I’m CSPC member Dick Bennett. Here’s how I’m living deeply.
“I came home for lunch one day during graduate school at the University of Illinois, and there it was. Sitting on the dining room table. My roommate Steve Hardcastle had gotten up and left before I did that morning, and he’d written out Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 3 by hand. Just left it there for me. If you’ve been a Christian for very long, you’ve almost certainly come across it: a magnificent prayer for believers to know the love of God that surpasses knowledge; to grasp how wide, long, deep, and high (in other words, limitless) that love is. Now, I’d read that prayer before. But that was when it really took hold. I was just sort of overwhelmed. How powerful! That a friend would take the time to pray it for me- and also write it out for me? It made an impression on my soul I can’t totally explain. The part that really stuck with me, though -that has stayed with me for over 45 years now- is the end: that God is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than we can ask or imagine. I grew up in a Christian home near Cleveland, Ohio, had a very consistent walk with the Lord, was very blessed to have a godly mom and dad. And there were other people God brought into my life along the way. One man named Duane Helmick, the director of Stony Glen Camp outside Cleveland, really spent a lot of time with me and discipled me significantly as a young man. (Duane’s in his 90s now, and still an encouraging presence- I’ve been able to see him a couple times over the past few years.) But that afternoon with Steve’s note was different. The vastness of the love of God just hit me like it never had before. And then, I thought in wonder, there’s STILL MORE. Immeasurably more than we could ever imagine. I never could have guessed, as a kid from Cleveland Heights who figured he’d work for a consulting firm back home his whole life, what God actually had planned for me. But I kept finding out just how true ‘immeasurably more’ is.
I almost didn’t apply for the job teaching engineering at the University of Tennessee in 1983. But I thought, ‘Well, it costs one stamp- why not?’ Meanwhile, I saw the University of Akron was advertising too, and I remember thinking, ‘This is God.’ That was really where I thought He was leading. After all, Akron was near where I grew up. There was a church there full of people I knew from Stony Glen Camp. I had it all figured out. Except, of course, I really didn’t. I never heard back from Akron. Tennessee, though, was a different story. Despite not being sure I was qualified when I sent in my application, I ended up getting an interview. One faculty member just really impressed me during that interview, and UT suddenly emerged as the right fit. So two weeks before my wedding, I moved down to Knoxville. During that same two-week stretch, I also defended my PhD. Then Linda and I got married in Maryland, traveled down the Blue Ridge Parkway for our honeymoon, and ended up in an apartment full of boxes. (I guess you could say ’83 was a busy year!) I was a traditional professor at UT, teaching all levels of students, for about 17 years. Then a chance to teach half-time in a new freshman engineering program came up. I said yes to the opportunity and fell in love with it. In fact, it changed my professional life. I would spend about the next 25 years leading that freshman engineering program. What a transition those students are making -from high school to college- and I just really enjoyed being part of that. One bit of feedback I often got from students was, ‘Dr. Bennett obviously cares about us.’ And I did. People question their faith a lot in college, and I felt like I had many opportunities to encourage students who were Christians. I’d get to class early and just chat. If somebody was wearing a Young Life sweatshirt, I’d ask about it. Tell them, ‘I’m a believer, too.’ I just wanted to let them know you can be an engineer, in a secular position, and still have strong faith. They’re not in conflict.
After we moved to Knoxville, Linda and I attended another church for about the first six years. We had our first child, and she and a girl in middle school were the only two kids in the whole church. Our daughter was going to need more kids to be around, so we started thinking about going somewhere else. We knew CSPC was a good church, but we’d always been small-church people. ‘That’s just too big for us,’ we said. Hesitantly, we visited anyway. Then visited again. Then we were drawn to it. We were in the last new members class under [Senior Pastor] Don Hoke. That was 1989. And we just found places to serve. We started in the nursery. I became a leader in Boys Brigade. We got plugged into a Sunday school class. So CSPC very quickly became a small church in the sense that we knew people, had friends there. The worship has always been just incredible, and the Bible teaching always solid. God surprised us by making this big church feel like home. Through CSPC, we even got connected to mission work in China! The church partnered with a company in Chengdu, China that ran cultural exchange programs for Chinese middle and high school students. One day, our youngest daughter came home and asked, ‘Can we host two Chinese girls for two weeks this summer?’ Linda and I looked at each other. ‘Sure,’ we responded. ‘Can we get a little more information, though?’ Here’s how it worked: Those students would spend two weeks in Knoxville staying with host families, and during the days there would be activities at the church, including teaching them the Bible. At first, Linda and I knew nothing about what went on at the church- we just dropped the students off in the morning. But Linda got curious and started staying during the day. Then I got jealous- and started taking those two weeks off to be part of the program at CSPC. Linda and I actually ended up going to China ourselves- spent a week in Chengdu with former participants, then a week in Beijing. We went to a three-self church there, and even though I didn’t understand a single word of the service, I recognized the tune to a hymn- and I felt the Spirit of God. One of the most powerful experiences I’ve had.
About five years ago, Linda was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She went through chemo, and she’s in remission now- we’re celebrating about three years. But the doctor told us: ‘It’s chronic, so it will come back’. I remember thinking, ‘Could you give us a pause between telling us she’s in remission and telling us it’ll come back? Ten seconds, maybe?’ There are times when, as a human being, you just naturally ask, ‘Why is this going on?’ Overall, though- overall, there’s been peace, which God has been gracious in giving us. Part of that is His giving us doctors in whom we’re confident. But another key factor is the encouragement from our friends at CSPC. Even now, almost every Sunday, somebody will ask me, ‘How’s Linda doing?’ That sort of continued care and concern has meant so much. God has really impressed upon me the value of encouragement, which I see as my spiritual gift. I was encouraged early on by Steve Hardcastle and Duane Helmick, and I’ve tried to emulate their support in my relationships ever since- across career, ministry, and missions. Now, with Linda’s health battle, it feels like we’re more on the receiving end of encouragement again. What my buddy Steve reminded me of all those years ago is true: My life has been far more than I ever could have imagined- and I always find the greatest joy in helping people follow the Lord. I’ll see a young man at church and think, ‘I had him in class.’ Three people on the CSPC Session, in fact, had me as their freshman engineering professor! These are small glimpses into that love of God that surpasses knowledge. Steady. Always there. And He keeps bringing people into your life- a camp director in his 90s who I still stay in touch with, a roommate who left a handwritten prayer on a table 45 years ago, students who turned into brothers and sisters at my own church, Chinese families halfway around the world who welcomed us into their homes, prayer warriors for Linda. Immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined. Signposts to tell me, in fresh ways: God is love. We will spend all of eternity exploring it- and there will still be more.”