Bethlehem College and Seminary is distinguished by an excellent faculty of accomplished teachers who exude genuine love for Christ and for their students. Professor Lewis Guest emanates exactly such joys from the moment you meet him whether in the classroom or the Sunday service. Professor Guest uses both faculties as a teacher and a pastor to the fullest extent, making much of Christ and his church while training the next generation in the classroom and preaching from the pulpit.
Guest learned to serve and love the church from a young age. He grew up as an East Coast kid and ardent New York Knicks fan in Roselle, New Jersey. Guest and his brother always found themselves in church thanks to his parents, who, in Guest’s words, “gave us all that we could have asked for” regarding a loving and fruitful household. During such fostering in the home and the church, a spark for pastoral ministry kindled within Guest.
However, Lewis’ first foray into higher education was not to teach but to play basketball for the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor while pursuing a veterinarian science degree. The expansive commitment college basketball required of Guest caused him not only to be absent from church his entire first semester, but also to land himself on academic probation. College basketball would not be in Guest’s future.
It was during this low time in Guest’s life, lacking any kind of church attendance, that he joined a Word of Faith megachurch. The experience of such zeal for Christ at this church reignited his earlier desire for pastoral ministry. Upon completing a certificate in youth ministry at Rhema Bible Training Center, Guest began serving as a youth pastor, but was unexpectedly fired after just two years. Despite the setback, pastoral ministry still resided in Guest’s heart. He decided to finish his college degree in order to be eligible to attend seminary.
His decision landed him at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. It was during his time at Southeastern that multiple roads intersected to propel him towards Bethlehem College and Seminary.
Guest was becoming dissatisfied with Word of Faith theology and yearned for more robust doctrine. At the same time, Guest found that hip-hop, one of his joys, could be used for the glory of God as he discovered a rapper putting John Piper’s Romans preaching series over his beats. Also at this time, Guest was attending DesiringGod National Conferences and developing key friendships with those around the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Guest’s growing relationships in Minneapolis, dissatisfaction with Word of Faith theology, and exposure to John Piper through hip-hop converged at just the right time in his life. Guest had one place in view as he finished his degree at Southeastern and got accepted at Bethlehem College and Seminary. He left Florida and headed North.
It was at Bethlehem Seminary where Guest found just the example he wanted to imitate in his professors as he thought about pastoral ministry and teaching. “Bethlehem Seminary was difficult. But I tell folks, I would do that thing ten times over because of the experience that I had with the brothers in my cohort and the men who were my professors.” The germ of desire planted when he was a boy and fostered in his college years finally bloomed. Bethlehem provided the space to cultivate his skill and desire for pastoral ministry and teaching.
During his years at school, Guest was asked what his ideal world would look like for himself. He responded that he’d love to do pastoral ministry, teach in some capacity, and write. He now teaches Bible and Theology for Bethlehem College and Seminary, serves as the Pastor for Preaching and Teaching at Jubilee Community Church, and has written several articles and essays. Professor Guest revels in the immense pleasure from both having the privilege to teach through the Bible year after year, and to help his students see for themselves the beauty of God’s Word. “There’s joy in someone else’s illumination. The Word is an endless treasure trove you’re just not going to exhaust.”
No matter what role or hat Professor Guest may be wearing, his joy in the deep, rich doctrine of knowing Jesus flows forth in his every interaction. He exudes a persuasive pleasure in biblical truth and love for the church. If there’s anything everyone ought to do in their lives, according to Professor Guest, they ought to “love Christ and love his church. Give to the world what has been beautifully given to you.”
Professor Guest is currently finishing a Ph.D. at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; raising his three daughters, Olivia, Eden, and Gianna, alongside his wife Elizabeth; teaching up the next generation to love Christ at Bethlehem College; and faithfully pastoring at Jubilee Community Church.
