education

College Promotional Videos: MBBC Edition

123 Comments

I’m Gunna Apply from Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Vimeo.

I very, very rarely do this on this site but I have to give this video some serious kudos. The fundies in the frozen north are upping their game. This video is funny, it’s engaging, and it’s clever. I loved the shots taken at “made up universities” with degrees that aren’t good enough.

It’s almost like they’ve been reading this site…

Thanks to Eric for passing this along.

123 thoughts on “College Promotional Videos: MBBC Edition”

    2. YAY!!! I know just about Everybody in this video!! The main singer and I lived in nearby towns for several years, he’s a really nice guy. Some people were talking about the lack of girls: Well, There are quite a few that show up in passing, crowd scenes, and in the lockstep shots. Plus, I think the reason you see guys is because they were fun/crazy enough to want to do this (don’t take me wrong, there are fun girls there. 😀 My friends have been sending my the link to see this. Awww! Thanks Darrell this made my night!

  2. * Guys wearing shirts without collars
    * Music that borders on having a rhythm
    * Borrowing a move from The Village People
    * A guy holding a girl’s hand

    Darrell, I’m offended that you would post such filth! :mrgreen:

    1. Psh…they’re married. 😉

      Glad you guys approve, and personally, as a MBBC student, I love this site.

        1. Fun fact: all the faculty in this movie are Bible or Seminary faculty. Contemplate that one. But, if you knew Maranatha, the Bible faculty are not fundies, at least not the kind you make fun of on here. But, I’m biased.

          And I actually found out that this video made it on this site from one of the Bible faculty at the school… 😯

        2. @Sarah First, Mark Z is quite familiar with MBBC as am I. Second, as Darrell noted at the bottom of the post, “Thanks to Eric for passing this along.” It’s not a matter of bragging rights, but I would like to clarify that while a member of the faculty may have submitted this to SFL — I don’t know whether they did or didn’t — but I do know that I am not a member of the Bible faculty. 😉
          Lastly, while everyone who knows anything about MBBC would acknowledge that they aren’t as crazy fundy as HAC or PCC, they are firmly entrenched in the fundamentalist IFB camp and to say otherwise is ridiculous. Remember, the difference between the legalism and problems of BJU and MBBC is only separated by one ex-president. And MBBC’s disapproval of the changes that are being made at Northland only shows that they aren’t as far away from the dock of crazy fundamentalist as you would like to think.

        3. I feel like I should claim my Fundie heritage here, like the apostle Paul did with his Jewish heritage…

          I went to the Academy and then to MBBC, and then worked there for four years. I went to Calvary for elementary school, which might as well be called “Maranatha Elementary.” So, yeah, I put my time in and know a few things about the place. 🙂

    2. OH..don’t worry, this video already ruffled the feathers of David Cloud who has now declared MBBC to be on the “emerging path” and will be apostate very soon. He has a vendetta against West Coast because they are singing CCM songs (completely sterilized of course of any drums, guitars, or emotion).

  3. That was rather amusing compared to the other fundy college promotional videos. 🙂

    1. This was pretty awesome for a fundyU promo video. Cute, talented, and (relatively) cool guys? I’d so apply.

  4. I was talking with a friend about this and he pointed out that the current generation of teens are growing up with High School Musical and Glee and suchlike.

    Somebody there has a pretty keen sense of that ethos — in fact, it’s almost too good. Somebody has been watching modern TV and movies.

    1. Glee was actually my first association! 😎 Then I noticed there wasn’t any actual choreography … and that the vid features mostly males. Probably because Fundy-lite guys can wear normal clothes. 😕 A chick wearing a hoodie & shades with a jean skirt would mess with the “We’re hip!” message MBBC is trying to send.

      Still, if the college is ok referencing pop culture in a positive way, it’s a good thing. 😉

      Nice job, Maranatha! 😀

      1. Actually, girls at Maranatha can wear pants. Not all the time, but there are times when they’re permissible.

        1. Well, gosh, gals can wear pants @ BJU, too. Just not to class. Or meals. Or front campus. 😕

  8. Recognize most of the places and a few faces at the old alma mater. Good to see those Acad dweebs are still in that dank basement. Funny to see Dr. Oats’ mug in a “Glee”-style video.

