October 7, 2013
Friends, Trustees, administration, faculty, staff, students, alumni, President Emeritus Spann, Mom and Dad, Beth, thank you for coming to Wesley Biblical Seminary for this convocation and installation service.
My life direction has taken a radical turn in the last few weeks and months. As God began to draw my wife, Beth, and me toward Wesley Biblical Seminary, I began to ask myself the question, "Why do I believe in WBS?" I want to share with you some of my Rationale, the Mission of WBS, our Team philosophy, and our Vision, in an effort to help you understand why I believe in WBS.
RATIONALE
Many people have asked, "Why did you come to Wesley Biblical Seminary?"
I did not come to WBS because I had nothing better to do. God has allowed Beth and me to have a twenty-three year fulfilling life and ministry at Kentucky Mountain Bible College . We raised our children there. Throughout those years, I was a full-time volunteer, as were each of us who worked at KMBC. I taught communications and served in two Vice Presidential positions. Beth was a school library media specialist in the Jackson school system. She supported my habit.
Over the past 6 years, God was blessing our lives with a growing evangelistic ministry holding revivals, conferences, and church camps across the Wesleyan-holiness movement. I was enjoying the open doors for ministry and the favor God seemed to be granting me. Beth had one more year as a public school library media specialist before she could retire with full benefits. It seemed like 2014 would be the year she would retire. We were neighbors to my parents, living only two tenths of a mile from them. I knew how to do my job. We had met most of the challenges of life successfully. We were comfortable. Too comfortable.
On December 9th of 2012, God disturbed our comfort. My life-long friend, David Mercer, went to heaven. David and I have been friends since we were 13 and 14 years old. I taught him how to sing bass in chapel at Mount Carmel High School. We sang in a gospel quartet together when we were 16, 17, 18 years old. David, his wife Renee, Beth, and I, graduated from Mount Carmel High School and Kentucky Mountain Bible College together on the same days. Last year, David died at age 51 from a heart attack while on a missions trip in Nicaragua.
Over the next four months, God turned my life upside down. He clearly showed me that I could no longer stay where I was comfortable and simultaneously maximize the limited time of my life in light of eternity. At the encouragement of Dr. Joe Brown, I began praying, "Lord Jesus, where do you need me?" Beth and I sensed a sort of Abrahamic call away from everything we knew into a great unknown. Over four months of praying and seeking God’s direction, then Wesley Biblical Seminary blipped across our radar. God consumed me with WBS. When I tried to escape WBS because the task looming before us looked too large, the Holy Spirit spoke a Divine imperative to my soul, "Go!"
In recent months, I have asked myself, "Why do I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary?" I thought back through the years and remembered the influence of people like Dr. Harold Spann and Dr. Eldon Fuhrman. I remember when Dr. Spann preached my home camp meeting at Mount Carmel in Jackson, Kentucky. It was 1969. I was 8 years old. I remember when he recruited Beth and me to Asbury College in 1982. He then raised the scholarship money for us! When Beth and I graduated from Asbury, Dr. Spann graduated to Wesley Biblical Seminary. His presidency helped to shape this institution!
"Why do I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary?"
I thought of Dr. Eldon Fuhrman and his wife Blanche Perry Fuhrman. Miss Blanche, a mountain girl from Eastern Kentucky, was a student at Kentucky Mountain Bible Institute in 1939 when it was washed away in a flash flood. Blanche was miraculously spared a certain death. I grew up on the banks of the North Fork of Kentucky River and the Frozen Creek that nearly took her life.
"Why do I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary?"
I thought of my own father who received an honorary doctorate from WBS in 1993. My dad, Dr. J. Eldon Neihof, Sr., led the Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association for 22 years.
These people shaped me. They shaped the same tradition that birthed Wesley Biblical Seminary. They shaped Wesley Biblical Seminary. Now, I am called of God to shape this great institution and advance its mission for His glory.
"Why do I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary?" As I ask myself this question, I remember the many students that I have taught at Kentucky Mountain Bible College. I remember conversations when I encouraged Eric, Doug, Brian, Jerome, David, Jim, Daniel, Rob, Aaron, Nathan, and others to advance their education at WBS. Many have. The partnership investment of Kentucky Mountain Bible College and Wesley Biblical Seminary into men and women’s lives is a powerful one, shaping them to be mighty for God and His Kingdom building work.
MISSION
I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary because of its mission. Wesley Biblical Seminary exists to advance Christ’s Kingdom through the Church and make disciples of Jesus by offering life-transforming theological education producing Spirit-filled, shepherd-theologians and leaders for the 21st century, who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to Trinitarian faith, Christ-centered holiness, Biblical authority, and personal accountability.
The mission of Wesley Biblical Seminary is one that is being fulfilled around the world in the lives of our alumni and people they touch. I believe in WBS because of the alumni and friends who insist upon its importance in our world today.
Repeatedly, our alumni tell me, "Wesley Biblical Seminary changed my life!" Nathan Doyle, pastor in Boardman, Ohio told me in July, "Wesley Biblical Seminary changed my life!" Rob Pocai, alumnus, church planter, pastor, and now administrator at WBS, told me, "Wesley Biblical Seminary changed my life!"
