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Monday, October 6, 2014

Why Lee Patton Likes FLorida Bible College

Sixteen new potential students attended our College for a Day last Friday. We were pleased to have several students from Georgia, about 9 students from Dave and Lisa Cannon's work in Palm Bay, Florida, and a number of students from right here in Tampa. We were honored to have Pastor Ken Rico (FBC alumnus) and his wife, Jeff Wells who drove from North Carolina, and Ken Hall and his wife (FBC alumni) who came to serve.


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Lee and I graduated together from FBC back in 1968. We both went together into Indian camps, parted ways in the desert of Arizona, and began ministries in Colorado and in San Antonio, Texas.
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Faith Bible Church (1974 - 2014) 423 Ashley Road, San Antonio, TX 78221 
Lee Patton, Founder & Pastor * Johnny Reyna, Associate Pastor * 210-923-8211  

September 26, 2014

Dear Dr. Arnold,
Greetings in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I had a wonderful time visiting with you and seeing Florida Bible College of Tampa. What an exciting place with friendly students. It is very affordable with only $250 a month for tuition.
The New Florida Bible College of Tampa has the look and feel like the school I attended in 1965-1968. The college is doing all the things that made the old FBC so great under Dr. Ray Stanford:
* Strong church emphasis
* Youth Ranch on Thursday nights
* Soul winning on Friday nights
* Classes in the church rooms
* Use of the old Scofield Bible
* And, a great Personal Evangelism class taught by Dr. Arnold.

Currently, the student body is small and the teachers are few. But it is just the beginning. Florida Bible College of Tampa has a vision and a hope.  And FBCT has God's blessings. The facilities are neat and clean. The church is happy to have the students there in the ministry. The dorms are very nice in the Mainsail Hotel ($250 a month). To date, donations amount to $62,000. If you are looking for a worthy place to give, why not consider Florida Bible College of Tampa. It would be an investment in the future.

Another feature of Florida Bible College of Tampa is the Bibleline Institute on-line courses. Students from all over (including Australia) have enrolled. This makes the total enrollment look impressive. The other unique feature is the clarity of the gospel with an aggressive presentation of the message. Most former FBC grads know soul-winning, but we do not go soul-winning. I was convicted by the excitement of the students in sharing Christ in a clear way.

There is so much more I could say. But, I need to contain myself. May God continue to bless.
Your friend, His servant,
Lee Patton, Pastor
"trust in the Lord and do good" Psalm 37:3
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These letters are very encouraging to read to the staff and to the student body.  Over 30 years ago a young FBC graduate came to work for me in Colorado. I was totally overwhelmed in the business of the ministry. This  Godly Christian young woman took the time to write me an encouraging note. I reread the note yesterday and shared it with the students today. That young woman was Doreen Lassa, and this is what she said.
Yankee and Betty,

I am praying for you both as the new semester begins and you work with the college students-training an army! The responsibility is great and I pray for you every day. I am excited about getting your material in print so that it can influence even more!
In Christ Doreen
Mark 8:35

(She added a few personal things and added these final thoughts.)
I would rather stumble a thousand times attempting to reach a goal,
Than sit with the crowd, in my weatherproof shroud, a shriveled, self-satisfied soul.
I would rather be doing and daring all of my error filled days,
than watching and waiting and dying smug in my perfect ways.
I would rather wonder and blunder stumbling blindly ahead than for safety's sake, lest I make a mistake, be sure and secure-and dead. (anon)

When you have shared my name, Ralph Yankee Arnold, in the presence of others, was it when you were mentioning my name in prayer? Would you like to know what I said to Dr. A. Ray Stanford years ago? "Ray, I owe you an apology. I prayed for the Florida Bible College to grow, but I never prayed for you. I took you for granted. Will you forgive me?" He gave me a stare and then tears came into his eyes.

Would you dismiss my request for prayer, or would you go to the Throne of God on my behalf? If the Lord is in the work, then you know that the Devil is also there.

By the way, Louis Hernandez, our Friday night soul-winning Director shared that they had 88 people trust the Lord on October 3rd. Some of the attendees of "College for a Day" stayed over to experience the Friday night soul-winning.

 Florida Bible College of Tampa


At Calvary Community Church * 4811 George Road, Tampa

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

What makes Florida Bible College Unique?