  9. I enjoyed this. It was amusing as well as well done. In my travels trough Wisconsin I have met a few Maranatha students. I enjoyed meeting them. They seemed to be solid on the Fundamentals without being Fundies.

    The accredited part was good. Dar-El’s influence is growing.

    1. MBBC was accredited before it was the thing to do. In fact, go back to the early 90’s in BJU chapel and I am sure you could find some serious shots at Maranatha from the pulpit for their descent into liberalism once the accreditation folks forced them to throw out the Bible.

      From this video, we can see that it was all true! 😀

  10. I saw a girl wearing pants…

    This was well done. Loved the steak part…

  11. This doesn’t necessarily surprise me a ton. I graduated from there about 6 years ago and they have always had pretty creative videos and promos.

  12. Has anyone checked the graves of Dr. and Mrs. Cedarholm which are on the front lawn of the campus? The ground must have heaved from the two rolling over in their graves.

    Under no circumstances whould the Cedarholms ever permitted such a video. I remember the old Maranatha, not that I like it, but this very style of music was banned back then.

    It was entertaining in a way. I recognized rooms within the campus, and I’m surprised that they got faculty to be in on this.

    The faculty of the old Maranatha would have been shocked at the lack of sobriety that the video shows.

    Again, I’m not supporting the “old” Maranatha vs. the “New” Maranatha. When Weniger came, a lot of the old sacred cows were toppled. Mrs. Cedarholm and I got to talk a lot, and she was upset that the new administration considered her music fuddy-duddy. She was even more upset that Weniger would not allow Handel’s Messiah to be performed in its totality. Rather, he wanted a bouncy type of Christmas program.

    I can’t agree with a lot of what Maranatha stood for, but one thing in its favor was that the Cedarholms were godly people who lived at the same level as the others. I could tell that they were praying for me, and the atmosphere was really spiritual. Things changed when Weniger came on board, and a lot of these godly people were rudely pushed aside. I bought a copy of the book commerating the 40th anniversary of the school. It was amazing in its whitewashing job and its praise for the very people that Weniger pushed out the door. I can’t say much of anything in the later years, but the flouncy, bouncy circus style of this video would have never been permitted in the old days.

    Perhaps I’m a stick in the mud with this issue, but I’m just very surprised that this video would be published. One thing has remained the same though. It’s very patriarchal. Apparently, MBBC does not have any women students nor faculty worthy of being showcased.

      1. Bwahahahaa! If only someone had worn a powder blue tux! (You’ll only understand that if you heard Mrs. Cedarholm’s speech on formal wear or had someone who repeated that speech every year.)

        1. Mrs. C: Where do you think you’re going, young man?

          YM: I’m going to my graduation.

          Mrs. C: Not in a powder blue suit, you’re not!

        2. Mr. B. simply did not do that story justice. Mrs. Cedarholm’s recitation was the ril dil!

        4. That story about the powder blue suit really goes to the early days. I think that a lot of this stems from Mrs. Cedarholm’s background. She was raised Lutheran and turned Baptist when she met Doc. As I said earlier, Mrs. C. and I talked a lot even after I left. If you look at her earlier musical style, she wrote things in the Gospel Chorus mode. I’m thinking of the official school songs for both Pillsbury and Maranatha. Toward the end, I believe that she was returning to her Lutheran roots. Her last composition, I believe, was ***Rich in Mercy*** and was written like a traditional 4/4 hymn that one would sing in a liturgical church. She mentioned to me that Weniger didn’t like the song, and I even heard Weniger say so himself. For those who attended Maranatha later, did the Madrigal ever sing ***Rich in Mercy***?

          I got to attend two Madrigal concerts within the last ten years, and I noticed that the Maranatha school song is not sung anymore by the Madrigal.

          I’m not sure if I should say more here, but I was close enough to the Cedarholms to know that there was the public Cedarholm and the private one. When I was teaching at MBBC, I remember sneaking off to the opera in Chicago with the Cedarholms and to Central Lutheran Church in Madison for a Christmas Eve service. At that time we were all sworn to secrecy.

