Gregg Madsen

When Gregg Madsen completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska, Dr. Wiersbe suggested that he consider coming to Beeson Divinity School to prepare for the ministry in response to God’s call on his life.  So, in the year 2000, Gregg Madsen and his new bride Jodie packed all their belongings into their used car and moved from the Midwest to the Deep South.  Dr. Wiersbe, who had spoken at Beeson many times, knew that his young friend would be challenged and stretched in ways that would help him to grow and mature into the ministry of serving Christ as a faithful preaching pastor.  The first six months were tough as Jodie looked for a teaching job and Gregg plunged into the rigors of a demanding graduate curriculum.  At the end of their three years at Beeson, they had both fallen in love with the South and felt they could happily live here forever.  God, however, had other plans in mind.
    

Upon graduating from Beeson in 2003, Gregg, then twenty-eight years of age, was called as pastor of the Crete Berean Church.  This was a newly planted congregation in the Berean fellowship of churches, a group of Bible-believing churches that began in the 1930’s in western Nebraska.  Over the years this movement has grown through its emphasis on church planting and world missions while maintaining its high view of Scripture and its commitment to the historic Christian faith.  Crete is a town of some 7,000 persons about twenty miles from Lincoln.  The church Gregg serves meets in a building which once housed the offices of a liquid cattle feed company.  Now, week by week, Gregg is feeding the flock and tending the sheep the Lord is sending to this growing congregation.  Gregg Madsen was an outstanding student at Beeson and received the James Earl Massey Student Preaching Award in 2003.  From Dr. Frank Thielman and Dr. Allen Ross he learned that one can study the Bible with the highest academic and scholarly standards while also recognizing its transformative power and spiritual wisdom.  From Dr. Robert Smith, Jr., Gregg learned the importance of Christ- centered preaching in the tradition of Charles Haddon Spurgeon who once said that his aim in every sermon was “to take a text and make a beeline for the cross.”  Believing that Holy Scripture is God’s Word and our source for life, guidance, and hope, Gregg regularly preaches expositional sermons through specific books of the Bible.  However, this summer, he is preaching a series of biographical sermons which he calls “Facebook.”  Either way, his aim is to glorify the Father by lifting high his Son in the power of the Spirit. 
 

God has blessed Gregg and Jodie with three beautiful children: Fisher, who is four; Micaiah, who is two; and Madeline, barely one.  Like their mom, they all have red hair!  In addition to her full-time mom responsibilities, Jodie exercises the ministry of hospitality, mentoring young women in the church and reaching out to students at nearby Doane College.  Gregg has served as an assistant district leader for the Berean churches and continues to be involved in their mission and church planting strategies. When I asked Gregg what he remembered most from his Beeson professors, he gave an interesting response.  He did not refer to any specific principle or technique he had learned in the classroom, nor any special ministry skills he was taught here.  Rather, he said that he had learned more than anything else just by observing how his teachers modeled the Christian life with humility and faithfulness, how they exhibited a spirit of openness and generosity even to those with whom they disagreed, how they took seriously everyone’s questions, and how they sought to nurture their students in the way of godliness.  I have heard similar things from many other Beeson alums, and I know it is true.  Gregg’s mentor, Warren Wiersbe, once wrote: “The purpose of preaching is not to inform the congregation of the minister’s homiletical gifts; it is to bring the congregation face to face with the living God.”  This is what Gregg learned from his Beeson professors, and now, he is doing the same thing in Crete, Nebraska. You can check out the website of Crete Berean Church at www.creteberean.org.