Outlook Summer 2010

outlook t h e m a g a z i n e o f Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

ontan a M Wranglers and boots, not suits and ties, mark church planting in the West. page 6

Akin lays out Great Commission vision Southeastern’s report from Orlando

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Southeastern welcomes new students Photos from a record-setting orientation

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Summer 2010

60Anniversary th

Festival October 11, 5-7pm

The 2010-2011 school year marks 60 years of God’s faithfulness to Southeastern Seminary. To celebrate, we’re kicking off the year with a festival on the grounds and inviting everyone - students, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees and members of the Board of Visitors - to enjoy a night of delicious free food and each other’s company in the shadow of Binkley Chapel.  Everyone in the family is invited  Barbecue and fixins  Hear from President Daniel Akin and other guests  Games and bounce houses for the kids  Everything is FREE!

outlook

Contents

Summer 2010

Summer 2010

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, NC

Daniel L. Akin President

Kenneth Keathley

Senior Vice President for Academic Administration

Ryan R. Hutchinson

Senior Vice President for Business Administration

Dennis Darville

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Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Montana Southeastern alumni must embrace a unique Western culture to gain opportunities to share their faith. Stories by Lauren Crane | Photos by Kelly Jo

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Reaching the Urban Frontier Southeastern graduates prepare to plant a church in Denver, one of the most unreached cities of the West. Story by Lauren Crane

TrueLife.org A Southeastern alumnus launches a website with videos geared toward apologetics.

Story by Lauren Crane

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Southeastern Reports from a Historic SBC Akin, Hunt highlight Southeastern’s influence.

Story by Lauren Crane Photos by Kelly Jo

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Welcome New Students A photo gallery from New Student Orientation of the largest incoming class in Southeastern history.

Photos by Kelly Jo

Plus...

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From the Alumni Director | 5 New books from professors on the BookShelf | 22

Above: The wide-open spaces of Montana allow for unique ministry opportunities for church planters.

Alumni Staff

Albie Brice, director Suzanne Tilley

Communications Staff Jason Hall, director Lauren Crane Kelly Jo Courtney Navey Ryan Thomas

OUTLOOK (ISSN 0887-0934) is published by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary P.O. Box 1889 Wake Forest, NC 27588 www.sebts.edu To inform us of address changes or about alumni who are not receiving Outlook, please contact us at 919-761-2203 or e-mail alumni@sebts.edu.

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).

Southeastern is an institution of higher learning and a Cooperative Program ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention. Support comes through the gifts of the Cooperative Program and the individual friends of the seminary who provide assistance through wills, estates, and trusts.

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Letter from the Director Greetings Alumni: A new academic year is underway and the faculty, students, and staff are passionate and eager to serve our Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind. As our classrooms continue to fill with students, I’m reminded of God’s blessing upon Southeastern and all that He is accomplishing through the Southeastern family. Amidst widespread evidence of God’s blessing upon the ministries of Southeastern alumni, I remain grateful for your many prayers and support. Your continuous support is vital to the health of Southeastern, and more importantly, God’s pursuit of the nations through our alumni and friends.

While reading this edition of Outlook, pause and reflect upon your years here and the importance of a sound theological education. I encourage you to pray that our students and alumni love God with their mind, whether on the plains of Montana or in urban areas like Denver, and demonstrate to the world the importance of Christians being equipped to defend their faith in Christ.

Though there are numerous opportunities for you to partner with us, I’d like to encourage you to consider three particular ways to become immediately involved in the mission of Southeastern. First, join the Southeastern Alumni Association. This is an inexpensive avenue to lend financial support and receive some helpful benefits—information on membership and benefits is located on the Alumni & Friends section of our website. Second, connect with alumni in your area. We now have chapters located in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New England, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia. If there is not a chapter located near you, I encourage you to contact me concerning forming one in your area. Finally, I invite you to bring members of your local church to visit our campus. I can arrange a time when they can attend a chapel service, receive a tour, and enjoy lunch while being apprised of the various ways their Cooperative Program giving impacts Southeastern.

