by Daniel Akin

I write this as my wife Charlotte and I return from Southeast Asia. We have spent a week with precious brothers and sisters in Christ who are faithfully serving King Jesus in very difficult and, for many, dangerous locations. These men and women, along with their families, are heroes of the faith for me. My assignment for the week was to minister the Word to them. I did my best to be a faithful expositor and theologian, and to encourage them in their divine assignment. However, Charlotte and I were the ones who were encouraged.

We heard story after story of how the gospel is going forth, tearing down the strongholds of the evil one and setting free those who had been captive to sin and the false idols of darkness. With a humility that’s genuineness shown like a brilliant light, one after another after another shared what great things the Lord had done and was doing. Even in the midst of personal tragedies and sorrows, they praised our King for His grace, His mercy, and His faithfulness. More than once Charlotte and I prayed and cried with our family.

However, one experience was not a good one. I cannot recall a time that my heart was pierced as it was on this night. Charlotte and I had asked several couples to let us take them out for dinner. As we were headed to our restaurant, our driver turned down a street where I was totally unprepared for what I saw. Suddenly on both sides of the road, for at least a half of a mile, hundreds and hundreds of prostitutes lined the sidewalks. Some could not have been more than eleven or twelve years old. They were actually dressed in seductive uniforms that were similar to what you would see in a private Junior High or Middle School. The faces of these little girls and women I will never forget. Sadness, emptiness and hopelessness were etched across their countenance. Smiles, if there was one, seemed forced, lacking any sense of genuineness. Later I was informed that most of these girls and women had been deceived and basically kidnapped. Sex slave traders prey on ignorant and unsuspecting parents, especially in rural areas, promising a better life for their children in the “big cities.” As I looked into these tragic faces, it hit me. Somewhere they have a mom and a dad. Do they have any idea what has happened to their precious daughters? I was overcome with a sense of sorrow and despair I have seldom experienced. God, you must do something. We, as your ambassadors, must do something!

Later my friend Don informed me that once he and two others marched down prostitution row giving out more than 15,000 pieces of Christian materials. Tracts, Bibles and the Jesus film were distributed to these ladies of the night. He shared with me that the women would chase after them, not to pull them into a “massage parlor,” but to receive the materials telling them about Jesus. He told me the smiles of the women stood in stark contrast to the angry glares of the men who were there to take advantage of these unique and special creations of our great God. He told me as they walked back up the street after giving out all their materials they were startled to see the Jesus film being played as videos in massage parlors. Needless to say Satan took a serious hit, at least on this particular night, on one of the many prostitution rows!

I have since discovered that the IMB has a specific ministry to reach out to and rescue these ladies from the sex slave industry. I learned we have many openings but few laborers. Granted the work is dangerous and filled with risk. But where did we ever get the idea that serving King Jesus is suppose to be safe?!

The lostness and darkness of a world without Christ came home in a new and unexpected way the night I was taken down prostitution row. The need for Southern Baptists to get radically serious about the gospel and the Great Commission never seemed more urgent. The nations are crying out for hope, and we have it. The nations are crying out for deliverance, and we have it. The nations are crying out for life, and we have it. The nations are crying out for salvation, and we have it.

Do you need a little motivation to pray and work for a Great Commission Resurgence? Take a short ride down prostitution row. I think you will find it will be all that you need.

by Lauren Crane

Southeastern ethics professor Daniel Heimbach has withdrawn his membership from the Society of Christian Ethics after the group took a stand “honoring sin over scripture” in regards to the topic of homosexuality.

Heimbach, professor of Christian ethics, said new guidelines soon to be adopted by the society will make it impossible for any member to remain in good standing who does not honor homosexuality. After 24 years of membership in the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE), Heimbach said the group has now gone so far, in its view and defense of homosexuality, as to disqualify members who defend and apply biblical morality.

Heimbach said the society has been “morally adrift” since its founding in 1959. Though the original group grew out of a small number of American scholars in the field of Christian ethics, the membership of the group now totals over 1,000 people from the United States, Canada and Europe. According to its website, the group aims to “promote scholarly work in Christian ethics and in the relation of Christian ethics to other traditions of ethics…and to provide a community of discourse and debate for those engaged professionally within these general fields.”

While Heimbach said he has remained a member of the group to be a “beacon in the darkening circumstances,” the time has come for him to withdraw his membership.

