covenant magazine - [winter 2003]
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The Magazine of Covenant Theological Seminary
What Is CovenantCommunity?
The Living Is in the Waiting
Proud Parent of a Skateboarder
COVENANTVol 18, No. 4 Winter 2003-2004
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004
Jerram Barrs, Professor of Christianity and Contemporary
Culture, writes in his series on “The Christian Mind” that the
problem of evil is one of the most perplexing and persistent
questions non-Christians ask. Prof. Barrs was consumed with
the question prior to his conversion and was initially turned
off to Christianity by those who told him just to believe and
not to bother with such issues.
Later Barrs wrote that this ostensibly well-intended instruction fundamentally
lacked compassion by not offering him a reasonable basis for faith. If Christians do not
have adequate answers to such basic human questions then we should not expect others
to respond positively to the truths we espouse.
Likewise if we cannot view, in its entirety, the setting into which God’s Son was
born, we will miss a crucial truth in proclaiming the hope of the Gospel both to
ourselves and to those around us. In this issue of Covenant magazine Dr. Zack Eswine,
Assistant Professor of Homiletics, takes us back to the moment of Christ’s entry into
our world as a babe. Rather than placing the focus on the babe cradled in the arms
of his mother, in which we all rejoice, he reminds us of a more exterior picture.
The picture is one of Herod reacting violently to all who would threaten his evil power.
Dr. Eswine’s message is a comfort to us as we realize that this world is not the way
it ought to be, even at Christmastime. In fact, Christmas at times reminds us more
starkly of the fallenness of our world. Within this realistic picture of the conflict of
darkness and light the birth of Christ shines glorious. Within this picture of competing
glories the angels are able most boldly to sing, “Glory to God in the highest.”
Praise the Lord that He did not stand by idle while evil ravaged the world. From
the earliest pages of Scripture we see that God intends good, not harm for us. In His
mercy he sent His Son to save mankind from the sinful suffering of which man himself
is the cause.
Please pray for students at Covenant Seminary – that their training, both inside the
classroom and out, would help them to bring the whole Gospel message to the whole
world. Pray that they would be increasingly hopeful regarding the work of God in their
own lives and the lives of their families in the midst of competing challenges and that
they would be able to bring that hope to others.
2Why We Need Herod In Our Nativity Sets
Embracing the Hope of ChristmasDR. ZACHARY ESWINE
6The Living
Is in the WaitingDR. DONALD GUTHRIE
11What Is Covenant
Community?Snapshots of Daily Happenings
at Covenant Seminary
24Proud Parent
of a Skateboarder Becoming an Advocate
of Your Child’s Constructive Interests
- YOUTH IN MINISTRY INSTITUTE -
From the President
Alumni News 10
Events 19
Intercessor 22
Campus News 28
Student Profile 30
Volume 18, No. 4
Winter 2003-2004
Conference Brings TogetherPastors and Ministry Leadersfrom Around the Nation
The Fall Pastors’ Conference held atCovenant Seminary this past Octoberbrought together more than 70 pastorsand ministry leaders for teaching and renewal. The conference wasthemed Reaching Hearts with theGospel in a Changing World andaddressed issues such as Plugged in but Not Connected: Profile of North America’s EmergingGeneration, Cross-Cultural ChurchMinistry, and Profile of Today’sEvangelical Church.
This was the first conference of its kind forCovenant Seminary and gave a wonderful start to a ministry that the seminary seeks to continue. As Dr. Bryan Chapell noted on the first night of the conference, the seminary does not intend to givestudents a diploma and then say, “Have a nice life.”Instead the goal at Covenant Seminary is to continue to develop resources for life-long learning in order to support and equip church leaders for alifetime of ministry.
BY DR. ZACHARY ESWINE
Assistant Professor of Homiletics
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 2
Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old
sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel ever struck out generous
fire…he carried his own low temperature always about with him…external
heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no
wintry weather chill him…even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him;
and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and
up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all
is better than an evil eye, dark master!” But what did Scrooge care! It was the
very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning
all human sympathy to keep its distance.1
www.covenantseminary.edu 3 Training Servants of the Triune God
Embracing the Hope of Christmas
1Charles Dickens, Christmas Books in Oxford Illustrated Dickens (Oxford University Press, 1997), 8.
he Scrooge of the opening
Christmas seasons was King
Herod. When he was troubled, all Israel
was troubled with him (Matt. 2:3).
“Warning human sympathy to keep its
distance,” Herod was a man who made
others afraid while in the presence of the
“low temperature” that he always carried
with him. It is no wonder that Herod is one character we
choose to leave out of our Christmas nativity sets. I’d like to
suggest, however, that keeping Herod in our nativity scenes
is required if we are to embrace the depth of the hope that
Christmas intends. Whereas Scrooge was eventually warmed,
Herod never was. And whereas Scrooge was not easily both-
ered by what others said, Herod the king was easily set off.
There are only a few of us who have never tasted the
pain of this kind of explosive and broken presence at
Christmas, and many of us have had to endure its annual
repetition with no friendly midnight ghosts to usher in a
happy ending. This is why Herod matters for so many of us.
But what set him off this time? What angered him this
early Christmas scene? The answer is found in the simplicity
of an ordinary question.
The searchers longingly and unpretentiously asked,
“Where is he who has been born the King of the Jews?”
One can imagine that it was that word “King” that first
caused Herod’s eyebrow to twitch. Keeping a tight rein
upon his own power occupied him constantly. Such a simple
question unearthed his inward fear of losing the props he
used to display his significance. Deep waters are made visible
when such a simple question can unleash a rage so complex.
You see, we must remember to place Herod in our
nativity sets lest we picture for ourselves a Christmas with
no “weeping and loud lamentation” (Matt. 2:18). We must
place Herod in the nativity lest we contemplate a Christmas
absent of the scourge of every two-year-old baby boy; a
Christmas without “Rachel weeping for her children, refus-
ing to be comforted because they are no more”(Matt. 2:18).
T
Herod loved the darkness. Like Scrooge he “fastened the
door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly
too: trimming his candle as he went...Darkness is cheap,
and Scrooge liked it.” 2 And so did Herod.
But some who have become accustomed to avoiding
the wailing at Christmastime might say, “How dower and
cynical you are to speak of such sinful negativity and human
brokenness during a season so merry and filled with joy.”
And I agree that one must never describe Christmas in
terms that rob the promise of joy to the
world. But I say to you, the celebration
of Christmas for many is far from merry,
far from happy.
What does Christmas offer these
broken ones? How can Christmas songs
find their way into the abandoned
dark of 3 a.m. eyes, staring, red, through
the forgotten windows of the night?
No, my friend, we must have Herod
in the nativity lest our poor wailing
Rachels have a holiday with no promised
fulfillment from God amid their pain.
Christmas, you must always remember,
exposes the weeping that the prophet
had foretold. When Scrooge was asked
how much he could contribute to helping
the poor and destitute, “Nothing” was
his reply. “You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge.
“I support the establishments I have
mentioned – they cost enough; and
those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would
rather die,” the collectors replied. “If they would rather
die, said Scrooge, “they had better do it and decrease the
surplus population.” 3
We mourn for Scrooge. But we must remember to mourn
for those destitute ones whose only choice, if they are to
retain their human dignity, is death. What Christmas song
do we have for them if Herod is absent from our nativity?
Isn’t it true, that it is only when Herod is placed back into
the nativity scene that Isaiah’s prophecy comes to light and
Christmas speaks to the low realities of destitute lives?