Thank you for your consideration in taking part in these new initiatives. I will continue to pray for you as you seek to fulfill the Great commission. If I can be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. May God bless you as you serve him where you.

In Christ,

Albie Brice Director of Alumni Development & Denominational Relations

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B P R E

ontan a M

Stories by Lauren Crane | Photos by Kelly Jo

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BIG SKY A C H I N G

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G O S P E L

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C O U N T R Y

Cornerstone Community Fellowship in Livingston, Montana, is not an average Southern Baptist church plant, and pastors Paul Seddon and Cody Wood are not average church planters. In their boots, Wranglers

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and cowboy hats, these two Southeastern graduates have embraced the culture around them.

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aul Seddon and Cody Wood were both they became friends. Wood was familiar with raised in the South – Seddon in Virginia Montana through short-term mission trips.

Montana in general, and Livingston in parand Wood in Florida – but both men answered God’s call to take the gospel to the ticular, has been underserved by gospel-preachunreached people of the western United States, ing churches. Traditionally the area was targeted specifically those in the small town of Livings- by a group known as the Church Universal and Triumphant, an amalgamation of Eastern reliton, Montana.

Serving in a “pioneer” state, Seddon and gion, mysticism and Christianity. The group Wood have developed ministries and method- moved into Livingston in the 1980s, after the ologies unique to the culture in which they now railroad pulled out and left the town struggling. live, seeking to find ways to showcase the glory They often asked people to sell their family land and beauty of the gospel message to a people and give up much to join the church, Wood said. group who are often “A lot of people saw suspicious of outsidthat the church was trying ers and wary of mesto take over and were hurt sages that preach anyby that and disenfranthing but self-reliance. chised because of it. It left Seddon and his a sense that religion and wife, Christine, had churches are there to take spent some time in something from them,” he Livingston before said. moving there to start There are more than Cornerstone.

200 unreached people “We spent two groups living in Montana, months here doing an Wood said. In Park Couninternship,” Seddon ty, where Livingston is, said. “We were workthe percentage of lostness ing on a sports camp is somewhere between 95 in the neighborhood and 98 percent. we now live in.” He “Take those statistics, and Christine spoke - Christine Seddon and then look at the Suwith the father of one dan. Our area has a highof the young girls they er percentage of lostness and more unreached had met during the sports camp.

“We asked him if church was important to people groups than the Sudan,” Wood said.

Seddon and Wood began Cornerstone him, if he had any spiritual connections,” he said. “In no uncertain terms, he told us, ‘I’ve among people who are fiercely independent and suspicious of organized religion. They soon regot it made. I don’t need that stuff.’

“God just broke our hearts for this area,” alized that some of the tactics common in the Seddon said. They wondered, “If we don’t come rural South would not translate well to the evenback and reach out to this community, who will more rural West.

The two families began sharing the gospel bring the gospel to the people of Livingston?”

The Seddons moved to Livingston the fol- with the people of Livingston through serving lowing summer, in 2007, after he graduated the people of the town.

“When you land someplace 2,000 miles with his Master’s of Divinity degree from Southfrom home, you think, ‘What do we do?’” Sedeastern.

Seddon and Wood met while both were don said. “When we first started the church, seminary students. They were members of Wake we had home Bible studies, but nobody really Crossroads Baptist Church in Raleigh where came, because nobody knew us.”

We want to show “them we work hard

More photos & videos from Montana at sebts.edu/montana

alongside them, and we want them to know we don’t want to change their culture.

Through doing that, we’re able to establish those relationships.

”

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The families began getting involved by hosting a Dave Ramsey financial seminar, a Mothers of Preschoolers program and various outdoor programs, such as an archery event. However, one of the ways the church has most gotten involved with the community and showed their willingness to serve is through the annual Livingston Roundup.

The Roundup – a rodeo that gathers hundreds of contestants every Fourth of July weekend in Livingston – has been a staple of the town for more than 80 years. When Seddon and Wood moved to town, they immediately knew that in order to influence the town, they needed to be part of the rodeo.