“The reason I am withdrawing now, and not before, is that only now is the SCE adopting ‘standards of professional conduct’ that go so far as to disqualify membership based on defending and applying biblical morality,” Heimbach said, in reference to the amendments made to the Standards of Professional Conduct, will be voted on in January of 2009.

“It is ironic that, having assiduously avoided favoring any one moral understanding over others for nearly 50 years, the SCE should now see no problem with enforcing one view over others by conditioning membership on presuming to accept the moral legitimacy (requiring all to actually ‘respect’ and ‘honor’) of self-justified character and behavior God declares to be categorically wicked,” Heimbach said.

“I have read carefully through the wording of the new standards and am greatly disturbed by the postmodern language that, while drippingly subjective, nevertheless allows no dissent with treating ‘sexual orientation’ as a morally neutral category,” Heimbach wrote in a letter to Stewart Herman, Executive Director for the society.

The wording Heimbach is referencing says, In activities that occur under the auspices of the Society we will neither practice nor tolerate any form of harassment or unjust discrimination…based on race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, religious community, sexual orientation, age or physical condition. In another section the new standards read, We will treat fellow members with the equal regard due to them…according to the norms of justice, honesty, fairness, and care. We recognize that each of us has a right to…make our own decisions and keep our own commitments in matters concerning romantic and sexual relationships.

“It allows no ‘unjust’ discrimination ‘based on’ sexual orientation,” Heimbach said. “Since ‘unjust’ has no objective reference this disallows moral criticism of homosexual activity.”

The new version also states, We commit ourselves to honoring the physical, moral and sexual integrity of all SCE members.

“One must now honor (accept) the ‘moral’ integrity of homosexual members,” Heimbach said. “This could disqualify any who do not accept homosexuality as morally neutral.”

In his resignation letter to Herman, Heimbach said, “All variations of sexual orientation must be treated as worthy of ‘respect’ and moral ‘honor,’ which can only mean that failing to accept anything defended under that rubric will be cause for disciplinary action.”

Heimbach said he disagrees with the fact that while members of the society are free to debate and conduct inquiry with other members of the group on the basis of their thoughts, the new terms give ethicists no grounds to say anyone else is morally wrong because of who they believe they are.

“I have never questioned the value of bringing together scholars approaching Christian Ethics from different backgrounds. I am withdrawing membership at this point because it seems to me the SCE is disqualifying participation by professionals who seek to remain faithful to the origin of our field,” Heimbach said. “The new standards are so detached from treating the Bible as a revelation of transcendent moral authority there is no longer any objective basis for giving fixed moral meaning to terms like ‘the dignity of persons,’ or ‘just relations,’ or ‘responsibility,’ or even to what ‘Christian’ means in the title of the society.”

“It is bad enough that the SCE should for so long have rejected favoring any moral view over others. But it is so much worse that, on selecting one view over others in the name of setting standards of ‘professional conduct,’ the SCE should now prefer a view honoring sin and condemning scripture over one honoring scripture and condemning sin.”

by Lauren Crane

Daniel Akin called for unity among Southern Baptists during the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention as part of his report on the state of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Echoing a call to unity he gave at the Building Bridges Conference last fall, Akin, who is president of Southeastern, challenged the Southern Baptist Convention to come together under the umbrella of a Great Commission Resurgence. As over 7,000 Southern Baptists came together for the annual convention, Akin encouraged them to come together for the sake of the Gospel, and specifically, for the sake of the Great Commission.

Drawing on the example of W.A. Criswell’s address to the convention in 1985, Akin said modern-day Southern Baptists are faced with a similar decision to live or to die as a denomination.

“I believe Southern Baptists are facing a similar scenario a little more than 20 years later,” Akin said. “I am convinced in this new day and context we need men with a vision for what can be called ‘A Great Commission Resurgence.’ Building on the ‘Conservative Resurgence,’ we need a new passion and commitment to the final marching orders of the Lord Jesus.”

In his address on the state of the seminary, Akin said he wanted to attempt to raise and answer two questions of vital importance to the topic: Why and how we should come together for a Great Commission resurgence?

He said there are a number of things Southern Baptists agree on, including the inerrancy, infallibility and sufficiency of the Bible; the exclusivity of the Gospel, the necessity of a regenerate church, the reality of sin and the lostnesss of humanity, the necessity of salvation through faith alone, to redeem humanity and the need for all people to be Great-Commission minded.

