death is an Enemy Some of us know that a certain kind of anger in grief is not inappropriate. While we humbly acknowledge God’s sovereignty and relinquish back to Him what is His to take, we also recognize that death and suffering are not part of His design. It’s a lingering reminder of our fallen situation and the human sin that lies at its root.

Yet grief brings an appropriate response of outrage at the abnormality of death, and it reminds us it’s not supposed to feel normal. God did not make us to stay separated from our loved ones forever. He did not create us to die but to live! John 11:35 describes the anguish of the Lord Jesus in tears of grief over the death of his dear friend, Lazarus even as He anticipates raising him by His divine, life-giving power (cf. John 11:20–25).

Jesus’s tears display grief and outrage at the very presence of death in the world He created. Death intrudes (Rom 5:12). Or better, it is the houseguest humanity wishes it had never invited into its home. Through Satan’s deception and humanity’s rebellion, death has ransacked the domicile of humankind (Gen 3:1–6; Rom 3:23). Satan is a thief. He comes, and he steals.

He kills and destroys ( John 10:10).

But the Word of God assures us that death’s reign is temporary.

The Lord Jesus Christ has broken in to plunder the strong man (Mark 3:27) and take back what is His own with resurrection power. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:26).

And it’s because we await the inevitable coming of our victorious King, and the resurrection of those in Christ who have passed on before us, that we have hope.

In the face of loss, we surely grieve, but we do not do so as those without hope (1 Thess 4:13–14). Hope is the reason that we can cry, and amid our tears, we can also smile. We know that our weeping is temporary, but our hope is everlasting. In the sunshine and the darkness, in times of joy, and through seasons of grief, we never travel alone. Our Lord Jesus, “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isa 53:3), walks beside us every step of the way.

MICHAEL WARD (ThM 2013) is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He serves on staff with Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Health (RREACH). He and his wife, Terri live in Dallas and are members of Northway Church.

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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT Remembering John Reed Dr. John W. Reed is remembered for his passionate pursuits of truth and service to others. He served in the U.S. Army in WWII and later as chaplain and Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard. Dr. Reed devoted his time to pastoral service spanning 37 years at churches in Indiana, Ohio, and Sherman Bible Church in Texas, the latter of which was especially dear to him.

After graduating Bryan College, (BA 1951), Dr. Reed went on to study at Grace Theological Seminary (MDiv 1954), Bowling Green State University (MA 1961), and Ohio State University (PhD 1966). Dr. Reed’s tenure as a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary began in 1970, and his years at DTS were another high point of service. He was senior professor emeritus of Pastoral Ministries and the director of the Doctor of Ministry program. Additionally, he is listed in Outstanding Educators of America, and served for many years as president of the Association of Doctor of Ministry Education.

Dr. Reed loved to guide, listen to, and show love to those he served, whether family, colleagues, students, congregants, or those in the military. In all his interactions his goal was to point people to Jesus Christ and His love and sacrifice that was made for everyone.

We offer this tribute to Dr. Reed’s life. His deepest desire was to live a life that brought God glory and honor. He loved and served his Lord, Jesus Christ well.

1927–2020

Read more about his life and ministry https://voice.dts.edu/article/john-reed-1927-2020/

New Professors Education:

Education:

• BS, Marquette University

• BA, University of Surrey, England

• MA, Intercultural Studies, DTS

• ThM, DTS

• ThM, Systematic Theology, DTS • PhD, Leadership, Dallas Baptist University

DR. KEVIN GANDY Assistant Professor of Educational Ministries and Leadership

• DMin, Talbot School of Theology • PhD, Trinity College Bristol (in progress)

DR. TIM ROBINSON Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministries

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THE LEG ACY CONTINUES:

THE ALUMNI SCHOL ARSHIP FUND

Dr. Howard Hendrick, or “Prof ”, as most students called him, was known for threading meaningful and profound life lessons throughout the serious theological material of his classes. Charlie Dyer, Phd, 2006—(converted from ThD, 1986), shared one such example with me. His story, which you can read below, seemed to resonate with many of our current and former students.

Charlie Dyer’s Story: “Since I have to select just one nugget that made a profound impact on me, then I choose the small card Prof distributed at the end of the very first class I took from him exactly 40 years ago. That handout was Prof ’s synthesis of the entire Old Testament…on a 4x5 card! Prof never asked his students to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself. He was challenging us—challenging me!—to a lifetime of Bible study.

But it wasn’t merely a life of digging deep exegetical postholes… with large gaps between. That 4x5 card was a challenge to study the whole Old Testament…and the whole Bible. And yet, the card went beyond even that. It was a challenge to study the entire Bible sooner rather than later. Prof was in the prime of his life…teaching, speaking, and raising a family. But he still found the time, and personal discipline, to work through the Old Testament in a systematic way to master the message of the whole as well as each individual part. In giving us that card he was saying, “Don’t give me any excuses! I did it…and so can you!” I’m still not sure if I can accurately summarize the entire Bible on a 4x5 card, but I’m working on it…thanks to Howard G. Hendricks! And I still have my copy of that card he gave us!”

When Dyer’s story was posted on DTS’s Facebook page, 314 people shared it, reaching over 57,000 people! While the success of this post is exciting, it also reveals a deeper need in our student body. Many of our students are juggling multiple jobs, young kids, classes, and shepherding a ministry. It is often a severe understatement to only call them “overwhelmed.”

Many of them are wondering if all the time, effort, and study hours will be worthwhile by the end of their Seminary journey.

Will all this work really be worth it?

The Alumni Scholarship Fund is helping us gather together 17,000 alumni who have asked the same question, many of whom respond with a resounding “yes, it is worth it!” Our alumni have shared stories with me of moments in class that directed their life in ministry, stories of experiencing emotional healing from a professor’s words, and stories of unforgettable kindness from DTS administrators, professors, and friends.

Stories like Charlie Dyer’s reassure them that their hard work to stay in Seminary will benefit them for years to come.

Students are longing to be reminded that the DTS experience is worth the long hours and late nights. When financial help and encouragement from alumni arrives, that gift can change

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the course of their life and ministry. The Alumni Scholarship Fund’s goal is to fill the need for financial assistance and verbal encouragement for many years to come, and with our alumni’s help, we are confident that we can.

If you would like to join the Alumni Scholarship Fund, go to https://secured.dts.edu/asf-home. If you would like to share your story of how DTS has impacted your life, email awills@dts.edu.

ABBY WILLS serves DTS as the Alumni Scholarship Fund Representative in the Advancement office.

After finishing her master’s at The University of St. Andrews in 2019, she returned to Dallas so that her husband, Jonny, could finish his master’s in Media Arts and Worship here at DTS. She grew up in Lake Highlands, and is thankful that the Lord has brought her back to her hometown.

