The Master's College baseball team will make its second appearance in program history in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Friday in Lewsiton, Idaho. The Mustangs, who set a school record for wins in a season, posted a 43-15 record en route to the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) regular-season and conference tournament titles.

On Friday, the Mustangs, ranked seventh in the NAIA and seeded fifth in the tournament, will face Northwood University (Texas). The Knights (43-11) are seeded fourth.

The Mustangs last appeared in the NAIA World Series in 2000, when they posted a record of 2-2 in the double-elimination tournament and came away with a third-place finish.

Click here for details on each of the tournament's 10 participating teams.

Click here for a preview of Friday's TMC-Northwood matchup.

Click here for thre latest NAIA Tournament notes, including details about Mustang players.

On May 10, close to 300 students from The Master’s College participated in the 86th annual commencement ceremony, which took place at College of the Canyons.

Students from each major were represented, though some more than others. The major most represented was Bible, which will saw 41 students cross the stage. Business graduated 35 students, while communications graduated 31. The biology major graduated 22 students.

This year marked the school’s first graduates in the TMC Business Department’s new marketing emphasis. Jeremiah Graff , who was among that first crop, feels prepared for what the Lord has in store for him.

“This emphasis offers training for people interested in a study of business that isn’t primarily for a desk job,” he said. “It can definitely equip marketing majors by training them to use their creativity, not just crunch numbers.”

Click here to read more about graduation in the Santa Clarita Signal.

Camden McAlister graduated with a communications degree this year.

“The Board and I are very excited that Scott has agreed to serve the college in this capacity. His strength of character, vast understanding of finance and operations and a strong desire for excellence make him the ideal president for Sterling College," Sterling College Chairman of the Board Heather McCreery said.

Rich has been serving as executive vice president and acting president of the four-year Christian college (located in Sterling, Kan.) since May 2012. He was appointed interim president in December 2012.

Rich earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Studies from the Master’s College. He also earned a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance and Organizational Leadership from Liberty University.

The Master's College Chorale is a week into its three-week tour of Israel and parts of Europe. Already, it has performed at St. Anne's Church in Bethesda, Christ Church (Jaffa Gate) in Old City Jerusalem and at the Shavuot Conference in Yad HaShmonah.

Up next for the ensemble will be performances this weekend in the Jerusalem Assembly and at the Abu Ghosh Music Festival.

You can follow along with the Chorale's trip -- see pictures and read firsthand accounts from performers -- by visiting the TMC Music Department's Facebook page.

Follow the link here.

The center’s list is based on the composite scores schools received through the website RateMyProfessors, which has accumulated more than 15 million student ratings of college professors in the United States.

Notable colleges joining The Master’s College on that list include The U.S. Military Academy (No. 3) and The U.S. Air Force Academy (No. 7). Oklahoma Wesleyan was ranked first.

Click here to read the Moneywatch article.

It was the first time in program history that the Mustangs have captured the post-season tournament.

With the win, the Mustangs (40-15), who finished ranked No. 7 in the season’s final NAIA poll, will move on to the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. TMC will host its region’s opening round tournament on May 9-13.

Tournament pairings were announced Monday, and TMC is ranked No. 1 out of the five teams who will be playing the regionals at TMC’s Reese Field. The rest of the field is as follows: Cal State San Marcos (No. 2), San Diego Christian (No. 3), Tabor of Kansas (No. 4) and Concordia of Oregon (No. 5).

The national tournament appearance marks the first for TMC since 2009.

Click here for more details about Saturday’s GSAC tournament championship game.

As the semester comes to an end, The Master’s College Chorale prepares for its summer tour. But this isn’t an ordinary summer tour for the Chorale. Every four years the group goes on an international tour, and this summer the performers are traveling to Israel, Switzerland and France.

“I have been looking forward to this trip since I joined Chorale my sophomore year,” said senior Abigail Heim.

The team will depart on May 11 for Israel, where it will spend two weeks before heading to Europe for the final week. The group will return to the U.S. on June 3. The 25 music alumni and faculty, along with a student group of 60 will perform 15 concerts.

“Every year we have the distinct privilege of serving God’s people through the music we have worked on during the school year,” said Chorale member, Samuel Blakey. “Whether we are performing at a local church or flying halfway around the world, we seek to reflect God’s glory. That to me is worth all the time spent practicing.”

The musicians will sing in a variety of venues, from concert halls and cathedrals to local churches. Included in the Israel portion of the tour are performances in St. Anne's Church in Bethesda, Christ Church in Old City Jerusalem, the Abu Ghosh Music Festival and the Gilgal Hotel in Tel Aviv.

The Chorale will also visit important sites and spend time getting to know the history and the unique people and timeless culture. Group members will spend three nights in En Gev visiting Galilee and the Jordan Rift and two nights in guesthouses of Yad HaShmonah, exploring Benjamin/Shepehelah.

They will also travel south and stay a night on the Dead Sea. From there they will make their way across the Negev and visit a full-size model of the Old Testament Tabernacle in an Israeli nature park.

They group will arrive in Geneva on May 28, where it will perform in venues such as St. Peter's Cathedral. In France, the Chorale will perform in Lyon and Lausanne.

“I am most excited about making the Bible more tangible than I thought it could be and seeing the places where things have happened,” said TMC student Juliette Valaer. “The opportunity to see where Jesus was and where His ministry took place is surreal.”

Click here to view the Chorale's complete itinerary.

Amanda Mothershead is a TMC communications major.

One look into Dr. Steven Boyd’s office and you’ll see papers and books piled high, evidence of a man who spends quite a bit of time in there; and it’s usually with students discussing their latest assignment.

