Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/1314061
Seventy years ago, a small group of pastors came together to star t a new seminar y to ser ve the Conser vative Baptist Association of Churches in the Rocky Mountain Region. They believed this new seminar y had to be faithful to God's Word and committed to making the gospel of Jesus Christ known throughout all the ear th. That fledgling school, now known as Denver Seminar y, struggled mightily in those early years, but the Lord has brought growth and impact that our founders could never have imagined. We picked a doozy of a year to celebrate our 70th anniversar y, didn't we? Some days I feel like praying, "Lord, can we get a do-over on 2020?" No need to rehearse a litany of the travails we've experienced, but I think we could all say it's been an unsettled and unsettling year. My image of the year comes from a stormy scene in an old pirate movie. The wind howls, the waves crash over the bow, and the deck heaves beneath the feet of the crew. They grab for anything stable enough to keep them on their feet. What do we grab onto to keep from losing our balance when ever ything seems unstable? One source of stability in the midst of upheaval and uncer tainty is the memor y of how our God has sustained and protected us through the year even when it seemed like our world was as unsteady as the deck of that pirate ship. That's why I think this year's Denver Seminar y Christmas devotional is perfect for a year like 2020. It contains twenty-four carefully curated passages from the annual Christmas letters written by Dr. Vernon Grounds during his almost six decades of ministr y at Denver Seminar y. These selections, exper tly chosen and edited by our Doctor of Ministr y Director, Marshall Shelley, tell the stor y of God's provision, direction, and protection of the Seminar y through its histor y. I think they will be a great encouragement to all of us this Advent Season as we navigate whatever troubled waters we might find ourselves in. Thanks for allowing us to be a par t of your celebration of our Savior's bir th. Holding on by faith, Mark Young 1