Why the Clarity of the Gospel was and still is “The Uniqueness of Florida Bible College”

Many thousands of people pass through the doors of various colleges and universities that are virtually the same. However, FBC was not the same as any other Bible college; it was unique.
•    Our clarity of the gospel is unique. We really believed that when God’s word says “Not of works” it meant not of works before salvation or after salvation.
•    Our consistent presentation of the gospel is unique.We were taught to present it at every occasion.
•    Our defense of the gospel is unique. We exposed every terminology or person that erred from the truth of the gospel. Phil. 1:7
•    Our method of presenting the gospel is unique. The wallet illustration was taught to every student. It was the seven steps and in order. (shown below)
•    Our unity that is determined by our fellowship in the gospel is unique. We discerned all schools, preachers, evangelists, and churches by their position on the truth of the gospel. (Phil 1:5)
•    Our gospel is the gospel. It was not the work of any man or school, but by the Word of God itself. We were right and we knew it. Our confidence produced boldness to share with everyone.
o    One way is unique        (John 14:6)
o    One name is unique        (Acts 4:6)
o    Grace is unique (no religion can match it)
o    Faith alone is unique
o    Eternal security is unique (We really believed that salvation was free and you could not lose it. No amount of good works gave us assurance and no amount of bad works caused us to doubt. We were not ashamed of the gospel and that made us unique.
o    We knew that we could trust Christ as our Savior and live anyway we pleased.  We understood that, as a child of God, we had choices to make.
  •     We could now choose to love the Lord, dedicate our lives to him, and seek to please Him as an obedient child of God. We would receive his blessings now and rewards later.
  • We could now choose to love this world and seek to please ourselves as a disobedient child of God. We learned that our rebellion to God will bring the chastening hand of God.
  • Our choices have consequences. We may choose the sin to commit, but the Lord chooses the appropriate response (sickness, weakness, death, etc.)
These are the seven basic minimum principles we were taught at Florida Bible College to explain the gospel to a lost man.The lost man only needs to believe the message.
We would probably all agree that there could be too much information that we might share with a lost person. But at the same time, too little information will not get the job done. Which one of these seven points of truths do you think is not necessary for a lost person to understand in order to be saved?
The first four points are bad news and the last three are the good news.
1. We have all sinned     Romans 3:23
    “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
    Don’t you believe that this is an important truth? I believe that a person needs to know that he has sinned because the second truth is based upon this truth.
2. The wages of sin is death     Romans 6:23
    “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In context, this verse refers to the believer, but the principle is still true. Wages are something that we earn as a result of our sins. We have earned the right to die physically. We have also earned the right to be eternally separated from God in a literal fire burning hell. Due to the fact that we were born with a sinful nature, we were born spiritually dead (separated from God). Just to die physically will not make a payment for our sins. Even Christians die physically, and this will nor pay for our sins. No! I don’t think we can leave this point out.
3. Must be perfect to go to Heaven    Revelation 21:27
    “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”
    How can a sinful person go to a perfect place and be with a perfect God? This is our problem. God requires perfection to enter heaven. Don’t you agree that a lost person needs to know this?
4. Man cannot earn his salvation    Ephesians 2:8-9
    “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
    If God says that a person cannot earn his way to heaven, wouldn’t that help him to see that he needs a Savior? There is no way you can leave this one out.
5. Christ died for our sins    II Corinthians 5:21
    “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
    Rom. 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
    Now that he know we need a Savior, doesn’t it make sense to tell them about the only one there is and what he did to make it possible? This is why we believe on him.
    As you can see, we can’t leave this out of the gospel presentation. It’s the foundation for our belief. This is where we inform the lost as to who Jesus is. He is God in the flesh. He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead.
6. Only believe    John 3:16, John 6:47
    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
    Since this is the only requirement for us to appropriate the payment to our account and to apprehend the free gift of Eternal Life, we must definitely include this truth.
7. You can know you have Eternal Life    I John 5:13
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Since this is what we are after (Eternal Life), we ought to know that if we did what we are told do to get it, then we ought to know that we have it. Why would we leave this truth out of the gospel message?

A poor presentation of the gospel is better than no presentation. But a concise, clear, and thorough presentation will greatly enhance your productivity.

If these seven principles are presented in this exact order and each step is clearly explained to the lost person, it will greatly increase the possibility of their understanding of the gospel for salvation.

If these seven principles will be faithfully given and in order, you cannot help but always give a clear presentation of the gospel. Remember, the gospel is not clear just because we understand what we said, but when the lost man understands what we said.

    If you neglect to cover every point, you jeopardize a lost person's ability to fully comprehend the need and the means of Salvation.  Do not reduce the Gospel to two or three points and believe you have made it easy to understand.

