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Certainty in the New Year
Many of us are facing the New Year with a good deal of uncertainty. For increasing numbers an unstable economy is creating anxiety about personal income and employment. Many in our society also face our new global realities with a deep philosophical uncertainty. The intellectual spirit of the age has eroded confidence about what we can know and, therefore, about how we should live in the coming year. Our current circumstances leave many individuals, ministries, and businesses without certainty about what 2012 holds. In light of this I found some Bible reading during advent really helpful. I was reading Luke’s account about the arrival of the Savior and was struck by the pastoral purpose of his opening paragraph (Luke 1:1-4). He wrote a closely researched orderly account of what had, in fact, happened so that Theophilus might have certainty concerning the things he was taught (vv.3-4). The things he had been taught was what had been accomplished, according to the Apostles’ witness (v.1). Luke wrote his gospel to provide certainty about what has been accomplished in Jesus! As I continued to read through the gospel I was amazed (I know as a Westminster alumnus I shouldn’t be but I still am) and deeply satisfied at how full Jesus accomplishment of the OT promise and hope was. The promises through Isaiah, Daniel, and Malachi, promises made to Abraham, and David, realization of types in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, to name a few were all accomplished by Jesus. And that’s before reading the other end of the Luke’s account and all that our Savior once and for all accomplished for our forgiveness in his death and resurrection. These accomplishments are things of which we can be certain according to the Scriptures! Your redemption accomplished by Christ might not be all you can be sure of in the fluid circumstances of 2012 but if it is, it’s enough! Jesus’ accomplishment on behalf of the believer is, in fact, life. The forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace with God which Christ has accomplished, in God’s faithfulness to his promises and plan, has been the sure and certain hope of the Church through every season of poverty, hunger, weeping, and suffering, God has seen fit to allow in this age.[1] The uncertainty of future circumstances can push our hearts and minds back to what life really is, it can turn the theology we confess into the biography we live. If we’ll embrace them by faith, the things we’ve been taught will provide a sure foundation and fountain of life. In whatever has been appointed for us is in the coming year remember and believe Jesus is certain! [1] Cp. Luke 6:20-26 for Jesus’ expectation of the Church’s experience in this age. Partnering with you for kingdom purposes, Rev. John Currie, MAR, director of student development and alumni relations
P.S. Sign-up and login for access to all our rich, historic audio archives. The Media Center is easily accessible for your ongoing equipping. At www.wts.edu, go to popular links on the lower right hand corner of the page. The Shepherd Leader, Asia
Congratulations Dr. Witmer! The best-selling book by Rev. Dr. Timothy Witmer, The Shepherd Leader, is now available in many Asian countries with the help of Authentic Books! Dr. Witmer announced on his blog recently that, "This edition is in English but will be marketed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. How humbling it is to see the Lord using this work. Of course, every flock of Christ everywhere needs shepherds who will care for them. Please pray with me that the Lord will use The Shepherd Leader in these nations for his glory." |
2011: A Year in Review
Westminster Theological Seminary has been greatly blessed this past year.
From the snow in January to the Christmas season in December, this has been an active year in the life of Westminster Theological Seminary. 111 students graduated in May, and in August we welcomed our highest M.Div. enrollment at 243. Both Kevin DeYoung and Al Mohler spoke on campus, we hosted our second annual Science and Faith Conference, and we awarded two new faculty chairs. Through everything, God has been faithful to sustain Westminster this past year, and we look to Him to sustain us in the next. Who is my Neighbor?
On November 19, 2011, a group of Westminster students helped one of our seminary neighbors by raking and bagging her leaves, and doing some preventative pruning. The effort was spearheaded by officers of the Student Association and demonstrates in a practical way love for God through loving our neighbor. I Remember Glad Tidings of Joy
Former board member, Rev. Paul Settle tells the story of his first Christmas, 2010, without his wife, Georgia. There are not many things left. We've down-sized every year for the past ten years. The boxes and boxes of angel figurines and ornaments and wreaths and lights and crystal bells are almost no more. The treasured things have dwindled down, like autumn leaves, to a precious few. And they are precious, because they each represent wonderful hours with Georgia and the kids, unpacking, admiring, squinting and pursing lips and nodding heads as the just-right-place is searched out to display each item. Korean Christmases I have Known
The following is an article from Korea Calling, December 1972 (slightly edited). The author, Bruce Hunt, was for many years an OPC missionary in Korea. Reprinted from New Horizons, December 2000. My first Christmas in Korea was spent in Pyongyang, in what is now North Korea. It was in 1903, then the days of the old Korean king, seven years before Japan annexed the country. I don't remember anything about it, though I must have spent most of the day in the arms of my mother [being six months old—Ed.], who had only one more Christmas on this earth and now lies in a cemetery near the city of my birth, in North Korea.
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