Jesus Is LORD

Eternity Bible College

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, I have been attending Eternity Bible College here in Simi Valley. 

Just recently, EBC has decided to launch a Distance Education program (online classes) in August. 

I would appreciate if you could help my college with a couple of things:

First, please watch the new EBC Distance Ed video.

Second, please forward this email to the people you know around the country who want to better know, love, and serve God but can’t move to Simi Valley.

If you would like future updates about the exciting things happening at EBC, subscribe to our newsletter.  They won’t use your email for anything else.

In Christ,

David Jee


“Eternity Bible College offers a life-changing bible education at a price that students can afford without going into debt.  All you need is an internet connection.”

       

Eternity Bible College

 

My life changed when I began believing that I was uniquely created.  I got excited about waking up!  This was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in awhile.  It’s a rush knowing that God has work for me to do, and He doesn’t want anyone else to do it for me.  Do you believe this?  Do you believe there is a specific, God-given mission you are to accomplish here on earth?  Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. 

God says to Jeremiah,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

God knew Jeremiah before He formed Him!  He had work for him to do before he even came out of his mother’s womb!

God says of believers,

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:10

He prepared good works for me in advance.  Much like Jeremiah, you and I have been entrusted with a task!  This is why we exist.

My heart is to see Eternity Bible College train young people for their mission.  Too many people waste precious years of their lives chasing after the temporary and unfulfilling.  The college years are vital.  Proper training can save us from years of boredom.

Our mission goes beyond education to discipleship.  Our desire is that students will not only learn from teachers, but know them.  We don’t expect students to observe a healthy church, but to be a critical part of it.  We plan to place students in secular settings where their faith is going to be challenged, and walk with them through the battles.  At the core of all we do is discipleship.

Eternity Bible College isn’t the best college for everyone.  Pray and explore.  If God leads you here, let’s make every day count.

Forever His,

Francis Chan
Founder

 

 

It started with a church’s desire to fulfill its calling to equip people for ministry. Under the leadership of Francis Chan, Cornerstone Community Church had been developing as a body of believers that cared deeply about Jesus Christ being known and loved—both here in Simi Valley and every place around the world. This commitment led Cornerstone to start a Bible Institute.

In 2001, Douglas Bookman and Kevin Oates teamed up to launch the Cornerstone Bible Institute. Though Dr. Bookman’s most recent engagement had been teaching at PBU/Friends of Israel, he had already accumulated a lifetime of experience in Christian education. As the Bible Institute developed, their thought process became more ambitious: what if we turned this into a full-blown college? These discussions began in early 2003. Around the same time, two other key players were added to the staff: Spencer MacCuish, who would later become the Academic Dean, and Joshua Walker, who would eventually become the President.

The discussion about starting a college became increasingly serious. Dr. Bookman began challenging Francis to find out what he was passionate about. Francis was consistent in his response: he saw a void in training people for lives of ministry. In many places, the training was not biblically based. Though there were schools that offered solid biblical training, the costs of such schools quickly became prohibitive. In addition to all of this, Francis was convinced that ministry training must happen in close connection with the local church. If they were going to start a college, it would have address these issues.

By late 2003, the decision was made to start Eternity Bible College (EBC), and Mark Henry was brought on to run the school. With their work cut out and piled high, Mark Henry, Joshua Walker, Spencer MacCuish, Francis Chan, Doug Fox, and Chuck Bomar planned every aspect of the college. They refined the key distinctives:

First, students must be enabled to acquire a solid biblical education without incurring debilitating debt. Too often, people called to missions or pastoral ministry would go to school to receive biblical training, only to leave with a mountain of debt that would take them years to escape. In cases where debt did not permanently redirect these students, churches or missions organizations would be saddled with the financial burden. This cycle had become so commonplace that some missions organizations had even dropped their biblical education requirements. The committee decided that EBC would be fundamentally committed to enabling students to graduate debt-free.

Second, students would be trained to engage culture. Too often, in an effort to train people to minister, we actually isolate them from the people to whom they ought to be ministering. The college was founded with a commitment to the type of hands-on training that could only come through students’ being actively involved in the surrounding culture.

Third, the college would maintain a close partnership with local churches. Rather than pulling students away from the life of a local church, each student would be a vital part of the life and ministry of a local church body. Rather than simply teaching students about church, students would live out the daily realities of being a member of the body of Christ.

Fourth, students would be taught how to think, not what to think. Though indoctrination is easier, critical thinking and a fully formed Christian worldview are essential in this cultural climate. Rather than giving students the answers, the committee decided that students would be given the tools and the training to think for themselves.

