August 2021 vol.
The
MUSTANG CONNECTION
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no. 8
A PUBLICATION of THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITY
GOD USED A SUMMER MISSION TRIP TO PREPARE TMU GRAD JOHN MOSLEY FOR HIS MINISTRY AS A COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH.
WELCOME to THE MUSTANG CONNECTION. THIS MONTH, WE’VE ADDED A NEW FEATURE CALLED “JUST CATCHING UP.” From now on, we’ll give you a snapshot in each magazine of what various TMU alumni are up to — where they live, what they do for work, etc. For some of you, these will be former classmates, so it might be nice to drop them a note saying you saw them in The Mustang Connection. The goal is to foster community and to offer specific ways you can be praying for members of the TMU family! As always, we also have three feature stories. First, Dr. Whitney Gamble-Smith, director of TMU’s forthcoming interdisciplinary studies program, revisits the Puritans’ passion for sound doctrine and explains what it means for Christians today. Then, you’ll meet TMU alumni John Mosley and Heather Larsen, who are both shining faithfully for Christ in their spheres of influence. You can subscribe to receive The Mustang Connection at masters.edu/the-mustang-connection. We’d love it if you shared the magazine with a friend. C O V E R P H OT O BY M A R K F I N S T E R
CONTENTS
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Right Out of the Gate
M A S T E R’S I N M I N I S T RY:
Cliff & Debbie McManis O F F I C E H O U R S:
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The Puritans Prized Sound Doctrine — So Should We by D R. W H I T N E Y G A M B L E-S M I T H
C O V E R S T O RY:
Man on a Mission
A L U M N I F O C U S:
Ready … Set … Build!
Just Catching Up
Alumni Job Board August
2021
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RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE
CAMPUS
HIGHLIGHTS 01
DR. JOHN STREET LEADS A SESSION OF THE M A S T E R O F A RT S I N B I B L I C A L C O U N S E L I N G ’ S A N N U A L S U M M E R I N T E N S I V E P R O G R A M I N J U LY.
02 As the size of TMU’s student body is growing, so is the school’s catalogue of programs. TMU’s accreditor recently approved 10 new programs (with still more currently in the review process). Eight of these are designed as online equivalents of degrees currently offered traditionally, broadening options for nontraditional students. The other two are brand-new traditional degrees. TMU is excited to make these programs available to students, and more information will be released in the near future.
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03 TMU had more than 65 students on campus for the music department’s annual Songs of Summer program. These students, who ranged from ages 8 to 18, participated in voice classes (including individual instruction), were trained in performance techniques for soloists, performed in an ensemble, and learned the fundamentals of music theory and history. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase TMU’s music department to prospective students, and the school is excited to see these music camps grow in the coming years.
TMU’s Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling program recently had 109 graduate students attend its yearly Summer Intensive Program, with 21 students staying on campus, 15 commuting and 73 attending over Zoom — some from as far away as India and the Philippines. Over a two-week period in July, the students took classes with Dr. John Street, Dr. Stuart Scott and Prof. Tom Sugimura. To learn more about the MABC program, visit masters.edu/mabc.
04 The Origins 2021 conference in late July (one location of which was hosted at TMU) was a great time for those involved. As a joint meeting of the Creation Theology, the Creation Biology, and the Creation Geology societies, scholars presented research on a wide range of topics. Speakers included Dr. Kurt Wise, Dr. John Whitmore, Dr. Steve Boyd, and Dr. William Barrick. Dr. Matt McLain (president of the Creation Biology Society) presented multiple times, and Carrie Clausen, a current TMU student in the Geoscience program, was the lead author on one of the abstracts presented.
UPCOMING
EVENTS AUGUST 20
TMU’s athletic calendar is already starting to pick up, with the first home game being a men’s soccer match on Aug. 20. For a full list of upcoming athletic events, see gomustangs.com/calendar.
AUGUST 30
The fall semester begins August 30. This year’s incoming class is the largest in school history, with roughly 400 new students expected at Week of Welcome (Aug. 21–26). TMU is especially excited to introduce its students to time-honored traditions such as The Master’s Cup.
SEPTEMBER 6
Speaking of traditions, TMU is also hoping to create some new ones this year with a calendar of themed weeks throughout fall and spring, beginning with Welcome Back Week (Sept. 6–11). The week will be kick-started by Monty’s Softball Tournament on Sept. 6.
