A Faithful Friend

I have heard it said that when you find an author that speaks to you, you have found a faithful friend. I think that the same is true for a preacher and for a professor. I have been very grateful for the ministry of so many faithful professors over the years at Boyce, and when I begin thinking of my favorites, my mind is filled with good memories.

I have been truly blessed with some very smart, funny, wise, and loving professors, but one I feel has surpassed them all for me personally. Dr. Jim Orrick has had a profound impact upon my heart and mind since my very first semester in 2006. I have taken him for anything that I possible could, I am even thinking about taking a class with him next semester that I don't even need.

He taught English my first semester, and I have taken him for both sections of Great Books, as well as Speech. I don't want to elevate him so much, as I do the gift that he has to communicate truth in such a loving and practical way. He has the ability to make me think and want to think more, and want to grow in my walk with Christ. He has a wonderful heart for his students, and for Jesus, it cannot help but shine through as he teaches. He quotes poetry and hymns for us in class, which I love, and he somehow causes me to take interest in things like literature and poetry, though normally I wouldn't be.

I am truly thankful for his ministry to my life, it is so pervasive I may never know how much of an impact he has had on my life. He encourages me to love Jesus more, and to be well equipped to serve Christ in my daily life, and in my ministry. He is a faithful example of humility, wisdom, knowledge, and piety.

Like I said, I don't want to make it sound like he is some superhero or something, only that in some way, he speaks to me in ways that no other professor does, and I believe I have found a faithful friend in Dr. Jim Orrick.