A full explanation of these seven truths will produce a saved soul with a better understanding of his salvation. They will have greater assurance, peace, and stability of their salvation. They should know what they  believes and why. The less a person understands, the more susceptible they will be to doubts and insecurities about their salvation. A child of God never matures as long as there are doubts about their salvation being eternally secure.


This was the Gospel that was taught at Florida Bible College and is still taught at the Florida Bible College of Tampa. PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE GOSPEL!

I truly thank the Lord for allowing me to attend the the Florida Bible College 50 years ago this month. NO REGRETS!!!! YANKEE

Florida Bible College of Tampa
At Calvary Community Church * 4811 George Road, Tampa

If you like what we are doing, I would love to hear from you. Contact Me. I do covet your prayers.


Do you have a question about Florida Bible College? Most of your answers may be found at our new website at www.floridabiblecollege.ushttp://www.floridabiblecollege.us

Contact Bob Gilbert for all your college questions at 813-884-8182. 

Friday, July 11, 2014

2014 Youth Ranch Conference Pictures

This camp was one of the best ever. Our staff consisted mainly of our members from Calvary Community Church, with others who came to help. To see our additional pictures of camp please click the following link: CLICK HERE


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Yes, oIMG_6054ur "Fabulous Fire House Five" did a great job with old and new songs that campers really enjoyed. Camp still works. There was great excitement and enthusiasm. There was great participation in singing, Bible study, sports, Bible drills, and Bible memorization. There was great food and facilities. There was great speakers and counselors. The overwhelming conclusion was, this was a "GREAT CAMP".

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The "Thundering Weasels" took first place in team competition. I told Justin Fields (team captain) that you can't win with a name like that. Boy, was I wrong. See that trophy on the ground? (on the right) Phil and Kay Meyers along with Scott Bennett and Betty Dowdy had a great ministry working with the TWEENS.

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Many of these campers learned up to 50 verses this week. A properly run camp is designed to produce an environment where teens desire to trust Christ as their Savior, study the Word, and be challenged to serve the Lord.

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The TWEENS lined up and sang "God Bless America" to the teenagers on the 4th of July.

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IMG_6836IMG_6791The meaning of "TRUE GRIT"

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY


The apostle Paul ended many of his letters to the churches by heaping praise upon the women who labored with him in the ministry. Back in the late 60s and 70s, we challenged many young girls to attend Bible college. Some thought that would be acceptable for the guys, but girls? What could they do? They would know how to help their mate in serving the Lord, how to love, submit, pray, and  be the Godly wife their husband needs. They would know better how to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Sometimes they have a vision about stepping out by faith to accomplish great things for the Lord. One of those young ladies is Peggy Sperling. She was in that first graduating class of the Colorado Bible College I was privileged to start back in 1975. Sharon (Jackson) Sanchez came from our ministry and attended the Florida Bible College in Florida. She is the one in glasses and Peggy is in the black coat.

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Hi Yankee,
Thank you so much for offering to do this for our ministry. I am grateful for all I learned from you and for the ways God is using this today.

China
Peggy Visits New City, Eager to Return    
Peggy Sperling and Yinyan Huang recently returned from a trip to China that included time spent in the city of Tianjin. The trip was very encouraging as they were able to teach over 200 people, including a group of 40 leaders from a 1000+ member house church!

Listen to how one Godly woman is being used to win many Chinese women to Christ. A burden plus compassion finds a way. Click Here to see this amazing video on how she gets it done.
Peggy_Sperling_on_youtubePeggy’s Women’s Connection teams began ministry in China in March of 2010 and to their knowledge the only ones doing women’s’ ministry there. She and Jon lead teams of men and women who train in many spiritual matters and family issues in churches and businesses in 2 major Chinese cities. She has been to China 13 times in 4 years. Thousands have been trained and are now walking with Christ.  Peggy also enjoys teaching and speaking in the US and helping women learn to simply share their faith using “Story Jewelry". 

This jewelry was designed by Peggy and made by a woman in China who has accepted Christ because of it.There are accompanying tracts and instructions in English, Chinese and Spanish. (The tract was written by Ann Bollinger!). All proceeds go to support the work in China and the Gospel is being shared around the world! Ann Bollinger (Another woman from our ministry) works with a women’s prison ministry. Through this ministry bracelets were sent to Haiti where they were used to share the Good News. The funds were used to send Peggy to China – I love God’s ideas and His economy!!  http://storyjewelry.wix.com/peggy
Blessings,
Peggy Sperling
Director - Women's Connection
720-288-1414

Do you see why we want good Christian young women to attend Florida Bible College of Tampa? We simply believe God wants and needs them also.

