Immature Students

This is my gut reaction, Paul, ok?

Don't judge an entire college by the horseplay of a few guys on one day. Just because they were goofing off that day does not mean that they were/are not serious about serving God. Come on now, does serving God mean that you can no longer laugh or have fun or goof off with your friends?
I went to Maranatha, a well-respected college that's been around for a long time - and there were guys in my class who were class clowns, they rang the bell in the "forbidden bell tower" once or twice, middle of the night they jumped out with a scary mask on when the security guard was passing by.......ya know, it's college - not a monastery. There are times when young people have to let off steam....and frankly, the things you described seem pretty benign....except maybe the fooling around in class......but it was ONE day and ONE class....

Plus, in any Bible college you go to you will find some who truly are not serious in their studies.

I say give 'em a break......at least give 'em another chance before you write off the entire college.

 

Bapmom,

:thumbs: :applause: :wavey:

Well spoken.

 

Some of those class clown may graduate and become some of the most serious preachers you will hear. When God gets ahold of them you will know it and so will they.

The complient always look good at the time. Leaders are not complient people. That is what makes them leaders.

Sometimes future leaders lead a person to wonder if there is ever an end but when Gods does his work it is a perfect work and not just the work of man.

 

gb makes a good point.

I remember a guy I went to Bible College with. He was the portrait of a preacher if there ever was one. He could sing, preach, had a beautiful wife and family, and everyone thought he would go far in the ministry. He graduated and took the pastorate of a church in the south. Within a couple years' time he fell into adultery, disgraced his church, his family, and himself, was divorced and out of the ministry.

Then there was another fella. He wasn't too sharp. Tended to be the class clown, didn't make very good grades, nor applied himself well. Got a good wife and wonderful kids though. Graduated and took an uncompensated position in a church. Did that for several years until God called him to the mission field, where he is today.

Through the years I have learned that God uses the fools to confound the wise- there is a verse or two about that in the Bible- and that we so often judge unrighteous judgement because we can only see the outside and the present where God can see the inside and the future.

So don't look down your nose too hard at those guys.

 

Amen and amen/ :applause:
Faithgirl

 

It's true that some promising young men wind up making shipwreck and some clowns finally settle down and amount to something. My opinion, however, is that one's character is evident to the discerning observer even at that stage of life, and the later surprises are far outnumbered by those who fulfilled their teachers' predictions.

But whether or not I'm right, it might do for Paul1611 to visit other schools and note the differences. If they're all the same, then the immaturity is genetic or a sign of the times. But if other schools show a marked difference in the students' demeanor, then it's the culture of Trinity that's responsible for what he saw.

Q.E.D

 

I see nothing wrong with horseplay in and of itself, but as a society, we've forgotten where to draw the line.

Don't dismiss a school on these grounds alone, and don't dismiss the individual on these grounds alone.

Pipedude gave words of iron in his post, but I want to quote a specific part for emphasis:

"My opinion, however, is that one's character is evident to the discerning observer even at that stage of life, and the later surprises are far outnumbered by those who fulfilled their teachers' predictions."

Do as he suggested and visit some other schools.

 

I certainly wouldn't want any institution I was attached to when I was 18 to be judged on my immature behavior. [[ Shudder ]]

 

My "experience" lol

I went to one college from age 20 to age 28....

When I started I was a shy guy who just turned 20 and was out of his "teens"
but still "under mom and dad's roof"

When I moved away to College in Florida to begin college in Pensacola at age 20
it was a different chance to "grow up" "on my own"

Many people talk about Christian Colleges being "too sheltered"... but what would they have? One prepared for x number of years before being kicked out "of the nest" or would they have them be put immediately into the "real world" so that they can "adjust" and "adapt"? My Bible still says be not "conformed" to "this world"... I am glad for Christian Colleges...

There are dangers. One can learn how to look good on the outside, but be nothing on the inside, but that is anywhere..

In my 8 years I grew in many ways... But, I always enjoyed (even as a graduate student) "cutting up with the 'freshmen'" - HEY come to think about it that is how I met my beloved wife... She was a friend of a friend... both were Freshmen... But VERY MATURE... more mature then I was at their age... So I was an example and knowledge to them and their zeal and character was a blessing to me...

