The Master's College Current - Vol18 No2

7/23/2019 The Master's College Current - Vol18 No2

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(God Will Bring it to Pass continuedom page 3)

church. All that the Father gives to Mewill come to Me. Every individual everredeemed, every individual ever grantedthe gi of faith, every individual everforgiven and justied before God by graceis a gi from the Father to the Son. It isntthat you were bouncing down the streetone day and got smart enough to get

yourself saved. It isnt that you considered

all your options and picked the best oneby your human ingenuity. Rather, everyindividual who ever comes to faith is alove gi from the Father to the Son, a partof a redeemed humanity who is given tothe Son for a very express purpose.

What is that purpose ? All you haveto do is go to the book of Revelation andlook into heaven and see what people aredoing there. What are the gloried saintsdoing? Worshipping, glorifying, praisingand serving the Lamb. at is the fullness

of Gods purpose. In eternity past, beforecreation, God determined that He wouldgive the Son a redeemed humanity for theexpress purpose of glorifying , praising,honoring, and worshipping Him forever,and that ultimately would be broughtinto the uncreated glory where the Trinitydwells.at was the Fathers expression

of love, the mostwonderful

way that He could do it . He created theangels; they too worship the Son. Butthis is unique because this is a redeemedhumanity and their purpose is to glorifythe Son forever.

In John 6:38 He says, I have comedown from heaven not to do My own willbut the will of Him who sent Me. eSon had a part to play in this covenant. It

wasnt just the Father.

e Father said, Iwant to give You this redeemed humanityas an expression of My love and Ill bringthem all the way to perfection, all the

way to glory, and theyl l spend foreverglorifying and praising Your name. eres

just one thing I need You to do and that isto go into the world, become one of them,and pay the penalty for their sins.

When Jesus says in verse 38, Ivecome down from heaven not to do Myown will but the will of Him who sent

Me, He does not mean that Hes againstthis, that Hes unwillingly or reluctantlysubmitting. All He means is, Imcoming to fulll a plan that the Fatherhas devised. I ve come down to do theone thing necessary: provide the atoningsacrice so that this humanity might beredeemed. You know as well as I that theatonement of Jesus Christ stretched allthe way back to cover all the sins of

those who believed before He died as was all who believe aer He died.

Read John 6:44: No one can come Me unless the Father who sent Me drawhim. And Ill raise him up on the lastday. Every individual who has ever comto faith is a love gi from the Father tothe Son. Were caught up in somethingso monumental, so vast, so transcenden

it is almost as if my salvation and yoursalvation is somewhat incidental, that threal issue here is not to g et us to heavenbut to express love from the Father to thSon. Were just the gi. When I want toshow my love to someone, I might givethem a gi.ey dont love the gi. emight enjoy the gi but what matters tothem is the love of the giver. And thatsexactly this.e whole issue is not us. issue is this trinitarian love relationship

which we are privileged to participate.

e Father isnt done with just that.Someone told me a long time ago thatthe supreme compliment, the supremeform ofattery is imitation. We knowthat today. When somebody has a herothey imitate them. And in Romans 8:29I want you to notice this, For whom Hforeknew He also predestined to becom

conformed tothe image o


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His Son. is is incredible. e Fatherdetermined before time began, in Hisforeknowledge and predestination, thatHe would bring together a redeemedhumanity. He would save them, sanctifythem, glorify them and bring them toheaven so that forever they could say,Worthy is the Lamb.

eres one more component: they

would be made like the Son. As muchas it is possible for redeemed humanityto be like incarnate deity, we will be likeJesus Christ so that (verse 29) He mightbe theprototokos among many brethren.eprototokos, meaning not the rst oneborn in chronology, but the premier one.So that He might be the supreme oneover a whole brotherhood of those whoare like Him. We know thats what Johnsaid: When we shall see Him we shall belike Him.

e apostle Paul said, I press towardthe mark for the prize of the upward call.What is the prize of the upward call?Christs likeness is the prize. If thats thepurpose for which God redeemed me, tomake me into the image of His Son, then

that shouldbe my goal

right now.ats

why Paul says, to the Galatians, I amin travail until Christ is fully formed in

you.ats why he says, For me to liveis Christ . e one thing he pursued wasChrists likeness; because that was thereason God saved him, that was the whole

point. In fact he says in Philippians 3, Ipursue that for which God pursued me.Why did God pursue him? To make him

like His Son.

e goal is to make an electand redeemed humanity like Jesus Christ.And God will bring it to pass.

It reminds me of he who wascommenting about Christianitytriumphing; he said simply, I read thebook and in the end we all win. Its true.e church is invincible. Its absolutelyinvincible. e purposes of God cannotbe thwarted.