SEPTEMBER 11
On Sept. 11, TMU will host TheoTech 2021: God, Technology, and Man. This conference will explore technology from the standpoint of biblical theology and will take place at Placerita Bible Church (adjacent to TMU’s campus). Speakers include Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. Abner Chou, Dr. Joe Francis, Prof. David Crater and Dr. Joey Kim, as well as mathematicians Dr. Tai-Danae Bradley and Dr. John Lennox. See masters.edu/theotech for more details.
SEPTEMBER 20
Later in September, TMU is also hosting Monday at Master’s (Sept. 20) and The Master’s University Cross Country Invitational (Sept. 25). Find details at masters.edu/visit/mondays-at-masters and gomustangs.com/xcinvitational, respectively.
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FEATURE BEST OF
THE WEB MASTER’S IN MINISTRY
VIDEO
CLIFF & DEBBIE McMANIS
Watch at masters.edu/tmu-media
ENGINEERING AT THE MASTER'S UNIVERSITY
PODCASTS
Listen at masters.edu/tmu-media
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EP. 8: DR. GREG GIFFORD ON THE LINK BETWEEN YOUR HABITS & YOUR HEART
EP. 122: TEACHING WHAT IS GOOD — A Q&A ON TITUS 2:3-5
EP. 26: AN INTERVIEW with ATHLETIC DIRECTOR KELVIN STARR
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NEWS ARTICLES
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Read the full stories at masters.edu/news 4
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Dr. Paul Plew, dean of TMU’s School of Music, discusses the return of live concerts, his earliest memory of TMU, and the days when he sang on the radio as a toddler.
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Before Silas Naklick came to TMU in 2016, he was already preaching and pursuing pastoral ministry. But he credits his time here with forever changing the way he serves people and sees Scripture.
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CLIFF (TMU, ’89; TMS, ’92) DEBBIE (TMU, ’91)
CHARISSA KRISTOFF - 29 B R E A N N A PA N I A G U A - 2 7 TIMOTHY - 23 RUSTIN - 20
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Creekside Bible Church
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Redeemer Bible Fellowship Chinese Church in Christ Mountain View
10505 Miller Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014 Cliff McManis, Pastor-Teacher Derek Brown, Associate Pastor J.R. Cuevas, Associate Pastor
920 Sierra Vista Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043 Stephen Chen, Pastor Daniel Chan, Pastor
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Lighthouse Bible Church San Jose
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Bethel Christian Church
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New Life Community Church
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Redeeming Grace
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486 Mercury Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Mark Chin, Pastor-Teacher
1700 Lincoln St., Santa Clara, CA 95050 Daniel Taeg Chung, Pastor
10348 S. Tantau Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014 Amos Yang, Lead Pastor
233 Topaz St. (Meeting at Sequoia Christian Church) Redwood City, CA 94062 Rick Carbonneau, Pastor-Teacher
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Faith Community Church
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Hillside Church
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555 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA 95035 Daniel Lee, Pastor-Teacher
545 Hillsdale Ave., San Jose, CA 95136 Keith Crosby, Lead Pastor Chris Gee, Associate Pastor-Students and Discipleship
Pillar Baptist Church
42986 Osgood, Fremont, CA 94539 Eric Chabaneix, Pastor-Teacher Daniel Bae, Pastor-Teacher
10 Overseas Theological Seminary 313 Henderson Dr., San Jose, CA 95123 Chu-Ji Chang, Pastor-Teacher
PASTOR CLIFF IS THE TEACHINGELDER AT CREEKSIDE BIBLE CHURCH IN CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA. The church is a result of a church plant in 2006 and a church merger in 2019. Pastor Cliff has a daily Bible teaching program on KFAX radio, 1100 AM, which airs in the San Francisco Bay area. And he is a professor of theology and apologetics at The Cornerstone Seminary in Vallejo. His most recent book is titled “What the Bible Says about Israel.” His wife Debbie serves in many areas in the local church, including hospitality, women’s ministry and the nursery. Their church is located in Silicon Valley, one of the most secular areas in the U.S. Please pray that Creekside Bible Church can continue to be a vibrant and faithful lampstand of truth for Christ in a very dark area.