          Mrs. Cedarholm got where she was because she was married to Doc, but she told me in confidence that she believed that women were underestimated and were kept down when there were women who were more qualified than men to assume leadership positions. She, of course, was referring to herself being on the administrative team as Director of Admissions. She stated that there was a lot of pressure to replace her with a man.

          I’m probably saying too much here, but I probably have enough stuff in my Journal from that time to write a documented response to the 40th Anniversary Book that was published a couple of years ago. Doc didn’t talk very much about the earthquake that rocked Maranatha even before Weniger stepped on campus, but Mrs. Cedarholm was very upset about a lot of things. She was very upset about the way that the Caughills and the Hollowoods were treated, and to a lesser extent, the Fulayters. Doc was very concerned that I was upset about a number of things and tried to comfort me, and I think that he was frustrated by the fact that I knew that he was out of the picture and helpless to do anything. Mrs. Cedarholm saw through everything. I never heard a word of condemnation from here when I told her that I was playing organ for the Presbyterians, later the Episcopalians, and finally the Lutheran Church which I joined.

          Concerning the beehive hairdo, Doc wouldn’t let Mrs. Cedarholm cut her hair. As a compromise, she got to go to the beautician once a week or so to have her hair done. As years progressed, she went from the stark French twist to something more regal with all the curls in the back. She also used it to bypass the hat rule as she wore something very delicate instead of the formal hat. When Doc died, so went Mrs. Cedarholm’s hair. When I saw her for the last time, she had it quite short. When Doc was in the nursing home, she really came out of her shell, and she really blossomed as an individual.

          I talked with her about two months before she died, and I could tell immediately that her memory was really going.

        5. BobH
          We sang “Rich in Mercy” in Mardigal when I was there in the late 90’s-early 00’s.
          Love the song.

    2. BobH,

      Been there, done that: The “everything was better when I was a young person.”

      Transitions have never been easy in THE CHURCH.

      Historically, many people have been burned at the stake, labelled as heretics, banned, exiled, and on and on, BECAUSE of being led to do things differently. And this is among Christians!

      People wanted to kill Paul, for God’s sake. Have you read Acts? Read it again! It is the story of one faction versus another. On and on.

      Paul wasn’t exactly diplomatic when handling the practices he wrote about from the churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, etc.

      Yes, I would most definitely hope that younger Christians respected their elders a bit more. (I’m sixty.) That they didn’t tread me like I treated my elders…

      Bob, you and I, and anyone else who is interested are going to have to have a potluck/singalong, where we can sing How Great thou Art, In the Garden, and even Onward Christian Soldiers. (The RIGHT way to praise the Lord.)

      1. Ricardo,

        When we have that sing-a-long, I hope you don’t mind ***The Bible, I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy, and Give Me Oil in My Lamp*** ragtime style. I’ve done a lot of contemporary stuff.

      2. I LOVE potlucks! And we can also sing “How Great is Our God” which is the same message as “How Great Thou Art” praise God for His enduring message

  14. Don’t be fooled. My best friend’s kids go there. She wouldn’t let them go to Northland b/c Northland is too liberal. 😯 We don’t agree on fundy stuff. 😕

    1. Anybody who lets there kid go to MBBC because Northland is too liberal either is parroting something someone told them, or just needs an excuse to justify the decision. Northland has changed a lot more in the last few years, but most of that was to catch up to the changes at MBBC. Perhaps you wouldn’t see MBBC bringing in visiting speakers from CE circles as much as NIU, but on rules, music, and general things, theres not a whisker’s worth of difference. Oh, except that MBBC has real accreditation. Among their peers that is the selling point, which is why its funny that they put it in this video. The only competing college in their circles that also has regional accreditation is Clearwater and I think Faith in Iowa?

      2. MBBC has been vocal in criticism of Northland. Though they have loosened their stance in a couple of areas they are still basically the same as BJU. making videos like this are a bait and switch. This poor kid will get to Watertown in the fall and go “What the what?”.

        1. I disagree. It’s actually pretty representative, IMO. The kids here have a lot of fun and get to be a lot more normal than I ever expected!

