I first met Rick Farmer the summer before my first year of college. He was a counselor at a Christian camp I had attended since childhood and was the newly hired collegiate minister at First Baptist Church, Morgantown, WV. Having just graduated from a small coal-mining town in a modest senior class of 250 students, my upcoming matriculation into a university of 20,000+ was a matter of concern for both me and my family. Neither my parents nor grandparents had gone off to college and the questions surrounding my future were many: How would I fare socially and academically? Would I deal with homesickness? Might I find good friends? Could my faith stand the test of being immersed into what Playboy Magazine deemed the “#1 party school in the nation”?
Knowing I was headed to his campus, Rick took me under his wing and guided me through the culture shock that ensued. In my four years in Morgantown, we watched his collegiate ministry grow from around a dozen students to nearly a hundred weekly. I think it grew, in large part, due to Rick’s unique style of teaching. Coming from a small country church, I had never heard a man integrate the truth of the gospel with the historical context of the Ancient Near East in quite the manner Rick did. He had a gift that enabled him to communicate biblical truth in a way that combined social justice and academics that led to college students synthesizing our faith with the secular education we were receiving at the state university.
Three decades later, Rick continues to inspire students through similar means of integration of faith and the social sciences. He has always had a heart and passion for reaching the intellectual skeptic, the lost and the hurting, both the addict and the erudite alike. In this present work, A Timeless Script from a 1st Century Doctor, Professor Farmer does what he has always done, he takes a story that has been told a thousand times before and delivers it in a way that is fresh and inspiring.
So, as you gather around the glow of the Christmas lights, and warm yourself by the hearth in your living rooms, I encourage you to enjoy Rick’s take on the yuletide stories through the eyes of a first-century physician and historian. I expect this devotional will act as a source of comfort, inspiration, and intellectual stimulation. Dive into the pages within, and may these words and reflections bring you peace, comfort, and connection with the Prince of Peace at a time when peace is most needed.