A Tale of Two Days

Yesterday was like my personal Tale of Two Cities… at least the opening line anyway. It was certainly the best of days and the worst of days, or so it seemed. Let’s get the bad out of the way first shall we.

The worst part of being the head of a Bible College (in my opinion anyway) is coming to the understanding that a particular student should no longer be allowed to be a student. As a teacher I believe that anyone who will submit themselves to honest study of the word of God can become an effective and powerful part of God’s kingdom. As the decision maker at the college, I try to exercise caution, mercy and above all prayer when it come to discipline. When a Bible College is run by the principals of prayer and the leading of the Spirit, even those young men who seem to have no interest in Kingdom matters usually end up receiving a personal call from God during their tenure as students.

However, no matter how much the staff prays, or how much mercy is shown, or how much discipline is levied, there are still cases where the student is unwilling to yield his life fully to God. This was the case I was faced with yesterday. After considering many reports and following the wisdom I felt God was imparting to me, I made the decision to expel a young man from our campus. This is not a light thing and I must say the decision was made from a personal brokenness over the situation. Yet, the decision was the right one and I knew God was telling me it was the right time. This young man was starting to drag other students down with him and put the safety of all the students in danger with his reckless actions. This was the worst part of my day… in fact telling a student, his pastor and his family that it has become clear that his unrepentant sins disqualify him from service in God’s kingdom is the worst thing I ever have to do as it goes against my very nature; but we must do what is best, regardless of personal feelings.

At the end of classes yesterday I called all the students and staff together to announce the decision that was made and the reasons for that decision. I had one of our staff members lead us in a time of prayer, both for the expelled student and that we would all confess our hidden sins before God least we too would be judged. The remaining students received the message and spent much time in prayer and repentance before the Lord.

Then as I was preparing to leave my office for the day a knock came to the door. In walked two staff members. One was our District Superintendent (a teacher at the college) the other was an axillary staff member (a non-teaching staff member who does manual work around the campus and who was hired years ago because of a family connection). This second man has never really given his life to Jesus. He was born a nominal Christian but really has no faith in a Biblical sense of the word. My preference is to have a UPC staff working at a UPC college but because of this man’s knowledge of our campus and his lack of direct interaction with our students, I never felt his lack of faith was a major issue.

As soon as the two men entered my office the District Superintendent told me the other man had heard me talking about sin to the students and he wanted to say something to me. He then began confessing of all of his sins and at the end slammed a pack of cigarettes on my desk and he told me he wanted Jesus to clean him and help him live a better life. As we laid hands on this man and prayed he honestly repented of his sins and tears rolled down his face as he spent nearly 20 minutes confessing his faults to Jesus. This was very likely the first time this man had ever prayed.

When we shifted from repentance to thanksgiving this man began to stumble as the Spirit came upon him and he spoke with stammering lips. Only his own lack of understanding and faith kept him from yielding himself to the Holy Ghost but I am confident he will be filled with the Spirit and baptized very shortly.

Yesterday started as a terrible day, a day where my mercy and patience towards one man proved to be for naught. However, my day ended as one of the greatest I’ve experienced on the ‘field’ as God poured out His mercy upon another man I had shown great patience with.

I know as Pentecostals we love stories of people being baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost, but the Bible tells us heaven rejoices over a sinner who comes to God in repentance. How blessed I was yesterday to join the heavenly host in rejoicing as a sinner laid down his sins in my office.

One sinner coming to Jesus = BEST DAY EVER!

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