So how did Mary and I determine it was God’s will for us to leave everything behind and study theology for four years and then embark on a new career of serving the Lord full-time? It began for me on the day I surrendered to God by accepting that I was a sinner, believing that Christ died for me and receiving Him into my life. I knew then that the entire trajectory of my life was changed. On my first date with Mary, it was clear she had always thought she would marry a missionary or preacher. We knew something special between us was possible.

My mentor was a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary who felt the Lord sent him back into “secular” work, where I met him. He taught me one-on-one and then in a home group setting. He fed me with recommendations of books to read and commentaries to buy and even set me up with a first-year book on learning the biblical language of Greek. Everything in my life was moving toward gaining a greater understanding of the Word of God. Nothing had given me purpose until I found Christ. Then I became singularly focused on knowing God better.

I attended church three times on Sundays, like a sponge absorbing everything I could. In those days, audio tape ministries were the media of that day for spreading the teaching of popular Bible preachers, and I couldn’t get enough of them. Increasingly, I was impressed with the in-depth, expository insights of men like Chuck Swindoll, Howard Hendricks, John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Bill McRae and many others. I threw myself into summer camp counseling and organizing youth and leadership conferences. With Mary’s help, we inaugurated an annual wilderness canoe-backpacking trip where we took 18 young adults (aged 17-25) into the interior of Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada for ten days of what we call stress-camping (modeled after the popular Outward Bound program).

We worked with the youth program at our church, hosted college-aged Bible studies in our home and began to preach in our church and other churches in our network of brethren assemblies. Yet, I was dissatisfied with my lack of training in effective preaching. Beneath that, I didn’t know how to properly study the Bible so as not to be swayed by every wind of doctrine and persuasive sermon I heard from many different sources. In short, I had a growing desire to learn the tools for studying the Bible in depth in the original languages.

With Mary’s full agreement and partnership in life, I applied to DTS for admission for the following autumn (1979). It was January of that year, and we heard that applications were to be submitted a year ahead of time, so this was past being too late to apply. A short time later, we received the response in a thin envelope with a single sheet, the kind which usually contains a concisely written rejection notice. Mary and I were sitting on the couch together as we opened it up. Accepted!

The seminary was asking for our response. Our thoughts whirled. After being out of formal schooling for eight years, did I have what it took to study at a master’s level institution? How could we afford it? Until we got the acceptance letter, those questions hadn’t even entered our minds, but now the practicality of it settled in. If we were going through with it, how could we ensure this was God’s will? To find out, we took specific steps. The first was to seek the counsel of godly Christians. The Bible says, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed” (Prov. 15:22). Moreover, we sought out older believers whom we respected, “Wisdom is with aged men, with long life is understanding” (Job 12:12). We called it “seeking out godly grey hairs.” In particular, we spent time with three older couples, shared our hearts and sought their advice. Uniformly, they did not tell us what to do but confirmed that if this was the Lord’s leading, we should go. They encouraged us to examine our motives and desires and count the cost, for it would require great sacrifice.

So now, we had an acceptance letter and the encouragement of three older couples. The door seemed wide open; what was left for us to do? How could we know God was opening the door and not just our personal desires? Then the Lord gave us a pivotal verse in the Bible, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). That was it. We had been living all out for God, throwing ourselves into various ministries and services; in the honesty of our souls, without any sense of pride on the one hand or false humility on the other, we both knew our goal in life was to live for the Lord, or in biblical terms, to delight ourselves in Him. If that was true, and we believed it was, then God wanted to give us the desires of our hearts!

It was early spring of 1979 and Mary and I were sitting on the same couch in our 60-year-old house in a Buffalo, New York, suburb. We prayed together and then made the fateful decision. It was our “Geronimo” moment (what paratroopers sometimes yell when jumping out of an airplane). We desired to move to Dallas, go to seminary and then embark on a life of serving God and trusting Him for our financial needs. God wanted to give that to us, a gift, a privilege and a joy that has animated our lives ever since. We were overwhelmed at God’s goodness in giving us this high honor to be servants of the Lord.

Mary and I looked at each other, eye-to-eye, knowing this would be the most important decision that would alter the trajectory of our lives together. Continuing in God’s plan and purpose for our lives, we settled in the sense of God’s approval to pursue the desire of our hearts with His blessing. I wrote back to the seminary with, “Yes.” Then the whirlwind began.