Olivet Nazarene University

 

The teenage boy gasped in surprise. The generous gift from his pastor caught him off guard. Frank Moore hadn’t expected it. And maybe that is what made it so much more special.

Called to the ministry at a young age, Frank spent as much time as he could with his church pastors, shadowing their work, learning about God. He would glean all he could from their wisdom.

When one of the pastors retired, he gifted Frank with his vast collection of pastoral books.

“Several of my pastors took me under their wing and they endeared me to Christianity.

"I realized it was something I could commit my life to. My pastor gave me his entire library, he gave books I still use to this day,” shares Frank.

These mentorship relationships instilled in him at a young age a belief in Jesus; that He was worth Frank’s energy and investment.

Worrying trends

As he went on to become a pastor and professor, a speaker and writer committed to beginning conversations about how our rapidly changing world relates to Christ, Frank is thankful for the reminder his books are to him.

“Every time I open one of those books, I remember it was from my pastor who helped shape me. And that is what I am turning around and doing now — helping others in their faith like he did for me.”

Frank has made it his life work to articulate faith to an increasingly postmodern, relativistic world.

He continues to see an increase in the laissez-faire attitude of many Christ-followers who are beginning to accept other religions like they are all the same. And he’s very worried about it.

He’s on task doing something about these trends through his new role serving as director of Olivet’s recently launched Center for Faith and Culture through the School of Theology and Christian Ministry.

“I’ve always had a very strong belief in Scripture. My faith was challenged by the question, ‘How does life affect how I live my faith?’ Another question was, ‘Am I willing to live it out for a lifetime?’ And the answer is yes.”

Now his challenge is continuing to interpret and connect each new generation to Christ so that they will live it out.

“I don’t want to just dispense information. As a professor, my responsibility is to also help students live it out. But as a professor the last 25 years, I would notice shifts in my students’ conversations every five years. There was an increase in apathy and relativism.”

This trend signaled a disconnect between doctrine and culture.

Conversation starter

“I’ve had to figure out: you never leave your faith in a vacuum. There’s always the interchange with other faiths but people are being marinated in the influences of society.

“It’s affecting the way we think. The most surprising thing for me is a move in [some] Christian churches to embrace other religions and embrace them equally. That’s very different from what Christianity teaches.”

As Frank begins these discussions, he sees it all as an exciting new beginning.

“My wife, Sue, and I are really excited about a new adventure — Olivet is positioned as no other Nazarene school to lead the discussion.”

And it seems he has officially come full circle, from the teenager passionate about relating Christ to the world to the director of the new Center, still using the books that cemented his faith in the first place.