It’s taken me a while to get back to this meme that John Dobbs started. It would be hard to mention all of the college professors that had an influence on me, but here are a few of the principal ones:

John Willis: Dr. Willis taught me to appreciate the Old Testament. I don’t remember ever being taught to consciously look down on the Old Testament, but I definitely considered myself a New Testament Christian. I learned that Paul was right when he said that the Old Testament can make us “wise unto salvation.”

Tom Olbricht: Dr. Olbricht had a radical effect on the way I view Scripture. I learned that Scripture isn’t flat, that certain things are presented as being more important than others. Dr. Olbricht’s methods of identifying those principal themes have greatly affected how I read and understand the Bible.

Carley Dodd: Dr. Dodd taught me much about communication, both intercultural and interpersonal communication. I learned things in his classes that I have applied both personally and professionally. In addition, Dr. Dodd offered me personal friendship beyond the normal student-professor relationship.

Gaston Tarbet: Along with Les Bennett, Gaston introduced me to missions, both in the classroom and through the Mission Outreach group. It was Gaston that first encouraged me to consider being a missionary apprentice.

There are many more that could be mentioned, but these are the principal ones that stand out in my mind.

{photo by Solipsist}