My name is Dustin Benge. I am originally from London, Kentucky but now live in Louisville, Kentucky while attending The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Being raised by Godly parents in the ministry of the church, I have always felt a part of God’s family. It was not until the age of 12, through the drawing power of the Holy Spirit, that I came to realize I was a sinner, under the wrath of God, and in desperate need of a Savior. I came to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at the age of 12. Christ arrested my heart with His love, justified my soul with His grace and regenerated my life with His power, setting my feet upon a straight and narrow path to follow Him all the days of my life.As I continued in the Christian life, church work and other activities, I came to sense something was missing. I wanted to do more for Christ and His kingdom. I wanted to live for Him in a way that would not separate me from the life and ministry of the church. It was at the age of 14 that God called me into the ministry. More specifically, God called me to preach. This calling was very simple, straightforward and directly from God. He, at that moment, planted a desire within my heart to become a student and preacher of His Word.
From the moment I sensed the calling power of God upon my life for preaching ministry, I knew I would be a pastor. I have always had a heart and love for people with a strong desire to see them grow and mature in their knowledge of the Word of God. I am strongly committed to an expositional pulpit ministry with an emphasis upon the preaching and teaching of God’s Word throughout the whole ministry of the church. I understand my calling is first and foremost to be a minister of the Word; therefore it is my desire to train Christians for the work of ministry with a passion for raising up men for the continuation and work of gospel ministry in the home, the church and the world.
I believe that the purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42). I am dedicated with all my heart and life for this purpose and this calling.
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Interesting Facts:
Age: 26 years old
Undergraduate Degree: Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, Pineville, Kentucky
Graduate Degree: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky - In Progress
Marital Status: Single (Wanting to be otherwise but trying to be patient in this area, waiting on God).
Home Church: Hopewell Baptist Church in Corbin, Kentucky
Travel: Haiti, China, Holland, Greece, Israel.
Current Employment (while in school): Brooks Brothers in the St. Matthews Mall, Louisville, Kentucky
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Favorite Books:
The Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall
Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne edited by Andrew Bonar
The Glory of Christ by John Owen
The Pleasures of God by John Piper
Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography by Iain Murray
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
John Adams by David McCullough
1776 by David McCullough
Some of my favorite authors include (in no particular order):
Christian: Jonathan Edwards, Iain H. Murray, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, John Owen, John Piper, David Wells, William Gurnall, Thomas Watson, John Calvin, J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Sinclair Ferguson.
Fictional: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien.
American History: David McCullough, Douglas Southall Freeman, Joseph Ellis, Gordon S. Wood.
My favorite publishing house: Banner of Truth - they publish some of the best written classical Christian works in existence. Please visit their site through the link on the front page.
Favorite Preachers:
Living preachers: John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Alister Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, J. Ligon Duncan, Derrick Prime.
“Gone-On” preachers: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Calvin, John Owen, Robert Murray M’Cheyne.
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26 responses so far ↓
Diane Sharp // Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:06 am
Dear Dustin,
I hadn’t found your “about” page until now. What a wonderful testimony. I am praying for you each and every day that God will lead you in every area of your life. I am so proud of you and your patience in waiting for the life partner that God will send to you–in his time. We miss you were at home but know that you are exactly where God wants you to be right now. Best wishes for a wonderful semester of learning more about God and his word. Take some time to enjoy the wonders around you and take a break from studying sometime. You are a true blessing to this aunt.
Love you,
Aunt Diny
whit3nois3 // Friday, October 26, 2007 at 12:47 am
Hi, Dustin
I found your page encouraging, and a good resource.
God bless,
Caleb
paul momanyi // Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 7:38 am
Dear precious Servant of God.
Holy greetings to you in the mighty Name of Jesus.
I am writing From Kenya and it was by the grace of God that I visited
the Internet and was privileged to find your contact. After
prayerfully reading and studying your WebPages, I was spiritually
charged, moved and thrilled.
My spiritual electricity went stronger to find that you have
what we need for spiritual growth. Right now I don’t feel like my feet
are touching the ground because of the desire that has been ignited in
me by reading your webpage. I humbly pray that the Holy Spirit visit
your hearts and humbly spend time with us as our spiritual mentors. We
hunger and thirst for your fellowship and teachings. If God provides
the opportunity we beseech that brothers make a MACEDONIAN TRIP here
and
help us.
A ministry well done by His faithful servants brings GLORY to Christ.
Please bless us with a reply.
God bless you
In whom we serve,
Rev Paul.
PO BOX 1667-40200-KISII-KENYA-E.A
Dustin Benge // Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 10:53 am
Rev. Paul,
It is with great joy that I reply to your encouraging and uplifting comment. From the beginnings of this blog it has been my desire to be an encouragement and mentor to other pastors around the world with advice, resources and other materials to aid in spiritual growth. You have no idea what joy it brings to my heart to hear from you.