BECOMING NUMBER SIX: PROFILE OF MARK M. YARBROUGH (THM 1996; PHD 2008) Dr. Mark M. Yarbrough had the jitters. As a young DTS faculty member, he sat in the audience clutching his Bible, waiting to teach for the first time at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. Billy Graham himself had just slipped into the audience. Mark’s mentor, the late legendary DTS professor “Prof ” Hendricks, seeing him notice Graham, leaned over and whispered essential words of encouragement: “Don’t screw it up.”

Mark laughs as he tells this story. And when he does, he adds that the same imperative echoed in his ears as—on July 1— he stepped into the role as the sixth president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

Of course, as the former vice president for Academic Affairs and professor of Bible Exposition, he is unlikely to mess up anything.

LIFE AT DTS

Mark’s time at DTS—as a student, alumnus, faculty member, administrator, and donor-relations representative—has spanned a quarter of a century. Rather than coming in as an outsider to learn the ropes, he brings an in-depth knowledge of and love for the purple and gold. He knows the school’s history—he learned from its greats like Drs. Campbell, Swindoll, Bailey, Hendricks, and Pentecost. He knows every member of its faculty—he has served as their dean for eight years. He knows its theology—he earned both his ThM and PhD at the school, where he received a SCEC scholarship. And he knows the Seminary’s traditions—he worshiped for numerous semesters in Chafer Chapel and has sung “All Hail the Power of Jesus’s Name,” “Diadem” version, at many graduations.

Mark is also well acquainted with the life of a DTS professor.

As a prof in the “Bible Ex” Department, he has taught—and continues to teach—numerous classes that include Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics and The Story of Scripture: Genesis to Revelation. The latter especially has been a favorite, as Mark helps students—whether enrolled, alumni, or conference-center guests—discover God’s overarching storyline running through the Scriptures. “Many, many folks know only bits and pieces of the Bible,” Mark said. “The Bible is a big book, but to remember there is one consistent thread from Genesis to Revelation is important for us to ‘get our arms around.’”

Mark also knows DTS’s students. At commencement ceremonies for seven of the past eight years in his role as academic dean, he has pronounced the name of every graduate. And for the past seventeen years, he has worked face-to-face with students— whether standing behind a classroom podium, sitting in front of a laptop screen, or facilitating with chairs in a semi-circle— teaching the Word live or online for the next generation of students—thousands of them.

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Together Mark and Jennifer have raised four—now young adult—children: Kayla, Jacob, Kayci, and Joseph. Kayla, newly married to Garrett Chandler, says of her parents’ relationship, “They really love each other. They met in middle-school art class, dated in high school, and engaged at 19, and married at 20. They communicate so well.”

As the kids grew, Mark and Jennifer spent countless hours sitting on bleachers and in the stands. When Jacob and Joseph played high school sports, the boys had their cheering section.

And the Yarbroughs’ love for sports extends to the pros as well. They describe themselves as “die-hard Dallas fans,” which Mark said, “means we root for the Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, and Stars.”

And students love learning from him. On the “Rate My Professor” website, where men and women taking courses in institutions of higher learning can assign ratings to professors, statements like this appear with Mark’s name attached: “Genuine and humble man who loves the Word”; “The best professor I have ever had”; “Awesome professor!”; “Incredibly smart, well-versed, articulate, and very funny”; and “Personal about what he teaches so you know he practices what he is saying.”

LIFE WITH FAMILY

Born into a loving Christian home, Mark grew up in the Lone Star State. And although for summer income the high-school-aged Mark once bagged rattlesnakes, he’s far from the stereotype of a ten-gallon-hat-wearing Texan with a swagger. Instead, a friend described him as a “humble listener”; a colleague, as having “high emotional intelligence”; and another co-worker, as “a family man.”

Thirty-one years ago, he married his high-school sweetheart. And Mark and Jennifer’s unique pairing of teaching/serving, extrovert/ introvert has made for a great team. One colleague recalls, “He and I used to work on Saturdays to get Online Ed running. One day I walked into his office at lunchtime, and I thought maybe he had accidentally taken his second grader’s lunch to work. But it turns out that he just really likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off. So, for special days, that is what Jennifer makes him.”

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The family loves to spend time outdoors. Mark enjoys fly fishing and hunting and has spent many summer nights spinning yarns with his jacket smelling of smoke and his boots propped up in front of a campfire. “Since Dad was a kid, he’s been going to a camp in Colorado,” Kayla said. “And he continued that practice with us. ‘The outdoors’ is his second home.”

At camp, tradition has long been to end the week by sharing communion—with elements comprised of Coke and donuts.

And Mark closes by singing “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” as a blessing over everyone. He also sang this over the bride and groom as an officiant at Kayla and Garrett’s wedding, as well as that of his friend and colleague, Dr. John Dyer, dean of Enrollment Services and Distance Education. “At the end of our ceremony,” John recalls, “I found out that in addition to being a scholar, leader, and pastor, he is also an incredible singer.” Indeed, Mark has lent his voice to multiple songs he has written or co-written as well as to albums.

For years the Yarbroughs have attended Centerpoint Church, a non-denominational, mid-sized congregation, in Mesquite, Texas, where his parents also attend, and his father teaches

“God’s faithfulness to this institution has abounded through the tireless service of men and women since its inception. It has been an honor to be a part of this community.” a Bible study. Jennifer—with daughter Kayci—is often found coordinating food for monthly fellowship lunches.

Mark has served on Centerpoint’s teaching team, and he’s a member of the elder board’s executive committee. Those who know him acknowledge that in addition to his skills in administration, he is gifted in pastoral care. One friend recalled, “how graciously he treated me and how pastorally he cared for me when I told him my dad had been arrested for a terrible crime.”

Having been touched by a couple of family cancer scares, Mark is acquainted with pain, and he feels no compulsion to try to explain the mysteries of God. Writing for Christianity Today in 2004 in a piece titled, “When God Doesn’t Heal,” Mark wrote, “It is imperative that the God of the mountaintop also be the God of the valley…. Our affliction is purposeful and passing, and although we may not be able to understand it, we must cling to God’s goodness and follow the pattern of his Son.”

LIFE AT WORK AND BEYOND

Before coming to DTS as a research assistant to the president the year the World Trade Center collapsed, Mark had served in several positions at Dallas Christian College. At his undergraduate alma mater—where he was valedictorian the year he graduated—he served in various roles such as professor of Biblical Studies, vice president for Student Development, and vice president for Enrollment Management.

accessible to an ever-expanding audience. Today, students around the globe can earn entire master’s degrees through distance learning available in English, Chinese, and Spanish.

