The Gateway 2023 Volume 1

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF GATEWAY SEMINARY

2023 VOL. 1

To Think Missionally

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Photographs: Rachel Allen

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I choose the city...

Not simply to live in it, to see it, to hear it; But to touch it; yes, to embrace it, to hold it, To feel the wild glory of its pulsating soul,

To be at once chilled by its ill and covered with its confetti.

I choose the city because I choose God, Because I choose humanity, Because I choose the divine-human struggle-The struggle which will be won Not in the serene path through meadow and wood, among the bees and birds, and flowers, But in the city street Made by the hand of man Through the gift of God-Main Street: the final battle field, The scene of the ultimate struggle, Where man chooses right Because he is free to choose wrong.

Babylon, dirty and daring-Babylon, yes-Babylon today-Tomorrow...

The New Jerusalem!

Printed in Mystic on Main Street by Francis Dubose (1922-2009), former professor of missions and director of urban church studies at Gateway Seminary.

To be trapped with it in its pain and problems,

by Francis DuBose

To stand stilled and sobered at the nowhere of its dead-end streets,

I Choose the City

To move over its wide, hurried broadways,

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Photographs: Rachel Allen

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THEOLOGY

LEADERSHIP

VOICES

MINISTRY

Voices

Theology

Followers of Jesus, Ohana in Practice ��� 6

Faculty Publications............................58

B Y I K A I K A + S TA C E Y H I G A

I S A I A H ; D R . PA U L W E G N E R

Laundry of Love......................................... 8

F I V E P R I N C I P L E S ; D R . A L E X A N D E R S T E WA R T

B Y J O S H U A R AY

The Rule of Law and Roe v. Wade.........20

Edwards Symposium...........................62 HOSTED BY DR. CHRIS CHUN

BY DR. JEFF IORG

Study: Isaiah..........................................64

Terminally Missional............................... 22

W I T H D R . PA U L W E G N E R AND TYLER SANDERS

B Y D R . J .T. R E E D

Missional Living is Obedient Living......24

BY REBECCA LEE

Ministry Go Grant + Beyond Trips...................... 28 PA S T PRESENT FUTURE

Faculty Publications.............................. 46

Faculty Dialogues.................................58 W I H D R . D AV I D R AT H E L A N D DR. CHRIS CHUN

Leadership Lead On Podcast..................................70 DR. IORG WITH DR. FERGUSON

Graduation............................................72 Faculty Retirements............................... 76

B E I NG YOUN G ; DR. PAUL K E L LY I LLU STRATIN G W E L L ; DR. J I M W I L SO N A HISTORY OF EVANGELISM IN NORTH AMERICA

10Q10P2.................................................. 55 HOSTED BY TYLER SANDERS W I T H PA S T O R S T E V E R E Y N O L D S

The End TheGateway.press...............................81 Events.....................................................82 Giving Corner........................................83

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GATEWAY MAGAZINE Official Magazine of Gateway Seminary 3210 East Guasti Road Ontario, CA 91761 Website: www.gs.edu CONTACT THE E D I TO R Email: communications@gs.edu PRESIDENT JEFF P. IORG VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT SERVICES JEFFREY A. JONES EDITOR/DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS T YLER SANDERS CREATIVE DIRECTOR R AC H E L A L L E N ASSISTANT EDITORS S A R A H KAT H E R I N E J O H N S O N J O SH UA NAVA R R O CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEAD: T YLER SANDERS I KA I KA H IG A S TAC EY H IG A REBECCA LEE J O SH UA NAVA R R O J O SH UA R AY J. T. R E E D J O H N VA R G H E SE PHOTOGRAPHERS L E A D : R AC H E L A L L E N C O U RT N EY R O B E N O LT R IC K Y- T HOM A S SE R I KAWA DESIGNER R AC H E L A L L E N

COVER PHOTO Gateway students, Picasso Hou and Mary Chang, walk with professor Dr. Alicia Wong through Cisco Viejo during a Beyond Trip in Panama City, Panama. Photograph: Rachel Allen SUBSCRIPTION CHANGES For address changes or alumni updates, email alumni@gs.edu or call 888.442.8709.

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A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Biblical, Missional and Global are the three words that describe Gateway’s core values.

They are emblazoned on banners and brochures, and they appear on our website and social media accounts. When I came to the school as a student, thinking myself more clever than I was, I quickly got to questioning what these words meant.

The one I questioned the least was Missional. Though I didn’t have a great definition of the word, I felt like I had a grasp on the sense of the word. It seemed to convey immediacy, an incarnational quality, and a fidelity to the Great Commission. It seemed so close to the essence of Gateway - that at this seminary in the West Coast, your intellectual endeavors inevitably led to ministry opportunities. That a challenging concept from theology class would shape your upcoming sermon in a surprising way. That the nugget of wisdom earned in a Greek exegesis class was just what a lost person needed to hear when you bumped into them at a coffee shop. That a particular story you learned in church history was going to help you share the gospel with a person who grew up thinking the church was nothing more than the colonial religion of the people who harassed their grandparents.

For years, I accepted this vague, true-seeming sense of the word instead of an actual definition. This began to get under my skin. Incidentally, the title of a book I received for Christmas directed my frustration into a project - the theme of this magazine. The book was To Think Christianly by Charles E. Cotherman, which is about Francis Schaeffer’s l’Abri. I just changed one word - To Think Missionally - and that set the direction for my task. I could ask Gateway’s faculty, students and alumni to think about it for me; let them share their insights into what it means to be Missional.

The answers did not disappoint. The stories and essays I received did much to fill in the meaning of the word. They drew from the Bible, from scholarship, from ministry experiences, from the community of believers. Though I still do not have a solid definition of the word, I can tell I’m closer than ever before.

Tyler Sanders

Photographs: Ricky-Thomas Serikawa

PG 14-17 FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, OHANA IN PRACTICE 2023 Vol. 1

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To Think Missionally We have long emphasized practical ministry training at Gateway - our mission is shaping leaders who expand God’s kingdom around the world. We prepare “doers” at Gateway, people who will go into the world and get to the hard work of the gospel, who will work the frontlines of the mission field, who will preach the truth week-in and week-out in an increasingly secular culture.

That may seem odd - seminaries (Gateway included) are full of “thinkers.” However, we don’t see these two categories as mutually exclusive. A student may naturally lean more toward one category than the other, but our aim is to take the natural “doers” and train them to act out of a foundation of good, thoroughly biblical thought; to take the natural “thinkers” and provide them practical experiences and skills to help them reach people with the gospel.

In this issue of The Gateway, we are exploring the thought processes and hard-earned lessons of Gateway alumni, students and professors who demonstrate Gateway’s long missional heritage in both local and global contexts. We are going to dig into the intersection of “thinking” and “doing.”

Essentially, we are delving into what makes Gateway such a unique place to study. So join us - think about what your co-laborers have written and do your part following God!

DR. JEFF IORG, PRESIDENT

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Pensar Misionalmente Durante mucho tiempo hemos enfatizado la capacitación ministerial práctica en Gateway donde nuestra misión es formar líderes que expandan el Reino de Dios por todo el mundo. En Gateway preparamos a "hacedores", es decir, personas que irán al mundo y se dedicarán al trabajo arduo del evangelio, que trabajarán en las primeras líneas del campo misionero, y que predicarán la verdad semana tras semana en una cultura mayormente secular.

Eso puede parecer extraño: los seminarios (incluido Gateway) están llenos de "pensadores". Sin embargo, no vemos estas dos categorías como mutuamente excluyentes.

Un estudiante naturalmente puede inclinarse más hacia una categoría que la otra, pero nuestro objetivo es tomar a esos "hacedores" naturales y capacitarlos para que actúen sobre la base de un buen pensamiento completamente bíblico; tomar a los “pensadores” naturales y brindarles experiencias prácticas y habilidades para ayudarlos a alcanzar a las personas con el evangelio.

En esta edición de The Gateway, estamos explorando los procesos de pensamiento y las lecciones aprendidas con esfuerzo de los exalumnos, estudiantes y profesores de Gateway que demuestran la larga herencia misional de Gateway en contextos locales y globales. Vamos a profundizar en la intersección de "pensar ” y “hacer”. Básicamente, estamos profundizando en lo que hace que Gateway sea un lugar único para estudiar. ¡Así que únase a nosotros y lea sobre lo que están haciendo sus colaboradores, piénselo y luego haga su parte siguiendo a Dios!

선교적으로 생각하기 Gateway Seminary는 오랫동안 실질적인 사역 훈련을 강조해 왔습니다. 우리의 사명은 하나님의 왕국을 전세계로 확장하는 지도자를 양성하는 것입니다.

Gateway에서 우리는 "몸소 실천하며 행하는 사람들(Doers)"를 준비시키는 일을 합니다. 세상으로 나가 열심히 복음의 힘든 일을 할 사람들, 선교지의 최전선에서 일할 사람들, 점점 더 세속화되는 문화 속에서 매주마다 쉬지않고 진리를 전파할 사람들입니다.

Gateway를 포함해서 신학교들에 “사상가들 (Thinkers)“이 가득차 있다는 사실이 이상하게 보일 수 있습니다. 그러나 우리는 이 두 범주, 즉, 행동하는 사람과 생각하는 사람을 상호 배타적으로 보지 않습니다. 배움의 과정 속에 있는 학생은 자연스럽게 다른 범주보다 한 범주에 더 기울어져 있을 수 있지만, 우리의 목표는 타고난 " 행동하는 사람(Doer)"으로 하여금 선하고 철저하게 성경적인 사고의 토대에서 행동하도록 훈련시키는 것에 있습니다. 반면, 타고난 " 사상가(Thinker)"에게는 그들이 다른 사람들에게 복음을 전하는데 도움이 될 실제적인 경험과 기술을 훈련하는 것에 우리의 목표가 있습니다. 매거진의 이번 호에서는 Gateway의 오랜 선교적 유산을 지역 및 글로벌 맥락에서 보여주는 게이트웨이 동문들, 학생들 및 교수들의 사고 과정 (thought process)과 이들이 어렵게 얻었던 교훈들(hard-earned lessons)을 함께 탐구합니다. 이번 호에서 우리는 “생각”과 “행동” 의 교차점을 파고들 것입니다. 본질적으로, 우리는 Gateway Seminary가 공부하기에 독특하고 특별한 장소가 되는 이유들에 대해 탐구하고 있습니다. 그러니 우리와 함께 하시고, 당신의 믿음의 동역자들이 무엇을 하고 있는지 읽어보시고, 그것에 대해 생각해보신 후, 하나님을 따르는 당신의 역할을 감당하게 되기를 바랍니다.

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以宣教方式思考 长期以来，我们在金门神学 院强调实用的事工培训—— 我们的使命是塑造领袖，在 世界各地拓展神的国度。我 们在金门神学院培养的是“实 干者”，这些人将走向世界， 竭力传扬福音，他们工作在 宣教领域的第一线，在日益 世俗化的文化中周而复始地 宣扬真理。 这可能看起来很奇怪——神 学院（包括金门神学院）充 满了“思想家”。然而，我们 并不认为这两类互相排斥。 一个学生可能自然而然地更 倾向於其中一类,但我们的目 标是把天生的“实干者”培养 成以良好的、彻底的圣经思 想为基础的行动者；为天生 的“思想者”提供实用的经验 和技能，来帮助他们用福音 接触他人。 在这一期的《The Gateway 》 中，我们将探讨金门神学院 的校友、学生和教授们的思 想过程和辛苦得来的经验， 他们在当地和全球的事工中 都体现了金门神学院长期的 宣教传统。我们将挖掘“思 考”和“行动”的交集。本质 上，我们将深入探究为什么 金门神学院成为一个如此独 特的学习之处。所以，请 加入我们——读一读你的同 工们正在做的事工，思想一 下，并行动起来，去做你跟 随神的工作。

SPECIAL THANKS TO: V IC T O R IA L E E T O N Y R O D R IG U E Z L I L I T IA N

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to think missionally VOICES Stories from pastors, missionaries and educators sharing the unchanging Gospel in his or her ministry context.

MINISTRY Insights and strategies to accomplish the work of the kingdom from experienced ministry practitioners.

