Who Can be a BJMBC Student?

By Dr. Phil Kamibayashiyama (BJMBC Director)

BJMBC is not for all Christians, just like the Philippine Military Academy is not for all citizens. The church is for all Christians, but we believe that Bible school is for those who are active members of a good church, have a good Christian testimony, are recommended by their pastor for further equipping, and are teachable academically and spiritually. Without these qualifications, a believer lacks the foundation to make studying at BJMBC really profitable.

A key to our philosophy is what God has called BJMBC to do. BJMBC exists to train primarily front-line soldiers: full-time Christian servants. We are glad to include other believers—if they have a soldier’s heart. To produce godly soldiers for Jesus Christ, we give specialized training to a certain kind of believer, one who has strong spiritual interest and is a positive spiritual influence on others. Not every believer has:  1) a strong, spiritual interest to study the Bible in-depth and  2) a godly influence that sharpens others spiritually. We are intentionally selective in order to ensure that BJMBC produces its primary product: godly full-time Christian servants who make disciples for Jesus Christ.

You must be recommended for Bible college training by your pastor. You must be an active, participating member of a fundamental church. You must also be teachable. Teachableness is not sinlessness. But a Christian who is not regularly repenting of his/her sin is probably not humble or teachable. Genuine repentance results in fruit, such as humbly admitting your sins without excuses and sincerely striving to change. Without this kind of teachableness, a person will not really learn and will even weaken others spiritually. Also, his or her testimony is in much danger.

Even though BJMBC is for believers who already have a good Christian testimony, we still see God using His Word to transform students’ lives. But BJMBC is not the last hope for change in a person’s life. The church is the fundamental institution ordained by God to help all believers. However, even in the church, the time comes when it must remove a believer from its fellowship. This is when a believer’s testimony is characterized by sin through either persisting in sin or the gravity of the sin. According to 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Thessalonians 3, we should not fellowship with a believer whose life is characterized by immorality, covetousness, idolatry, speaking abusively, drinking alcohol, stealing-deceiving, or walking disorderly especially among others. The purpose of a believer’s removal from fellowship is to preserve the testimony of the body of believers and to help the erring brother to realize the error of his/her ways, repent, and be restored. 

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BJMBC must also take similar action for similar offenses and for similar purposes. Our desire is for BJMBC to be a place where, even at the student level, iron is sharpening iron. If you have a well-established relationship with your church, have a good Christian testimony, could be recommended by your pastor for further equipping, and are teachable academically and spiritually, we encourage you to prayerfully consider enrolling at BJMBC! We exist to assist churches in training members of this kind for ministry that truly honors the Lord Jesus Christ.