  15. Aww, they let the students wear hoodies? those were banned at HAC around ’05/’06.

  16. Not a bad video. They were missing one key lyric, though: “…and we’re so VERY white! And if so, won’t you apply!”

    1. When daughter went to MBBC, she had a black roomie. There are at least 2 black students in the Chamber singers, as of last week. Most of the fundy churches in the area are white. I believe because of cultural differences. Blacks just worship differently than do whites. They seem to have way more fun! AND I love the big hats the gals wear. Vimeo has several fun MBBC videos.
      I remember several years ago now, visiting campus for a game that most of the kids had cell phones and lap-tops. Times they are a-changing (just read Sims!) and our schools need to change to reach a new generaltion for God. Isn’t that the goal of each person who truly is a believer–even you all who read this site–that we bring people into heaven ’cause we can’t take anything else!

      1. “Isn’t that the goal of each person who truly is a believer–even you all who read this site–that we bring people into heaven ’cause we can’t take anything else!”

        Yes and no.

        My goal as a believer is “Life in abundance,” and the “fruits of the Spirit.” (Gal 5.)

        If the good Lord wants to take me to Heaven, that is His choice. There is nothing I can do to get myself or any one else there.

      2. Sorry, and no disrespect intended, but if you have to point out specific (in your terminology) “blacks,” you’re missing the point. 🙂

  17. Wow. I loved that part about finding God’s will & the helpful Bible preaching you’ll hear & the opportunity you’ll have to serve Jesus Christ…Oh wait, I must have been watching the wrong video that stuff wasn’t mentioned. My Bad.

  19. This has got to be poe. There’s no way any kids that age would do a video like this unironically.

    Oh, and that girl’s white skirt is waaay too short for MBBC. It’s showing her shins. 😆

  20. I love how they made much of the Friday night steak and emphasizing their real degrees. Wondering if there wasn’t some symbolism in that puppet.

  21. Yeah, it’s more fun and creative than most Fundy U promos, but…it’s kind of a sausage fest, isn’t it? The only prominent girl in the video is stuck in there at the end, portrayed not as a student, but as a bride. 😕

      1. Well, Horton from PCC dd refer to Jerry Falwell as the Antichrist for being too liberal. Interestingly though, LU is one of the few places that accepts transfers from PCC. There were a whole lot of students from PCC who were kicked out (for things like listening to Cece Winans) and came to Liberty- They were known as the PCC Refuges. This might change now that PCC has accreditation status, but somehow I don’t think so.

    2. Wow, a Christian college with a beat, cheerleaders with normal outfits, students wearing jeans and shorts. Liberty has about 30,000 students overall.

      BJU and PCC?? No beat; cheerleaders…well, you know, and no jeans or shorts. Each school averages about 4,000 students, and are laying off faculty.

      You do the math.

  23. Community college. You can finish your general undergraduate requirements without accumulating a lot of student loan debt. You can attend college in the morning, work in the afternoon and do your home work on the evenings and weekends. You can live almost for free with your parents.
    And after 13 years at Basement Baptist Academy, it would do you some good to meet new people and learn real science and history.

    1. WHOOP there it is!

      Community college for two years. If you’re a good student, then transfer into a big name school and get a diploma from them at half the cost.

  24. That Liberty video is good. Reminds me allot of the school I finally graduated from. Christian yes, but they let you make allot of your own decisions. It actually helped me find out who I was, very quickly. Did I make mistakes? You bet. but I’m a better person for it. Not like PCC that “tried” to control every aspect of your life.

  25. The pride and nostalgia I feel at the slight positive comments given here to my Alma Mater despite my recognition of all its problems and even though I can’t see the vid on this computer can only mean one thing:

    I love Big Brother. 😥

    1. I will say this, the video would not have been allowed when we were there. It is very well done. Professional, humorous, and good at getting their point across. However, my eldest son, who is looking for a college, felt it is also a slightly deceitful video. He is well aware of the rules and regulations of MBBC as he has several friends who have attended there and his words, “They make it look like there is all of this freedom to be who you are when we know that’s not true.”