It is my hope that you visit Pastor and People often and draw strength from it’s words as you are pointed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of these pages is to bring glory and honor to God. I am reminded of the words of our dear brother in the faith, John Calvin, “There is set before us the uncharageable and eternal purpose of God effectually to defend the kingdom of His Son, of which He is the founder; and this may well support our faith amid the troublous storms of the world. Whatever plots, therefore, men may form against it, let this one consideration be sufficient to satisfy us, that they cannot render ineffectual the anointing of God.” No matter the hardships you face dear brother, in the ministry or as a pastor to the people of Kenya know that God is ever present to rise up and defend His own.
I have missionary friends all around the world that I pray for daily, some I have met and some I only know their names. I have added you, your family, your church and your country to my prayer list. Again thank you for your visit to Pastor and People and hope it will be one of many. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Your fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ,
Dustin
Derrick Brown // Sunday, December 2, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Hello Dustin I found your site and I have been reading. I Really enjoyed reading the different articles I thank God for these men of faith and your dedication to serve the Lord.Hope you have a wonderful Christmas
Love in Christ Jesus our Lord
Brian Bacelieri // Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Dustin,
I can not explain to you why or how i found this site. Your name came to mind and it was like a burning, so I searched for your name in google and found this site. I’m really excited to see that the passion of Christ has consumed you, and I found it very encouraging. There’s so much that has happened over these many years I wish I could write, but most importantly I can say I love Christ more today than I ever have in my life. He blessed me to be married in August of this year to the women of His dreams for me (which was far beyond my dreams). It has been a love story only he could write and it would take pages to explain it in its entirety. Over the past two years my pursuit of Christ has truly intensified from nothing to me counting everything as a loss for the sake of knowing Him. So it is with that, that I say it has been encouraging to know you’ve made every effort to supplement your faith. May His peace be all over you and may you truly shine with the glory of an unveiled face.
Brian
Dustin Benge // Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Brian,
Needless to say I am very surprised to hear from you!! I can’t count the years that have passed since we last saw one another, had a conversation or simply talked. Thank you so much for thinking of me and searching for my name. I never thought my name would appear in search engines some day but my blog is like a pulpit to the world. We will leave it to divine providence for the reason you found me.
I trust you are well and enjoying married life and I trust will be greatly blessed by our gracious God as your love continues to grow, deepen, widen and flourish to our Lord’s will and plan.
Again, it was wonderful to hear from you and wait with great anticipation to our next exchange in the sincere hope that there will be many more to follow.
I will email you more in-depth.
Warm Christian greetings,
Dustin
Dustin Benge // Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Derrick,
Thank you so much for your visits to the site. I trust you will find the resources greatly helpful in your walk with our Lord. I think often of our time together at church and relish our times of laughter, teaching and worship. Please visit the site often, comment on the posts and we can enjoy conversation though miles seperate us.
Hope to hear from you soon and pray the Lord will greatly bless you in your continued walk with Him!
Dustin
Don Whitney // Saturday, December 22, 2007 at 8:32 am
Dustin,
Just found your series on letter-writing. Well done! Drop by some time (and bring the Posterity book for me to look at) and let’s talk about fountain pens, and taking letter-writing to the next level. Ha. Real letters are written with a real pen! Also, thanks for the kind words about my book.
Dustin Benge // Saturday, December 22, 2007 at 9:54 am
Dr. Whitney,
It is such an honor to have you visit Pastor and People. Thank you for your kind comment and taking the time to read the Letter Writing series. The first available opportunity I have, I will stop by your office with Posterity and some other interesting things I have regarding letters. Again, it is an honor to have your comment and I will look forward, with great anticipation, to our conversation about letter writing.
Warm Christian Greetings,
Dustin
Ron Dusharm // Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I just came across your web site as I was looking for information on pastors and depression. I just want to thank you for what you are doing and I want to thank you for encouraging others to persevere in our walk with our Lord Jesus. May God bless you as you serve him!
Dustin Benge // Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Ron,
Thank you for your kind words and it is a great honor if I am any sort of encouragement to you - that is the full purpose of this blog. Please visit often and let me know what you find helpful.
For His Glory,
Dustin
Sandy Shaw // Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I so enjoyed reading the notes etc on your Web Site. I know some of the men you mention.
Since July I have been submitting material to Ezine Articles. If you want to have a wee look - Google in Sandy Shaw Scotland - and my Ezine bio should appear - that will take you to the Index. If you spot SCP - that is because I was asked to stand for Parliament by Inverness business men. Warmest greetings in Christ Jesus.
Dustin Benge // Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Sandy,
Thank you for the kind words - may all glory go to God alone! I will plan and look forward to reading some of your articles. Thank you for your visit and hope to hear more from you. It is nice to have a friend in Scotland - a place I would love to one day visit.
May the Lord richly bless you my dear brother,
Dustin
Michael Scovill // Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:08 am
I really loved your piece on the 10 greatest preachers of the 20th century, but given the knowledge on where you are from, geographically speaking, I was suprised and a bit disappointed that you didn’t include Dr. Charles F. Stanley. I hope that the divorce fiasco wasn’t a factor as King David was one of God’s favorites, yet was guilty of far worse offenses than our friend Charles Stanley.