For Isaiah said, “they will look to the earth, but behold
distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they
will be thrust into thick darkness.” The prophecy speaks
of something entering gloom. And it is in this setting that
the seekers asked, “Where is the one who has been born
King of the Jews?”
Only in this darkness can Isaiah’s finished statements
begin to warmly glow and with heating intensity to shine.
Only in this darkened complexity can the
simplicity of the question discover the
beauty which Christmas offers. For Isaiah
said to the displaced and songless ones,
“But there will be no gloom for her who
was in anguish. In the former time he
brought into contempt the land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but
in the latter time he has made glorious
the way of the sea, the land beyond
the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have
seen a great light; those who dwelt in a
land of deep darkness, on them has light
shined…for unto us a child is born, to us
a son is given”(Is. 9:1,2,6a).
Do you see it? Herod must be in
your nativities because Christmas is a
gift, not for the rich, not for the well lit,
not for the luminary, but for those who
live broken by the darkness. Christmas
is a song for the songless; a promise for
the ones burned by broken promises; a
dream for those who have resigned to
never, ever, dream again.
Christmas is God’s testimony that darkness has been
broken! Perhaps the most haunting yet melodious words in
that first nativity scene are these: “But when Herod died,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared…” (Matt. 2:19).
Beloved, it is only when we see that Herod, for all his
boasting, treachery, and terror, is nothing more than a man
trembling and conquered by the spirit of Christmas future.
And our eyes, strained though they may be with the sting
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 4
I’d like to suggest,however, thatkeeping Herod inour nativity scenes is required if we are to embrace the depth of the hope thatChristmas intends.
2 Ibid. 16. 3 Ibid. 12.
of habitual crying, can begin to look again at life.
And there in the absence of the man who would be king,
there is a king who would, for our poor sakes, be a man.
The baby, for all of the man’s venom, remains alive! And
now we begin to taste in some small way why the Book tells
us that “those in darkness have seen a great light!”(Is. 9:2)
So we must put Herod into our view so that we can
embrace the hope of Christmas. And so, to you who
now huddle hidden under the overpasses of this world,
terrified and made weary by the Herodian
tempests that rage upon you, I say to you,
yes especially to you, a son is given!
And His proper name is: “Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).
And who is it that gives the babe this
name? Who is it that gives Christmas
its proper name? Who is it that speaks
peace and good tidings of great joy while
Herod still remains in the nativity?
Hear it from the prophet! “And he shall
be called, Wonderful Counselor.” Who is
it that is doing the calling? It is God
Himself! He is the one making this decla-
ration regarding the babe given to you.
Do you now see that what ultimately
matters amid the tumult of Herod’s fury
is the One who will give the answer to
the searcher’s question, “Where is he
who has been born King of the Jews?!”
The stunning fact is that answering this
question brings you who are in darkness
face to face with what God Himself
believes about Jesus. It is God who has so named the child,
“Wonderful.” It is God who has so named the child,
“Counselor.” It is God who has said to those orphans in
darkness that the name of this child is “Everlasting Father.”
It is God who has declared to those with constant war with-
in, that the name of this child is “Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).
While Herod rages it is God who has declared of this
babe, “the government will be upon his shoulders, of the
increase of his government and of peace there will be no
end” (Is. 9:7). The presence of Herod in your nativity
testifies to you that the searchers found their answer and
that the Herods of this world will never have the last word!
Then and only then will those who are in darkness and
gloom truly see a great light. And then, and truly then,
we will embrace the hope of Christmas. ■
www.covenantseminary.edu 5 Training Servants of the Triune God
Christmas is a song for the songless; a promisefor the ones burnedby broken promises;a dream for thosewho have resigned to never, ever,dream again.
DR. DONALD GUTHRIE
Vice President for Academics and
Associate Professor of Christian Education
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 6
The LIVINGIs in theWaiting
The following devotional wasgiven during an Advent chapelservice at Covenant Seminary.
www.covenantseminary.edu 7 Training Servants of the Triune God
The Living Is in the Waiting
“The living is in the waiting.” “What?” I startled awake. My first child
was about to be born and my wife had already been through about 20 hours
of labor. I was sliding in and out of consciousness between the hallway and
the hospital room. “The living is in the waiting,” the nurse said again.
“Oh, yeah, it sure is,” I managed to reply. If living was in the waiting, I was
doing a boatload of living in the hours between December 4 and 5, 1989.
here is a strange thing about the days of December – they seem to pass
more slowly than the days of any other month. As Christmas comes
nearer, the days get longer and longer, until at last they drag past so
slowly that you wonder if Christmas will ever come.
If this is the way you feel, then I ask you to come with me on a
journey – a journey across an ocean to a strange land, a journey back
in time to a world that had never heard of Christmas.
How would you feel if you had to wait for Christmas not a few
short days or weeks, but hundreds, no thousands of years? You have
known whose birthday Christmas is as far back as you can remember.
But in the world we are going to visit, though the people longed for
Christmas and hoped for it, and prayed for it, they did not know how
or when it would come. For these people it was only a promise. It was
a very old promise. It was a promise given by God…
…in this world we are visiting, the last person who had actually
heard God’s promise spoken was the great-grandfather of the great-
grandfather of the people who lived now. It would have been at least
nine generations ago...1
TYet, whether you are
waiting for the birth
of your child or the
coming of a savior, the
living is in the waiting.
Marianne Radius puts
it this way in her book
A Life of Jesus
for Young Readers:
1 Marianne Radius, A Life of Jesus for Young Readers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1966), 13.
So, would you stake your life on a 300-year-old promise
as those saints did? It was even longer for those who went
before: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets.
They were people with clay feet who in their living in the
waiting looked and longed for a heavenly city (Heb. 11:16).
They were privileged to witness God’s covenant faithfulness
on display as they waited for the first Christmas in faith and
with the strength God gave them.
Consider for a few moments the
following Scripture regarding the coming
of Jesus the Christ:
“And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us and we have seen
his glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father, full of grace and
truth” (John 1:14).
‘“The Spirit of the Lord is on
me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor.’ Then he rolled
up the scroll, gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. The eyes
of everyone in the synagogue were
fastened on him, and he began
by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled
in your hearing’” (Luke 4:18-21).The wait was over! The Savior had come, and was
crucified, dead, and buried, and on the third day he rose up
from the grave! All this accomplished for our benefit!
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and
aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and
members of God’s household, built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself
as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is
joined together and rises to become a holy temple in
the Lord. And in him you too are being built together
to become a dwelling in which God
lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).We are dear, secure, and vital to
His purpose.
“After he said this, he was taken
up before their very eyes, and a
cloud hid him from their sight. They
were looking intently up into the sky
as he was going, when suddenly two
men dressed in white stood beside
them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said,
‘why do you stand here looking into
the sky? This same Jesus, who has
been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you
have seen him go into heaven’”
(Acts1:9-11).Now, as we, God’s people, wait in
faith for Him again, brothers and sisters,
how is the wait going? How is the living
going? People of God, how is living in the waiting going this
second time around? After talking about Christ’s second
coming and the time when “everything will be laid bare,”
Peter asks, “what kind of people ought you to be? You ought
to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of
God and speed its coming” (2 Pet. 3:11,12). Because as Peter
tells us…“we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new
earth, the home of righteousness.”
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 8
And while we wait, theGospel is ouronly hope andstrength as welive for Him andwait on Him.