Along with a passion for biblical Hebrew, Boyd has a strong desire to help his language students succeed in their chosen field. The publication of his book, Grappling with The Chronology of The Genesis Flood: Navigating The Flow of Time In Biblical Narrative demonstrates this. The book, which will be published by Master Books, is available for pre-order on Amazon and Christian Book Distributors and will be released before the end of the summer.

This book, the first of three, explores the technical aspects of the Flood’s internal chronology, historicity and significance in world and biblical history. It also aids Christian researchers and scientists in the fields of geology, geophysics and paleontology by showing the reality of the Flood and its global scale.

Boyd made note that the Flood is profoundly theological, and therefore the structure of the Flood is to bring out the theology. Therefore, the events of the Flood are not necessarily arranged chronologically. This opened the doors to higher criticism, liberalism and rationalism, which ultimately led people to doubt the truth of the Bible. The book goes on the offense against these criticisms.

Boyd originally became involved in the Flood research through Dr. Steven Austin, who was a geologist with the Institute for Creation Research. Once Boyd started studying the Flood extensively, his former student Lee Anderson suggested that he send a proposal for a book on the topic to Ken Ham at Answers In Genesis.

“Andrew Snelling, the Director of Research at Answers In Genesis, looked at the proposal in 2008 and really liked it,” Boyd said. “AIG decided to support this research and I realized that I could not tackle this project by myself.”

“In WWII and the Korean War, the allies would say that they lost the hill to the enemy during battle,” Boyd said.

In order to win the war, he needed to take others into battle with him.

Snelling became co-editor of the book along with Boyd, and the project extensively involved former students from The Master’s College: Lee Anderson, Drew Longacre, Laney Stroop and Kai Akagi. All four alumni were previous Hebrew students of Boyd.

“The most rewarding part of this experience has been the students who got involved, through my tutelage and also because of their sheer brilliance,” Boyd said. “They have produced some truly scholarly contributions through their chapters, even to the point of challenging the regnant understanding of temporal progression in biblical Hebrew narrative.”

Boyd said it was always Anderson’s dream to work for Answers In Genesis, and the book has made it a reality. Anderson has the privilege of working alongside Snelling as his research assistant at AIG’s headquarters in Kentucky.

Besides Anderson’s significant job opportunity, the other alumni will be published scholars when the book releases. Boyd commented that it is highly unusual for editors of these books to recognize their contributors, but he wasn’t going to go with the flow.

“I wanted their names on the chapters they wrote so that they could get the credit for their own work,” Boyd said. Along with the significance of alumni success, he hopes the book will further reveal the truth of the Bible.

“With this book we have the opportunity to retake the hill, and that’s exciting.”

For more information about Dr. Boyd's new book -- and to order it on Amazon -- click here.

Rachel Lawson is a TMC communications major.

By Amanda Mothershead

The Master’s College has broken ground on a three-phase renovation project for the building that houses the Robert K. Bross Gymnasium, as well and the area around it. The project will include adding air conditioning to the facility, construction of a new multi-purpose lobby and the addition of an outdoor area and new TMC signage.

The result will be the creation of a new, multi-purpose facility that will be called The MacArthur Center.

“As we looked at this project we wanted to be good stewards of all our facilities. All our facilities on campus need to be multi-purposeful,” said TMC executive vice-president and provost Dr. Mark Tatlock. “Recognizing that all of our chapels are held in the gym – as well as conferences like Truth and Life or events for enrollment – we understand that what happens in our gymnasium is not just for sports. It also supports the other major programs.”

Phase one, which began this month, is expected to be completed by the start of the fall sports season in late August. This will be a welcome improvement, not only for students who attend chapel services in the gym throughout the week, but also for the athletes who call the gymnasium home.

“I’m looking forward to the new air conditioning system,” said Olivia Gwinn, a member of the Mustang volleyball team “It will be refreshing not to be drenched in sweat.”

Basketball player Chris Patureau agreed.

“Having an air conditioned gym will help our bodies physically last longer on a hot 90-plus degree day,” he said. “By lasting longer, we can be more productive in our practice time.”

Volleyball and basketball players aren’t the only ones who will enjoy the new air conditioning. Students who attend chapel three times a week during the hot months throughout the year are thrilled about this new addition as well.

“The air conditioning is going to be great for all of us in chapel,” said sophomore John Popadics. “It will be a lot easier to focus on the teaching rather than focus on how hot I am.”

Phase two – the new lobby – will triple the size of the current lobby and will include expanded bathrooms. It will also include a new concession area and a meeting room, which will serve as a multi-purpose facility for the school’s events and conferences.

Phase three – the new plaza and school signage – will create the more distinct entry for the campus. The plaza will include outdoor seating and water features, along with new landscaping.

“This building is the front door to the college and when you think about every guest who has come to the college, more people go through that gym lobby and the gym than any other building and frankly, it doesn’t represent our commitment to excellence,” Tatlock said.

The architectural design will reflect the theme of the college’s most recent building projects – the Welcome Center and Legacy Room, and the newly constructed cafeteria and balcony.

The lobby and outdoor plaza are slated to be finished in December.

Amanda Mothershead is a sophomore communications major.

TMC’s portion of the event will feature a five-team double-elimination tournament. The regional tournaments will run concurrently at eight other sites around the country.

The 45 tournament qualifiers will be announced on May 5.

The selection marks the first time in school history that TMC has hosted the tournament and comes in the midst of the baseball program’s best season in years. The Mustangs (32-13, 22-11) currently lead the Golden State Athletic Conference by 1 1/2 games and are ranked No. 9 in the latest NAIA national poll.

Read the full press release from the NAIA here.