The Scroll - April 29, 2015

Volume 70, Number 10

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Campus Newspaper of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary • Fort Worth, Texas A LOOK INSIDE »

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Southwestern hosts Louisiana-style crawfish boil pg 8 »

YML provides practical means for making disciples

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS

ESL INSTITUTE PLANNED FOR SOUTHWESTERN SEMINARY

By Tammi Reed Ledbetter, Managing Editor, The Texan

During chapel, April 8, Professor of Student Ministry Richard Ross noted that, in roughly four months, current high school seniors will be walking onto college campuses. Inviting those in the audience to consider the seniors in their own churches, Ross posed the questions: Are these students prepared to lead a Middle Eastern student to Jesus? Are they prepared to lead a dorm Bible study and correctly interpret the passages of Scripture

so that they accurately teach truth to the people in their dorms? Are they going to choose to spend Spring Break in Haiti rebuilding an orphanage instead of lying drunk on a beach for five days?

“In other words,” Ross said, “is your church preparing teenagers to be disciples of Jesus? That’s the whole point of Youth Ministry Lab: creating disciples.”

This year marked Southwestern Seminary’s 47th Youth Ministry Lab (YML).

From April 10-11, a total of 723 ministers, youth leaders and teenage student leaders assembled from 160 churches spread across the United States. While the adult leaders met in the Riley Center for a time of encouragement and equipping, teenagers gathered in Truett Auditorium for their own conference, which taught them how to be better disciples of Jesus.

YML pg 2 »

Southwestern formalizes partnership with seminary in Central Asia

Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary approved an English as a Second Language Institute, passed a nearly $36 million budget, hired five new faculty and elected officers during their April 15 spring meeting.

The ESL Institute will assess international students’ skills in English for undergraduate and post-graduate work and develop an Intensive English Program to achieve written and oral English competency. In addition, a newly approved BA concentration in ESL teaching certification in the College at Southwestern will equip students to teach ESL in a missionary context.

Describing it as an “aggressive ESL program,” Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson said, “It will help us in a number of ways with student recruitment, ministering to the wives of many students who come here with no English language at all and ministry to the community.”

Trustees elected to the seminary faculty Madison Grace as assistant professor of Baptist history and theology, Ross Trustees pg 3 »

GRINDSTONE PANEL DISCUSSES FIRST STEPS IN MINISTRY

By Katie Coleman | SWBTS

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS Through Global Theological Innovation (GTI), Southwestern Seminary has formed partnerships with 59 seminaries around the world. These partnerships affirm a common faith and a dedication to preparing ministers in the work of spreading the Gospel. As noted by Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising, although students have heard about such partnerships before, they have not previously been privileged to watch a partnership actually come into existence.

That changed on April 22.

During that day’s chapel service, representatives from Central Asia and South Korea gathered in MacGorman Chapel to formalize a three-way partnership between Southwestern, Central Asia Baptist Theological Seminary, and Yoido Baptist Church in Seoul, South Korea.

The president of the Central Asia Baptist Central Asia pg 2 »

At a Grindstone Q&A discussion on the topic of starting in ministry, April 16, students had the opportunity to hear from three men representing different levels of pastoral experience. Panelists included Jimmy Draper, president emeritus of Lifeway Christian Resources; Tommy Kiker, associate professor of pastoral ministry at Southwestern Seminary; and Anthony Moore, campus pastor of The Village Church Fort Worth.

The evening began with a discussion on the earliest matter of pastoral ministry: facing the pastoral search committee.

Moore, who is in his first year of pastoral ministry, said, “I think a lot of search committees are concerned about leadership. Even if not by the way of church positions, examples of leadership are important.”

Kiker, who has more than 20 years of pastoral and local church ministry Grindstone pg 3 »

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YML » Continued from page 1 The main speakers for the adult conference were J.D. Greear, pastor of Summit Church in Durham, N.C.; Gary Thomas, author of such books as Sacred Marriage and A Lifelong Love; and Chris Osborne, senior pastor of Central Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. Worship was led by the Kevin Jones Band. In addition to the main sessions, breakout tracks provided opportunities for further enrichment in the fields of student ministry; women’s ministry; and Hispanic, Korean and multi-cultural youth ministry.

Southwestern professors Richard Ross and Johnny Derouen spoke during the student ministry breakout sessions, providing highly practical takeaways for the attending youth ministers. Derouen, associate professor of student ministry, discussed how to attract students to church. He said the two most crucial things in making a youth group attractive to students is the changed lives of their friends followed by the movement and presence of God. “When God is moving, students begin to exalt Jesus,” Derouen said. “[Students outside the youth group] are going to be drawn to the Jesus in them. If my students begin to lift up who Jesus is and his death on the cross, Jesus will draw men to himself. … When there’s a body of students all together, not only as best friends, but they’re united and loving each other, that draws the attention of the lost.”