The living is in the waiting. And while we wait, the
Gospel is our only hope and strength as we live for Him and
wait on Him. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the
body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). He loved me. He gave
himself up for me. He loved us. He gave Himself up for us.
This is the Gospel. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.
1:27). There is no better thing! Search far and wide. There is
no better way to live and to wait!
“Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and
there was no longer any sea. I saw
the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is
with men, and he will live with
them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and
be their God. He will wipe every
tear from their eyes. There will be
no more death or mourning or crying
or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away’”(Rev. 21:1-4).This promised new heavens and new earth is what
our waiting is about. This makes the living in the waiting
bearable and worthwhile and meaningful and joyful. Right
now we live by the power of the Gospel to equip us to honor
God in the now and the not yet. This Lord and Savior in
Revelation 21 is who we are waiting for. He is the one who
makes the living in the waiting bearable and worthwhile and
meaningful and joyful.
No more crying there, we are going to see the King.
No more dying there, we are going to see the King.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We’re going to see the King.2
Father, we your people have waited and you
have come and dwelt among us. Even so, come Lord
Jesus. We are waiting again and you will come again
with power and majesty and authority. Even so,
come Lord Jesus. Strengthen us to
live as we wait in utter dependence
upon you. Teach us to love you and
others. We long for your Kingdom
and kingly rule to be fully realized
on a redeemed earth as it is in
heaven. Even so, come Lord Jesus,
in whose name we pray.
Amen. ■
www.covenantseminary.edu 9 Training Servants of the Triune God
2 Andrea Crouch, Soon and Very Soon, More of the Best (Platinum Ent., 1993)
He is the onewho makes the living in thewaiting bearableand worthwhileand meaningfuland joyful.
L.B. Graham (M.Div.’96) is teaching at WestminsterChristian Academy in St. Louis and writing a series of five novelsto be published by P&RPublishing starting in spring2004. Joanne Graham(M.A.C.’00) is serving withChesterfield PresbyterianChurch’s New Hope CounselingService in St. Louis as a LicensedProfessional Counselor. TheGrahams have two children: Tom (6) and Ella (2).
Army Chaplain Dave Schutter(M.Div.’97) is serving as chaplainto the 327 MP Battalion, anArmy Reserve unit mobilized inFebruary and deployed toAfghanistan in June. Stationed atBagram Air Base, his dutiesinclude preaching, leading Biblestudies, counseling, and support-ing other U.S. and foreign mili-tary units on the base. His wife,Kim, and sons Jonathan and Lukeremain in Naperville, Ill. Dave isthe Associate Pastor of NapervillePresbyterian Church.
Mark Vivian (M.Div.’97) wasordained in the WestminsterPresbyterian Churches, Australia,on May 18, 2003. Rev. DavidCross, Mark’s father-in-law andMTW church planter in England,preached for the ordination andinstallation service. The servicewas held at WestminsterPresbyterian Church, Bull Creek,Western Australia, where Markserves as Associate Pastor. Markand his wife Shelly have threechildren: Kyle (8), Tyler (5), andAynsley (18 mo.).
Howard Brown (M.Div.’98) and Giorgio Hiatt (M.Div.’00)visited the Covenant Seminarycampus on September 19, 2003.The above picture was taken during their visit. Howard gavethe sermon for chapel and together they led a ministry lunch where they spoke about thechurch plant they are leading inCharlotte, N.C., called ChristCentral Church. Howard servesas Senior Pastor and Giorgio asAssistant Pastor.
Randy Q. McReynolds(M.Div.’00) was installed as pastor of Cornerstone Chapel inBristol, Tenn., on October 12.Cornerstone Chapel is an inter-denominational church locatedon King College Road, servingthe Bristol community. Randyand his wife, Beth, now havethree children: Alex (6), Charis (4), and Kendal (1).
Chris Peters (M.Div.’00) was ordained at CovenantPresbyterian Church,Birmingham, Ala., in October2002. David Lovell (M.Div.’92)preached for the ordination service. Chris has been serving as the Pastor of Equipping andAssimilation for CovenantPresbyterian Church since June2002. Chris and Patience wel-comed their first child, CottonMichael, into their family onApril 16, 2003.
Russ Ramsey (M.Div.’00) andmembers of the congregation ofOak Hills Presbyterian Church insuburban Kansas City have start-ed a “Saturday Nights at theInstitute” ministry modeled afterthe Francis Schaeffer Institute’s“Friday Nights at the Institute.”Their Saturday night talks arebeing held in local BordersBookstores. Through this series of lectures and discussions, theyhope to model for Christians how to respectfully dialogue withpeople of varying viewpointswhile seeking to lay foundationsof truth about the world, people,and God. The lectures focus on topics related to culture, philosophy, theology, science andliterature. Russ serves as theAssistant Pastor for Oak Hills.
Chris Florence (M.Div.’01) wasinstalled as Associate Pastor ofSpiritual Life for Severna ParkEvangelical Presbyterian Churchin Pasadena, Md., on Nov. 2,2003. Chris, his wife Suzy, anddaughter Bailey moved toMaryland this past October.
Brad Wright (M.Div.’02) was ordained and installed asPastor of Youth Ministry atTrinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Va., on July 26, 2003. Greg Thompson(M.Div.’00), R.U.F. CampusMinister for the University of Virginia, participated in the service.
John Jones (M.Div.’03) wasordained by the SouthwestPresbytery on Sunday, October 5,2003, as Assistant Pastor ofUniversity Presbyterian Churchin Las Cruces, N.M. MikeMcLaughlin, Church Planting
Pastor of Crossroads Fellowship inAlbuquerque, N.M., (M.Div.’02)gave the sermon and John C.Pickett (M.Div.’73), SeniorPastor of University PresbyterianChurch, presented the vows.
Filling the Quiver
Beth (Cooley) Smoak(M.A.T.’97) and her husband,Charles, have welcomed two children into their family in thepast two years. Kathryn Clairewas born on Jan. 29, 2002, andCaroline Olivia was born, June18, 2003. The Smoak family livesin Cincinnati, Ohio.
Chris (M.Div.’98) and NancyCrain celebrated the birth ofMalachi Keith on Nov. 14, 2002.Malachi joined siblings Miriamand Eden.
Mark (M.Div.’03) and AliceTucker greeted baby boy Isaiahon July 16, 2003. Mark serves asYouth and Family Pastor for OldOrchard Presbyterian Church inSt. Louis, Mo.
Tucker (M.Div.’03) and StacyYork celebrated the birth of their third child, Titus Owen, on Sept. 7, 2003. Tucker serveson the pastoral staff ofWestminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pa.
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 10
ALUMNInew
s
If you have information for Alumni News, please mail it to Covenant Magazineor e-mail Alumni News: alumni@covenantseminary.edu
www.covenantseminary.edu 11 Training Servants of the Triune God
What is
COVENANTCommunity?
André and Heidi Lewis, Covenant Seminary students featured on
the back cover of this magazine, said that much of what they have
learned at Covenant Seminary has come from the community
aspect of their seminary training. “We share burdens, prayers, and
responsibilities,” Heidi said. “I have never lived in a community
quite like this. It’s not perfect, but our time with people at Covenant
has taught me more of living together in Christian community.”
Not all students live on campus, but each one has the opportunity
for living and learning together.
The vision for this community is not an end in itself. It is a time to
prepare students to minister in a wholistic way and lead others in
living and serving Christ together as His body, wherever they are.
