More than a decade ago, a Gateway employee wrote a book detailing her experiences as a missionary in Romania just after Communism collapsed. She was invited into the country as a university lecturer and given freedom to speak about democracy, human rights, and the gospel. After her first presentation, which included the gospel, a Romanian professor replied, “We wait you. Why did you take so long to come?” Another professor humorously added, “When I was a child, we used to say that even if the Americans were coming in a wheelbarrow, they should be here by now.” It was poignantly funny only because liberation had finally come.

When I read this moving book, the three-word title captured my mind and has ricocheted there for a decade. Those three plaintive words—we wait you—summarize what so many must feel after hearing the gospel. What took you so long to get here? If you have known this good news, how could you not move heaven and earth to get it to me? What was so important you couldn’t come faster to tell me about Jesus?

Those three words—we wait you—haunt me. They come to mind when I am making ministry decisions about allocating resources when I am dealing with people who insist some lesser issue must be my priority, and while listening to endless debates about temporal issues more related to personal preference than gospel expansion. As Southern Baptists prepare for our annual meeting next week in Nashville, perhaps we will have a more productive meeting if these three words occupy our minds—we wait you.

People who have never heard the name of Jesus, much less the gospel, are waiting for good news. Their lives are broken, distressed, and hopeless. They are enduring rather than thriving. They are seeking answers in religion, substance abuse, sexual pursuits, material gain, or some other vanity. We have good news for them, the responsibility to reach them, and a viable means—the total program of the Southern Baptist denomination—to get the job done.

We wait you. May those words be convicting and motivating as we meet together next week. 

We Wait You by Taryn Hutchison (Pleasant Word Publishing: Enumclaw, WA), 2008.


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Declining Religious Affiliation

Dr. Iorg evaluates why churches in the US may be declining and emphasizes that the gospel must take center-stage in the church’s mission.

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.

Reclaiming Manhood

Dr. Iorg discusses what it means to raise men in today’s society.

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.

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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.

Lead On Podcast
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Preventing “Let Down” Sundays

Easter and Christmas are just a few of the major Sundays that demand a lot from leaders and volunteers. How do you prevent burnout or “lagging” Sundays for the week after? 


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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.

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