For the seminary application I completed for Southeastern, I had to write a Personal Statement that described my salvation experience and commitment to Jesus Christ, as well as my call to Christian ministry and reasons for desiring to further my education with a seminary degree. This is what I wrote, and this is also what I consider to be a significant portion of my Christian testimony.

I accepted Jesus into my heart in June of 1987. As a child, if anyone would have asked me the meaning of salvation, I would have probably responded with the two basic principles I knew at the time being saved means that Jesus lives in my heart and that I will go to Heaven when I die. Along life's journey, God has revealed the broader picture of what it truly means to be His child. Through both joy and pain I have realized that salvation goes far beyond my childhood definition. Salvation is more than asking the Holy Spirit to dwell within me; it is a sincere desire to surrender my life to the Lordship of Christ. That fundamental realization is a significant portion of my personal testimony. Instead of treating salvation as a passive experience, I believe that God desires total surrender that can only occur when I actively lay down my life before Him in exchange for His will and desires.

Although I was saved as a child, total surrender to God is a daily process. I will say that a defining moment in my Christian walk occurred in February 2005. It was at this time that I heard God calling me to a more intimate and purposeful relationship with Him. I knew instantly that to answer His calling meant that I would have to surrender my life completely to Him. I had to lay down any plans I had for myself and submit to His will and whatever and wherever that meant for my life. I will admit that I do not know the future God has for me, but I take comfort and find peace in knowing that He knows the plans He has for me (Jeremiah 29:11). Again, it is a daily process and even a struggle at times to follow after Gods will, but in my heart I know that His plans are always best. I do feel as if God is leading me to full-time Christian service. The specifics of any vocational plans He has for me are unknown. God has given me a heart for missions and a heart to lead people into a more intimate relationship with Him. If that means I am to serve full-time on the foreign mission field, I will go. If that means I am to be employed in a Christian educational environment like where I am currently employed, I will serve there. Perhaps God has plans for a mixture of both.

In all that I do, I desire to continually pursue a more intimate relationship with my Father. I want to know Him more and seek after Him every day I am on this earth. I desire to become more effective for His service, and I feel that attending Southeastern will nurture that growth process by creating an environment to dive deeper into the study of Gods word and truth. The majority of my Christian education comes from what I have learned as I have grown up in church. I would like to expand my knowledge beyond the church walls. In order for that to happen, I feel the need to be challenged in an academic environment that I cannot create on my own. I believe that further educating myself will help to not only draw myself closer to Him, but it will help me to more effectively draw others to His Kingdom as I am able to be ready always to give an answer to those who ask about the hope that is in me (1 Peter 3:15).