Maybe you have never visited Covenant Seminary’s campus, or
maybe you have not been on campus recently. Either way we
wanted to share with you some snapshots of daily happenings at
Covenant Seminary.
– The editors
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 12
Below: Dr. David Jones teaches Spirit, Church, and Last Things. Dr. Jones has faithfully served on CovenantSeminary’s faculty since 1967.
Above: Dr. Robert Peterson, Professor of Systematic Theology, takes a question after class.
Left: Dr. Donald Guthrie, Vice President for Academics and Associate Professor of Christian Education.
In the Classroom
www.covenantseminary.edu 13 Training Servants of the Triune God
Above: Sunset at the Buswell Library tower.
Right: Dr. Greg Perry, Adjunct professor of
Biblical Studies, the newest member of Covenant’s faculty.
Right: Study space made possible through the library renovation.
Below: Edwards Hall primarily houses student services, guest housing, and
a student lounge created in 1998.
Above: A new archeology displaycase in Founders Hall includesbones from the rock-cut tombs atAbila of the Decapolis, a site inJordan where Dr. Herold Marehas been excavating since 1980.
Left: Students in front of Rayburn Chapel.
The Old and NewLandscape of CovenantSeminary
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 14
Above: Ministry lunches held throughout the school year provide an opportunity for faculty and guest speakers to interactwith students on a number of ministry- related topics.
Right: This pastsummer, the chapelunderwent a small-
scale renovation to reconfigure the
space and encour-age an atmosphere
of community.
Learning and Living Outside of the Classroom
Below: Dr. Richard Winter meets with counseling students
to discuss practicum experiences.
www.covenantseminary.edu 15 Training Servants of the Triune God
The Log Cabin is the place for pre-school, parents’ morning/night out, and balletlessons! The few hours of childcare provided at the LogCabin throughout the week help moms and dads take a class together.
Grown-upsAren’t theOnly OnesLearning atCovenantSeminary
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 16
Above: Dr. Bryan Chapell and first-year M.Div.
students Josh Brumbaugh and Christopher Barnes.
Right: Ellie Brown, Directorof Financial Aid
Above: Denise Weber, Registrar
Mark Dalbey, Dean of Students
Left: Diane Preston, Associate Dean of Academic Advising, and a small but important member of the Covenant Seminary community.
Right: Eric Richards, Director of Admissions
StudentsWouldn’tMake itThroughWithoutPeople Like These
www.covenantseminary.edu 17 Training Servants of the Triune God
Covenant Seminary seeks to increasinglyhelp pastors and other church leaders be
rooted in grace for a lifetime of ministry.This is happening through organized times
like the Fall Pastor’s Conference which took place on campus this past October.
It also happens through Doctor of Ministry Courses. In addition, plans are underway
for a pastoral retreat center on campus (see page 18).
Right: Doctor of Ministry Students
ContinuingEducation and DistanceEducation
The Francis Schaeffer Lectures, held twice a year, offer current students, alumni, and local residents a chance to hear noted speakers give a series of lectures on a topic of contemporary interests to the Church andbroader community.
Left: Dr. Donald Guthrie interviews John Porter and JamesSkillen during Fall 2003 Schaeffer Lectures titled: “Jesusand Caesar: Christian Faith and Political Process Renewal”(see page 28 to learn more).
Below: Fall Pastors’ Conference
Some ministry leaders have never had theopportunity to attend seminary and it is not
possible for them to leave current ministrycontexts to do so. For those individualsCovenant Seminary’s Access distance
education program offers the opportunity togo to seminary without relocating. Accessstudents can earn an accredited Master ofArts in Theology. Right: Access Residencygroup, on campus for a one-week course.
Above: Doctor of Ministry Students
Right: Nine acres of land adjacent to the seminary property was purchased in 2003 through generous
gifts of ministry partners. Considering the seminary’ssuburban St. Louis location, this was truly an
opportunity that can be called “once in a lifetime.”
Above: Current on-campus studenthousing. From 1991-92 38 two- andthree-bedroom student apartmentswere built creating a valuable dynamicfor living and learning in community. The newly purchased property allowsmore space for student housing.
Left: The existing house on the property will be turned into a pastoralrenewal center.
Plans for the Future
Future student?
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 18
Spring 2004 Francis Schaeffer Lecture Series
On Human DignityWho Gets a Seat at the Table?
Jointly Sponsored by Covenant Seminary’s
Francis A. Schaeffer Institute and the
St. Louis Center for Bioethics and Culture.
DATE: February 27 to 28, 2004
CONFERENCE FEE: $15.00
(free for alumni and current students)
SPEAKERS: Dr. Nigel de S. Cameron, Ph.D.,
Chairman of The Wilberforce Forum and
internationally renowned bioethicist
Dr. Richard Winter, M.D.
Professor of Practical Theology, Covenant Seminary
Prof. Jerram Barrs, M.Div.
Professor of Christianity and Contemporary Culture, Covenant Seminary
Some of the most critical cultural issues of the 21st Century all lead to onequestion: What does it mean to be human? Is a human being defined by productivity or contribution to society? Or age? Or race? Or intellect? Scientific advances, while offering benefits, can also strike at the core of what it means to value and protect human life in whatever form it comes. Is the Church prepared for an era when what it means to be human is called into question?
Interact with scholars in medicine, theology, and ethics to become more prepared to confront one of the mostpressing apologetic issues of our day. To learn more or register to attend, log on to www.covenantseminary.edu/fsi.
Francis A. Schaeffer Institute Summer Study
Spiritual Formation and the Holy Spirit DATE: July 12 to 16, 2004
INSTRUCTOR: John Armstrong, Director of Reformation
and Revival Ministries
This summer take a week of study with the Francis A. SchaefferInstitute to consider how the Holy Spirit works to conform Christians to Christ’s image through various means including spiritual reading, prayer, soul friendships, fasting, worship, and the sacraments. In doing so, consider the means of the Spirit’s work throughout the history of the Christian Church and see how these means are available in your life today. To find out more about registration call the Schaeffer Institute 1.800.864.8064 or log on to www.covenantseminary.edu.
January Lifetime-of-Ministry Lecture SeriesRegister on-line for any of these two- to five-day ministry
enrichment courses designed for pastors and lay-leaders.
Theological Foundation for Urban MinistryINSTRUCTOR: Rev. Mo Leverett,
President of Desire Street Ministries
DATE: January 16 and 17, 2004
The decay of our inner cities can bring discouragementand despair both to those inside and outside of thosecommunities. How are Christians to live out theBible’s mandates to care for the poor and to seek thepeace of the cities in which we live? Mo Leverett, who lives and ministers in New Orleans in the secondlargest housing project in the country, will teach a theological foundation for reaching out and addressingthe needs of the poor. In doing so, he will explore thelost art of redemptive suffering.
Living in GraceINSTRUCTOR: Dr. Paul Kooistra, President,
PCA Mission to the World
DATE: January 9 and 10, 2004
Attempting to live as Christians in a fallen worldwithout the power of Christ will leave a person eitherdespairing or self-righteous. Neither is the fruit of the Gospel of grace which is revealed in the pages of Scripture. Dr. Paul Kooistra, former President ofCovenant Seminary, will show from God’s Word
how all of the Christian life is lived in grace.Included in his lectures will be teaching on worship, humility, repentance, and prayer.
