Too Much Control?

Those kind of rules are rather revealing of a person’s walk with God. In areas where you may pay a price to walk with God and are ridiculed for your faith you will spend more time praying and listening and waiting on God to open the door. One of my professors at SWBTS had been in prison while a missionary. When you talked with him you knew he was different.

Years ago I considered missions and talked with a man from India who had been there about 30 years. He was the president of a mission board. During our conversation he told me about a man who was criticized years earlier for praying too much and not sharing his faith enough. I will never forget what he told me. He told me that the location where the man’s was is the only ministry thriving today in that area. Personally I think too much time is spent on fruitless chatter with people and not enough time in the closet before God. We must talk to God about people before we talk to people about God.

When God opens the door no man can shut it. But when God shuts the door no man can open it.

 

MABTS dress code is now a written policy... and is peer enforced.

The witnessing policy is by far my "least favorite" but I have to say that while I had served on staff at churches in the past, I rarely shared my faith. MABTS has instilled me with an ability to share my faith and for that I am eternally grateful. I thought it would be difficult to meet the standard of 1 per week. I usually have a minimum of 8 per week now on average.

I am probably the least "MABTS" minister you will ever meet as I certainly do not "fit the bill" culturally speaking, but once I matured to a point where I could seperate the wheat from the chaff and not care so much that I wasn't as "southern" as others, I actually began to enjoy the experience.

I am troubled by the experience that MABTS students are not measuring up academically. I would initially ask if they were M.Div, MCE, MACE, or A.Div graduates students. The professors at MABTS are all good men, but of course there are better teachers than others. My experience is that there may be a little too much preachin' going on in the classrooms rather than reasoned teaching.

I too have run into the MABTS bias in my personal interivews. Many churches have pigeon holed me during the interview process as the typical grad, but once they here me answer questions and communicate my heart, those concerns are quelled quickly enough. I think it may be time to change our thinking in this area. Just because a person graduates from a particular institution, doesn't mean we know them or their spirit... We all need to take people as we find them... and that goes for me too!

Blessings

 

I am a graduate of a Bible College, and have little disagreement with any of these regulations, as long as they are codified. The institution, Baptist or otherwise, should have the freedom to do as it sees fit. I have the freedom to attend or not attend, should I happen to agree or disagree. As long as this is posted and readily available knowledge, and no one is 'forcing' anyone to attend, what is the problem??

What I do have a problem with is some "regs" that are not published, hence can be (and unfortuantely, to the detriment of a student) too often are changed at someone's whim, or are enacted 'ex post facto', that puts one in a bind, halfway through his or her 'race to the finish line'. That, to me, presents a real problem, for one who might not be aware of such practices, going in. I, personally, would avoid attending any such institution with this sort of history.

Ed

 

That is a very good point!

 

gb

One of your better posts.

 

PCH?

REPENT!

REPENT!

REPENT!

They must have been praying really hard for your repentance! You need to go to those old folks that just would not give up on you and thank them! I know that they were not worried about praying a mere 1.5 times a week. I know that they considered the result of their prayers (fruit) to be worth the effort . . .

Could you consider their efforts worthy? Worthy of witnessing every week?

I thought so.

 

It is sad but reveals the heart and practice of quite a number of churches. There should be no need to teach students how to share their faith. That is the job of the church.

Glad you share your faith now.

 

I am as well...

None of the Baptist churches (or others) taught me how to do so. The best lesson I ever received in this area was simply to share "my story." That witness along with a much greater to handle scripture has benefited me well over the years.

I wish that MABTS and others could find a better way to instill the desire to boldly proclaim, but until that day comes I will continue to be sensitive to the opportunities that are right in front of me to make reproducing disciples. All I can say for sure is that when a student leaves MABTS, they not only know how to share their faith, but they can also teach others to do the same.

In this issue, I live in tension.

 

With spelling like this, you won't last long anyway. (Just kidding).

Seriously, in my experience, these types of rules were only problems for the spiritually immature. I have never seen a spiritually maturing person have serious issues with institutional policies. Any institution, particularly a Christian training institution, has a vested interest in training their students in spiritual disciplines and choices. It is true that mature people need fewer rules. It is also true that mature people are less bothered by rules.

As with any rule, proper distinctions need to be made between Biblical mandates and institutional policies. And the fact that an institution may require something of its students does not mean that the student must adhere to it after he leaves the school. This is too often another point missed by immature minds. They fail to recognize these distinctions.