Bethlehem College and Seminary-The Next Step in 30 Years of Mentoring.pdf

What a joy to see so many “old” apprentices at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors a couple weeks ago: Brad Soukup (now a grandpa, with his youngest son applying to Bethlehem College for this Fall), Don Range, Dwayne Tweeten, Mike Evans, Dana Olson, and the list could go on. These men were shaped by the earliest forms of Bethlehem’s Apprenticeship Program, which evolved into The Bethlehem Institute, and now into Bethlehem College and Seminary. It was also a joy to see numerous recent graduates and hear reports of how God is using them around the country and around the world.

The passion for mentoring has become for me a lifelong calling. I want others to experience the kind of mentoring that so shaped me. Just a few weeks after my conversion at 16 I began meeting with Bob Sander-Cedarlof every Saturday morning in his home. For one and a half years we studied through the basic Navigator Study booklets, and he welcomed any question about anything. Most of all, he established me in my confidence in the Bible as the Word of God.

John Piper and Daniel Fuller helped me to see more clearly for myself “the glory of God in the face of Christ.” They taught me how to mine gold from the infinitely deep mine of God’s Word. (You can now learn this method of Bible Study called “arcing” through a video tutorial on Biblearc.com or by taking classes in The Bethlehem Institute.)

Steve & Jan Fuller gave my wife, Julie, and me a place of ministry and labored with us side by side to shape a group of college students and young adults at San Gabriel Union Church, just outside of Los Angeles, from 1978 to 1980. Experiencing God’s help in this ministry emboldened us to say yes to Pastor John’s invitation to join him at Bethlehem. It’s stunning to think that was almost 30 years ago!

Space prohibits me from recounting all the mentors in my life. Each of them has been so different from the other. None of them has been perfect. But, oh, the grace I have tasted through the men and women God has used to curb the hellishness of my old self and to help me in my daily grace-filled, grace-empowered battle to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).

The Bethlehem Seminary M.Div. Program is simply a further development of what we have been doing since 1998 through TBI. Words can’t express how excited I am about our first class of men in the M.Div. program and the unfolding plans for the seminary. Julie is thrilled to be working with their wives as well.

We have been searching and praying for a New Testament professor. In December, the BCS Board called Jason Meyer to this position. We are grateful that he has accepted. Jason graduated from TBI in 2001 and earned his Ph.D. under the tutelage of Tom Schreiner, professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and former elder at Bethlehem. Jason has both pastored and taught over the past six years, first in Louisville and more recently in Louisiana. He is active in scholarly pursuits by writing articles and books. He has a pastor’s heart with compassion for students and the strong desire to nurture them in their faith and maturity. He loves the church and is committed to it as the primary place of ministry to God’s people. And, Jason believes and embraces the doctrines we hold so dear at Bethlehem College and Seminary. He is committed to the Bible as the one true authority over all of life. This semester he is teaching in a seminary in Addis, Ethiopia.

Ryan Griffith, Assistant Professor of Christian Worldview and Director of Undergraduate Studies, is leading a team which is pouring their hearts into college students taking our INSIGHT program the last few years. They are working hard to help us transition to a two-year degree in Christian Worldview and a full four-year bachelor’s program in Biblical and Theological Studies and in History of Ideas which, Lord willing, will officially begin this Fall.

Mike Rusten, Scholar-in-Residence, is a shining example of someone who is not “wasting his retirement.” We can hardly keep up with his energy and entrepreneurial leadership in establishing a degree completion program helping adult students complete their bachelor’s degree.

Tim Tomlinson, our BCS president, and Jason Abell, our vice-president of administration, have started a weekly prayer update. We are hoping to enlist as many people as possible to pray Bethlehem College and Seminary in these crucial foundational days. Please consider signing up for the update. You may also learn more by visiting bethlehemcollegeandseminary.org or by contacting Jason at 612-455-3454.

It is our joy to be a vital part of the ministry of Bethlehem Baptist Church. Thank you for how you have welcomed the students of BCS into your hearts and homes. (If you have ideas of good options for housing for our increasing number of students, please contact Barb Waldemar, our housing event coordinator, at 612-718-6360). We are pleased how these men and women are weaving their way into the life of the church. They are making significant contributions as they join us to spread a passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.

In His mercy and joy,

Tom Steller
Pastor for Leadership Development
Dean, Bethlehem College and Seminary