Relationships in God’s ImageINSTRUCTOR: Rev. Scotty Smith, Pastor of Christ
Community Church, Franklin, Tenn.
DATE: January 5 to 9, 2004
How can Christians live as stewards of God’s grace, especially in relationships? This course will explore the relationship between God’s unceasing love and the way in which believers live out their lives in service and obedience to Him. Based on his new booktitled The Reign of Grace.
To register to earn credit towards a degree
through these courses, call 1.800.264.8064 or email:
admissions@covenantseminary.edu.
Please join us.These events are open
to the public and are offered free or for a minimal charge. To learn more about any of
these events please log on towww.covenantseminary.edu
or call 1.800.903.4044.
EVENTSGatherings, Conferences
www.covenantseminary.edu 19 Training Servants of the Triune God
CO-SPONSORED BY: Covenant Theological Seminary
and Ridge Haven Conference and Retreat Center
JULY 26 - 30, 2004
SPEAKERS: Dr. Robert Peterson and Dr. Michael Williams
Plan your family vacation in the North Carolina
mountains, surrounded by the beauty of God’s
creation and immersed in delightful Bible teaching
by Covenant Seminary professors. This conference
provides an opportunity for Covenant families, both
parents and children, to explore God’s gracious covenant
and what it means for daily living as a family today.
FAMILIES Building
God’s Way The Covenant Family
Conference
EMERALD ISLE HERITAGE
Our
Tour of Ireland and Scotland
HOSTED BY: Dr. Bryan and Mrs. Kathy Chapell
JUNE 22 TO JULY 2, 2004
Take a trip to the Emerald Isle and learn how a very
dark and needy land of the 5th century became
known as the “Island of Saints and Scholars” in the
6th century. Your Irish journey will include stops in
Dublin, Belfast, and Ramelton. Discover the real life
of St. Patrick, see the Book of Kells, explore the boy-
hood places where C.S. Lewis once lived, and more.
The trip will continue on to Scotland where you will
explore landmark locations including the Iona Island.
As you take this tour of church history you will be
reminded that the greatest need of the Irish and
Scottish heart – is the greatest need of the human
heart today. Dr. Bryan Chapell will lead the group in
exploring the history of the Church in this part of the
world and in Bible teaching that will expand your
vision for the Church today.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE TRIPS CALL 1.800.264.8064 OR LOG ON TO
WWW.COVENANTSEMINARY.EDU
Over 200 messages are available now,
and more files are added regularly!
Log on to find out more.
Tap into the Covenant
Seminary archives of over
200 text and audio messages
from Covenant Seminary faculty
and publications. This new
online resource can be searched
by topic, author, or Scripture.
All resources are downloadable
and ready for personal use or
with a small group, Bible study,
or other teaching time.
www.covenantseminary.eduNEW@
As Covenant Seminary exists to train servants of the triune God
to walk with God, to interpret and communicate God’s Word, and
to lead God’s people, we recognize the importance of prayer to
guide and continue the mission.
While much of our training takes place in one geographic
area as students relocate for study, the mission continues in the
lifetime of ministry that the Lord grants as people continue on
from Covenant Seminary. Therefore prayer for the seminary
and its mission comes with a local, national, and global scope.
We are grateful for your prayers for Covenant Seminary.
We hope that this prayer calendar that can be prayed through
during the winter months will help focus your thoughts and
prayers for the seminary, its students and alumni. As the color
key indicates, the dark green squares share campus concerns,
the medium green national concerns, and the white interna-
tional concerns.
theIN
TER
CES
SOR
Campus Concerns
National Concerns
International Concerns
Key:
Pray for peace, justice, andstability in the countries of Iraq, Afghanistan, andIsrael. Pray for soldiers likeChaplain Dave Schutter(M.Div.’97) who wasdeployed to Afghanistanin June. Pray for Christianbelievers in this part of theworld that they would beable to serve the needy intheir communities, sharethe Gospel, and worship in peace.
Pray for alumni who arebuilding upon the exam-ple of ministries modeledby the Francis SchaefferInstitute in their own contexts. Pray for RussRamsey (M.Div.’00) andthe congregation of OakHills Presbyterian Churchas they reach out to thegreater Kansas City regionthrough Saturday Nights at the Institute (see alumni news, page 10).
✁
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his motherMary, and they boweddown and worshiped him. (Matt. 2:7,8)
Praise God for the many Covenant Seminary students who have been able to serve Himaround the world throughL’Abri Fellowship. Pray for alumni currently serving with L’Abri, especially Edith Reitsma(M.A.T.’98) who serves as a worker at the English L’Abri.
Pray for wisdom, stamina,and grace for CovenantSeminary professors.Rejoice with Dr. ZackEswine’s family who recently welcomed babyCaleb. Pray for Dr. HansBayer as he is concerned for and attends the needs of his ailing parents in Germany.
Pray for the StudentMission FellowshipConference that will be held from Feb. 9-13. Pray that all students’visions of the worldwidechurch would growthrough this time andthat some students wouldgrow in a willingness to serve outside of theU.S. context.
Pray for the writing projects of the CovenantSeminary faculty. Praythat these projects wouldbecome a blessing tomany far beyond the seminary campus. Pray for Dr. Robert Peterson as he works on a book on predestination and free will.
We saw his star in theeast and have come toworship him. (Matt. 2:2)
Pray for the Accessdistance education students taking part in a one-week residencyon campus in January. Pray that this time ofgathering together andmeeting professors would be fruitful. Praise the Lordfor the many ways theirtraining is used in theirhome contexts around the nation and world.
Praise God for the pastorsand ministry leaders who were able to come to campus for the FallPastors’ Conference.Thank the Lord for theirservice to congregationsaround the country. Pray that the conferencetime would continue to be a blessing to themand their congregations.
Give thanks for theCovenant SeminaryBoard and Advisory Board as they sacrifice for the sake of trainingChurch leaders for thenext generation. Pray forwisdom for the ExecutiveCommittee of the Boardas they meet Dec. 5 andthe entire Board as theymeet Jan. 30 and 31.
As the United States enters a presidential election year, pray for the Lord to work redemptively in the political process, usingHis people to serve as ablessing to their nation.Thank the Lord for JamesSkillen’s and John Porter’srecent teaching time oncampus (see page 28).
She will give birth to a son, and you are togive him the name Jesus,because he will save hispeople from their sins.(Matt. 1:21)
Pray for Dr. David Jones as he teaches ChristianEthics in, Mérida,Yucatan, from Jan. 18-24.Pray that Christians ofMexico would be built upin wisdom through thistime and serve as salt andlight in their country.
Pray for students as theFall semester draws to aclose and they take a briefbreak from studies. Praythat the Lord would usethe things students havelearned in their studies toplant His truth firmly intheir hearts.
Ask God to clearly guideCovenant Seminary seniors as they seek futurecallings in which to bringglory to His name aroundthe world.
Pray for the seminary alumni who are makingtransitions into new ministry positions this winter. Pray for alumni and their families like Chris Florence(M.Div.’01), KevinVanden Brink (M.Div.’96)and Elizabeth George(M.Div., M.A.C.’03) who have all moved within the past year.
Pray for those countrieswhich do not even know of Christmas. Ask God to send His people to carry His lightinto their darkness.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord hassaid though the prophet“The virgin will be withchild and will give birth to a son, and they will callhim Immanuel” – whichmeans, “God with us.”(Matt. 1:22,23)
Pray for the Fellowship of Evangelical SeminaryPresidents for which Dr. Bryan Chapell serves on the steeringcommittee. Pray that thisgroup would be able toencourage each other onin ministry and share aseach seminary’s visiongrows and develops.
