of faithfulness and graciousness

The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds (Psalm 145:13b).

Twenty years ago this year I became a Christian.

Sixteen years ago I was baptized.

Fourteen years ago I started at Crown College.

Ten years ago I moved to Kyrgyzstan.

Nine years ago I started at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Six years ago I became the pastor of Mount Republic Chapel of Peace.

Four years ago I started at the University of St Andrews.

This year I will be twenty years a Christian and will complete the PhD.

And in all of it, the one lesson I have learned, which I have carried with me these twenty years and which I carry still, is that God is faithful and gracious. Upon beginning each new adventure, I never knew where it might lead to, but I trusted that God himself would lead me into it. Over the last fifteen years, God has led me on some pretty remarkable adventures: from Minnesota to Lithuania to Kyrgyzstan to Massachusetts to Montana to Scotland, with shorter travels to and adventures in 26 other countries and 40 states in between. I wouldn’t change a minute of any of it.

And now, on the twenty year anniversary of my Christian faith commitment, God continues to lead. He continues to show his faithfulness and grace to me in ways unexpected, surprising, and previously unfathomable.  Most recently, he has done so by giving me a glimpse of my next great adventure: the beginning of the rest of my life.

As you know, I spent the month of November applying for jobs, doing Skype interviews, and even an on-campus interview at the start of December. The majority of these labors end in rejection for students like me; there are just too many PhD-holders and too few university openings. The academic job market is grim, to say the very least.

But God has looked on me with grace.

He has unfolded the map of the next leg of my life’s journey. And not only has he graciously told me what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be going, but both the what and the where are more perfect ends to my goals than I could ever have imagined.

Come July 2015, I will be an Assistant Professor of Theology (Biblical Studies) at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. 

I know. Crazy, right?

My time there at the beginning of December went swimmingly, and from day one, Whitworth and Spokane felt like home—the kind of long-term, earthly home I long for. The theology faculty felt like a family, and the students reminded me of myself at that age. Throughout the three days, as I interacted with faculty, students, and administration alike, I had the overwhelming sense that God could use me and the gifts he has developed in me in that place. I prayed that he would do so; and, as he has done these twenty-plus years now, God heard and answered that prayer.

Whitworth University is an undergraduate, liberal arts institution with approximately 2,300 students from a variety of countries, states, denominations, and even faith backgrounds. It prioritizes the education of students’ minds and hearts, academic freedom to ask the difficult questions currently plaguing the Church and scholarship, and, with faculty from diverse denominations, it seeks to uphold and embrace Christian unity among diversity. The ecumenical but evangelical values of the institution make Whitworth a rather unique Christian liberal arts college. ‘For the 15th consecutive year, Whitworth was ranked in the top 10 in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the 120 best private colleges and universities in the West’. It is truly a top-notch university, and one that I feel honoured to be invited to join.

Whitworth University’s campus is beautiful, with red brick buildings under the canopy of towering Ponderosa Pines.  It is situated on the very edge of Spokane and, on a clear day, Mount Spokane is visible in the distance. Among other things, its location and atmosphere fit me perfectly. And at only 8.5 hours away, it is one of the closest Christian Colleges to Cooke City, which means that some of you will now never be rid of me. That, in my mind, equals success! 

I am still in a state of shock. To think that God has blessed me with a job before the PhD is even finished, and at such a school and in such a location as this, is mind boggling. But I am so grateful to know the next step, and to know that it is a step that will bring with it the opportunity to put down roots, to build long-term community, to teach, mentor, and be part of scholarship, and finally to have a place officially to call ‘home’.

Thank you for all of your prayers. The Lord heard them and answered them. I know he did mine.

The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds (Psalm 145:13b).