Having established how to draw students into the youth group, Ross then spoke about how to disciple them once they are there. Ross based his session on

the idea that teenagers tend to become disciples of Jesus when they are in tight relationships with other disciples of Jesus.

“Programs do not create disciples,” Ross said. “Sometimes the program creates the environment for discipleship, but the program doesn’t disciple. For your teenagers, the real issue is how will specific teenagers in your church come into a very close relationship with people who are clearly disciples of Jesus?”

Ross said the most important thing a youth minister can do to disciple teenagers is to disciple adults who will then disciple teenagers. Specifically, Ross encouraged ministers to find time during the week to invest in the adult leaders— be they small group leaders, volunteers, etc.—so that these adult leaders may become better followers of Christ. As such, these adult leaders will then be able to better disciple students.

The main speaker for the conference for teenagers, which had an attendance of roughly 170, was Lead Pastor of Ministry Leadership at the Village Church Josh Patterson. Worship was led by Matt Boswell. Breakout tracks included Bible study, apologetics, missions, and praise band/music.

Kyle Walker, who supervised the student portion of YML, says, “Patterson communicated God’s word with great effectiveness as he challenged the students regarding their confession of Christ, their commitment to Christ, and their grounding in the Gospel. Students were also given a time to ask any question they liked to a panel of professors and students. The

Kevin Jones Band

Matt Boswell

Keynote speaker J.D. Greear

Professor of Student Ministry Richard Ross

questions revealed the depth of thinking and conviction these students possess.”

As Ross notes, YML is the only major training event in the nation planned and conducted by seminary students. This year, more than 60 Southwestern students worked under the leadership of chairpersons Shara McBroom and Andrew Young.

Some leadership roles lasted a semester while others lasted a full calendar year. In addition to planning and executing the conference, these student leaders spent time in concentrated prayer every week since last year’s YML ended. Coincidentally, prayer has already begun for next year’s YML, which will take place April 1-2.

with horses galloping past yurts, the portable tents in which nomadic peoples of Central Asia once lived and are now recognized as a nationalistic symbol.

Southwestern’s partnership with Central Asia Baptist Theological Seminary will be further explored in the upcoming issue of Southwestern News, to be released this June.

Central Asia » Continued from page 1 Convention and the dean of the Central Asia seminary signed a partnership agreement between the Central Asia seminary and Southwestern. They also signed the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, an affirmation of their “common faith.”

In addition, the lead pastor of Yoido Baptist Church signed a Champion Church covenant, as did another representative of the church. As a Champion Church, Yoido Baptist Church will support the Central Asia seminary in its ministerial and educational pursuits by supplying finances and other necessary resources.

Southwestern President Paige Patterson signed each of these documents as a representative of Southwestern. He said, “When the wall came down in Berlin, and it was finally open for folks to go into Central Asia, I had the privilege of going in very early. I met so many people that blessed my soul, and so I was encouraged when the day came that we had this opportunity to be in fellowship with these dear friends.”

Regarding Yoido Baptist Church’s role in the partnership, Patterson continued, “I had the privilege of preaching there, and it was a heartwarming experience to see such an unselfish congregation completely committed to all the right things.

They have given themselves to the development of this work in Central Asia and to the work of the Central Asia seminary.

It just shows you what one church can do;

what one church totally committed to the work of the Lord is able to accomplish.”

In addition to signing the partnership agreements, the parties also exchanged gifts. The four representatives of Central Asia were each gifted with a pair of Dan Post boots—in Patterson’s words—“so that they’ll know they’ve been in Texas.”

He added, “As often as you see those boots and wear them, just please remember that it represents the deepest love and highest affection and esteem that we have for every one of you.”

In return, Patterson and GTI Director Brent Ray were each presented with a hand-made tapestry. These tapestries depict scenes from Central Asian history,

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Trustees » Continued from page 1 Inman as assistant professor of philosophy, and Dale Johnson as assistant professor of biblical counseling. Newly elected to the College at Southwestern are Mark Janzen, assistant professor of history and archaeology, and Stephen Mizell, assistant professor of humanities.

The board modified the bylaw article outlining the composition of the student body to allow a “modified criteria for admission” for “limited special circumstances” such as those involving online education and the Darrington prison extension program. Current policy requires that students profess a divine call to Christian ministry and show church endorsement.

Previously, an exception was granted by the president to allow a Muslim student to study archaeology in the Ph.D. program after having worked with the school’s Tel Gezer dig in Israel. Patterson apologized to trustees and Southern Baptist Convention messengers at last year’s annual meeting for having assumed he had the authority to allow exceptions.

New bylaw language clarifies that trustees must approve any modified criteria for

exceptional cases. Patterson will refer to the action during his report to SBC messengers in June.