11 West Hills Community Church
Evergreen Community Center 4860 San Felipe Rd., San Jose, CA 95135 Christian Zorio, Lay-Leader
12 Grace Church of the Bay Area
One Mangini Way, Burlingame, CA 94010 Roger Chen, Pastor
13 Berean Mission Church
400 Murchison Dr., Millbrae, CA 94030 Alton To, Pastor-Teacher
14 Trinity Bible Church
7301 Highway Nine, Felton, CA 95018 Steve Watkins, Pastor
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OFFICE HOURS
The Puritans Priz Sound Doctrine — So Should We
by DR. WHITNEY GAMBLE-SMITH
zed —
A Nation at War England in the late 1500s and early 1600s was not an easy place to live. For faithful believers, persecution crouched at the door and, as the century turned, forcibly beat the door down as the King’s soldiers were given approval to root out those who disagreed with the king’s religious policies. Puritans were imprisoned, forced to recant their beliefs, suffered their ears being severed, their livelihoods confiscated, the books they wrote publicly burned, and for some, their lives taken. Politically, the nation was on the brink of civil war. Theologically, doctrinal confusion and ignorance reigned. In the midst of moral decline, social unrest, and the rise of false teaching, the Puritans were united in one thing: a desire for the truths of God’s Word to be proclaimed clearly for the purity of the church. Reflecting on Paul’s warning in Ephesians 4:14, the Puritans knew that if men and women remained immature in their knowledge of Christ, they would be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning.” The Puritans understood what Paul taught — that sound doctrine was the antidote the world needed to fight against the malady of the age. Rich doctrine, doctrine that reflected the depth and beauty of the gospel, was essential if the church were to survive difficult times. Their understanding of the necessity of spiritual maturity drove the Puritans to work for theological reformation and training in godliness for everyone in the nation, from the Cambridge and Oxford elites to the simple laborer. However, there was a problem. The king did not want reformation, and as head of the church in England, he held the power to curb any attempt at biblical change.
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So, many Puritans fled to the New World, with the hope of establishing theological training centers free from the shackles of tyranny. One Cambridge University graduate named John Harvard, for example, took the perilous weeks-long journey to a fledgling colony in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He became a pastor, but only lived a year in the new town before succumbing to illness. Upon his death, he left instructions for the donation of his library to a young local college, which he envisioned as a beacon for faithful theological education for the next generation of ministers. The gift of Harvard’s library formed Harvard University, a school that still bears his name, if not necessarily his legacy. For those unlike Harvard, those who stayed behind in England, there was only one thing to do: pursue a long and bitter fight for doctrinal purity from within.
A Fight for Reformation A small group of theologians began to petition Parliament for change. Their voices, initially quiet, soon grew into a loud majority, as more and more men and women became convinced of the need for a “reformation according to God’s Word.” Finally, in 1643, after years of hearing petitions, Parliament agreed to call an assembly of theologians to come to London to revise the 39 Articles, the Church of England’s statement of faith. Parliament’s call for reformation was a complicated move, however, because just a few months earlier, King Charles I had declared war on Parliament. In what historians call the last war of religion fought on England’s soil, the king and his Royalists wanted to keep the theological status quo in England. He forbade the assembly of theologians to meet, on pain of losing their jobs and churches, and the penalty of imprisonment and confiscation of their goods. 9
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“
A deep knowledge of God and His Word is not only necessary — it is vital.
