Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2014

“bold” in chapter four verse 13, when the rulers, elders, and scribes see “the boldness of Peter and John.” They recognized that although uneducated men, Peter and John had been with Jesus. They displayed boldness to confront the council articulately with the truth that “there is no other name under heaven ... by which men must be saved” but the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). When confronted by human authority, Peter and John did not give in to fear, but obeyed God rather than man. Acts also frequently shows Paul and Barnabas speaking boldly for the cause of the Gospel. Acts 19:8 describes Paul in Ephesus by saying, “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.” Fear of men never stopped Paul fromboldly confronting the culture of the day with the eternal truth of God’s grace. Peter, John, Barnabas, and Paul skillfully presented truth by reasoning with others from the Old Testament, as well as incorporating contemporary poets and their personal testimony to proclaim the Gospel to an unbelieving and, at times, hostile audience. At Cedarville, we train our students to do the same by equipping them with a robust, biblical worldview. Boldness also recognizes that God has created us all with different gifts and passions such as engineering, serving, administering, caring, counseling, writing, accounting, speaking, performing, or any number of other talents. While we are all given different passions, they are all given toward the same end— to glorify God in all we do. When you pursue your God-given passion with excellence, you demonstrate good stewardship and, ultimately, you proclaim Christ. We have a boldness that transcends Cedarville University. Our boldness flows from a gracious God with a glorious plan to reconcile the world to Himself through Jesus Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice. That’s how we stay so passionate about our mission. Our boldness is rooted inour unflinching obedience to the Great Commandment Being bold is not the same thing as being brash. Brashness has the primary connotation of being rude, unpleasant, or harsh. We do not want to be brash. Rather, we want to be bold for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Boldness primarily means not hesitating in the face of danger, being courageous, and not afraid. For Cedarville University, “Be bold” has to be understood in its biblical context, and would be defined as: the God-given ability to speak and act with courage and clarity concerning the Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. Consider the use of “boldness” in the book of Acts. The book first uses the word and the Great Commission. As Christ tells us in Matthew 22:34–40, “all the Law and the Prophets” depend on the command to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, as well as the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Precisely because of the demand to love in the Great Commandment, we have the call to go in the Great Commission. In love to God and our neighbor, we must do our part to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, a task that demands the same type of boldness the apostles displayed in the book of Acts. Inside this edition of Cedarville Magazine , you will read about members of the Cedarville family who are boldly pursuing their passion and proclaiming Christ in the different vocations He has given them. For instance, you will read about one of our former students who has been standing for the Gospel in Kurdistan in the midst of ISIS’ invasion of the region. You will also meet Valerie Huber, who is boldly standing for God’s call for purity in the difficult context of the nation’s capital. We have also provided an overview of our Religious Freedom Summit, which featured experts from around the country discussing boldly standing for religious freedom against the cultural tide. I hope you enjoy these stories and the many others we tell in the pages that follow. Please keep us in your prayers and perhaps even send students our way who would like to join us in this bold Gospel endeavor of contending for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Thomas White became Cedarville’s 10th President in 2013. He received his B.A. from Anderson University (South Carolina) and both his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author and editor of numerous publications and is a contributor to Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, Volume 4 , released November 2014. Follow @DrThomasWhite Website: drthomaswhite.com Cedarville Magazine | 3