Newly elected officers include Chairman Lash Banks, pastor of Murphy Road Baptist Church in Murphy; Vice-chairman Tony Mathews, pastor of Garland

Baptist Fellowship in Garland; and Secretary Danny Johnson, director of missions for Pulaski Baptist Association in Bryant, Ark. In other business, trustees reduced requirements for the doctor of educational ministries degree from 44 to 36

His second suggestion was for married pastors to include their wives in as many aspects of their ministry as possible. “The biggest thing you are going to do in your church is model what a Christian family ought to look like,” Draper said. “Your wife has to be included in that.”

Following this discussion, the panel engaged in a time of Q&A with the audience. One student asked what steps people can take should they face “spiritually low” points in their ministry. Kiker responded that, in all circumstances, they must remember that God’s grace is sufficient.

“There are many more times that you will be rejoicing in the evening than you will be mourning,” Kiker said. “We just have to hold on to the truth that the Gospel is changing lives and will change lives.”

Building on this idea, Moore said, “I think first and foremost, I am a sinner.

Sin can weigh you down and cause you to have rough days. It is important to remember that Christ has died, has redeemed you from your sin in the past, will be on the throne in the future, and is reigning. Applying that Gospel reality to whatever is going on in your life is going to free you up.”

The discussion eventually shifted to the topic of same-sex marriage. Students’ questions focused on such issues as the use of church facilities and how pastors should lead their churches amidst changes in secular culture.

hours, approved candidates for spring and summer graduation, and authorized construction of Mathena Hall once funding reaches a level of 90 percent of costs. The facility will house the College at Southwestern, Roy Fish School of Evangelism & Missions, and the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement.

Trustees upgraded the security force to establish a police department and granted authority to sell E.D. Head apartments as well as a house located beyond the campus area. Student Services Vice President Steven Smith was granted a year-long sabbatical as recommended by the president.

In his report to the board, Smith spoke of 100 students and professors preaching a collective 500 sermons in churches across the United States during spring break.

The annual Revive This Nation effort yielded 71 professions of faith and 235 other spiritual commitments.

The board also heard a report from its Executive Committee that Patterson received “an exemplary commendation” in his annual performance based on appraisals submitted by trustees.

Grindstone » Continued from page 1

experience, encouraged students not to hurry into a ministry position. “I think it is better to be in no ministry position than the wrong ministry position,” he said. “So take your time; seek God out in that.” He went on to emphasize the importance of being “real” with people during the interview process and not just saying what the committee wants to hear.

The panelists agreed that the first year of ministry is important for setting the foundation for the rest of one’s ministry career. “I think the biggest thing for me right now is trying to set a culture of godly criticism and encouragement among the staff first and foremost,” Moore said.

“That they get used to saying hard things to me.”

Draper, who has more than 35 years of ministry experience, suggested two practical approaches to a pastor’s first year. First, he encouraged pastors to be intentional in establishing time to study, read and pray.

He said many students think they will have far more time to study when they finish school, but in reality, they will have roughly the same amount. “The hardest thing in my first church was convincing them that I needed time alone to study,” he said.

“The important thing is that the church has a policy,” Draper said. “The church needs to be sure they have a very clear statement in their bylaws and constitution on their position.”

On preaching and leading a church, Kiker said pastors must take a stand but not let it be the focus of all the messages they preach. “We’re declaring the whole counsel of the Word of God,” he said.

“We understand that the only thing that is going to change us is the Gospel. We teach our people that we will not compromise the truth of God, but we must have compassion. We must understand that we were in the grip of the destruction of sin, and, outside of the Gospel, we would have stayed there.”

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Southwestern receives portrait of modern Southern Baptist martyr

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS Bill Wallace was a Southern Baptist missionary martyred in China during the tumultuous years of a Japanese invasion, a civil war, and the beginnings of communist rule. Originally from Knoxville, Tenn., Wallace, a medical doctor, was appointed as a missionary by the Foreign Mission Board in 1935. He went to Wuchow (now Wuzhou) in southern China to work as a surgeon at the Baptist-run Stout Memorial Hospital. There, he gained a reputation as a gifted surgeon and a devout man of God. Recounting Wallace’s story during chapel at Southwestern Seminary, April 14, Mike Boyd, senior pastor at Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville, shared one of Wallace’s experiences during the Japanese invasion of the early 1940s. As artillery rained down upon the city, the hospital took the precaution of moving all the patients to the bottom floor. A desperately ill patient on the top floor, however, could not be moved without almost certain death. Wallace committed to stay by the patient’s side. Even when an artillery shell crashed through the roof of the hospital less than 50 feet away from them, Wallace continued to comfort and reassure the patient.