Seddon’s wife, Christine, said, “When Paul and Cody came and visited before we moved here, they started meeting with influential people in the community. Some of them were actually on the rodeo commission, so we asked how we could help with the rodeo.” The rodeo commission offered to let the fledgling church get involved by picking up all of the trash from the rodeo, four mornings in a row.

“They couldn’t get people to consistently come back and pick up the trash, because it is a nasty job,” Christine said. “We did that the first year, and they told us they would like us to do it again the next year.”

She said that by the following year, Seddon and Wood had been asked to join the rodeo commission – which is in charge of planning and logistics for the rodeo – and they wanted to know how the church could serve more.

“We knew we wanted to be involved,” Wood said. “The first year we just picked up trash. Nobody would give us the time of day. The next year, we got in the (cattle) chutes and sorted stock and put ourselves in situations like everyone else. We ended up covered in manure, kicked, bloodied and bruised.

“After that, it changed for us. People knew we were hard workers and that we were willing to do what they wanted of us,” Wood said.

Their involvement in the rodeo has continued to grow. Now, every night of the event, Cornerstone Community Fellowship offers a free meal to the cowboys, contestants and volun-

(above) Church planter Cody Wood shares the gospel with church members and the unchurched of Montana while participating in outdoor sports.

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teers. During the evenings before the rodeo officially begins, someone shares the gospel with the cowboys, cowgirls and rodeo volunteers that are gathered for dinner under the hospitality tent.

In addition to the trash pick-up, hospitality tent and working in the chutes, the church also is in charge of cleaning the bathrooms at the fairgrounds and keeping them stocked and selling programs. They even have sponsored a gate, so whenever a cowboy rides a bull or a bronco out of a certain gate during the rodeo, the name of the church is announced.

Because of their involvement with the rodeo – one of the most significant community events of the year – these church planters have been

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afforded opportunities to speak into the lives of the men and women of Livingston.

“We use that as a platform to establish relationships, to help them build trust,” Seddon said. “We want to show them we work hard alongside them, and we want them to know we don’t want to change their culture. Through doing that, we’re able to establish those relationships.”

In the few years since the team has been in Montana, they have seen people come to a saving faith in Christ, and they have seen the little church grow. Through the efforts of two Southerners in Montana and the providence of God, they are seeing their community transformed, one life at a time.

Paul and Christine Seddon (above) and Cody and Tiffany Wood (right) have planted their lives in Montana as church planters to unreached peoples.

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Southeastern president Daniel Akin and his wife, Charlotte, traveled to Montana to assist a young church during the annual Livingston Roundup rodeo by serving the community and ministering to the Southeastern graduates.

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They went because he asked Akins serve alongside church planters

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ast summer, Southeastern alumnus and church planter Cody Wood e-mailed president Daniel Akin and asked him to consider coming to visit during the annual Livingston Roundup rodeo, a huge event for the community in which Wood and fellow churchplanter Paul Seddon live.

“I am writing you, because when we graduated from seminary, you told Paul and I that if there was anything you could ever do to help us to let you know. I would like to invite you to help us…and to invite you and your wife to come out to the rodeo,” Wood wrote to Akin, in July of 2009. “I know you regularly travel all over the world and are part of some huge events. I would really appreciate it if you would consider my invitation to see how ministry is being done in rural Montana, where 95 percent or more of our population is without a Savior.”

So in July 2010, Danny and Charlotte Akin flew with some friends to the town of Livingston, Montana, population 6,851. Only a few weeks earlier Akin had helped preside over one of the most historic Southern Baptist Convention meetings in decades, an Orlando event that drew nearly 12,000 messengers.

At the Livingston rodeo, no one knew who Danny Akin was. One of the foremost preachers in the world’s largest Protestant denomination did not preach for a week. The president of the largest Protestant seminary on the East Coast, along with his wife, served alongside church planters as they picked up mounds of trash, serving food to cowboys in the hospitality tent, scrubbing toilets, replacing bathroom supplies and selling programs.

