John Terpstra
Teacher
OCT, CSTC, B.A., B.Ed.
Subjects: Grade 11 Perspectives (New Testament and Worldviews), Grade 12 Families in Canada
Email: terpstra@tdchristian.ca
In what year did you start teaching? 1991.
In what year did you start teaching at TDChristian? 2001.
What do you like to do in your spare time? Playing hockey, watching hockey, home repair/renos, going out for wings.
What's the best thing about working at TDChristian? The people: colleagues, students, and the supportive community.
Give us your favourite book, TV show, and movie: The Bible, Lost, The Princess Bride (a classic!).
Who would you like to have dinner with (real or fictional, living or dead)? Jesus, of course, but aside from my Lord, 1. The Apostle Paul, 2. Eminem, 3. Brad Marchand.
Favourite or meaningful Bible passage? Psalm 139 is my favourite text; in fact, it is my "funeral text"--the text that I would like read at my funeral. I love it because it grounds me. God has known me from eternity, He has brought me into the world with purpose, He watches over me and provides for my needs, He has a plan for me, He has made me beautiful--fearfully and wonderfully--and He is always there to vanquish His enemies. The fact that God KNOWS me completely--inside and out--and still loves me. Powerful.
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And, on the flip side...Joshua 2:8-10 is a text that has incredible meaning for me because of its negative ramifications. It scares me how fast a culture can devolve and forget its past...and its Creator. Without incredibly intentional living and sharing of communal truth, in one generation, a nation, a society, a culture, and even a family can lose what is at root of its identity. We must "love to tell the story of Jesus and His love" (a beautiful hymn of old) or the next generation will not know the Lord or what He has done for us. Preach it!