On a personal note: I have been disappointed by many and bewildered by more than a few leaders over the course of my life and ministry.  The task of writing this brief summary of a recent chapel announcement from a man I held in high esteem is numbered among my saddest accounts.

Re: November 7, 2019, Chapel Hour

Bob Jones University

Greenville, SC

In the introduction of his November 7, 2019 chapel message, Dr. Bob Jones III, Chancellor of Bob Jones University (BJU) and former President of the University, publicly praised Dr. Billy Kim, known as the “Billy Graham of Asia”.

Dr. Kim served Evangelist Graham as his translator during his 1973 Crusade in South Korea.  Never one to shy away from ecumenical opportunities, Dr. Kim has served as President of Baptist World Alliance (2000-2005) and associated with broad evangelicalism throughout his life.

Dr. Bob Jones III’s public chapel comments (minutes 2:48-6:00) concerning Dr. Kim and his ministry serve as an endorsement of the man and is a dramatic departure from the University’s legacy as a separatist institution and its stance concerning Dr. Kim.

In its history, the chapel pulpit of Bob Jones University served as a platform for calling thousands of students and tens of thousands of graduates to practice personal holiness and ecclesiastical separation.

As a graduate, I remember well the admonitions concerning ecclesiastical compromise heralded by Drs. Bob Jones Jr. and his son, Bob Jones III.  The lecterns in the Preacher Boy’s Classes and Bible classes echoed the same universal warning…today’s compromise paves the way to tomorrow’s departure.

I fear “tomorrow” has come.

With the heart of a shepherd,

Travis D. Smith

Senior Pastor

A Graduate of Bob Jones University, 1977