“We wanted to let them know we’re proud of them and of what they’re doing,” Akin said.

“They’re making big sacrifices.”

Akin said it would be easy for the two fami-

lies to move to Montana and feel disconnected from their friends and seminary family. He said it is also easy, as president of the seminary, to get caught up in his work and disconnected from the real world of ministry where students are working.

“It’s a chance to be out here with people who need the gospel and who need to know the Lord,” Akin said.

Akin said the trip reminded him just how necessary church planting in the West, and in all the underserved areas, is. Statistically speaking, the people of Montana are as unreached as people in many foreign countries.

“Even though we’re in America, you’ve got to think like a missionary. You may all speak English, but you have a completely different cultural background you have to penetrate,” Akin said.

“It’s a tough area. It’s a different culture.

“To really reach people in a place like this – it’s very much the same as on the mission field – you have to become one of them. It’s even more obvious having watched Paul and Cody here, serving on the rodeo association and really jumping in as Montanans.”

Akin said he is proud of the work done by Seddon, Wood and their families, and he is humbled by the missionary effort put forth by both men. “It’s obvious they have a heart for servant evangelism, and they are making a big impact in this area.”

Areas like Montana, with very little gospel presence, are those that must be focused on by Southern Baptists. “We’re concerned about the unreached and undeserved areas – places like Montana. It’s an underserved area,” Akin said.

“It takes somebody with bulldog determination to come to a place like this, to stay with it and to see the work accomplished. Folks like Cody and Paul are a great start.”

More photos & videos from Montana at sebts.edu/montana

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Pioneer Planting

Bringing the gospel to the unreached people groups of the West

(photo) Southeastern student William Warren explores church planting in the pioneer states by volunteering at the Livingston Roundup rodeo, serving alongside Southeastern alums Paul Seddon and Cody Wood.

More photos & videos from Montana at sebts.edu/montana

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he nature of church planting is such that those who successfully do it, must “become all things to all people, that by all means he might save some,” as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians.

Southeastern graduates and church planters Paul Seddon and Cody Wood have grown in an understanding of what this means as they seek to contextualize their ministry to the culture of the West in their town of Livingston, Montana.

These two men, 2007 graduates of Southeastern, have planted their lives and the lives of their families in this small, western town, located approximately 30 miles east of Bozeman.

Unlike many other church planters, their ministries focus less on having theological discussions over coffee, and more on sharing the truths of the gospel while hunting, fishing or working alongside those they have come to know.

“It’s a different ballgame here out West. In the East, if you church plant, you are usually part of a plant of an existing church,” Seddon said.

“Sometimes, the sending church will send 20-30 people along with you to go plant. We’re more what we call a ‘pioneer plant.’ In this, you’re sent to an area where there really is no base.

“The real difference out here is that there is no Bible knowledge. They haven’t been brought up in the church. It’s not to say they aren’t interested in spiritual things; they are. They just don’t see the church as being relevant,” Seddon said.

“You really have to start at the ground floor and build relationships. That takes a long time. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Wood said, “They really don’t see a need for God, because they’ve done all these things by themselves. It’s not that they’re not spiritual, but they see religion as a crutch and not something they need in their life.”

One of the most effective ways the men have found to get involved in the community is to be bivocational. In their part of the country, they said the title of “pastor” does not garner much respect, nor does it earn the right to be listened to.

“In this culture, pastors aren’t looked at with a whole lot of respect – they’re seen as lazy,” Seddon said. “If you’re bivocational, it opens up opportunities and allows you to make contacts.”

Seddon, who works at a restaurant in town,

and Wood, who works at the local Boys & Girls Club ranch, said there is much value to working alongside people in the community in their jobs.

“Don’t be afraid of hard work. People will respect you a lot more if you have a job, even if it’s part-time,” Seddon said.