Akin spoke on one of the ways Southeastern is pushing ahead with the goal of reaching all people for Christ. Referencing a new partnership made between Southeastern and the International Mission Board, the sending agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, Akin said, “I am delighted Southeastern has entered into a partnership with the International Mission Board where missionaries can pursue a PhD in missions without having to permanently leave their fields of service…I believe this can be an impetus for an explosion of people to go where God is leading them to share with the 1.6 billion people who have yet to hear the name of Christ.”

More than just casting an abstract vision for a Great Commission Resurgence, though, Akin detailed how all Southern Baptists can unite under Christ’s last mandate of going into all the world, making disciples of all nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Balancing both biblical and systematic theology with a Great Commission theology is vital to bringing together Southern Baptists. Finally, Akin said in a very tangible way, Southern Baptists need to join hands over the issues that are agreed upon, rather than fighting over the issues that are not.

Specifically citing the example of arguments over Calvinism versus Arminianism, Akin said, “One of the problems I have seen is what I call semi-Arminians with an attitude and Calvinists with a chip on their shoulder. The shrill rhetoric, sloppy history and theology, and unchristian words and actions on both sides of this issue have resulted in a number of unnecessary misfortunes.

“Brothers and sisters, it is time for us to put that away and move on. There is room enough in our denomination for all of us who can agree on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and who have a heart to see the gospel go to all the nations.”

Akin closed by saying, “We may not agree on everything, but we agree on more than enough to work together for our Lord Jesus in fulfilling the Great Commission. So, will we live or will we die? Will we come together for life or fracture apart in death? I make my choice for life. It is my hope and my prayer that you will join me. That’s what our seminary is about.”

by Lauren Crane

Johnny Hunt, the president-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention and an alumnus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., challenged his fellow alumni to get serious about reaching the lost as he addressed Southeastern’s Alumni and Friends Luncheon June 11.

The luncheon, which is held every year in connection with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, is a way to honor alumni of the seminary as well as challenge them to remain involved in the activities of the institution. This year, the featured speakers were Hunt and Daniel Akin, president of the seminary.

“I am so grateful God led Johnny not only to run, but that he won,” Akin said. He said he had asked Hunt to speak at the luncheon some months ago, prior to his nomination as a potential candidate for the SBC presidency.

“I think he is the right man to follow the two very effective and wonderful years led by (outgoing president) Frank Page. He will build on the challenge coming out of this convention, the challenge of now building on the Conservative Resurgence and setting our minds and souls to a Great Commission Resurgence.”

Hunt spoke to over 250 gathered alumni, friends and family.

“Today is a day when Southern Baptists must say, ‘We must get back to what unites us: A cause greater than most of what divides us,’” Hunt said. “If you look at the waterline, we’re sinking. While we’re up here talking about what we need to fix, the ship is sinking. I don’t know of anything that is better than keeping us afloat than the Great Commission.”

Hunt spoke on the challenge he will face as president of the SBC, saying he knew he alone could not do anything about the “sinking ship.”

“One thing is for sure, anyone that has ever been assigned to this post (of the presidency) and felt they could lead change (by himself) was kidding himself. It’s only what we can do when we join hands and hearts together.”

Hunt said the bottom line in reaching people is to never get over salvation, but instead, to put knowledge to work in the heart and in the world.

“What you know will not change the world. What you do with what you know is what will change the world,” Hunt said.

Aside from the overarching challenge of reclaiming a Gospel-focused mission of reaching the world, Hunt also issued a personal challenge to the gathered alumni and friends on the vitality of continuing to support Southeastern, especially after graduation.

“Seminaries cannot ask people for money, but preachers can,” Hunt said. “I am going to help lead the charge. It makes a big difference if we continue to support what helped us. Pray for the seminary, Dr. Akin and the faculty. What a school! It’s off the charts when it comes to missions, developing minds and helping students think like scholars and developing hearts for the world.”

Hunt also challenged alumni to pray about giving on a regular basis to the seminary.

“Will you join me and prayerfully consider making a monthly contribution? It only seems that those of us who have benefited most from the journey would continue to be a part.”

Akin followed Hunt in challenging alumni and others to get serious about saving the lost, saying he hopes the “missions monster” that is Southeastern continues to grow, sending more and more missionaries and reaching more of the 3.5 billion unengaged and unreached people of the world.

