Recently, a guest on our campus gave us a nice compliment. He said no matter what is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention or the larger Evangelical world, when he connects with Gateway he hears a steady focus on our mission of sharing the gospel around the world. At Gateway, we consider that high praise!

Mission focus is challenging for every organization, including a seminary. We state our mission this way: we shape leaders who expand God’s kingdom around the world. That’s more than a slogan on our website; it’s the reason we come to work and class every day. We shape leaders who expand God’s kingdom – specifically through evangelism, disciple-making, church starting, church strengthening, and leadership development. We believe the primary problem in our world is spiritual lostness, the primary solution is the gospel, and the primary task with eternal consequences is sharing the gospel with more lost people.

There are many other competing issues and agendas, many of which are genuine problems that deserve some consideration. The challenge is giving them appropriate attention without being distracted from our mission. At Gateway, we comment on important issues but fixate on our mission. We are concerned about, and have expressed ourselves clearly on gender, marriage, sexuality, racism, abuse, and dozens of other social, moral, and political issues. We are cognizant of these issues and believe they are best answered with the gospel.

We are also not interested in virtue-signaling every time one of these issues becomes a trending topic on social media. Once we have staked out a position, incessantly repeating ourselves seems counterproductive and more like grandstanding than truly defending the truth. Staying focused on our global mission also helps keep some of these issues in perspective. What Americans are hyping on social media is not always that important in light of the global nature of our mission.

Mission discipline is a challenging essential for every church, ministry, or denomination. Yet, without demonstrating this resolve daily, your organization will devolve into confused chaos—chasing popularity through rapid engagement with the social media-driven issue of the day, rather than purposeful action to really fulfill your mission. That’s wearisome at best, and for churches and ministry organizations, eternally counterproductive at worst. And, missing the eternal part of that equation is too high a price to pay!


Read More

Perspective: SBC 2023

Dr. Iorg discusses what unites the SBC in light of next week’s annual convention.

Jeff Iorg
President
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.

Intentionality

 The greatest problem in our world is lostness. The only solution to lostness is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jeff Iorg
President
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.

Listen

Lead On Podcast
June 4, 2023

“Life is Curriculum”: How Leaders Grow after Seminary

Dr. Iorg encourages leaders to continue growing after Seminary. He identifies seven ways to cultivate and work towards spiritual maturity. 

Lead On Podcast
May 28, 2023

Dealing with Angry People

There is a lot of anger in the world right now and a lot of that anger is spilling over into the church. This week Dr. Iorg discusses different ways to engage with and disciple angry people in your ministry.


Watch

Spirituality of Jonathan Edwards | JEC at Gateway Seminary

Dr. Chris Chun hosted a digital symposium with Dr. Michael Haykin and Dr. Robert Caldwell to discuss Edwards’ spirituality, devotional life and theological impact in American Christianity.

Chris Chun
Professor of Church History | Director, Jonathan Edwards Center
Dr. Chris Chun is the professor of Church History and the director of Jonathan Edwards Center at Gateway Seminary. Chris’ doctoral research at St. Andrews University was focused on the eighteenth-century Edwardsean Baptists in Britain. He also has served as president of The Evangelical Theological Society (Far West Region).

Faculty Dialogues: Dispensationalism or Not

In this episode of Faculty Dialogues, Dr. David Rathel and Dr. Paul Wegner held a live discussion on their views on dispensationalism.

David Rathel
Associate Professor of Christian Theology
Dr. Rathel is the associate professor of Chrisitian Theology at Gateway Seminary. Prior to Gateway, Dr. Rathel supplied pastoral care to churches in the United States and Scotland, served as an Adjunct Professor of Theology and Philosophy for the Baptist College of Florida, and provided teaching assistance for the University of St Andrews.

Get updates on new content!