MINISTRY & LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE RECEIVES TWO AWARDS FOR ARTICLE
The Evangelical Press Association awards program, held in California this year, awarded the article third place in the general article (long) category and fifth place in the devotional category. Paul Schwarz, editor of the M&L magazine, accepted the award. If you would like to get on the mailing list for the M&L magazine, either by email or snail mail, click here. | May 13, 2014 | Issue #154 DATES TO REMEMBER May 17 - RTS/Atlanta Commencement in the chapel at 10am. Dr. L. Roy Taylor is the speaker. May 17 - RTS/Jackson Commencement at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson at 10am. Chancellor Ligon Duncan is the speaker. May 23 - RTS/Orlando Commencement at St. Andrews Chapel in Sanford, Fla., at 7:30pm. Dr. Philip G. Ryken is the speaker. May 24 - RTS/Charlotte Commencement at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC., at 11am. Dr. John Yates, II, is the speaker. May 27 - 29 - 2014 USA Ministers' Conference in Elizabethtown, Pa., with Derek Thomas and a representative from RTS/Washington DC. May 30 - RTS/Washington DC Commencement at McLean Presbyterian Church in McLean at 7:30pm. Chancellor Ligon Duncan is the speaker. June 27-29 - The Gospel Coalition's 2014 National Women's Conference in Orlando, Fla. RTS is a major sponsor for this event. | ||
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| RTS TRAINED COUNSELORS SERVE DISASTER AREA At least 15 tornadoes were on the ground in Mississippi on Monday, April 28. One of them went through Louisville, Miss., as an EF-4 with winds of about 200 mph. There was much loss of life and possessions. According to Sherry Lanier, MNA disaster response and short-term missions facilitator, a team of RTS trained counselors departed for Louisville on Friday, May 2, in order to serve at Fair Elementary School in Louisville. One of the school's 8-year-old students, Tyler, was killed along with his parents in the storm. The school requested grief counselors, and RTS Jackson graduates Stephanie Hathorn (MAMFT '12), Alyssa Hasson (MAMFT '10), and Emily Rankin Jernigan (MAMFT '10), dropped everything to go and be with the students at the school as they process through this great loss. Read more about Tyler and the tornadoes here. MINISTRY & LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE HAS ARRIVED!  In the spring/summer issue of the M&L magazine, recently mailed, Dr. Michael McKelvey shares with us "Abraham's Call," in the classroom section, describing a gift meant to bless everyone, not just the receiver. In the Faith and Life section, Dr. Elias Medeiros takes us in for an up-close look at the Reformers during the 16th century. Read about our alumni featured in this issue, which are: Andrew Garza and his mission work as team leader for MTW in northern Mexico; Marcus Berger, a high school math teacher, now training at RTS/Houston; and Amaldo Espinel, a petroleum engineer who is also training at RTS/Houston. Also included is Chancellor's Duncan's article, "A New Reformed Movement," based on a message he gave to the RTS Board of Directors at a meeting this fall, and an interview with Dr. Voddie Baucham, pastor of preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, visiting lecturer at RTS/Houston, and emerging leader in the Reformed evangelical movement. You will find some pictures from the Knox Chamblin Scholarship Fund event at RTS/Jackson. TWIN LAKES FELLOWSHIP 2014  Rev. David Strain (pictured right, courtesy of Chancellor Duncan) spoke at the annual Twin Lakes Fellowship at Twin Lakes Camp and Conference Center in Florence, Miss. Strain is the senior minister elect of the First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., where Chancellor Duncan previously pastored for 17 years. Chancellor Duncan also interviewed Dr. Mike Kruger, president of RTS Charlotte and discussed the canon of Scripture. Listen to the interview here. Chancellor Duncan also interviewed Dr. Chuck Hill about the books he has written and the latest book responding to Bart Ehrman's controversial book. Listen to Dr. Hill's interview here. Listen to other recordings including those by Dr. Sean Lucas and Dr. Derek Thomas here. REGISTER NOW FOR SUMMER TERM AND D.MIN. CLASSES Here are just a few of the many courses available this summer at RTS: Dr. Derek Thomas will teach Covenant Theology at RTS/Atlanta and Theology of Calvin at RTS/Charlotte; Dr. Scott Redd will teach Isaiah to Malachi at RTS/Houston and Intro to Past and Theological Studies at RTS/Memphis; Dr. Steve Brown will teach Radical Grace at RTS/Orlando. In Jackson, the Summer Institute of Biblical Languages (SIBL) will run from June 23 to Aug. 15. Greek, Hebrew and Latin will be offered Mon - Fri 1-4:00 p.m. and Aramaic will be taught on Tues/Thurs 9:30-noon. For the doctoral students: Steve Brown will teach Applied Theology: Grace for the Worn Out Pastor at RTS/Atlanta; Dr. Derek Thomas will teach Pastoral Care at RTS/Orlando. ORDINATION SERVICE OF DR. BAUGUS IN MAY Dr. Bruce Baugus, associate professor of philosophy and theology, will be ordained into the Mississippi Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America on May 11, during the evening service at Trinity Presbyterian Church at 6:00 p.m. The church address is 5301 Old Canton Rd., Jackson, MS. DR. KRUGER BLOGS ON BART EHRMAN'S CONTROVERSIAL BOOK "I am beginning a series of blog posts responding to Ehrman’s new book," writes Dr. Mike Kruger, president of RTS Charlotte, an author of the blog Canon Fodder. "Some of these posts will draw on aspects of my forthcoming review, and some of these will be new observations about his book. This first post falls into the latter category and concerns the internal contradictions within Ehrman’s own worldview." Read the first blog here and the second blog here. WATCH CHANCELLOR'S MESSAGE AT T4G  In case you missed it, click here to view Dr. Ligon Duncan's message on "The Gospel by Numbers - Part I." "It's a book of history and Americans hate history," says Duncan. He notes, "...one British scholar said, 'War is God's way of teaching Americans history and geography.'" He says it