Dustin Benge // Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:14 am
Michael,
I have appreciated the ministry of Dr. Stanley for many many years. I remember as a boy waking up at my grandparents house to the sound of his voice on television on Sunday morning. He has has a large impact upon my life and I continue to enjoy him. The divorce was not the reason I did not include him on the list. These 10 were preachers who made an impact upon my life in 2007. Perhaps I will make another list for those who have impacted my whole life and ministry - Dr. Stanley would be on it. Thanks again for your comment and I trust you will visit often.
Blessings,
Dustin
Mark Webb // Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 10:22 am
Dustin,
I haven enjoyed looking at your site. So much so, that I have added you to my blogroll! Keep writing and searching the scriptures.
Mark Webb
Dustin Benge // Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 9:43 am
Thank you Mark for your kind words. I hope you visit Pastor and People often and look forward to hearing some of your comments on the posts that interest you. May our Lord richly bless you.
Dustin
Derrick Brown // Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 8:33 am
Dustin just wanted to write and tell you.I have been listening to some of your Truth Today cd’s and they are an absolute blessing. I thank God for your faithful teaching.
Love in Christ our Lord
Evans magare // Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 10:16 am
Dear precious Servant of God .
Holy greetings to you in the mighty Name of Jesus.
I am writing from Kenya and it was by the grace of God that I visited
the Internet and was privileged to find your contact. After
prayerfully reading and studying your web pages, I was spiritually
charged, moved and thrilled.
My spiritual electricity went stronger to find that you have
what we need for spiritual growth. Right now I don’t feel like my feet
are touching the ground because of the desire that has been ignited in
me by reading your web page. I humbly pray that the Holy Spirit visit
your hearts and humbly spend time with us as our spiritual mentors. We
hunger and thirst for your fellowship and teachings. If God provides
the opportunity we beseech that brothers make a MACEDONIAN TRIP here
and
help us.
A ministry well done by His faithful servants brings GLORY to Christ.
Please bless us with a reply.
God bless you
In whom we serve,
pastor Evans
+254735181849
Dustin Benge // Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Pastor Evans,
It is with great joy that I reply to your encouraging and uplifting comment. From the beginnings of this blog it has been my desire to be an encouragement and mentor to other pastors around the world with advice, resources and other materials to aid in spiritual growth. You have no idea what joy it brings to my heart to hear from you.
It is my hope that you visit Pastor and People often and draw strength from it’s words as you are pointed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of these pages is to bring glory and honor to God. I am reminded of the words of our dear brother in the faith, John Calvin, “There is set before us the uncharageable and eternal purpose of God effectually to defend the kingdom of His Son, of which He is the founder; and this may well support our faith amid the troublous storms of the world. Whatever plots, therefore, men may form against it, let this one consideration be sufficient to satisfy us, that they cannot render ineffectual the anointing of God.” No matter the hardships you face dear brother, in the ministry or as a pastor to the people of Kenya know that God is ever present to rise up and defend His own.
I have missionary friends all around the world that I pray for daily, some I have met and some I only know their names. I have added you, your family, your church and your country to my prayer list. Again thank you for your visit to Pastor and People and hope it will be one of many. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Your fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ,
Dustin
Larry Sowders // Friday, March 14, 2008 at 8:57 am
Dustin,
I came across your blog in a round about way. I first saw your resume posted at the Founders website. It stood out to me because you are from London. I grew up in Barbouville and graduated from SBTS in 2001. I then received an email that referenced your blog. I took a moment just to look around a bit. Keep up the good work and press on in the preaching of the gospel.
Dustin Benge // Friday, March 14, 2008 at 9:46 am
Thanks so much Larry for visiting the site. It is good to hear from someone from southeastern Kentucky. Stop by anytime, I would enjoy hearing from you again.
Lindsay Ferguson // Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2:01 am
Hey Dustin
Saw your list of favourite preachers - have a look out for some audio of Eric Alexander.
May you be greatly blessed!
L. Ferguson
Si Sween // Friday, April 4, 2008 at 11:15 am
Just read your top 10 preachers - a good list indeed. Would like you to listen to my pastor - Edward Donnelly from Northern Ireland, sermonaudio.com. you’ll enjoy!! God well
fideli // Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 5:40 am
Hello dear friends
First of all I greet you my name is Rukeribuga Fideli I am from east Africa
Country named Rwanda , I am a boy I have problems that is why I take
Decision to writer you, and to inform you some of my situations,
Now I seek a person, or organization that can assist me to get school fees, materials foods, and transports, our home we are poor we do not have prosperities to care for our life very well, especially school fees because as you know things without schools are very difficult. so I beg you by the grace of God give me assistance as emergence relief; our city called Kigali, country called Rwanda, postal code 250 I have two brothers’ tree sisters, so brethren I give you heavy burdens but am patience to brothering you,
I did not finish School I still want to learn at least two years,
And is proof to tell you here in Rwanda things are very expensive
Even to get foods and items all is very difficult.
So brethren I urge you to save me as brethren’s.
Let me stop here but if you want other further information
From me I will be ready to answer any question you need to know.
Dear friends I will wait answer from you may God bless you.
Yours Rukeribuga Fidel
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