Pray for wisdom for the seminary as its leaders exercise trust inGod’s faithful financial provision through the loving support of peoplearound the world.
Pray for individuals andfamilies around the nation and world who areseeking to know whetherGod is calling them toCovenant Seminary. Ask God to raise up faithful messengers to adark and needy world.
Pray for the CovenantGroups in which studentsgather weekly to integratetheir classroom knowledgeinto their lives and sharewith one another. Pray that this would increasetheir ministry preparationand strengthen their seminary experience.
Pray for the students andothers who come fromaround the nation to hearthe Spring SchaefferLectures on Bioethics (Feb. 27-28). Pray thatthese lectures would helpequip the Church forincreasingly complex ethical questions.
M.Div. Master of Divinity; M.A. Master of Arts; M.A.C. Master of Arts in Counseling; G.C. Graduate Certificate; Th.M. Master of Theology; D.Min. Doctor of Ministry
Sat/Sun Praise Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
www.covenantseminary.edu 23 Training Servants of the Triune God
WINTERW
eek
4W
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3W
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Campus National International
2003-2004
PROUD PARENTof a Skateboarder
Becoming an Advocate of Your Child’s Constructive Interests
Thirteen-year-old Luke was now Buck Calder’s only
son, his brother Henry had been killed in a tragic
car accident six years before. Luke and Henry had
been as different as Esau and Jacob – Luke with his
sensitive nature took after his mother, and Henry with his rugged
toughness took after his father.
And now Luke’s father had asked him if he wanted to try for
his first elk. Luke had been dreading the invitation and yet was
hurt that it was so long in coming. They went off to a hidden
canyon, barely speaking as they crunched through the snow.
Luke could hear the thumping of his heart and prayed crazily that
the elk would fight and save themselves.
The elk hadn’t heard his heartbeat. Across the canyon, there
was a herd of maybe twenty cows. A little way off, a solitary
bull with five-point antlers was nibbling bark…Luke handed the
binoculars back to his father and wondered if he dared say that he
didn’t want to go through with it. But he knew that even if he
were to try, the words would never come out; their effect would
be too catastrophic…
The intimacy of the scope was shocking. Luke could
make out individual hairs on the dark neck. He could
see the grinding of the jaws as the elk chewed, see the
paler patches around the liquid black eyes that impassively
surveyed the cows, see droplets of melted snow on his nose…
Half of Luke’s brain screamed at him to hand his father the
gun right then. But the other half assessed this moment for what
it was: a final chance to be something in his father’s eyes. He
must take this creature’s life for his own to have any value.1
That day was a defining moment for the relationship
between Luke and Buck Calder. Luke realized that he was
not free to be himself and still be appreciated by his father.
In using this example, I must underline that I have nothing
against hunting, and in fact, love alpine mountaineering and
off-road driving. Nor is the need for approval and under-
standing limited only to fathers and sons. The point of the
excerpt is to illustrate that our children are not an extension
of our own identity.
A father taking his son hunting for the first time is an American rite of
passage. Of course, it doesn’t have to be hunting – it could be football,
basketball, sailing, or car racing, as well as visiting an art gallery, library, or
orchestral performance. The likes and dislikes of a father often come to
define manhood for sons just as the likes and dislikes of a mother often
define womanhood for daughters. It is a pattern with an ancient and
troubled pedigree. Consider the tensions of the father-son relationship in
Nicholas Evans’ novel, The Loop.
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 24
Tori Amos sings of a sixteen-year-old saying, “She’s been
everybody else’s girl, maybe one day she’ll be her own.”2
Teenagers are crying out to be their own persons. As parents
we are responsible to affirm their unique and distinctive
individuality – however different they may be in tempera-
ment and interests from us or from their siblings. In practical
terms, we must become advocates for our teenager’s
constructive interests.
A Sense of Fit
We need to become students not only of our teenagers’
world but also of their own unique perceptions on their
world. We should learn something about their favorite
authors, artists, and musical groups. We should seek to
understand their passions, whether the environment or
the plight of political prisoners.
The Puritans get a bad rap today as being dour, judgmen-
tal prudes, but they have a great deal to say to us on this
matter of lifework. Theologian J.I. Packer observes that
while we are spiritual dwarfs, they were giants.3 The patriarch
of English Puritanism was William Perkins (1558-1602).
Shortly before his death he wrote “A Treatise of the
Vocations or Callings of Men,” in which he sought to help
his parishioners think broadly about the most basic purpose
of their lives. He was instructing them not only to follow
Jesus generally, but to carry out their obedience to Christ in
a way that was unique to their individual character. Perkins
sets the adolescent question “What do I want to be when I
grow up?” within this larger conception of calling. He gives
us five rules to consider as we think about our own particular
calling and that of our teens – the unique place and way we
express Christ’s Lordship in our lives.
1. Without exception, every person of every degree,
state, sex, or condition must have some personal
and particular calling.
2. Every person must judge that particular calling in
which God has placed him to be the best of all
callings for him: I say not simply best, but best for him.
3. Every person must join the practice of his personal
calling with the practices of the general calling
of Christianity.
4. Those who bear public callings must first reform
themselves in private.
5. A particular calling must give
place to the general calling of a
Christian when they cannot
both stand together.4
At the heart of Perkins’ understanding of personal calling
is the idea of “fit”: “Everyone must choose a fit calling to
walk in, that is, every calling must be fitted to the person
and every person fitted to the calling.” This process involves
some trial and error and ideally will include wise counsel
from those who know us well and are themselves spiritually
mature. “Fit” includes both what a person most desires as
well as the ability to accomplish it.
Parents play an important role in helping their children
examine their inclinations and aptitudes in light of their life
as a calling before the Lord. Obviously, today parents have
far less say and children have a much wider range of career
choices than in Perkins’ day. But the spiritual principles
remain. Frederick Buechner argues that our life’s work will
be found in the intersection of our deepest gladness and the
world’s greatest need. Buechner writes,
There are all different kinds of voices calling you
to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to
find out which is the voice of God rather than of
society, say, or the super-ego, or self-interest. By and
large a good rule for finding out is this: the kind of
work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a)
that you need most to do and (b) the world most
needs to have done. The place God calls you to is
the place where your deep gladness and the world’s
deep hunger meet.5
Youth in Ministry Institute
BY DR. DAVID JOHN SEEL, JR.
(M.Div.’81) Headmaster of The Cambridge
School of Dallas
www.covenantseminary.edu 25 Training Servants of the Triune God
1 Nicholas Evans. The Loop (New York: Delacorte, 1998), pp. 98-100. 2 Tori Amos, “Girl,” Little Earthquakes (Atlantic, 1991). 3 J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: the Puritan Vision of the ChristianLife (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway. 1990), p. 22.
4 Adapted from William Perkins’ excerpt in Edmund S. Morgan, ed.,Puritan Political Ideas: 1558-1794 (Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill,1965), pp. 51-59.
5 Fredrick Buechner, Wishful Thinking – A Seeker’s ABC (New York:Harper Collins, 1993), p 118.
As parents we must first understand our own lives as a
response to God’s summons before we help our children see
their lives in this light.6 As we do so, we have a responsibility
to allow our children to explore a wide variety of ways in
which they could serve the common good. When our
children hit the teenage years, they need the space and
freedom to let these develop.