      1. While it should be obvious that being impressed with the video does not equal an endorsement of the college itself, I suppose I should have explicitly said that.

        Don’t do it, young person! Don’t be fooled!

        1. we know better Darrell – but honestly, compared to BJU and PCC, there is some truth. The amazing thing is that a couple kids I knew who went there thought it was horrible how much freedom the kids had at MBBC and one left because she couldn’t take it – felt the other kids in the dorm were horrible because they knew about pop culture, unapproved music, etc. True Blue Fundies will not be comfortable there, and this video demonstrates why. There are people there with a sense of humor, that is always what struck me about people I met from there, that they didn’t take it all too seriously.

          doesn’t mean it isn’t what it is, but its certainly seems like a world of difference from BJ, PCC, HAC, etc.

      2. Do they let you dance at this college? Because if not then this video is decietful. With all the swaying to the music and stepping in time with rhythm of the songs, this video suggests that this sort of activity would be allowed there. It would never have been allowed at the college I went to. But times they are a’changin.

        1. I’m assuming your question was to be directed to me and the quote my son made. If yes, than the answer is simply that someone who has been raised in a grace-soaked environment can spot a non-grace environment a mile away and that’s his impression. (And I think it’s a correct one.) A pastor I know calls it Radio Grace; often heard about, but rarely seen. Let’s just say that the dress, the music style, the very slight dance moves all made for a very good video, but you would not be allowed to dress that way, sing like that, or dance in chapel or the classroom.

  26. Actually, a kid like yours with eyes wide open would probably be fine there. It’s the ones who think the rules are essential to righteousness who are in danger.

    2. Daughter would come home from MBBC and happy as then she could wear her bluejeans! She told me of the the glas in the dorm that were from Ireland and they would do their Irish dances. Her take on school was “just follow the rules”. She then went to BJU for more education (IE MRS degree which didn’t happen) and informed me that “they won’t change me, don’t worry” Whew! That was a load off my mind. (Plus being a GA w/o many rules helped)
      Eyes wide open.

        2. No, RA = Resident Assistant, which is the Hall Leader of previous generations. The GA is still a GA.

    3. @Doofle He would survive off campus, but he would really struggle as an on campus student. We raised him to be an adult, and while things have changed and are changing I believe they still tell adults what time to go to bed, among other things. Plus he is fairly opinionated on his theology and some of it doesn’t line up with old or new MBBC.

  27. Would have been nice to hear a few instruments in the video. Even Christian teens like peppy instrumentals. The Jersey Boys’ sound only goes so far IMO.

    BTW, my retired mom lives near Dr. Weniger in Florida, and she says he’s a fun guy now that he has no more responsibility.

  28. This video is clever, and fairly well produced.
    But it breaks down in the scene with the lads in the dining hall. The lead singer says the food tastes good, but all of their faces say the opposite.

    1. Yeah, when my Christian school took us on ourFundy college tour, we kept hearing about MBBC’s Friday night steak. My parents would buy a side (or more) of locally grown beef every year, so I was used to thick, juicy T-bones. I was not impressed with the “steak” or any of the other food (at any college) for that matter.

  31. I can’t stomach this stuff. Period. I’m an agnostic now and when I think back to the fear that motivated me as a fundy, it makes me sick. These kids are who I was many years ago. We thought we knew it all! We were so cool. But, at the same time we were afraid of “THE WORLD.” We had what I would call “phony pride” in our school. Deep down, we were jealous of the “unsaved” kids who went to secular universities. All that talent – for what? They’re only allowed to perform in tiny Baptist churches!

  32. What was that about the lost wallet in the LU vid? Surely they weren’t just saying, “We have black folks but it’s OK, they won’t steal your wallet”. Were they?

      1. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the wallet scene. Are they really implying “our black students aren’t ghetto; they won’t steal your wallet”? ❓ I’ve been exposed to some pretty racist stuff in the past, and I often see a problem where there isn’t one, but my initial reaction was to cry foul. 😕

        1. At the risk of sounding like Bill Clinton on the witness stand: I stand by my previous statement.

          Kudos to you for admitting “I often see a problem where there isn’t one”. This has got to be the case here, since any moron that would need reassurance that LU’s black students are “safe” never would’ve gotten past the first few seconds of the video, anyway.