Mark has also taught DTS courses in Houston, Atlanta, and Washington, DC. He has led DTS courses and continuing education experiences from Fargo to Hong Kong to Auckland to Jerusalem (where he spent two weeks quarantined in March, thanks to COVID-19). He has also traveled with faculty and friends of the seminary to the Holy Land, to Greece, and Turkey revisiting the journeys of Paul, and to the sites where Puritans ministered. Additionally, he has made multiple annual treks to preach during DTS week at Mt. Hermon Camp and Conference Center in California, at Horn Creek in Colorado, and Word of Life in New York. Such experiences, he believes, offer more than amazing settings: “You share every meal. You’re having coffee together before and after the class.

You can have that interaction with students.”

Mark’s visionary approach to such innovations has led the Seminary to coordinate partnerships with like-minded organizations such as North Point Ministries and Passion City

After coming to DTS to work in the president’s office, Mark next served as vice president for Communications and as associate academic dean for External Education. In that role, he and his team further expanded the Seminary’s reach to include extension campuses, extension initiatives, and online education. His spearheading the Seminary’s online education program brought DTS acclaim as a standard in Christian higher education.

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all of whom had slipped in to witness the historic moment, but stealthily, so as not to tip off anyone.

Dr. Bailey and his wife, Barby, were among those who cheered.

Dr. Bailey had recused himself from the search process, so he had only recently learned the news, much to his delight.

He said, “I have watched God develop the character and competence of a leader in Mark Yarbrough. And I know of no one better qualified to steward the sacred trust of leadership at DTS. I am thrilled to pass the baton to him this coming year.”

DTS’s “two Marks” have indeed worked on the “baton pass.”

The official change from runner number five to number six happened July 1, 2020, followed by inauguration events to come.

In response to this new call to ministry, Mark recalled how “God’s faithfulness to this institution has abounded through the tireless service of men and women since its inception.”

As a result, he said, “It has been an honor to be a part of this community, and I am humbled by the invitation to serve in this new role.”

Church in the greater Atlanta area, Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, and Fellowship Bible Church in Northwest Arkansas. These partnerships, along with the creation of new degrees and educational opportunities, have resulted in record enrollment for nearly every semester since 2012.

And most students now attend classes based in cities other than Dallas. The multiple options thrill Mark because they are a means to an end: to offer biblical-theological and practical-skills training for diverse students across a vast geographical range to build up the church worldwide.

It’s a role the DTS family knows Mark will most certainly “not screw up,” but rather in which, by God’s grace, he will excel.

LIFE IN PROCESS

In January of 2019, when Dr. Bailey announced his plans to retire as president effective July 1, 2020, DTS’s Board of Incorporate Members got to work searching for the next person to lead the 95-year-old institution. They established an eightperson search committee chaired by board member David Stevens and selected The Dingman Company, an executive recruiting firm, to lead a global search. In the discernment process, the committee solicited input from other board members, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Nearly a year later, the board had made its choice. So, they gathered the faculty and students in Lamb Auditorium on the Dallas campus for the big announcement. Robert Murchison, chairman of the Board of Incorporate Members, approached the podium, and all eyes rested on him. He praised the work of the search team, which included identifying potential candidates that included several finalists. Then he said, “The board has unanimously and enthusiastically selected Mark M. Yarbrough.”

The crowd jumped to their feet, clapping and cheering. Present and visibly pleased were Jennifer and kids, and Mark’s parents, 26

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SANDRA GLAHN (ThM 2012) is professor of Media Arts and Worship at DTS and the author, co-author or general editor of more than twenty books.

You can find more of her work at aspire2.com.

ALUMNI CONNECTION In Memory David C. Cotten (ThM, 1952) passed away on March 4, 2020. David pastored Metropolitan Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for thirtythree years while helping establish the Oklahoma Christian Counseling Center. He served as chaplain for twenty-eight years in the 45th Infantry Brigade retiring as a full major. He returned to DTS to serve as vice-president for Student Affairs and professor of Pastoral Ministries. While retired, David returned to Oklahoma and served as pastor of senior adults at Faith Bible Church in Edmond. He was a faithful and true servant to his Lord, devoted to teaching the Bible to others.

John W. Dean (1956) died on April 12, 2020. He pastored Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and joined the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company. John became active in several youth organizations and founded a drug rehabilitation program in Sussex County. He also taught an occasional class at Wesley College in Dover. He served as president of the Cape Henlopen School Board for two terms, chaplain of the Rehoboth Beach Police Department, and interim minister in churches in Wilmington. The highlight of his life was spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Robert O. Rehbein (ThM, 1958) died on March 16, 2020. Robert and Lois ministered to the Walnut Park Community in St. Louis, Missouri, through the Faith Bible Mission for forty-seven years. He also taught at Faith Christian Academy and attended Open Door Baptist Church in Overland, Missouri.

Charles P. Wright (1958) died on August 14, 2019. At his first church in Churchville, Maryland, Chuck hosted allied military officers from a nearby ordinance school in the homes of church families. The outreach ministry continued and expanded to other churches and military bases across America, for which he received the Department of the Army’s highest Civilian Service Award. The Wrights hosted thousands of parliament members in their homes throughout the years to encourage friends to be led by God. Chuck also authored Finding God Beneath the Ashes.

William E. Hough (ThM, 1959) died on February 21, 2020. Bill graduated from Columbia University in New York, New York, with a Master of Library Science, working for The King’s College in New York City and Dubuque University in Iowa before retiring after twenty years as the head librarian at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. He also served on the staff at Word of Life in New York.

Bill was a member of Lebanon Valley Bible Church, where he was very active with the quiz teams and youth group involvement.

Paul O. Wright (ThM, 1963, PhD, 1968) passed away on February 11, 2020. Paul served as academic dean at Western Bible College in Denver, Colorado, and professor at Columbia International University in South Carolina.

John E. Boaz (ThM, 1965) died on April 22, 2020. John and Charlotte served as missionaries in Japan before John worked in the reserves as an Air Force chaplain. For twenty-six years, he pastored four different churches in Colorado, Oregon, and Hawaii. He also earned a doctorate from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. John never “retired” from serving Jesus. He continued to preach, encourage, and build up people in every season of his life. His final role was helping to plant Incline Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his son, Kevin, and was able to preach his last messages on Easter and Palm Sunday this year.

William K. Chapman (ThM, 1968) died on January 24, 2020. He pastored in churches and served as a missionary pastor in the northeast until he retired.

Charles L. Hall (ThM, 1973) passed away on April 23, 2020. Chuck taught at Word of Life Bible Institute in New York, New York, and Temple Baptist Theological Seminary in Tennessee before serving as a missionary, teacher, and evangelist for thirty years with Cadence International and Ministry Essentials International.

