For the past six months, one of the greatest joys for me has been to get to know Jason Meyer. Having first met Jason at UPS, we talked about his doctoral dissertation and had a great conversation about the continuity/discontinuity of the old and new covenant. Since then we have met almost weekly for breakfast after work once a week to prayer and encourage one another in our passion to glorify Jesus in our lives, marriages, ministries, and work.
Two weeks ago, Jason went to Louisiana College upon invitation concerning a position on the faculty. I had the privilege of preaching for the past two Sunday’s at the church which Jason has pastored for the past three years. He notified me last week that he has accepted the position at Louisiana College and will be leaving in August. Jason will be teaching New Testament and Greek his first semester while revising his dissertation in the meantime. I know that LC knows this by know, but they are getting a gift in this man and his family. More than a great student, scholar, and professor, Jason is a humble man whose obscure service in the shadowlands of anonymity has made indelible impressions on young ministers like me concerning faithfulness in ministry and godliness in character.
I must say that his leaving Louisville is bitter sweet for me because I feel like our friendship has just begun, but as we both have agreed, we have resolved to continue what the Lord has begun in our friendship. Having heard Jason speak of LC, I cannot be more excited for him. This school in recent years has undergone a radical reformation in bringing the school under a confessional, conservative orthodoxy through courageous and godly leaders. Two leaders which have really impressed Jason are Dr. Joe Aguillard, the President of LC, and Dr. Charles Quarles, VP of Integration of Faith and Learning and Chair of the Division of Religious Studies. What I have compelling is that I have heard from several sources outside Jason about the incredible leadership and passion of these two men. Let me encourage you to read the “Identity and Mission of Louisiana College” by Dr. Aguillard as he expresses the direction and distinctives of LC through John 14:6 – the way, the truth, and the life. Dr. Quarles, in his commentary on John 18:33, addresses the question made by Pilate when he asked, “What is truth?” Quarles writes:
My question to all of us here at Louisiana College is this: who will be the God of our ideologies and what will be the book to which we make our appeal for the ultimate questions in life? Who will be the God and what will be the book that will determine your worldview? In a sense both our mission and our doctrinal standard answer that question for us, for our mission is offer “an educational program grounded in the liberal arts tradition, informed by the Christian faith, and committed to academic excellence.” We are to offer an education “informed by the Christian faith.” The Christian faith looks to Jesus Christ and the Christian Scriptures for truth. Who will be the God and what will be the book that defines our ideologies? Jesus and the Bible. Jesus is our most valuable professor and the Bible is our most valuable textbook. Other people may instruct us and other books may inform us but the claims of all other people and all other books are trumped by the claims of Christ and His Word.
Having benefited from a solid, private, undergraduate college and impacted by a few professors there, I have no doubt that God will use Jason to make a huge impact in LC. It was in those years when I was in college that my theological framework began to be established, my first real exposure to international missions took place, and a passion to know God was nurtured. While many of our state schools are liberal and fickle on Scripture and biblical fidelity, I am grateful for schools like Union, UM, LC which are not just exceptions but exceptional. Having men of the caliber like Jason will prove to enhance the excellent work being done at LC as well as change the lives of students both in and out of the classroom. I have truly been blessed to have such friend and mentor as Jason and pray that the Lord continues to use him to call thousands of students to humbly display the greatness God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in Louisiana and around the world.
Dr. Quarles was my pastor in New Orleans before he left to go to LC. When we evacuated in the face of hurricane Katrina my family and several professor’s families went to stay with his family and with our church’s former music minister, Brandon, that Dr. Quarles took to be LC’s BCM director.
Dr. Quarles is a Godly man and I respect him a great deal. I personally would count it a privelege to be in Jason’s position getting to work with Dr. Quarles. Congrats to Jason, have him say hello to Dr. Quarles for me.