THEOLOGY Engage in hermeneutics, dogmatics, church history, and theology to deepen your understanding of the Triune God.

LEADERSHIP Biblical insights to shape you into a leader who expands God’s kingdom around the world.

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Stories from pastors, missionaries and educators sharing the unchanging Gospel in their ministry context.

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Voices

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Photographs: Rachel Allen

GOD CARES ABOUT WHAT HAWAIIANS HOLD DEAR

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FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, OHANA IN PRACTICE V O I C E S | B Y I K A I K A + S TA C E Y H I G A | M D I V 2 0 1 4 + M A E L 2 0 1 3

We are Hāmama Community Church, “Followers of Jesus, Ohana in Practice.” Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus and mentor believers towards maturity. Like other church plants, we joyfully serve our community and leverage our denominational resources. But what makes this mission unique is our strategy of perpetuating Hawaiian culture appropriately.

Photographs: Rachel Allen

The vision for Hāmama came about before we were ever here. Pastor Jason Hew, a Gateway alum that served in this area, shared a similar vision. We found out later that Lainee Pegelow, a Christian Challenge director in Arizona, prayed for God to do something in this place several years before we arrived. Now, she is a partner and brings college students to serve alongside Hāmama. In California, God was refining my (Ikaika) call and clarifying the vision with the help of Gateway faculty and fellow students.

Originally, I (Ikaika) intended to serve the Hawaiian community on Maui while Stacey went to seminary to prepare to return overseas as a full-time missionary. However, God had other plans. Through various means, we answered the call to plant a church in Kahalu’u, O’ahu.

We have a strong conviction to plant an indigenous church. Part of our ministry is incorporating local farming for the community. People ask, “Why did you choose to do farming?” Our answer is simple: we didn’t. Our target community values such work, and we believe it is the vision for the property we steward. As we cleared overgrown bushes and trees, we found a spring that is now used for wetland taro farming. Community members, both believers and non-believers, value aloha ‘aina – the care for their land. They volunteer their time and energy in weekly work days while farmers share their experience, their heavy equipment, and donate plants to bring the farm to life. They are a part of restoring a sense of place, a pu‘uhonua – a sanctuary.

What once used to be commonplace has now become treasured cultural practices. Many kupuna, or family elders, have passed away—taking family traditions with them. It became much easier to cater Hawaiian food, quicker to pur-

chase from a lei stand, and more comfortable to only dream of learning the Native Hawaiian language. Many broken ohana look to the good old days. God has equipped Hāmama with core church members who are authentic cultural practitioners. In addition to farming, we teach families to make poi using a board and stone, to make lei using things we grow on the farm, to set an imu to cook food, and to learn Hawaiian as a second language using the Hawaiian Bible translation. We are able to teach it all for free with no strings attached because we want our community to know God cares about what they hold dear.

Some have wondered why we started with youth. It was completely a direction from God. The most common understanding of ohana is extended family. It literally translates to that which is of the same oha, or taro stalk. In Hawaiian communities of the past, children or keiki were fortunate to be raised in strong communal systems. Elders, aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as parents – all contributed to the healthy upbringing of the next generation.

Today, almost no ohana is immune to integral family members being affected by drugs, prison, alcoholism or the need to move for economic opportunity. The result is brokenness.

God knows this and opened the door for us to work with an after-school program to become ohana to many hurting youth and parents. The church of Jesus is a multigenerational ohana filled with many members that are connected by the blood of Christ – the living stalk that will never be broken.

“Followers of Jesus, Ohana in practice” is not just a tagline or a gimmick. It is how Hāmama has been led to fulfill our mission of making disciples. The ohana, the extended family, is the backbone of the Hawaiian community. And right now, it is hurting. God desires to bring life and healing to the ohana. Hāmama Community Church is His story. Though we struggle in the midst of hard work and patient laboring, we know that God’s ways are perfect. He revealed a vision, He appointed the timing, He is bringing the right people and providing the resources to fulfill His mission in Hawai’i.

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Photographs: Ricky-Thomas Serikawa

LAUNDRY OF LOVE V O I C E S | B Y J O S H U A R AY | M D i v 2 0 1 7

In conversation with one of the church members, she shared about how she grew up in the church but walked away from a close relationship with the Lord. But based on this single interaction with this church community in the laundromat, she could sense that the Lord was corralling her back into the fold.

With the pandemic limiting the outreach opportunities available to our church, we were forced to ask ourselves, “How can we still reach out to the local community? How can we serve the community and know and be known by them when so many of the avenues that would normally be available to us are shut down or severely limited?” The answer became clear: people still needed the essentials. People still needed to eat, to have access to medical care and to wash their clothes.

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Enter Laundry Love.

Laundry Love is a national organization that exists to help provide low-income or no-income families and individuals pay for clean clothes and bedding. The organization was started after an interaction with “a houseless gentleman living in Ventura, CA.” In one particular conversation, a question was asked of him: “How can we come alongside your life in a meaningful way?” His response was honest and practical: “If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me like a human being.”

My church participates by volunteering to staff a particular evening and spend the time at the laundromat offering to pay for the laundry of everyone who comes through the doors that evening.

Sometimes, people turn down the offer of assistance. Other times, the interaction only goes as far as meeting the material needs of an individual by providing the free laundry service. But often it goes further and paves the way for us to witness and go deeper with people.

“Why are you doing this?” is a common question, which provides a perfect opportunity to share: “We are members of the church just down the street,” or “Jesus has loved us and that motivates us to love other people like this.”

Believers and non-believers alike have benefitted from our presence at the laundromat. Members of our church have prayed with believers

in the laundromat for many problems from choosing their college to divine provision for other pressing needs. Some have even asked to pray for their return back to the Lord after a period of running from him. Non-believers have said after being blessed by the generosity of the church, "Wow, this is what I have always heard a Christian would do. Yet, this is the first time it has happened to me." Some even have left with a copy of the Gospel of John to read for the first time.

Our own church members have had the opportunity to gain experience in serving the community, evangelizing, and growing in their own faith as a result.

“I was most surprised at how good it feels to give money away to others in the name of Jesus,” said one member after a few evenings at the laundromat.

“The first time I came, I was truly surprised at how much joy I received from putting those quarters in someone's washer or dryer. It seemed like such a major return for so small a cost. Many of the people who accepted the gift were truly appreciative, and on a few occasions, I think I saw some tears of appreciation.”

This church member continued, “If we ever stop this ministry, I may do it on my own. Again, for $20 or $40 dollars, you can impact one’s life, which in my opinion, is superior to almost anything else you could do with that same money.”

Photograph: Rachel Allen

A woman drives to the laundromat with a car full of clothes and a pocket full of coins, but she does not know if she has enough quarters to wash all her laundry. “Lord,” she prays, “please let there be enough quarters to fully wash and dry my clothes.”

What she finds when she arrives at the laundromat amazes her: two members of a church just down the street who are offering to pay for anyone’s laundry that night - no strings attached.

Immediately, she knows that this is the answer to the prayer she prayed on the way to the laundromat.

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THE RULE OF LAW AND ROE V. WADE VOICES | BY DR. JEFF IORG | PRESIDENT

DR. JEFF IORG President

In a blog in November 2021, I wrote, “Respect for the rule of law is a foundation stone for a healthy democracy. This respect begins with the cop on the corner and extends to decisions made by the Supreme Court. Without respect for the rule of law, anarchy and vigilantism will eventually rule the day.”

After some additional comments about pending decisions by the Supreme Court, I continued, “If the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade…the response from the abortion industry (from social workers to pharmaceutical producers to politicians and fundraisers) may be troubling. Some abortion supporters are warning of an intense, even violent response if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. This issue may provide a fresh test of our respect for the rule of law. For the most part, pro-life supporters have accepted Roe vs. Wade as the law of the land. We have worked to change it, while nonetheless respecting the decision. It will be interesting to see how the other side responds if this precedent is overturned.”

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, my concluding comments from the previous blog were prescient. I wrote, “My hope is respect for the rule of law will carry the day. My fear is it may not. While our legal system is far from perfect, it is a positive and essential component of a healthy democracy. We cannot tear it down and expect to build society up. We can reform it (and should from time to time) but we cannot function without it… Despite the polarizing divisiveness of the issues, respect for the law and our legal system is essential for a stable society to endure. We must agree to foster that, even when we disagree strongly about specific legal issues.”

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Abortion advocates are promising protests, legal maneuvers and legislative actions to preserve the availability of abortion in various states. My continued hope is they will do so within the rule of law, recognizing the new legal limits are now just as binding as those imposed 50 years ago. While Americans are free to work within our systems to create change, we cannot sanction or condone actions that destroy the systems which preserve our society. Most of us in the pro-life community have waited for a long time for the recent Court decision, working within the current structures to affect change. My genuine hope is the pro-choice movement leaders will call for the same restraint as this cultural conflict continues over the next few years.

While Americans are free to work within our systems to create change, we cannot sanction or condone actions that destroy the systems which preserve our society.

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Photographs: Rachel Allen

TERMINALLY MISSIONAL V O I C E S | B Y D R . J .T. R E E D | P R O F E S S O R O F L E A D E R S H I P F O R M AT I O N , 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 2 2

What it meant to live missionally changed each time I transitioned to a different stage in life.

As a pastor for many years, each church I led emphasized mission education and mission involvement through Cooperative Program giving, as well as strong support of the two annual missions offerings. When I became a seminary professor, living missionally meant no longer being one or two steps removed from front-line global mission fields. Now, I was training those who I had supported through our financial gifts and prayers. Being a teacher, mentor and encourager to missionaries, chaplains and church planters was how I lived missionally.

It is all about to change again.

A recent diagnosis of terminal cancer brings with it the decision to retire. What will missional living mean now?

I'm no longer able to educate or answer the call to missional living through preaching - I don't have the energy. I may have some teaching opportunities as a retired professor but that leaves a lot of free time for the most part. With a compromised immune system and the ongoing threat of COVID-19, my wife and I have become online churchgoers, removing the opportunity for gathered service at church. I can no longer offer my handyman skills to help my neighbors out as I have in the past.

No matter one's vocation or stage of life, living missionally has a universal and unchanging definition - living as kingdom citizens with our neighbors and actively sharing our faith story.

My first foray into my new mission field was a three-month stretch when I received twice-aweek visits to the infusion center. There were six RNs in the department serving the patients. I jotted down their names on my phone, and wrote a brief description of ways I could identify each with any tidbits of information I could gather; details such as vacation plans, length of employment, or things about their families. Before I went in for treatment, I would review my notes so I could greet each one personally as I walked in. As my nurse of the day hooked me up to the infusion, I would be intentional about carrying on conversation about her career. I made sure to thank them for their care and to affirm that their job had meaning and value.

"Living missionally has a universal and unchanging definition..."

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I noticed one RN was missing for a couple of weeks.

When she returned, I asked if she had been on vacation. She revealed that she had a sister back east dying of cancer, and it was her turn among her siblings to spend time with their sister. I asked her for her sister’s name so I could pray for the two of them specifically. She teared up, whispered her sister’s name, said “thank you,” and hurried off.

Each time I returned for a treatment I made sure

Photograph: Rachel Allen

I may be sick, but I am not out; at least not yet. I am retiring, but my calling from God to missional living has not retired. How will this be expressed without the platforms I have had in the past? It occurs to me that I am now wrestling with the same issue as most members of the congregations I served. How do I live missionally without a professional launching pad? What I have now is many interactions with healthcare workers. This is my new mission field.

During one visit, my wife and I observed the RNs taking a standup break in a small hallway and enjoying a bite to eat. My wife suggested we bring packaged cookies or pound cake for them to enjoy. So we did. I could hear them ask who brought the goodies and each would come by to express their gratitude. My response was, “It's just my way of saying thanks for your care and that you are appreciated.” I would continue to update my notes and use it as a prayer list the day before each treatment.

to ask about her sister and remind her I was still praying.

Would these efforts result in an opportunity to share the gospel, which is the goal of all missional efforts? Possibly.

But it certainly does bring added value to service and personal affirmation to people. Such are kingdom values too. Fortunately, I am no longer receiving infusions, but I still keep my list just in case I return.