”
Despite the king’s command, over 69 theologians came to the first meeting of the assembly, which gathered at Westminster Abbey in London. The group of theologians, now known as the Westminster Assembly, would meet regularly for over 10 years, some of the most tumultuous years in England’s long history. The theologians left families, churches, friends, and hometowns to come to London, undertaking a dangerous journey along unprotected highways. Once in London, they lived without normal daily comforts, with riots in the streets and the potential terror of London’s capture by the king’s armed and dangerous forces. What motivated these men to come to London to work for reformation? What drove their wives and families and churches to allow their husbands and pastors to leave? The Puritans were acutely aware that life was fleeting. They knew that the purity of God’s Word as expressed
in sound doctrine was the only thing that would last. The Westminster divines weren’t interested in doctrine for doctrine’s sake. They weren’t interested in cold theological arguments. The theologians knew that producing clear statements of biblical truth would shape the minds of men and women, and ultimately, lead to a reformation of their hearts. So, they traveled to London, they met together, and they met with Parliament, intensely discussing and debating how best to encapsulate the truths of Scripture. After three long years, they produced a Confession of Faith, and later, Catechisms and a Directory for Worship, designed for use throughout the nation for instruction and growth in biblical knowledge. The theologians of the Westminster Assembly knew well the cost of faithful commitment to Christ, and their story, from a human perspective, didn’t end well. In 1660, when the monarchy was restored, Charles I’s son rejected the Westminster Assembly’s work. Their Confession of Faith was publicly burned and repudiated by England’s leaders, and the Church of England returned to its pre1640s theology. Hundreds of Puritan preachers were ejected from their pulpits and imprisoned, unable to continue preaching. Today, the rejection of truth continues and false teaching abounds. Many do not see the value of pursuing the hard work of training their minds to understand the complexity of theological truths. Yet, in the face of false teaching and a tumultuous social context, the Puritans’ example of commitment to strong doctrine is instructive. A deep knowledge of God and his Word is not only necessary; it is vital. As we grow in our knowledge of Christ, we bring glory to God, which, as question one of the Westminster Catechism states, is our “chief end,” our raison d’etre, the point of our lives here on earth.
A SHORT READING LIST
on THE LIFE OF CHRIST Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ ROBERT STEIN
This is probably the best one-volume treatment of Jesus.
Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ HAROLD HOEHNER
This is the best treatment of many chronological issues like the dates of Jesus’s birth and death, as well as the day of the Triumphal Entry and the Crucifixion.
The Messianic Trilogy DR. WILLIAM VARNER
1. Anticipating the Advent 2. Messiah’s Ministry: Crises of the Christ (October, 2021) 3. Passionate About the Passion Week This is my own contribution to the life and ministry of Jesus, from teaching the life of the Messiah for over 40 years. I emphasize the vastly important role of the OT prophecies and suggest some fresh ways of looking at issues like the role of Gentiles in His ministry, His peccability, and the real meaning of “It is finished.”
A version of this article first appeared on the TMS Blog. It is used with permission.
DR. WHITNEY GAMBLE-SMITH Director, Interdisciplinary Studies
composed by DR. WILLIAM VARNER Professor, Biblical Studies & Greek
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COVER STORY
In 1996, God used a TMU mission trip to help prepare John Mosley for his role as head men’s basketball coach at East Los Angeles College
by M A S O N N E S B I T T
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John Mosley expected a lifechanging experience when he visited Brazil in the summer of 1996. Just not one quite like this.
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After his teammates went home, Mosley stayed in Brazil and waited several weeks for an opportunity that never came. Instead, God used the alone time to prepare Mosley for his current mission, as the head coach of one of the most recognizable community college basketball programs in the country. At East Los Angeles College, Mosley works with young men who are looking to get their lives, educations or basketball careers on track. His goal is to help players reach their potential — all the while planting seeds for Christ. “God used that mission trip to Brazil to help me see what He’s calling us to do,” Mosley says, “and that’s to minister, to seek holiness and to dig deeper into His Word.” *** Global Outreach teams play a key role in the mission of The Master’s University. Every summer, students at TMU travel across the world on short-term trips — experiences meant to create a global mindset and to raise interest in working with missionaries abroad. In 1996, Mosley was making his second visit to Brazil. And this time, the venture held special importance. After completing his senior season as a talented guard for the Mustangs, Mosley was hoping to extend his playing career. During the trip, Master’s played exhibition games against various pro teams, sharing the gospel with fans during halftime. For Mosley, the trip’s turning point came during intermission of one such contest. Mosley had previously been hesitant to share his faith, but, urged by teammates, he gave in.
Fresh off his senior basketball season at The Master’s University, Mosley was touring the country with his teammates, playing a string of exhibition games and putting on youth clinics. The team’s goal was to share the gospel. But Mosley says his focus was on parlaying the trip into a professional basketball contract.
The story he shared that day went something like this: Mosley and a friend grew up in the same Los Angeles neighborhood. They were close. But as the years passed, they drifted apart — Mosley staying on the college track and his friend immersing himself in drugs and crime, eventually joining a gang.
God had other plans.
