David John Smith

Adjunct Professor

Degrees

Th.M., Christian Spirituality, Regis College (conjointly with Toronto School of Theology and University of Toronto), Toronto, Ontario
M.Div., Church Ministries, Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, New York
B.R.E., Christian Education, Canadian Bible College, Regina
Saskatchewan (now Ambrose University College, Calgary, Alberta)
A.A., Real Estate, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California

Biography

Rev. David J. Smith served as a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor for seventeen years in New York State and Ontario, Canada, before coming as the Senior Pastor of Rose Hill Alliance Church, Roseville, Minnesota, in August 2000. He met his wife, Donna, while doing undergraduate studies at Canadian Bible College in Saskatchewan (now Ambrose University College in Alberta). Their children, Alysa and Clayton, are young adults. Interwoven with a diverse pastoral ministry, he completed a M.Div. at Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, New York, and a Th.M. in Christian Spirituality through the University of Toronto. David plays a mean game of racquetball and likes to read! His heart and mind are on fire for God and for people "to know God and to make him known, to make disciples and reach the unreached. He is also an adjunct professor at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, teaching Biblical Perspectives of Worship and Spiritual and Personal Formation in the Crown Online Program, "Christian Doctrine/Current Issues in Theology and Interpretation of the Old Testament in the Crown Adult Program, and Alliance Distinctives in the Crown Online Graduate Program.

Testimony

Here is my story of how I came to Christ "my before and after story. I grew up in a Christian home. My father was an Alliance pastor. I had some moments of spiritual awakening in my childhood years. But for the most part" especially as a teenager " I lived my own life, quietly rebelled against my parents, did my own thing, and got involved in things that I am now ashamed of. My motto was, "Moderation in all things, BUT in all things!" So I got involved in drinking and drugs and sex. I began to detect, however, was that I could be at a drinking party and have crowds of people all around me, but I would still feel lonely on the inside. I could be doing drugs with other people, but everyone in that group was into their own selfish head-trip. I could be involved physically with a girl, but it was only to satisfy my own selfish pleasures and I felt guilty for treating a girl like an object who meant hardly anything to me. I wanted love and acceptance, but everyone else was just as selfish and self-centered as I was. Then my sister, Debbie, began inviting me to a Christian coffee house. We lived in Los Angeles at the time. At that coffee house they played contemporary Christian music and preached the Word. Eventually I went. There I saw other young people my age who loved God and loved one another. These young people had their problems. They weren't perfect. But they had a genuine relationship with Christ, and he was changing them. I felt they loved me and that God loved me! After attending for three weeks, sitting on the floor of that seventies mosaic carpet and that homemade traffic light, like a chess move, I transferred my will from myself to God, from one side of the board to the other. I prayed, "Lord Jesus, I now make you as Lord of my life." No lights flashing, no horns blaring, just a quiet but real commitment to God. During those early days as a BAC, a born again Christian, I had some interesting moments. I asked God for a Bible that I could understand and within a week or week-and-a-half a brother and sister gave me a Living Bible with my name imprinted on it. This was my first real answer to prayer! At the conclusion of one worship service, I recall going to my parents with tears and hugs, and asking them to forgive me for how I had treated them. On another occasion I felt the Lord telling me that he wanted me to be willing to be single for the rest of my life, if that's what he wanted. I did, and in two weeks I had a girlfriend. I learned that sometimes God just wants us to be willing! One day I was in my bedroom and I was thinking, I've read my Bible and prayed today. What else is there to do as a Christian? I know, I can pray at any time! So I knelt at my bed and asked the Lord, "Lord, is there anything between you and me?Ó And I heard a startling inner voice say, ÏYes.Ó I struggled. If Jesus is really Lord of my life, then I have to ask him what it is. So I asked, "Lord, what is it." He said, "Your records." Now that was a struggle. I had a decent collection of records and tapes. In the 1972 economy, it was worth about $500. "Okay, Lord, I get rid of these, but I'll save these just for nostalgia." But the Lord did not give me peace until I got rid of them all. It didn't dawn on me until years later that for me these records were an idol" more important to me than God. After being a Christian for three months, I went to a Jesus People Rally in Los Angeles. One presentation was about a ten-month missions trip to the Philippines.But I would have to raise $2000. I turned to my girlfriend and asked her, "What do you think?" And she said, "If God wants you to go, he will provide." Eight months later I was in the Philippines. When I came back, we filled out a questionnaire. One of the questions was about what we thought God might want us to do next. It was the first time I entertained the notion, "Maybe God is calling me into full-time service." The message of Christ genuinely Changes lives! Years later at age 32, I was at a Communion Service and I had a distinct impression from the Lord that if I had not come to Christ when I was 18 Ò with the self-destructive path I was on I would have been dead at 32. My story could be repeated by countless others. The message of Christ genuinely Changes lives!