I currently serve as Assistant Dean of Students (Advisor to Men) and Director of International Students at DTS. I also serve as Vice Chair for the Ethnic America Network in working with the multiethnic populations of Americans and Canadians in North America.
Whether as a husband, father, pastor, director, dean, or simply a disciple of Christ, I always go back to Christ’s commission to us in Matthew 28:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
There is so much that we can glean from this passage. Loving well means making disciples who have been taught to live out (obey) everything our Savior commanded us. God is teaching me to do this every day, especially as a husband and a father.
As Professor Hendricks often reminded me in his office: “You have to make God’s Word real for the people!” Teaching truth and loving well are two sides of the same coin. We love well by washing the feet of those we serve, including those who would disappoint us, betray us, deny us, and even kill us. We teach truth by modeling for others what it means to be a true disciple of Christ—one who obeys and follows Him because we love Him. Teaching is not merely classroom head knowledge. It is the prominent manifestation of Christ’s love in our lives that we share with others as it overflows onto us and unto others.
For me and my family, this shows up beautifully in growing together as part of an intercultural, multiethnic, cross-generational community of global disciples. My passion is to see the body of Christ united through the cross. This unity prevails in our different cultural perspectives. Learning to teach truth and love well in all these contexts has been a beautiful journey for me, and I look forward to taking this journey with others until Christ comes back for us or brings us home.
My fondest memories of DTS have been getting to interact with students, faculty, and staff outside of the classroom. One of my favorite spots to chat with friends was by the old water fountain where the Horner Administration Building now stands. I am glad that DTS is building another one in front of the new Chapel & Student Life Center. I look forward to having more chats with others in the days and years to come.
While those memories are fond, other memories began when I was not even a student yet. In the late 1990s, DTS hosted an international dinner before WEC week where people from cultures around the world would share different foods and information. I loved engaging in fun, Filipino dances with attendees. There, I first met Dr. Walt Baker, who graciously accepted our invitation to try Tinikling with us (a popular dance with clapping bamboo sticks). In my new role here at DTS, I hope that I can work with our students to encourage more intercultural engagements here on campus.
The greatest contribution DTS has made in my life is how God used the seminary to bring cherished friends into my life. Many have gone ahead of us in glory. But those interactions have shaped me in ways that go beyond “head knowledge”—they taught me how to obey everything Christ commanded us. They modeled what it meant to be true disciples of Christ who love Him, love others, and make disciples.
They did not merely teach me the Bible.
They taught me truth and loved me well so that I may do the same for this generation and the generations to come.