Graduate Profile: Perry Elliott

To God be the glory now and forevermore. My name is Perry Elliott, and my wife and I reside in Shreveport, LA. We attend Mission Point Baptist Church in Stonewall, LA. where I have the privilege of teaching the youth on Wednesday night and young adults on Sunday mornings.

My conversion experience is probably like many others. I walked the aisle and was baptized at around 13 and thought everything was good. This was followed by 30 plus years of rebellion. Although if you asked, I would have told you absolutely I was saved. Tragedy struck in 2017 with the death of my father and for the first time I earnestly felt the need for salvation from my sinful and willful rebellious state. God graciously turned what was supposed to be the low point of my life to a life altering event.

After salvation, we began attending MPBC which was the church of my youth. It didn’t take long before I had a burning desire to learn as much as possible about the God who saved me by His grace. For the first time in my life, reading the Bible was something I absolutely could not get enough of. Then a few years later I began to kick around the idea of formal education at the graduate level. I began the agonizing search for a seminary in which I could stay at home in my home church yet also receive a quality education. In God’s providence, I found RBS which has been an absolute joy and blessing.

I’d like to thank God first and foremost for the unmerited gift of salvation as well as the desire to learn. I’d also like to thank my loving wife Debbie for always supporting me and encouraging me along the way. She is my Proverbs 31 complement that has helped me in more ways than she can even imagine. I’d also like to thank my Pastor and mentor Ron Johnson for taking the time to proctor, mentor, and fill out evaluations. He never balked nor complained even though he has the extremely busy life of shepherding the flock allotted to him. Finally, I’d like to thank the professors and graders at RBS—even the infamous grader known as Moses who absolutely destroyed my term papers (and subsequent confidence in writing) in SP101. I’d especially like to thank Dr Gonzales, Vadim, Dr Waldron, Pastor Emadi, and Pastor Nichols for their encouragement, availability, and help throughout my studies.

I’d like to provide a few words of advice for current and future students of RBS.

1. Understand that RBS is difficult, but theological education should be strenuous. Do not let the coursework frighten nor discourage you. You will be blessed by the rigors of RBS. From the reading load to papers, every bit of work you do at RBS will only serve to magnify our great and awesome God while also building your critical thinking skills.

2. Take the coursework seriously but do not neglect your personal devotional time. It’s easy with the stress of life mixed with school to forsake personal reading time and prayer time. Do not do this. Resolve to continue to spend time (more time if you can) in prayer and personal study that is not school related.

Finally, the question on everyone’s mind in my circle is will Perry pursue further education. The only answer I can give is the answer that Pastor Greg Nichols gives as an example from his undergraduate studies—“who knows.”

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” —2 Timothy 2:15