Leo C. Reynolds (ThM, 1973) died on March 25, 2020. Leo enjoyed teaching the Bible at the Flint Bible Institute in Flint, Michigan, for forty-two years, serving as the director of the school for many of those years. He was a personable, optimistic encourager, and had a heart for ministry. Leo was a faithful adult Sunday School teacher,

worship leader, choir director, and singer on the praise team for many years at Grace Bible Church in Owosso.

He also taught a Bible class at the local cable television broadcast channel.

Charles C. Whitener (1973–1974) died on February 20, 2020. Using his daughter’s name, Cleve created Lauren Engineers & Constructors, Inc., establishing a worldwide footprint in engineering and construction. Caring for his family, and contributing to his community were central to his character. Charles was a founding member of the Board of Directors for Bible Training Center for Pastors in Tucker, Georgia. The Whitener Family Foundation supported many local and international Christian organizations and provided scholarships to those seeking careers in engineering and construction. Cleve also supported the Lantern Project and sent Lauren employees and their families on mission trips.

Robert C. Brenneman (1976–81) died on February 4, 2020. Robert pastored Agape Chapel in Porters Sideling, Pennsylvania, and served in other capacities as a chaplain, prison counselor, youth minister, and grass seed aficionado.

Mark R. Littleton (ThM, 1977) died on January 23, 2020. After serving as a youth pastor in Indianapolis and as a pastor in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Mark started writing full-time. Around a hundred of his books were published

by Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, and other publishers. His books included novels, children’s materials, and theology. He also authored several hundred articles for publishers, including Christianity Today, Reader’s Digest, and The Chicago Tribune. Mark was the co-director of the Heart of America Christian Writers Network and frequently spoke at writers’ conferences. He enjoyed helping writers, teaching Bible-based classes, and people.

Steven D. Oelschlaeger (ThM, 1980) passed away on March 4, 2020. Steve helped plant Grace Bible Church in Granbury, Texas, blessing many people with his outstanding preaching of the Word of God. After becoming a successful salesman in the automobile industry, he started his own company, Specialized Training Programs as a consultant for Ford Dealerships. Steve

also served many people with his ministry in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Gary J. Hinchman (ThM, 1982) died on February 23, 2020. Gary loved teaching God’s Word, singing and playing the guitar for God’s ministry.

Lemuel M. Morgan (MABS, 1982) passed away on February 28, 2020.

Lem served as a missionary with Cadence International, pastor of First Baptist Church Lakewood, Colorado, and professor at Western Bible College in Morrison, Colorado, and Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Missouri, before his health brought him to Georgia. He spent his last years as an active member of Community Baptist of Canton.

C. John Rawley (MABS, 1986) died on July 16, 2019. He served as a Bible teacher and elder in several Dallas churches and was on the board of Sojourner Ministries. He sang in the choir and played bass in an ensemble.

John held an unwavering faith in God and strived to serve others.

Thomas LeBoutillier (MABS, 1987) died on April 10, 2020. Tom began his flying career with Delta Air Lines in Houston, Texas, and rose through the ranks to Captain and Flight Instructor before retiring in 2002. In 1987, Thomas accepted an invitation to teach at Delta’s Flight Training Department in Atlanta. After retirement, Tom enjoyed spending quality time with his family as a full-time stay-at-home dad, volunteering at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and his son’s schools, and going on fishing trips with friends.

David E. Briggs (MABS, 1988) died on April 5, 2020. David served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before attending DTS. He served as an interim pastor, church chairman, and teacher at Grace Church in Lucas, Texas, and worked at various companies, including Texas Instruments and Raytheon. He was a talented musician, kind and generous man, and a devoted husband, father, son, brother, and friend.

Jeff L. Moody (MACE, 1990) died on April 22, 2019. Jeff pursued a life of making the gospel of Christ known through over thirty years of ministry in the church, most recently serving as the minister of education at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Farmington, New

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ALUMNI CONNECTION Mexico. Known for his gentle spirit, Jeff impacted the lives of all those around him by quietly and consistently living out the love of Christ in everything he did.

James F. Outen (1993) passed away on March 7, 2020.

Alfred L. Evans (MACE, 1994) died on January 27, 2020. Len served as a youth pastor in several northeast churches and as a youth director and part-time local pastor with the Alabama-West Florida Conference.

He published a youth study guide on 1 Timothy before serving with Youth Specialties and the National Network of Youth Ministries, mentoring and connecting youth leaders while offering seminars on the principles of youth leadership. Before his passing, he was a chaplain with Encompass Rehab in Montgomery, Alabama. Len was a great connector, finding much satisfaction in bringing people together in community.

Avis F. Blake-Thomas (MACE, 2013) passed away on April 12, 2020. Avis faithfully served as a co-founder and leader of Opened Bible Academy in Houston, Texas, giving people the opportunity to thoroughly study God’s Word without the financial burden.

Updates: 1950s Clarice Salstrom, the wife of first DTS Alumni director Bob Salstrom (ThM, 1957), passed away on April 10, 2020. Bob’s ministry took them from Hinckley to Waseca, Minnesota, then to Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Dallas, Texas. Clarice and Bob were a fantastic team, especially in the area of hospitality. Over the years, hundreds of people enjoyed great meals and spiritual conversations around their table. When Bob passed away, God brought Clarice back to Cambridge, where she lived for thirteen years. She enjoyed those years with her family, friends, and church activities.

1960s Dorothy Braun, the wife of Ralph Braun (ThM, 1960), died on February 5, 2020. For sixty-two years, Dorothy and Ralph served many people across the United States. Gifted in hospitality, she was the epitome of selflessness and sacrificial love. Dorothy was a genuinely godly wealth of wisdom

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continued

and a woman who knew and loved the Word of God and its Author.

and communicate the meaning of the text.

In retirement, Rick Yohn (ThM, 1964) remains active in ministry by writing curriculum material for Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California. He is teaching online for Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado, and writing Bible studies for Behold Israel.

This non-profit organization provides reliable and accurate reporting on developments in Israel and the region.

Muriel Hahn, the wife of Charlie Hahn (STM, 1974), died on January 16, 2020. Muriel was intelligent, spunky, gentle, loving, and forgiving. She was a great woman of faith and enjoyed talking to others. Muriel’s greatest satisfaction was derived from family and teaching women’s Bible studies at her church.

Eunice Schmidt, wife and life partner of Bill Schmidt (ThM, 1965) of fifty-six years passed away in March 2019. Bill is adjusting to living alone at Calvary Homes, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

1970s Sam Adamson (STM, 1970) recently retired as a veteran affairs chaplain.

