Liberty Board Chairman Tim Lee challenges students to reject bitterness and trust in God’s plan

Evangelist, Purple Heart recipient, and Chairman of Liberty University’s Board of Trustees Dr. Tim Lee, challenged students at Convocation on Wednesday to reject bitterness, warning that it can ferociously destroy their lives. Instead, he urged them to place their trust in Almighty God, who can use them for extraordinary purposes when they fully surrender to Him.

The 75-year-old Vietnam War hero has been active in ministry for 48 years, preached in all 50 states and many other countries, and is a regular speaker at Liberty’s twice-weekly Convocations and other special campus events.

The Liberty University Board of Trustees is holding its regular spring meeting on campus this week and was recognized during Convocation.

On March 8, 1971, the same year Liberty was founded, Lee’s life changed forever. He was leading his fellow marines on a mine sweep in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, when he stepped on a 60-pound mine. It exploded, catapulting him several feet off the ground. He lost both of his legs.

“I should have been killed instantly,” said Lee, noting that the mine was big enough to ‘destroy a Jeep.’ “I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live, and I asked God to let me live that day.”

Lee said the months that followed were marked by tremendous pain and uncertainty, as doctors nearly gave up hope. A spreading infection foretold a long and brutal recovery for the young marine.

Lee said he hit “rock bottom” when a doctor informed him that his next surgery, due to infection, would require the removal of his hip, leaving him confined to either his back or his stomach for the rest of his life.

He told students that during his eight-month stint at Philadelphia Military Hospital, he was tempted to become bitter and recalled other amputees there falling into deep despair as they grappled with the realization of their futures without limbs.

He chose instead to not allow bitterness to take over his life.

“Bitterness will destroy you. Bitterness is a cancer. Bitterness will make you angry at anything and everything.”

Lee held steadfast to his faith and trusted in God, something he said was “the hardest thing to do” in a situation that may leave him bedridden forever.

“I couldn’t get my legs back. There was nothing I could do about it,” he said.

His father pleaded with doctors to not perform the surgery. One of the doctors was able to clean his wounds one last time to heal the infection, which allowed Lee to remain in a wheelchair instead of being bedbound.

“I wasn’t supposed to live, but (I thought) God has a plan for my life,” Lee said. He was discharged from the hospital two weeks later and has not been to the doctor or hospital for anything directly related to his mine incident since.

Following his recovery, Lee dedicated his life to evangelism. His inspirational talks tackle a wide variety of themes involving bitterness, rejecting God, and leaving the church — issues that once deeply affected his own life.

Although he grew up the son of a Southern Baptist pastor and attended church regularly, Lee said sports took precedence over faith during his teenage years.

“Football, basketball, baseball, track and field, these soon became my gods,” Lee said. “And when I made those choices to go further and further away from God, hanging around the wrong crowds and doing the wrong things, my life began to be a disaster. Rebellion set in.”

Drawing from Acts 5:20 and Revelation 12:11, Lee reminded students that each of them carries a unique story that, if surrendered to God, can make a tremendous impact for the Great Commission.

“This one true and holy God loves you,” Lee said. “He wants you to spend all of eternity with Him in this awesome place called heaven. If you’ve been saved, that’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to you in your life. And if you’ve never been saved, your life is incomplete.”

Lee added that some students may be bitter or angry about something in their lives, perhaps considering leaving the church and turning their backs on God.

“That’s the worst thing you can do,” he said. “On the third day, (Jesus) got up from the grave, victorious over sin, victorious over death, victorious over hell. … And today, God’s Son is alive. That’s the good news. Here’s the great news: He wants to live in your life.”