Other challenges exist for church planters in the West, they said. Although Cornerstone Community Fellowship has a storefront in town where they meet for worship services and programs, both men said it is difficult to get families to come to that location. Instead, they must be creative and literally “think outside the box” about the ways in which they spend time with and minister to the people of Montana. Some of the most fruitful times of ministry for Wood have come while he was doing what he, and most Livingston residents, love to do – anything outdoors.

“If God had called me to New York City, I would have gone, but I probably would have withered up and died,” said Wood, laughing. “I feel like God led me here. It’s just a fit.”

Wood grew up hunting and fishing on his family’s “little ranch operation” in northeast Florida. Coming to Montana enabled him to use his love of hunting and outdoor sports to build relationships and share the gospel.

He said some of his most fruitful times of ministry have come while he was meeting outdoors with men who otherwise would not come to his church.

“I’ve done more ministry with a rifle in my hand than a Bible,” Wood said. “I’ve been elk hunting on these mountains, 10,000 feet up, with a guy who doesn’t know Christ and won’t come to church and here, he’ll talk to me about what’s going on in his life.”

Wood uses opportunities like that to share the gospel. “One guy, as we were hunting, started asking me about the Trinity. I got to sit there and explain it to him and share the gospel.

“We’re finishing up three years here in Livingston, and we’re just now starting to have people understand and respect what we’re doing,” Wood said. “We’re just now getting to a point where we can share. It’s been a long process, but we’re starting to see the fruit now after three years.”

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Story by Lauren Crane

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ulture tends to flow from large cities, said. “We looked all over, but we had three criand those who want to see the culture teria. We wanted to go to a city of great need, changed for Christ have been chal- where there weren’t a lot of churches or Chrislenged to plant churches in large American tians. It also needed to be a city of influence. cities with the hope of seeing Christ glorified If we reach the city, it would impact the world.

Thirdly, we wanted to go to a city of unique culamong unreached people groups.

In January a team of Southeastern alumni ture and community.

“The best way for Christians to reach Ameriwill move to Denver, Co., to be faithful to God’s can cities is to plant call to make distheir lives in the city ciples of all nations. for multiple generaThe team, led by tions. Denver was lead planter Bryan a city where we felt Barley, will be movlike we could see ing to urban Denourselves planting ver, early in 2011 to our lives,” Barley plant Soma Church said. The three in one of the most traveled to Denver unreached cities of in January of 2009 the West. and, once they were Barley said he (M.Div., 2010) certain of God’s and wife Megan first Pastor, Soma Church call to Denver, they began to feel God began recruiting leading them toward church planting as they discussed what it would others to move with them to share the gospel mean to have a Great Commission marriage, im- in that city.

Through their church, The Summit Church pacting the nations with the gospel.

Soon after, Barley began discussing the idea in Durham, N.C., the three were able to netof church planting with college friend Andy work with other people to form a team of misMetzger, also a Southeastern graduate. Barley sionaries to the city.

Kristel Acevedo, another recent graduate of and Metzger felt God was leading them into Southeastern, and her husband, Alex, felt the ministry together as fellow church planters.

The Barleys and Metzger began looking to Lord calling them into church planting during Southeastern-sponsored a trip to Mexico. It was see where God might be calling them to plant.

“We were open to going anywhere,” Barley also where they first met Barley, who cast the

“We can’t compete with the (Denver) Broncos, bars or downtown. What we can do is be the body of Christ for the city.”

Bryan Barley

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planting gospel roots in the mile high city vision for them to join the team. “They bought right in with us,” Barley said. Next was Drew Witt, a current Southeastern student and roommate with Metzger, aand Josh and Liz Bryant, members of the Summit who would be moving to Denver for new jobs.

“The first thing we arrived on was our core values: gospel, community and mission,” Barley said. “We first had to figure out who we are.” In large part, Soma Church wants to model themselves after their sending church. “The core values of who Summit is and what they prioritized we wanted to do too. That was gospel-centrality, missions and multiplication (church planting).”

Metzger said their Southeastern connections have been invaluable in learning about church planting. “Southeastern really helped set the vision and foundation. We want to be about planting churches, among the nations and among the great cities. It was always being hammered and emphasized. We had professors help make it possible by investing in us.”