Something that does continue is monthly blood draws. I have never had the same phlebotomist twice, so it is a bit different than going in for treatments. I have developed a routine to be missional. Each time I sit down, they ask my name to confirm they have the right person. In response I ask their name since their name tag is often flipped over.

prayer. Is there anything I can specifically pray for you about?” Sometimes I get a request, but more often I get a “No. I’m OK.” As I get up to leave, I respond, “That’s great.”

Again, will these efforts result in sharing the gospel?

Maybe not, but hopefully someone has been affirmed and a positive Christian image has been demonstrated, if even for a moment.

They usually smile and say, “No. Are you nervous?”

Years ago, I had a conversation with a church member, who at a young age had to give up practicing medicine because of a debilitating heart condition. She was struggling with her identity as a Christian witness without her practice. She relayed a story of helping an elderly man navigate the confusing menu at a new food place called Chipotle. She said, “God revealed to me that my new role is to be kind.” At the time I thought to myself, “Well, that’s not much for the kingdom.”

I respond, “No, not at all. I appreciate your skill and care and want you to know what you do is important.”

Maybe now I’m beginning to understand a bit more about what she meant.

Then I say, “Hi John, are you nervous taking blood from me?”

After the blood draw is complete, I say, “Thanks, John.

Later today, I’m going to spend some time in Christian JT Reed passed away on July 20, 2022. He taught for Gateway for 17 years and received the William O. Crews Presidential Leadership Award, the Seminary’s highest recognition for graduates, in 2004. Photograph: Dr. Reed embracing a doctor of ministry graduate during the spring 2022 commencement ceremony.”

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MISSIONAL LIVING IS OBEDIENT LIVING V O I C E S | B Y R E B E C C A L E E | M A I S 2 0 2 1 ; G AT E W AY S TA F F

South Asia is a beautiful, vibrant region that stretches from the (literal) sky-scraping Himalayas to the white-sand beaches of the Maldives. Spanning seven countries, South Asia is home to 1.8 billion people living in major urban areas and in rural villages. It is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, and nearly one-third of the world’s Muslims live there1. It is one of the least reached places in the world — a densely concentrated region of lostness.

Idol worship is prevalent and temples can be found all across South Asia. The depths of poverty, addiction, abuse and death can be jarring. Yet amongst the 1.7 billion unreached people, the gospel continues to be a beacon of light in the darkness. Though circumstances are often harsh, the good news of Jesus offers abundant life; the peace of Christ is the hope for many.

Photographs: Rachel Allen and Rebecca Lee

As an intercultural studies student I had the opportunity to serve in South Asia several times between 2019 and 2021. I ministered alongside Gateway alumni who are full-time missionaries with the International Mission Board (IMB).

These opportunities were formative: they clarified and confirmed my calling to missions and developed my definition of missional living.

The South Asian church was a steadfast example of what it means to be missional. The life and testimony of South Asian believers I encountered taught me a missional life is an obedient life. Many believers I met could not read or write, forwent opportunities for work to instead go make disciples, and often suffered persecution for following Jesus. Despite the challenges they faced, their vision was clear — it was worthwhile to live in obedience to Jesus Christ. Only Christ redeems sinners and restores life from death; obedience to God was sharing the truth of his death and resurrection with those who had not yet heard it.

It was a great privilege to work alongside South Asian brothers and sisters. We taught that every believer is called to witness to the lost.

Through an audio gospel presentation tool called Ek Rasta, believers were trained to utilize the Bible as an evangelism guide. In a culture where many are illiterate, Ek Rasta is used in a vital form of evangelism to non-believers and discipleship of believers because it allows listeners to hear recorded Bible stories in their language. Ek Rasta includes 35 Bible stories, from creation to Christ to the new creation seen in Revelation. It is a creative solution that does not demand a doctorate in theology or a gift in public speaking. It does, however, require obedience to do the work of evangelism.

Evangelism is not a task limited to pastors or church planters — evangelism is for every believer and Ek Rasta empowers South Asian believers to share their faith in obedience to Christ’s command. They labor for the Kingdom by using this tool to share the gospel with the lost, disciple believers to abide in Christ and practice their faith, plant healthy churches, and develop leaders and missionaries who will minister in new places.

Our South Asian brothers and sisters taught me that missional living begins with faith and obedience. The call to follow Jesus gives every believer the privilege of participating in the Great Commission. May we each pursue it with small acts of radical obedience so that we may join him in reaching every tribe, tongue and people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 https://www.imb.org/south-asia/

"The peace of Christ is the hope for many."

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Insights and strategies to accomplish the work of the kingdom from experienced ministry practitioners.

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Ministry

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Photograph: Rachel Allen

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BEYOND C E L E B R AT I N G T H E PA S T, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF M I S S I O N S AT G AT E W AY For decades, Gateway students have served alongside missionary-alums and IMB workers on Beyond Trips. Now they will be able to do it virtually for free.

The Go Grant represents the future of missions training at Gateway Seminary. Undergirded by a $2 million gift, the Go Grant will allow every eligible student to go on a fully-funded mission trip.

Whether students are training to pastor a rural church or to plant in an urban area; to be an IMB missionary or to lead a non-profit, every ministry can be enriched by embracing God’s global mission.

Missions has long been the foundation of Gateway Seminary. With the Go Grant, hands-on missions will be an integral element of the Gateway experience for generations of future students.

Photographs by Rachel Allen Produced by Rachel Allen, Courtney Robenolt and Tyler Sanders 2023 Vol. 1

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PAST My first semester as a student, I wanted to take a mission team to East Asia, but there wasn’t a clear way to do so through the school.

I thought to myself, “Okay, how am I going to do that?” A professor advised me to do an independent study. He told me, “I'll work together with you, you put together all the materials, you recruit your team, you train them and you take them, and that will be your independent study,” I got guidance, direction and feedback as I was putting things together. It was the first time I'd ever mobilized my own short-term team, and I realized not a lot of places would encourage me in that way. That they would recognize my vision and walk alongside me to make it happen.

I was so scared. I thought, “What if I fail? What if all these people are depending on me and I completely mess this up?” And honestly, I was worried about paying for the trip because I had no money in seminary. Every summer, when I went overseas, I would pack up all my belongings, put them in the trunk of my car so I didn't have to pay rent!

That is one example of what my time as a Gateway student was like. People wanted to be part of what God was doing in my life and I think that is exactly who we need to continue to be as a seminary. I think it is something that is going to create kingdom impact for generations to come.

- Above is an excerpt from an interview with Dr. Lisa Hoff the year she passed away. Gateway Seminary is proud to have enjoyed her inspiring presence as a student, a missionary-in-residence, and as a professor. During her time at Gateway, she inspired students to take seriously the call to share the gospel and promoted academic excellence as a means to effective ministry. Those values continue to be expressed through the missions scholarships listed on the next page.

Edited for clarity and brevity.

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Photos from archives of past student mission trips.

I would pray and ask God to give me some money. It always came in at the last minute and I had to save thousands of dollars to be overseas for a few months. I remember I went to my mailbox and there was an anonymous letter—I think it was probably from a faculty member—that quoted Joshua 1: “Do not be afraid. Be courageous and go into the land,” and contained $500 in cash.

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PRESENT GO GRANT Established by a gift of $2 million, the Go Grant is an endowed fund designated to send every eligible student on a short-term mission trip.

All master’s and diploma students who have completed more than 20 credit hours at Gateway are able to go on a Beyond Trip at virtually no cost. The Go Grant covers travel, lodging, food and tuition costs for students.

In addition to the Go Grant, the Seminary maintains a number of scholarships and funds to support student missionaries.

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East Asia and Pacific Rim Endowed Scholarship This scholarship provides financial assistance to students from East Asia and the Pacific Rim, as well as students committed to serving as missionaries in East Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Gateway Seminary Missions Scholarship In honor of Dr. Lisa Hoff, more than 200 donors raised $73,708 for students committed to international and domestic missionary service with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Partnership: APAC Affinity, CSBC and Gateway Seminary

Karen Denise Watson Endowment Fund

The International Mission Board and the California Southern Baptist Convention committed up to $100,000 over the next five years to send students on short-term mission trips to the Asia-Pacific Rim region.

This scholarship assists students pursuing a fulltime appointment as a missionary. It also assists other Seminary programs focused on training individuals to serve as international missionaries.

Additional Missions Funds Larry & Jean Elliot Funded Scholarship Billy Earl Cope Scholarship Jane H. Dee Endowed Memorial Scholarship Korean Global Missions Scholarship Doris Prince Missions Scholarship for Women Naomi K. Graves & Dorothy Graves Boyd World Missions Scholarship Homer & Mary Jackson Mission Trip Fund Shepherd’s Staff Missions Scholarship Theresa Thompson Endowed Scholarship for Women 2023 Vol. 1

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Photographs in this section were taken during the Beyond Trip to Panama in March 2023. Included are photos of students experiencing local ministries, learning about Panamanian culture and sharing the gospel at schools, hospitals, English clubs and local businesses.

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PANAMA During spring 2023, Gateway students traveled to Panama on a Beyond Trip. This particular team was unique: it included international students from China, Japan and Korea as well as American students of South Asian and Anglo descent. The team leads were Chinese, Latina and Anglo. This global cohort of Gateway students, alums and faculty joined IMB missionaries on the field to learn, to serve and most importantly to share the gospel.

The team spent a little more than a week in Panama City and Colón. They partnered with local missionaries, through Americas Connect (an IMB ministry), who guided

the team through a variety of ministry opportunities in urban contexts. They shared the gospel with people in schools, hospitals and English clubs. The team learned about the culture by visiting the Panama Canal and Casco Viejo (seen on the cover and on page 37), one of the oldest districts of Panama City.

For several students, the Panama Beyond Trip was their first international missions experience. Mission trips are often formative for participants. At Gateway’s annual missions conference in spring 2023, IMB President Paul Chitwood shared a study that found the two factors that most influenced a person’s commitment to the Great Commission were participation in a mission trip and a personal relationship

with a missionary. He said these factors led to fourfold increases in a person’s likelihood to pursue career missions, their lifetime giving to missions and their commitment to pray for the nations.

For that reason, getting seminary students on the mission field is vital to Southern Baptist missions efforts. Short-term mission trips are an important element in raising the next generation of missionaries.

A collection of student reflections and photos from the trip appear in the following pages. Pray for those who heard the gospel and for future Gateway students who will commit their spring break to an international mission trip.

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THE MISSIONAL OBLIGATION M I N I S T R Y | B Y J O H N VA R G H E S E | M T S 2 0 2 3

The mission of Gateway Seminary is to shape leaders who expand God's kingdom around the world. The student team, along with Dr. Eddie Pate, Dr. Alicia Wong, and professor Carola Fernanda, went on a mission trip to Panama. The local IMB missionary team has been serving there for 15+ years and did an amazing job facilitating our time. During our first day of orientation we learned much about the culture, history, community and people.

We learned Panamanians are highly relational and have open doors for the gospel. Although many have heard about Jesus, their understanding of Him was not fully formed; many don’t understand him as God the Savior, partially due to the influence of Catholicism.

We spent time at a hospital, a church plant, a school, and a university participating in metro ministry, English clubs, Bible studies and ministering among the prostitutes and homeless in the city. I had several opportunities to share the gospel in all these places and had the glorious joy of witnessing many making a decision to follow Jesus!

I met Manuel on the street; though he did not have a home, he was filled with joy when he heard he was not alone, that he was deeply loved by God, and created in His image! During the English club I met Francis, whom I gave a digital Bible and taught how to find passages and verses. I told him how the Lord was inviting him into a redemptive relationship. I met several students in their classrooms and shared about Jesus’ divinity

and humanity as a necessary means to pay for our sins and invited them to respond to the gospel.

In these and many other instances, I experienced both the simplicity and power of the gospel as I saw lives transformed. Many people seemed genuinely encouraged to know and to hear that they are deeply loved by our Heavenly Father. I also felt a renewed longing for people to submit to their calling to cross-cultural missions among the nations. According to the Joshua Project, there are currently 7,386 unreached people groups that represent 3.4 billion people!1 Now we can look at these statistics and rightly lament but also take prayerful steps in response to it. This is what the Go Grant initiative will do; send students to partake in global missions that will hopefully allow them to sense a calling to international service or form them into passionate advocates for the missionary task.

