My final semester of teaching in the United States has been mostly a pleasant experience. The typical four classes (Greek 101, Greek 201 on MWF and two sections of Religion 101 [Old Testament survey] on TTh) have been enjoyable and not overly burdensome. I'm enjoying the students, and especially their curiosity about our retirement plans and pastoring a cross-cultural church in a foreign country. Lots of questions have arisen over this. It has provided opportunity to challenge them to expand their horizons to a global way of thinking, and to see that God's will and calling have no borders or national boundaries.

Yet as we move into the final weeks of the fall semester I must confess that retirement looms ever more attractive. I remember several years ago when Dr. Bob Morgan, now retired GWU faculty member, was asked, "How do you know when it's time to retire?" His classic answer was, "You will feel it deep down inside! And then you'll know." I am at that point that Bob alluded to. There's a sense of being ready to "turn loose" of the class room, and of moving on to new and excitingly different things.

I first stepped into the class room to teach as a teaching assistant and grader at SWBTS in the spring of 1965 at 23 years old, the second semester of my MDiv studies. I joined the faculty of the School of Theology at the Fort Worth seminary as a New Testament and Greek professor in 1974. Retirement from SWBTS came in December of 1997 and in January of 1998 I began as Professor of Religion in the Religious Studies department at Gardner-Webb University. So December of 2008 will complete forty three years of teaching experience in the American university and seminary experience. That's enough time spent in the class room! It's time for others to pick up the load and carry it forward.

And yet whether I completely stay out of the class room remains uncertain. Agreements with GWU to help develop an international studies program in Cologne, a tentative offer to teach a course periodically at the university of Bonn, and possible help to a Texas Baptist seminary to set up an extension campus in the Cologne area could well keep me involved in theological education for a few more years to come. Time and God's leading will tell how much continued involvement there will be.

I enjoy working with young people and have learned much from them over the years. Our church in Cologne has enormous potential in reaching students with a combined student population of over 60,000 students at the two universities in Bonn and Cologne. I can't imagine not trying to present the gospel to such a massive group of young people.