Bob Jones Seminary will be hosting Dr. Doug McLachlan, former president and now chancellor of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, for the Custer Lecture Series on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
This year’s lecture theme, In the Heart of the Storm: Glorifying God, will focus on Psalm 2. It will be held in Stratton Hall from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
The first lecture will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the second will begin at 10 a.m.
The final lecture will take place during chapel at 11 a.m. and will be followed by a lunch in the dining common at 11:45 a.m.
The Stewart Custer Lecture Series was created to give seminary students exposure to respected biblical scholars.
Typically, these types of lectures are named in honor of a scholar who represents the seminary’s ideals and values.
Dr. Greg Stiekes, a faculty member in the seminary, said that part of the inspiration for the event was that the seminary faculty wanted to have an event that showcased the type of scholar that Dr. Custer was.
“When I asked the faculty who we should honor, every single person said Dr. Custer should be the one that we honor,” he said.
This particular series was named in honor of Stewart Custer, a faculty member for 45 years.
Besides serving in the Seminary, Custer was chairman of the Division of Bible, an author, a pastor, a teacher, a scholar and an astronomer.
The lecture is the seminary’s main fall event. This will be the third year that the series has been held, but it also marks the first year since Dr. Custer died in December 2017.
For this year’s event, speaker Doug McLachan will focus on glorifying God even in the face of hardship.
Dr. Neal Cushman, associate dean of the seminary, is excited to host McLachlan, and he said he is looking forward to the event.
“It’s going to be a really nice mixture of excellent scholarship and warm, devotional, applicational preaching,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to hearing him take passages of Scripture and explain them in the detail that he always gives to a passage so that, when we come away from there, our lives have been deeply impacted by the word.”
Both Stiekes and Cushman have worked with McLachlan previously.
Stiekes called him a great role model for the students and an excellent communicator.
Cushman said, “[McLachlan’s] going to minister to our hearts in a warm kind of way, but we’re going to understand things about the Bible that we probably didn’t know before.”
McLachlan will be able to share his inspiring testimony with the students.
Clara Bruck, a biblical counseling major in the seminary, said she is excited about this lecture series.
She is particularly looking forward to the sessions because they will address the issue of adversity.
“It will be very applicable especially for all the people who are in ministry,” she said.
Bruck also said that the lecture will give the students who attend the series a very realistic view of ministry.