My prayer for myself and other Gateway students is that we will see our God is actively involved in the lives of His people to reach the lost. This is God’s primary plan of taking the gospel to the nations. We have an obligation to reach the unreached; to partake in the Great Commission as a sender or a goer. My encouragement is for every student to lean into the opportunity to go on a Beyond Trip and let God use them to do His will and seriously consider whether they are called to be a missionary.

1 https://joshuaproject.net/

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PICASSO This was my first mission trip. One day we went to a hospital and saw a lot of people sitting outside. I walked to a man and asked him why he was there. He told me his wife was going through surgery. I asked him, “Can I pray for your wife?” He said "Yes," and I shared the gospel with him and prayed for him.

To share the gospel with Panamanians was a very precious experience for me. I’ve never had this passion to share the gospel — even with my own people. We flew six hours to a new country, learned a new culture and shared the gospel with local people. They were very open-minded to receive it and to pray. It struck me—it was an amazing experience.

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MARY One of the most memorable parts of the mission trip was enjoying fellowship with sisters in Christ. I met a woman by the name Anallia during an English club meeting at the University of Panama; she had come to learn English. I assumed that she wasn't a Christian, but she was. I could tell when we did Bible study after the English club that she had a passion for God's Word. She went up and shared what she learned from the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus. And that really touched my heart. I didn't know I would be so moved by the people I met here, but that was a moment I was very thankful for because I felt her passion and love for God.

JOSH There are those moments where you don't feel like you did the best. It was hard for me to get genuine with people at first. Our team got on the metro, and there was a Panamanian woman who asked what we were doing. You can't share the Gospel on the metro; it's not legally allowed.

I was sitting there just listening to what she was asking, and one of our translators told her we were missionaries from another country. She said, “I have some questions.” I looked over at the translator, asking, “Can we share the gospel here?” And he indicated we could because she had asked. I started sharing the gospel with her, and it was such an amazing experience. It was so genuine. I led her through the gospel with the Romans Road. At the end, I asked if there was any good reason that she could not make Jesus the Lord of her life. She said, “No,” and she prayed to confess Jesus as Lord of her life. After that, we got to pray for her.

HIROKI One morning, I opened the Bible. I read and it said that Jesus sent people in pairs to share the gospel. I was nervous the first time I shared the gospel because I was in a different country and I cannot speak Spanish. But I had a translator with me. I realized when we go to share the gospel, it is good to have a team. In America, I sometimes try to share the gospel alone, but with two or more people, it's more comfortable.

Alone, it is a little bit difficult, but with two or more we can share the gospel with confidence.

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DR. EDDIE PATE PROFESSOR OF EVANGELISM; CHAIR, MISSIONS, INTERCULTURAL STUDIES; DIRECTOR, KIM SCHOOL;

It has been exciting to be with our students. As a professor, to watch them do what they are doing is really encouraging. I think they are doing things that they didn't even know they could do or never thought that they would do. It is an honor for me to be part of that; to be with them in this season of their lives and to watch what they can do in a cross-cultural setting sharing the gospel.

DR. ALICIA WONG DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S PROGRAM; ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF WOMEN'S MINISTRY

My prayer request has been for many opportunities for our students to share the gospel and apply the things they are learning at Seminary. I really hope students have the opportunity to figure out for themselves how to witness. I want to encourage them to see if God is calling them into missions and to see missions in a very different light having served overseas.

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FUTURE Join the Gateway family in praying for students on Beyond Trips. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for the local pastors and missionaries students will support on the field.

Another way to support students is to donate to the Go Grant. It is an endowed fund—earnings from the Go Grant will be used each year to pay travel, housing, food and tuition costs for students on Beyond Trips. These gifts are long-term investments in gospel ministry.

Help grow the network of missionary partners the Seminary can depend on to host short-term mission trips for students. Email kimschool@gs.edu if you or someone you know is interested in working together on a Beyond Trip.

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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: A C U R AT E D E X P E R I E N C E O F G AT E W AY S E M I N A R Y ' S M I S S I O N A L H E R I TA G E

At the center of Gateway Seminary’s booth at the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting will be 3,808 feet of twine strung vertically in quarterinch increments on a wooden frame 10 feet wide and eight feet tall.

The twine is a deep navy color except for the center, where a large map of the world stands out in white.

Attendees will tie a ribbon to the map and pray for a people group in the region, for the local missionaries already serving there and the Gateway students who may be there soon. Then, annual meeting attendees will receive lapel pins as a reminder to continue to pray for the expansion of God’s kingdom around the world.

The map, once it is covered in ribbons, will serve as a physical representation of the spiritual support of Southern Baptists and their tenacious focus on reaching the nations. It will commemorate the launch of the Go Grant, the fund that will send students on mission for years to come—the first funded student team is expected to depart spring 2024.

To see the string art map online, go to @gatewayseminary on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

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BEING YOUNG A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF YOUTH Written by Paul G. Kelly

DR. PAUL G. KELLY

Chair, Educational Leadership, Professor of Educational Leadership Dr. Paul Kelly serves as Professor of Educational Leadership. In addition, he is the senior editor of the Journal of Youth Ministry and a well-published author. Kelly’s doctoral research focused on similarities in youth ministry objectives across cultures.

He continues to minister crossculturally as a regular guest professor in countries such as the Philippines, the Ivory Coast and Armenia.

In Being Young, Dr. Paul Kelly has provided a biblically-informed theology of youth that gives youth ministers and pastors a deeper understanding of the common experience and divine purpose of teenage years. Through a nuanced exegetical study of scriptural themes, figures and events, Kelly constructed a theological framework of adolescence to help cultivate young people to spiritual maturity.

The hometown of Jeremiah was on the edge of the wilderness in a small town called Anathoth about three miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah grew up in a time of great upheaval in the ancient Near East. The Assyrians dominated this part of the world; however, rebellions from various vassal states required significant resources from Assyria to maintain their hold. Young Jeremiah likely heard the rumblings of war as he looked out toward the Dead Sea. The Kingdom of Judah had pledged allegiance to Assyria. King Manasseh had rebuilt the high places once torn down by his father Hezekiah. But Jeremiah was still a boy when an eight-yearold Josiah took the throne.

In 627 B.C., Assyria’s King Ashurbanipal died, and the dominance of Assyria over the Near East ended. At about the same time, the young King Josiah began his reforms of the Southern Kingdom.

These events set the stage for the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet of God: …in the twelfth year

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[Josiah] began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 34:3-7) Within a year of the beginning of the reforms of Josiah, God spoke to Jeremiah.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

(Jeremiah 1:5) Jeremiah was in the line of priests, although it is unlikely he was serving in that office.

When God called him to serve as a prophet of the Lord, Jeremiah immediately offered God two reasons why he could not. First, he made an objection reminiscent of Moses (see Exodus 4:10): I cannot speak well (Jeremiah 1:6). To be a prophet, he would need to speak the words of God clearly, and Jeremiah believed he did not have that ability. Second, Jeremiah said that he was a na’ar - in other words, a youth (Jeremiah 1:6). Jeremiah told God he was too young to take on the office of a prophet. Huey suggests that Jeremiah was “probably in his late teen years.” Feinberg prefers an age of about twenty, though he adds, “... na’ar is difficult to define chronologically because this Hebrew noun only conveys the concept of relative age.”

It’s interesting that Jeremiah saw himself as too young to complete the task God had given him. While we don’t know how God spoke to him, Jeremiah clearly knew God had spoken, and he knew exactly what God had said. Despite the clear call of God, he saw his youth as an encumbrance to the role of a prophet. Perhaps he felt insecure because he had little life experience.

Perhaps he had no reason to believe his community would give ear to his message.

Perhaps he was merely intimidated by the older persons he would be called to address.

These are certainly limitations an eighteen or twenty-year-old might feel.

God’s response, though, was telling: “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:7-8)

Jeremiah. God touched Jeremiah’s mouth, symbolically empowering the young man to speak his words. He told Jeremiah, “See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10) God gave Jeremiah the responsibility and authority to confront the people of Judah and the other nations on his behalf.

Jeremiah was called both to bring words of condemnation (“pluck,” “break,” “destroy,” “overthrow”) and words of encouragement (“build,” “plant”). God’s call to Jeremiah surpassed the young man’s own assumptions of his youth and perhaps even assumptions of his community. God shaped this youth into the prophet many see as the most significant of his age. Feinberg describes him this way: Many are agreed that his greatest contribution to posterity is his personality: by birth a priest; by grace a prophet; by trials of life a bulwark for God’s truth; by daily spiritual experience one of the greatest exponents of prophetic faith in his unique relation to God’ by temperament gentle and timid, yet constantly contending against the forces of sin; and by natural desire a seeker after the love of a companion, his family, friends, and, above all, his people which were all denied him.

While this passage exposes the insecurity Jeremiah felt due to his youth, it also shows that God extended power to the young man.

What should we take away about the nature of youth from Jeremiah’s story? Perhaps this: While young people lack life experience, God does not view them as insignificant of “junior” members of society. Rather, he calls them to engage the community on the basis of their confidence in God and their youthful passion.

Taken from Being Young © Copyright 2022 by Paul Kelly. Published by The Youth Cartel. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved

God did not accept Jeremiah’s youth as an excuse for failing to take up his calling.

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ILLUSTRATING WELL PREACHING SERMONS THAT CONNECT Written by Jim L. Wilson

DR. JIM L. WILSON

Director of Doctor of Ministry Program; Professor of Leadership Formation Dr. Jim L. Wilson is an award-winning writer with hundreds of pieces in print and the author, co-author or contributor to more than twenty books. His recent books include Impact Preaching: A Case for the OnePoint Expository Sermon, Pastoral Ministry in the Real World, and 300 Illustrations for Preachers. His sermons and sermon illustrations appear on the FreshMinistry website and in WordSearch, Accordance and Logos Bible Software.

Dr. Jim Wilson has created a helpful resource for all preachers on the effective usage of illustrations in sermons. He defines what an illustration is and describes how one may judge its quality.

The bulk of this work covers types of illustrations; the categories pastors draw from to make biblical truth accessible to listeners.

The excerpt below introduces the concept of the illustration as a bridge using Paul’s sermon at Mars Hill as precedent.

Chapter 1, p. 17-21 When used well, sermon illustrations build a bridge from the familiar to the unfamiliar, the clear to the unclear, the known to the unknown, and, ultimately, the people to the message. Paul’s sermon at Mars Hill (Acts 17) is a good example.

At the time of his visit to Athens, Paul was not on trial for his beliefs or behavior (that would come later), but he was asked to defend his views on Jesus and the resurrection before the Court of the Areopagus—a gathering of intellectuals with jurisdiction over educational and religious thought. The pressure was on. In this intimidating arena of high culture, he was surrounded by accomplished rhetoricians. He was not one of them. By reputation (2 Cor 10:10) and his own admission (2 Cor 11:6), Paul was not a skilled speaker. However, his sermon on Mars Hill is a masterpiece of persuasive preaching and a model for how

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to use illustrations to overcome communication obstacles.

Paul’s sermon illustration worked in concert with the rest of his sermon. From beginning to end, Paul worked to move the people from what they already knew to what he wanted to teach them: Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

From one man he has made

every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.” So Paul left their presence. However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:22–34) Sermon illustrations do not stand alone. They interact with other sermon elements to accomplish the preacher’s goal. In this case, Paul was introducing himself and his message in a cross-cultural ministry setting. He was on his audience’s turf, not his, and he needed to connect personally with them and then preach the gospel before he could call on them to act on its claims. Notice how Paul’s illustration functions in the sermon, working with the other elements to connect the people to the speaker, the message, and, ultimately, to God. In the introduction, Paul connects with his audience by setting the proper tone and preparing them to hear his message. Though the multiple idols he encountered in the city had troubled him (Acts 17:16), he frames his observation in a non-offensive way. He speaks of the citizens as being “extremely religious.” In addition, Paul refers to the inscription on one of their idols “to an unknown god” to grab and hold their attention—he was in the Acropolis that day to tell them about the God they did not yet know.

