Mark Hettler
Puritan Board Freshman
I meant to post here when I first signed up last weekend, but I'm finally getting around to it now. I am a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia (M.Div. 1977), working as a Senior Software Analyst at a software development firm in Cherry Hill, NJ. I tell co-workers and former classmates that Westminster is what prepared me for a career in computer software, because it taught me to think analytically. No one does if-then-else logic like the Apostle Paul, and no one brings out the if-then-else logic of the Apostle Paul like Richard Gaffin.
My software career is actually a second career. In the early 1980's I was a pastor of a charismatic church. One might ask how one goes from the M.Div. program at Westminster to the charismatic movement. The answer is, I was in the charismatic movement first, and went to Westminster because I was looking for a Bible-believing seminary; I really didn't take the Reformed distinctives all that seriously at the time. It was in the 1990's, after years of seeing the effects of bad theology and experience orientation in the charismatic movement (and broader evangelicalism), that I began to truly see the value of what I had been exposed to at Westminster, and began to revisit much of it, and began devouring the works of Piper, Grudem, Edwards, Owen, Iain Murray, and countless others in the years since.
More recently I served for several years as an elder in a Baptist church, and am currently a member of Hope PCA in Lawrenceville, NJ, although still a credobaptist. I am also still a non-cessationist, albeit a very cautious one. John Piper once said something along the lines of, "There is no scriptural basis for saying the gifts of the Spirit ceased, but I've never seen any good come out of their contemporary practice" (very loose paraphrase). I wouldn't go so far as to say I've never seen any good, but I've seen enough bad to make me very skeptical of anything purporting to be God speaking.
My wife and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary this coming summer. This month is the 10th anniversary of our adoption of our now 12-year-old daughter, originally from Romania. We also have 4 sons, ranging from 27 to 20, all still at home. Home is in Florence Township, NJ, which is about 20 minutes south of Trenton.
My software career is actually a second career. In the early 1980's I was a pastor of a charismatic church. One might ask how one goes from the M.Div. program at Westminster to the charismatic movement. The answer is, I was in the charismatic movement first, and went to Westminster because I was looking for a Bible-believing seminary; I really didn't take the Reformed distinctives all that seriously at the time. It was in the 1990's, after years of seeing the effects of bad theology and experience orientation in the charismatic movement (and broader evangelicalism), that I began to truly see the value of what I had been exposed to at Westminster, and began to revisit much of it, and began devouring the works of Piper, Grudem, Edwards, Owen, Iain Murray, and countless others in the years since.
More recently I served for several years as an elder in a Baptist church, and am currently a member of Hope PCA in Lawrenceville, NJ, although still a credobaptist. I am also still a non-cessationist, albeit a very cautious one. John Piper once said something along the lines of, "There is no scriptural basis for saying the gifts of the Spirit ceased, but I've never seen any good come out of their contemporary practice" (very loose paraphrase). I wouldn't go so far as to say I've never seen any good, but I've seen enough bad to make me very skeptical of anything purporting to be God speaking.
My wife and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary this coming summer. This month is the 10th anniversary of our adoption of our now 12-year-old daughter, originally from Romania. We also have 4 sons, ranging from 27 to 20, all still at home. Home is in Florence Township, NJ, which is about 20 minutes south of Trenton.
to the PB
Greetings!