Read 1 Corinthians 15. When theSon has done everything, then comes the

end, when He delivers up the Kingdomto the God and Father (1 Corinthians15:24). In the end the Lord is going tosay, I raised them all up; I providedsalvation; I provided the Spirit forsanctication. Here they are, Father. Igive them to You. Hes going to deliverthem all to the Father.

And the Father is going to g ive themto the Son as a love gi. eyre Yours.eyre going to praise You forever and

ever. When the Son brings the wholeredeemed humanity to glory and the

Father gives them all to the Son as a lovegi, the Son will turn around and give itall, including Himself, back to the Father.

is is mind-boggling. is is whatwere all caught up in, an immense,transcendent, incomprehensibleexpression of love within the trinity of

which we are the gis exchanged. I lovethe church because the Lord is building it

Himself. Its His.And its enough for me, frankly,whether small church, big church,medium-sized church, happy church, orsad church, its just enough to be a part ofit. I feel l ike Paul in 2 Corinthians 2. He

was so sad in that letter, but he says, Godalways causes us to triumph in Christ.Its enough to march in the triumph. Itsenough to be in the parade. Its enoughto wear the uniform. Frankly, the end isalready determined. Im just privileged to

be marching with the troops.

What do I need beyond that?

is article is editedom the sermon

Why I Loe the Church,delivered by Dr. MacArthur

at Grace Community Churchon March 24, 1996.


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of Tourism.ey will perform songs inHebrew and English in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,Tiberias, the Israel College of the Bible inNetanya, Grace and Truth Congregationin Gedera, and the campus of the IsraelBible Extension (IBEX) at MoshavYadHashmonah outside of Jerusalem. Inaddition to the usual venues, Dr. Plew isworking with Dr. Robert Provost, president

of Slavic Gospel Association and TMCBoardmember, to set up concerts tominister to the Russian/Israeli Christians.

Fall Preludeon November 12 attractedmore than 15 prospective music studentsalong with family members. e visitorswere able to tour the campus, visit classes,talk with faculty, take part in rehearsalsand hear several of our music groupsperform. A number of them auditioned forscholarships. Oen, at least half the Prelude

participants end up coming to TMC.

e Jazz Band, under the direction ofDr. Steve Opfer, performed at Disneylandagain this fall. Other instrumentalperformances included the String Orchestraconcert on November 1 and the WindEnsemble concert on November 8 with aspecial patriotic focus.e Band now has aVocal Jazzuartet led by Prof. Sarah Dixonthat sings at their on-campus concerts and

at their annual performances at Disneyland.Majesty held their on-campus concert

on September 28 in preparation for theirSunday ministries to churches in the area.e Masters Chorale led in worship atCalvary Bible Church of Burbank on Sundayevening, October 21.ey also participatedin Biola Fest on November 3 and sang ate Masters Seminary chapel the sameweek.e Womens Chamber Choir visitedthe Santa Clarita Convalescent Hospital

on November 10 and sang for the eveningservice of the Lighthouse Bible Church inSimi Valley on November 11. e MastersCollege handbell ensembles performed atSanta Clarita Baptist Church on October28 and for several on-campus events. eyalso hosted and rang with a number of othergroups at the 16th annual Bellfest held onNovember 4. e clinican/guest conductorwas Christine Anderson, TMC Artist inResidence.

At a special group practicum onOctober 2, local music educator and adjunctinstructor Jana Gruss showed attendeeshow they could reach and impact studentsin all areas including public schools. Usinga room full of drums, she elicited great

participation out of the shyest individualsand demonstrated how to incorporatemoral and even biblical teaching in music

and rhythm lessons for elementary children.Students and faculty were amazed at thepossibilities of her insights and techniques.Majesty was able to use what they learnedfrom her when ministering to schoolchildren during Outreach Week a few dayslater. Jana and her husband Mark are alumniof the college (79).

Grant Fonda, (07) accompanied byhis wife Carley, served as the AssociateDirector of Worship Arts for two years and

the Interim Director of Music Ministriesat two dierent churches in Washingtonstate. Partially through his time at TMC,and partially through composing, arrangingand conducting dozens of songs, hymns,and orchestral works, Fonda was acceptedfor Music Composition at the Universityof Missouri-Columbia on a full-ridescholarship. Aer receiving his M.M. in2012, Fonda returned to Newhall to accepta select spot in

the Universityof SouthernCalifornias

prestigious Scoringfor MotionPictures andTelevision Program(SMPTV), wherehe is currentlyone of twentyinternationally selected students.