One day, a rival crew cornered Mosley’s friend in an alley and threatened to shoot him. Then out of nowhere, a
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stranger sprinted toward them and stepped in front of a bullet. Mosley’s friend escaped. The stranger died. "I said, ‘Do you all know who that stranger was? That was Christ. For every sin you’ve committed, He’s taken the bullet. And what you must do is receive Him,’” Mosley says. The crowd listened with rapt attention. And many of Mosley’s teammates later affirmed his ability to communicate the message of Christ’s sacrificial death. “That’s when it was pressed on my heart: ‘I can do this, I can minister for the Lord,’” Mosley says. “And then God isolated me.” As his teammates flew home, Mosley hunkered down in a dorm room, hoping he’d soon catch on with a professional team. He took part in two tryouts, but mostly he waited. And waited. And waited. At first, time passed slowly. Mosley didn’t speak Portuguese. His friends were thousands of miles away. "No noise. I was isolated. I was alone,” he says. What Mosley did have was a Bible. So, he began to read. First for 30 minutes, then an hour. An hour soon turned into two, and two into six. For weeks, Mosley couldn’t get enough. During the two years he had spent at Master’s, Mosley grew in his knowledge of God and Scripture through classes and chapel. But now — without distractions from his personal reading — the text was jumping off the page. “I was reading the Old Testament, reading about Yahweh,” Mosley says. “I wasn’t just reading the stories anymore. I was reading who He is.”
John, second from right, played for the Mustangs during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. John’s cousin, James Mosley, is far left.
Mosley never did sign a professional contract in Brazil. But it didn’t seem to matter. He returned home with a fresh passion for God’s Word and for using basketball as an avenue for the gospel. *** In 1998, Mosley received a phone call from longtime TMU men’s basketball coach Bill Oates. Oates had an offer. He said he’d pay for the final class Mosley needed to graduate if Mosley returned as an assistant. Mosley was in. For the next eight years, he worked alongside Oates, watching as the TMU hall-of-fame coach used adversity to refocus the Mustangs on honoring Christ. Mosley also saw how Oates met his players where they were at spiritually. Oates didn’t preach at them, instead coming alongside them and urging them to follow Jesus. In 2006, Mosley applied those lessons, if more subtly, to his new role as an assistant coach at NCAA Division 1 Cal State Bakersfield. He relished competing at such a high level, but the job had its drawbacks. As the recruiting coordinator, he was often on the road finding the next wave of talent.
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and give you the truth,” James says. “And we know God’s Word doesn’t come back void.” For John Mosley, this plays out in a variety of ways.
Mosley developed into an extension of head coach Bill Oates on the court. Here Mosley gets in a lift at TMU’s fitness center.
That’s when East Los Angeles College, where Mosley played his first two years of collegiate basketball, entered the picture. He loved the idea of coaching without sacrificing so much time with his wife, LaShaunda, and their three children. The situation has been mutually beneficial. Since taking the job in 2012, Mosley has led East L.A. to 189 wins and eight straight state playoff appearances. And Silver Waves Media recently named him one of the 50 most impactful coaches in community college men’s basketball. Still, what Mosley’s most proud of is helping dozens of players transfer to four-year universities, opening the door to a lifetime of new opportunities. One key to that accomplishment is that Mosley can challenge his players and hold them accountable because they know he cares. That connection has also created opportunities to witness for Christ, says James Mosley, who played alongside John, his cousin, at TMU. “He’s always had that heart of, ‘Hey, because of the truth of God, I can meet you where you’re at. I can serve you
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Before games, he prays with his team. At practice, he’s loud and demonstrative, but he carefully guards his language (something that stood out in a raw Netflix documentary featuring the Huskies). When Mosley’s players ask, "Coach, what are you up to this weekend?” he tells them he’ll be at a church activity and that they should come. On road trips, he gives players free rein over the music playlist. But no matter how many songs they choose, Mosley gets an equal number. And his picks are often spontaneous worship tracks that can last up to 10 minutes — each. Most importantly, when players come to Mosley “lost” and looking for peace, he tells them he has no answers in and of himself. All he can tell them is where he goes for comfort. “In those moments, they may be looking for me to pump them up,” Mosley says. “But that’s not what I have to offer. What I have to offer is the way that I attain peace. And that’s through prayer and through connecting with my Lord and Savior.” After those conversations, he tells his players they can text him if they want to know more about the God who isolated Mosley in Brazil and set him on a mission to reach these men for Christ. “The only reputation worth having is for God to say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’” he says.