There is always a lot of growing up, but in teens and early 20s their is a lot of energy! and thus a lot of fun too! That may be all that you saw... or it might have been just the tip of the iceburg... Hard telling from one experience, much less one post...

We also had the students who got kicked out of College... for worse things than you beheld... every college does (unfortunately); and, it is true (as implied above) that "even a child is known by his doings" . . . Whenever people came to the College I attended they always talked about the "Spirit" ... It was friendly... a college which by and large had students who submitted to the rules... a submissive person is also a humble and thus friendly person... and that characterized the college...

So yes you can "observe" a "campus culture" and "college standards"

So be discerning, expect younger men and women to have more energy and more fun ways to spend that energy... expect them to know also however that for all good things under the sun there is a season... which means fun with friends, attention in class... lol

I have my favorite colleges, and I knew many "favorite" college students....
But, I would have to know more about Trinity myself or observe their sincerity and truth in person... what is their love for the Lord? . . . and how Holy is their life in obedience to the commands of Scripture...?

May God bless you and May God bless our nation's "Christian Colleges"

Not all are "Christian".... remember "Harvard" used to train our nation's spiritual leaders in pulpits, pews, home, and Congress!

Regardless of what you saw.... The call for all who have a burden for the next generation is P-R-A-Y-E-R .... We must pray for the schools that we left and the schools we would send our young people too.... AND the schools that WE WOULD NOT!!!

God bless.

In Sincerity and Truth,

Michael W.

P.S... as many of you know my wife and I are divorced... I do not preach anymore
and I do sincerely need your prayers for our surrendered lives and
reconcilliation. God bless.

 

My "experience" lol

I went to one college from age 20 to age 28....

When I started I was a shy guy who just turned 20 and was out of his "teens"
but still "under mom and dad's roof"

When I moved away to College in Florida to begin college in Pensacola at age 20
it was a different chance to "grow up" "on my own"

Many people talk about Christian Colleges being "too sheltered"... but what would they have? One prepared for x number of years before being kicked out "of the nest" or would they have them be put immediately into the "real world" so that they can "adjust" and "adapt"? My Bible still says be not "conformed" to "this world"... I am glad for Christian Colleges...

There are dangers. One can learn how to look good on the outside, but be nothing on the inside, but that is anywhere..

In my 8 years I grew in many ways... But, I always enjoyed (even as a graduate student) "cutting up with the 'freshmen'" - HEY come to think about it that is how I met my beloved wife... She was a friend of a friend... both were Freshmen... But VERY MATURE... more mature then I was at their age... So I was an example and knowledge to them and their zeal and character was a blessing to me...

There is always a lot of growing up, but in teens and early 20s their is a lot of energy! and thus a lot of fun too! That may be all that you saw... or it might have been just the tip of the iceburg... Hard telling from one experience, much less one post...

We also had the students who got kicked out of College... for worse things than you beheld... every college does (unfortunately); and, it is true (as implied above) that "even a child is known by his doings" . . . Whenever people came to the College I attended they always talked about the "Spirit" ... It was friendly... a college which by and large had students who submitted to the rules... a submissive person is also a humble and thus friendly person... and that characterized the college...

So yes you can "observe" a "campus culture" and "college standards"

So be discerning, expect younger men and women to have more energy and more fun ways to spend that energy... expect them to know also however that for all good things under the sun there is a season... which means fun with friends, attention in class... lol

I have my favorite colleges, and I knew many "favorite" college students....
But, I would have to know more about Trinity myself or observe their sincerity and truth in person... what is their love for the Lord? . . . and how Holy is their life in obedience to the commands of Scripture...?

May God bless you and May God bless our nation's "Christian Colleges"

Not all are "Christian".... remember "Harvard" used to train our nation's spiritual leaders in pulpits, pews, home, and Congress!

Regardless of what you saw.... The call for all who have a burden for the next generation is P-R-A-Y-E-R .... We must pray for the schools that we left and the schools we would send our young people too.... AND the schools that WE WOULD NOT!!!

God bless.

In Sincerity and Truth,

Michael W.

