Inspire, Fall 2005

Inspire 17 the triumph of God and make known his great wisdom to the powers (3:10), serving notice that their day of destruction is coming soon. I’m grateful that my thesis has been accepted by the academy, but it is my ultimate aim that it brings glory to God in Christ by being a blessing to His people, the Church. What’s A Woman to Do? By Dr. Joy Fagan ’89 So what’s a woman to do … or be ? A strong possibility exists that this question has made the “Top Ten” in the Church’s “Great Debate” list. Certainly this question has made my personal “Top Three” list. As a Cedarville graduate, I spent my first five years teaching at a Christian high school and the next 10 years here at Cedarville University. I just recently completed my doctoral degree in educational leadership at Southern Seminary. Throughout my educational journey as both student and teacher, the topic of the identity and role of being a “female in Christ” has surfaced repeatedly. I was recently appointed as full-time faculty in the department of biblical education, where my primary focus is on the area of women’s ministry — and thus the journey continues! Scripture is clear that human beings are equally created in God’s image and specifically created as “male and female” (Genesis 1:27). The church has continued to discuss and even hotly debate the biblical concept of the equality of men and women and the distinctiveness of gender. The debate has resulted in two separate ideologies in the church today: egalitarians (equality of essence and “sameness” of roles of men and women) and complementarians (equality of essence with unique roles). I resonate soundly with the complementarian view. I am always amazed, however, at the wide variety of approaches in the practical implementation of theological concepts in both views. A major concern, therefore, is a greater commitment to a categorical ideology than to “work[ing] out [one’s] salvation with fear and trembling” and with a “Berean mentality” (Acts 17:11). In light of that concern, my recently completed dissertation dealt with both ideologies and then utilized an instrument to measure one’s scriptural interpretation of gender issues and roles. The motivation for this endeavor was a challenge to focus on one’s identity (who we are in Christ), including one’s role as rooted in Scripture. We are all unique in Christ with spiritual giftedness, passions, talents, experiences, and personality, as well as gender. The body must utilize all of its parts to edify one another with our unique gifts according to God’s design. We are to grow together toward maturity and completeness, which is the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:3-6, 11-13). The challenge for every believer is this: Do we have ownership of the essence of our identity based on Scripture and God’s design? Experiences can drive us to Scripture, but we cannot allow our experience to define our beliefs. Our beliefs must be based on Scripture itself. As our culture continues to raise more questions that challenge the very foundation of the home, church, and society, we must have a biblical response to the foundational question of “Who am I?” My goal in the area of women’s ministry, therefore, is to challenge our women to know who they are in Christ and to live it out. Women’s ministry is not so much a program as it is a holistic view of who we are and how we should live, effectively influencing others based on that identity. It is living life as God intended for the female members of the body of Christ, and it is an enormous opportunity for us to be salt and light that appropriately reflects “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27b). If we are true to who we are as men and women in the biblical sense, we will truly live . Remembering Mike Holt On July 4, 2005, Michael L. Holt, assistant professor of Bible, suddenly and unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord. Mike’s love for the Word and passion for teaching made him a natural fit for Cedarville. An experienced pastor, Mike was known for his warm personal care for students. Teaching mostly freshman courses led him into the lives of many at critical points in their personal and spiritual development. With his sensitive, disarming style, he developed a ministry listening to and guiding students to understand and apply the Word to their lives. As a colleague, Mike was a tireless servant. Despite his own busy schedule, he was known for his generosity with his time. In particular, he used his technological expertise to benefit many classes beyond his own. Mike’s success in the classroom, however, was not merely a result of his technical abilities. A quick glance through his current stack of reading or a brief conversation in the hall was enough to understand that Mike was a careful scholar and thoughtful theologian. Mike loved his ministry at Cedarville and worked to be the best professor possible. Since his passing a number of students have reflected on his ministry. One commented, “Cedarville makes a point of trying to be a community and a family … Professor Holt was the professor who made that feeling very real and personal to me.” As colleagues we can testify that it wasn’t just the students who felt the reality of Cedarville’s family through Mike’s ministry. Ezra 7:10 is an apt summary of Mike’s life. It was his life verse. There we read, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Mike’s life was a consistent, faithful, fruitful, God-honoring application of Ezra 7:10. He studied, he practiced, and he taught the Word with integrity, passion, humor, and humility. Although his time of ministry among us is over, the fruit of his obedience remains.