We Don’t Need No Education - Purity 1316

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Today's photo of a springtime view of the Hudson River and the mountainous or hilly landscape to the west comes to us from an unknown Facebook friend who shared this simple but pleasant scene from their visit to what I believe to be the Vanderbilt Mansion, a National Historical Site in Hyde Park, New York, on social media on or around May 9th, 2021. If this is your photo, give me a heads up and I will update the blog to give you the photo credit after the fact. Well, it's Wednesday, and I shared today's photo to release it from my phone's photo gallery because I thought there was enough of a hump in the landscape displayed here to visually represent our arrival at the midpoint of another work week. So happy Hump Day! As I continue to seek the Lord's purpose for my life and am always looking for ways in which I can increase my faith or to be better equipped, um, for ministry. I'm always looking forward to what's next on this path of Christian discipleship. A couple of months ago, I looked forward to this time of the year when the Freedom in Christ course I was facilitating would be over and wondered about what I was being called to do next. And when I prayerfully consider the possibilities, I seem to come to a crossroads of decision. On one hand, I felt that I was being called to minister to others by stepping out in faith and becoming a Christian life coach. Because while I have a master's degree in Christian counseling, my Bible college, Vision Christian Bible College and Seminary, is not an accredited institution recognized by the state. So I realized that pursuing licensure in New York State as a counselor would probably be an act of futility. You see, Vision Christian Bible College and Seminary is a member of The International Association of Bible Colleges and Seminaries for Accountability and Accreditation, IABCS, is a non-governmental accreditation institution setting standards for Bible colleges and seminaries that do not want to come under secular government control and at the same time maintain a genuine degree program for higher education. IABCS is the oldest NGAI in the United States, in the USA, established established in 1954. But because VCBCS, my Bible college, doesn't bow down to secular governmental control, the government and its licensing, licensing agencies reserve the right to not recognize their degrees to meet their requirements for accredited educational institutions. So for people in my situation who want to serve in a pastoral counseling capacity, we need, uh, to get hired— either get hired through a church as pastoral counseling staff or work independently with the title of Christian life coach, publicly declaring that we are not a licensed counselor regardless of our education and experience operating in that capacity. While I knew all this, it doesn't mean I have to like it, and taking the humbler path of Christian life coach didn't sit well with me, so I considered pursuing a doctoral degree from Liberty University, which is Christian and accredited, but I wasn't sure they would accept my master's degree. After much correspondence and perhaps some denial on my part, Liberty University finally told me that because VCBCS, my Bible college, is not accredited, they would not accept my master's degree as the requirement for entrance into their doctoral program. But get this, and this is part of my frustration and confusion, they are still welcoming me to submit official transcripts to, from an accredited institution. Previously, that vague invitation made me think I was doing it wrong. Oh, VCBCS is not on the same electronic systems to submit it officially, so let me send it to them as JPEGs and PDFs. Oh, they're still asking for an official transcript. Well, they, they say I can send them a paper copy. Let me, you know, pay my alma mater the $5 for an official transcript and mail it to them. Okay, they've received it and it'll take 1 to 3 business days to process it. Still nothing. Uh, so I inquired about why I haven't heard anything and I get this response: Thank you for your email. That is a great question. We are waiting on your official transcripts which show a conferral of your master's degree from an accredited institution at this time. So after having them confirm receiving it but are still waiting, I just wanted to know if I was wasting my time. So I asked, are you saying that you do not recognize them and I would not be accepted in your program? This is very frustrating. I have sent electronic copies, paper copies of my transcript. I would just like to know if a transcript from Vision Christian Bible College and Seminary would be accepted by Liberty, and if I individually would be granted admission to the doctoral program for pastoral counseling at Liberty University. I would appreciate a clear and final answer because I have nothing else to send. After months, they finally said We have received your official transcript from Vision Christian Bible College. However, we are unable to use transcripts from an uncredited institution to make an admissions decision. Part of our mission at Liberty is to maintain an accreditation level that allows our graduates to be viewed in high regard. For this reason, we have specific guidelines that are— we are required to maintain for admission into our programs. Due to these guidelines, we are unable to accept an unaccredited master's degree for admissions to a doctorate program. So basically, my VCBCS degree isn't good enough for Liberty. And as much as I do care— I don't care for rejection on any level, I gladly accept it at this point. Unless changes dramatic— unless there are changes dramatically, in my heart and mind, I am done with pursuing any more degrees or outside validation from educational institutions, because finally, after earning 4 undergraduate degrees and a po— one postgraduate degree, uh, an unaccredited degree, at least, at least according to the secular government and, uh, Liberty University standards, I have