"By the Grace of God ..."

by Brian R. Kenyon

Among the witnesses of the resurrected Lord that Paul points out in his great resurrection chapter is himself, “as of one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8). He then states,

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Cor. 15:9-10)

Paul’s persecution of the church is why he refers to himself as “the least” (cf. Eph. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:15). However, once he became aware of the Truth and realized his life as a persecutor the low point, he could not help but to exalt the “grace of God” for making him who he was, a forgiven sinner and apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-22; 1 Tim. 1:12-17).

Although we may not come from the same background as Paul, it is still by the “grace of God” that we are who we are. This is true for all faithful people of God, whether we consider them individually or collectively! As the school begins its forty-first school year, three thoughts come to mind concerning our existence and the “grace of God.”

First, by the “grace of God” the Lord blessed West Central Florida with faithful men who had foresight and determination to start a school that would counter the “non-institutional” movement and that could influence churches of Christ in this area to stay the Biblical course, “binding and loosing” only as God has established (cf. Mt. 18:18). A few years ago, Ted Wheeler came across a brief biographical outline on the life of B.C. Goodpasture, which introduced his collection of books listed in the State of Tennessee’s Department of State: Tennessee State Library and Archives. The outline contains only nine entries. The second to the last one, concerning September 1969, reads, “The Florida School of Preaching opened after Goodpasture visited B.C. Carr in Lakeland, Florida and challenged him to begin a school similar to the Nashville School of Preaching in Nashville, Tennessee.” Other faithful brethren, including G.K. Wallace and the South Florida Avenue elders at the time, were also involved. Only the Lord could have known the impact for good this school would and continue to have. By the “grace of God” we began in 1969, and we are what we are today!

Second, by the “grace of God” the Lord has blessed the school with stability over these forty plus years. There are a number of ways Christians can fulfill the Great Commission to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15), and a school training preachers and preparing souls to better serve the Lord is one such means. A little over ten years ago, this writer was thumbing through donated brotherhood journals from the 1960s and ‘70s. He could not help but notice the number of announcements made about brethren starting preaching schools; yet, many of them no longer existed. What happened? Perhaps it was lack of direction. Maybe there was no financial backing or students. Could it have been that brethren just could not get along (Gal. 5:15)? Rest assured, we do not take our forty-first school year for granted, but give all praise to God and strive to glorify Him in all that we teach and practice! Theto “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15), and a school training preachers and preparing souls to better serve the Lord is one such means. A little over ten years ago, this writer was thumbing through donated brotherhood journals from the 1960s and ‘70s. He could not help but notice the number of announcements made about brethren starting preaching schools; yet, many of them no longer existed. What happened? Perhaps it was lack of direction. Maybe there was no financial backing or students. Could it have been that brethren just could not get along (Gal. 5:15)? Rest assured, we do not take our forty-first school year for granted, but give all praise to God and strive to glorify Him in all that we teach and practice! The Lord is the one who has blessed us with a solid beginning and faithful personnel who labored in love from Biblical motives and for Biblical goals. God is the one who has blessed us all these years with stable directors, leadership, and instructors. He is the one who continues to bless us with students, friends, and financial support. For these blessings, we are eternally grateful. By the “grace of God” we are what we are!

Third, by the “grace of God” the Lord has blessed us with the fellowship of you, our friends and supporters. Although this blessing overlaps with the blessing of stability, we want to single out our appreciation to those in Christ through whom God blesses us. We could not function as we do without your help! Many of our supporters are widows and/or those on “fixed budgets” who sacrifice greatly above and beyond their first day of the week contributions to the local church of Christ. They are able to do this because, as Paul says of the Macedonians, they “first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God” (2 Cor. 8:5). We thank God for every one of our friends and supporters! By the “grace of God” we are what we are!