President’s Perspective
As you pray for our nation, have you ever had the sense that the task ahead of us as the people of God is too large, too stretching, too daunting? I will confess that I have been overwhelmed by that sense. I have been struck by the immensity of the task before us. There are many times that I bow my head and confess to God, “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (II Chronicles 20:12) I am determined to trust God to show us the way forward in these critical days.
As I consider the task that is ahead of us as a school, in conjunction with our still-young convention of churches, I am filled with both awe and reverence before our God. He has commissioned us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with every man, woman, and child across Canada and around the world within the context of a trust relationship. God continues to raise leaders up in our day to see His commission realized. I believe our seminary and college have a strategic role to play in training these men and women for leadership in ministry. I believe that the graduates from our school will be thrust forth by God to train countless other leaders across our land. Together with our graduates and pastors, I believe our school is strategically positioned to participate in bringing training to numerous fields of ministry. We want to be a part of training leaders who need on-site training in order to more effectively equip God’s people. We want to be a part of training leaders from anywhere, to go anywhere.
As a school, we want to contribute to training a generation of faithful and courageous leaders. In his book, Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders wrote, “Courage is that quality of mind which enables people to encounter danger or difficulty firmly, without fear or discouragement. . . . Courage follows through with a task until it is done.” Canada requires these types of leaders. If God intended our lives to be easy and uneventful, if He meant life to be without risk, if He meant life to be comfortable and convenient, then why does He repeatedly tell us to be “strong and courageous”? The life lived by faith will stretch you like no other. The life lived by faith will empty you of absolutely every ounce of self-reliance, and leave you broken and desperate. The life of faith is not for cowards; it is not for those who faint in the heat of battle. It is not for those who relish selfish security, and who would risk nothing. The life of faith is for those who long to see God do something in their day that will exceed all that they could dream or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20-21) I am asking God to use our school to shape a student body that courageously loves God, loves His Word, and loves His people.
As a school we want to foster joy. As I look to the year ahead, I pray that a spirit of joy would permeate our school, and permanently mark our students. The very seed-bed of joy is the ability to understand personally the Word of God, combined with the capacity to apply accurately the realities that God reveals about Himself. I think of the great Old Testament leader, Nehemiah. He impressed on the hearts of God’s people, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Strength does not rest in personal abilities, academic excellence, or stellar ambitions—as noble or compelling as these things may be. Joy rests in an increasingly intimate walk with our Lord. To grasp the Bible to be the living Word of the living God is paramount if we are to see people, families, neighborhoods, communities, and regions transformed. I am asking God to enable us to rightly understand His Word, and to show us how to apply His Word with compassion and diligence in the lives of people to whom we minister.
As a school we want to encourage, enhance, and facilitate ministry. I am asking God to deploy our student body, faculty, and staff into increasingly effective ministry arenas. I am praying that our seminary and college community would be used of God to bless this family of churches, called the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists, and to enhance the unity that God is breathing throughout our denomination. I expect to experience God do more than we could ask or imagine as students, faculty, and staff pour out our lives for the extension of His Kingdom and for the good of His people.
Rob Blackaby
Seminary President