Wayne Brindle (ThM, 1973; ThD, 1988) retired after thirty-five years of teaching as Professor of Biblical Studies at Liberty University. He continues to lead a disciple community at Heritage Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia and is now a full-time author. His most recent work can be discovered on Amazon.com and at Scholars Crossing on Bepress.com. Wayne and his wife, Nancy, have two sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and eight grandchildren.

Teaching to Transform (TTT) exists to bring glory to God by proclaiming the transforming truths of the Bible through the teaching ministry of Harlan Betz (ThM, 1974). TTT works alongside Christian World Outreach in Pignon, Haiti, where Harlan serves as a Bible teacher and mentor, and STEP Seminary in Port-au-Prince, where he serves as a professor of Bible.

Buist M. Fanning (ThM, 1974) recently published Revelation (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Zondervan). Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the commentary features today’s top New Testament scholars and brings together commentary features rarely gathered together in one volume. With careful analysis and interpretation of the Greek text, the authors trace the flow of argument in each New Testament book, giving readers the tools they need to properly understand

Doug (ThM, 1975) and Kathy Filkins serve as volunteers in various capacities at the Northfield, IL campus of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church, including involvement in a new church plant. Doug also started research on how the heart transformation promised in the New Covenant applies to Christians today.

He would love to hear from other alumni who have studied and written on this topic.

God has blessed Larry (ThM, 1977) and Donna Dyer with forty-five years of marriage and ten grandchildren who are such a source of joy. In retirement, Larry directs truthforaction.com, which advocates for a Christian worldview. The second edition of Baptism: the Believer’s First Obedience (Kregel Press) released this year.

Mac Starring (ThM, 1977) retired as pastor of Faith Bible Church after over thirty-two years of ministry in the Gospel-barren North Country of New Hamshire. He now vice-chairman of the NH Alliance that networks prayer, worship, outreach, and pastors throughout NH. He is also one of 120 association directors for Vision New England. They have seen the Lord change the cold spiritual climate there into a definite warming trend. Mac hopes to continue teaching Word of Life in Quebec (in French).

1980s After planting and pastoring the Springs Church in Springfield, Missouri, for the last twenty-five years, Jerry Carlin (ThM, 1980) is now the regional pastoral and church health coach for the Evangelical Free Church of America.

After forty-four years of pastoring at Torre Fuerte Bible Church in San Andriz Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, David Perez Cisneros (STM, 1980; DMin, 2009) retired, but he still gives lectures and teaches every Sunday.

David continues to teach courses at the University Madero of the Methodist Church.

John Eidsmoe (MABS, 1980) and his wife, Marlene, will celebrate their golden anniversary this year. Besides his work defending religious liberty with the Foundation for Moral Law and training constitutional lawyers through a Christian law school, John also serves as a chaplain (colonel) with the Mississippi State Guard and teaches Christian Apologetics by distance learning with the Institute of Lutheran Theology and Chafer Theological Seminary. He travels to South Korea each year to teach at the Handong International Law School.

John has written Christianity & the Constitution (Baker) and Historical & Theological Foundations of Law (Nordskog).

As the director of leadership development for the Central Pacific District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Mike Mitchum (ThM, 1980) develops new leaders in Northern California, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii for CMA churches. He enjoys this transition from pastoral ministry after thirty-six years. His wife, Robin, retired after twenty years of teaching elementary school.

Jerry Pattillo (ThM, 1978) retired from Northwest Bible Church in Dallas, Texas, and is now a full-time missionary training pastors in Asia.

After serving with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission in Ukraine for twenty years, Daryl Porter (ThM, 1978) will be retiring from full-time cross-cultural ministry.

Pictured above, Steven Chin (MABS, 1981; ThM, 1990) retired as senior pastor of the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church after forty-two years. He has previously served at BCEC as the assistant to the pastor and associate pastor before becoming the

senior pastor in 2000. The BCEC serves over 1,200 worshippers in seven services, three languages, and multiple locations. He will continue as pastor emeritus and serves on the council of The Gospel Coalition.

For Gary (ThM, 1981) and Peggy Starbuck, June 2021 will mark forty years at Open Door Bible Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Their three children are married and loving God. Gary and Peggy enjoy spending time with their nine grandchildren. Gary also serves on the board of Pioneers International (US).

Produced by Ben Jones (ThM, 1982), Peace River is a faith-based motion picture of a young, modern champion rodeo cowboy and special ops soldier who is crushed by war and personal loss. He must draw on the cowboy way and on his profound faith in Christ to recover the will to live and the love of his life. Learn more at peacerivermovie.com.

After ten years in a combined role as pastor of worship and Missionary in residence at First Evangelical Church in Memphis, Tennessee, Ron Man (ThM, 1982; DMin, 2007) has retired from serving as pastor of worship but continues in the other role, teaching globally on the biblical foundations of worship (worr.org).

After over thirty-six years of pastoring Dartmouth Bible Church in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Neil Damgaard (ThM, 1983; DMin, 2008) is now their pastor emeritus. He and Joel Knudsen (ThM, 1980) and a few others established a small and well-reputed beachhead for DTS in southern New England. Neil and Joel have also shared a pastors group for twenty-nine years. You can reach out to Neil through email or Facebook and share any prayer requests.

I Found the Truth (ifoundthetruth.com), launched by Tom Doyle (ThM, 1983), gives every Muslim a safe space to hear the gospel from other Muslim believers who have risked it all to find the truth.

In his role as a pastor with Paraclete Mission Group, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, John Ford (ThM, 1983) comes alongside other ministry leaders to provide encouragement, equipping, and biblical counseling to them and their spouses.

James (STM, 1983) and Lydia Munn recently celebrated the birth of their third grandson, Luke.

In his role as a consultant for global engagement with Mission Nexus, Eldon Porter (ThM, 1983) facilitates and coaches the collaboration of ministry chief collaboration officers and various parts of the Global Church. He also provides services to those leading global networks.

Moody Publishers recently released The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, a compendium of studies and expositions on messianic prophecy. Michael Rydelnik (ThM, 1983) contributed nine articles and was co-editor of the work along with Edwin Blum (ThM, 1961; ThD, 1968).

Douglas Cline (MABS, 1984) will finish course work for a DMin at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, this year.

Gary Gromacki (ThM, 1984; DMin, 1997) is the director of the PhD in Bible and Theology at Calvary University in Kansas City, Missouri.

John Johnson (PhD, 1984) published Missing Voices: Learning to Lead Beyond Our Horizons (Langham Press). He also moved from associate to full professor of pastoral theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.

Jeff Kinley (ThM, 1986) recently released, Interview with the Antichrist (Thomas Nelson).