Peter Amato, Dean
Florida Bible College of Tampa
813-884-8182
bibleline@floridabiblecollege.us

Dr. Ralph “Yankee” Arnold, President     Office phone  813-884-4328

4811 George Road Tampa, Florida 33634       www.floridabiblecollege.us

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Friday, April 25, 2014

The Ladies Night (Day) Out

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My wife, Betty Arnold, had the blessed privilege of attending the "Women of the Word" Luncheon that was held here in Tampa this month. She is pictured here with Lauren Dungy, who was the featured speaker. She is the wife of Coach Tony Dungy of NFL fame.



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Betty was honored to give the closing prayer. I believe when Godly women can come together and pray for their families, we could see a great change in our homes, churches, and our nation.


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Pictured below is Barb Yoder who is General Manager of WTBN here in Tampa. I am on two of their stations twice a day (five days a week) with a listening potential of 3-5 million people.

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When I married Betty, she was the prettiest little Georgia peach I had ever seen. Well, after 53 years (as you can see) she still is a Georgia peach. This is what she wore on Resurrection Sunday. 
















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 These three ladies accompanied Betty and truly enjoyed this special event. Mrs. Leah Lusan, Mrs. Nancy Polson, and Mrs. Sheila Taylor.
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Below is a picture of the family of Jan Valasquez. His wife, Lucia, emailed me a brief story of her watching "The Passion". Her emotions overwhelmed her as she watched Jesus being beaten, and she could not hold back the tears. Read what her son, Jayce (the oldest), said to her. Micah is the younger.
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Profound moment....

We have been learning about the Resurrection of Christ and Easter traditions all week..I don't feel the need to sugar coat things for my kids or keep things from them, so when a picture came up from the Passion of the Christ movie (a graphic one), they wanted to see it and study it. I explained that this was a movie with makeup, but they were portraying what the events probably looked like in real life.. I began to cry... no.. weep at the image, because well.. who wouldn't when you are looking at and explaining it to her young children? But then Jayce turned to me and smiled and said, "Mom it's ok... he did this for you. He traded his life for ours... its a good thing so don't cry." WOW-- when your child can comfort you by throwing the word of God back at you, it is truly an AMAZING feeling. I finally feel like I am doing something right. Thank you Lord for that moment and for trading your life for mine.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Summer Camp, Love, and a "Wedding"



RACHEL JUSTINE IRMA CHRISTY
and
PAUL ROBERT VASQUEZ


Request the honor of your presence at their marriage on Friday, March 21st, 2014 at 7pm at the Quentin Road Baptist Church 60 Quentin Road - Lake Zurich, IL. 60047

Rachel was raised through the ministry of Calvary Community Church here in Tampa. She worked in Sunday School, Awana, Ranch, Friday night soul-winning, and Summer camps. Paul was a student at Day Spring Bible College at Quentin Road Baptist Church. He is a gifted singer with Sounds of Grace. They met at our Youth Ranch Summer Camp and there you are. When they had their first foot-race at camp and she almost caught him (I knew eventually she would), and she did. Paul attended our Camp for the last three years. This year I might put them on the same team. They are a sharp young couple. Rachel left our ministry to attend college there. Day Spring is a great college that we highly recommend. They turn out a great product. Pray for Paul and Rachel. As her Pastor I am as proud of her, as I know that Pastor Jim Scudder is of Paul.

Letter from Rachel
Hello Pastor Arnold!!
You're not going to believe what I did tonight with Moe. (Monroe is another one of our young ladies that was influenced by Youth Camp and dedicated her life to the Lord. She is also now a student at Day Spring). We watched my  encouragement  video that Calvary sent to me and I have to tell you I wasn't  feeling discouraged, but it sure did lift my spirits and reminded me of how grateful I am that I had a church that gave me a tremendous foundation. I can't help but look back and see all the wonderful people that had a huge part in helping me get to where I am today. I couldn't have done it with out you guys! I also can't help but feel old because I was reminded of going to Awana  and everyone seeing me "grow up". It's crazy to realize how far we have come. And it's funny to think that I've learned so much because back then I thought I knew something.
I just wanted to say hello and thank you for supporting me!

Rachel Christy


We also had another young couple with two children from Calvary attend Day Spring. He has graduated and is now starting a new church in St. Petersburg, Florida. Just love to see young people on fire for the Lord. Yankee