is full of people behaving badly---just like us, and it is filled with strange and bizarre rituals. Click here to listen to all of the messages from the conference.RTS DC PREVIEW DAY  Geoff Sackett, admissions director at RTS/Washington DC (pictured far left) leads a panel of students, sharing their call on Preview Day in April. DR. DON SWEETING BLOGS ABOUT SAINTS IN SCRIPTURE In April, the Roman Catholic church beatified former Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, an important step on the road to being declared saints. Read Dr. Don Sweeting's blog on "Saints in Scripture" to learn more about saints. He begins, "All kinds of definitions of saints have been given. A cynic once said, 'a saint is a dead sinner, revised and edited.' I recall that the famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson said, 'the saints are merely sinners who kept on going.'" Continue here. STAFF PROFILE  Elizabeth McAdams joined the RTS/Orlando staff in January as a development coordinator. She assists Bob Emeott, Orlando’s Executive Vice President, with grant writing, special events, and mailings. Elizabeth is a native of Michigan and a graduate of Cedarville University (B.A., Communication Arts, 2011). Her previous professional experience includes freelance writing, volunteer recruitment for a social service agency, and supervising staff at a summer camp in Northern Michigan. She comes from a family with a rich tradition of vocational Christian service, and she’s passionate about helping seminarians graduate without debt so that they are free to follow the Lord’s calling on their lives. Elizabeth’s husband, Rob, is currently finishing his first year studies at RTS. | Richard Aguilar (M.Div. '97) After some serious health issues this past year, Richard, pastor of Christ the Redeemer in Ecuador, reports he is doing much better. He is pictured above after a 2 hour walk to the Pita River Cascade during a church outing. He asks for prayer for the Lord to provide the church with their own space for ministry and for so many around them. They would love to set up a good library, have space for refreshments and have space for a Ping-Pong table. Richard is also the VP of the Ecuador Bible Society and they are in a big campaign to get a many Bibles into an unchurched area. Chris Brock (M.Div. '12)  Chris and Donnette Brock, serving with Mission to the World, are planning to plant churches in France with EPREF (Evangelical Protestant Church of France). They will leave this summer for Belgium for cross-cultural ministry training. In January, they will start language school. The team they are joining has planted several of these churches in the Marseille area. The Brocks have two young children, Avonlea and Oliver. Connice Dyar (MATS '08) Connice serves The Sports Outreach Group as a women's chaplain for Joe Gibbs Racing near Charlotte, NC. She evangelizes and disciples drivers' wives and other women connected to NASCAR. She has been involved in racing in different capacities since 1994. Her husband Robert, also a chaplain, is the founder and president of The Sports Outreach Group, which works with churches and does chaplaincy ministry to sports teams throughout the world. Justin Holcomb (MATS '97, MACT '97)  The very prolific Justin Holcomb, adjunct professor of theology at RTS Orlando, guest faculty at RTS Washington DC, and canon of vocations at the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, has written another book, along with his wife Lindsey, titled, Is It My Fault? Hope and Healing for Those Suffering Domestic Violence. Holcomb serves on the boards of REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade) and GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments.) Order the book here and remember to use smile.amazon.com and select RTS as your charity. Mike Kuhn (M.Div. '00) We mentioned in March that Mike and Stephanie, serving in Lebanon, were taking steps to join World Outreach, and now they are official appointees with WO, the mission arm of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. They believe that joining WO will provide accountability, fellowship, and more streamlined financial processes. Stephanie is tutoring the kids of the seminary students and they have opened their home to a weekly marriage and family study for married students. Mike, along with teaching at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, has been writing a church-planting course for LEARN and preaching occasionally. He is also working on his Ph.D. They traveled to the US for their daughter Emily's graduation from Covenant College on May 10. Randy Rainwater (MABS '11) Randy has served as the pastor of students at Grace Snellville in Snelville, GA., for 16 years and reaches over a thousand high school and middle school students each week. He also serves as board chairman of Campus Thrive, a student-led middle school program with over 800 students attending. He volunteers with NG3, a chaplain ministry to local sports teams and is a regular speaker at private and public school conferences and church retreats. He is married to Anita and they have three adult children. Kent Muhling (M.Div. '01) Kent and his wife Yuko, serving in Sendai, Japan with Asian Access through SIM, had a great Easter celebration with their church planting core group, three unbelieving families and three young singles. "Our guests had no idea what Easter was celebrating, so it was a brand new story for them." They have been attending Furisuku (short for Furisukuru) which is Japanese English school. "More than half of those who come are university students, and its been a great way to build relationships." They plan to start monthly gatherings for university students and weekly ladies' and men's small groups. Also this year, Yuko began working with a weekly radio ministry for tsunami victims. William Robfogel (M.Div. '76) Bill recently underwent eye surgery and his wife Edna reports he still has some pain but the surgery was successful and they await further healing. | ||
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RTS E-Newsletter iss. #154 May 13, 2014
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