“That’s the kind of man that Dr. Bill Wallace was,” said Boyd, who is also on Southwestern’s board of trustees. “He was the kind of man that would not leave

his post no matter what. Even when the Japanese lost the war and the Chinese took over, he stayed the post. As Americans were being advised to leave China, he stayed the post. Ultimately, the

communists could not deal with him because he was so popular.”

In 1950, as the Korean War sparked an anti-American propaganda campaign in China and missionaries were no longer welcome, a gun was planted under Wallace’s mattress and then “discovered” by police.

He was then arrested as a spy. Less than two months later, on February 10, 1951, Wallace, whose time in prison was characterized by ridicule and torture, died a martyr.

“As we begin thinking about a new era in missions and evangelism at Southwestern Seminary with the Mathena building that’s coming, we at Wallace Memorial Baptist Church—the namesake of Bill Wallace—wanted to do something as a beginning point of what I hope we can do,” Boyd said in his presentation. He went on to relate that his church recently procured

a portrait of Wallace from the University of Tennessee medical school—where Wallace attended.

When word began to spread about the construction of Mathena Hall—which will house the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions as well as the College at Southwestern—and Boyd heard that one of the rooms would be dedicated to medical missions and bear Wallace’s name, the church knew that Southwestern would be the appropriate entity to steward the portrait. So, at the conclusion of his presentation, Boyd formally presented the portrait to Southwestern President Paige Patterson.

In accepting the portrait, Patterson specified that it would hang in the Wallace Medical Missions classroom of Mathena Hall. This would serve to not only keep Wallace’s memory alive but also his example.

Specifically addressing students in the chapel audience, Patterson said, “History is critically important, and the denomination that forgets its martyrs has lost its way. These are people who gave their lives for the cause of Christ. The man [in this portrait] died gallantly and grateful to God that he was counted worthy to suffer like his Lord. … This is more than a memory; it’s an example of how we ought to live.”

Scholarship banquet honors Southwestern ministry partners

By Katie Coleman | SWBTS

Students had the opportunity to thank Southwestern ministry partners for their donations to the school at the 2015 Luncheon for Scholarship Donors and Student Recipients, April 14. Speaking on behalf of students, Master of Arts student Putti Sok shared her testimony and expressed her gratitude for the scholarship that has helped her study at Southwestern and be equipped to do ministry.

Sok’s parents came to the United States in the late 1970s as Cambodian refugees.

Born in Long Beach, Calif., and raised in Dallas, Texas, Sok remembered realizing she was different from everyone else in her class growing up because she was Buddhist and did not go to church like many of her friends and classmates.

As she entered high school, Sok became interested in learning about different religions and people from diverse backgrounds. It was during this time that she decided she was an atheist.

After graduating high school, Sok started as a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2008. She described herself as an ardent atheist who would try to convince anyone she met that God was not real.

Not long after starting school, a few students invited her to a Bible study and to church. Even though she told them she was an atheist, they told her she could come anyway.

“No one had ever invited me to church before,” Sok said. “That is when I heard the Gospel for the first time.”

Even though she was still an atheist, she started going to church and being part of the Baptist Student Ministry with her friends. She would even follow them around as they did evangelism on the campus of UTA.

“I was just intrigued by these Christians going out and sharing their faith,” she said. “I knew something was different about them.”

After a year of her friends sharing the Gospel with her and praying for her, Sok gave her life to the Lord. However, she was uncertain that what she had done really meant she was a Christian.

“I was not really sure if I was just speaking to the air or if I was really speaking to God. So I asked God to give me evidence and assurance of my salvation.”

The next day, Sok realized she wanted to tell everyone she knew that she had been wrong about God and that she was now a Christian. “I was really excited about sharing my faith with people,” she said.

She immediately began evangelizing throughout campus and the city of Arlington with her friends, church members and BSM associates. Because she felt God specifically calling her to the ministry of evangelism and missions and wanted to pursue theological education, she began searching for seminaries. God eventually led her to Southwestern. In addition to her studies, Sok also serves as the associate director of the BSM at UTA. Sok concluded her testimony by thanking ministry partners for contributing to scholarships for students. She said it allows students like her to be better

equipped and trained to go out and share the Gospel.

“Everyone here has been so affirming and encouraging,” she said. “I am so thankful that you believe in the work of the students here. I just know that the work here is the work of God.” Following Sok’s testimony, Don Whorton, who, along with his wife, Reta, funds the Don and Reta Whorton Family Endowed Scholarship, spoke on behalf of ministry partners. Addressing his fellow donors, Whorton said, “The best thing we can do is to disciple people who are going to go out and make disciples.”

Speaking on the importance of making lasting investments, Whorton emphasized that one way to do so is through student scholarships at Southwestern.

“We wouldn’t think about investing an endowed scholarship in an institution if we didn’t believe that it was going to be around and making disciples of these men and women to go out [and make disciples].

So we are investing in lives for eternity; that is fruit that will last.”

