Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2015

SELFISH GUY “My first two years at Cedarville, I basically led a very selfish life,” Jenerette said. But he had an epiphany one summer. “I began to question why I was still at Cedarville,” he said. “I decided to either make changes or transfer.” His conclusion? “I came back junior year and was a lot friendlier. But I recognized there was still a void.” A soccer injury left Jenerette, a Yellow Jacket winger, feeling more unsteady. “That fall, the Lord began taking some things from me,” he said. “I broke my right big toe, and that took playing time away. The Lord took away 100 percent health. It just made me think more and more.” At the winter Missions Conference in 1982, God spoke to Jenerette through a speaker. “I vividly remember him pointing his finger in my general direction and saying, ‘You’re not living your life right for the Lord and you know it; you need to get right with the Lord.’” Jenerette wrestled with going forward, but decided to wait. The call to action came again. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to live for you, Lord,’” he said. He spoke briefly with Pastor Harold Green, former Campus Pastor and Vice President for Christian Ministries at Cedarville, and then walked to the back of Jeremiah Chapel to receive one-on-one counseling. He spoke with John Hart ’81, Cedarville University’s General Counsel today, but a first-year Admissions Counselor then. “I prayed with him to accept Christ,” Jenerette said. “At that moment, I didn’t realize that’s what I needed to do. I just knew I wanted to live for Christ now.” Jenerette had a new direction and began reading four Bible chapters a day, growing in his faith. But he needed outside involvement. After a heart-to-heart conversation with Don Callan, then Athletic Director at Cedarville, he knew what he needed to do. He reached out to Green, affectionately known as PG, to mentor him and his roommates. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education, Jenerette taught for several years at a Christian school, then switched to business, working for Crown Home Furnishings in product management, production control, and engineering. He returned to college at Coastal Carolina University to earn his social studies certification. While there, he began working in the financial aid office part time. He has continued to work in that capacity ever since, including three years ago when he was hired as the Executive Director of Financial Aid at Cedarville. Jenerette admitted he was in a dry spell for several years before returning to his alma mater. Friends all over the country, including Cedarville alumni, loved him and prayed for him. “There’s a Bible verse I use: ‘A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out’ (Isa. 42:3). That was me. The Lord remained faithful to me as I was not faithful to him.” RULE-STRETCHER English came to Cedarville University with a chip on his shoulder. “I wanted to look at other schools,” he related. “But my mom told me I had three choices: Cedarville, Cedarville, or Cedarville.” He started at Cedarville thinking he would do his time and then switch schools in a couple years. His poor attitude worked itself out in a lifestyle that showed disregard for Cedarville’s standards — but just far enough so he wouldn’t get caught. “I was a fence walker who regularly jumped on the wrong side, but then I’d jump back on to look respectable again,” he explained. Then a friend confronted his hypocrisy. “She looked at me, and with love and honesty, said, ‘If you expect me to think that behaving outside of the code of conduct that we both signed is cool, then you are sorely mistaken. As a matter of fact, I think it means your word is worth nothing. If you don’t value your word, how can I value your word?’” That friend was Layne Etchison ’88, whose last name just happens to be English now. “I heard everything taught in chapels and in my fundamental Bible classes,” he said, “but it was one of those moments, when someone speaks in your life, and it started a train of thought: ‘What are you going to do with your life? Are you throwing away your time at Cedarville? What is your spiritual worth?’” From that point on, English started investing more seriously in his spiritual growth. He drew up a philosophy of business while a member of Cliff Fawcett’s business seminar class: God, family, then business. “Those were the three main points,” he said. “Over the next 27 years since graduation, I’ve been constantly returning to that philosophy of business.” 18 | Cedarville Magazine