A-Conversation-With-Sharon-Rusten.pdf

Why an interview with Sharon Rusten? Because she is a very capable writer who attends Bethlehem, she collaborates with her husband in ministry, one of their books has been graced by God to be distributed very widely (and might make a good graduation gift, in the opinion of this interviewer), and to offer an example of how a woman in a church that embraces the complementarity of biblical manhood and womanhood can have an effective, widespread, and spiritually significant ministry.

How did you and Michael come to write The One Year Book of Christian History?

Through a series of circumstances some years ago, Mike and I were writing two-minute spots to be broadcast over several Christian radio networks. One of these was This Day in Christian History. As a result, Mike began collecting dates in church history.

A good friend of ours is a literary agent, and we shared with him the idea of a devotional book where the story for each day would be an event that happened on that day in history. He liked the idea and presented it to Tyndale Publishers—and the rest is history! There are now nearly 100,000 copies in print.

How does having a grasp of history contribute to the Christian life?

The process of researching and writing stories about Christians through the centuries for our book helped me to view history more from God’s perspective. As I strove to make the people we were writing about more real for the reader, I was struck by the similarities of their lives to ours.

We’re so apt to see our lives and struggles today as uniquely challenging, yet when you strip away the external details of daily life, the heart issues are basically the same. Consequently, we can learn much from the lives of faithful Christians from any time period.

Tell us about your experience as a writer for Leith Anderson’s radio program Faith Matters.

My part-time job for the last 10 years was writing the scripts for Faith Matters, a radio program broadcast locally on KTIS and several secular radio stations and on Christian stations across the country. I worked from Leith’s sermon notes, selecting verse applications, illustrations, and teachings that I could present in a one or two-minute format for Leith to record. My goal was to challenge or exhort the listeners as to how their faith matters.

People often listen to the radio when they are driving or doing work that does not require their full attention. Visualizing these listeners, my purpose was to grasp their attention, present a teaching in a compelling way, and give them something to think about—all in just one or two minutes! Partnering with Leith in this endeavor has been very gratifying.

You and Michael are not in your 20s, and yet you are heavily involved with people who are. What motivates you?

One of the things I find most appealing about Bethlehem is the opportunity to interact with and influence people in their 20s and 30s. As I’ve grown older, I realize that one’s personal ministry is more an issue of mindset than age-set and I feel particularly drawn to this age group.

It has been my great privilege to work alongside Julie Steller as an advisor to the Seminary Wives at Bethlehem. Sharing my life and experience with these women is very precious to me. With all the students and future missionaries coming through Bethlehem, we have a wonderful opportunity to invest our lives in future generations for Christ’s kingdom.

I believe that God can use whatever skills or talents we happen to have, and our personal ministry starts with who we are. My personal interests happen to be writing, cooking, entertaining, and decorating—and I love to share these skills. Others have different skills. It’s the very diversity of the body of Christ that makes it so rich and dynamic.

An interview like this is not merely about an individual, but about how certain values play out in a story. What values are important to you?

Something I value highly is personal discipleship. When we consider how Jesus spent his ministry, we often think of the multitudes that he taught. However, he spent most of his time with his 12 disciples and within that group he had an inner circle (Peter, James, and John) with whom he was closest. Being a mother (and now a grandmother) is very important to me, as I believe the family is the arena where discipleship starts.

My inner circle consists of my children and grandchildren. My “twelve” would be the women in Seminary Wives. I am thankful that God has provided me with opportunities to minister to multitudes as well through our book, through the Faith Matters broadcasts, and in a small way through the lives of seminary wives as they take their places in future ministry.

Interview conducted by Pastor Sam Crabtree.