What would it have been like to be standing in the crowded living room with Jesus when four friends dismantled a perfectly good ceiling and airdropped a friend into the Master’s presence, anticipating a miracle? Imagine their excitement when they witnessed not one, but two astounding interventions of God! There is still no miracle that ever matches the eternal consequences of a man experiencing a new birth!
So, this week, I witnessed several miracles in rapid sequence; and I confess, the obvious intervention of God left me shaken and grateful. I cannot remain silent. First, on Tuesday I joined the faculty procession behind President Emir Caner to walk into the standing room only field house on the campus of Truett-McConnell University where students, veteran and freshly minted, gathered for Convocation.
First miracle. Cleveland, Georgia, is not a leading industrial complex or center of anything somebody would know about. Where did all these young people come from? Hundreds of tomorrow’s leaders following more than 100 faculty into a chapel session that combined the dignity of the occasion with the fires of spiritual revival! President Caner—I thought he looked familiar—he was a student of mine when he came to college years ago, brought one of the most compelling ten-minute messages that I have ever heard in my long life of listening to sermons. And what is he doing now? He has briefly explained how to be saved and has extended a call to students to receive Christ and openly profess him before the assembly! In a convocation! Wearing academic regalia!! and there are kids coming forward!!! If I had a child, I can tell you where I would send him to college.
Second miracle. Matthew Slemp, minister of music at First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, led the singing. Gerald Wolfe of Greater Vision played the piano, joined by a host of other student instrumentalists. The music included among the wonderful Gospel selections, a Reformation hymn—God’s Word Stands Sure Forever, written by Balthazar Hubmaier, which is in itself a monumental testimony to the Word of the Lord. And how those young people did sing!
Miracle Three. Five new professors signed the Baptist Faith And Message without hesitancy and with the full intention of teaching fully in accord with the convictions expressed in that document. Banners surrounded the room honoring the Anabaptist martyrs who sealed their testimony with their own blood. This university understands its mission and purpose. I long for every Baptist to have the pleasure of visiting Truett McConnell University and meeting President Emir Caner and his faculty.
Paige Patterson, President
Sandy Creek Foundation