This is an old article but still very pertinent (I think) for the times in which we live and the recent resignation of Sam Horn from TMUS. Oh, now that Sam Horn has resigned TMUS is there a place for him back at BJU? There aren’t many surprises anymore with the new-fundamentalist!
‘Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (DBTS), a ministry of Inter-City Baptist Church, will hosts its annual E3 Pastors Conference this October. The guest speakers include two Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Rick Holland, host pastor Dr. David Doran and Bob Jones University (BJU) Executive Vice-President Dr. Sam Horn.
It is not particularly newsworthy that Dr. Dave Doran is sharing his platform with (SBC) preachers. For example in 2011 Dave Doran and Kevin Bauder participated with Dr. Mark Dever at the now defunct Calvary Baptist Seminary’s Advancing the Church conference. On the other hand, Dr. Sam Horn, BJU’s Dean of the School of Religion and the Seminary, sharing a platform with SBC preachers is something new.
Dr. Richard Caldwell is a man whose roots run deep in the SBC. There is, however, a connection between Sam Horn and SBC pastor Rick Holland. Sam Horn got his D.Min. (2007) from John MacArthur’s Master’s Seminary. In April 2010 Northland International University’s Matt Olson, Sam Horn, Les Ollila and Doug McLachlan traveled to the Grace Community Church (GCC) to meet with John MacArthur, Rick Holland and Phil Johnson. It is my understanding that Sam Horn orchestrated this meeting. After a day of discussions the Northland men came away finding no reason not to have fellowship with them. An invitation was extended to GCC’s then executive pastor, Rick Holland, to speak in Northland’s chapel.1 This confirmed a new alliance for NIU with the so-called “conservative” evangelicals.
Who is Rick Holland? You can find a brief up-to-date biography at the DBTS site. Rick Holland was Executive Pastor to Dr. John MacArthur and served as the college pastor at Grace Church. He was the director of the doctor of ministries program and a faculty associate in homiletics at The Master’s Seminary. Rick was also the founder and executive director of the controversial Resolved Conference. He has degrees from The Master’s Seminary (M.Div.), and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.).
For BJU Sam Horn’s participation in the E3 Pastors Conference is much more than the University hosting the vocal group Cantus (a male ensemble partially comprised of practicing homosexuals) for an artist series, more than hosting new-evangelical Billy Kim and his Korean Children’s Choir, and more than an ambivalent dress-code change. This is BJU’s leader of ministerial training sharing a platform, in joint ministry, with SBC pastors.
Dr. Sam Horn operates in an official capacity as BJU’s Executive VP for Enrollment and Ministerial Advancement, Dean of the School of Religion and the Seminary. Sam Horn represents and speaks on behalf of Bob Jones University. If Dr. Horn were only the VP for Enrollment his appearance at DBTS might not be quite so problematic. Dr. Horn, however, has oversight of BJU’s Division of Bible and the Seminary. The Seminary and Bible faculty answer to him. Make no mistake, Dr. Horn’s appearance at the E3 Pastors Conference is a departure from BJU’s legacy as a separatist institution, which raises the stakes of compromise to an unprecedented level with serious implications for BJU’s School of Religion and the Seminary.
Dr. Horn’s appearance is about the future of BJU’s Bible graduates, their theology and practice. Pastors who have ministerial students at BJU now, or contemplating sending your Bible majors in the future, risk seeing them swept into the broader sphere of a so-called “conservative” evangelicalism.
One might reasonably ask in light of the upcoming joint ministerial fellowship of Sam Horn and Rick Holland at DBTS: How long will it be before BJU president Dr. Steve Pettit invites Rick Holland, Mark Dever, John Piper or Al Mohler to BJU’s chapel pulpit?
BJU has embarked on a departure from ecclesiastical separation. Since the installation of Dr. Steve Pettit as president followed by Dr. Sam Horn as an executive vice president, BJU becomes increasingly unrecognizable to the purpose and philosophy upon which it was founded. Is this Northland all over again?’https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2018/09/bjus-subtle-rejection-of-ecclesiastical.html
whatyareckon 
Let’s hope not as BJU does not need a man like him on its staff or in any position of leadership. I got to know him personally when I was a student at BJU early 1990. I had a couple of run ins with him and he always displayed an air of superiority, being rude and looking down on other people. Back then he was considered a rising star. Make no mistake, he is smart but there is no trace of humility and humbleness in him. Sam Horn was asked to resign from TMUS due several complains and lack of people skills as well as verbal abusive behavior which seems to have followed him everywhere he went. I say good riddance…
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Sadly, there are a lot of men in ‘Christian’ organizations that are like how you describe Sam Horn. This type can usually be detected very soon after meeting them but that doesn’t seem to bother those who do the ‘hiring’ or at least at the time it doesn’t bother them. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
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“…an air of superiority, being rude and looking down on other people…”
This has been my impression of the BJU monolith since my first encounter [circa early 1970s]
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