Dean's Devos: "Be Sure to Include God in Your Thanksgiving Celebration "

The idea of giving thanks is a recurring theme in the Bible. The following four lines occur verbatim in two psalms (57:9-10; 108:3-4):

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds. (ESV)

They remind us that it is to God we should give thanks, and that our God-directed thanksgiving should be a witness to those around us. They also give us two reasons we should be thankful—God’s steadfast love (ḥesed) and his faithfulness (’emet).

Those divine attributes are partners that occur together over twenty times in the Psalms. ESV translates the first word as “steadfast love,” while other versions use “kindness” or “mercy.” The central idea is an attitude that expresses itself in acts of kindness and mercy to those who are in a pitiful state. ESV translates the second word as “faithfulness,” while other versions use “truth” or “fidelity.” The central idea is total dependability in works and words.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, be sure to take time to thank God that he is totally dependable in what he says and does and that he acted to take pity on each of us when we were in the pitiful state of being separated from him because of our sin. Be sure to include God in your Thanksgiving celebration this year.

Alumni Spotlight: Cassandra Frear

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Studies (New Testament) and a Teaching Fellow at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, I am assisting with Greek classes, developing fresh approaches to teaching Greek, and studying for comprehensive exams.

CIU classes in Greek and Hebrew were excellent foundational preparation for more advanced doctoral work. I have also benefitted significantly from the self-care habits and spiritual disciplines that I developed at CIU in conjunction with my classes. My professors often encouraged me to make my coursework applicable to daily life, and this factor alone has been invaluable to the management of my Ph.D. workload.

Dr. David Croteau To Present At ETS

Dr. David Croteau (Professor of New Testament and Greek) will be at the November 22 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in San Diego, CA where he will present "A Defense of the Two-Flogging Hypothesis: A Reconstruction of the Floggings of Jesus."

Alumni Spotlight: Lay-Hwa Teh

I'm presently the Member Care person at PioneersinAsia ("PiA"). PiA, based in Singapore is the Asian mobilization base for Pioneers. I am based in KL, Malaysia but report to the Singapore office.
I provide missionary care to PiA's missionaries (primarily from Asia) who are serving in different parts of the world. I'm also doing some mobilization work in Malaysia.

In addition, I also represent Heartstream Resources in Malaysia, where I provide counseling to workers and training in member care topics. 

My degrees from CIU, MA in Global Studies and MA in Pastoral Counseling had helped me tremendously in my work. 

John Harvey Q & A on Romans in the Kregel Library Series

John D. Harvey (Th.D., Wycliffe College) is the Dean of the Seminary and School of Ministry at Columbia International University. He is also the author of the Romans volume in the Kregel Exegetical Library series.

Dr. Harvey joined the faculty of CIU’s Seminary and School of Ministry in 1992 and taught New Testament and Greek until 2011. He has served as dean from 2011 until the present.

He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Society of Biblical Literature.

He has had opportunities to teach in Germany, the Netherlands, Moldova, Zambia, and South Africa.

Dr. Harvey’s books include Interpreting the Pauline Letters and Anointed with the Spirit and Power. He is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.

Read the Q&A here.

Dean's Devos: "Eyes to See"

by Dr. John Harvey

Jesus often talked about the importance of having spiritual eyes to see spiritual truth (e.g., Mark 4:12; 8:18). In Mark 8:22-26, we have a passage where Jesus literally gives a man eyes to see. As the man moves through three different stages of sight, we see that Jesus’ touch opens blind eyes.

When his friends brought him to Jesus, the man could see nothing (Mark 8:22).

“And they brought a blind man to him, and entreated him to touch him.” In some cases, we can see nothing, because a veil covers our eyes and keeps us from seeing the truth about Jesus (2 Cor 3:14). If that is where someone you know is, pray for that individual and bring him or her to Jesus for his touch because Jesus’ touch opens blind eyes.

After Jesus took him outside, the man could see something (Mark 8:23-24).