And finally, students would be taught by practitioners. Ivory tower theologians tend to produce ivory tower theologians. If students would be taught to practically live out what they were learning, then those who teach them must be involved in real life ministry.

With these distinctives in place, planning continued during the Spring and Summer of 2004. Mark Henry and Joshua Walker handled the documentation and set up the infrastructure. Because he had a background in education, Spencer MacCuish was brought in to troubleshoot some of the issues that came up.

Dr. Bookman’s busy schedule had pulled him away as the planning developed and the school began to form. On a return visit, the staff filled him in on their progress. Dr. Bookman’s response put to words what everyone had been quietly feeling: “Huh, you guys are actually going to pull this off.”

Eternity Bible College was set to launch in the Fall of 2004. With most of the planning in place, the school was lacking only one thing: students. The Summer of 2004 was spent promoting the school. As Francis and the other staff members spoke at churches, camps, and conventions that summer, they began to pitch the school. They were selling nothing more than an idea—that was all they had at that point. Over the course of the summer they were able to pitch the school to thousands of potential students.

Mark Henry had been praying that they would have 100 students for the first semester. When Fall arrived and the first ever EBC class went through orientation, there were 98 students. By the first day of classes, two more students had added.

Unbeknownst to the other staff, Mark Henry had prayed for 100 students because he knew he would be leaving, and he wanted to leave his replacement, Joshua Walker, with an example of God’s faithfulness. Mark Henry left after the first semester to pastor a church in Colorado.

After that first semester, the school continued to grow—both in numbers and in strength. Dr. Bookman came back to teach as an adjunct professor. Doug Main, who was pastoring in Sunland, also joined the faculty. The school’s mission statement, values, and institutional goals were established.

One of the major issues that the staff had to wrestle with was whether or not to pursue accreditation. Every new school needs to make this decision. In the Spring of 2005, the decision was made to pursue accreditation through the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE). That decision has played a key role in the direction and formation of EBC.

In the Spring of 2006, the school launched its first Israel study trip. It was led by Dr. Bookman. In Israel, Joshua and Spencer connected with Nate Foreman and Jon Marshall, both of whom immediately became key members of the faculty. Three Cornerstone Church members were also on the trip: Rick Utley, Del Owyoung, and Larry Thrasher. Though they didn’t know it at the time, these three men would eventually become the beginning of the school board.

In Fall 2007, EBC partnered with Grace Chapel and a few other churches in the Antelope Valley to launch an extension campus in Lancaster. A number of students from the area had been making the hour plus drive every week to attend classes. The extension campus has allowed them to continue their education without spending unnecessary time or money on a commute.

With the goals and mission of the school clearly stated, the college was able to begin assessing the curriculum. In January 2007, a group of faculty members went on a retreat to Hume Lake. While they were there, they began to dream up a new curriculum that focused less on Systematic Theology and more on Biblical Theology. They wanted students to walk through the Scriptures for themselves, applying the principles they had learned in their Bible Study Methods classes.

The new curriculum launched in the Fall of 2008. During the first year, students are given the tools they need in order to study the Bible. Then they spend the next three years studying from Genesis to Revelation, drawing implications and applications for all areas of life directly from the text of the Scriptures. This shift flowed directly from the college’s mission and philosophy of education.

Also in Fall 2008, a semester abroad program was launched in Quito, Ecuador. This program had been developing since the Summer of 2003 when Spencer MacCuish and Francis Chan connected with Phil Payne, who had spent the past ten years as a missionary in Ecuador. The program reflects their shared passion of seeing students continue their education in an international context while gaining valuable cross-cultural ministry experience.

Though the future of EBC has yet to be determined, there are some indications of where the school is headed. The accreditation process has been going smoothly, but much work still lies ahead. The school has finished its first year in the new curriculum, and the curriculum will continue to be shaped. Since its doors opened in 2004, EBC has continued to grow. Because of its commitment to keeping students in the context of their local churches, the majority of growth will probably come through planting other colleges in conjunction with local churches.

To date, EBC has graduated 47 students. Five graduates are currently serving as missionaries in five different countries: Israel, France, India, Hungary, and Iraq. Others are pursuing additional training and raising support for the mission field. Five graduates are furthering their education at the seminary level. Nine graduates have joined the staff of churches and camps across the country. Four are pursuing additional degrees. Three are serving as social workers. The rest of the graduates have joined the workforce or are working as stay-at-home moms. EBC is very proud of its graduates, and looks with anticipation to what God will continue to do in and through them as the school grows and develops. Ultimately, the school does not exist to offer classes or degrees. Rather, the purpose is to train people to fulfill the ministries that God has entrusted to them.

- EBC

Eternity Bible College