“We had been equipped to think theologically and through the lens of Scripture,” Barley said. “Those core issues were answered by being at Southeastern. We didn’t have to figure out questions like, ‘Are we going to prioritize the Bible in our church?’ Church planting is not the time to be figuring those things out.”

Barley said once they figured out what he calls the ‘close-handed things,’ they began focusing on the more open-ended issues, those things that determine how the team functions as a church right now.

“We’ve been asking, ‘What does a gospel community look like?’” They chose the name “Soma Church” because they wanted to communicate their purpose to the people they meet in Denver. Soma, which means “body” in Greek, is the description of what these church planters

The Soma Church team want to be to the city.

“In urban church planting, there’s a lot of pressure to move beyond Scripture and offer competing programs to entice people,” Barley said. “We’ll never have the money to do that.

We can’t compete with the (Denver) Broncos, bars or downtown. What we can do is be the body of Christ for the city.”

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Website answers tough questions about the faith

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hanks to the efforts of one Southeastern alumnus, answers to some of the most hotly-debated and pressing questions about Christianity are being answered by scholars for the world to watch.

Southeastern graduate Jesse Connors developed the idea for a website which would show professors and scholars answering questions about faith, science, reason and more via a video format, as well as in-depth articles on a myriad of topics.

After realizing how many believers were unable to accurately share their faith, Connors said he began to think about how to equip believers with answers to common questions, as well as how to connect nonbelievers with local, Biblical churches.

Although the idea first came about in 2002, it wasn’t until April of 2010 that Connors and his team officially launched TrueLife.org.

The website accomplishes its dual purposes by providing articles and videos of professors and scholars answering questions about Christianity and giving an opportunity for seekers to contact doctrinally-sound churches within 40 miles of their zip code.

Connors, a 2007 M.Div. graduate, said the need for a website like TrueLife is evident. Nearly 65 percent of Internet users will search for

religious information online, he said, and this format enables people who would otherwise be closed to traditional evangelism techniques to hear the gospel.

“Since the launch, thousands of people have come to our website to watch our videos,” Connors said. “This has been incredibly encouraging for us as we are seeing lives changed and impacted by our video and article content.”

TrueLife hosts articles and videos on a number of topics, including archeology, Jesus, the Bible, depression, homosexuality, evil, suffering and more.

Over the coming months, the site will also be featuring answers from Southeastern president Danny Akin and professors Bruce Ashford, Ed Gravely, Steve McKinion, Andreas Kostenberger, Shawn Madden, Mark Rooker, Ivan Spencer, Stevan Ladd and Bruce Little.

In addition to Southeastern professors, Connors said the site also features a number of Liberty University professors, with the intent to eventually feature professors from all six Southern Baptist seminaries.

“Like so many others, God used Southeastern to prepare me to fulfill the mission the Lord had placed on my heart,” Connors said. “Every day I work with TrueLife I use knowledge I acquired at Southeastern.”

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Southeastern stresses increased local church partnerships, GCR education Stories by Lauren Crane | Photos by Kelly Jo

more photos on this story at

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Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary The two men, along with IMB representaseeks to be faithful to the mission of God – the tive Gordon Fort, were the keynote speakers at Great Commission – by pursuing partnerships Southeastern’s 2010 Alumni and Friends Lunand initiatives that will make the school more cheon, held as part of the annual convention. effective in training pastors and missionaries.

This year’s activities honored the work and leadAkin said during his seminary report at the ership of Akin and Hunt and their part in the 2010 SBC the purpose of Southeastern has been recently-passed Great Commission Resurgence and continues to be the fulfilling of the Great Task Force recommendations.

Commission. This has recently manifested itself Thanks to the leadership of both, the new in the creation and continuation of local-church partnerships.