“And he looked up and said, ‘I see men, for I am seeing them like trees walking about.” In other cases, like the men on the Road to Emmaus, we can see something but we are not quite certain what (Luke 24:16). If that is where someone you know is, pray for that individual and be ready to come alongside when Jesus’ touch opens blind eyes.

When Jesus sent him home, the man could see everything (Mark 8:25-26).

“He looked intently . . . and began to see everything clearly.” In the best case, we or people we know begin to see things accurately. 2 Kings tells us how the Lord opened Elisha’s eyes so that he could see clearly the spiritual reality of God’s working (2 Kings 6:17). If that is where you are, praise God and tell someone else that Jesus’ touch opens blind eyes.

Program Highlight: Master of Arts in Counseling

The Master of Arts in Counseling (M.A. in Counseling) program is designed to facilitate the growth of Christian students into well-qualified, healthy clinical mental health counselors.

The training model focuses on the heart (personal and spiritual development), the head (professional knowledge and research), and the hands (effective interpersonal and clinical skills).

Review our admission requirements and begin the application process.

CIU is the only Christian university in South Carolina with a CACREP-accredited master's degree program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Columbia International University – College of Counseling has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 4556. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CIU – College of Counseling is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Meehan de Solorzano

When I started at CIU in 2005, I was in the process of moving to El Salvador to serve as a fulltime missionary with Reliant Mission. I served in El Salvador as the Missions Coordinator and a leader of women’s ministry for 10 years. 

In 2009, I got married to Jorge Solorzano, a youth leader, and deacon who was working with the church in El Salvador. Jorge and I served fulltime at the Great Commission Church in San Salvador, El Salvador until the beginning of 2017. Within that time we had two beautiful children; Sophie is now 7 years old and Jorgito is 5. God had begun to stir our hearts to plant churches years ago. We thought that we would continue to serve in Latin America and possibly move to South America to plant churches, but the Lord was actually calling us to plant a multi-ethnic church in the United States in my hometown, Annapolis Maryland. 

Once we moved to Maryland in 2017, my sending church, Bay Area Community Church then trained Jorge as a pastor. In 2018, Jorge was ordained as a Pastor and now Jorge will finish his seminary studies at Lancaster Bible College with a Master’s in Church Planting this December of 2019. God had used Micah 2:13 which says, “the One who breaks open the way will go before them...” The Lord really opened the way for us to follow His vision for our lives to move us Maryland to plant a church. The name of our church is Axis Church. It is Axis because we believe that when Jesus is the “axis” of our lives and everything revolves around Him, all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Our mission statement is to “inspire people to make Jesus the center of their lives.” We have a core team and have been preparing for our Sunday launch, which happened on September 8th of this year. We are so amazed to see all God has done in our lives and are excited about what He will continue to do. 

How has your degree helped you?

It has really helped me to be able to have a clearer understanding of the whole plan of God's redemption throughout the whole Bible. It has helped me in leading women's ministries and preparing messages also. 

Thank you, Veterans

Faculty Focus: Dr. Brian Gault

Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew
B.A., Cedarville University; M.Th., Dallas Theological Seminary; M.A., Ph.D., Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion

Dr. Brian Gault joined the faculty of CIU’s Seminary & School of Ministry in 2012 and has taught Old Testament and Hebrew from that date until the present. Before coming to Columbia, he served as a children’s pastor and a small group leader. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, where he serves on the steering committee for the Old Testament Wisdom Literature study group. He has written articles for several scholarly journals and is currently writing a monograph on the Song of Songs and a commentary on the book of Esther.

Follow this link for a list of books and publications.

Beautiful Day, Beautiful Campus

Alumni Spotlight: Eric Needham

After graduating from seminary I worked for four years at Ben Lippen School. Following that my family was sent through Crossworld to Thailand where we coordinate the Thailand Teacher Project. We provide holistic support for English teachers sent from North America to Thai schools where they are able to make disciples in Thai communities.

Intercultural courses helped me take the perspective of a learner as I entered another culture. I also appreciate the focus on leadership development in several of my courses.