Discipleship That Really Works

Watching LBC’s Own Acts 19 ‘Hall of Tyrannus’ Thrive

The Apostle Paul was perceptive and strategic in his ministry. Do you recall his strategy to reach all the residents of Asia with God’s Word? He took his disciples away with him into the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus for two years (Acts 19). The result? “All the residents of Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks^” (Acts 19:10, ESV).

As a member of the LBC | Capital team for 30 years, it has been my blessing to help fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples for Jesus in our very own “Lecture Hall of Tyrannus.” Some disciples (students) have continued to be in touch with me for three decades or even throughout their entire PhD and life’s ministry journey. We enjoy a partnership of growing together in Christ!

Some of our PhD in Biblical Studies graduates are now professors, others are pastors, and some are both. Virtually all our students have become empowered disciple-makers themselves in a variety of callings! The multiplicative effect described in 2 Timothy 2:2 has been exponential: “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (ESV). Has the entire world been reached yet? We are working on it, and as time moves on, let us be “Rooted in the past, preparing in the present and building for the future”—the words that guide all of us at LBC | Capital during our 90th year.

Rooted in the Past

Students gather on the Lancaster School of the Bible lawn, likely around the late ’50s or early ’60s.

I’ve learned much while teaching for the Lord at LBC | Capital for 30 years. He is truly the potter, and we are all the work of His hands. The day I graduated from Capital Bible Seminary in May 1993, I was blessed and surprised to be asked to consider teaching at Capital. What I valued most as a student, I continue to treasure and steward as a faculty member: the treasure of the team of leaders, professors and staff serving together in the unity of the Spirit to equip believers for ministry (Ephesians 4:12).

A non-negotiable principle I live by is that all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The Holy Word is alive, active and penetrating. I believe that our great High Priest (Jesus) and His Spirit use the Father’s Word to make fully formed followers of Jesus. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, ESV). These precious disciples glorify God by loving Him wholeheartedly (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

Preparing in the Present

I am grateful that President Tommy Kiedis and his leadership team have made an intentional decision to embrace technology to equip students throughout the nation and abroad through online and hybrid modalities. This strategic focus provides opportunities for many that would not otherwise exist.

I love how technology enables a cross-cultural and multi-racial experience for our student body that encourages meaningful interactions and significant discussions. When we engage this way with others, we have opportunities to refine our Christian worldview. When we are isolated, we are prone to see Scripture and its application exclusively through the lens of our own life experience instead of through multiple perspectives that refine us as “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17, ESV).

Building for the Future

The need for LBC | Capital has never been greater. We live in a global world where more information on Scripture and theology is available than ever before. However, how do our students know how to evaluate the available information? Do they know how to “curate” that data? Part of disciple-making is training in how to discern truth from error and to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. Our students need to be equipped like the Berean Christians, “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11, ESV).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire globe, people are more isolated than ever before. Along with equipping in the Word of God, our students need ministry skills that will enable them to connect to a fragmented world that needs healing and reconciliation. Our institution’s theme verse says it best: “…the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:24–25, NIV). Because God’s Word will surely endure, and our mission to encourage and equip our students in their calling to make disciples of all the nations has never been more needed, LBC | Capital continues to aim to be perceptive and strategic like Paul and fulfill its purpose through the power of the Holy Spirit, abiding in Christ, our magnificent faithful Cornerstone!

Dr. Mark Meyer (’93), LBC | Capital’s PhD in Biblical Studies Program Director, initially served the Lord in the field of engineering prior to his call to full-time Christian ministry. While working as an engineer for the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, he completed an MA and PhD in Semitic Languages and Literatures at Catholic University. Dr. Meyer also completed studies in Israel with Jerusalem University College, focusing on the historical and geographical settings of the Bible and the life and times of Jesus. He is the author of “A Comparative Dialectical Study of Genitive Constructions in Aramaic Translations of Exodus,” and he also translated the book of Exodus from the Syriac Peshitta into English for The Antioch Bible Set.