Brian (MABS, 1986) and Shirley Migliazza have served with Wycliffe since 1987. They were based in Thailand for fifteen years, working in various roles while advancing Bible translation in the region, including assisting a translation team in the northeast. They also provided training to others in translating, language, and development work. Now working from Orlando, Florida, they assist with the global training and development of Bible translation consultants.

Additionally, Brian coordinates the development of translating resources and travels internationally, providing academic and administrative guidance for teams so that local language communities may have God’s Word in their tongue.

After seeing God establish churches in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Ponferrada, Spain, Steve Crawford (ThM, 1987) is now focusing on another new work in Astorga, Spain.

As a chaplain for Encompass Hospice in Austin, Texas, Bruce Lininger (MABS, 1987) loves seeing the lost people of Austin come to know the Lord, one relationship at a time.

As the executive director for the All People Initiative of the Evangelical Free Church of America, which serves ethnic, immigrant, and justice programs, Alex Mandes (ThM, 1987; DMin, 2007) helps make disciples like Jesus, reaching all people and planting churches like Paul among all people. Recently asked, Alex now sits on the national and international boards of Navigators. They helped him grow and become a reproducing disciple from the beginning of his walk with Christ.

Dr. Roger and Shirley (MABS, 1988) Brown recently moved back to the US after serving for twenty-eight years in Kenya, Africa. They were involved in the founding and ongoing operation of the Tumaini Counseling Centers (tumainicounselling.net) in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda. The counseling ministry provides professional psychiatric, psychological, and counseling support for missionaries working across much of Africa. The Browns will continue serving under AIM (Africa Inland Mission) in recruitment for the counseling center, short-term trips to Africa, and consultation.

Chris Regas (ThM, 1989) celebrates thirty years of service as the associate pastor at LifeBridge Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri, where Chris received Jesus as his Savior and Lord as a teenager.

Light TV – God’s Channel of Blessings, Philippines’ first and one-of-a-kind motivational and inspirational Christian TV station, featured Vince Burke (MABS, 1991) in an episode of their Road Trip series.

Michael Karpf (ThM, 1993; DMin, 2019) has lived in Bangkok for ten years, where there is much biblical illiteracy. He is grateful for opportunities to preach in several churches. Michael also celebrates being cancer-free since his recent renal cell carcinoma surgery.

Terry Brown (ThM, 1995) published City of Refuge (Xlibris, US). This historical fiction novel centers around the foundations of society shaken as it experiences a significant paradigm shift from a constitutional republic to an absolute monarchy governed by the ancient principle of lex talionis or “an eye for an eye justice.” One man wrestles with a lack of empathy in regards to his binary construct of justice and mercy; he must learn to balance these opposites if he wants to succeed in the City of Refuge.

Author of MultiAsian.Church: A Future for Asian Americans in a Multiethnic World, DJ Chuang (ThM, 1995) is a current podcaster at ErasingShame. com and Future.Bible. He also blogs at djchuang.com.

Kevin Corsini (ThM, 1999) accepted the role of president at San Diego Christian College in San Diego, California. He and his wife are excited to take on this new challenge and champion Christ through the context of Christian higher education. They are also expecting a baby this year.

Please pray for their family as they move from Virginia to California, take on this new role, and prepare for a new addition to their family.

2000s

1990s Twenty-three years ago Guy (ThM, 1990) and Lorrie Kneebone (MABS, 1983) started Mountain View Community Church in Frederick, Maryland. The church is going strong, with attendance averaging 1,200 a week. They are about to expand to a new campus in Frederick this year and have many people excited to be a part of this new work.

As a missionary with Cru in the City of Plano, Texas, Andrea Johnson (MABS, 2000; MACM, 2001) sows seeds of the gospel in several neighborhoods locally and mobilizes and equips believers to meaningfully engage those around them who do not yet know Christ. Andrea and James enjoy life with their daughter and all her pets, as well as having family close at hand.

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ALUMNI CONNECTION Shawn Patton (MABS, 2000) has mostly stayed in secular employment but is very active in lay ministry with seasons of full-time vocational ministry Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, asked Don Fanning (DMCE, 2001) to help create an accredited Spanish Masters of Ministry program for Latinos throughout Latin America.

The program will launch in fall 2020.

Kevin Gabriel (MABS, 2001) was appointed Chief Financial Officer of City Union Mission, a faith-based ministry that is the largest shelter in Kansas City, serving the homeless and poor.

Sandi Glahn (ThM, 2001) released the fourth edition of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage (Kregel) co-written with William Cutrer (MABS, 1993).

Pictured above, after serving with Crossworld in theological education in Senegal for ten years, the Lord called Daniel (ThM, 2002) and Angie Thornton to Montreal, Canada. With a population of less than one percent evangelical, Quebec is the most un-evangelized block in the western hemisphere. The Thorntons will continue to minister with Crossworld in leadership training and Bible exposition.

Award-winning, international author, speaker, and evangelist Mandy Seymour (ThM, 2003) hosts Life and Love, a podcast specializing in cultivating deeper relationships with God, self, and others in Christ.

Sung Jin Park (ThM, 2004) published The Fundamentals of Hebrew Accents: Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax (Cambridge University Press).

This book serves as a textbook for intermediate Hebrew students and above, providing innovative methods for diagramming biblical texts. The volume explores the two primary rules (hierarchy and dichotomy) of disjunctive accents.

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As Chris (MABS, 2004) and Joy Petty finish up in Bolivia with SIM, they are working to establish connections between their team and various contacts so that short-term ministry trips to the jungle can continue even after they leave. They are coordinating pastor-training workshops, which will continue for at least the next three years. The Pettys remain committed to the people among whom they have worked, and they will not be forgotten.

Mark (MACE, 2005) and Laurie Munden co-founded Four Streams Ministries (known now as 99Behind in Plano, Texas) after serving for thirteen years with Cru. In those years of working with teens and leading teams, mission trips, retreats, and conferences, they became burdened by the need to reach men and women of all ages. Since 2004 the ministry has offered men and their families a way to connect with God. Mark has a passion for serving as a spiritual father to the lost, a chaplain to those in law enforcement, and a deputy serving his community.

John Dyer (MABS, 2006; ThM, 2008) and Zach Lambert (ThM, 2013) contributed chapters to a free eBook, The Distanced Church: Reflections on Doing Church Online.

continued

church movement that seeks to plant a church body in every YMCA around the world.