MASON NESBITT is the communications manager at The Master’s University.
ALUMNI FOCUS
READY... SET... BUILD!
AT T M U , H E AT H E R L A R S E N W O R K E D
O N A VA R I E T Y O F F I L M A N D T H E AT E R P R O J E C T S . A LO N G T H E WAY, S H E
D E V E LO P E D A PA S S I O N F O R S E T D E S I G N T H AT ’ S T U R N E D I N T O A C A R E E R
When Heather Larsen was a high school sophomore, two things happened: Marvel Studios released “The Avengers,” and her church hosted a movie-themed costume contest. On a whim, Larsen decided to build a full Iron Man suit out of foam and cardboard. She spent maybe $300 on the project and won $25 from the contest — but since then, the return on investment has been considerable. 17
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by K A E LY N P E A Y
Says Larsen, “That costume just started so many things.” In 2019, Larsen graduated from the Cinema & Digital Arts program at The Master’s University, having worked on a wide variety of film and theater projects as a student. Her time at TMU was a process of discovering her creative gifts and passions and learning how she wanted to use them as a witness for Christ in the workplace. So far,
that has included professional set builds for a YouTube channel, an amusement park, and award shows. And this fall, Larsen will start a Master of Fine Arts program at San Diego State University to learn still more about her craft, building on the foundation she laid at TMU. *** For Larsen, coming to TMU was a natural choice. When she was 4, her father, David Larsen, started working at TMU as the head athletic trainer and a professor of kinesiology. She says she “basically grew up” in the school’s gymnasium, with student-athletes providing pro bono babysitting. Larsen loved sports, but when it came time to decide on a major for college, she heard about TMU’s Cinema & Digital Arts program, headed by Prof. Matt Green. “I liked movies,” she says, “so I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll study movies!’” During Larsen’s freshman year, she watched as many of her wingmates joined TMU Theatre Arts. From doing projects like the Iron Man suit, Larsen knew she enjoyed building things, so she decided to join the program’s crew. And she immediately loved it. “Getting to express yourself creatively is so much fun. And the heart that (Theatre Arts Director) Tricia Hulet has behind that program really impressed me,” Larsen says. “She was encouraging us with the idea that theater is about serving other people. I was attracted to that, and I also liked working with other students and getting to know people personally.” During Larsen’s second year, she learned stage lighting, and she eventually became the crew lead for lighting design. “And then I started thinking, ‘Well, I can design the lights — but I want to design the set, too,’” she says. So, Larsen started working on set design closely with Hulet, who mentored Larsen and influenced Larsen’s taste as a designer. Then came the pivotal production: “Sabrina Fair.” Hulet turned the reins over to Larsen, giving her carte blanche to design the set.
“It was so cool to go from an idea in my head, to a sketch, to a digital drawing, to drawn plans,” Larsen says. “And then during set build, I gave those plans to people, and I sat back and watched the walls go up. And then I sat on opening night and saw the set with the lights on it, and I got to enjoy this completed idea that started off as just a possibility gnawing away in my head.” While Larsen was gaining and practicing these skills in theater, she was also actively involved in film production through the Cinema & Digital Arts program. “Being on these sets, you get to interact with a lot of industry professionals,” Larsen says. “The first two short films had a production designer who was a TMU graduate, and I got to learn under her. But after that, Prof. Green said, ‘You’re going to do the production design now.’ So I got to do production design for the films as well as the theater shows. And I’m super grateful to have had the opportunity to do both. At a lot of other schools, I probably would have had to pick.” As a senior, Larsen also started using her new skills beyond TMU, building sets for a YouTube channel. She kept working at her fledgling career after graduation, doing builds for events at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Then she joined a shop in Burbank that works on events like the Grammys and the Golden Globes. “I walked in my first day and I was the youngest person in the shop by 15 years. I was also the only female carpenter, and the only Christian,” Larsen says “But they respected my work ethic, and I started to build some really good relationships there.” As she has transitioned to working professionally, Larsen continues to apply lessons she learned at TMU. One of the most important has been from Hulet. “Tricia would always say, ‘If you and another person are painting a wall together, and you don’t know them, just start asking questions,’” Larsen says. “I’ve been able to take that habit into other workplaces. Over the course of weeks and months, I’ve gotten to know people well and build relationships — to the point that I’ve had someone ask me out of the blue, ‘Why is there suffering
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projects I did here, that design is what I want to do,” she says. “At first, it was the realization that this was really fun for me. And as I continued to work, it was the realization that I can actually do this professionally.”