This is not to say that he put his stamp of approval on what he observed. He did not. What he did was find a way for him to connect with them and them with him. Without the connection, the people would

have immediately dismissed him, but worse still, they would have dismissed the gospel.

In the body of the sermon, he shares his deep theological convictions that their “unknown god” created the world (17:24a), is sovereign over all (24b), providentially cares for all (25), is responsible for all human life (26), is transcendent and yet personal (27), and is the center of his creation’s very existence (28a).

After stating his succinct, theologically rich message, he illustrates it with a reference to familiar literature, Greek poetry. The illustration was familiar, clear, interesting, and appropriate for his audience, and as a result, it was convincing. Because he illustrated the message out of their world, he continued to bridge a relational gap between him and them, but he also created a bridge between their experiences and his message. Essentially, he helped them to understand an unfamiliar message by rooting it in what was known, loved, and already embraced in their culture—a bridge from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

The illustration helped them understand and relate to his message, which allowed them to apply it to their lives.

Paul pivots from the illustration to proclaim that God is not in idol form (29) and asks the listeners to turn away from idol worship and turn to him (30). He concludes by showing the relationship of what he has preached to the question at hand—the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the proof that God will be the final judge of all life (31).

Paul’s sermon—encompassing the introduction, body (explanation and illustration), and the conclusion—was effective. The full force of the message resulted in some hearers embracing the message and becoming Christfollowers (Acts 17:34). Specifically, the illustration he used made the explanation more accessible and believable to them. It was consistent with his tone and tied the whole sermon together. Throughout the sermon, Paul tore down obstacles and built bridges. He did it especially well with his sermon illustration. Good illustrations—well-chosen, appropriate illustrations— do that; they bridge understanding, culture, and worldviews to help listeners understand, apply, and experience the message.

This article is excerpted from Illustrating Well: Preaching Sermons that Connect (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022).

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A HISTORY OF EVANGELISM IN NORTH AMERICA Editor: Thomas P. Johnson

DR. KRISTEN FERGUSON

Director of Online Education; Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Dr. Kristen Ferguson’s doctoral research at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary investigated evangelical faculty perceptions on online theological education. Her continued research focuses on online course design, blended learning, and online teaching best practices. Dr. Ferguson has presented at conferences including the Online Learning Consortium annual international conference, the Society of Professors of Christian Education, as well as the Technology in Theological Education Group of the Association of Theological Schools.

Written by a number of experts and experienced ministry leaders, A History of Evangelism in North America provides an account of distinct and influential figures and evangelism methodologies from the early 16th century to today. Two of our faculty members contributed to this volume: Dr. Kristen Ferguson wrote on Henrietta Mears and her evangelistic strategy through a Sunday school program. Dr. Eddie Pate gave an account of D. James Kennedy and his evangelistic training of personal witnessing to his church laity. Adjunct faculty member Dr. Allan Karr wrote on Dawson Trottman and his influence of the discipleship movement through an effective multiplication principle.

KRISTEN FERGUSON | CHAPTER 12: HENRIETTA MEARS AND SUNDAY SCHOOL EVANGELISM, PAGES 188-190 While some had already written off Sunday school as a thing of the past, Mears brought new purpose, rigor, and enthusiasm to the education department of First Presbyterian Church. She paired her education experience with her passion for the Bible as she approached her new ministry assignment. Marked by quality, age-appropriate learning, trained teachers, and a commitment to the Bible, the Sunday school program grew from 1,624 to more than six thousand, becoming one of the largest in the country under her leadership. Her constant focus on evangelistic outreach drove her decisions and leadership throughout her ministry, resulting in dramatic, numerical increase, and spiritual growth.

Mears was committed to quality in her education department at First Presbyterian. A few years

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earlier, the infamous Scopes trial meant evolution could be taught in public school. As a response, many church education programs, including Mears's, felt that their responsibility was to ensure students received education to counter this unbiblical worldview.

Thus, Mears often promoted that the quality of the education in Sunday school needed to be on par with public school's quality. She felt that if students were to follow Christ and commit themselves to his service truly, they would need a place to get their questions answered from Scripture. She provided just that through strong biblical teaching, open dialogue, social activities, and constant investment into their lives in a personal way.

Part of offering quality church education was to ensure that the materials and lessons taught were age-appropriate. Mears advocated, "As a child grows from infancy to adulthood, there are three distinct periods of development that are passed childhood, youth and adult - that have characteristics so definite

that they may be easily marked.

All are part of the sowing field of our Sunday school." While still prioritizing the Bible's authority, Mears was an integrationist as she used the most up-to-date theories of education and childhood developmental psychology in her instructional methodology. She organized and oversaw classes for every age from infancy to adulthood. Mears wanted strong relationships to be formed in the church and encouraged cohorts to move through classes together as they grew into adulthood.

she consistently guided students to it for their questions and concerns.

She desperately wanted her students to understand the Bible's impact in their own lives and the culture around them. Her book What the Bible Is All About served that purpose by providing deep and detailed information on the contents of each book of the Bible and gospel story found throughout Scripture. Mears knew that if her students were to meet Jesus, it would come from explicit encounter with his Word, both intriguing and relevant for every person."

Mears taught that "the most powerful part of a Sunday school lesson was the teacher behind it."

She rejected installing teachers in her classes who would just fill the position; instead, she often recruited volunteers whose profession was teaching or who felt strongly called to teach in Sunday school.

Regardless of their background, Mears offered regular training that was eventually attended by more than five hundred teachers from various churches. The Sunday school ministry grew so large that in 1948 she oversaw 309 teachers at First Presbyterian. She wanted her teachers to be confident in sharing the gospel with their students from each lesson and encouraged them to "take every opportunity to do so."

Excerpt taken from A History of Evangelism in North America © Copyright 2021 by Thomas P. Johnston. Published

by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Though many in Mears's time questioned the validity of the Bible, she stood firmly on the Bible as inerrant and held that it provided a unified message about God and his plan of salvation. Her commitment to it was steadfast as

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A HISTORY OF EVANGELISM IN NORTH AMERICA Editor: Thomas P. Johnson

DR. ALLAN KARR

Adjunct Faculty, ADVANCE Director, Vice President of Reaching Souls International Dr. Allan Karr is an adjunct professor, and has been employed by Gateway Seminary since 1999. He is also the Vice President of Reaching Souls International, an ADVANCE center director, a community developer and a social entrepreneur. He earned his Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University. Since 1995, Karr and his family have been designing and experimenting with new concepts of community and training others to do so. In 2008, Karr founded Ethne Global Services, a humanitarian nonprofit with an expanding footprint in many countries.

DR. ALLAN KARR | CH. 13 DAWSON TROTMAN: THE NAVIGATORS, AND THE DISCIPLESHIP MOVEMENT, PAGES 207 - 208 In 1955, Trotman spoke to the staff of Back to the Bible. This speech was eventually titled "Born to Reproduce." In this forty-seven-minute message, he articulated a multiplication process that was a passion of his heart. "[Another] contribution [of Trotman] is rediscovery of the multiplication principle. This, too, Dawson demonstrated in his own ministry, boldly claiming the Great Commission could be fulfilled, the world reached in a generation if the principle were taken seriously."

In this message, Trotman explained the idea, starting with one person leading someone to Jesus and then teaching that person to be ready to teach another, theoretically taking up to six months. After that, he explains the principle in the following way: (Indent) So this first man at the end of six months has another man.

Each man starts teaching another in the following six months. At the end of one year, there are just four of them. . . . So the four of them in the next six months each get a man.

THat makes eight at the end of a year and a half. They all go out after another, and at the end of two years there are exiteen men. At the end of three years there are sixty four; the sixteen have doubled twice.

At the end of five years there are 1,024. At the end of fifteen and a half years there are approximately 2,147,500,000. That is the present population of the world of persons over three years of age.

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Keep in mind this was 1955; today the population of the world is closing in on 8 billion, children included. But the principle Trotman argued for was that we should make disciples in a way that reproduces.

Trotman's personal ministry was focused on men from his earliest days of working with sailors, but the reproductive principles work just as well when females are involved in evangelism and discipleship.

Trotman said in his message, "Men, where is your man? Women, where is your woman? Where is the one whom you led to Christ and who is now going on with him?" Most evangelicals today who have a heart to share the good news of Jesus have heard some version of this principle explained in their training.

Later in this message, Trotman said that the principle is undermined by Satan keeping Christians busy with activity other than making disciples.

Trotman said, "I believe that is why Satan puts all his efforts into getting the Christians busy, busy, busy, but not producing."

Dawson Trotman was "an inventive genius combined with an inquiring mind that enabled him to devise methods any Christian could use to study and memorize the Word, to pray, to witness, to grow in Christ."

Trotman's life epitomized and reflected "the implied value and usefulness of every Christian, for in this ministry [of multiplication discipleship] every layman, talented or not, could participate."

DR. EDDIE PATE | CH. 17: D. JAMES KENNEDY TRAINING THE LAITY IN PERSONAL EVANGELISM, PAGES 263 - 264 When Jim arrived at Ingleside Presbyterian Church, Smartt let him know that not only would he be preaching each evening but that he would be sharing the gospel every day, morning, and afternoon, in homes and door-to-door in the community. He was fully aware of his lack of knowledge as to how to witness to anyone. That night in the hotel he prayed for Jesus to return!

He knew Kennedy Smartt would be watching "Kennedy Dumbs" feeble attempts to witness. Smartt arrived the next morning, excited and ready to go share Christ.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He said that Bill Iverson, a friend who'd led a revival a year earlier, had done that.

Bill (who still lives and pastors in New Jersey) had been a three-letter athlete in football, basketball, and track at Davidson. He stood at six foot six and Smartt said he would talk to anyone.

Smartt recalls that his church was in a mill town; there was a cotton mill and textile mill. People in the community were either working at the mill or at home, depending on their shift. The owner of the mill had given permission and even asked for them to share the gospel in the mill.

Kennedy and Smartt's first visit was to a man named Hank. Smartt introduced Jim Kennedy to Hank and then allowed Jim to take the lead in sharing the gospel. Jim began a sales pitch that sounded like something from his life as a dance instructor. He told Hank that he needed to turn from his wicked ways and repent, pointing his finger at Hank's chest. As the conversation continued, Hank was getting agitated.

Jim continued, "We are all sinners in the hands of an angry God." Hank's irritation manifested with him lunging toward Jim Kennedy, with Kennedy Smart stepping in and calming the situation down. Smartt then said, "Hank, let me ask you a question, if you died tonight are you sure you'd go to Heaven? What if I could tell you how to know for sure that when you die you'd go to Heaven, would you be interested? Suppose you were to stand before God and He were to say to you, 'Hank, why should I let you into my Heaven?' What do you think you would say?" Hank was interested, Kennedy Smartt clearly shared the gospel with him and clarified what it meant to accept Jesus and receive eternal life. Smartt then led Hank in prayer, repeating after him and repenting of his sin and asking Jesus to take control of his life.

Meanwhile, over the next several days, Jim Kennedy watched Smartt and eventually helped lead more than fifty people to Christ. Kennedy Smartt is still active in evangelism and serves as "chaplain to the community" at Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church in Georgia.

I asked Kennedy Smartt the same question Jim Kennedy asked him,

D. James Kennedy returned to Florida after the evangelistic campaign with Kennedy Smartt and began to practice that same method in his church. He realized after several months, that he alone, or sometimes with his wife Anne, would only be able to reach a limited number of people. He began to take others with him and train them in evangelism. Jim had discovered "the secret of witnessing, of effective, productive, personal witnessing. He had learned how to deactivate the paralyzing fear that had thwarted all of his previous feeble evangelizing efforts. He had discovered the sure way to lead a person to Christ in a one on one situation." The church started to grow, from seventeen to sixty-six, just eleven months after it began in May 1960. By 1967, Coral Ridge was singled out as the fastestgrowing church in the denomination.

As pastors around the country began to ask how he had done it, Jim began to hold Evangelism Explosion workshops, the first in February of 1967.

