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Would you recommend that a mn w/ a wife and 3 kids go to Bible College?

Discussion in 'Baptist Colleges & Seminaries' started by Paul1611, Aug 24, 2005.

  1. steveo

    steveo New Member

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    I agree that distant education is good depending on your situation and what God leads you to do.
    I also have a family with 2 small children and work in Insurance sales and Pastor a small church. I have my Diploma in Pastoral ministries from Seminary ext (southern baptist)& tons of credit from a community college. I am working through Andersonville Seminary to finish a Bachelors.
     
  2. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    I would definitely STAY IN YOUR CHURCH and learn and grow and serve there for a few more years. Gain some vital experience and growth. Perhaps take a couple of distant ed programs' classes - try Trinity (accredited and the first of external ed programs).

    Do you have any college already? 132 credits is a LONG haul - a married man can seldom carry more than 10 credits (from a first-class college, not some of the "colleges" of ifbX type) a semester. That is 7 years, brother.

    We have had MANY married men, for whatever reason and call and motive, pack up and head to college. VERY FEW ever finished. Many took a few years of classes, had horrendous challenges being a parent (first calling of God) and either got jobs or took churches woefully under-prepared.

    And they seldom end up back in the home community. Easier to stay in the area of the college than to uproot the family cross country.
     
  3. TomVols

    TomVols New Member

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    Clear Creek Baptist Bible College (www.ccbbc.edu) and Boyce College (www.sbts.edu) are good choices. Clear Creek is probably more family friendly, not that Boyce is hostile. Both are regionally accredited. (I can only think of Whitefield and Columbia (Washington) that are unaccredited that are worth considering.) Being from Knoxville, I'd discourage Crown College. You'll be better off somewhere else.

    I'd encourage this: take a course or two independent study. A lot of people find they can't hack the work at Bible college or seminary. You need to find that out before you uproot your lives.

    The "college vs. practical" argument is a false dichotomy. My Bible college and seminary days were very practically oriented and didn't shortchange the necessary theology, language studies, etc.

    However you get it, get prepared. The call to preach is a call to prepare. You don't have one without the other.
     
  4. jshurley04

    jshurley04 New Member

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    Yes, uproot and go to a good college that is in line with what you believe. College is a perfect time to allow yourself to learn to rely on God for your daily needs, as well as college. When you uproot, you put yourself in a position to go where God wants and not where you are settled. Accreditation is a must in todays environment as well as for later years when you may decide to advance your education. Remember that accreditation is not any kind of state approval of the materials taught, it is outside validation that a school is doing what they say they intend to do. That is why accreditation is worth the extra money you might pay.

    For the record, I was 30 with two children and a long term job and a wife with a long term job and great benifits, when we sold our land and house, packed up and moved to Springfield, Mo to attend Baptist Bible College. Was it easy? No, not at all. I carried about 15 to 17 hours a semester and still worked almost 40 hours or so per week. My wife also enrolled in College at BBC and we both graduated 4 years later. We did have problems and learned a great deal of lessons about relying on God. I would not change a thing. I encourage others to follow what God has called you to do. Where God calls, God provides.
     
  5. Broadus

    Broadus Member

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    My concern with uprooting with young children, unless one has substantial savings or equity in a sold home to use, is that, if one is not careful, the children lose their daddy because he has to spend 18 hours a day in school, studying, and working.

    I consider DE to be a great blessing (as well as a curse because of the plethera of substandard institutions). I have done both DE and on campus and can make arguments either way. However, you have your children for only a short time. Their rearing must be paramount.

    Some may say to pick up and go and don't look back. Just "step out on faith." Too often such "faith" is nothing more than presumption. Verses pointing to following Christ in salvation are snatched out of their context and applied to such things as going to college.

    If you go the DE route, please make sure that it is a credible institution. Personally, and especially for a bachelor's degree, I would make sure at the very least that it is TRACS-accredited. Accreditation by one of the regional accrediting agencies would be a bonus. Be careful about a lot of DE schools which claim accreditation. A lot of it is bogus.

    May God bless your efforts.

    Bill
     
  6. Convicted by the Spirit

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    Tomvols,

    My former Pastor about 2-3 years ago decided to uproot his family and move to attend Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. He said his choice in schools was based a large bit on how family friendly the schools were. He has 4 kids and ended up getting scholarships to cover just about his entire schooling and a lot of contributions toward his living. In short though, he did end up over stressed with being the head pastor of a church, going to school and trying to balance a family in the mix.
     
  7. Brother Ian

    Brother Ian Active Member

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    I would add that you must be very careful in choosing the institution you will attend whether on campus or through distance learning.

    Not all institutions are as they appear.
     
  8. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    When someone says that took 16-18 credits and worked 40 hours a week, I feel sad on two counts.

    1. The person is being robbed of a quality education. They are getting lower classes with less requirement, research, etc. As a college prof for many years, the adage "2 hours outside of class for every 1 hour in class" is a MINIMUM. But even so, that would be 50+ hours a week in school work.

    Add 40 hours work, then Sundays and, well, you do the math. In 6 days you would have 90/144 hours taken in class/homework/work.

    2. The family/marriage is being robbed. Assuming sleep time, you have less than 2 hours a day that is not class/homework/work and if commuting or daily chapel etc etc is thrown in, you have far less.

    "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

    I would NEVER recommend a family man to take more than 10-12 credits MAX and even then, in a credible school - think Greek, Systematic Theology, etc - that might be too heavy a load.

    And every year sacrificing your family time now is a year that can never be made up in the future.

    I write this just to warn of the REALITIES of such "taking up the cross".
     
  9. Martin

    Martin Active Member

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    Paul1611:

    I am in 100% agreement with those here who have suggested distance/online education to you. Luther Rice has a great program. I am going to list some other programs that are offered online/distance (since you mentioned Bible College I assume you are interested in undergraduate studies?)...

    First Moody Bible Institute offers a 120 hour Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies degree online/distance. Moody is a great school and is fully accredited.

    Second I will highly recommend Liberty University's BS in Religion degree. Again this program can be taken all online/distance. I have a MA from Liberty and can testify that this is a great school!

    Thirdly Southern Evangelical Bible College/Seminary offers a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies online/distance (however it does require 4 courses on campus and some previous undergraduate hours). So this program may not be that helpful to you.

    All of these programs are solid and worth looking into. I would advise you to avoid Andersonville, Covington, and Trinity Theological Seminary (not to be confused with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School). These schools are not accredited and, with the exception of Trinty, for very good reason. Trinity will soon have RA (regional accreditation) and may be a good choice in five or so years (once things are better established). While the programs at Andersonville, Covington, etc, are cheaper and seem to be easier remember that solid programs may cost you a bit more (in time and money). In the long run you will be much better off going with a fully accredited program.

    In Christ,
    Martin.
     
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