Since graduation from TMC, Fonda

has been blessed with the opportunity toreceive numerous commissions for variousgroups across the nation. He has also beena nalist in several composition contests,had his research comparing Jazz, Film,and Fine Art Music accepted at variousconferences (2011, 2012), been selected asone of thirty international semi-nalists inan international lm-scoring competition(2011), and been named a recipient of the

prestigious ASCAP award for concert and

lm music (2012).Fonda said I am humbled and

thrilled to be back in the Santa ClaritaValley, and continue to be amazed at thegreat faithfulness of our God. I am alsoincredibly proud of my bride, Carley, whorecently accepted a position at LegacyAcademy, where she teaches middle schoolmathematics. I would not be where I am

today apart from the grace of God and thefaithful love and support of Carley.

NP

rough many years of prayerand planning we have been workingtoward bringing a nursing program toe Masters College. e design ofthe program would allow students toregister as pre-nursing majors and take

prerequisites like Anatomy, Microbiologyand Biochemistry, with upper divisionclasses available aer that. An RN to BSN

program is also in the works.Dr. Constance Milton, the newly

hired chair of the Nursing Department,believes that this program is the perfectextension ofe Masters College missionand purpose. Excellent nurses are expertsin medicine, disease and l ifesavingequipment, but there is so much more to it

than that.

Nurses getto experiencerelationships with

people that no oneelse gets to, shesaid.

oserelationships aremore than just a

job. ey are anopportunity to share Christs love andbe ambassadors of the Master to peoplein crisis. ere are few places where thefrailness of life and need for hope are moreapparent than the hospital.

ere is a great need for nurses notonly in our valley or even our state or

(All Around Campus continued on page 12


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the opportunity to preach eternal hope toyouth.

My time at e Masters College helpedshape my Biblical worldview. Everythingfrom class, chapel, Servant LeadershipSta, and Chapel Media to dorm livinghelped me understand what it means to liveout the Christian life. Professors, residentdirectors and fellow students all helped me

see things through the lens of Scripture.Everyone challenged me to not only learnbiblical head knowledge but also to put allthose truths into practice daily. Two of themost inuential men who developed myeternal mindset are Joe Keller and DaveHulet. ose two taught me what it meansto love others and live the Christian life in acommunity. ey helped me gain a biblicalperspective that was bigger than the hereand now, to look heavenward and to live inlight of our eternal home in heaven.

M BHistory -07

I currently am a PhD student at theUniversity of Chicago and my technicalmajor is Hebrew Bible and the AncientNear East. My reason for pursuing thiscourse in life is because I love Gods Word. Ibelieve it is a historically accurate document,and I would love to teach in a secular

environment to hopefully reach collegestudents with the Gospel and the Truth ofGods Word I was reminded recently thatthis life is not mine to live for myself or myglory, because I have been bought with aprice. Im here by Gods grace and for Hisglory, and my role is to be faithful where Hehas me and to walk by faith. It is by Godsgrace alone that we live and move and haveour being, and we walk in the good workswhich He prepared beforehand.

e Lord was so gracious to bring meto TMC, and I grew and learned so muchin my time at TMC. ere were so many

wonderful people who spoke into my lifeat various times, so it is dicult to choose

just a few. I was greatly impacted by myprofessors and coursework while at TMC. Iwish I could go back and take those classesagain! I learned so much foundational Bible

knowledge in these classes that has beenformative for my life as a believer.Probably my most formative experience

at TMC, however, was the semester I spentat IBEX. It was incredible to see the truthof Gods Word played out in the land whereit took place. I learned so much from the

professors there and from their wives. Itsdicult to sum up my time at TMC, butI would say that my three years at TMCshowed me what it meant to walk with theLord on a daily basis, rely on His Word, and

to be a true believer in every aspect of life.

M PBusiness, Accounting -06

My hearts desire is to live every day forthe glory of God. ough I dont alwayssucceed, I try to keep my eyes focused oneternity and spend my time investing in

what will last. What happens here is soeeting, and so I pray on a daily basis that

God would use me to spread his kingdom.To that end, I work with the high schoolgirls at my church, Compass Bible Church.Sharing the gospel with these girls andseeing some of them repent of their sins and

put their faithin God makesall the sacrice

worth it. I knowthat when I dieand stand beforeHim I will never

regret a minute Ispent in service.

I learnedso much aboutGod and truthat TMC. Dr.Behles Christian

Worldview classgave me thetools I neededto evangelize.

Before taking that class I could identifyerror when I heard it but I didnt knowhow to respond, I didnt know what to say.at class taught me the questions to ask

when talking to someone with a dierentworldview. is gave me condence in myevangelism and made me excited to talk to

people. Gods Word stands the test; there isno question too hard that the Bible cannot

answer.

is class helped me see people assouls headed for hell and gave me a passionto see them repent of their sins and put theirfaith in God. I use a lot of the knowledge Ilearned at TMC in my ministry in the localchurch today.

