Farewell to My Alma Mater

My Farewell to Central Bible College,

It is a sad day for all of those who graduated from Central Bible College (CBC/CBI). Today is their last regular chapel before the end of the school year...their last school year. I am a graduate, my father attended too. It was always my hope to send my children to CBC. There they could experience the rich tradition of Pentecostal study and practice.

CBC stood as a beacon of conservatism in the AG for almost 100 years. What great leaders of our faith taught in its halls: Dr. Stanley Horton (the great AG theologian), Charles Harris (who taught us so much of the practical side of ministry), Opal Reddin, H. Maurice Lednicky and hundreds of others.

CBC was a unique place within the AG, because of its closeness to headquarters, missionaries and powerful speakers were often on campus. I remember meeting Charles Crabtree one day while going to check the mail (a favorite of all college students). I met him several years before. He stopped, shook my hand, and asked my name. He said, "Yes, your father pastors in Kentucky." I was blown away that he remembered meeting me. He offered a much needed word of encouragement that blesses me to this day.

Am I opposed to consolidation? As a whole I am not. I understand that something needed to be done. I do take issue with the way it was done. No one will ever be able to prove to me that CBC’c closer was not the original intent. If it was not, the merger announcement would have looked more like this:

“Today we are announcing the consolidation of our three Springfield Schools. To do this we will name the new school Assemblies of God University. This name illustrates the joining and unity of these three schools. Each school will become a part of the greater University. Much like a state school will be called the University of Louisville, but within it there are the Brandies School of Law, the Speed Scientific School of Engineering, the Medical School, and the School of Dentistry. So too, Assemblies of God University will have the Evangel School of Liberal Arts, the Central Bible Ministry School, and the School of Theology. Though we will be merging onto Evangel University’s campus, no one school will have precedence over another. One third of each staff, faculty, and administration will be retained by the new University.”

Instead we heard the new school will be named Evangel University. Now I have no issues with Evangel. I would much rather see my kids attend Evangel than a state school. But, it was not a consolidation; it was a closer of CBC and AGTS to the benefit of Evangel.

In the end, what’s done is done. The AG body voted to consolidate and so we have a new Evangel. My fear is that in the future the quality of our ministers will be lower. When you focus on one area you do it well. So this CBC and SAGU graduate will throw my loyalty behind SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God University). I do so with a heartfelt prayer of blessing for Evangel and a hope that my prediction is wrong.

Sincerely,

Darren Lewis

A mourning, but proud CBC alumni.

Deitrich Bonheoffer

Click on video for overview of his life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KCply-HqWM

John 15:13 “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

In a world that was spiraling out control, the only sure thing was faith in God. Bonheoffer, a great Pastor and theologian, chose to return to his homeland to stand up for the rights of our faith. In the end he was called to give his very life for his beliefs. Most of us will never be called upon to give our lives for Christ, but we are asked to give our lives to Christ. This act of faith and dedication is worth so much to us. Too often people focus on what will be lost if they choose to follow Jesus. Instead they should look at what they will gain…eternal life. The fleeting pleasures of sin in this life are just that, fleeting. But finding faith and forgiveness in a loving God is eternal. You see, Christ already paid the ultimate sacrifice out of His love for us.

1 John 3:16 says, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

We know what real love us; the question is, “Will you accept it”? Will you come to the place where gaining new life in Christ is worth whatever you give up? Will you come to a place of humble surrender saying, “Here I am Lord, dirty and lost? I am in need of a Savior. So please forgive me of my sins. Wash me clean of my past and help me commit my life to you.” This is the message that Bonheoffer died for and it is the reason Christ went to the cross. Tonight, in our last class, I pray that those who do not know Christ, as I know Him, will find Him. I promise you will never be the same again.

 

C. S. Lewis

One of the greatest questions of life, is why we are here? What is my purpose in the grand scheme of things? Though I may not be able to answer that question fully for you, I can say that you were created to be part of this time. God is the God of history. He understands where you are, the situations of your life, your ups and downs, and the desires that you have to achieve and accomplish great things.

C. S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, doubted everything about life, including God. Having fought in the trenches of WWI, his disillusion and despair what little faith he had. This great man of intellect eventually came to a place of understanding that only God could create and sustain the universe. As WWII began, the English nation came under attack. During that time one man was asked to speak to the nation, to provide a sense of hope in despair. That man was C.S. Lewis For many weeks he taught of the importance of a personal faith in Christ, he spoke of a hope not only for this life, but also for the one to come.

Esther 4:14 “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

This scripture teaches us that God places at the exact moment He wants us to live. I have been divinely appointed to teach this class, perhaps because someone needs to hear that there is a great and eternal God who loves you and desires to have a relationship with you. Perhaps I am the only one who has phrased faith to you in the way that I have over the last four weeks. If our God cares enough to know you and place you where He wants you, then He also loves you enough to have a divine reason for your life. This reason can be found only in Him.

 

Horatio Spafford

Horatio Spafford suffered many traumatic events in life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died.

His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Read Psalm 91
¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

A relationship with Christ is the beginning of peace in this life. Until we recognized our need for forgiveness we have no peace. The theme of my life is “I am nothing, He is everything”. Therefore, whatever comes my way is His problem and I can trust him to do what is best.

Charles Wesley

Today I want to write about God’s divine plan for you. The 18^th century was a time of great progress in the Protestant church. Protestantism moved to the America’s with the Pilgrims, Quakers, and Anabaptists. In the decade of 1730-1740 the First Great Awakening swept Europe and the colonies. This revival brought many to faith in Christ and established our nation as a Christian nation.

Great pastors like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and John Wesley traveled and proclaimed true faith in Christ. Perhaps no man since Luther had such a great effect on the church as John Wesley did. Young Wesley’s father was an Anglican pastor in England. One night as the family slept, their home caught fire. Wesley’s mom feared John was lost. In the midst of the fire John was able to escape; he was 5 years old. Being saved from the fire he understood that God had a great work for him to do.

As an adult he formed the Wesleyan movement or Methodism. This theology developed as an alternative to Calvinism. He developed Methodism on four ideals: Scripture, Reason, Tradition, and Experience. Today Wesley can be viewed as the father of the Methodists, the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Church of God in Christ, the Foursquare Church, African Methodist Episcopal, Nazarene, Christian Missionary Alliance, and many other denominations. His impact on the world goes way beyond his lifetime. You see the scripture tells us that God has a divine plan or calling for all of us.

Jeremiah 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Tonight I want you as an individual to know that God has a divine plan for your life. It is a plan that is solely yours and no one else’s. It is a good plan. It is a plan that begins with accepting Christ as your Savior and in that decision receiving life forever.

John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”

We never know what potential we have to change our world until we see ourselves through the eyes of Christ.