My name is Martin Medina. I reside in Moreno Valley, Ca. Besides a short stint in the Bay Area, Moreno Valley has been my home for 28 years! Isabella Medina gives me the blessing of calling her my wife. We currently have a 2-year-old son and a daughter on the way! I work full time as an Accountant and I am a member of the Reformed Baptist Church of Riverside.

Since the earliest of my memories, I remember having a general fear of God and Hell. I was raised in a non-practicing Roman Catholic home where God was used as a fear tactic to do good and avoid evil. It worked. I would often pride myself of how I was not like the other kids while knowing that I was rotten inside. My good grades and success in soccer were the roots of my self-righteousness. Thankfully, our gracious God revealed to me my utter despair and through the gospel offered me an eternal hope in Christ when I was 17 years old! Though I cannot say if this is when I was truly converted, but at minimum, the Lord began to work on my heart at this point. It would not be for another 18 months that I would really begin to consider my sanctification, the Scriptures, and who God really is!

I began to desire the word as ‘newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk’ (1 Peter 2:2). God, through His Spirit, began to work on my theology and through the plain reading of the Gospel of John, I began to see the sovereignty of God in election. From then on, my spiritual journey has been one of peeling back, layer by layer, the glorious and unending beauty of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ! As I look back on my spiritual life, I see God’s hand in every step! The times when I was cold and dry in my theology, God placed brothers in my life to spur me on to love and good works! When I was becoming lax in my pursuit of holiness, God placed brothers in my life to challenge me! Truly, all of our spiritual growth is by grace and grace alone for ‘what do you have that you did not receive?’ (1 Co. 4:7).

My enrollment into RBS is no different. God has so mightily used RBS and Dr. Gonzales in my life! The marks and characteristics of RBS is what makes it stand out as a seminary! RBS is first and foremost, Christ-centered! By extension, the seminary is also winsomely reformed and contextual! This trifecta, along with the rigorous academic standards, makes RBS uniquely and distinctly impactful! At a time when I thought being Reformed Baptist meant certain false qualities, God used RBS to mold and shape my orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

By no means was seminary an easy stage of life for me. There were seasons where I felt inadequate for the task and wanted to quit. The Lord sustained me through the difficult seasons. There is no way that I could have finished seminary without my wife, Isabella. She went beyond what I could have asked from her! The Lord has a very special crown for her in having to put up with me, I’m sure! The RBS staff, my pastor, and especially Dr. Gonzales were also key in my growth and development at RBS!

I cannot thank or commend RBS enough for the impact it has had on my life today and for the years to come! I am confident that RBS has better equipped me for my service to the Lord. I currently preach from time to time and lead a youth group at our church! I am also involved in the Spanish ministry through preaching and translation. My brother and I founded the brand, 1689Society, with the hope of furthering the qualities and content of RBS to broad evangelicalism. I cannot say for certain what the Lord has in store for my family and I, but I pray that in whatever capacity the Lord has me, I would be useful for His Kingdom, to the honor and praise and adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is worthy!

May God be glorified in this poor wretched sinner’s life!
Martin Medina