Why host a Bible school?
Because the book is ALIVE!
Some years ago, when I was partners in my construction company, we built a staircase for a missionary named Jim King. When we took the job, it was through his son Drew, and I did not know I was about to have a divine encounter with destiny that would change my life forever.
After we finished the work, they noticed the fishing poles in the back of my truck, and invited me to jump in a bass boat and go fishing. After fishing, we ended up on his back deck, talking about world missions.
The call of God in my life has been screaming real loud now for some time, and I asked Jim what was the best way to reach the nations with the gospel. I had seen the mass crusades, with notable miracles, signs and wonders. I have witnessed the tremendous prayer, and church planting movements in the earth, and now, I see this movement pioneering Bible schools, through Victory, Rhema, Elim, Christ for all Nations and other great organizations.
Jim’s reply was short, but powerful, he said: ‘If all you CAN do, is have crusades, hold a crusade, and get people born again, and give them heaven, but wherever possible, pioneer a Bible school, for the long lasting fruit of the Bible school, will far surpass the fruit of the crusade, as leaders become empowered, equipped and raised up in their offices and callings.’
In speaking with a missionary evangelist from Victory he made the comment: I see the great commission this way:
Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.[c
This is crusade evangelism, preaching the gospel with signs, wonders, and miracles following the Word!
Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
This is the Bible schools, making disciples of all nations.
The truth is, I used to be an evangelist, determined to convert the whole world to Jesus! Still am, yet I have learned that to see harvest, we need the whole Body of Christ, not just evangelists:
Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Notice here, that that Body of Christ increases, when each part does its share! We all need each other, in order to see kingdom growth!
So, during this season of my life, I am investing it in pioneering Bible schools, using the IVBI curriculum, that will train and equip all believers to step up, and step out in their particular gift and callings, that we all may grow in love!
Do we need crusades?
Absolutely!
How about strong churches!
Definitely!
How about ministries of compassion, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the widow and the orphan, the prisoner, the sick?
We cannot even claim to love Jesus if we are not interested in these things!
Yet, I look at my Bible school experiences. I have studied the Word of God now, with three different denominations, and discovered that each has wonderful strengths and weaknesses. Yet, it was only when I completed my two years study at Rhema Bible Training Center, here in Oklahoma, that I felt I had enough grounding in the Word, to launch out into full time ministry.
Why study the Word of God anyway?
Well the first reason, is simply survival!
Jesus said: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It tells us that everything we could possibly need in this life, has already been provided for us, but that if we actually want it to come to us, it can only be obtained through partaking of that divine nature, through the promises of God!
Of course, if these alone were not reason enough, there is the direct command:
2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
If the Word can be rightly divided, it can be wrongly divided, and so learning from qualified, anointed, holy instructors is a must.
Yet, every minister preaches the word, why a Bible school?
Faith comes only by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Since this is the case, we read:
if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
A thorough knowledge of the Word of God, will produce disciples, that are rooted and grounded in Him.
Yes, but this will come from the pastoral ministry, as shepherds gently, lead, feed, and walk with people to establish them in the Word you might say.
Surely, every ministry should have a shepherds heart for people, desiring only their best, but I have discovered that in a Bible school setting, one can draw all five ministry offices to one location, and impart powerful truth to students, in many areas, producing a multiplied effect on people, and a radically expedited spiritual growth in the lives of the students.
In the early church, in Ephesus, we read:
Acts 19:
8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
First Paul taught in the synagogue, similar to a church. He did this for three months, but it was not enough.
So, there was a school raised up, to answer difficult questions, in the household of Tyrannus, that lasted for two years, that taught so strongly, that all of Asia heard the word of God, in both the Jewish and Greek cultures of the day.
There was obviously great spiritual power present, because God performed great miracles there.
Notice that this Bible school caused the whole region to hear the gospel, not just one area.
We see the same thing occurring in the city of Antioch, where five-fold ministry congregated in a strong base of ministry, and many wonderful things occurred in the kingdom.
It is my firm belief that this is still the case!
Churches are powerful, but it is the entrance of God’s Word that brings light. When churches come together to host a Bible school, to raise up strong leaders in their community, explosive spiritual power is the result!
When the Word is taught, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, faith comes. When faith comes, you know!
Faith is the muscle of God, that gets things done in the earth. If you want to grow, and want your family, your church, your ministry, your community, your state or nation to grow, and experience the blessing and prosperity of the God, you will need to grow in His Word.
So, rather than preach more, on the need for more Bible schools in the earth, it is my conviction that faith without works is dead. It is my purpose, as a missionary::
- To facilitate, wherever possible the pioneering of Bible Schools, to raise up, train and equip leaders in their country in the Word of God. I attended Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, OK. Presently, Victory has established over 1600 International Bible schools in 100 countries, that graduate at least 27,000 students each year. This number is growing monthly, with a vision to host 10,000 schools! The curriculum has been filmed and is available in video format in many languages, and translators are currently working on getting it translated into many more. If you, or someone in your network would like to start a Bible school, please click on the top two links, on the lower right hand of this page, and complete the application for accreditation, and three ministry reference forms, and return it, as quickly as possible. Together, we can impact the nations! https://www.victory.com/outreach/ivbi
