Letter from Florida Bible College / GBCATS Dean -- Florida Bible College / GBCATS Message Board

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Date Posted: 12:41:11 02/17/06 Fri
Author: Dr. Michael E. Schmidt
Author Host/IP: adsl-068-157-198-127.sip.tys.bellsouth.net / 68.157.198.127
Subject: Letter from Florida Bible College / GBCATS Dean

A letter from Dr. Micheal E. Schmidt, Dean

and Founder of Georgia Bible College and Theologcal Seminary.

Letter from the Dean

Dear Georgia Bible College students:

It is with great honor that I serve both you and the Lord as your dean.

I am excited that you have chosen to be a part of Georgia Bible College.

Welcome to our special family.

Together we believe God for great things for Georgia Bible College; for the sake of the lost, for the sake of those who need quality biblical training, for the sake of our loved ones gone before, for the sake of missions and missonaries, for the sake of the crystal clear gospel, and most of all for our Lord and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a gospel lighthouse you and I must keep GBCATS lights burning bright. This is our duty. Without a vision we will die.

Georgia Bible College was started in 2004 by former students, graduates and faculty of Florida Bible College in the spirit of Florida Bible College.

GBCATS is:

An Evangelistic school that teaches the crystal clear gospel message.

A school with a strong statement of faith.

A School with a strong biblical foundation. One that faithfully teaches the word of God.

A school with integrity.A school that can be TRUSTED. school without debt(s).

A school that trains and equips "Saints" to go out and to do the work of the ministry. A school that is practical.

A school that is not legalistic but still has high standards.

A school that believes God for great things.

A school that will not give up. We must as a family of faith must move forward, we must be a people with a vision.

A school that stays morally pure and clean.

A MISSIONS minded school. A school that trains supports and sends missionaries, sends money to support missions, a school that has
foreign and home missions, music teams, youth teams, etc.

A School that builds strong youth ministries(updated Youth Ranches called IMPACT MINISTRIES), Children's Ministries(Kids Bible Clubhouses), Senior
Saints ministries, etc.

A school that seeks first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We need to be led FIRST by God, not by any man or any strong natural leader. We need to be guided by long standing unchanging principles.

We are going to be diverse. We will use new, different styles of worship. We will be willing to change our methods but not our message. If what worked well in the past will no longer reaches kids for Christ, we will ask "What does?". We will not act like the world to reach the world, but we will ask "What do the kids of today like that we can offer that might interest them in coming to our activities?" If the kids today think singing "Oh Sinner Man" is out of date and stupid, perhaps we might sing a more updated song instead like a Casting Crowns song, etc.. If kids liked surfing in 1954 and they still like surfing today, we might take them on a surfing trip. The # 1 tool to reaching kids is Love, let them see God's love in you and they will come back to your youth activities. We will share the gospel with them, give them a chance to start a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and another, and another, and another.

Our demographics will change. When the old FBC was started it's students were mostly white middle class from the Southeast USA. Now we must be more global minded, and reach out to many peoples groups, and will perhaps have some classes that are taught in Spanish, or Korean, Romanian , Arabic, etc..

The old F.B.C. taught learning a set of ojectives that were taught mostly to/for young adults. The NEW GBCATS will place an emphesis on all adult age groups, life long learning, and external learning. Practical church /ministry learning will be more important than deep theological studies(such 20th cent.theology), in other words, classes will be taught with practical local applications (modern worship styles, senior adult ministry etc.) Mentoring relationships will be just as important or even more important than lecturing, tests, books and term papers.

Seminars, retreats, trips (missions) will all offer chances for the student to learn and earn credits an an enjoyable and practical enviornment.

Religious Education will become more pragmatic, asking: Can the graduate do the job? Practical practice over (just) scholarship, practice over just book learning alone (Not can the student just pass a written test on baptizo, but can the student get into a baptism pool and demonstrate that they know how baptize a person. Can they get in front of the class and demonstrate thru practice that they know how to perform a wedding ?)