Across recent months, WBS alumni have repeatedly told me, "We need Wesley Biblical Seminary!" My friend and WBS alumnus, Reuben Lang’at, uttered urgent words to me in May of this year, as WBS future appeared to be on the ropes, "Brother John, we need WBS!"
My president at KMBC, WBS alumnus Philip Speas’ words to me as I was leaving KMBC were, "We need WBS."
Alumni like Karl Luman, Bruce Moyer, Becky Luman, Nathan Doyle, Rob Pocai, Samuel Bolen, Bubba Humphries, John Moyer, Steve Bagby, Peter Lanigan, Michele Tipton, Randy Huff, and many more have said it to me until it rings in my ears and reverberates in my soul, "John, we need WBS!"
My academic dean at KMBC, Rev. Tom Lorimer, spoke these words to me as I was leaving KMBC, "We need WBS."
My father, Dr. Eldon Neihof’s words to me as I was leaving him and mom and the beautiful hills of East Kentucky, were, "We need WBS!"
My mother’s words to me were the words of Mordecai to Esther that God gave mother for my life as she was expecting me in 1960 and 1961: "Who knows but that thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this!"
Friends, I am no Messiah and I am no martyr. I am no Savior and no hero. I am merely a servant of Jesus Christ who is abandoned to the Christ of the Cross, and the resounding, Divine imperative in my soul is that Jesus needs Wesley Biblical Seminary. I believe in WBS because of its mission.
TEAM
I am amazed at the quality of people with which God has blessed Wesley Biblical Seminary. Gary Cockerill is in his 34th year at WBS. He was granted professor emeritus status at the 2013 commencement ceremonies, only to return as professor and Vice President for Academic affairs this year. Rev. Rob Pocai was the first person I called after my initial informal conversation with Jim Howard and a few trustees on May 4th. Rob is a KMBC and WBS alumnus, and serves as our Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services. Ralph Brown joined our team as Vice President of Business Affairs, leaving a successful career in banking. In February of this year, Ralph sensed the Abrahamic call to leave the comfortable behind and invest in Kingdom business. Johnny Gainey has enjoyed significant success in business and development. He joined the WBS this year as Vice President of Development. In many ways this team is a Dream Team! But we are also a rookie team, and rookie teams will make errors on the field. Indulge us! Give the team permission to drop some balls and make some errors, praying all the while that God will empower us to win the game, for His Glory!
As I beg your indulgence for a rookie team, I implore your patience with a rookie leader. I have spent my career in the second and third chair. Now, I am thrust into a role of greater visibility and responsibility. Although Biblical Higher Education is my world, I am a communicator, not a theologian. Dr. Steve Blakemore makes this caveat, "However, John can think theologically." I guarantee that I will gloss over some of the theological nuances that some of you have built careers upon! Please indulge me. I will make mistakes, please allow me permission to fail. But I promise you that all glory for each success will be given to the risen Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Although the administrative team features some rookies, our classrooms do not. Seasoned veterans, for whom Wesley Biblical Seminary is their legacy, grace our lecterns. Our faculty are the crown jewel of WBS. My son-in-law, Peter Lanigan, WBS class of 2013, informed me of his desire to attend WBS 5 or 6 years ago. From 2007 to 2010, Peter and Katie lived in Nicholasville and Wilmore, Kentucky. I asked Peter, "Why don’t you go to that OTHER school in Wilmore?" He responded, "Because I want to be mentored by the professors at WBS." Each of our full-time faculty has spent double digit years of service at Wesley Biblical Seminary. We honor the excellence that they bring to Biblical and theological graduate education.
Team, having honored the quality of the incredible team God has assembled, I remind you, we are not at Wesley Biblical Seminary because any of us needs credit or recognition, but we are at WBS because Jesus needs glory. If we refuse to touch any glory for any success that WBS enjoys, Jesus will inhabit and bless this place. All glory must be given as an act of worship to the ONE who deserves it, our miracle-working Triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are engaging in the miraculous on behalf of the mission of Wesley Biblical Seminary, as we seek to advance Jesus Christ’s Great Commission for His Church, the Body of Christ, until He comes again!
I believe in WBS because of its team.
VISION
The mission of WBS is bigger than the trustees, the administration, the faculty, and the staff put together. It is bigger than our students and alumni. The mission of Wesley Biblical Seminary is bigger than Jackson. It is bigger than Mississippi. It is bigger than the South. Our mission is bigger than the United States of America. The mission of Wesley Biblical Seminary is global in scope and eternal in its consequence.
