{"id":4302,"date":"2023-10-23T16:02:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T23:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegateway.press\/?p=4302"},"modified":"2023-10-23T16:02:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T23:02:21","slug":"the-toughest-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/the-toughest-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"The Toughest Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some of the toughest pastoral challenges today are handling issues related to gender, sexuality, morality, and marriage. A friend recently confided in me his son is now identifying as a woman and asked for guidance on how to respond. Another friend\u2019s son recently got married, to a man, and he also asked me for counsel on how to relate in this situation. Another young woman who we have known since childhood, is recovering from being abandoned by a long-time cohabiting partner. Situations like these are widespread in communities and responding is a regular challenge for church leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gateway is hosting a one-day conference, our annual Intersect Conference where we discuss the intersection of theology and culture, to address some of these issues from a pastoral\/ministerial point of view. We will have plenary sessions, panel discussions, and breakout sessions on different aspects of ministry related to gender, sexuality, morality, and marriage. The conference is at the Ontario Campus on November 2, 2023 and you can register here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our keynote speaker and featured guest for the conference is Dr. Timothy C. Tennent, the president of Asbury Theological Seminary, and author of For the Body<\/em>, a book which addresses these important issues from a biblical perspective with a ministerial mindset. Dr. Tennent is a good friend, my favorite Methodist, who was a missionary in India before he shifted to academic leadership. His field-oriented perspective on ministry leadership aligns with our focus at Gateway. We are not really interested in purely academic arguments, but in understanding how truth can be applied in real life situations. Dr. Tennent will help us do that in his presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are hurting today because of cultural confusion about gender, sexuality, morality, and marriage. As Christian leaders, we must uphold truth with compassion and root our counsel and direction in biblical convictions. Sometimes, the situations we are called on to address are so convoluted we have a hard time even knowing where start. Wisdom and discernment, as well as courage of our convictions, is needed now more than ever. Join us on for Intersect 2023 and discover new insights to help you minister more effectively in today\u2019s confusing context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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INTERSECT 2023 | IDENTITY CULTURE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n Posted by: Philip O. Hopkins<\/span>\n |<\/span>\n April 7, 2026<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n Iran: Further Reading<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

Read through this helpful bibliography of resources on Iran gathered by Dr. Phil Hopkins.<\/p>\n

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\n Philip O. Hopkins<\/a>\n
Professor of Missions<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
Philip O. Hopkins is a professor of missions and chair of the Missions and Intercultural Studies Department at Gateway Seminary. He earned Ph.D. in applied theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a second Ph.D. in Iranian history from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). He is also the associate editor of the IRAN: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies.<\/div>\n
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\n Posted by: Daniel M. Gurtner, Ph.D.<\/span>\n |<\/span>\n March 26, 2026<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n Protected: Book Excerpt – Engaging the First Christian Historian<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

Read an excerpt from Daniel M. Gurtner’s article in this festschrift in honor of Dr. Steve Walton<\/p>\n

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\n Daniel M. Gurtner, Ph.D.<\/a>\n
Professor of New Testament Studies<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
Dr. Gurtner has a passion for making Christ known through careful, deliberate, and worshipful study of the Bible, and training students to do the same.<\/div>\n
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\n Posted by: Philip O. Hopkins<\/span>\n |<\/span>\n March 4, 2026<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n Persecution and Protection of Iranian Christians<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

A closer look at the history of Christianity in Iran may be helpful in understanding the current war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\n Read Article<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n Philip O. Hopkins<\/a>\n
Professor of Missions<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
Philip O. Hopkins is a professor of missions and chair of the Missions and Intercultural Studies Department at Gateway Seminary. He earned Ph.D. in applied theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a second Ph.D. in Iranian history from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). He is also the associate editor of the IRAN: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies.<\/div>\n
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\n \n Read more by Philip O.\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the toughest pastoral challenges today are handling issues related to gender, sexuality, morality, and marriage. A friend recently confided in me his son is now identifying as a woman and asked for guidance on how to respond. Another friend\u2019s son recently got married, to a man, and he also asked me for counsel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":4303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[232,17,431,88],"class_list":["post-4302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry","tag-gender","tag-ministry","tag-morality","tag-sexuality"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raincrossdev2.com\/gateway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}