In the fall of 2014, more than 1,100 students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary submitted an application for a scholarship. Collectively, these students were awarded more than $1.3 million in scholarship monies.

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Land Center namesake discusses social issues

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS

MORE THAN $2,000 COLLECTED IN CHAPEL ‘BOOT OFFERING’

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS In chapel, April 7, Executive Director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Jim Richards preached on the topic of “grace giving.” Appealing to Jesus as the ultimate example of such giving, he said, “Jesus shows how to be a grace giver, and if Jesus gave it all, how much should we hold back? We put our all on the altar.

Grace giving enables us to accomplish the task of the Great Commission collectively, continuously and cooperatively.”

Following the sermon, Southwestern President Paige Patterson provided students and faculty the opportunity to put into action what they had just heard by taking an impromptu “boot offering.” In lieu of traditional collection plates, several cowboy boots were passed throughout the congregation, allowing chapel attendees to present an offering to the Lord. A total of $2,057.80 was collected.

When recounting this information in chapel the following day, Patterson joked, “Given the fact that this comes from poverty-stricken students, I thought that was a worthy boot offering.” In addition to the cash offerings, two additional items were also contributed: a tie and a Taco Bell gift card. Patterson explained that though these gifts are not usable as they are, they do “reflect the giving spirit of our students.”

Patterson then educated students on what to do when they receive such items as gifts in the context of a local church: auction them off. Asking for bids from the chapel audience, Patterson proceeded to exchange the tie for $100 and the Taco Bell gift card—which may or may not have been worth anything—for $25.

The collected funds will be given to the SBTC to support the convention’s efforts to evangelize the city of El Paso. Admitting his surprise at the overall amount that had been contributed, Patterson commended students and faculty for their generosity and assured them that they “had done very well for missions in El Paso.”

At the Land Center’s final luncheon of the semester, April 1, the guest speaker was Richard Land himself, the namesake of Southwestern Seminary’s Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement. President of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., and former president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Land devoted his lecture to the exploration of three topics: the sanctity of life, religious freedom, and the family.

On the foremost topic, Land stressed the sanctity of life both before birth and after it. After briefly touching on the topic of abortion, Land then discussed the issue of euthanasia. Citing a recent article in Newsweek, Land said the majority of Americans now believe doctors should be allowed to assist patients in killing themselves if they so desire, even if they are not terminally ill.

“The idea of voluntary suicide—deciding when you’re going to die and how you’re going to die—has enormous appeal in a society that practices radical individual autonomy, where the Holy Trinity is ‘I, myself and me,’” Land said. He warned, however, that support of euthanasia could produce a dangerous society.

“Once you become terminally ill, you’re not going to have this radical individual decision to make for yourself,” he said.

“You’re going to have enormous social pressure and economic pressure from society to go ahead and terminate your life.”

In order to avoid this frightening outcome, Land suggested reasserting the sanctity of life ethic upon which society is based. Specifically, he cited the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Land next touched on the issue of religious freedom. He quoted a politician who recently said that Muslims who wish to impose Sharia law in America should be banned from the country. In other words, the politician asserted that Americans should practice religious discrimination against Muslims.

Land warned of the danger of such a position. Relating a story from his childhood in which Mormons knocked on his door, Land recalled something his mother told him. She said, “If we allow the government to keep them from doing that today, they can do it to Baptists tomorrow.”

“What they can do to one group today, they can do to another group tomorrow,” Land explained. “So the last thing we should ever want or ever support is allowing the government to make decisions about which religious beliefs are acceptable and which religious beliefs are not acceptable.”

Land concluded his lecture by exploring the topic of the family. He specifically drew attention to the breakdown of the

family within American society and the harmful effects such a breakdown yields.

“We have now a mountain of statistics that show us that the single greatest advantage that an American child can have is to be born into a family with a mother and a father who are married to each other and stay married to each other,” Land said.

“Children who grow up in such families are far more likely to finish high school, they’re far more likely to finish college, they’re far less likely to have a child out of wedlock, and they’re horrendously less likely to be physically or sexually abused.”

He went on to cite a study that said if people do three particular things, they have only an 8 percent chance of ever experiencing poverty. Those three things are: (1) graduate from high school, (2) wait until marriage to have a baby, and (3) get married.

“If you do the opposite of those three things, you have an 80 percent chance of being in poverty,” Land said. “That’s what’s known as a ‘statistically significant statistic’—8 percent versus 80 percent.”

Land noted that the obvious takeaway from these studies is that the traditional, biblical model of the family is the one that produces the healthiest society. Connecting this to the church, Land stressed that the church should be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. In other words, rather than simply reflect an unhealthy society, the church should set the “temperature” of the society by pointing people to the word of God.