“We’re convinced there are some things ministers learn only in the context of the local church, the furnace of the local church, where they’re refined and prepared,” Akin said. “It is our prayer that by 2015, we can be in partnership with more than 100 churches across our convention so that we can have men and women Southeastern president Daniel Akin addresses the state of the seminary during Southern Baptist Convention. who are not only at Southeastern, but who are under a Godly mentor who Johnny Hunt Endowed Chair of Biblical Preachis allowing them, day in and day out, to see what ing was announced at the luncheon. The chair goes on in the life of the local church.” will enable one professor of preaching to train Southeastern continually seeks out such more to take the gospel to the nations.

Albie Brice, Director of Alumni Relations at partnerships as it embraces a GCR vision.

“If God would be so kind to allow us to see Southeastern, also announced the launch of the and be a part of a Great Commission Resur- Southeastern Alumni Association, an initiative gence, we will all join hands together to see that in which alumni and Southeastern can be more the nations are brought to the throne of King effectively networked, for the benefit of both.

“It’s amazing what can happen when you Jesus, then that is a great and glorious thing.” gather people together,” Brice said.

Luncheon honors alums, faithful Akin said he is thankful for the faithfulness supporters of Southeastern of Southern Baptists, especially for the work Alumni and friends of Southeastern gath- done at this convention. “This has been a hisered together at the annual Southern Baptist toric convention in many ways, and the Lord has Convention to honor the work of outgoing been gracious and kind to us.” president of the Southern Baptist Convention Johnny Hunt, and hear from Akin.

the

In grateful appreciation to... for their title sponsorship of the 4th annual Southeastern Classic Golf Tournament.

Southeastern is proud to recommend Steel Dynamics. Patterson Hall is just one recent example of their oustanding work. If your congregation is considering a new construction project, we encourage you to consider Steel Dynamics. They are built on solid core values. They faithfully support Southeastern.

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BOOKSHELF Evangelism Handbook Alvin Reid Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism and student ministry and holder of the Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism, has written a challenging new book considering the changing face of evangelism in the Western Church.

Evangelism Handbook is a result of decades of writing and research for one of Southern Baptists’ foremost thinkers in evangelism method and strategy. The book is an accessible guide for anyone who wants encouragement and help in sharing their faith with others.

The book is divided into four main sections.

The first section deals with the biblical basis and ground for personal evangelism. The second section goes into detail about the work of the Holy Spirit in evangelism, the role of prayer and other spiritual disciplines. The third section takes a look at specific methodologies, addressing issues like leadership and worship. The fourth section puts the whole book into perspective, looking at missional values like local church planting, international missions, the importance of urban ministry and more.

Reid wants the book to find its way into the hands of all Christians, and ignite in them a passion for the lost and a vision for fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Evangelism Handbook was published by B&H and is now available in bookstores and online.

Francis Schaeffer: A Mind and Heart for God Bruce Little A new book edited by Bruce Little, professor of philosophy and director of the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture, celebrates the legacy of one of the foremost apologists of the 20th century.

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Francis Schaeffer: A Mind and Heart for God is a compendium of essays by scholars around the world on Schaeffer’s life and thought. The essays were first delivered as addresses at a conference about Schaeffer that the center sponsored in 2008. The conference was designed to reacquaint evangelicals with Schaeffer’s influence and to consider how his work might guide 21st century apologetics and cultural engagement.

The book’s contributors include Udo Middelmann, Jerram Barrs, Ranald Macaulay and Dick Keyes. Francis Schaeffer: A Mind and Heart for God was published by P&R and is now available in bookstores and online.

The Heresy of Orthodoxy Andreas Köstenberger and Michael Kruger Andreas Köstenberger, professor of New Testament and director of Ph.D. studies, has written a new book along with Michael Kruger disputing the well-known and widely propogated Bauer-Ehrman Thesis about the origin of the New Testament.

The Heresy of Orthodoxy takes on the radically critical Bauer-Ehrman Thesis argument by argument, systemically demonstrating that the New Testament can, in fact, be trusted as authoritative for Christians of every generation.