P.S... as many of you know my wife and I are divorced... I do not preach anymore
and I do sincerely need your prayers for our surrendered lives and
reconcilliation. God bless.

 

The role of a college is not to make you grow up. That is the role of your parents. The role of a college is to give you an education.

By the time I graduated from high school I had already worked on a dairy farm for several years. I knew how to cook, sew and wash my own clothes. I also bought all of my my own clothes. For me leaving home was easy. When I went to college I worked a regular job.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. I went back to my old school to visit a while back.


Things sure had changed a lot since they kicked me out!

 

Good for you GB... lol

Good for you GB... lol

My point however I think still stands... Christian Colleges are a blessing
and a secular world view needs to stay in the world
and prayer is certainly needed for our
"Christian Colleges" today!

 

Let us Pray

Furthermore, I am still growing up...
And all my good experiences help me to do that In Christ...

We need to pray for our "Christian Colleges" that they still help us
instead of hinder personal and Christian growth... The whole point of

"Christian Education".... More than just philosophy of Education... It is
application of education... If you want a secular life then don't go to a
Christian College... because there is nothing Christian about that and
any true Christian knows that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

So if you don't want to live right and Fear God ... then don't expect to
receive a "Christian Education" ... it is a spiritual and thus practical impossibility..

So join me in prayer for our colleges! We need Colleges where the Fear of the Lord is still present and the Bible guides not only "philosophy" but FAITH and PRACTICE without duplicity or hypocrisy...

Let us pray

In Sincerity and Truth,

Michael W.

 

Some of the strongest Christians I have met came out of communist countries.

 

Been There, Done That

I attended Northland Baptist Bible College in the early 90's. When I was there, it didn't have the attendance that it does today(around 150 vs. 700) and I attended till 1997, sitting out two years so I could graduate debt free. It was my observation that with every new class that came in they were more "raw", spiritually and in maturity. Of course, there seemed to be more of a shift in what I viewed Fundamentalism to be during that time and I felt that many of the kids were a result of that.

In 2001, I went back on staff for 2 years and I was blown away by some of the kids immaturity, yet, I also realize that being spiritually sensitive and being committed to Christ can't been lost in a moment of immaturity. They are kids; I realize that now and had I been 18 again, I would have been the king of the kids. Plus, been older painted my reality differently than it had theirs.

God can use anyone, just not the eternally mature and serious.

Look at the college's finished product, not it's raw material to get a sense of where you should go.

 

Been There, Done That

I attended Northland Baptist Bible College in the early 90's. When I was there, it didn't have the attendance that it does today(around 150 vs. 700) and I attended till 1997, sitting out two years so I could graduate debt free. It was my observation that with every new class that came in they were more "raw", spiritually and in maturity. Of course, there seemed to be more of a shift in what I viewed Fundamentalism to be during that time and I felt that many of the kids were a result of that.

In 2001, I went back on staff for 2 years and I was blown away by some of the kids immaturity, yet, I also realize that being spiritually sensitive and being committed to Christ can't been lost in a moment of immaturity. They are kids; I realize that now and had I been 18 again, I would have been the king of the kids. Plus, been older painted my reality differently than it had theirs.

God can use anyone, just not the eternally mature and serious.

Look at the college's finished product, not it's raw material to get a sense of where you should go.

 

"Christian Colleges"

Christian Colleges are a blessing
and a secular world view needs to stay in the world
and prayer is certainly needed for our
"Christian Colleges" today!

 

Praying for "Christian" Colleges

Again, all our good spiritual experiences help us to grow In Christ...

We need to pray for our "Christian Colleges" that they still help us
instead of hinder personal and Christian growth... The whole point of

"Christian Education".... More than just philosophy of Education... It is
application of education... If you want a secular life then don't go to a
Christian College... because there is nothing Christian about that and
any true Christian knows that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

So if you don't want to live right and Fear God ... then don't expect to
receive a "Christian Education" ... it is a spiritual and thus practical impossibility..

So join me in prayer for our colleges! We need Colleges where the Fear of the Lord is still present and the Bible guides not only "philosophy" but FAITH and PRACTICE without duplicity or hypocrisy...

Let us pray

In Sincerity and Truth,

Michael W.