This fall, Larsen begins a three-year graduate program at San Diego State studying production design and technology. in the world?’ If you’ve established yourself with a good reputation, they’ll listen to what you have to say.” Larsen is also grateful for everything she learned in her CDA classes, which gave her a well-rounded knowledge of every aspect of the production process — something she believes is important in the industry. Green, the CDA director, says that this broad exposure, which gave Larsen the freedom to experiment and discover what she wants to do professionally, is an important part of the program’s design. “Everybody is gifted differently,” he says. “I want students to come here and find out what their gifts are. Some of them come thinking, ‘I want to be a director.’ Then they direct a couple things and go, ‘I don’t want to do that ever again. But I really love doing this over here.’ I want students to feel safe to make mistakes, try different things, and experiment, so they can figure out what God has gifted them to do.”
This fall, Larsen begins a three-year graduate program at San Diego State studying production design and technology. And to this day, after everything she has worked on, the Iron Man suit remains one of her favorite projects. As much as anything else, it symbolizes advice that Larsen remembers from her very first crew meeting with Hulet: take every opportunity you get. “Say yes to things, because you’ll never be this young again or have this much energy again,” says Larsen.
“Master’s is the most unique place for young believers to be able to grow and develop alongside other people. You can really challenge each other and work with each other like at no other college.”
Larsen knows that’s exactly what happened to her. “It just became more and more apparent, the more
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KAELYN PEAY is a writer in the marketing department at The Master’s University.
JUST CATCHING UP
andrew + megan dexter tmu connection Megan (maiden name Rhoads) graduated from TMU in 2007 with a degree in biblical studies. Andrew graduated in 2008 with a degree in business administration and an emphasis in finance.
children Lyla - 5 Claire - 3 Clayton - 1 month
where they're at Plano, Texas
on the job Andrew is an executive vice president at Todd Dexter & Associates, a direct response marketing agency that specializes in fundraising for nonprofits. Megan, after almost a decade of working with prolife and disability ministries, is now focused on raising the family’s three children.
how can the tmu community pray for you? “You can pray that our family would find community and ways to serve in our new church.”
kaycee cox tmu connection Kaycee Cox (maiden name Jew) graduated from TMU in 2015 with a degree in liberal studies and an emphasis in teacher education. In 2017, she returned to TMU and earned her teacher's credential.
husband Kyler Cox
favorite memory at tmu “As cliché as it sounds, my favorite memories at TMU revolve around the friends I made, especially my credential cohort. I'll never forget the crazy projects, hard lessons, and funny moments we shared.”
where she's at San Luis Obispo, California
on the job Kaycee has worked as a first-grade teacher, a special education paraeducator, and now a fourth-grade teacher.
how can the tmu community pray for you? “After a hard 2020-2021 school year, you can pray for endurance, empathy and faithfulness for me (and other educators) as I teach in this upcoming school year.”
JOB BOARD
ALUMNI
JOB BOARD Spiritual Life Director A P P LY N O W
Senior Pastor A P P LY N O W
Investor Services A P P LY N O W
Content Coordinator Assistant A P P LY N O W
Second-Grade Teacher A P P LY N O W
For a full list, visit alumni.masters.edu/jobs.
August
2021
22
SCHOLARSHIP HIGHLIGHT
THE LYDIA ENDOWMENT This endowment fund was established by friends of The Master’s University in order to enhance the faculty at TMU. The endowment began in 2012 and is founded upon Acts 16:14-15. The income from the fund is used to support, retain, and/or recruit faculty at TMU, including, but not limited to, augmenting the salaries of new or existing faculty in order to make them more competitive in the higher-education job market. The faculty at TMU are experts in their fields and accomplished academics. All faculty are united in their shared commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture and have devoted their lives to the training up of future generations of the church to the glory of God. As we seek to honor the Lord through our University, it is important that we are able to provide resources to our current faculty for professional development, as well as seek out highly qualified candidates to fulfill new faculty appointments as we continually increase the number of academic programs available to students. TO LEARN MORE, VISIT MASTERS.EDU/LYDIA-ENDOWMENT.
