Forty Years of Watching God Work: A Professor’s Perspective on EmPowered Living

Jerry Horner, EmPowered Living Guest writer

Wednesday, January 28

7:00 am

Jerry Horner

Empowered Living Guest Writer

I first met Danny Gilbert in the mid-1980s at what was then known as CBN University—now Regent University.

Even then, as one of my students, Danny was “out front.” He possessed an unmistakable quality of leadership and a hunger for the Word that suggested God had a significant path laid out for him.

Fast-forward forty years, and I now have the privilege of serving on the board of his ministry, EmPowered Living. Having spent three-quarters of a century in ministry myself—preached and taught in 120 countries, every continent and on many islands—I have seen firsthand the desperate hunger that Danny is working to satisfy.

The Crisis of the Untrained Pastor

In the West, we take for granted the abundance of Bible schools and study resources. But in the interior of Africa and Asia, the reality is starkly different. I have ministered to thousands of pastors who have the heart to serve but lack the most basic tools.

Some don’t even own a Bible.

I remember one conference in Africa where I was asked—impromptu—to teach a session on how to study the Bible and prepare a sermon. I got up and gave a very bare, basic, simple outline.

To these men, it was like revelation.

Many of these faithful servants know that “Jesus saves.” And that’s about it. They’ve never learned the basics of Christian doctrine and the fundamental principles of biblical interpretation.

When you provide sound teaching to people who are soaking it in, the result is an invaluable, life-changing ministry that transforms entire communities.

Innovation and Investment

One of the things I admire most about EmPowered Living is the commitment to using every available tool to enhance educational opportunities.

The real investment is in the people.

A Step of Faith

Danny left a comfortable, guaranteed livelihood to step out in total obedience to the Lord. This wasn’t a blind walk—it was a step of faith fueled by prayer and conviction.

I know both sides of this equation. For over seventy years, I had working hours and a steady paycheck while also being involved in extensive ministry in impoverished places. It’s comfortable to know the income is coming.

But Danny felt called to be full time in this work. And that changes everything.

When you leave a guaranteed situation and devote yourself to depending upon the Lord—and the Lord using people to help—you don’t walk into it blindly. You do it through prayer. With conviction and obedience.

The Value You Cannot Measure

Running a ministry like EmPowered Living means being responsible for raising the funds to ensure that pastors—who might live many miles away and earn almost nothing—can afford the transportation and housing necessary to attend a training center.

I’ve been to places where pastors have traveled incredible distances just to receive teaching. The organizers provide housing, transportation, meals—everything. It’s an investment in people who would never see the inside of a Bible school otherwise.

And here’s what makes it so valuable: when you provide a pastor with sound biblical teaching, you aren’t just giving them a lecture. You’re giving them the mechanics and guidelines to do independent study for the rest of their lives.

You cannot put a price tag on that.

An Invaluable Ministry

As someone who has watched Danny and Mary Beth grow this ministry from the ground up, I can tell you that the work being done through EmPowered Living is sound, solid and essential.

It is an investment in the Kingdom that will yield fruit for generations to come.

When the preaching changes, everything changes. And because of this ministry, the preaching is changing—one pastor at a time.

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Jerry Horner has served in ministry for over seventy years, traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia and Africa. He currently serves on the board of EmPowered Living International Ministries.