Lecturer shares principles for dealing with difficult Old Testament texts

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS During a lecture at Southwestern Seminary, April 8, Peter Williams, warden of the Tyndale House in Cambridge, England, and lecturer at Cambridge University, argued that pictures of Christ can be found throughout the Old Testament.

Many of these pictures, however, point to Christ through contrast.

“Aaron’s having to offer sacrifices for his own sin, for example, brings into relief the fact that Christ did not have to do so,” Williams explained. “So in fact, we can see more pictures of Christ when we are not trying to look simply for positive correspondence but also for negative correspondence.”

Lecturing on how to deal with difficult passages in the Old Testament, Williams encouraged believers to read Scripture with the understanding that every passage reveals something about the character of God. Such revelations, he said, can be applied today through looking at how they fit into the whole story of the Bible, from creation to redemption.

Using King David as a case study, Williams noted that Scripture presents two

distinct pictures of the biblical character.

The first, found in 1 Samuel 17, pictures David as a good shepherd. The second, however, found in 2 Samuel 12—wherein Nathan confronts David concerning his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah—pictures David as a bad shepherd.

“How do I get a picture of Christ out of that?” Williams asked. “Well, Christ is the good shepherd, and the fact that David falls short is precisely what brings Christ and his excellence into relief.”

Williams also addressed such issues as polygamy (which some argue makes God seem too lenient) and the destruction of the Canaanites at the hands of the Israelites (which some argue makes God seem too harsh). Regarding the former, Williams noted that although several major characters in the Bible were polygamists (including Abraham, Jacob and David), such sinful behavior was not without consequences. Noting, for example, the strife that existed among Jacob’s 12 sons that ultimately resulted in Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, Williams said, “When you read all of the narrative clues

together, it’s not telling you [polygamy] is OK. Every time there’s polygamy, you see great confusion, chaos and dispute.”

Regarding the destruction of the Canaanites, Williams admitted that such a passage presents difficulties. He warned against explaining God’s motives, but he also maintained that such destruction has scriptural support. The Canaanites’ pagan practices, for example, led them to sacrifice their own children. Such godlessness and sinful behavior obviously could not be tolerated.

Williams also pondered whether the destruction of the Canaanites is a picture of Christ. He concluded, “The terrible destruction of the Canaanites shows how serious the punishment for sin is. And what the Canaanites underwent is less than Christ underwent. Joshua [who led the Israelites in destroying the Canaanites] is a symbol of Christ, and yet so are, in some ways, the Canaanites who undergo the punishment.”

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FIRST PERSON: GOD SAVES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT THROUGH EXPOSITION OF PSALM

By Alex Sibley | SWBTS In my nearly five years as student ministry intern at North Richland Hills Baptist Church, I have seen the youth group experience both highs and lows.

Some years, the Spirit moves so powerfully that students get saved every week. Other years, even when particular focus is given to explicitly preaching the Gospel and invitations are clearly extended, months go by without even a single response. Recently, the group has matched the latter characterization more so than the former.

On April 22, I was afforded the opportunity to preach in the high school youth group’s Wednesday night service. Knowing it had been a while since a student placed his/her faith in Jesus for the first time on a Wednesday night, I prayed earnestly that God would use my message to save the lost—even just one person.

I was careful to examine my own heart in praying such a prayer. I did not want someone to be saved simply so that I could boast about being a good speaker.

On the contrary, I fully acknowledged that I was nothing more than a mouthpiece of God; it would His words flowing through me that night. So rather than pray for my own good, I prayed that someone would place his/her faith in Christ so that that student would not have to stand before God as a sinner condemned to hell but rather as an adopted

child of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and bound for eternal life with the Savior.

Following God’s leading, I preached Psalm 77. This psalm provides a practical means for dealing with distress: rather than think about our own discomfort in the midst of difficult circumstances, the psalm teaches us to instead consider the character of God and all He has done for us. In preaching this to the students, I explained that, as New Testament believers, this latter point can be illustrated by the Gospel itself: Jesus died in our place so that we could live. In other words, we were dead, but because of God’s intervention, now we are alive.

For the Christian students, this passage served as an encouragement. To the non-believers in the room, however, I gave an unfortunate disclaimer: I clarified that they are still dead in their sins. I explained that even though Jesus has already died for them, only by placing their faith in Him would they be made alive.

I finished with a heads-bowed, eyesclosed invitation. Years had gone by since someone had responded to one of my invitations, but I nevertheless wanted to ensure that students had the opportunity to respond in whichever way God led them.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I instructed anyone who wanted to place his/her faith in Jesus for the

EVANGELISM OPPORTUNITY MAKES FOR A ‘GOOD’ GOOD FRIDAY

By Katie Coleman & Alex Sibley | SWBTS “What’s so good about Good Friday?”

This question, posed by Southwestern Master of Divinity student Nirintsoa Mamitiana to an employee at Buffalo Wild Wings on Good Friday, April 3, led to a Gospel presentation—there at their table—that ultimately resulted in the employee, through tears, placing her faith in Jesus Christ.

