Introducing.....Michael Morson

Name: Michael Morson

Years of Study: 2004-2008

Involvements: Missions Committee, YA music; also YA music as alum with "Ryan Brickard Band"

Married: Chelsea Jantzen, 2007. (Current students, this is Joel Jantzen's sister).

Church Involvements: Forest Grove Community Church, Saskatoon, SK - attended since 2002; did B.A. internship at Forest Grove in 2008; served on Council 2008-2011.

"I desire to work full-time in Christian ministry for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This desire is something that I've had for a number of years. However, like many desires that are left unfulfilled for a time, it has grown into something quite unrecognizable from what it was when it was first conceived. To show you what I mean, let me give you a brief sketch of my thought and attitude as a first year Bethany student in 2004.

I didn't want to go to seminary. I made fun of seminaries. In fact, I made fun of theology. I thought theology and seminaries were for people who wanted to sit around and debate useless minutia that had no bearing on the lives of everyday people. My thinking was that the basics of the Christian faith were glaringly obvious, and we needed to get busy "being the hands and feet" instead of trying to gain understanding in areas of thought that were unknowable. I had no desire to go to a graduate school or seminary when I ought to be busy living it out instead of thinking it out.

Fast-forward a few years to the end of my time at Bethany. In 2008, as a fourth year student, I could not possibly picture entering full-time ministry without furthering my education and deepening my knowledge of God's word and world.

In order to do that, I will begin studies at Regent College this fall. Let me be clear that I do understand that this path is not for everybody entering ministry. At the same time, I continually grow in astonishment at our lax attitude toward biblical and theological illiteracy among Christians. The world doesn't work like I thought it did as a first year.

You don't decide between living it out and thinking it out. Bible and God-soaked thinking drive Bible and God-soaked living. I think so that I can live; and I live so that whatever I do, I do all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10.31)."

Submitted by Mike Morson, via Gil Dueck, July 2011.

Closing Notes from LB:

-To find out more about Regent College, check out www.regent-college.edu

-Do you know Bethany alumni who have gone on to study at seminary, and might want to write a feature?

-And a trivia question....can you name any Bethany staff members who have studied at Regent College?