Get to Know Young Complementarian Leaders: Dave Furman

From Executive Director Owen Strachan: As CBMW is seeking support for our $30,000 matching campaign, we thought we would take this opportunity to introduce our readership to some evangelical leaders who support complementarianism and CBMW. Today, we interview Dave Furman, a pastor in Dubai who is leading a thriving church planting ministry in the UAE. Thanks for reading, and please join us in our campaign!

Dave Furman (@davefurman) and his wife Gloria moved to the Arabian Peninsula to help start Redeemer Church of Dubai. Dave is Redeemer’s first pastor. Dave and Gloria have two daughters and one son.

When did you become a complementarian, and what did that look like?

I became a complementarian as I was discipled in learning to read God’s word when I became a Christian in college. Godly men taught me how to read the Bible, and they explained to me how all of Scripture was inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. There was much I needed to learn regarding God’s distinct designs in creating us male and female and what that means.

What role, if any, has CBMW played in your life and ministry?

I use CBMW’s online archives as a go-to place to research my own personal questions, as well as a resource for the people I pastor. Soon after I became a Christian I was handed Grudem and Piper’s “Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood,” and it was my go-to resource regarding these issues. Also soon after my conversion Randy Stinson (the former executive director of CBMW) came to my church and challenged me with a picture of manhood that involved rejecting passivity and leading courageously in my relationships, future marriage and in ministry. I am thankful for CBMW’s investment in my life and how it has pointed me to scripture in understanding men’s and women’s roles in the church and in the home.

Why do you support CBMW, and encourage others to do the same?

CBMW is worthy of our support because of their commitment to faithfully applying God’s word to men’s and women’s issues. In a fast-changing society where our foundation on Scripture is often taken for granted, it’s encouraging to know there are organizations that are committed to biblical fidelity.

What have you written of late that would be of interest to CBMW readers? 

I wrote an article a few months ago for Desiring God about being a dad who struggles with physical disability. I tried to show that it is God’s grace that gives me strength to lead as a husband and father in the way God designed me to. As the Lord uses me in my physical disability he is highlighting his superior ability as our heavenly Father and provider. My physical disability isn’t an impediment to my role as head of my family, but it highlights my priority to lean on God’s strength to shepherd them and invest eternally in their lives.

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