“This year, we’re sending over 30 missionary units to the Central and South Africa region,” Akin said. “My prayer is that we would send 100 units. Some people have told me, ‘You sound like an extension of the International Mission Board.’ You got that right.”

Akin said he finds it hard to believe the numbers of people going overseas are reflective of God’s heart.

“I daily struggle to believe that with 1.6 billion who have never heard the Gospel, and with basically 3.5 billion who are unengaged, that God’s sovereign plan is for so many to stay. I wouldn’t ask you to pray, ‘Should I go?’ I would ask you to pray, ‘Should I stay?’

Akin finished the luncheon by thanking the Southeastern family for what it does in fulfilling the Great Commission. “You pray for us, you send us your best and hold us accountable that we maintain our best for Jesus. It is such a blessing to have so many who stand with us so faithfully. I thank you. I thank you. I thank you.”

WAKE FOREST, N.C. – Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has hired six new faculty members, and partnered with five new visiting professors, in a continuing effort to effectively equip students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission.

The new faculty will bring expert knowledge to the areas of Biblical languages, missions and music, among other areas.

Coming to Southeastern as Visiting Professor of Missional Research is Ed Stetzer, Director of Research and Missiologist in Residence at LifeWay Christian Resources. Stetzer has written a number of books on church planting in North America and is considered a top expert on missional church studies.

“Dr. Stetzer knows the landscape of North American church planting better than anyone,” Nelson said. “He is a keen observer of trends and strategies and we could not be happier that he is able to join us.”

Pastor Stephen Rummage of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., will, once again, be leading courses on preaching as a visiting professor. Rummage, who was on the faculty for several years at Southeastern, will be returning to “influence another generation of gospel preachers.”

Joining the Southeastern faculty as visiting professors in the area of leadership and discipleship are two members of LifeWay Christian Resources’ executive team. Tom Hellams, who is Vice President and Executive Associate at LifeWay, will be a Visiting Professor of Leadership, and Brad Waggoner, Vice President of Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, will be Visiting Professor of Leadership and Discipleship.

“Both Brad Waggoner and Tom Hellams bring years of leadership and administrative experience to the classroom. They will be a real asset to our students in master’s and doctoral courses,” Nelson said.

Grant Lovejoy will also be joining the faculty as a Visiting Professor of Oral Strategies. This move is part of Southeastern’s new degree program emphasizing orality studies for the purpose of reaching non-literate people groups. Lovejoy is currently the Director of Orality Strategies for the International Mission Board.

Nelson said, “To carry the gospel to the many non-literate peoples of the earth, our students need the very best training in oral strategies. We are grateful that Dr. Lovejoy will assist us to that end.”

Six people will be joining the faculty at Southeastern in a full-time capacity, as well. Joining as an Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek is Benjamin Merkle. Merkle will be joining the faculty after having served as a Professor of New Testament at Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary in Penang, Malaysia. In addition to being a New Testament scholar, Merkle is also a prolific author.

“Dr. Merkle is a gifted scholar, both as a teacher and as an author, who is passionate about God’s heart for the nations. I am grateful that a man who has such experience on the international field will teach courses like Hermeneutics, Greek, and New Testament to our students,” said David Nelson, Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of Faculty at Southeastern. “He is an ideal fit for Southeastern, a seminary that believes every classroom is a Great Commission classroom.”

Also joining the faculty with overseas experience is George Robinson, a Southeastern alumnus who currently works with e3 Ministries as Director of Church Planting Equipping. Robinson will serve as Assistant Professor of Missions and Evangelism, teaching courses in those areas.

“Dr. Robinson brings unique experience and insight to teaching evangelism and missions. He has served overseas, has spent considerable time helping churches in the US connect to church planting overseas, and he is a personal soul winner,” Nelson said.

Jeremy Evans will be joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Religion. Evans has specializations in ethics and philosophy of religion and currently serves an assistant professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Susan Lozaw is currently serving as an adjunctive professor of music at Southeastern. She will teach voice, vocal pedagogy and music theory. Jill Stubblefield will also be joining the faculty at Southeastern as an Instructor of English, teaching courses on composition and literature. Joshua Waggener, who currently serves as Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and as adjunctive professor of music, will be taking on the role of Instructor of Music. He will teach courses on music history and worship ministry.

by Lauren Crane

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and its undergraduate school, The College at Southeastern, celebrated their spring 2008 commencement ceremonies on May 23 with over 230 graduates.