DR. EDDIE PATE

Chair of Missions and Intercultural Studies; Director of Kim School; Professor of Evangelism Eddie and family lived in Jordan and Sudan. Eddie served as a senior pastor for 23 years. Dr. Pate has a BA in religion from California Baptist College, 1980, and an M.Div. (1984) and D.Min. (1989) from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He has studied additionally at Fuller Seminary and Biola as well the Kelsey School in Amman, Jordan.

Excerpt taken from A History of Evangelism in North America © Copyright 2021 by Thomas P. Johnston. Published

by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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SEASON TW0

NEW SEASON WITH 10 NEW PASTORS

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TEN QUESTIONS WITH TEN PASTORS: SEASON TWO M I N I S T R Y | H O S T E D B Y T Y L E R S A N D E R S W I T H PA S T O R S T E V E R E Y N O L D S

Ten Questions with 10 Pastors (10Q10P) is precisely what it sounds like - a simple interview podcast in which leaders share insights into the struggles and joys of pastoral leadership. Each season, host Tyler Sanders asks pastors about sermon development, education, and the painful lessons learned in leadership. The excerpt below is from the premiere episode of season two with the host’s long-time friend and pastor of FBC Barstow, Steve Reyonolds, MDiv 2014 and PhD candidate. Visit thegateway. press/10q10p to listen to season one and two online or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Tyler Sanders: Why don’t you tell us how you became a Christian?

Steve Reynolds: I became a Christian at a vacation Bible school. I was seven years old. I tell folks Southern Baptist is everything I know. I lived off of those animal crackers and kool aid from Vacation Bible School as a kid. I remember meeting in [my pastor’s] office and sitting in his big chair, being terrified of my pastor, that it was as if I was sitting in the presence of God himself.

But he clearly presented the gospel. I knew that I needed a Savior and was baptized two weeks later. Salvation is a miracle at all times.

TS: What are you reading right now?

SR: I’m reading a lot of things. I’m finishing up a dissertation on Charles Spurgeon, so lots of Spurgeon sermons. Particularly this week I have been reading some on his view of the Atonement. I also just finished Shepherding Like Jesus by Andrew Hebert, a great little book. I’m also reading with my deacons a little book on deacons. I try to mix it up a little bit; I do read a lot of academic stuff, but I also try to mix in some pastoral ministry stuff and get encouraged in that.

TS: What is the most challenging technical aspect of preaching for you?

SR: I try to pick at least one part of my preaching to work on for a whole year. So one year I’m going to work on my illustrations, one year I’m going to work on applications, et cetera. I’m still young so illustration can be hard at times. Older preachers have a little bit more wealth in knowledge and experience to draw from. Application, I think, is always something that you have to work on because you have to know your people to do it well. I’m still new to Barstow; I’ve been there less than a year now. For me right now, the best way to learn how to preach is to spend time with my people. I’m always working on that area. So I would say probably those two areas are the ones that I have to work on the most. Obviously, every area I need to work on more! That is why I choose at least one area every year to kind of build on.

TS: What is something you cannot learn in seminary?

SR: I would say integrity. I think seminary gives you opportunities to test your integrity, but I think you can’t learn it. I get emotional thinking about it because I think about the lack of integrity that we see in ministry. And you think, “Oh man. They should have learned that in seminary.” You can’t teach it. You can’t teach holiness. You have to learn it from the Word; you have to learn it from your own personal growth as a believer. Seminary can give you opportunities to test it, but in the end, if you want to get through seminary without learning that, you can. And in ministry, you have to have it. Not having it will ruin your ministry every time.

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Engage in hermeneutics, dogmatics, church history, and theology to deepen your understanding of the Triune God.

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Theology

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Photographs:Rachel Photograph: RachelAllen Allen

TYNDALE OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES: ISAIAH Written by Dr. Paul Wegner

DR. PAUL WEGNER

Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies Dr. Paul Wegner attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in pastoral training. He then completed two degrees at Trinity Divinity School. Wegner graduated from Kings College, University of London in 1991 and began teaching at Moody Bible Institute, where he taught for about thirteen years in the Bible department and then became professor of Old Testament at Phoenix Seminary in 2001, where he remained for about eleven years before coming to Golden Gate Seminary.

His specialty is the book of Isaiah and he recently completed a commentary on Isaiah for the distinguished Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series.

Much has been written on the Book of Isaiah. Dr. Paul Wegner deepened the reservoir of Isaianic studies with this commentary. It is both approachable and meticulous; it draws readers to engage with the biblical text. After the introduction, Wegner guides readers verse-byverse through a three-fold format: insights into context, commentary on textual issues and a brief discussion of the meaning of the text. This commentary is a masterful tool for any student of biblical interpretation.

Introduction, pages 10-12 IV. THEOLOGY AND PURPOSE The name Isaiah (yĕšaʿyāhû) means ‘Yahweh is Salvation’ (as do the names Joshua and Jesus), which is one of the key themes of the book. God is repeatedly said to be Israel’s Redeemer (44:6, 24; etc.). The primary purpose of the book of Isaiah is to encourage the Israelites to turn away from their wickedness and back towards God, so that they can be a light to other nations.

Isaiah calls God the Holy One of Israel twenty-five times, another key theme of the book (see Figure 0.4). In using the word qādôš, ‘holy, set apart, separate’, Isaiah underscores how far Israel’s wickedness had removed them from their God.

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A. God is working out his purpose Isaiah portrays a time when Israel, after a period of purging, will be refined until a holy remnant emerges that not only follows God, but leads others to him as well. God’s plan to use his people to draw all nations to himself is simple yet almost impossible to believe.

B. God will judge the wicked The message of judgment for the wicked is likewise clear throughout the book (e.g. 1:28–31; 4:6).

From the outset of his call when the seraphim cried Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty (6:1–3), Isaiah was deeply impressed with both his own sin and that of the nation. God’s righteousness demanded judgment, yet it was also

his intention to use this judgment to produce for himself a righteous remnant referred to as the holy seed (6:13).

C. All nations will desire to know about Yahweh (universal appeal) Throughout Isaiah, Yahweh is clearly depicted as Israel’s God and redeemer, but he will draw a remnant from other nations as well, a message that Israel most probably did not want to hear. In one of the most striking passages of Isaiah, God is portrayed as having a personal relationship with people from other nations, all people having been created by him (see 19:24–25).

of its sins and live in obedience to God. God therefore had to supply his own ‘suffering servant,’ the Messiah, to give his life to purify the nation and restore them to God (52:15; 53:4–12).

Taken from Isaiah: An Introduction And Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary) © Copyright 2021 by Paul D. Wegner. Published by InterVarsity Press USA, Downers Grove, IL. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

D. A remnant God does not force faith or obedience, so if Israel as a nation chooses to wander away from him, he can still fulfill his promises by working with individuals who do obey him – a remnant (see 10:21–22). While at times in Israel’s history this remnant appears as a lowly hut in a cucumber field (1:8–9) or a stump in the land (6:13), they will be the ones to benefit from God’s promises (61:3–7).

E. Servant of the LORD The word servant has a variety of referents in Isaiah: (1) the nation of Israel (41:8–9; 44:1–2, 21; etc.); (2) Isaiah (20:3; 44:26); (3) a remnant (41:8–9; 43:10; 48:20); and the suffering servant (49:5–7; 50:5–10; 52:13 – 53:12). In the latter part of the book the servant of the LORD takes on special significance as God’s messenger and the one who will be used to deliver his people.

The concept of the servant of the LORD ultimately goes beyond the ability of Israel, for they would never be able to purge the nation

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READING THE BOOK OF REVELATION, FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR INTERPRETATION Written by Alexander E. Stewart

DR. ALEXANDER E. STEWART Dean to the Faculty, Vice President of Academic Services, Professor of New Testament Studies

Prior to coming to Gateway Seminary, Dr. Alexander Stewart served for eight years as a faculty member in New Testament at Tyndale Theological Seminary in the Netherlands. For six and a half years of that time he also served as the academic dean. In addition to Tyndale, he has taught as an online adjunct faculty member for Columbia Biblical Seminary and Liberty University. His desire to advance God’s global kingdom through training Christian leaders drew him into theological education and administrative leadership, and his longing to know and faithfully serve God motivates his research into the biblical text.

Many students of the Bible have a difficult time interpreting the Book of Revelation. In this new publication, Dr. Alex Stewart has provided five key hermeneutical principles to help properly exegete this text. Readers will gain valuable tools to help them navigate the Book of Revelation and learn about other important resources to help them continue their studies.

Chapter 1: Original Purpose: The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing, Pages 9-11 I was deeply influenced many years ago through a conversation I had with a pastor. I was eagerly learning all I could about Revelation and trying to unravel its most complicated visions. I asked this pastor about the vision of a thousand years in chapter 20. Did he hold a premillennial, postmillennial, or amillennial position?

He bluntly refused to answer the question. He was happy to spend time with me and talk about Revelation, but he refused to answer, even after I repeatedly asked him. He finally explained his reason, and although I can’t remember exact words, his meaning was clear enough: those (and similar) debates have seriously harmed attempts to gain a proper understanding of Revelation because they focus on minor and relatively unimportant issues while missing the real purpose and main point of the book. He was right.

Revelation is neither a complicated book of doctrine nor

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a detailed timetable of future events. Its primary goal is not to give precise information about events that will unfold right before the end of the world. This is not to say that Revelation does not contain theology or does not describe future events. It certainly does both, but neither is its primary purpose. Revelation is primarily a book of motivation.

Revelation fits within the genre of prophecy, but some confusion has crept in here because of different understandings of prophecy. For many people, any mention of prophecy immediately suggests information about the future. This is, of course, sometimes the case.

Unfortunately, however, this misses the main point of most biblical prophecy. The Hebrew prophets in the Old Testament do not often give their hearers precise information about the future (although they do that occasionally). They more regularly call their hearers to repentance and faithfulness

to their covenant with God to avoid God’s judgment and experience his blessing and salvation. John does the same thing.

John’s motivational purpose is made evident by an inclusio that frames the book, occurring near the beginning and end of John’s visions. An inclusio is a literary device used to mark off the beginning and ending of a section or entire book by repeating and emphasizing a key phrase or sentence. John employs an inclusio in Revelation 1:3 and 22:7.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keeps what is written in it, for the time is near. (Rev 1:3) And behold, I am coming soon.

Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy of this book. (Rev 22:7) The inclusio indicates that the words of the book are meant to be kept. How does one keep the words of Revelation? Many (most?) discussions and debates about Revelation focus on issues of the rapture, the antichrist, the great tribulation (Are you pre-trib., mid-trib., post-trib.?), the millennium (Are you amil., premil., postmil.?), the number of the beast, and the relationship of the church to Israel, but these debates shed very little light on how to keep the words of the book. When these debates become the main focus of attention, somebody is missing the

point. Why would someone shine a spotlight on the stagehands rearranging props offstage instead of focusing on the actors actually performing a play? The props are important for setting the scene, but they are not what the play is about. The spotlight should always shine on the center of the action; in our case, we should always spotlight the main purpose of the book.

Keeping indicates action. Revelation was written to provoke and motivate a behavioral response. It was not intended simply to change how we think about certain theological ideas or provide us intellectual information about future events. It was written to change how we live and act in our dayto-day lives.

Taken from Reading the Book of Revelation: Five Principles for Interpretation © Copyright 2021 by Alexander E. Stewart. Published by Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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JONATHAN EDWARDS SYMPOSIUM THEOLOGY | HOSTED BY DR. CHRIS CHUN

The Jonathan Edwards Symposium presented a live podcast recording at the SBC annual meeting in Anaheim. In this podcast, notable Jonathan Edwards scholars Drs. Douglas Sweeney, Nathan Finn, and Chris Chun discuss the enduring impact of Christian revivalist Jonathan Edwards. They explore Edwards’ influence in Baptist history and his relationships with founding churches, theologians, and schools of thought that shaped the Baptist faith.

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Gateway Seminary is the educational epicenter for researching the life and works of America’s premiere theologian, and seeks to strengthen doctoral programs and network with international scholarly communities as well as local churches.

Chris Chun: We are honored to have Dr. Sweeney and Dr. Finn. And since you have written on Jonathan Edwards' legacy, I was wondering if you could speak about that for us, Dr. Sweeney. Could you give us a brief overview on Edwardsians in general, and Edwardsian Baptists in particular?

