It is deeply gratifying to me that Bethlehem College and Seminary exists for the sake of the nations. That’s not all we exist for. Our graduates include dozens of vocations, like: Christ-exalting small business owners, homemakers, teachers, pastors. But I am thrilled that we foreground Christ’s zeal for the nations.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him (1 John 4:9). The Advent season displays the fullness and beauty of God’s love. Charles Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” composed in 1739, appropriately captures the infinite, […]
Seeing Through Our Traditions and Keeping Wonder Alive This Advent Let me take you back to the winter of 1989. It was Christmas time and presents had been under the tree for a while. One such present had my attention. It looked like the one item I really, really, really wanted for Christmas that year. […]
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. For Christ is born of Mary; and, gathered all above, while […]
Advent is a season of waiting that begins four Sundays before Christmas. The word Advent means “coming,” and faithful Christians reflect on the mystery of our Lord’s first coming and anticipate his glorious return. Christ has come, and Christ will come again. These gospel truths animate our worship and orient our lives during Advent and […]
The apostles often expressed in their letters how they longed to be with the churches face to face. Pastor Tom and our church have felt that longing ever since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. But miraculously, even though his pancreas was taken out, Pastor Tom finally came back to Cameroon after 2 years, and […]
Every student at Bethlehem learns to read their New Testament in the original Greek. Seminary students and some college students also learn to read their Old Testament in Hebrew. Learning these languages requires an enormous investment of time initially and regular use thereafter, or the language memory will fade. Is it worth it? My answer […]
Bethlehem Seminary seeks to prepare joyful pastors to preach a big God and shepherd Christ’s church. We call our seminary students “pastoral apprentices” and deploy them in meaningful hands-on ministry in a number of likeminded partner churches under the supervision of wise and godly pastors. At a recent gathering of these apprenticing pastors, I encouraged […]
Bethlehem College and Seminary is delighted to announce that Pastor Toph Majors has agreed to serve as the Director of Pastoral Apprenticeship and Instructor of Biblical Studies.
Autumn in Minnesota is a season of sensory overload. Pumpkin-spiced items from cereal to cookies to coffee creamer line grocery store shelves, reminding us that the season has begun. October sunsets and fall foliage displaying unimaginable color can bring us to our knees in worship as we ponder the magnitude of our great Creator. Oh, […]