  33. Well, sign me up and give me a solo cup of koolade. That’s a pretty persuasive video :mrgreen:

      1. Just post the link, but not the youtu.be one. Just the youtube.com/watch etc url

  37. He lost his wedding ring between :08 and :09 and then found it again when he climbed on the bike.

  40. Wow, these guys can actually “look the part” while if the women of the same denomination tried to do a parody, people would just think some Pentecostal women had gone insane. I always whined that the women in our religion were the ones that had to look stupid, the guys could blend in anywhere. 👿

  41. It looked like there was a guy with long hair. It was toward the end when they were walking in the parking lot. Was he wearing a wig?

    1. Both of those links give me the “no longer exists” message when I click on them.

      I guess it’s been removed?

        1. David Cloud is upssseeettt! 😀 “Cedarholms are rolling in their graves”. Ya know, I think they have more important things to do in Heaven. Why the idol worship of the founder? No disrespect, but they should the Cedarholms matter now? They dead!

        2. That wasn’t punk, it wasn’t funk, and there sure wasn’t any jive. And why do we have to be of one mind in order to have one purpose? Someone is upset that control is not being maintained.

        3. I didn’t know there was such a thing as Southern Gospel rap either. That’s how he described the music. Plus I don’t know where he thought that he heard profanity. He admited he was wrong, but I was wondering at which point he thought he had heard it. How do you even use profanity in a Glee Club sounding video?

        5. That crossed my mind. Maybe his mind played tricks on him or he wanted it to be that way because of the way the guys were dressed( in the close of the videos with their hats cocked to the side and whering sunglasses and hoodies.

        6. Oh, my. David seems to have no concept of irony at all. The things he calls “cool” are so horribly not! Which is what makes the video intentionally funny. Also, someone should tell him that no one knows what the word “jiving” means any more. I had to google it.

  43. The Lord’s name was never even mentioned, makes me wonder why. Oh, and was that a wedding ring the “high school” graduate was wearing?

    1. I think that they didn’t bring in a theme of “Is this the Lord’s will” etc. because they’re simply asking kids to APPLY. Doesn’t mean you’re in. 🙂

    1. If You go to the link above(use Darrell’s link not mine), There ae two more update articles with readers comments published in the article. Apparently the alleged/percieved profanity took place when the guy is eating the steak.

  45. If it’s the part where he’s eating steak, he says, “OK, I’m good”, though a little unclear, did they think he said damn good?

    2. While eating his steak, he said “I’m good” once he was done chewing, not profanity. Listen again. He mumbled it more like “‘m good” wihtout pronouncing the “I” clearly. For the record, I know a kid who attended MBBC last semester after transferring from BJU and she says MBBC’s dining hall food is hands-down way, way better. I always though it was good when I was there, too.

  46. Ah, David Cloud has posted yet again! Two articles this time on the video. One is posting all the readers that agree with him. The other one is attacking everyone who disagrees with him. Here is a gem from this article:

    “Maranatha has the right to publish whatever they please. And I have a right before God and man to express a comment about what they publish. Anyone is free to disagree with my comments. In fact, each individual is responsible to test what I am saying by God’s Word, and that is exactly what I ask and expect of my readers. That is the spiritual approach and attitude.

    But no one has the right to browbeat me for expressing a biblically-informed opinion on a public matter.”

    Oh really? To paraphrase my brother, so he says that everyone has an opinion but then he goes around an bashes them for disagreeing with him! Double Standard! He is also quite sure that is opinions are “biblically informed”. Wow.

    http://wayoflife.org/index_files/cce696a5dbbcf7ea6066a5493042c9f8-996.html

    http://wayoflife.org/index_files/0c19cf6899284ee52d454ff472fc3126-995.html

  48. No, the Maranatha Board asked that the video be removed because they viewed it as wordly.

    1. Typical Fundies. I have a graduate degree from MBBC. And on one hand I am glad I went there, since my Master’s is accredited. ON the other hand, the rules were stifling. Absolutely life-killing. There was VERY LITTLE GRACE there.

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