As a missionary in Italy amidst the Coronavirus, Dan Showalter (ThM, 2010) sees how the Lord is meeting physical and spiritual needs in the hardest-hit areas of Cremona through men and women who love Jesus. Dan’s friend and fellow worker, Michael Schaafsma, serves as the field hospital chaplain. They both hold Italian and English services using oneway streaming and fully-interactive services (using Zoom). These services include worship led by three different families, communion, and open prayer time before a message from the Word.

Jace Cloud (ThM, 2011) earned his doctor of Intercultural Studies from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. His dissertation is entitled “Doxological Missiology: Theory, Motivation, and Practice.”

Kevin Gandy (MACM, 2012; ThM, 2014) recently completed his PhD in Leadership with a concentration in Ministry at Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas.

Kevin McGill (ThM, 2006) is the new senior pastor of Harvest Community Church, Irvine, California.

Celebrating twelve years of service at Theologisches Seminar Rheinland in Germany, Scott Way (ThM, 2006) has recently taken on the duties of dean of students and serves as the campus pastor.

Ravin Caldera (MABS, 2009) will serve as the third academic dean of Colombo Theological Seminary in Sri Lanka.

2010s.

Joey Cochran’s (ThM, 2010) first academic article, “Jonathan Edwards’ Harmonic Interpretation of Hebrews 12:22–24,” was accepted in the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale’s publication, Jonathan Edwards Studies, and will appear in its summer issue .

Mike Newman (ThM, 2010) is the lead pastor of The Gathering, a church inside the YMCA of Maineville, Ohio.

Mike and his family are part of a

Integrated Psychotherapeutic Services in Dallas, Texas.

Church at the Mill in Moore, South Carolina, where Ken Fisher (MACL, 2015) serves as executive pastor, has been blessed with incredible growth.

Since 2016, church attendance doubled from 1,500 to over 3,000.

Rated as one of the hundred fastestgrowing mega-churches in the U. S.

by Outlook Magazine, The Mill recently moved into a new 2,200 seat state of the art worship center where they hold two services each Sunday.

Linden Bowman (ThM, 2016) now works on staff with Sight and Sound Ministries, a Christian theater company that produces Bible stories live on stage. They have theatres in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Branson, Missouri.

Mei Yatco (MABC, 2018) is a professional counselor with the Family Care Ministry of Dallas Chinese Bible Church in Dallas, Texas.

As a new Bible translation consultant certified by ALEM, the Brazilian Wycliffe organization, Tim Bachmann (MABL, 2019) trains translators, supervises translation projects, and checks them for accuracy before publication.

Elijah (ThM, 2019) and Meredith Brumwell are missionaries with Teach the Story, led by Raimie Bateman (ThM, 2016). Elijah will train church leaders abroad who have little to no access to training and resources, and Meredith will serve as a photojournalist and content developer.

Pictured above, Steve Smith (ThM, 2012) recently returned to his home state of Maine and founded Renaissance Timber, LLC, a hand-hewn timber business where he converts logs into square beams using only an ax (renaissancetimberllc.com).

He is married to Teresa (MACM, MABS, 2011), and they have two boys: Oliver (6) and Josiah (4).

Suresh Bolem (MABC, 2014) pastors True Light Assembly, an international church in Frisco, Texas. They are reaching the South Asian community, beginning with the Telugu Indian community. Suresh and Swarna live in Little Elm, Texas, and have two children, Bhuvan and Nitin. Suresh is also a therapist with

Rick Jory (DEdMin, 2019) founded Friends of Vietnam Ministries (friendsofvietnam.org). He additionally authored A Forty-Day Study of Hebrews: The Superiority of Christ and A Forty-Day Study on Sin, Salvation, and Sanctification: Our Journey in Christ (LifeRich Publishing).

Kevin Kusunoki (ThM, 2019) is the associate equipping pastor of Island Evangelical Community Church in Hong Kong. Emily (MABC, 2019) volunteers with Sons & Daughters, an organization whose aim is to help those caught in sexual exploitation reclaim a life of love, family, and freedom.

New Ministries Brad Henderson (STM, 1989; DMin, 2009), senior pastor, Trinity Bible Church, Richardson, Texas Jason Bakker (ThM, 2006), senior pastor, Abingdon Bible Church, Abingdon, Virginia

Michael Welch (ThM, 2020), pastor, Rushford Baptist Church, Rushford, New York Alex Wolfe (ThM, 2020), pastor of young adults, Topeka Bible Church, Topeka, Kansas

Legacy Graduates

Michael Luciano (ThM, 2007), senior pastor, Gateway Church, Staten Island, New York

Terrence Spinelli (ThM, 1988)

Diana Izumi (MACE, 2000) and Rhonda Kamakawiwoole (DEdMin, 2020)

Mark Slone (ThM, 2009), missionary, WorldVenture, Uganda Philip Miller (ThM, 2010), senior pastor, The Moody Church, Chicago, IL Carl Matice (ThM, 2011), executive director, Rhodes Grove Camp & Conference Center, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

James Raikes (ThM, 1973) and Kristen Dano (MBTS, 2020)

Seth Stevens (ThM, 2011), pastor, Valley Bible Church, Clovis, California John Park (ThM, 1990)

Ben Lowery (ThM, 2015; DMin, 2019), next steps and teaching pastor, LowCountry Community Church, Bluffton, South Carolina

Edward Shyu (DMin, 2010; DEdMin, 2017) and Stephanie (MABC, 2020)

Kyle DiRoberts (PhD, 2017), associate professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Arizona Christian University, Glendale, Arizona Craig Rush (ThM, 2017), senior pastor, Tabernacle Church of Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia

Verneilia Wanza (ThM, 2020) Charissa Dasalla (ThM, 2020)

Josh Aguas (ThM, 2018), college pastor, Dallas Chinese Fellowship Church, Plano, Texas

Lida Lindley (MACE, 2012) and Kevin (MBTS, 2020)

David Shields (ThM, 2018), senior pastor, Tanglewood Bible Fellowship, Duncan, Oklahoma

Not Pictured:

Alex Garcia (ThM, 2019), pastor, Fredericksburg Bible Church, Fredericksburg, Texas Bob Riedle (ThM, 2019), pastor of congregational care, Grace Bible Church, Dallas, Texas

Brian Jackson (attended 1988–92) and Jonathan (MBTS, 2019) Charles P. Baylis (ThM, 1985; PhD, 1989) and Sam (ThM, 2020).

Beverly Lucas (MACE, 1998) and Steve (DEdMin, 2020)

Jerry Hullinger (ThM, 1989; PhD, 1993) and Michael (ThM, 2020)

Tracey Steffens (MABS, 2019), director of small groups and theatrical ministry, Emmanuel Barrie Church, Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

Matthew Czelusniak (ThM, 2020), pastor, Nichols Baptist Church, Nichols, New York Daniel Walbert (ThM, 2020), senior pastor, Greenhaven Neighborhood Church, Sacramento, California

Patrick So (STM, 1985) and Watchman (ThM, 2020)

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Congratulations 2020 Graduates!