Mamitiana, an Antandroy student from Madagascar, went to the restaurant for lunch with Josh Crisp, a Master of Divinity student. On the way there, they prayed that God would provide a divine appointment for them to share the Gospel (in the words of Matt Queen, L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism, they were going to do what any “good” Baptist does: eat chicken and evangelize). After arriving at the restaurant, while blessing their food, Mamitiana prayed that God would give them courage to speak to someone there at the restaurant.

That someone turned out to be Luisa, the “guest experience captain” at the restaurant. As per her job, she visited their table, introduced herself to them, and left a flyer with her name on it. When she left, Mamitiana shared with Crisp that he felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to present the Gospel to her.

Luisa eventually returned to their table, and Mamitiana asked if she knew what was so “good” about Good Friday.

Unsure of the correct answer, she simply

listed things that qualify a good day for her: having a job, getting a paycheck, and having a good time with friends. Asking her to sit with them for a moment, Mamitiana and Crisp proceeded to explain the significance of Good Friday and how the Gospel could change her life.

Tears began to run down Luisa’s cheeks as Mamitiana and Crisp told her how much God loves her and how precious she is in God’s sight. Luisa told them she had been thinking about God and had considered going to church, but she still had questions about heaven and hell. They worked through some of these questions, and then Crisp shared the Romans Road with her and asked if she would like to know how to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior. When she said yes, right there at the table, he and Mamitiana led her in prayer to profess her faith in Jesus Christ.

Before leaving, Mamitiana invited Luisa to attend Easter services at Hulen Street Church, where he and his family attend. He also plans to put her in touch with his pastor.

Mamitiana says encounters like this are why he intentionally asks God each day for opportunities to be a witness for Jesus Christ. “I am always asking God to open my eyes and be sensitive to talk with people about the Gospel.”

Regarding the Holy Spirit’s work in Luisa, Mamitiana reflects, “What a good Friday. Thank you, Jesus.”

first time to look at me. Immediately, a girl on the back row looked up. I asked her a few testing questions to make sure she understood what she was doing. She affirmed that she did; she wanted to become a Christian.

At that moment, I couldn’t help but smile. She smiled back.

I proceeded to lead her in prayer, and then, after dismissing the rest of the students, one of the female worship leaders and I talked with her about her decision.

We walked her through the Romans Road to give her a clear picture of the Gospel and then provided some basic instruction about prayer and Bible study. Finally, we encouraged her not to keep this good news to herself, but to tell her family and friends that God, the Creator of the universe, because of His love for her, at roughly 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, redeemed her, bringing her from death to life.

The student, whose name is Danielle, was beaming throughout our entire discussion. She reminded me how amazing it is to see someone be adopted into the family of God; to see someone be spiritually reborn.

NRHBC now has one new believer in its high school youth group. I had prayed for such a thing; God answered. What a blessed Redeemer.

To read about other examples of the saving power of the Gospel as manifested through the evangelistic efforts of Southwestern students and faculty, visit the Everyday Evangelism section of swbts.edu/campus-news.

MUSIC CAMP’15 AT SOUTHWESTERN

JUNE 8-12, 2015 SWBTS.EDU/MUSICCAMP

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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

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AROUND CAMPUS »

HOURS OF OPER ATION A. WEBB ROBERTS LIBRARY

SOUTHWESTERN OUTFITTERS

Mon., Tues., Thurs., 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Wed., Fri., 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sat., 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Closed on Sundays.

Mon.– Fri., 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Closed on weekends.

SOUTHWESTERN GRILL Breakfast (Mon.–Fri.): 7 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Lunch (Mon.–Fri.): 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Closed on weekends.

BOWLD MUSIC LIBRARY Mon., 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Tues., Thurs., 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Wed., 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fri., 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sat., 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Closed on Sundays.

THE CAFÉ Breakfast (Mon.–Fri.): 7 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Lunch/Dinner (Mon.–Fri.): 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Sat., 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Closed on Sundays.

RAC

CAMPUS CLINIC

Mon.– Fri., 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Sat., 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

RAC pool closes one hour early.

Call for lifeguard hours.

Closed on Sundays.

Call ext. 8880 to schedule appointment.

Weekdays: First appointment at 8:30 a.m.

Last appointment at 4:30 p.m.

Closed during lunch.

Closed on weekends.

CHURCH - MINIS TER REL ATIONS

2015 SBC COLUMBUS

God has called you to local church ministry, and Southwestern’s Office of ChurchMinister Relations exists to connect you with the churches where God may lead you.

June 13, 2015

On the Church-Minister Relations website, you can post your resume or apply for ministry positions at Southern Baptist churches through the SBC Church Connection.

