Wholesome words missions international

Dear Christian Friend,

INTRODUCTION OF GBIS

God is doing some great things in this our age. He calls some men to plant churches, some to shepherd His flock, others to take the gospel to foreign lands, and yet some are called to prepare and equip the ministers for ministry. It is in this last position God has called us at GBIS.

The establishment of this seminary is a fulfillment of the promise of God to our generation to reveal His glory and to give us full revelation knowledge in His word. Grace Bible Institute and Seminary is therefore at the cutting edge of proclaiming the revealed word of God under very anointed teachers who themselves are learners and servants of Christ.

The Seminary is an inter-denominational Bible believing Seminary. It is also a full gospel believing and teaching seminary.

The vision of the seminary was given to the servant of God in the person of Prophet Dr. Ezekiel J. U. Edumoh who for the most part of his ministry has been in Bible College teaching and administration. God has endued this seminary with wonderful men and women in the administration and faculty.

We opened our doors for classes in September 1994 with 12 students who registered in our one year program called Leadership Insights Program. The candidates in this program graduated in September, 1995 after their program. In January 1995 we registered a total of 56 students who made up the first year enrollment and in January 1996 we enrolled additional 30 students which brought the total two years enrolment to 91 students. This high enrollment rate is an exposition of the fact that the seminary has a standard that is required by those who love good standard in education be it secular or theological.

Our Library is a growing library, with variety of volumes and periodicals covering every area of studies in the seminary. A total of about 1,000 volumes with over 2,000 periodicals are being displayed in the library. Individual lecturers do have about 1,000 volumes put together which is also available for students.

We have programs ranging from Certificate to Bachelors degrees in assorted theological disciplines with special emphasis in ministry. We prepare men and women who will be relevant in their churches and ministries. We admit people who are in ministry or preparing for ministry, must be born again and without denomination, racial or tribal bias.

Our threefold purposes of existence are, Purity of Life, Dynamism in Ministry and Dedication to Service. At the end of a students stay in the seminary as he graduates, this purpose must have been achieved in his life and ministry. Class room lectures and chapel services are guided towards these purposes.

Admission is twice yearly. In January and in August. Interested candidates are to contact the Registrar for prospectus and admission procedures.

We love the church, and we love you dearly.

Yours in His service,

For: GRACE BIBLE INSTITUTE AND SEMINARY

Prophet Dr. Ezekiel J. U. Edumoh

President

Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, {his mighty power: Gr. the might of his power}

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come

22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

* At GBIS Jesus Christ must be the eminency in all things.
* Our education, our life, our motives must be centered on Him and Him alone.
* Man is not the center of our education, even the church is not the center of our education,
* But Christ alone must be made the central of life in all at GBIS.

He is not only above, but far above, all principalities, and powers, and might, and dominion; and in the lowness of the subjection of all things to him, having put all things under his feet.

And the universality of Christ's exaltation appears, by instancing in principalities and powers, might and dominion; under which he comprehends all things that are excellent in heaven and earth, angels and men, all creatures whatsoever being placed in a degree of inferiority beneath him, and in the lowest state of subjection under him.

* Having eminency above the church; as the head is above the members.
* As authority over the church: the head governs all the members.
* There is a oneness of nature between him and his church.
* It implies a strict, intimate, and close union between him and his church,
* as between head and members;
* which union as to us is mystical, spiritual, supernatural, and indissoluble.

but in different respects; to angels, he is an head of dominion and government, an head of authority and superiority;

but to his church, he is an head of dominion and direction also; not only an head of authority, but an head of vital influence too.

the former are as then nobles in his kingdom, that attend upon his person, but the latter are the endeared spouse that lies in his bosom.

As we make Christ our central focus and the center of all our studies, teaching, learning and practice

Hebrew 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy

* I do not consider anything so inspiring as seeing lives being transformed and changed positively.
* Since the inception of GBIS almost ten years ago, we have seen the lives of people being miraculously transformed. And positively inspired for a life of meaning and purpose.
* People, not just students are our concern; they are the purpose for our being.
* “We be so as to make them be positively”
* This is why we are having our outreaches though not very conspicuous

Since inception, I have not found any ideals as sublime as these. I am always at awe as to the uniqueness of this distinctive. It its the driving focus of our hearts.

* Brethren, every vision has it’s distinctive
* Our distinctive as a body is wrapped up in the three-fold purposes of our great Institution.
* I have never seen a place where a co-operate body achieves collectively and individually their objects and fulfillment in their lives without thriving as persons and as a group to achieve it’s purposes.
* GBIS has been battered left and right because of the very three phrases that makes up our ethos of life.
* We are here today to affirm to this ethos and to pledge our loyalty to the fulfillment of God’s mandate upon us.

> In GBIS we realize that zeal when awakened stimulates motivation, and the person involved can go into a high denial of things that can rob him of what it takes to live a dedicated life to God’s calling and service.

> Our “calling” is very important and it is the basis upon which we do ministry.

> Notice that it is this same person he baptized and declared “as the lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world”.

