A Loyal Servant: Dr. Harold Hoehner

Dr. Harold Hoehner passed away this morning. So hard to see someone like him go. But we can rejoice that he is now with his Savior.

Dr. Hoehner was a renowned expert in many areas but his immensely resourceful work on the book of Ephesians will impact many for generations to come. Dr. Hoehner also left a legacy on the lives of his students who are spread out all over the world and continue to carry the message he imparted to them during their seminary days.

At Dallas Theological Seminary (http://www.dts.edu) I had the privilege of taking Dr. Hoehner's class on the book of Romans. It was an intensive class that met during the month of May almost every day for a few weeks. Dr. Hoehner exhibited grace, love, wisdom, and above all a passion for the Lord, his family, and his students.

At Grace Bible Church (http://www.gracebiblechurch.org) Dr. Hoehner was a man that demonstrated love and kindness to everyone that was around him. I say this jokingly, but the one notable exception was during ordination exams that he helped with at Grace. Dr. Hoehner demonstrated his passion for training Godly leaders at the seminary and at Grace Bible Church by asking difficult questions during ordination exams in order to ensure that if Grace Bible Church was going to approve someone for pastoral ministry that they really made sure they were prepared.

About a week ago, Lindsey and I ran into Dr. Hoehner and his wife at Fuddruckers where we talked for about 5-10 minutes. He seemed to be doing fine and I think he was. Little did we know that the Lord was going to take him home to heaven today, February 12, 2009.

Thank you Dr. Hoehner for your impact on my life, the countless other lives you impacted, your passion for serving your wife, family, and church, and most of all for the example you leave behind for the rest of us to follow as you devoted your life to Jesus Christ and making Him known.

Read Dallas Theological Seminary's tribute to Dr. Harold Hoehner by clicking here.

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Scofield

Nope we're not talking Prison Break's Scofield..... We're talking about C.I. Scofield. Many of you know of him because of the Scofield Reference Bible. He wrote the notes in that Bible. If you are from Dallas, you may know him from Scofield Memorial Church. But you may not know how much of an indirect influence C.I. Scofield has had directly on my life. I was thinking about it the other day and it's kinda weird how God works!



My first encounter with C.I. Scofield is probably one of the most important. For second grade to fourth grade, I went to Scofield Christian School.



It was at Scofield that I became a Christian. Through one of the talks during chapel, I heard the Gospel and realized what it really meant to become a Christian. In third grade, I realized that I was a sinner in need of a Savior to save me and clean me. Would I have heard the gospel somewhere else and become a Christian? Probably. But it was through a school at a church that C.I. Scofield started where my relationship with the Lord first began.

This church, originally known as First Congregational Church, also saw one of its earliest pastors, Lewis Sperry Chafer, begin a small seminary whose objective was to train men in expository preaching and teaching the scriptures. This seminary, originally called the Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1924, later became known as Dallas Theological Seminary (or DTS).

Brad and I have had the privilege to spend the past four years at DTS. Due to C.I. Scofield's influence in the life of Lewis Sperry Chafer, we were trained in how to study, understand, and share the truths of the Bible with others.

During our time at DTS, Brad and I began our ministry with CAM International.



CAM was started by C.I. Scofield in 1891 because he had a heart to reach Central America, so he started Central American Mission (now known as CAM International). Because of C.I. Scofield, we now have an established missions organization that will be our sending agency as we head out to the mission field.

How awesome is the impact that this man had on my life...through three institutions: Scofield Memorial Church, Dallas Theological Seminary, and CAM International. It's amazing how God could accomplish all this through the heart he had to preach the Word of God and go out and reach Spanish speakers! Who knows what other impact Scofield will have on our lives in the years to come...but we're ready to see what that might be!

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Grace Bible Church - Women's Retreat

This weekend our home church (Grace Bible Church) had their women's retreat. We went just north of Dallas to Allen, Texas, and had a great time of fellowship and fun.

On Saturday, Mary Howell spoke. She was AWESOME. Mary grew up in Spain serving with CAM International with her family (Gerry, Dina, and Paul Parkerson), so it was really neat to hear her perspective on growing up in Spain. Her journey with the Lord throughout life inspired us all and encouraged us in how we need to always follow Him.

Her 3 big take away points were:

1) God speaks beyond silence.
2) God's NO always opens a path for His YES.
3) God will never abandon us.

What a way to look at how the Lord is guiding our lives. How many times do I want MY yes to be God's yes? Why are we so disturbed by God's silence at points in our lives? Why do we feel like we are alone in this world when God is right beside us?

Thank you for your ministry to me this weekend Mary.
Thanks to the GBC ladies who were there to chat and learn from.

I feel so blessed to have such a great church body to worship with!!!

Ordination Exam: I passed

Today I experienced my first and last ordination exam. Whew! Here's how I'd describe it.

Challenging. Encouraging. Affirming. Humbling. All Good things.

Imagine being asked questions such as the following:

Could you give us the outline for the book of Romans?
What is preterism and why does it matter that you know?
How would you handle a situation where a visitor to your church is causing a church split?
What is the Gospel?
What is the difference between eternal security and assurance of salvation?
How would you characterize the debates between Hodges and McArthur?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Describe your beliefs on the Trinity?
After your interaction with various denominations in the U.S.A. and abroad, why is it you now believe what you believe?
Is eschatology found only in Revelation? If in other places, where is the first place in the Bible we find eschatological references?

I don't remember all the questions, but Shirley Bryan asked the best one of the night: Brad based on your understanding of prophecy, could you tell us when the Texas Rangers baseball team will have their next winning season if ever? :)

She was joking of course. I'm not a prophet and the Rangers will never have a winning season. :)

Tonight Lindsey and I are very thankful.

Thanks goes out to: Grace Bible Church, Lindsey, Andy Wileman (see picture below), Jason Wiesepape, Zach Gautier, and any others who helped me prepare for this HUGE day.

Sunday is the ordination service at Grace Bible Church. Would you consider coming?

Brad