Through the Non-SBC Job Board, you can also look for non-church employment that will provide for you and your family while attending seminary.

ONLINE EXTRA» Scan this QR Code with your smartphone or visit swbts.edu/cmr.

*All campus services are closed during chapel, Tues., Wed. and Thurs.

ANNOUNCEMENTS MAY 12-23

MAY 21JUNE 7

MAY 29JUN 27

JUN 18 JULY 6

JULY 1-21

JULY 6-23

JULY 7-23

SPRING

Radical Reformation Tour Learn about the early 16th century Anabaptists by seeing where they worshipped, suffered and died. Study their lives and their influence from Southwestern professors. Contact Daniel Weaver at ext. 5800 or email swbts.edu/radicalreformationtour.

Madagascar Mission Trip Up to six credit hours available. Only nine spots available. For more information, contact wmc@swbts.edu or ext. 7500.

Japan Mission Trip

SPRING 2015 FINALS SCHEDULE CLASS TIME | EXAM DATE | EXAM TIME

NIGHT CLASSES

TUE/WED/THURS/FRIDAY CLASSES

Monday evening | May 4 | regular time

1:00 PM | May 6 | Exam time: 3-4:50 PM

Tuesday evening | May 5 | regular time Thursday evening | April 30 | regular time

Columbus, Ohio June 14-15, 2015

Pastors’ Conference Greater Columbus Convention Center www.sbcpc.net June 16-17, 2015

SBC Annual Meeting Greater Columbus Convention Center www.sbcannualmeeting.net June 17, 2015

Alumni & Friends Luncheon Hilton Columbus Downtown Hotel, Noon, George Bellows Ballroom Cost: $20 www.swbts.edu/sbclunch

View Chapel Archives online: swbts.edu/chapel

TUESDAY ONLY CLASSES 11:30 AM | May 5 | Exam time: 1:-2:50 PM

MONDAY ONLY CLASSES May 4 | regular time

WEDNESDAY ONLY CLASSES

Up to six credit hours available. For more information, contact Ariel Lee at alee@swbts.edu.

TUE/THURSDAY CLASSES

3:30 PM | May 1 | Exam time: 10-11:50 AM

Croatia Mission Trip

7:00 AM | May 5 | Exam time: 8-9:50 AM

3:55PM | May 1 | Exam Time: 10-11:50 AM

8:30 AM| May 6 | Exam time: 8-9:50 AM

4:00 PM | May 1 | Exam Time: 10-11:50 AM

For more information, contact Trey Dimsdale at gdimsdale@swbts.edu or ext. 6600.

Crossover Columbus

11:30 AM | May 1 | Exam time: 1-2:50 PM

11:30 AM | May 5 | Exam time: 1-2:50 PM

Thailand Mission Trip Up to six credit hours available. For more information, contact wmc@ swbts.edu or ext. 7500.

1:00 PM | May 6 | Exam time: 3-4:50 PM

THURSDAY ONLY CLASSES

2:30 PM | May 5 | Exam time: 3-4:50 PM

11:30 AM | May 5 | Exam time: 12-1 PM

Oxford Study Tour

3:30 PM | April 30 | Exam time: 3-4:50 PM

Up to six credit hours available. For information, contact David Norman at oxford@swbts.edu or call ext. 4488.

4:30 PM | May 5 | Exam time: 10-11:50 AM

Australia Mission Trip Earn course credit by street witnessing in the city of Brisbane with the City Tabernacle Baptist Church. For more information, contact mbarry@swbts. edu or ext. 2140.

WED/FRIDAY CLASSES

Visit the World Missions Center. Office hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, 1-4 p.m. Neal and Jana Seaborn, associate personnel consultants, Region 4 IMB, serve three times a week at the WMC and help students for the IMB process. Contact Neal at nseaborn@imb.org or call 817888-6549. Contact Jana at jseaborn@ imb.org or call 817-999-8219.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

SOUTHWESTERN CELEBRATES CLOSE OF SEMESTER WITH LOUISIANA-STYLE CRAWFISH BOIL As part of Southwestern Seminary’s annual Spring Preview Conference, April 23-24, Student Life hosted a campus-wide “Crawfish Boil,” which offered current and prospective students and their families the opportunity to collectively feast on 600 pounds of crawfish plus 100 pounds of corn and potatoes on the side. The crawfish were specially prepared by Gary Tyler, a member of Swartz First Baptist Church in Monroe, La., lending the event a uniquely Cajun feel.

“In Louisiana, a crawfish boil is a time for people to gather, celebrate and make new friends,” says Garrison Griffith, associate director of Student Life. “With Preview Conference on campus and the semester coming to an end, we wanted to provide students an opportunity to gather, celebrate the pending close of the semester, and meet new prospects. We think it’s beneficial anytime we can bring the student body together in a new and fun way.”