The graduates come from 27 states and five foreign countries. The degrees obtained by the students ranged from associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, to master’s degrees, to doctoral degrees.

Current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Frank Page, gave the commencement address during the seminary graduation. Page, who pastors Taylors First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., gave guidelines on how to live a life worthy of hearing the Lord say, “Here is a man or here is a woman after my own heart.”

Page, drawing examples from the life of David, said there are a lot of phrases people will hear in life. Some are words you don’t want to hear and some are words you do want to hear. To hear God say, “This is a man after my own heart,” as he said about David, Page said, is one of the greatest phrases to ever hear.

“Wouldn’t you like that to be said about you?” Page asked. “David fell greatly, but as great as his falling, so great was his repentance.”

Page said he believes the reason God said David was a man after his own heart, despite the obvious sin in his life, is because he lived Micah 6:8. The verse – which teaches Christ’s followers to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God – is how David lived his life, Page said.

“I could give you a lot of advice, a lot o advice about ministry, but I could give you no better advice than is found in Micah 6:8,” Page said. “Then, God will say, here is a man or here is a woman after my own heart.”

Southeastern president Daniel Akin gave the commencement address during the college’s graduation ceremony. Pulling from another well-known example of a fallen man redeemed, Akin taught on the example of Zaccheus.

“Zaccheus was ‘too bad to be saved,’” Akin said. “He was getting rich off of his own people, was despised by everyone – except Jesus. He was hated, but blessed with lots of stuff. He was miserable because he couldn’t find peace and happiness. He couldn’t buy a ticket to the front of the line to see Jesus.”

Out of this longing for salvation and the shame of his actions, Akin said Zaccheus ran ahead to climb into a tree, both where he could see Jesus clearly and where he could hide from the harassment, criticism and ridicule of the people.

“I suspect he froze in fear, fright and horror at the first words out of Jesus’ mouth,” Akin said, referencing him calling Zaccheus out of the tree and to dinner. Unlike the people of the day, though, Akin said Jesus looked up into the tree with a heart of grace, love, mercy and compassion.

“The friend of sinners is now a guest of sinners and the sinner is about to become a son,” Akin said. “Aren’t you glad Jesus is willing to be a friend of sinners?”

Page and Akin both urged those attending the graduation ceremonies to examine where their hearts were in relation to Jesus, asking those in attendance to determine whether or not they were in accord with the heartbeat of God.

“My prayer is that the heartbeat of the son of God is the heartbeat you have,” Akin said. “With one voice, with one heart we all agreed we would gladly dispense our diplomas into the trash bin to see one person come to see the Lord who came to see and save the lost.”

by Lauren Crane

In ever-increasing numbers, students at American colleges and universities seem to be abandoning the Christian faith they once clung to. Some say the cause is an increased secularity in the nation. Others blame the universities themselves, which often teach concepts contrary to evangelical Christianity.

Secular humanism, post-modern thinking and the search for “enlightenment” are leading an expanding number of students astray, both at secular institutions and those that once called themselves Christian. Despite the bleak outlook, church leaders such as Dave Owen are excited about the possibility that exists on campuses. They see the increasingly secular campuses not as a threat to the faith, but as a mission field, ripe and ready to be picked.

Owen grew up in the church, left it, and later discovered his call to collegiate ministry while a student at Southeastern Seminary. During an interview, Owen, who serves as college minister to over 500 students at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., outlined his ideas and goals on what it will take to reclaim the academies for Christ. During his 10 years of ministering to college students in the Raleigh area, he has seen the dire need that exists for people to speak truth to this age group, giving them a firm foundation for their beliefs.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing college students today?
I think probably to try to categorize them: obviously the pluralism, the tolerance, the relativism. There’s no place for absolute truth on the campus, just the philosophies and the ideologies they’re being inundated with that shape and impact everything. From an intellectual aspect – (those are the challenges).

From a heart aspect, I think probably just morality. It’s horrible. Those are the two areas that are probably the biggest challenges for this generation.

How do you cultivate a love for the church as a whole in the midst of collegiate ministry? How do you show students church is vital, so they don’t just view the ministry as a social atmosphere?
I think there are three things that stick out.

