God is a perfect judge, a flawless and omniscient inspector. And, in Christ his Beloved Son, he mercifully loves us.
Because God judges every word, thought, and deed, everything counts. Meanwhile, not everything counts the same. Something matters more than whether we pile up academic credits, letters after our names, or journal articles we have published.
What matters more than such things is our love for God and living for his glory in all we do – writing papers, rocking the baby, carefully listening to our critics, waiting in prayer… whatever we do, we do to display the weightiness of God The Flawless.
The Board of Trustees recently conducted their thrice annual meeting the day before graduating fifty-four students from various programs. After trustee Tim Johnson passionately reminded us off his front burner in his devotional on the centrality of good news in Christ, the board agenda included the following:
By the time the board convenes again in September, we must fulfill accreditation compliance standards on less than a handful of recommendations from the Association of Biblical Higher Education accreditation team that recently visited our campus from around the country. The modest recommendations are relatively routine in the context of an otherwise very positive review involving our programs, finances, faculty, staff, students, and board of trustees.
Dr. Brian Tabb, Academic Dean, reports that, notwithstanding the recent departure of Dr. Jason DeRouchie, he is confident that Old Testament and Hebrew classes in the Fall semester will be well-staffed, and that an announcement of at least one new faculty appointment should soon be forthcoming.
The Dean also reported completion of the College 2.0 initiative including a comprehensive evaluation of our undergraduate programs, and successful implementation of phase one of the renewed MDiv apprenticeship vision.
Vice President Jason Abell delivered a positive treasurer’s report, and the Finance Committee proposed a fiscal year budget of just over $4.6M.
The board unanimously elected David Choe to the board of trustees, pending confirmation by the Bethlehem Baptist Church council of elders.
President Tomlinson and the Chairman of the Board (this writer) were authorized to propose a process for the next round of strategic planning. The last round was five years ago, and God has helped us accomplish nearly all the objectives we set out to accomplish back then.
In light of the weightiness of God,
Sam Crabtree
Chairman, Board of Trustees
For your prayer:
- A major donor informed us some time ago that his level of giving would predictably be reduced some day. That day is here, and we are looking to God to bring in the final $95,000 needed before June 30.
- Pray that our graduates would launch well into life and ministry.
- Pray for our students, faculty, and staff as they begin summer vacations full of projects, writing tasks, missions trips, and opportunities to rest.