As parents we need to listen to our children’s dreams
and aspirations. At age eighteen C. S. Lewis knew as he
took his Oxford scholarship exams that “there was hardly
any position in the world save that of a don in which I was
fitted to earn a living, and that I was staking everything on
a game in which few won and hundreds lost.” 7 Yet his every
attempt to discuss his dream with his father was met with
failure: “His intense desire for my total confidence coexisted
with an inability to listen (in any strict sense) to what I said.
He could never empty, or silence, his own mind to make
room for an alien thought.”8 Similarly, many parents quench
the fire that fuels their children’s dreams.
Of Grinds and Half-Pipes
Adolescence is a time of growing independence.
While this desire must be managed, parents also must be
in favor of it. Dick Keyes warns, “A prepackaged agenda
for a child’s life is either a prescription for crushed and
resentful obedience or an invitation to outright rebellion.”9
For instance, I studiously avoided becoming a surgeon –
named as I am for my father – though I did later become
a wilderness emergency medical technician.
Likewise, my boys avoided following in my footsteps
athletically; instead, David took up lacrosse and Alex
skateboarding. Also, both became active in theater – David
as a lighting technician and Alex as an actor. This was a
long way from anything I ever did in high school. I don’t
believe it was a conscious choice on their part, but both boys
moved into worlds in which they were the experts, not me.
I couldn’t cradle a lax ball or ollie a curb, but I still had a vital
role to play in understanding and encouraging their pursuits.
For my youngest son, Alex, I thought skateboarding was
a passing fad – like, say, baseball cards were in elementary
school. But the board-sports lifestyle of skateboarding,
snowboarding, and surfing has become Alex’s passion.
He announced one day that he would not play any sports
where coaches yelled. Football – my adolescent dream –
was out. I simply needed to accept this as Alex’s way.
If this was his deal, then I wanted to be totally behind
it. So off we went to the summer Extreme Games held in
Newport, R.I., where I was given a crash course in the
adrenaline-rush of alternative sports – sky surfing, bungy
jumping, BMX biking, inline skating, skateboarding, street
luge, and sport climbing.
The day before the event Alex insisted on doing
reconnaissance for the best seats. They turned out to be
directly behind the official photographers and weren’t
actually seats – it was standing-room only. So the next
morning, two hours before the gates opened, we were there
with our X-Games hats and me loaded down with camera-
gear, looking the part of the official sports photographer.
I was immersed in Alex’s world – the skater aficionados
whose conversation of grinds, ories, rail-slides, and 360-kick
flips mixed in with the booming Ska music. I found myself
cheering until hoarse, fighting wildly for skateboards
thrown into the crowd, and altogether having one of the
most memorable times I’ve ever spent with my son. Alex
and I connected – on his terms, in his world.
I’m not naive to the reputation or injuries of those
involved in board sports. More than once, my ambulance
crew has been called out to assist an injured skater who
tried to rail slide down a twenty-foot staircase or ollie a con-
crete canyon. Skateboarders are widely viewed as the urban
outlaws of parking lots and school playgrounds. But mostly,
skaters – and the entire alternative sports world – are simply
part of a culture parents have not taken the time to under-
stand or appreciate. I’ve often thought of having a bumper
sticker printed that states, “Proud Parent of a Skateboarder.”
True Connection
Your teenager may have more “normal” passions – horses,
books, ballet, perhaps even football. Rather than just leaving
Proud Parent of a Skateboarder
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 26
6 See Paul Marshall’s Heaven Is Not My Home: Living in the Now of God’s Creation (Nashville: Word, 1998) and Michael Horton’s Where in the World Is the Church? A Christian View of Culture andYour Role in It (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1995).
7 C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1955), p. 183.
8 Ibid, p. 184.9 Dick Keyes, True Heroism in a World of Celebrity Counterfeits (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1995), p. 226.
Becoming an Advocate of Your Child’s Constructive Interests
our children to their peers, we need to find ways of support-
ing and encouraging their constructive interests. William
Perkins never dreamed of the Extreme Games when he
wrote his advice to parents in 1600. But through these expe-
riences Alex was learning his “fit.”
I received the following e-mail from Alex, soon after he
began his ninth-grade year at boarding school in New York.
What does it take to get a note like this from your
fifteen-year-old son? Connecting – on his terms. The proud
parent of a skateboarder, indeed. ■
This article is adapted from an excerpt from Parenting WithoutPerfection by David John Seel, Jr. copyright 2000. Used by permission ofNavPress: www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
*Alex is now a semi-pro skateboarder skating and studying photography in Paris, France.
Dad,
I called last night and there was no answer, but I will call again today. Saturday night Tim, John, and
I set up a kicker ramp in the gym. It was so much fun. I did this one ollie that almost cleared Tim’s head!!
(and you know how big Tim is). I was also landing 360 flips!! Not off the ramp, just on the flat ground,
but it was still pretty exciting. My wrist still aches, but it is all right.
Sunday, we had our third SBFL football game. We were playing the first place team. If you don’t
remember, the team is made up of almost all soccer players. Our QB is Mr. Hogan and he has only
played Australian football. Well anyway, the game went back and fourth for a while until the second half.
There were two minutes left in the game (we were up by two) forth down and the other team had the ball
on our ten-yard line. Shep and I were covering Bobby Balister who is incredibly fast. Mr. Hunt threw a
high loft to Bobby, Shep, and I both dove for it collided in mid-air and somehow blocked the ball. I’m not
sure which one of us blocked it, but, whatever, it was amazing.
We then continued from our ten to drive down the field to their fifteen-
yard line. Once again it was fourth down, but we had the ball.
We needed about ten to get the first down and keep the clock
going. All I did was a simple post pattern and beat my
defender. All I remember was jumping up for the ball
and waking up on the one-yard line with Mark
Simmons and the rest of my teammates huddled around
me screaming that I had won the game for us. With about
ten seconds left we just ran out the clock. It was really intense and
I am extremely sore. I think I did the same thing again to my shoulder,
but at least we won. It was worth it to see the look on those football
players’ faces when they realized they got beat by a bunch of soccer
players and skaters.
Love,
Your extremely sore but happy Alex!!!*
www.covenantseminary.edu 27 Training Servants of the Triune God
Interlibrary SharingGrowing Exponentially
During the 1984-85 school year amere 15 books were lent to otherlibraries by Covenant Seminary’sJ. Oliver Buswell, Jr., Library and31 were borrowed by the libraryon behalf of students, faculty, and staff. Since then, new librarysystems in the 1990s and a newconsortium in 2001 have made itpossible for that number to growmore than 130-fold, with 1,971books lent through interlibraryloan during the 2002-3 schoolyear and 1,943 borrowed fromother libraries as a service to students and others at CovenantSeminary. The Buswell Library
has several collections besides themain book collection, includingperiodicals such as journals andecclesiastical magazines, CDs,DVDs, audio and videocassettes,microforms, atlases, oversizebooks, and the Tait Rare BookCollection with hundreds of vol-umes published mostly between1500-1799.
Fall Schaeffer LecturesAvailable On-Line
This past Fall, James Skillen,President of the The Center forPublic Justice, and John Porter,Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives,U.S. Department of Education,
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 28
CAMPUSFor a campus calendar, log on to www.covenantseminary.edu.
new
s
Faculty Itinerary
Jerram Barrs, Professor ofChristianity and ContemporaryCulture, in St. Louis, Mo.,Jan. 23 and 24, speaking for theChristian Medical and DentalAssociation Conference; inRochester, Minn., Feb. 6 and 7,teaching for the RochesterL’Abri Conference.