Prayer. We are really trying to saturate our ministry in prayer and a dependence on God to move. It’s not going to happen if he doesn’t do it.

Teach the Bible. When I say teach the Bible, we’re trying to teach the Scriptures to equip them with a Biblical worldview… so they can learn how to think through things through the grid of the Scriptures. We’re for Christ, and we’re big on the Gospel…We’re really just trying to encourage our students, those who have known the Lord for years, to really love the Gospel more than what they do now.

Also to be able to hold the bar really high on the value of ecclesiology…we try to equip them with a healthy view of the church by not degrading other ministries but really just trumpeting and valuing the church. Marriage is a symbol of Christ and the church, of a husband and wife, and that is just really massive. When we use that to illustrate Christ and the church, it’s just such a difference.

They get involved with other campus ministries and church is just another Bible study, but we’re trying to show them it’s so much more. We push membership. We don’t turn our numbers in to anybody, I know some do, but we just want as many worshippers of Christ, and so we hold the bar high to serve the members. This generation is hungry for something that is worth living for. They’re looking for a cause to live for and we’re trying to tell them that Jesus, the church and the nations - going where it may cost you your life - is worth it.

What kind of programming activities does your collegiate ministry do?
The two biggest things we do: Sunday school, we call it H2O. We do a welcome, some giveaways, that kind of things. Then we’ll do Bible for about 45 minutes, and just teach. Then we’ll do worship, for three to four songs. Sunday schools classes are the main thing, everything just flows out of that.

We also do something we call D-Groups (discipleship groups). We do Big D and Little D. Big D right now is about 150 students and they come every other week. We do a teaching mid-week on a Tuesday. Then, on the off-weeks, we do Little D. We have about 20 or so leaders that do small groups, both guys and girls. They come together and do Big D and then we do the Little D.

We also partner with Campus Crusade and different campus ministries to do outreach. A lot of our outreach is through one of our discipleship groups and through one of our outreach teams, going and sharing the Gospel with people, because they come from all kinds of backgrounds: liberal backgrounds, Catholicism, whatever.

Outreach on campuses (involves) supporting different events, bringing in a speaker or whatever. We did a debate with an atheist and Dr. Michael Green, who is an apologist and an evangelist. Crusade brought him in and we helped to sponsor that event and we had about 2,500 students come. So we really try to partner with outreaches…Our retreats: We do a fall retreat every year and a leadership retreat, where we take away our leaders to prepare them, train them for the upcoming year.

In what ways do you think collegiate ministries in the United States have to improve to reach more people?
I think it has to be saturated in prayer …This generation is one of the most passionate generations, and you go into a church and its deadbeat. You’re saying this is worth all of life to live, and yet no one is excited about it. I really feel like the churches have to have a passionate hunger for Christ in all things, holistic living.

In addressing that, I think college ministries have to teach the Bible, stand firm on doctrine and theology. I think kids want it. They’re hungry for something to anchor their life in. If we just give them watered down things to try to get them there, it’s not going to hold. Give them weighty teaching and theological teaching; they’re hungry for it. It’s an anchor for them. It will carry them though school and through some of the toughest times and decision they have to make. So Gospel-centered Bible teaching, theologically driven, prayer saturated: those areas have to be addressed.

(The next area) is the church. The ecclesiology is massive. So many get involved in campus ministry, and they have no category for it, and then they get out and they haven’t cultivated a discipline for going. Then, they don’t really know what it looks like when they do go, so it’s a foreign concept. They end up just being tossed and then maybe around age 30, they come back. These are the ones committed to campus ministry. So through collegiate ministry, they have to do a healthy job, partly with campus ministries, but also with elevating the reality of the church.

If they don’t go on staff with campus ministry, which, probably 95 percent don’t, then the next stage of their spiritual growth is the church. Why not deal with that now, while they’re in college, instead of having to wait?

What are some common misconceptions about collegiate ministry and college students in general that you deal with in your work?
I think what has happened in the church, in Baptist life, is that we have left that generation alone. There has just been in the last five to six years…a lot of attention given to that age. I think that’s why we lose so many after high school, because the churches say, ‘They’re going off to college. Try to find a good church or get involved in a campus ministry.’ We really try to stay connected with those that have graduated from our church.

I think - to the fault of some youth ministries - collegiate ministries think the youth guys do a lot of events to get people there. They think ‘They’re still young, so we’re trying to do anything to get them here.’