learned my lesson. Degrees don't matter in the service of God's kingdom. And I think this experience has taught me that I was deceiving myself and believed the lies that, as the Steps to Freedom in Christ present, I must live up to worldly standards in order to feel good about myself, or that I believed the lie that I must gain the approval of certain people, the government, and Liberty University, I guess, in order to be happy. This pursuit of higher education and certifications also fed my pride that told me, also from the Steps to Freedom in Christ, Christ that I was prideful by being driven to obtain recognition by obtaining, attaining degrees, titles, and positions, and I was guilty of considering myself better than others because of my academic abilities and accomplishments. So I have been rejected and humbled once again, and I understand that I was a little rebellious too. Um, I tried to get into the hallowed halls of a nationally recognized and fully accredited institution with my unaccredited degree, but the gatekeepers have done their job, and I can't fault them for, for saying no. And I suppose I could humble myself to their standards and apply for another master's degree in order to get the doctorate degree that I coveted, but I'm deciding to take my ball and go home. Getting all those degrees I have has taught me a few things. One, they don't satisfy. They don't necessarily mean much other than you took a bunch of classes and received passing grades. They don't guarantee you actually learned anything. Not that I haven't learned anything, but I know that you can go through a program of study and not necessarily retain the information you learned to pass a test or to write a paper. I call that task-based learning. And the most important thing I've learned from obtaining all the degrees I have is that they do not teach you how to live, and they do not give you ambition or purpose. God is the only— is the one from whom wisdom comes, and he is the one who approves us. And amazingly, he does not require you to pass a test, write a paper, or work really hard to be accepted into his kingdom. It is by faith in Christ alone that we are given new life, the ability to understand divine wisdom, and the power to live a righteous life. We only need to study one book, the Bible, to know what to do in life. It's the one book that contains God's word, the truth, and its wisdom is infinite, as is evident by the sea of books written by man that try to explain what God is telling us. I have quite a few of them on my bookshelves and in my electronic library. So I don't need no education, and I guess I'll just follow the Lord to learn from the resources I already have access to and follow the Holy Spirit to pursue my purpose in his, uh, for his kingdom. Uh, anyway, uh, I really cut through time today, so we're going to fly through the rest. Um, today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. It's under the section for contentment, coveting, and priorities. And today's verses are Colossians 3:1-3, which says, since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. Where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth, for you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And today's, uh, Bible verses fall under the 26th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on contentment, coveting, and priorities. And that one says, set your affections on things above, not on the things of this the earth. Today's verses convict me to focus on God's kingdom and not man's degrees. So let's do that. I gotta write this. I'm literally writing it right now. Uh, to focus on God's kingdom and not man's approval. And not man's approval. That's all I'm writing. A lot of comment Harry there today. Approval. There we go. And not man's approval. Wow, that's a lot of teaching, M.t. Clark. Great job. Anyway, and we also share from our regular devotion that we're sharing currently, which is According to Your Word, morning and evening through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And, uh, in that, in that devotional, he prompts us to read, uh, John chapter 8. And from John chapter 8, He writes, the truth shall make you free. And that's from John 8:32. The truth shall make you free. And Alford writes, it is interesting to note that working— the working powers of the word of God, or truth, as revealed in this gospel. Here are just a few. Um, it's liberating power. The truth shall make you free. The word of God is, is that which snaps all chains of bondage. Its pruning power: You are already clean, pruned because of the word which I have spoken to you, from John 15:3. This is pruning for greater fruitfulness. Its sanctifying power: Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth, John 17:17. Herein lies the secret of a sanctified life. Its rejoicing power: If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them, John 13:17. The keeping of his commandments has a special reward of happiness for the obedient believer. And Alford closes his devotion by praying, thank you, Lord, for the liberating power of your word. May your word have its way in my life. Amen. And so we pray today, because I gotta run out the door in like literally 5 minutes, um, we pray, um, that God's word to be done and lead me to educate me further as I will be pursuing independent study of his word in all the books on my shelves. And pursuing my purpose as a Christian life coach going forward. Be patient, and we'll do our best to represent the kingdom and serve the body of Christ. And we don't have to necessarily get a degree to do that. So we're gonna, we're gonna press in. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for all you've done for us. We thank you for opening our eyes and being humbled once again. Lord, we pray for anyone listening today that they would be encouraged to follow you and not worry about man's approval when they do so. Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom, Lord. Do we desperately need your help to do that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.