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A LETTER FROM DR. CHARLES SWINDOLL

Two Powerful Words DR. CHARLES R. SWINDOLL, CHANCELLOR EMERITUS, DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

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everal times a year, Dr. Swindoll preaches in chapel, including Seminary Preview Day, to encourage prospective students. Here is an excerpt from one of his chapels.

You’ve known the words since you attended Sunday school.

You’ve listened to friends, parents, and professors remind you of them. You’ve heard the words both in a warning as well as in a statement of encouragement. And you may have paid attention to the words in a few testimonies about how those words came to the person’s rescue.

In one way or another, the words appear in Scripture hundreds of times. Eventually, you will use them at whatever capacity you’ll serve in ministry. On the mission field or at home, you’ll use these two words. Two powerful, singlesyllable words that you’ve heard forever… but you’ll discover as time passes how difficult they are to obey. Are you ready?

TRUST GOD. There is no way of knowing what your future will include.

You may lose your home and everything in a fire. You may lose your spouse or one of your children to an early disease detected but not healed. You may lose your dreams, your hopes, your health. And you may lose a marvelous relationship that you have cultivated over the years. All losses are painful, and you will be brought back over and over again to the very familiar words of Proverbs 3:5–6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

You memorized those words in vacation bible school or when you were growing up. And yet, you still struggle with trusting God because of several things.

You’re too self-sufficient. You’ve learned how to get yourself out of difficulties rather than acknowledging the problem may have very well been either directed or permitted by our sovereign God to teach you. By choosing not to trust Him, you short circuit the test of deepening your walk of faith by going your own way, as you get yourself out of your mess.

You’re too quick to call on others. As life unfolds, you’ll discover you have a lot of competent friends. After graduating from seminary you will meet other people, many of them much smarter, most of them more creative than you, and better connected. Some of them will become

really close friends. You’ll trust them rather than the Lord your God because they’re right there, and because they have so many connections. When you’re up against it, they’ll get you through it, and they will become your number-one, go-to crutch.

You feel distant from the God of heaven. Don’t feel too guilty about such struggles. Job, as godly as he was, admitted to the same struggle in the midst of all of the loss, Ultimately, he came around. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him." ( Job 13:15, nkjv). Though He takes me off this earth in the process, I leave trusting God. I will trust Him. You have cultivated a bad habit of worry. Many are much better at worrying than are at trusting. If you were to put together a worry list, would it outrun your prayer list?

You’re worried now about something most likely related to finishing your academic program, keeping up with your daily classwork, or maybe finances. Your worrying is prompting you to cultivate the habit of not trusting God. See how practical it is? I should warn you: if you think you’re going to outgrow the problem, take it from me, you won’t conquer it.

Instead, you’ll learn to fake it.

Many of us have known these two powerful words for as long as we can remember. Yet, how easy it is to disobey, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Wouldn’t it be a great project over this season, better still, throughout this year, to think through ways to truly trust God regardless? Hopefully, it’ll be a project that we can do together. We need to keep asking one another, What are you doing that keeps you from trusting God? Talk about a habit worth breaking! How much better to watch God break through in ways that we never expected.

What a great way to live!

“

If you were to put together a worry list, would it outrun your prayer list ?

VOICE.DT S .E DU /M AG A Z IN E DA L LA S TH E O LO G ICA L SE MI N ARY

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T hank you Dr. Bailey!

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// DT S MAG A Z INE WINT E R 20 21

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

Loyal Until the End FROM: DR. MARK L. BAILEY

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hen we think of the apostle Paul, we often elevate him to hero status, and we view him as an exceptional apostolic leader, and in many ways, a founding father founder of the early church. After all, as expressed in Ephesians 3, to him was revealed the mystery of the church and the stewardship of God’s grace for the Gentiles.

How often do we think of his proclamation of grace, his missionary exploits, and his epistles of challenge and encouragement of encouragement?

Yet we often forget the latter months of his life—sitting in a Roman prison, having been booed, hissed, and disrespected. But like us Paul was human. If we carefully read the fourth chapter of second Timothy, he felt rejected by most—deserted by those who had found fame to be exciting and prison to be lonely.

As Paul begins his second letter, he makes a statement reminding Timothy about what it means to stay loyal.

One of the things he says about remaining steadfast is to retain the standard of sound doctrine—sound words heard from him in the faith and the love, which are in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 1:13).

Paul uses terms for banking—“guarding an entrusted treasure”—terms reflecting safe-keeping and stewardship.

And he says, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Tim 1:14). It is through this introduction that Paul shows us how to remain faithful and pursue righteousness with the Holy Spirit guiding us, even in times of hardship and struggle.

With an metaphor of pattern, Paul reminds us to stay with the blueprint—the Word of God. He tells his readers to protect the truth, hold it fast because there’s loyalty to the Word of God in executing that trust. Guard it carefully and set the example, Paul exhorts. He recognizes that he has been entrusted with the stewardship of the gospel and the mysteries of God—as Paul called it elsewhere— and he wants to hold that faithfully and then pass that on.

There’s a need to remain loyal not only to the Word of God but to the workers of God. Here at DTS, we also have a legacy of great loyalty. I expressed it in my letter to the board and the public when I announced my plans

to step away from the presidency. I’m so grateful for the magnanimous support the faculty and the staff of DTS have given me during my time as president. The board has been incredible partners in ministry, and we have many friends of the seminary who have been a constant source of encouragement to me.

We are grateful for God’s hand on us all these years and for all that He has done and will do for us as we move forward to what He has for us in the future. I’m also excited to see the things He has in mind that we haven’t even thought of, the things that the Lord will provide that we never expected, and the opportunities He’ll give us that we didn’t earn.

It’s because of the calling and the ministry of the Word that our entrustment carries on. There has to be a common goal to continue to pursue God, a teamwork of support and loyalty, to accomplish the mission of the seminary.

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But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

—Deut. 4:29

VOICE.DT S .E DU /M AG A Z IN E DA L LA S TH E O LO G ICA L SE MI N ARY

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DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, Texas 75204

Non Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Dallas, TX Permit No. 1037

Thank you This Spring Dr. Mark Bailey set out to create the Alumni Scholarship Fund. It was Dr. Bailey’s final goal for his presidency was to create more opportunities for scholarships funded by DTS alumni, and throughout the semester many alumni stepped up to help students in their time of need.

Thank you, DTS alumni, for faithfully giving to the Alumni Scholarship Fund so that students can continue their theologically sound training through trying times!