BJU Presidential Profile: A Choice Between "Respect for" and Returning to the "Vision of Its Founder," or the Status Quo
Today let's consider and react to the BJU Presidential Profile (see link below). The BJU Board has called for input toward their search for a new president. Within the Profile the following appears.
"The Board of Trustees invites BJU administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the University to review the current Presidential Profile and join the Board in suggesting additions, deletions, and/or revisions to the Profile."Following are suggestions we have submitted for Board consideration.2
Ministry Qualifications
*Committed to the whole counsel of God including the biblical mandates for separation from unbelievers, disobedient brethren, ecumenical compromise and expressions of the world's anti-God culture in fine arts productions, the curriculum, and classroom instruction. See-
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| Image from BJU Production |
*Committed to closing the campus to persons and organizations affiliated with apostate churches and new evangelicalism. See-
"Over a mere two weeks [April 2020] BJU gave its Bible Conference offering to an ecumenical organization headed by a new evangelical, and rented the university [auditorium] for a Roman Catholic to take the platform. Looking at...these, as well as similar BJU sponsored events or affiliations (Tim Tebow, Ken Ham, Billy Kim, Cantus, BJGrass, the SBC, the Presbyterian Church of America...a conclusion can be fairly drawn. Evidence from on campus shows that the university is turning ecumenical."
*Rejects CCM in all its forms including Getty Music, Bill & Gloria Gaither and Sovereign Grace Music.
*Rejects the modern-day Charismatic movement (popularized by John Piper).
*Committed to a Dispensational hermeneutic, rejecting Covenant theology. See-
"Many people do not know what dispensationalism really is or how it affects the beliefs we hold. The purpose of this [brief] article is to explain dispensationalism by looking at some of our major beliefs."Leadership Qualities
In part it states,
"...with a personal awareness and respect for the history of BJU and a strong personal commitment to provide continuity in the advancement of its mission and the vision of its founder."Does the Board mean to say that the next president must "respect" and restore the university to the fundamentalist, separatist "vision of its founder" or only certain, some other, elements while maintaining the status quo?
Steve Pettit, the Executive Cabinet and Administration set out to erase and replace much of "the vision of its founder." A mission that continues to this day as we have just shown in BJU Partners With Tim Challies. While the process of identifying candidates for the presidency of BJU current leadership continues transforming the school into what many believe will become the first cousin of Liberty University and Cedarville.
One pastor (BJU alum), having read the Presidential Profile commented, "As written John Piper, Al Mohler and Tim Challies could be viewed as qualified candidates."
Based on the current profile, and current leadership continues executing Pettit’s transformation of the school, we believe it's possible, even likely, that the next president of BJU will be a compromising evangelical who will not fully "respect [nor restore] the vision of its founder."
LM
Site Publisher's Correction: On 8/27 I posted a reply in the thread below to an anonymous person whose comment I accidentally deleted rather than publish. Yesterday I discovered that a portion of my comments about BJU's invitation to the male vocal group Cantus was in error. An employee of BJU informed me the portion in error was the following, "Cantus was invited with the foreknowledge of the group's homosexual members."
My source, having read that portion, sent an email to the person who invites and signs contracts with all the performers at BJU and has done it for the last 20 years. He asked him about what I alleged, that BJU had invited Cantus with the "foreknowledge of the group's homosexuals members." That man replied emphatically, "We had no idea when we signed the contract with Cantus that they had homosexuals in the group. These groups change members all the time."
I have no reason to doubt the veracity of that first hand account and have therefore deleted the original comment and reposted a corrected version in the thread below. I offer my apology for the misinformation originally uploaded.
This phrase cries out for clarification, ",,,strong personal commitment to provide continuity in the advancement of its mission and the vision of its founder." Consider that statement in light of these questions:
- What is, define specifically, the mission(s) and vision(s) you require an individual to have a personal awareness of, respect for and a strong personal commitment?
- Are you suggesting the mission and vision solely of its founder Bob Jones, Sr?
- Or the mission of Steve Pettit, the Executive Cabinet to transform the school, but the vision of Bob Jones, Sr.?
1) The partnership with Challies demonstrates the BJU Executive Cabinet and Administration's on-going commitment to Steve Pettit’s agenda for erasing the university's fundamentalist, separatist legacy, embracing so-called "conservative" evangelicals and the proliferation of Reformed and Covenant theology.
Related Reading:
FACTS: An Enlarged Discussion by Dr. David Beale
“After being the premier fundamentalist academic institution for eighty-seven years, BJU elected Dr. Steve Pettit in 2014, as the president who steered the University out of separatist Fundamentalism into the inclusive, Broad Evangelical movement,” David Beale, Christian Fundamentalism in America (Maitland, FL: Xulon, 2021), 179, 530.
"I shared with him [Pettit], in all honesty, 'you need to know, I need to say, what I feel I have to tell people now.' I've never told people not to go to Bob Jones University. In most cases I usually end up saying, 'I hope that you're able to do that and if you can I want to encourage you.' But I had to tell Dr. Pettit that, 'parents are going to have to be far more vigilant, they're not going to receive the same kind of reinforcement if they've come from conservative homes, the same kind of reinforcement in many, many of the situations'."