B (S) OCPolitical Studies, Constitutional Law -06

I cannotwait for

Heaven! Itis somethingI truly lookforward toand prayfor on adaily basis.Paul said inPhilippiansthat to live isChrist, to die

is gain. Oneway my husband and I invest in our eternalfuture is through our involvement in ourlocal church. e relationships we buildnow will last for eternity. We love working

with the college ministry at ourchurch. A second way we do thisis with our family. We have a threemonth old that we are excited aboutraising to know our Lord Jesus. Wealso plan to adopt our next child.God has adopted us into His eterna

family, and we hope to adopt a childinto our family and share with himthe love of our Father in Heavenand the hope we have in Him.

e summer before my senioryear at TMC, a fellow student andher family died in a car accident.Nothing in my life has caused meto long for eternity more. Althoughshe was missed greatly on campus,I could not help but think how

(Alumni Connection continued on page 20)


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wonderful it was that she was praisingour Savior unhindered by any sin. I lookforward to seeing her again someday!

ere were many other people at TMCwho inuenced me in this area. I was blessedwith so many godly friends and professorswho challenged me to love our Savior onearth and long for eternity in Heaven. Whata blessing it was to constantly have people

pointing me to Christ!

JRMusic and Communication -98

Im learning that the Truth of eternitypromptly shrinks everything else. When Ilook at Gods voluntary decision to makean eternalpromise with me, while at thesame time seeing my eternal debt to Him,gives me pause at my grumbling over things!Recently I traded in the recognition and

income ofteaching musicindependentlyto join anetwork ofsupportive, wiseChristian musicteachers.isdecision keepsgetting better,and the fruit is

trickling downto my students,and it is richly rewarding.

Every drop of my time at Masters wasbanked away for my good. e chapelsermons still pop up to convict me. Eight

years ago, when my mother died fromcancer, I received many personal responsesfrom TMC. We received calls, e-mails andletters from several of the faculty and sta.Dr. MacArthur took the time to call myfather, and Dr. Halstead took my father

and me out to lunch where we had a verymeaningful conversation concerning deathand loss. I remember thinking: this familythat I belong to extends far beyond tuitionand grades. We are connected for life, andbeyond that. Who can put a price on suchan education?

As I reect on my time at TMC, I seethat it has taught me that God wants to seeHis Glory shine through us and our talentsfor many generations (into eternity), rather

than have us burn out in a career that merelytries to grab the attention of one.

D (S) HChurch Music -99

My husband and I have had the great

privilege of serving in Uganda, Africa for thepast several years as missionaries.ough

it has had its hardships, it has also been fullof joy, and I can reect on many lessons theLord has taught me along the way.

What keeps me here in Uganda? ewonderful culture, the amazing people? No.e longer one stays, the more one realizesthe common thread of depravity whichruns through everyone everywhere. Whatkeeps me here? at great feeling of helpingothers? Well, thats a gi of common gracethat fuels even unbelievers to sacricecharitably. at, too, has its limits and is

even oen motivatedselshly. What keepsme here? Some havearranged an easier, morecomfortable lifestylehere than they couldever obtain in America,due to low labor costs.But what keeps mehere? My answer wouldbe dierent from my

husbands, who is calledto this ministry. Webelieve that his gis for the Kingdom aremaximized here more than anywhere elseat this stage of life. I am here because I amcalled to help my husband, no matter whathe does, no matter where he lives. And as I

embrace my God-given calling, I can indeenjoy life anywhere.

My time at TMC trained my mindto think biblically. I became thoroughlyconvinced of the suciency of Scripture,especially from my biblical counselingclasses by Dr. Wayne Mack and Dr. StuartScott. Every day I retrieve wisdom learnedfrom those men to apply to life and

ministry. Disciplining my mind to stayfocused on biblical principles is what keepme living for heaven and to not be temptto live for this world.

J MBusiness Administration -08 and

M (H) MBiblical Counseling -06

Rightbeforestartingat TMC Iheard oneof the mostinuentialquotes thatI have everencountered.e quote,attributed toC.S. Lewis, said Whatever is not eternall

useful is eternally useless. Its a quote thathas transformed our thinking to the pointhat it was a factor when deciding to goback to Ecuador, even when it would havebeen easier to stay in the U.S. is samemindset helped inform our thinking whemy wife and I decided to be dorm parents

of teenagers, or even to starta church plant when the odd

were against us. From the bidecisions to the daily plans, are trying to constantly matup our desires to how thosedecisions show the kingdom

value of eternity.As we look back, we real

that our time at TMC wascrucial for understanding ancoping with the dicult andoen heart-breaking situatioof life. e year that my wifeand I met, the memory of th

passing away of other TMS

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(Alumni Connection continuedom page 19)


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The Master's College Current - Vol18 No2

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