I was having a conversation with Roy Brewer when he suddenly dropped the name of Daniel Pecota. Although Roy's biological father had come to a place of Christian faith, he had been an abusing, alcoholic father and husband. While studying as a student at NU, Roy said that Dr. Dan became a spiritual father to him. That is a common story that you hear from many students that had the privilege of knowing the good professor. Dr. Pecota was an important fixture on the Northwest University campus in the 70's. Students from his Greek Classes were stumbling around campus as they went through their Greek Word Cards--and then those same students would proudly, loudly, and somewhat poorly (strictly from a musical point of view) sing in front of the Chapel--in New Testament Greek of course! Dr. Pecota laid a strong foundation of Bible interpretation, hermeneutics and common sense for a generation of future ministers across the northwest. He was also a shockingly caring person, who impacted the students of NU with his uncanny ability to speak into their lives. He truly was a great man!
True story concerning Dr. Daniel Pecota: I was very immature when I entered college. (And that is an understatement) I had a class from the highly respected Dr. Pecota that was proving to be difficult and challenging for me. To this day I struggle with foreign languages, such as New Testament Greek; my brain is better suited for other disciplines. Anyway, Dr. Dan pulled me aside after class one day and said, and I quote, "Ron, you have proven to be an academic disappointment." I believe he went on to say some encouraging words, but my mind was frozen on the fact that I was an academic disappointment. That is not the end of my story; I think that God used Dr. Pecota's accurate assessment to wake me up. His words became a motivation to press in and be more diligent in my academic pursuits as well as life in general. Sometimes we need someone to simply tell us the truth about ourselves. "Thank You" Dr. Pecota! RJ Dugone