An Analysis of BJU's Position Paper on Calvinism, Arminianism & Reformed Theology
Steve Pettit's Break with the Conservative Base
"I cannot recall any of the main talking points other than that Steve was constantly saying, 'Millennials this and millennials that'.”
Excellent article. Your suggestions to the board are spot on, though I fear they will fall on deaf ears. The school may well be past the point of no return.
ReplyDeleteGary:
DeleteI tend to agree, little chance the school will be salvaged. That said, I will stay tuned. After all, the Lord can move in such ways that change can come in an instant.
LM
Just going to through this out there. I don’t know of a single college (maranatha, PCC, West Coast, Faith) that doesn’t use the types of music you mentioned. All of them use Gaither, Sovereign Grace, and the Gettys.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that. I'd like to share some thoughts in reply.
DeleteI take your word for it that these others use some of those forms of music. Frankly, I'd prefer they did not. I might be thought old fashioned, but having been born again in 1979 at the age of 23, until then having never opened a church hymnal it astonished me how edifying, encouraged and blessed I was to hear the great hymns of the faith. Still today, many of the hymns resonate with me, encourage me, carry me through valleys, lift my heart in praise and thanksgiving to God. I don't get those blessings from Getty, Gaither, Sovereign Grace and the like.
Fwiw, I'm very fond of, shall I say, "conservative" arrangements of the hymns and many of the seasonal contatas. One of my long-time favorites, outside the hymnal, is "Let the Sun Shine Again."
Frankly, and this is just me- although there are some good choices outside the hymnal I see little need to go much outside a traditional hymnal and arrangements for our music choices in the church or college chapel.
The colleges you referenced and BJU may exercise soul liberty in their music choices. I'd just like to see them choose the higher plane of praise and worship music.
That said, I have been in services (church and chapel) where Getty or Gaither was performed. Although I am not edified by those, I don't rend my garment and run through the congregation screaming "HERESY!!!" :)
What I'm about to close with is not me sharing a "boo-hoo, woe is me" testimony.That said, I am 2.5 years into dealing with an incurable (stage 4) form of cancer, the side effects of chemotherapy and certain procedures. In my Spotify I have a Hymns folder. Listening to these hymns keep me uplifted, encouraged and reassured that God does all things well in my life. Hymns such as:
Day by Day
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
Great is Thy Faithfulness
and many more. Again, speaking for myself, I just don't receive those blessings from forms like Getty, Gaither or Sovereign Grace.
Thanks for reaching out.
Kind regards,
LM
Lou - sorry to read of your situation with cancer. Though I rarely (maybe never :)) agree with your take on BJU, I am praying for you. Challenging - and I'm writing as someone who has had little in the way of serious trials in life - words in 2 Cor 4:16-18. Momentary and light is not what most trials feel like. But God's Word is true and so I pray for you to know this reality.
DeleteThat's very kind of you and I appreciate it. Fwiw, by the time the cancer was found it had already spread to my left lung and liver. The cancer in my liver has caused a number of less than perfect health conditions. I'm not sure which has been the greater challenge- cancer, chemo side-effects or the treatments and procedures along the way. Nevertheless, my joy in the Lord is undiminished.
DeleteThe best thing about cancer is the greater opportunity it provides to share the gospel with lost people. I find that the lost listen more readily, much better when they know the message they're hearing is coming from a man who has (in their way of thinking) "one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel," but still shows joy in his life and that certain hope of Heaven.
LM
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ReplyDeleteI did not compare the schools -- merely attempted to hold another schools to the standards you impose on BJU. This may be what the other commenter was attempting to do by mentioning the use of music from "Gaither, Sovereign Grace, and the Gettys." Your response to that: While I have in the past singled out BJU for criticism regarding its choices in music and guest performers and for having calvinistic evangelicals like Ken Ham on stage and for changing dress standards -- pointing to those as signs of declension -- they're not a big deal now that other schools that I don't want to criticize publicly are doing the same. Which makes me think principles matter less than politics here.
DeleteThanks for the input. Being most post here anonymously I'm uncertain if I am in an on-going discussion with you or if this is your first comment. Therefore, I will respond in general terms.
DeleteWhile music and dress standards are a concern, (much greater for some than me) they don't even approach other more grievous issues. Chief among them Steve Pettit entangled BJU with Franklin Graham's ecumenical movement.