* Paul as a person discloses that he renounces all his former privileges,
* his former legal righteousness,
* He dedicated himself to Christ alone and His service.
* He has no more confidence in the flesh, but in Christ only:
* What things were reputed gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ's sake.

Leviticus 11:44 , 45For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

> The meaning here is, that the model or example in accordance with which we are to frame our lives, should be the character of that God who had called us into his kingdom. We are to be like him.

> The meaning is, that since God is holy, and we profess to be his followers, we ought also to be holy.

* This seems to be the single major problem we are facing today in Christianity.
* We are faced with a watered down Christianity that has shadow and not substance
* We are attacked by a Christianity that has form and no character
* Men and women are failing God in all ramifications
* The unpredictable nature of man is prevailing over his character and thereby producing less than God expects.

> We are called to live it out, by demonstrating it in our character as the Holy Spirit our sanctifier controls our lives.

It is therefore important to note that there is pressing reason we must be holy and we must teach others and guide their lives into holiness.

Hebrew 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Brethren, as preachers we sometimes are carried away by a lot of sentiments and thereby forget this truth so well inscribe in the holy writ.

+ Without Holiness, there is no seeing the Lord
+ Whatever we do and do not live, preach and teach holiness (purity of heart, motive and action) we deceive ourselves and shall never see the Lord.

* GBIS shall not relent in this purpose,
* It is the central of all purposes;
* Tit is like “love” in the triad of “Faith, Hope and Love” Love is the greatest.
* John Wesley referred to purity of heart as “perfect love”
* He says that love is perfected in a pure heart.

> Our Staff and faculty must subscribe to this truth, believe it, aspire towards, experience it, teach it, and mentor others into it.

> If you do not agree with these common fundamentals of GBIS then you don’t truly belong.

Luke 9:43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did he said unto his disciples,

Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power,

> Because it is written that in the day of His power, His people shall be willing.

* We will not be keen to closely associate with anyone who denies the power of God which we have experienced and which is working in our lives.
* We will not closely associate with anyone who operates the power and speaks in all the tongues or foreign languages without learning them, but who is living a careless Christian life.
* We at GBIS believe that the Holiness of God goes with His Power.

Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Beloved of God, This is our driving force and we are bent to fulfill it wit God on our side.

Grace Bible Institute and Seminary has developed an effective philosophy of education that is designed to develop a through understanding of Scripture, mastery of the art of ministry within the calling of the student and proven scholarship within the student.

The first element in our educational model is “Content.” This area specifically deals with the gathering of knowledge by the student through class lectures, assignments, textbooks and research. GBIS takes great care to insure that textbooks and research projects diligently cover all subjects needed for the students to become proficient in his chosen field of ministry.

The second element in this model is “Application” which involves practicum (mentorship), field projects and supervision. Knowledge without practical experience can prove to be useless in many ministry situations. It is our philosophy that only mentored application of knowledge can true ministry skills be developed.

The third element is “Reflection.” Through journaling his experiences in both the academic studies and ministerial application, the student gains new insights and integrates them into his theology. The goal is to see the student develop the concepts learned in his studies from being abstract to practical in application.

The student then comes full circle. His desire is to once again seek greater knowledge to increase his effectiveness as a minister of Christ.

Therefore, theological education is more than just reading a book or sitting in a classroom. When all three elements of this educational model are properly maintained, the product is a highly educated and proficient practitioner of ministry. This will be seen clearly in our threefold purpose later in this paper.

To understand the educational philosophy of our school, it is important to share with you the three different types of education available and their definition.

This type of education provides instruction either through textbooks, audio or video tapes and requires some type of exam. Usually no closed book exams or thesis/dissertations are required. Because of the lack of meeting proper testing methodology, this type of education would be considered at the “Institute” level rather than the “College” level.

This type of education provides instruction within the local classroom and can include textbooks, audio or video tapes and requires proper testing of the students knowledge. Although dialog is available between students, their peers and the lecturers at the school, usually very little “hands on” application is available. This is the primary source of education for those that aspire to the ministry in the Twentieth Century. (Note: Some systems refer to this as the “traditional” or “on-campus” education.)

This type of education has been provided to students of ministry for well over a millennium. Since the student will be spending his entire life in the setting of the local church, this is where the education process will take place. For centuries, educators would come to the student and train him in the art of ministry within the local church. Contemporary theological education has turned it around to where the students come to the educator. If the student is new to ministry, a Mentor would be assigned to lead he student through the various application of the art of ministry in which he would gain knowledge through experience. Thus there is the continual cycle of learning, doing and reviewing. Learning the art of ministry is both thoroughly academic and “hands on.” This is referred to as “Theological Education by Extension” (TEE) and GBIS calls is “Satelite Campus Education” We try to take education to where the students are.

In GBIS we believe in “apprenticeship” and we also believe in “Mentorship.” It is this that motivated us to put together the “Touch their lives beyond the classroom” which is a project whereby students lives are touched by their mentors on a weekly basis.

When Directed Study education is administered correctly, the results are amazing.

We want to consider some of the basic things the Lord has commissioned GBIS to do perhaps which makes it different from other Bible Colleges.

Grace Bible Institute And Seminary