The Bauer-Ehrman Thesis began with German scholar Walter Bauer, who argued in the mid-20th century that there was no such thing as orthodoxy, or right belief, in the early church.

Rather, he said, early Christianity was marked by doctrinal divisions among various groups.

The idea has recently been given new life by critical scholar Bart Ehrman, who says that variations in some early New Testament manuscripts point to the divisions that Bauer proposed.

Köstenberger and Kruger demonstrate that in fact distinctions between truth and error, between heresy and orthodoxy, are present at the

BOOKSHELF very beginning of Christianity and can be seen in the New Testament itself.

The Heresy of Orthodoxy was published by Crossway and is now available in bookstores and online.

God, Marriage, and Family, 2nd edition Andreas Köstenberger with David Jones Andreas Köstenberger, with David Jones, assistant professor of Christian ethics, has released an expanded second edition of his popular manual on marriage and family issues from a biblical perspective.

The popular journal Themelios called the first edition of God, Marriage, and Family “virtually exhaustive” on issues relating to marriage and family, and the book quickly became a standard in the field among evangelicals.

In addition to updated bibliographies and notes, the book contains new sections on a theology of sex, the parenting of teens and a new chapter on the interface of marriage, family and the church. The latter also includes a discussion of the popular “family-integrated church” movement. The second edition of God, Marriage, and Family was published by Crossway and is available now in bookstores and online.

The Ten Commandments M ark Rooker Mark Rooker, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, has produced a book examining the Ten Commandments as part of the NAC Series in Bible and Theology.

Rooker’s book, The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the Twenty-First Century is a thorough study of the Ten Commandments, as a unit and individually. Rooker brings an understanding of the role of the Ten Commandments in the shaping

of civil laws in the West for centuries. He also takes care to show how each commandment can be better understood by looking at its ancient context and its context within the canon of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.

“Since the Ten Commandments are central to biblical ethics, and biblical ethics is central to Christian ethics, what Rooker has written should be required reading for anyone doing Christian ethics or engaging present culture on moral issues,” said Rooker’s colleague Dan Heimbach, professor of Christan ethics at Southeastern.

The Ten Commandments was published by B&H and is now available in bookstores and online.

Entrusted with the Gospel Andreas Köstenberger and Terry Wilder Köstenberger and Terry Wilder have edited a book that aims to provide an overview of themes from the Pastoral Epistles, with essays written by scholars including President Daniel Akin.

The purpose of Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul’s Theology in the Pastoral Epistles is to “fill in the gaps” where critical scholars have ignored evangelical scholarship on these important New Testament writings. Topics covered in the book include the doctrine of God, Christ, missions, church, and hermeneutics among many others.

Köstenberger wrote an essay in the book in addition to being its editor. His chapter gives an overview of recent scholarship on the Pastoral Epistles and outlines the important issues that scholars must address.

Akin’s chapter is on the Christology of the epistles, and Akin engages in a thorough exegetical analysis of key texts in the books while defending the Lordship of Jesus Christ as a key theme in the writings.

Entrusted with the Gospel was published by B&H and is now available in bookstores and online.

Outlook www.sebts.edu

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The L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Seeking to engage culture as salt and light, present and defend the Christian faith and demonstrate its implications for all areas of human existence.

Learn more about the center’s efforts and events at www.centerforfaithandculture.com Outlook www.sebts.edu

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e m o d c l e ken W ee O W NS &

More than 400 new students joined the Southeastern family in August, the largest class ever. New Student Orientation was a busy affair, especially for new students at The College at Southeastern. The C@SE Residence Life program sponsored an event-filled Welcome Weekend for incoming freshmen. All in all, the Student Life team pulled off five full days of orientation, activities, gettogethers, and the culmination of it all, the aptly-named Wet Wednesday, which was sponsored by the Southeastern Alumni Association. Photos by Kelly Jo.

more photos at

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= 9Marks

at Southeastern a conference about the church, for the church

Daniel Akin

Thabiti Anyabwile

Matt Chandler

Mark Dever

Biblical Theology September 10-11, 2010

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David Platt