| March |  |
2011 |
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Endurance and Patience
A few days ago I visited with an alumnus who serves as the pastor of a church. As our conversation went along, he related how he had experienced a tumultuous couple of years in ministry. In God’s kindness, he feels that he and his family have come through their trial more refined and are looking forward to the next season of service. But it also reminds me of the dreadful statistic that many don’t make it through the first 3-5 years of pastoral ministry. Serving fallen people in a fallen world, as a pastor who still battles his own sin, can be full of soul crushing experiences. Here we can draw encouragement from Paul’s prayer for the Colossian Christians. Colossians 1:9-14 tells us that, while fully confident they had been brought from darkness to light (v. 13-14), he asked God to strengthen them with power for endurance and patience with joy (v.11). The Scripture leads us to believe that, in the experience of redemption in this age, (1) endurance and patience will be required, (2) it will require nothing less than the power of God’s glorious might to be realized, and (3) it should be requested through prayer. When I served as a pastor, my darkest times (and when I made the dumbest choices) were the seasons when I forgot that these virtues were fruit the Spirit intended to produce in my life; and also when I also forgot the abundant resources available to me as a subject of the kingdom of God’s beloved Son…through prayer.. I write this short thought to encourage those of you who are warring amidst the thorns and thistles of ministry. The fact that you need endurance and patience does not mean you’re doing it wrong or don’t belong where you are. The fact that you are Christ’s servant in his kingdom means you have the wisdom and understanding of the Spirit and the glorious might of Christ’s resurrection available to you. And God will supply you with these blessings for endurance and patience as your father who listens to your prayers. Partnering with you for kingdom purposes,  Rev. John Currie, MAR, director of student development and alumni relations
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Fourth Annual Gaffin Lecture
Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be speaking at the fourth annual Gaffin Lecture on " Theology, Culture, and Mission," by the generous provision of John and Edna Vosbigian. The lecture will be held on March 2, 2011 at 10:30 am in Rust Auditorium. The Gaffin Lecture on Theology Culture and Missions is a lecture in biblical or systematic theology to honor the work of Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., professor of biblical and systematic theology, emeritus. Past lectures have been given by Drs. Bruce Waltke, Robert Letham, and Paul Wells. New Student Center Open!
The Carriage House was officially dedicated on Tuesday, February 15, 2011! From Rev. Greg Hobaugh, Dean of Students: "By God’s gracious provision, we’ve been able to transform the bottom floor of the Carriage House – most recently the on-campus bookstore – into a student café....In all of these efforts, it is our desire that these venues will foster deeper Christ-centered relationships through conversations and interactions as we daily build one another up in the Gospel." FULL STORYBibleWorks 8 Instructional Workshop
The Center for Theological Writing cordially invites students and alumni to join us Saturday, March 12 for a BibleWorks training workshop. These workshops will demonstrate the use of BibleWorks 8. There will be an "Essentials Workshop" at 8:30am, and an "Intermediate Workshop at 1pm." Registration is required, and there is a $30 fee for each session. Congratulations, Groves Center!
The J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research has officially gained 501(c)3 status as a non-profit organization! "Westminster Theological Seminary was used of God to provide the means to create the Groves Center. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Lillback, and the Westminster family as a whole, for their sincere interest and wholehearted support." - Dr. Kirk Lowery, President and Senior Research Fellow of the Groves Center (pictured, right) FULL STORY
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