GBCATS is an ORGANISM that NETWORKS

We have a strong NETWORK of Alumni, and former faculty and students who support GBCATS. Organizations are cumbersome, and because they are bureaucracies they are slow, expensive, legalistic, and often unresponsive. Organizations often do what is best for themselves,nor what is in the best interest of the students.

Our new Organism will be a NETWORK OF LOOSE CONNECTIONS OF PEOPLE OF LIKE FAITH AND CONVICTIONS THAT IS FLEXIBLE, YET HAS A COMMON DENOMINATOR which is our desire to serve God thru our childerns and youth ministries, teachings of soteriology(salvation)bibliolo�gy, parish training,
missions work, and music and evangelistic teams.

Evangelistic Efforts;

Old Modlel: Confrontational,widespread,sha��re and go, win people with fear - hell- fire and brimstone, convert the candidate on the spot no matter what and no matter how.

New model: Win a hearing , then bodly share the gospel, personal evangelism is personal- one on one, share then disciple, win people over by displaying God's love, value the candidate, listen to them, reflect.

NEW kinds of classes will be offered, along with all of the best traditional classes. Focus will be first on biblical studies, not on liberal arts studies.

GBCATS will offer classes at many churches and locations. GBCATS will offer small groups, informal settings in many locations including retreats at nice settings like hotels, camps,churches,on the mission fields and in other places where you learn as you earn your degree or certificates in various settings.

Special classes could be offered for the elderly.

Classes will be offered on how to get the congregation
to participate in worship.

Special intoductory classes offerd to help bring in
lost students.

Classes will be offered at flexible times, credit given will be given for part of classwork being done before or outside of class.

Classes also will be offered ONLINE.

Classes will also be offered on DVD or DVD compatilble format.

Classes/intensives/modulars/we��ekend classes offered regionaly at various campus locations across the world/country.

Classes focus on ways to serve the church while learning.(Internships for credit)

GBCATS has a strong volunteer program (Some classes perhaps taught by volunteers instead of paid teachers, etc.) Everyone helps the school by piching in a little, and no person is expected to do more than his or her fair share of work.

GBCATS is for both males and females, and GBCATS respects a womans proper role in ministry. Females attend GBC to get a quality biblical Education, not just to "get married". We will continue to ordain men as senior pastors, and we will train both men and women to be church staff members, and also laity (non paid staff, volunteers)"ministers" within the local church.

Every student and teacher is a part of a small 3-5 student accountability/prayer group.

GBC is involved its communities.

Intensives/Bible studies offered on contemporary issues(Healings, Lordship Salvation , etc).

GBC will always teach the crystal CLEAR gospel message of salvation, send out missionaries, music teams and traveling evangelists, and equip men and women to serve in the ministry.

GBCATS requires all of its students to be involved in ministry service(Christian service requirement).

The VISION is a vision for doers of the word, not doubters of the word or hearers of the word only. Our OLD F.B.C. model was an Institution, and that institution was closed. We will not focus on quitting because winners never quit. We will not let doubters run our school or even have any control over GBCATS. Our family must not be a doubting people who follow Satan and live in doubt.

G.B.C. is an ORGANISM, not an organization. Is the old F.B.C. Organization dead? Well , the devil tried to kill it, but don't be sad anymore because now we as a people of God remain ALIVE because we are an Organism full of LIFE and we are marching forward. We are a living body of believers, not just
driven by board meetings and bi-laws because we are a God driven school. We are a living body of Christ and we have members whose relations, powers and properties are determined by their function in our body as a
whole. But we can not remain doubters who sit back and just criticize but don't give , everyone must do there share.

We each are only one, but for the good or for the bad, together we are a very important part of our part of the the body of Christ that we call Georgia Bible College and Theological Seminary.

If I can ever have the honor to serve you, please do not hesitate to call me at:

423-507-9970

Or you may e-mail me at:

trumpetofthelord@yahoo.com

THE WORD OF GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE THE HALLS OF GEORGIA
BIBLE COLLEGE!

God bless you,

Dr. Michael E. Schmidt
Dean

www.georgiabiblecollege.com

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