Dr. Mal Couch passed into the presence of the Lord on February 12, 2013 at 02:00 AM.
Dr. Couch has been a close friend and mentor to me for almost thirteen years. He was always quick to help with any ministry issue and academic effort I was undertaking. I will greatly miss his ever-present vigilance over my spiritual development and sound recommendations for ministry.
The Lord brought him into my life while I was struggling with deep disappointment with a graduate program of a Bible college in Chicago where I was attending. They had lost their way as he had come to explain. He taught there at one time and maintained communication with some of the faculty. He would tell others and me that several of the schools that were once the pillars of dispensational theology from which he graduated also lost their way. This is why he was led to start his own seminary. He even subtitled it;
” Leading the Way Back.”
Knowing that there was something missing in the school I was attending my wife noticed a newspaper type advertising circular for seminaries and Bible colleges. In it there was an ad that he had placed for his school titled, “Earn a Ph.D. in prophecy. It was a large colorful ad that immediately caught our attention. It was interesting to say the least since the seminary where I was had relegated Bible prophecy to one short course and almost eliminated the study of biblical languages. This was the same de-emphasis I saw at the large Bible church we attended. So with my wife’s encouragement I called and talked to him for quite some time about my experiences. He shared that this was an epidemic with many of the older schools and he hears this all the time. They limit or remove prophecy as well as biblical language requirements and go for a theology neutral curriculum designed to cater to denominational teaching or to satisfy secular accreditation directives. In short the fundamental Bible teachings become directed to generic ministry or Bible application. Dr. Couch always taught that the entire Word of the Lord must “Strike Like a Hammer.” It can’t be watered down. The entire Bible must be taught as one unit from beginning to end just as the apostle told the Ephesians. He said that he taught them, “The Whole Council of God”
Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God (KJV)
Dr. Couch did just that. There was no part of Scripture he de-emphasized. The taught us to look at the Bible as one unit with God’s revelation to us as a single unit. There is a long chronology of this earth and God’ Hopefully, those of us who have been impacted by his life will remember him as we follow in his steps and do as he taught us.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
Daniel E Woodhead
Dr. Couch has been a close friend and mentor to me for almost thirteen years. He was always quick to help with any ministry issue and academic effort I was undertaking. I will greatly miss his ever-present vigilance over my spiritual development and sound recommendations for ministry.
The Lord brought him into my life while I was struggling with deep disappointment with a graduate program of a Bible college in Chicago where I was attending. They had lost their way as he had come to explain. He taught there at one time and maintained communication with some of the faculty. He would tell others and me that several of the schools that were once the pillars of dispensational theology from which he graduated also lost their way. This is why he was led to start his own seminary. He even subtitled it;
” Leading the Way Back.”
Knowing that there was something missing in the school I was attending my wife noticed a newspaper type advertising circular for seminaries and Bible colleges. In it there was an ad that he had placed for his school titled, “Earn a Ph.D. in prophecy. It was a large colorful ad that immediately caught our attention. It was interesting to say the least since the seminary where I was had relegated Bible prophecy to one short course and almost eliminated the study of biblical languages. This was the same de-emphasis I saw at the large Bible church we attended. So with my wife’s encouragement I called and talked to him for quite some time about my experiences. He shared that this was an epidemic with many of the older schools and he hears this all the time. They limit or remove prophecy as well as biblical language requirements and go for a theology neutral curriculum designed to cater to denominational teaching or to satisfy secular accreditation directives. In short the fundamental Bible teachings become directed to generic ministry or Bible application. Dr. Couch always taught that the entire Word of the Lord must “Strike Like a Hammer.” It can’t be watered down. The entire Bible must be taught as one unit from beginning to end just as the apostle told the Ephesians. He said that he taught them, “The Whole Council of God”
Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God (KJV)
Dr. Couch did just that. There was no part of Scripture he de-emphasized. The taught us to look at the Bible as one unit with God’s revelation to us as a single unit. There is a long chronology of this earth and God’ Hopefully, those of us who have been impacted by his life will remember him as we follow in his steps and do as he taught us.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
Daniel E Woodhead