Again, I think when have to go back to where your calling is. You’ve got to edify and build and teach the Bible. Not that we don’t do events -we do - but that’s not the driving thing. The scripture, Christ, the Gospel is. So I think it would be helpful for churches to really evaluate…are they even trying to connect to that generation? (At the beginning of my time in collegiate ministry) we were networking to try to find out what other churches do. They either let the youth pastor do it, and we know college and youth group are two different worlds. Then they would take the college and put them in with the singles and young career. A person working a 40-50 hour week, that’s a different world than college. It has kind of been “the stepchild” of ministry. I’m excited that a lot of churches now are giving leadership and budgeting and seeing this is of value. They say if we lose this generation, you can shut the church down.

How do non-college ministers effectively join the battle?
For those who aren’t in it but want to join it, just go and learn from them. Go and serve them, get involved and get connected. Look not to be served in that capacity, but look to serve that area of ministry, in the sense of ‘How can I learn, how I grow and get my finger on the pulse of what’s happening in this generation?’ I think the Lord can really use that to influence and really expand the ministry efforts of trying to build his kingdom in that generation.

The sixth annual musical presentation of Jubilate will take place in Southeastern Seminary’s Binkley Chapel Thursday night, May 8, at 8:00 PM.

Southeastern Seminary’s six music ensembles, including the Chapel Choir, Male Chorale, the Seminary Orchestra, Faithful Men, Doxology Vocal Ensemble and the Doxology Instrumental Ensemble, will be providing the music. Frequently associated with Psalm 100 the word “Jubilate” means “to rejoice or raise a shout of joy.” Jubilate will include a wide variety of musical styles ranging from classical to contemporary Christian music.

John Davis, conductor of the Male Chorale and director of Faithful Men, is a graduate of Samford University (BME), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MCM), and the University of Georgia (DMA in choral conducting). In demand as a tenor soloist, choral clinician, and adjudicator, Davis founded Faithful Men in 1995, and the group now tours extensively throughout the United States. Davis is a published composer and arranger and teaches a wide variety of classes at Southeastern. The former minister of music at Glover Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, Davis currently also conducts the Northeast Piedmont Chorale, a local community chorus which performs major choral works with orchestra.

Nannette Godwin will be the organist for the evening. Godwin, a former Miss North Carolina, is a graduate of Southeastern Seminary and has earned two degrees from University of North Carolina Greensboro, one of which is a PhD in Music Education. Godwin is in demand as a keyboard clinician and adjudicator. She has had extensive experience as minister of music and organist at numerous churches in the Raleigh area, and she is the author of a piano teaching series called Construction Site and several articles recently published in Pedal Point magazine. Godwin coordinates the keyboard program at Southeastern Seminary.

John Boozer conducts the Chapel Choir and is the founding conductor of the vocal side of the contemporary group called Doxology. He has earned degrees from Samford University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Louisiana State University, where he received the DMA in Choral Conducting. Boozer has led, adjudicated, or conducted over 100 regional and national workshops in church music, worship, and choral music. The former minister of music at First Baptist Church in Panama City, Fl., and the founding conductor of the Orchestra of St. Andrew Bay, Boozer is the interim minister of music at First Baptist Church in Cary, N.C.

Joshua Waggener is the conductor of the Seminary Orchestra and the instrumental side of the contemporary group, Doxology. Waggener also teaches music history at The College at Southeastern. In addition to a Bachelor of Music from Trinity University (Texas), he holds the Masters of Music Literature from the University of Georgia and the Masters of Church Music from Southeastern Seminary. He currently serves as Minister of Music and Worship at Guess Road Baptist in Durham.

Jubilate is free and open to the public. For more information about this year’s Jubilate call (919) 761-2316.

by Lauren Crane

Though the United States is often considered a “Christian nation,” Geoff Hammond said there is still plenty of work to do in making believers and disciples of all people, especially those residing in North America.

The president of the North American Mission Board, Hammond has a passion for reaching people living in the United States, Canada and the territories, those areas that are the focus of NAMB’s work. He said people often forget there is a very ripe mission field within the United States, and it is one that is growing and constantly changing. While speaking to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary family during chapel on April 29, Hammond challenged students to see the world they live in as a mission. After presenting a NAMB video on the status of North America and the work of Southern Baptists here, he challenged students to hear the call of God and allow themselves to be sent by God, wherever that may be.