Jonathan Edwards Center of Gateway Seminary

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Doug Sweeney: The Edwardsian tradition was founded by a pastor, a theologian named Jonathan Edwards. He lived in New England and New York his entire life, 1703 to 1758.

He was a reformed pastor and theologian. He pastored Congregational and Presbyterian churches, but he ministered in the midst of the revivals of the Great Awakening. And he was an apologist. So he was engaged in all kinds of new theological work responding to the issues that he was dealing with in his day, both for lay people who were trying to make sense of the signs and wonders all around them, and for public intellectual types. And before you know it, there’s a whole movement. Initially it was called the New Divinity Movement; later it would come to be called the Edwardsian Movement. A new movement of theology that stems from the efforts of these folks to come to terms with the revivals and the apologetic issues in the age of the Enlightenment that traditional Christians were dealing with.

By the time you get to 1800, the most visible symbol of Edwardsian success in

New England and other places in America was the overturning of more lax policies in churches about church membership.

Edwards inherited a system in which everybody had to go to church. The congregational churches in New England were sanctioned by law; people paid tax money to support them. And so one of the burdens of his pastoral ministry was to help state church Protestants understand the difference between genuine Christian faith and cultural Protestantism, or a merely nominal kind of commitment to the kind of Christian faith that you had to practice by law. Edwards overturned the lax policy with regard to church membership at his own church; this became the symbol of the New Divinity Movement. This is important for Edwards’ influence on Baptists. There were Baptists around in colonial America before Jonathan Edwards showed up. But a lot of the kinds of Baptists who wound up influencing the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention became Baptists in the wake of the revivals of the Great Awakening. Edwards did not become a Baptist, but a lot of the people he influenced did.

Chris Chun: Dr. Finn, You’ve also done a lot of work on Jonathan Edwards and the Baptist tradition. Would you mind expounding on his influence on English Baptists?

Nathan Finn: Even though Jonathan Edwards was on this side of the pond, it is the case that there were people in England, as well as people in continental Europe, that were reading Jonathan Edwards. And some of those individuals were English Baptists.

Now for the most part they started reading Jonathan Edwards right as he was passing off the scene, and especially right after he was gone. So it ends up being folks like Samuel Hopkins, Joseph Bellamy and Jonathan Edwards Jr. These individuals are part of this larger Edwardsian tradition, that are kind of the contemporaries of the English Baptists who are most influenced

by Jonathan Edwards. Individuals like Robert Hall Sr, individuals like, more famously, Andrew Fuller or perhaps most famously William Carey, all of these men were reading the writings of Jonathan Edwards. They were reading his revival writings, they were reading his writings on prayer. They were reading his writings on spiritual awakening and global evangelism.

As they were reading these different writings, they were wrestling through their own theological issues. At that time the English Baptist tradition was wrestling with what is sometimes pejoratively called hyper Calvinism, maybe more accurately high Calvinism; what’s the relationship between God’s sovereignty, free will, human sinfulness, evangelism, mission? This whole range of questions and Jonathan Edwards becomes one of the primary dialogue partners that men like Andrew Fuller and William Carey are connected with as they’re wrestling through those issues. In many ways Jonathan Edwards is, unbeknownst to him until he got to Heaven, the spiritual grandfather, if you will, of this great evangelical missionary awakening that comes to the English Baptists. And they synthesize their Baptist identity with Jonathan Edwards’ view of the doctrines of grace, revival and what it means to grow in the Christian life. And that leads to a great revival among the English Baptists and then eventually among many of the Baptists in the American South as well.

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ISAIAH with Dr. Paul Wegner DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT

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STUDY: ISAIAH T H E O L O G Y | W I T H D R . PA U L W E G N E R A N D T Y L E R S A N D E R S

Dr. Paul Wegner shares on language, historical context and meaning in the book of Isaiah. The Study Isaiah podcast is a thought provoking examination of the writings in the largest prophetic book in the Bible.

Tyler Sanders: Do you think people are intimidated to read the Old Testament?

Paul Wegner: I think so. Because they hear a lot of sermons and stuff like that on the New Testament. If they hear about the Old Testament, usually it’s just an illustration for another - they hear about the story of David or Noah and the Flood, but they don’t really have a concept of how it all holds together, and where did these people come from? They just pop in, and you hear this story and then that’s the only thing you hear about them. And that’s not really the way it is. So I think it scares people that they hardly ever hear about it. So it’s hard for them to understand, to have a good clue as to how to put the book together again.

Tyler Sanders: Yeah, that was my sense. Ok, what is the Hebrew word of the day?

Paul Wegner: Well the main idea of Isaiah is: will the people ever obey? So my Hebrew word of the day is - I was going to do the word “obey,” but there really is no Hebrew word for obey. But you put together the word shema, ‘to listen or hear’, and ba, it’s almost literally ‘to hear in.’ It’s probably better to translate ‘to listen to.’ But that’s the Hebrew word for obey. So you put those two together, and it’s like to ‘hear into something’ or ‘to listen into something.’ And I guess the understanding is that if you actually are really listening to God, you really are going to obey Him, because it’s a natural flow out of that if you’re really listening. That’s kind of the key of the book, they’ve got to get back to actually listening to what God has to say. And they seem to keep doing real bad and not doing that. But the good news is at the end they will. By the end of the book there’s a wonderful future for Zion.

Tyler Sanders: And is Isaiah speaking primarily to the nation? How does that work?

Paul Wegner: We think each passage is a little different, like chapter seven and eight.

Those seem to be specifically to kings, but once a king gets the message hopefully the people will too. I think other times Isaiah realizes that the nation isn’t listening. So he’ll go to a remnant and talk to specific people that will listen. I think in different places it might be different messages and to different people. One thing I didn’t tell you is that Isaiah, we think he was a scribe, which then would have put him in perfect situations that later, when he’s got a message from God, he can then record it and write it down.

Visit youtube.com/gatewayseminary to watch this podcast and others.

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Faculty DIALOGUES with Dr. David Rathel and Dr. Chris Chun

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FACULTY DIALOGUES T H E O L O G Y | W I T H D R . D AV I D R AT H E L A N D D R . C H R I S C H U N

Faculty Dialogues: Baptist Ecclesiology Dr. David Rathel hosted an episode of Faculty Dialogues with Dr. Chris Chun at the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. They discussed the theological foundations of core Baptist doctrines like credobaptism, congregationalism and church autonomy as well as misconceptions and myths of the Baptist tradition. Below is an excerpt of their conversation. Visit thegateway.press/faculty-dialogues to watch the entire episode.

David Rathel: We’re here talking about baptism, which is appropriate as a leadoff question because it is our practice of baptism that gives us our name: Baptist. But there are other components of Baptist theological identity. It’s not just a belief in credobaptism; there are other features of Baptist theological commitments, particularly how we order and structure church life.

Could you talk a little bit about what it means to be a Baptist in terms of membership in a Baptist congregation? What theological principles are in play there?

Chris Chun: In terms of membership as a Baptist, and if we use the circumcision language, which has a parallel to creedal baptism, you can say that those people who profess Christ and who were converted are now worthy of covenant ratification, which in the New Testament is through believer’s baptism by immersion. That is how we have been buried in baptism, united with Christ, and as Christ is risen, we are also risen together in Christ. So that is now the basis for covenant community and a believers’ church and of regenerate church membership.

David Rathel: Yes, absolutely. That’s exactly right. We say baptism is for believers and then from this baptism of believers we can have a notion of regenerate church membership; that the church is comprised of regenerate people. It is from there that we can say that we are a believers’ church. Also from there comes our polity, congregationalism. We are committed as Baptists to a congregational polity, which means that the congregation has a say in the life and governance of the church. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 famously says it is through democratic processes that church leadership is ultimately structured. This in no way negates the office of pastor or leader or elder, but we do believe because we are a regenerate people that regenerate people are qualified and competent to have a say in church governance. As a person who’s been in Baptist life for years, what have you seen in regard to congregational polity? For example, how is it practiced at your church? Or what are some of the advantages that you see coming out of congregationalism?

Chris Chun: Well first of all, I’m really passionate about believer’s baptism upon a profession of faith. Regarding polity I really don’t think that the Bible gives an exact model. In terms of the subject of baptism, I think the Bible is very clear and prescriptive on it. There are different models within the country. I’m not sure the congregational model, although I believe it, is the model and that other models are false. Now having said that, I do think the congregational model has some real strengths. For example, in terms of how you want to structure the governance, there is a lot of leeway; whatever the congregation decides to do. In a democratic process the congregation is ultimately able to carry that task; whether that delegates the power structure to the pastor, or a board of elders or leadership committee. They vote on every issue. So there is some leeway; it can create confusion, but it is also one of our strengths.

Edited for clarity and brevity.

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Biblical insights to shape you into a leader who expands God’s kingdom around the world.

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Leadership

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Photograph: Rachel Allen

LEAD ON GATEWAY PODCASTS

with Dr. Jeff Iorg

LEAD ON LEADERSHIP | HOSTED BY DR. JEFF IORG WITH DR. KRISTEN FERGUSON

In the August 7, 2022, episode of LEAD ON, Jeff Iorg invited Kristen Ferguson, director of online education and associate professor of educational leadership at Gateway, to discuss online community building and education in church contexts. Read an excerpt of their dialogue below and visit thegateway.press/lead-on to hear their entire conversation.

Iorg: You have helped us build a world-class online learning program here at Gateway Seminary.

Our accreditors singled out our program and gave us a specific commendation for it during our last accrediting cycle call - describing it as having the best practices of online education for any school. I attribute a lot of that to you, Kristen. So let’s talk first of all about online teaching. What are some of the strengths and some of the weaknesses of this kind of an approach to education?

Ferguson: With online education we really have to understand the environment that we’re entering into and the distinctive features of that environment. There are going to be strengths and there are going to be limitations. I think we’re all more aware of the limitations than we are the strengths. So some of those weaknesses or limitations are going to be things like not wanting to eat with somebody else during a Zoom meeting - that’s just not super enjoyable. So sharing a meal together is just not possible. In some of our classes maybe we have some project that we’re working on together that requires manipulatives, or we’re building something together physically in the class, and we just cannot do that; our hands aren’t in the same place. So doing that [task] in the same way is not always possible. Additionally, an online community is challenged by distance, so some aspects of community have to be intentionally planned rather than spontaneously experienced.

Iorg: You know, another weakness that you’ve pointed out in your work is that some people are just afraid of technology, in spite of how pervasive it has become. So do you see that fear also showing up in a ministry context?

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Ferguson: In a higher education situation, if you join an online class, you know what you are getting into. You have to muster up the strength to get into the technology and figure it out. But in a ministry context you have people who are truly afraid; maybe they are worried they will not mute their mic properly or they can’t figure out how to troubleshoot their video. Those things you don’t have to deal with when you’re in a physical room together.

Iorg: Kristen, when you think about online education, what are some things about it that are particularly helpful or beneficial? What are some things about it that are even better than in-person instruction?

Ferguson: The first thing that always comes to my mind is our capacity to reach people. It cannot be overstated; not requiring people to be in the same room at the same time means that we can reach people who are in different places. I see that as deeply aligned with the Great Commission. That is what gets me excited about online education. In addition I think there are a lot of opportunities for people to reach beyond barriers. Some people aren’t comfortable coming into a church. Having an opportunity where they can stay in their own home and jump on a zoom call or log into a website and check it out is like removing a barrier because they can access it on their terms.

Iorg: In your writing you also talk about something called transactional distance. Now that sounds like fancy language that we’d only use in a school context. What is that?

And why does it matter in helping to think through how to do better online education?

Ferguson: Transactional distance is a term that was developed early in online education studies. It is a term that describes the psychological distance between a teacher and a student because of the physical distance. So that means that if you and I are at separate ends of the country and we are discussing things, because we’re not physically present together, there’s more opportunity for us to misunderstand each other or not communicate well. Another example is if I only see you in a small frame on a Zoom video call, rather than your full person, I may miss hand motions and things.

So miscommunication, misunderstanding or taking someone’s tone wrongly is more possible because of distance. We have to account for that when we teach online.