https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2021/12/bob-jones-university-embraces-franklin.html
That event was a clear example Pettit was moving the school toward the ecumenism that Jerry Falwell brought to Liberty University. Pettit aligned the school and student body with an ecumenical movement that gives Chistian recognition to the deadly "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18). In another article thread I responded to a BJU employee who said among other things, "BJU will never be a Cedarville or Liberty no matter what you think or what any BJU alumnus thinks." To which I replied,
"Let's be reminded of one of the clearest expressions Liberty abandoned the fundamentalist, separatist position was Jerry Falwell turning ecumenical. Steve Pettit initiated ecumenical compromise at BJU when he entangled the school's student body with Franklin Graham's ecumenical movement. Steve Pettit, like Jerry Falwell, promoted ecumenism, which does great harm to the cause of Christ. So, it doesn't matter what I 'think or what any BJU alumnus thinks', it's clear from that example here, and others like it, Steve Pettit put BJU on a pathway to becoming the next Cedarville or Liberty." See-
http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2023/05/bob-jones-university-will-university.html
The aggressive proliferation of Reformed and Covenant theology, which continues today (See the 2024 CoRE speaker line up). See also-
http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2023/01/bob-jones-university-foundations.html
http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2023/05/steve-pettit-advocacy-for-advancement.html
There are many more examples of egregious changes the Pettit agenda brought to BJU. Literally dozens of articles I've produced here expose those things. Such as donating the 2020 Bible Conference offering to a ecumenical organization led by a new evangelical. See-
https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2020/02/is-bob-jones-university-moving-closer.html
I frequently refer to Dr. David Beale's FACTS article for many more of these examples. See-
https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2021/12/facts-enlarged-discussion-by-dr-david.html
The overwhelming concern over dozens of articles here have nothing to do with politics. It's a concern over the principles and agenda Steve Pettit engineered to erase and transform BJU's fundamentalist, separatist moorings into a force for advancing a compromising evangelicalism.
What I've tried to demonstrate is that there are some things we find far more grievous than music, dress and hairstyles. The things we hope to see eradicated on campus or see BJU transition into a graceful closure. I hope you find my response here helpful.
Kind regards,
LM
PS: Similar concerns include-The sacrilegious fashion show
https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2022/01/bju-fashion-design-runway-show.html
Modernized Shakespear performance
http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2021/11/bob-jones-university-compromised.html
CORRECTED VERSION OF A PREVIOUS COMMENT FOLLOWS
ReplyDeleteTo All:
On Saturday (8/26) a comment was submitted from an anonymous source, but I inadvertently deleted rather than publish it. Following is that comment followed by my reaction.
"So is it also an exercise of soul liberty to perform a sacred concert with a musician who also collaborates with southern gospel groups, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics (such as PCC is scheduled to do this coming March)?"
MY CORRECTED REPLY:
This unnamed performer you speak of I am unfamiliar with. I'll accept your description of his associations. But, if we're going to compare schools and their choice of guest performers, let's look at one of BJU's performance groups. And then how PCC handled an identical situation.
In January 2015 BJU hosted Cantus, a male vocal group partially composed of open, practicing homosexuals one of whom was married to another man. Cantus was invited without the foreknowledge of the group's homosexual members. Once that issue was discovered Steve Pettit and the Administration allowed their performance to go on.
https://today.bju.edu/news/cantus-perform-bob-jones-university-2/
While either performance may not be an appropriate choice, BJU knowingly put Cantus on campus, which IMO is far more egregious in its implications.
This past Spring PCC encountered an identical situation. Following is their handling of it.
“PCC canceled a concert with The King’s Singers upon learning that one of the artists openly maintained a lifestyle that contradicts Scripture. The highly talented musicians were treated with dignity and respect when informed of the cancellation. The artists stated their understanding and acceptance of the change and were given full remuneration."
See-https://www.classicfm.com/artists/kings-singers/florida-college-cancels-concert-sexuality-concerns/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPCC%20canceled%20a%20concert%20with,when%20informed%20of%20the%20cancellation.
Facing the same dilemma PCC put the authority of Scripture first, whereas BJU (Steve Pettit) caved to social, political pressure and Woke ideology.
LM
Certainly, a very interesting time at BJU and certainly praying BJU stays in our fundamental circle. Interesting though as a certain member of Maranatha's leadership (Herbster) is leaving at the end if this calendar year for another ministry. Wondering it might be BJU? Only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote, “…certainly praying BJU stays in our fundamental circle.”
DeleteThe fact is BJU has left “our fundamental circle.” Steve Pettit’s agenda included erasing the school’s fundamentalist, separatist foundation. With the help of most of the current Executive Cabinet and Administration he (Pettit) essentially succeeded in that. Our prayer ought to be that BJU can be recovered from the non-separatist, compromised evangelicalism the institution has embraced and returned to the genuine, balanced fundamentalist school it had been well prior to Pettit’s arrival.
On the Mark Herbster Rumor:
We’ve seen/heard the name Mark Herbster floated as a potential new president for BJU. That’s been a rumor from a time shortly before Steve Pettit’s resignation was accepted by the Board of Trustees.
Mark Herbster was hired by Maranatha Baptist University in 2017 as a member of the Administrative team.
I have just now confirmed that Mark Herbster will be leaving Maranatha at the end of this semester. He announced his departure to the administration and student body. Where Brother Herbster is headed is unknown.
Fwiw, it be odd, even disingenuous, for BJU to request public input for their presidential profile page as they begin a search for the next president if they have already decided on Mark Herbster. I’m quite certain that while names are being considered, no decision has been made.
LM