The commencement address was given by Jerry Thorpe. The male senior-class speaker, whom I had the privilege of introducing, was David Botts. He did an excellent job. It was a great day, the Lord was honored.

The Graduate Faculty

From L to R: Dr. Arnie Smith; Dr. Greg Christopher; Dr. Wayne Slusser; Dr. Kevin Carson; Dr. Stephen Schrader. The entire Graduate faculty of Baptist Bible College now has their terminal degrees (not pictured, Dr. Gary Shultz).

My wife and I

Paul also contrasts the believer. He uses terms such as ‘light,’ ‘day,’ ‘alert,’ and ‘awake/sober.’ He is exhorting the Thessalonian believers to live what they are; that is, do what they should do. Live in the light, because they are the light! They should not be characterized by moral indifference and sin. They should not be careless in their conduct.

To be watchful, Paul says that they should be living in a state untouched by slumberous or clouding influences. Green in the Pillar NT Commentary states, “Paul is saying that the believer is to be in a moral state of having all systems ‘on’ and functioning” (238). The question remains for you and I, what do we have in place so that we remain alert to spiritual dangers? Accountability partners? Daily time with God?

I want to thank all of my family that made the journey from Ohio, Missouri and Florida to be apart of this great day. I am very thankful for their willingness to arrange their schedules to be there; praise the Lord. I especially want to thank my wife and boys for their endurance throughout this process. As Dr. Decker stated it so well, “the three stripes on the graduation gown did not come cheap. A lot of time, money, and energy was spent obtaining them.” So true, so true.

The whole family

All the New Testament PhDs

From L to R: Dr. Decker, Geoffrey Kirkland, Roger DePriest, Neal Cushman, Wayne Slusser, Dr. Arp.

Paul focuses on Christ: he reevaluates his life in light of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (3:4-9); he concentrates in the present on being like Christ (3:10); and he looks into the future with eager anticipation of winning the prize, the reward of being with Christ (3:11-14). Paul takes his way of thinking to the Philippians to admonish them.

In Philippians 3:15-16 Paul is admonishing his readers to adopt his way of thinking. He encourages them to ‘have this attitude.’ The attitude to which he is referring involves humility, unity, and differences. His admonition in 3:15 asks his readers to have the humble mind of Christ (2:5) and a unified attitude that presses toward the goal of being like Christ (3:14). This admonition also includes differences among the people of the church. Paul is not asking for uniformity on every point nor absolute agreement, for he is confident that God will reveal this to them through his word.

Therefore as the church moves forward to be like Christ, Paul is asking them ‘to be in line with,’ or ‘be in step with.’ As they progress through their lives, they are to all continue in the same direction. We too ought to heed Paul’s admonition:

We must mind the same thing, otherwise the partnership could be destroyed by selfish ambition.

We must maintain our attainment through humility; the humility seen in Christ.

We must hold our differences lightly for the sake of unity within the community.

The basis for John’s command is that love originates, is sourced in God (gen of source). “God is not only the source of love (v 7a), but love itself. Thus the assertion ‘God is love’ means not simply that love is one of his activities, but that all his activity is loving” (WBC, 228). Therefore if we have been born of God, then we too ought to be loving in all we do.

The explanation for John’s command is that God’s love was manifested to us by sending his Son into the world; he initiated the plan of salvation (cf. Rom 5:8). He was the ‘wrath-bearing’ sacrifice (propitiation), the atonement for the sins of the world. He did so for the expressed purpose that we might actively live, and do so continually! Wow, praise the Lord.

The response to God’s incredible love is since God so loved us in this way, we are morally obligated to love one another. The question is, are we doing this? Are we being loving toward others?

Today’s command comes from Galatians 5:25-26 (“let us walk in the Spirit”.) Paul is speaking to the Galatians and encouraging them to ‘conduct their lives’ through the Spirit. Paul is establishing the basis for a life that is both positionally (through faith by grace) and progressively (led by the Spirit) pleasing in God’s sight.

Paul warns them (and us) to “not” allow the freedom in Christ to be reduced to only an opportunity for the flesh (cf. 5:19-21). Rather they (we) are to submit to the controlling of the Holy Spirit through his word (cf. 5:22-23 – ‘the fruit of the Spirit’). It is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ that the believer exhibits, not when he works at it, but when he submits to the Spirit that enables and energizes him/her to do so. In other words, let the Spirit be one’s controlling, guiding influence.

Paul continues by stating the one is not only to let the Spirit guide one’s life (5:25), but also not to be boastful (5:26). Therefore, does my life illustrate self-centeredness (5:19-21) or selflessness (5:22-23) and an outgoing concern for others? Longenecker states the difference between the list of vices and the list of virtues; that is, a life led by one’s passions and a Spirit-led life. He writes, “The spontaneous quality of a life directed by the Spirit as opposed to human efforts to live according to the directives of the law of the flesh.” . . .  Or “The idea of ‘peaceful growth’ in the Spirit-directed life as opposed to the ‘outbursts of undisciplined passion’ when guided by the fleshly concerns” (WBC, 259).

Those on my dissertation committee

1. First reader – Dr. Bill Arp
2. Second reader – Dr. Rodney Decker
3. Third reader – Dr. David Mappes

Many thanks to all those who prayed for me and supported me through the process; especially to my wife and two boys, your love, support, and prayers will not be forgotten.

Defending my dissertation

YES! Praise God, all did go well. The family came to the office, we printed the 248-pg dissertation (that seemed putting it together took an eternity). We then all watched with anticipation as I hit the “send” key . . . and off it went into cyber space oblivion. YEAH!! Cheers and smiles on all our faces; praise God.

The journey for this day began back in the fall 2001, even before Jack, now 10 years old, was born. –> Now, it is important to know that I’m not ‘out-of-the-woods’ yet. I still must await word from the chairman of my dissertation committee to inform me that all is good and provide the date of my oral defense, likely in two weeks. Still much to consider and pray over; but thank you to all who were praying. It was much appreciated.

Loading the paper

Anxiously waiting . . .

Nick's excited

Jack watching me go through the dissertation

We're all smiles . . . it has been sent!

The Gospels are not easy to define. The components that are typical within a Gospel are biography, history, and theology. If one is to come away with the author’s intended meaning, he must account for these three components (the content) and the method (how the content is put together) in which they are structured.

The literary structure (the “how”) of the Gospel of Mark is narrative; that is, communicative acts/episodes that are structured together (typically by chronology or geography) to provide a whole. Each of the episodes speak into the larger whole and thus give the reader/hearer the authorial intended meaning. This is discourse.

The genre (the “what”) of the Gospel of Mark is theological narrative bioi. The genre is one that I have put together to account for all of the above (biography, history, and theology). Mark has constructed his Gospel to explicate the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, the unifying focal character (biography), through three geographical settings during first-century Judaism in Palestine (history) with the intent that the reader will understand the significance of Jesus’ words and deeds as they pertain to the reader’s life (theology). This is genre criticism.

I’m still working through Mark’s argument, but at this point my initial thinking is that he communicates his intent up front, (1:1) — the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; for this is his christological title that is illustrated throughout the narrative giving the reader the true identity of Jesus Christ. More to come

This time of year is bitter-sweet; for the students truly add a dimension to teaching that is irreplaceable. I’m already looking forward to when they come back. Looking forward to 3rd semester Greek, working through Titus!

I will be working on my dissertation this summer; it MUST be a productive time. As I work on the dissertation, my blog should be filled with little exegetical nuggets this summer. Tune in . . .