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Some Things Never Change
I
was recently able to return to campus on two separate occasions after
six years of not being on campus. I have kept up with the
administrative changes and the various things that have happened in the
time I have been away from Northland, and some of these things
had concerned me.
Not long ago, the administration published an edition of the Northland Heart to
clarify to its constituency that even though there have been changes
made in policy and administration, the mission and vision of Northland
has not changed. A question has plagued my mind and the minds of many
other alumni for quite some time. I believe that many of my generation
were beginning to ask this one thing: "Has academic improvements such
as accreditation candidate status changed the product or mission of
Northland in any way and allowed the 'heart' of Northland as we knew it
to 'stop beating' "?
Thankfully, the answer to this
question is an emphatic "No!" Northland has not changed its mission in
any way. Candidate status with the Transnational Association of
Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) has improved Northland's ability
to fulfill its God-given mission of "training the next generation of
servant leaders for Great Commission living." Many of our graduates are
probably not familiar with TRACS, but I became introduced to the
organization while a seminary student at Temple Baptist Seminary in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. The greatest benefit that TRACS gave TBS, in
my opinion, was enabling its graduates to prepare for the military
chaplaincy.
TRACS accreditation will give
Northland students the opportunity to continue their education without
having to worry as much about their finances and spend more time
serving the Lord in ministry over the summer. It will also give them
the resources needed to make their education recognized so that
their parents can get benefits for their children that they could not
receive in the past because of our non-accredited status as an
institution.
With the many changes that have taken
place, alumni have asked me, "Has the spirit changed any?" "Are the
students still friendly?" "Does Northland still have the same
philosophy of discipleship and servant leadership that it has been
known for throughout the years?" Yes, my friends, it is still there.
Chapel is still the same as it was when we were students. The "works
of God" are still being shared every Monday in chapel, and God is being
given all the glory in all that is done.
There have
definitely been some changes that have brought disappointment to some
while bringing blessing to others. I have seen many people I know and
love have to leave Northland because of the financial issues that we as
alumni have been made aware of through communication with campus.
However, let us be thankful that God has allowed these servant-leaders
to be touched by the "heart" of Northland, and now they will carry the
heart of Northland into their new ministries and be "lives touching
lives" for His glory.
My time on campus caused me to reflect
most of all on something that I think we all need to be reminded of
time and time again. Northland is a place. It is a very special place.
God put it in the heart of a man named Paul Patz and God answered his
prayers to use this man in the ministry. Dr. Ollila told us many times,
"The ministry is people." I love the staff and faculty and thank God
for them. Many of the ones I knew are gone from Northland now serving
elsewhere, but some are still there, and those that are there are still
serving faithfully. They are using their God-given talents to challenge
the students to love and serve the Lord with a passion for Christ and a
love for others. Our faculty and staff are some of the most committed
Christians in the world. I am so encouraged when I see how their "life
touching my life" made such an impact on my walk with the Lord and
my ministry.
However, the biggest reminder that "the
ministry is people" came from the students. I was reminded of how my
time was spent investing in the lives of young men while I worked in
the children's ministries of Faith Baptist Church during my last two
years of college. Several of these "faculty kids" are now juniors and
seniors at NBBC and they are doing the same type of ministry that I
did, investing their lives into the lives of children and teenagers as
I did with them when I was a student! I was reminded of how two weeks
of my summer were spent at a small Christian camp investing my life
into third and fourth-grade boys who are now juniors and seniors in
college. One of them is a senior at NBBC this year and has served in
China for two consecutive summers. This young man is an R.A. this
year. I am blessed to see how God used me in a small way in this young
man's life, and I can now see the fruits of my ministry in a tangible
and very visible way!
I believe that two verses of
Scripture sum it all up for us as we recall our extension and summer
ministries and the lives that we invested ourselves into during
those days. In 1 Corinthians 15:58, Paul exhorts us with these words,
and I hope they are a precious reminder to all who are in the
ministry now. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
You may not have thought you did much while you were on extension, but
the Lord used you and He still is using us today, when we are faithful
to Him. Paul also told Timothy, "And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2).
The people that we taught on extension are now teaching others and we
can know that our ministry is being carried on in the lives we touched
in college. This was the biggest blessing that I received while I was
at Northland. God reminded me that it is not about the church I serve
or the size of my ministry scope, it is about each and every individual
life that He has allowed me to touch with my life that I might glorify
Him in all that I do! Every person matters to God, and I don't have to
have a "big" ministry to have an important ministry.
I trust
that all of these observations from my "site visits" to campus will
encourage you to pray for Northland in the days ahead. Satan does not
like what is going on there, and we all know that. Let us remember to
pray for Northland as it awaits the final approval for TRACS
accreditation, which I believe will be one of the best things ever to
happen to our alma mater.
As we celebrate the 30th birthday
of Northland Baptist Bible College, I encourage all of you, if you
can, to give a "birthday gift" to allow the Lord to use us to continue
the "beating" of the Northland "heart" till He returns. Thank the Lord
that "some things never change," even after thirty years of
ministry. Northland has taken steps to improve its educational
experience, but it has not lost sight of its mission! "To God be
the glory! Great things He hath done!" Happy Birthday! NBBC!! May God
continue to bless you as you continue to "train the next generation of
servant-leaders for Great Commission living."
Bill Halladay
Class of 1996
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