“There is still work left to do,” Hammond said, after showing the great need for missionaries in this region. Although there are approximately 150,000 NAMB missionaries, volunteers and chaplains working within North America, Hammond said there are still 250 million people to be reached.

“We have been sent by the Father,” Hammond said. “We follow in the footsteps of the disciples, as we too have been given the Great Commission.”

Hammond said the mission field of the United States, Canada and the territories is constantly changing and challenging those who are trying to make believers in this area.

“It is becoming a darker mission field,” Hammond said. “The rise of pluralism, the rise of secularism…North America is a mission field.”

Like many international missionaries working in closed and hostile countries overseas, Hammond said there are missionaries with NAMB who are now working with sensitive people groups by using a platform – that is, working in another capacity to gain access to people for the sake of the gospel.

Hammond said there must be a distinction between “calling and sending,” but that both aspects of ministry must be present.

“I believe in the call of God, but I also believe in the sending of God,” Hammond said. “In the calling, there is also a sending. Realize you have been sent by the Father, and it is the Holy Spirit who keeps you there.”

Speaking from John 9:4, Hammond said the passage teaches us to do the work of the Lord at all times, because no one knows when night will fall.

“We are sent by the Father to do the work of the Father,” Hammond said. He said this sense of urgency, stemming from the unknown time of the return of the Lord, should motivate us to reach people with the gospel.

“If we as Southern Baptists were as consumed about doing the will of the Father as we were about fellowship, we would be a lot more effective at evangelizing Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth.”

Hammond said to go wherever God calls and sends you and to work diligently, awaiting the “nighttime.”

“Three-fourths of the people who die in the United States die without a saving knowledge of God,” he said. “Be sure, wherever you are, to share the love of Jesus Christ.”

Looking at the numbers of people yet to be reached with the gospel in North America alone, Hammond likened the church to a cornfield, with the capacity for 300 rows that is planted and cultivated with only 40-60 rows of corn.

“I want to say to you, Southern Baptists, God has given us, just in the United States, over 300 million. If we continue to just plant and reap in just 40-60 million of those folks, we will never reach North America for Christ,” Hammond prayed, “Lord, send out laborers from this group of people that will go to all those rows. Send them, and give them fruit.”

by Lauren Crane

Very little evidence remains of the F-4 tornado that struck Union University on February 5, and Southeastern students did their part to aid the undergraduate university in reconstructing campus and moving onward.

Union’s 200-acre campus, located in Jackson, Tenn., received over $40 million dollars in damage when the tornado swept through in February. Despite the extensive damage to the housing complexes and one of the academic buildings, there were no lives lost at Union, despite having approximately 1200 people on campus at the time. A few mangled road signs, water stains on some of the buildings and a constant buzz of rebuilding activity is nearly all that is left to tell visitors about the tornado that hit Union, little over two months ago. Instead of devastation and destruction – the images so recently seen on campus – there is a flurry of activity as construction crews erect new dormitory facilities.

On April 24-26, Southeastern students and staff traveled to the fellow Southern Baptist institution to aid in the continuing efforts at restoration. Approximately 25 people spent a portion of their spring break helping in the continuing clean-up efforts by landscaping, a task which had largely been neglected as maintenance and rebuilding efforts were focused on more urgent matters, as well as lending support to the Union family.

“We saw a school in need, and wanted to serve them any way that we could. It was encouraging that it was the immediate reaction of the students to go and help Union,” said Benjamin Quinn, marketing coordinator for the Office of Student Development. Quinn, who organized and led the trip, said he was grateful Southeastern students and administration wanted to help Union and found a way to make it happen.

The group lent their hands and service in helping to pull weeds, clean out flowerbeds (some still littered with insulation from the demolished dorms) and plant trees on the west end of Union’s campus.

“Though we were physically able to help Union by doing basic landscape work around campus, I hope the greatest benefit was the encouragement we offered them by showing our love and support,” Quinn said. “I believe our students involved were encouraged by a school that was hit so hard, yet has bounced back so quickly. To see a campus that just 11 weeks ago was virtually in ruins and now is cleaned up with 6 dormitory buildings framed and in the dry—that is miraculous.”

Six new dorms are currently being built to replace the two housing complexes that were devastated by the tornado. There will be two u-shaped building formations, consisting of three buildings each, to be completed in time for the fall semester of 2008.