Dear friends of Bethel Seminary,

At a summer Bible camp many decades ago, the evening speaker began fumbling with the buttons on his cardigan sweater while he was preaching. He buttoned the bottom two buttons fine, but as he continued to speak we all noticed that he had inserted button number four into button hole number three. For awhile he acted as if he didn’t see us kids whispering and giggling. By the time he finished, he had missed still more buttons and his sweater looked terribly lopsided. He then acknowledged the mess he’d made and said, “Young people, many of you have begun the Christian life really well. But here’s my lesson for you to ponder. Just because you have started well doesn’t guarantee that you will finish well.”

The pages that follow describe some wonderfully gifted people who not only started well, but who also have continued with lives of commitment to Christ over many decades. They have not skipped the difficult times. You will read of hardships, illness, and the death of a spouse. They have not skipped the hard questions. But with singular focus they have lived out what Eugene Peterson calls “a long obedience in the same direction.”

A great number of you will join me in saying that one or more of the people featured in this issue of Heart & Mind have been examples who taught us and mentors who shaped our core values. And they continue to be powerful examples and wise mentors.

What a delight it is to invite you to read and reflect upon inspiring, committed, competent, devoted, joyful, and gifted Christ-followers!Serving Him with you,

Leland V. Eliason
Executive Vice President and Provost
Bethel Seminary