All that Thrills My Soul

August 20, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

It has been a while since Susan, my wife and videographer, caught me playing the piano and the first time she captured a shot of me playing while wearing a fedora!

She just now told me to tell you she managed to “sneak up” on the maestro.

I am thankful to God for a beautiful grand piano just a few feet from my home office and for those who taught me how to play it.

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Urshan University

May 11, 2014 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

I remember when Garth Hatheway, at that time the chairman of the board of directors at Urshan Graduate School of Theology, came into my office and talked about the possibility of Urshan becoming a university. I was a professor of biblical theology and also carried administrative responsibilities.

A university? It seemed a dream that the time could ever come that UGST would acquire Gateway College of Evangelism with the result being a fully accredited university offering undergraduate and graduate level education on a beautiful and modern campus in Wentzville, Missouri.

But God-given dreams have a way of being fulfilled! At last night’s commencement, with 121 undergraduate degrees conferred in addition to 20 graduate degrees, we learned that the Urshan System has now been granted university status.

The university is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees, including the new Doctor of Ministry degree, available for the first time this Fall.

UGST has been an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) since 2010. It has received reaffirmation of accreditation that extends until March 31, 2033. ATS has a membership of over 270 graduate schools of theology in the United States and Canada. The mission of ATS is to promote the improvement and enhancement of theological schools to benefit communities of faith and the broader public.

You can check out the websites of both schools at http://www.urshancollege.org and http://www.ugst.edu.

To view the 2024 Commencement, click on this link:

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Upcoming Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars

February 15-16, 2024

David Johnson, M.T.S., Ph.D., Hebrew Union College (in progress) has invited me to present a paper at the upcoming Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars, scheduled for February 15-16, 2024 on the campus of Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology located at 155 Urshan Way, Wentzville, Missouri 63385. David Johnson is the academic dean at U.G.S.T. For more information, see https://ugst.edu/events/ugst-symposium.

I am happy to accept this invitation. Some of you may know that my ability to travel and speak, and even to do much teaching at our home church, The Sanctuary UPC in Hazelwood, Missouri, has been limited for about two years due to health challenges. But I am so thankful to God and for all who have prayed for me that my health has improved dramatically, enabling me to be more active during the past three months. I was able to teach the adult Bible class each Sunday during August. My topic was “First Century Jewish Christology.” The videos of each of the four lessons and the 120 slides I prepared to accompany the lessons are posted here on my blog.

The tentative title for the paper I will present at the symposium is “Aramaic and LXX Influences on the Messianic Psalms.” The paper will reflect the work I have been doing for volume two of my commentary on the Psalter.

Shortly before His ascent, Jesus said to His disciples, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). With these words, Jesus “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).

One of my prayers is that God would help me to comprehend how the Scriptures testify of Jesus. I hope you can join us at the symposium. I look forward to sharing some of the insights I believe Scripture offers us about the Messiah from the Aramaic Targums and the Greek Septuagint.

As of September 28, 2023, Susan and I will have been married ten years! God has blessed me richly. I am very grateful! [archive]

Is Thy Heart Right With God?

It has been a while since I have posted a piano video, but our friends ask for them. This morning Susan and I were going about the house singing “Is Thy Heart Right With God?” As she was preparing breakfast, I sat down at the piano to play this song. Here she came with her phone, so here it is! I hope you enjoy it.
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