Iorg: How do you help student-to-student relationships strengthen in the online world?

Ferguson: You have to give them frequent, meaningful and structured opportunities to engage with one another. It is possible to do a very bad online class where students never get to know one another at all. They never talk to one another; they only watch the videos and turn in the paper. That is a possible scenario. That is not what happens at Gateway though. Every week online at Gateway there are dynamic ways students interact. It is fueled by the content, led by the professor and happening between students where they have to engage with one another on critical issues and discuss it in groups. They are doing this together and they are forming community. Community happens while this engagement and thoughtfulness is happening in the class. It’s not like everybody got together and said “Let’s try to make a big community.” They are doing something with the word of God for a purpose together - that is what builds community.

Edited for clarity and brevity.

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graduation Photographs: Rachel Allen and Courtney Robenolt

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photo with white space so we can have words here, either a quote of something from Tyer's press release

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FACULTY RETIREMENTS L E A D E R S H I P | B Y S TA F F |

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DR. MICHAEL MARTIN

DR. DAVID GILL

VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC SERVICES; D E A N O F FA C U LT Y

ASSOC. DIR. OF THE D.MIN. PROGRAM; PROFESSOR OF MINISTRY LEADERSHIP

Dr. Michael Martin served as vice president of Academic Services and dean of the faculty of Gateway Seminary for 16 years. Before retiring in June 2022, he served as the vice president of educational effectiveness, a special, transitionoriented role in which he supported the incoming VP and dean, Alex Stewart, and completed major projects like the school’s accreditation report with WSCUC. Prior to his executive role at the Seminary, he taught New Testament and Greek classes from 1980 through 2003, and served as the dean of the School of Christian Service at Oklahoma Baptist University for three years.

Throughout his academic career Martin wrote numerous curriculum pieces for Lifeway, and many articles for various journals and reference resources. Most notably he wrote the volume on 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the New American Commentary series. During the 2022 Spring trustee meeting, the Seminary dedicated a classroom at the Ontario campus in honor of Martin and his wife, Beth.

Dr. David Gill retired as associate director of the D.Min. program after more than 20 years of teaching and leading programs at Gateway Seminary. Before taking this role he served as the director of the Korean-English bilingual program.

Gill earned both the Master of Divinity and the Master of Arts in Christian Education from Gateway Seminary, and the Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Ann, planted Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif., and he served as their pastor for more than 35 years. Gill has served as the second vice president of the SBC, the first vice president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, and the president of the Korean Southern Baptist Convention in the United States. Gill continues to serve Gateway as a special assistant to the president for Korean programs. In this role he will continue to use his prominent legacy as a global leader to promote and recruit for Gateway’s Korean programs.

The Gateway

DR. HARRY HANHE

DR. J.T. REED

P R O F E S S O R O F N E W T E S TA M E N T S T U D I E S

ASSOC. DIR. OF THE D.MIN. PROGRAM; P R O F E S S O R O F L E A D E R S H I P F O R M AT I O N

After 20 years of instruction at the Arizona campus, Dr. Harry Hahne retired as professor of New Testament studies. Hahne published in numerous areas of biblical studies, such as New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Pauline theology, and research methodologies. He is the author of Corruption and Redemption of Creation, which explores the concept of nature in early Judaism and the book of Romans.

Additionally he created Library Master, a widely used bibliographic research database program.

Prior to his faculty appointment at Gateway, Hahne taught at several other institutions such as Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, Heritage Baptist Seminary, and University of Toronto. In his ministry life he was a missionary in Nigeria, a pastor in Illinois and Toronto, and a college minister through Campus Crusade for Christ.

“Harry Hahne’s academic fervor and scholarly rigor have made a lasting impact on students,” Iorg said. “We say goodbye to another brilliant mind and remarkable leader.”

Dr. J.T. Reed served Gateway Seminary as an adjunct faculty member since 2005. He became the associate director of the Doctor of Ministry program and professor of leadership formation in 2015. He retired from his post in July 2022.

He was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Fair Oaks in the Sacramento area for 18 years while teaching for Gateway. Reed was a faithful participant in California Southern Baptist life as a member of various boards and committees including serving as a trustee for California Baptist University. He contributed a sermon entitled, “Why I am a Southern Baptist” in Preaching with Passion: Sermons from the Heart of the Southern Baptist Convention (2004).

Reed’s resilience despite many obstacles serves as an impactful reminder to students, faculty and staff about the necessity of staying on mission.

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FACULTY RETIREMENTS L E A D E R S H I P | B Y S TA F F |

DR. GLENN PRESCOTT

DR. RODRICK DURST

DIRECTOR OF TFE; PROFESSOR OF MINISTRY LEADERSHIP

PROFESSOR OF HISTORICAL THEOLOGY

No one has embodied Gateway’s commitment to practical ministry training and robust theological education more than Dr. Glenn Prescott. After 16 years of faithful instruction and mentorship, Prescott retired as director of Gateway’s theological field education (TFE) program and professor of ministry leadership in Spring 2021.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Rick Durst served Gateway Seminary as an encouraging teacher, a caring mentor and a preternaturally creative administrator. His retirement in July 2022, as professor of historical theology, marked the end of a significant era in the Seminary’s history.

Under his leadership, Gateway’s TFE program was recognized by accreditors as a national leader in the field of mentored ministry training. Prescott led the implementation of the first online reporting system for TFE students and mentors. He collaborated with several faculty members and published A Guide To Theological Reflection, which is now a standard textbook for the TFE program. In addition, he was an integral contributor to the development of the Ministry Finance & Strategic Planning course which aims to better equip church leadership in complex financial matters. Prescott also served as executive pastor for Tiburon Baptist Church for 11 years and before that he worked for 15 years at the International Mission Board.

When asked what words of wisdom he wanted to leave for the next generation of ministry leaders, he said, “Never enter the room as the knower, but always be the learner.” Dr. Prescott’s legacy of humility, care and preparation in ministry and education will continue to press Gateway forward as a leader in pastoral training.

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During his time at Gateway he served as director of the Southern California campus (Brea) and the San Francisco campus, vice president of Academic Affairs, director of Online Education, and chair of the History/Theology department.

In many cases, Durst was chosen to launch or redefine these programs due to his innovative and visionary mind.

As a scholar, he wrote articles in a number of research fields such as emerging church movements, ecclesiology, apologetics and the relationship of faith and film. In Reordering the Trinity (2015), he examined New Testament references to the persons of the Godhead and explored how they related to distinct movements of God in the gospel story. He contributed a chapter to Ministry in the New Marriage Culture titled, “Robust Ecclesiology.” Throughout his tenure at Gateway, Durst effectively combined academia, ministry practice and spiritual formation in his instruction; many students will continue to reap insights, courage and wisdom from their time under Durst’s tutelage.

DR. ROBERT PHILLIPS DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES; PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

After seven and a half years of service, Dr. Robert (Bob) Phillips retired as director of library services and professor of theological research.

Prior to his employment at Gateway Seminary in 2014, he spent 33 years as a librarian and leader at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He graduated from the University of North Texas with a Ph.D. in library and information sciences.

Phillips implemented various effective changes during his time as director at Gateway. Under his leadership, the library expanded its collections to include more online resources, decluttered and recalibrated the library database to accurately reflect current academic material, loosened the circulation policies to better accommodate student needs, and revamped communications strategies.

“Gateway Seminary demonstrates what it means to be missional - having a way of life that reflects God’s love for the world,” Phillips said. “This is a place with people and resources to learn and practice this collective Christian calling.”

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The

Gateway The Gateway Publishing Site provides educational resources to equip you to think theologically and lead effectively in your ministry.

Long before our seminary changed names, The Gateway was the title of the institution’s annual magazine. Today, we carry that heritage into The Gateway Publishing Site – an expanded collection of content exploring theology, leadership, practical ministry, and more. Within this site, you will find a curated selection of blogs, articles, podcasts, and videos from Gateway’s community of scholars and experienced ministry leaders.

Our four primary categories:

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VOICES

MINISTRY

Stories from pastors, missionaries and educators sharing the unchanging Gospel in their ministry context.

Insights and strategies to accomplish the work of the kingdom from experienced ministry practitioners.

THEOLOGY

LEADERSHIP

Engage in hermeneutics, dogmatics, church history, and theology to deepen your understanding of the Triune God.

Biblical insights to shape you into a leader who expands God’s kingdom around the world.

The Gateway

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YEARLY EVENTS

JANUARY

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Each year churches bring Sunday school teachers, small group leaders and Next Gen ministers for in-depth training in Scripture, leadership and pedagogy.

FEBRUARY

MISSIONS CONFERENCE Gateway’s annual Missions Conference is held every spring, and highlights the mission of the Gospel around the world. The Missions Conference has been a fundamental Seminary event since the 1960’s.

MARCH

FOUNDATIONS Foundations is a one-day conference focused on ministry formation & development, hosted by ADVANCE and IESBA. Participants will gain tools for teaching, evangelism, and leading effectively in local churches and communities. Sessions offered in English and Spanish.

DEERE-HESTER LECTURES The Deere-Hester Lectures are an annual event featuring presentations focused on biblical/theological insights and the application of these to the Christian community. The funding for the Deere-Hester Lecture is ongoing, and donors are invited to participate in this memorial to two beloved professors: Dr. Derward W. Deere and Dr. H.I. Hester.

APRIL

JEC CONF ERENCE As one of ten international affiliate centers of Yale University, the Jonathan Edwards Center (JEC) seeks to be the educational epicenter for researching the life and works of America’s premier theologian. The JEC hosts conferences followed by publications which include its conference proceedings.

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SPRING BREAK + SUMMER

BEYOND TRIPS A Beyond Trip is both experiential and educational —students gain valuable international missions experience alongside professional missionaries while earning class credit.

AUGUST

TRANSFORM Transform is a one-day conference focused on spiritual development for ministry leaders, hosted by ADVANCE and IESBA. Sessions offered in English and Spanish.

NOVEMBER

INTERSECT Intersect is an intercultural conference at the Ontario campus, which examines intersection points between culture and the Gospel, offering practical teaching and challenging discussions to deepen cultural competence and lead to a holistic transformation of communities.

FALL + SPRING TERMS

CHAPEL 11AM, ONTARIO CAMPUS + ONLINE For more information on these and other events visit gs.edu/events throughout the year.

JEFF'S GIVING CORNER

JEFFREY JONES

Vice President of Advancement

Gateway is a gateway One of the unintended consequences of changing our name from Golden Gate to Gateway Seminary was deepening the connection between our name and the role we play in a student’s ministry. What I mean is almost every student experiences Gateway as a step between where they were and where they end up. Seminary is purposefully a temporary experience—that is why graduation is celebrated! We want students to follow God’s calling on their lives away from us and to an international mission field or a pulpit in a local church. We have been and continue to be a conduit—or a gateway, if you will—through which students leave home and head toward a lifetime of ministry.

Giving to Gateway Seminary is a purposeful, vital and direct investment into kingdom expansion. Each gift widens the gate. Donations to funds like the Gateway Seminary Missions Scholarship help more future missionaries focus on classwork instead of bills. Contributions to the Go Grant ensure every eligible Gateway student can go on a mission trip during their time with us. Every dollar given to the Student Benevolence Fund helps prevent students from having to decide between paying tuition or replacing the brake pads on their car.

Consider making a financial gift to Gateway Seminary by visiting gs.edu/donate or calling 909.687.1760.

STAY CONNECTED FIND US ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER @GATEWAYSEMINARY IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STAY UP TO DATE ON OUR EVENTS, EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS@GS.EDU AND LET US KNOW YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO OUR EVENTS MAILING LIST.

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Gateway Seminary 3210 EAST GUASTI ROAD • ONTARIO, CA 91761 Change Service Requested

Build a Foundation in Christian Thought Master of Theological Essentials Focused - The MTE is only 36 units — you can complete it in two years.

Flexible - Available 100% online and at any Gateway campus.

Fundamental - Learn to apply biblical truth to any ministry context.

BIBLICAL • MISSIONAL • GLOBAL | GS.EDU | 909.687.1800 Los Angeles | San Francisco | Arizona | Rocky Mountain | Pacific Northwest | Online

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