David Calhoun, Professor ofChurch History, in Columbus,Ga., Feb. 6-8, teaching for St. Andrew’s PresbyterianChurch Missions Conference.
Donald Guthrie, Vice Presidentfor Academics, in Indianapolis,Ind., Jan. 5-7, for LillyEndowment Forum; in Rochester,Minn., Jan. 9 and 10, forRansom Fellowship BoardMeeting; in Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 12-14, for EvangelicalDeans’ Council, in Lancaster,
Penn., Feb. 27-29, leadingTeacher Training Conference for Westminster PresbyterianChurch.
Zack Eswine, Assistant Professor of Homiletics, in St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 7, 14 andJan. 4 preaching for the ChineseGospel Church; in Bucharest,Romania, Jan. 19-25, teachinghomiletics, in St. Louis, Mo.,Feb. 1 and 8, preaching for the Chinese Gospel Church.
David Jones, Professor ofSystematic Theology and Ethics,in Yucatan, Mexico, teachingChristian Ethics, Jan. 18-24.
Robert Peterson, Professor of Systematic Theology, in St. Charles, Mo., on Nov. 30,Dec. 7, 14, 21, and 28, preachingfor Grace Presbyterian Church.
served as keynote speakers for theFrancis Schaeffer Lecture seriestitled: “Jesus and Caesar:Christian Faith and PoliticalProcess Renewal.” Their lectureshelped conference attendeesbecome more equipped to seekjustice in local, national, andinternational affairs and to under-stand with depth the meaning ofChristian citizenship.Downloadable audio messagesfrom this lecture series are available on-line by logging on towww.covenantseminary.edu/resourceand typing the series title in thesearch box.
Doctor of Ministry Courses
This January, pastors will sharpentheir skills and receive spiritualencouragement through studies inpastoral counseling, apologetics,grace-centered discipleship, and church renewal. Weeklongsummer courses begin May 24.For more information onCovenant Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program call 1-800-264-8064.
James Pakala, Director of Covenant Seminary’s Buswell Library, serves on the Executive Committee of MOBIUS, a consortium which links Missouri’s academic libraries. James Pakala is shown above with M.Div. student Ty Busbice.
Covenant is published by CovenantTheological Seminary, the NationalSeminary of the Presbyterian Church in America.
The purpose of Covenant Seminary is totrain servants of the triune God to walkwith God, to interpret and communicateGod’s Word, and to lead God’s people.
Volume 18, Number 4. ©2003
Executive EditorDavid Wicker
Managing Editor and WriterEileen O’Gorman
Copy EditorsHuntley CooneyBetty Porter
CirculationPaul Rawlins
PhotographyNichelle HardyRobin DawsonGrant BeachyLaCour-Niesen Visuals, Inc.Ed Eubanks
Design and Production501creative, inc.
Covenant Theological Seminary12330 Conway RoadSt. Louis, Missouri 63141
Tel: 314.434.4044Fax: 314.434.4819E-mail: covenant@covenantseminary.edu
Visit Covenant Seminary on the Internet atwww.covenantseminary.edu
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripturereferences are taken from the Holy Bible,New International Version®, NIV®, ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International BibleSociety. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) arefrom The Holy Bible, English StandardVersion, ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, adivision of Good News publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
PR0311-001
Briefly Stated
&Grace
PEACEThis “grace and peace” wording appears so often
at the opening of Paul’s epistles (with only slight
variations) that its importance cannot be overesti-
mated. When persons become absolutely convinced
that their standing before God is based entirely on
his grace and not on any goodness in themselves,
peace comes…We become equal members of the
fellowship of those whose condition is desperate
apart from Christ, and this humbling realization is
the foundation for Christian harmony.
– Dr. Bryan Chapell from 1&2 Timothy and Titus (page 278), co-authoredwith R. Kent Hughes, 2000 Crossway Books
COVENANT MAGAZINE Winter 2003-2004 www.covenantseminary.edu Training Servants of the Triune God
When Michael Kelly (M.Div.’91)
moved to Seattle, Wash., from
Yorktown, Ind., in 1995 to pastor
Greenlake Presbyterian Church, he
began to unpack the seeds of a dream.
The dream was to see churches planted
throughout this boomtown of the late
20th century, which has volumes to
offer in the way of technology, art, and
natural beauty, but little grounding in
the grace of God in Christ.
Michael soon found that he
was not alone in that vision and
joined with a number of other PCA
churches to form the Puget Sound Church Planting Network.
As the network got off the ground, they knew they must pray to
the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest field.
An e-mail sent to Michael by current student André Lewis
(M.Div.’04) three years ago is now seen as a part of an answer to
that prayer. Michael replied to André’s e-mail within five minutes
of receiving it. Thus the dialogue began and the vision grew.
Today André and his wife, Heidi, are planning to move to
Seattle with their three children upon graduation next May in order
for André to begin serving as a PCA church planting pastor in the
Redmond area just outside of Seattle. Redmond is the home of 50,000
people, most of whom are part of young families and many of whom
work for software giant Microsoft. As André says, “What was once
a rough-and-tumble settlement is now a high-tech city.”
While many are drawn to Seattle for its beauty and opportunity,
the Lewises are drawn because of need. “Less than ten percent of
people attend church of any kind,” André says. “It’s the most
unchurched major city in the U.S.”
André is quite familiar with the Seattle cityscape. He is a native
of Washington and a graduate of the University of Washington in
Seattle. Heidi, a native of Colorado, shares with André a desire to
see evangelical churches planted and vibrant in the western U.S.
Neither André nor Heidi
anticipated church planting as their
role in ministry following seminary
graduation. They served in college
ministry prior to coming to seminary
and assumed that they would continue
on in some type of college ministry.
But hearing the testimonies of church
planters who visited Covenant
Seminary’s campus helped André
and Heidi begin to consider a future
in such uncharted territory.
A summer internship at Greenlake
Presbyterian in 2003 helped the
Lewises gain a better picture of the area and confirm this as the next step.
“It was a real step of faith for me to come to seminary with two small
children,” Heidi says. “And that prepared me for another step of faith
which will be moving to Seattle to begin church planting.”
André and Heidi say that one of the primary reasons they chose
Covenant Seminary for ministry training was the opportunity for
them to be trained together. As Andre has pursued full-time Master
of Divinity studies, Heidi has taken one class a semester with long-term
plans to finish a Master’s Degree in Counseling in Seattle.
“Covenant Seminary has done a great job of showing us that,
if you are married, ministry is a joint venture,” André says. “I feel
like we are a stronger team because we are learning together.”*
Andre, Heidi, Michael, and all those who are part of the Puget
Sound Church Planting Network are dependent on the Lord of the
Harvest to continue this work. They ask for your prayers for hearts
to be receptive to the Gospel and that a core group would be estab-
lished to help lead the Redmond church plant. “The good news of the
Gospel is about a whole new life, a new object of worship,” André says.
“This good news can transform any person and any culture.”
*André and Heidi, like many Covenant Seminary couples, are supported in trainingtogether through Covenant Seminary’s Spouse Tuition Scholarship.
Student Profile
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Church Planting in Seattle
André and Heidi Lewis with their children Karter (5), Warner (3), and Landon (5 weeks).
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