The VISION for Wesley Biblical Seminary is this! Jesus needs to be glorified through Wesley Biblical Seminary’s rebirth, its mission, and our fulfillment of His Great Commission. Jesus needs Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Our broken, sin-cursed world needs Wesley Biblical Seminary. Bishop Robert Lang’at is a Wesley Biblical Seminary alumnus. Bishop Lang’at is bringing Jesus to Kenya through the ministry of Africa Gospel Church, and Dr. Friedeman and I shall join AGC and Bishop Lang’at in that endeavor in December. Ghuna Kumar is a WBS alumnus. Ghuna, the 21st century Saint Paul of India, is bringing Jesus to his homeland. Matt Ayers is a Wesley Biblical Seminary alumnus. Matt is the President of Emmaus Bible College in Haiti. Matt and his WBS educated administrative team of Haitian leaders are bringing Jesus to Haiti.
Our nation needs Wesley Biblical Seminary. Bryan Graham is a WBS alumnus. He is building the church of Jesus Christ in Shiloh, Ohio. Jeff Wolheater is a WBS alumnus. He is building the church of Jesus Christ in Indiana. Jerome VanKuiken is a WBS alumnus. He is preparing the next generation of Christian leaders at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Marshall Daigre is a WBS alumnus. He is planting a church in Alabama.
Mississippi needs Wesley Biblical Seminary. Tim Burnett is a WBS alumnus. He is bringing Jesus to broken people in Byrum. Dr. Jesse Kelly is a WBS alumnus. He is bringing Jesus to broken people in Mississippi’s prison system. Dr. Becky Luman is an alumnus. She is bringing Jesus to families broken and separated because of sin, crimes, convictions, and incarceration. Numerous church groups of the Wesleyan heritage across our state are looking to WBS to prepare their next generation of pastors, theologians, and leaders. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the AME Zion, the Church of Christ Holiness, the Church of God in Christ, the Association of Independent Methodists, the Congregational Methodists, the Methodist Protestants, the Church of the Nazarene, the United Methodist Church, and beyond, are looking to Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Jackson, Mississippi needs Wesley Biblical Seminary. Matt Neumann is a WBS alumnus. He is bringing Jesus to broken people in Pearl and Brandon. Emily Smith is one of our current students. Emily is bringing Jesus to Japanese people living in the Jackson area. Matt Friedeman is one of our professors. He is bringing people to Jesus through an ambitious program of personal discipleship, soul-winning, prison ministry, and pro-life endeavors. One WBS Trustee has repeatedly complimented Matt for the boldness and courage for Christ that he models and instills in our students. Carey Vinzant is a WBS alumnus and part-time professor. Carey brings Jesus to agnostics and atheists who are often on the fringes of the culture, people who are constructing meaning upon emptiness and brokenness.
Vision! Why do we need WBS? We need Wesley Biblical Seminary because Jesus needs Wesley Biblical Seminary! Wesley Biblical Seminary exists to advance Christ’s Kingdom through the Church and make disciples of Jesus by offering life-transforming theological education producing Spirit-filled, shepherd-theologians and leaders for the 21st century, who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to Trinitarian faith, Christ-centered holiness, Biblical authority, and personal accountability.
We need Wesley Biblical Seminary because of the souls whom we serve. WBS serves the world. Our alumni are in 52 countries, fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission. WBS serves the African-American church in Mississippi. WBS serves the broader Wesleyan-Holiness movement. WBS serves Christ and His Kingdom. We need Wesley Biblical Seminary!
One of the greatest temptations our historically Wesleyan-holiness institutions face is the temptation to loose ourselves from our historical and theological moorings in the quest for respectability. If WBS drifts, we will start with softening our position on a clear second crisis of entire sanctification, subsequent to regeneration. Such a drift would minimize the importance of a process of growth in grace culminating in a clear crisis of death to self and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, followed by further growth in grace along with fresh and frequent infillings of the Spirit. Such a drift would abandon the insistence for the crisis of entire sanctification, and in its place substitute a process.
Drift.
Vision.
In order to have a vision forward, Wesley Biblical Seminary must have a clear vision of its past, its history, its distinctives, and the reasons for which God raised us up. We must understand why we have a right to exist. Our right to exist is founded upon the distinctives that birthed us. We are a Wesleyan-holiness seminary that believes in the inerrant and authoritative Word of God, the Holy Bible. If, in a misplaced quest for respectability and recognition, WBS drifts toward the mainstream of evangelical protestantism, and seeks to become a generic evangelical institution, we lose our right to exist. There are other seminaries that can do generic evangelical protestant theological education better than WBS. But if we remember who we are and we seek fulfill our mission under Christ, WBS can be great for the glory of God!
CONCLUSION
Mission, team, and vision. That’s why I believe in Wesley Biblical Seminary!
Wesley Biblical Seminary exists to advance Christ’s Kingdom through the Church and make disciples of Jesus by offering life-transforming theological education producing Spirit-filled, shepherd-theologians and leaders for the 21st century, who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to Trinitarian faith, Christ-centered holiness, Biblical authority, and personal accountability.
I believe that Wesley Biblical Seminary is poised to be the premiere Wesleyan Holiness institution in the world to advance the message of scriptural holiness as founded upon the inerrant and authoritative Word of God, the Holy Bible. Why? So that WBS can advance its own name for its own sake? God forbid! Any favor, any measure of success, any preeminence that God allows WBS to achieve must always be for the Glory of God, the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom, and the spread of scriptural holiness!
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