New President at Maranatha Baptist Bible College

This afternoon, officials at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin, named Dr. Chuck Phelps as the new president of Maranatha. This is great news for Maranatha specifically, as well as for those of us involved in Christian higher education. Chuck has been a youth pastor, a church planter, and a senior pastor. He serves on the boards of several Christian organizations. He and his wife Linda have five children.

I knew Chuck when he was a student at BJU back in the 1970s. As it happened, when our family moved to Owatonna (so that I could teach at Pillsbury), Chuck was the youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church. For over fifteen years, Chuck has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire. I am very excited about Chuck becoming the president of Maranatha. He brings a strong vision for educating the next generation of young people for the Lord's service. Also, Maranatha is one of Pillsbury's "sister" schools, so we have more than a passing interest in anything that strengthens our fundamental Christian schools.

Be sure to pray for Chuck and his family as they make the transition to Maranatha over the summer.

The Thread That Runs So True

Last week Pillsbury College presented its spring play, The Thread That Runs So True. "This drama is based on the true life experiences of Jesse Stuart, an unusual educator who fought all his life for quality education in rural and mountain schools. His experiences as a beginning teacher in the Kentucky mountains inspired this play." Our students, under the direction of Mr. Ken Marsh, did a wonderful job portraying the trials and tribulations of encouraging education in the rural areas of Eastern Kentucky in the early twentieth century.

My father grew up in Eastern Kentucky and was a contemporary of Jesse Stuart. As many children did in those days, my dad attended a one-room school like the one portrayed in the play by Jesse Stuart. When my dad graduated from the eighth grade, he stayed on to help the teacher for a year. The teacher just happened to be his older sister. He then went off to attend high school in another town. Dad had to pay room and board and work his way through high school. When he finished high school, he went off to college. Like many of his siblings and cousins, Dad eventually became a teacher. I often say that education is a "disorder that runs in my family." I appreciate the fact that many members of my immediate and extended family have been involved in education.

One more note about Pillsbury's production. Our youngest son, Andy, had a role in the play. He portrayed Guy Hawkins, a rough character who always wanted to beat up the teacher and put him in his place. Eventually, Guy comes around and becomes one of Jesse Stuart's star pupils.

We are very proud of Andy. In addition to performing in the spring play, he sings in the college choir and has been one of the catchers on the Pillsbury Comet baseball team this spring. He is planning on working at a Christian camp this summer, so he will be a pretty busy young man. I forgot to mention that Andy just turned twenty. We have no more teenagers! What a blessing. Of course, our granddaughter Peyton Rose will become a teenager in just three years. The cycle will begin anew.

Easter Reflections

As is the case with almost all religious holidays, the "religious" character of holidays is often overshadowed by commercialism and materialism. Easter Day is no exception, what with Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, Easter outfits, Easter candy, and the like. Even though it is the culmination of "Holy Week" within some liturgical churches, it still should be a day of great rejoicing as we commemorate the resurrection of our Lord.

Numerous composers have written profoundly beautiful music to celebrate the day, running the gamut from Bach and Handel to more contemporary Christian composers. Athough Handel's Messiah is often performed during the Christmas Season, many of the well-known and well-loved portions of Messiah are actually taken from biblical texts celebrating Easter. One of Ron Hamilton's earlier works, The Centurion, tells us the story of Easter from the perspective of one of the Roman centurions involved with our Lord's crucifixion.

Here in Owatonna, we enjoyed worshiping at Grace Baptist Church this morning. In our first service, we read several Bible passages and sang a number of hymns related to Easter. We also celebrated the Lord's Supper. Then we were treated to a nice Easter morning breakfast. During the second service, there were several special musical numbers appropriate for the day. And finally, we heard a message from God's Word that empahasized how we should be affected and influenced by Christ's resurrection.

Nancy and Tricia prepared a nice turkey dinner for Easter. We had some of our children (and our two grandchildren) over for the afternoon, because we consider family fellowship to be vitally important. Although there is probably not the same level of excitement as at Christmas, we eagerly anticipate these opportunities when our family members are able to get together for fellowship. All in all, this was a good Easter Day for our family.

April — Transition Time

In many ways, April is a time for transition. Although the weather can be tricky during April, especially up here in the Upper Midwest, the precipitation that we have is generally in the form of rain rather than snow. Just this past week here in Minnesota, we have had several days of rain. The grass is turning green and the buds are begin to come out on the trees. It won't be long before we store our snow blower and start firing up our lawnmower. Nancy has already prepared the ground around last year's new deck in order to plant flowers and the like. And we are also planning to put a coat of protective sealant on our new deck as soon as we get some warm, dry weather.

But April also represents other transitions as well. In the academic realm, these next few weeks are the last weeks of the school year. If you are a senior in high school, you are anticipating graduation from high school and perhaps planning to attend college in the fall. The last few weeks of high school can be pretty exciting, but you are also beginning to realize that there many changes in the offing. As for college seniors, what has been a four (or five, or six!) year academic journey is finally coming to a conclusion. With graduation from college comes the excitement (and sometimes a little anxiety) of figuring out what you are going to do with your life. For many college graduates, getting married or getting a job are at the top of the "to do" list.

And for those of us who teach, the end of another school year represents the culmination of sharing our academic expertise with a unique group of students. While we will teach some of those students in the coming years, other students will be graduating from college or will choose to attend another insitution. For me, the end of the school year has always been a time of great rejoicing. It is satisfying to finish up classes and bring the academic year to a close. This will mark the end of my thirty-fifth year of teaching, but with every graduation there is a little sadness as you say farewell to students whom you might not ever see again. You hope and pray that God will protect them and bless their lives. For them, in a way, their adult lives are just beginning (which is why we call graduation "commencement"), but for those of us who teach, it is a reminder that the years of our lives are continuing to add up.

Indeed, April is a time of transition.