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Page: ‘Hear the call, heed the command’

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FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Frank Page, president-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, urged students and faculty at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his alma mater, to be sure of the calling of God.

Page said he believes that “every day we need to hear the call and heed the command.” He reminded students to be faithful to hear God’s still, small voice and to use that conviction as an anchor to their current ministry callings.

“Every day we need to wake up and say, ‘Oh Lord, speak, Lord, for your servant heareth,'” Page said in a Sept. 8 chapel message. “Have you humbled your heart before God? The call will best be heard by the prepared heart, a heart that is yearning for the call of God.”

Preaching from the call of Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Page also used anecdotes from his time as a master’s student and then as a doctoral candidate at Southwestern to remind seminarians that enrollment in an academic institution does not equate to a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Even though they are designed by their calling to be ministers of the Gospel to others, Page also told students to remember that Jesus’ calling for the weary and heavy laden to rest (Matthew 11:28) is for them as well.

Page thanked Southwestern’s new professor of evangelism, Matt Queen, for being a minister of rest to his mother until she passed away last July. Prior to joining Southwestern’s faculty, Queen was pastor of the church that Page’s mother attended. Page said the same God who empowered Queen to be a comfort to her also comforts Page as he continues to grieve the death of his daughter, Melissa, who died last November.

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“We understand loss. We understand tragedy,” Page said. “But listen carefully to me. Our God is able to comfort. Our God’s grace is sufficient every day. Some asked me a few weeks ago, ‘How have you handled the death of your daughter?’ And I said I haven’t handled it, I handle it every day. God’s grace is sufficient.”
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Rebecca Carter writes for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. To hear Page’s entire chapel message, visit www.swbts.edu/chapel.