Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2015

Chapel Notes Peter Greer March 12 As I was living in Rwanda, I had my eyes opened and my heart broken to the fact that I missed in Scripture something that has happens when we understand what Christ has done for us. I had my eyes opened to the fact that, even in the Old Testament, so many of the laws were to care for the widow, the poor, and the oppressed. In Psalms and Proverbs, we are called to respond to the cries of the needy. When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus found Himself at the margins of society and invites us to join in. When Peter and Paul are separating ways, the last recorded conversation in Galatians 2:10 is “Remember the poor.” As there were famines and plagues, the early church responded with the greatest amount of generosity.There has been a pattern in history, and when I was in college, I missed it. If my heart has been captivated by the message of grace (the Gospel), I want everyone to hear about that, but also I want to show care and compassion for the downtrodden and those in poverty. Peter Greer is the President and CEO of HOPE International in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. HOPE provides the impoverished in 17 countries the tools to thrive economically by teaching them how to run businesses and save money, and providing commercial loans. HOPE does this while keeping evangelism and discipleship at the heart of its mission. Russell Moore February 25 In Luke 3, John [the Baptist] stands as a prophet and gives a vision of God: who God is, what the world is moving to in God’s purposes. He is shaking us out of what we assume to be normal. John hits hard at the issue of the deception behind sin. He says, “You think that you don’t have anything to worry about. You assume that tomorrow is going to be just like today. But there is a day of accounting, a day of judgment you do not see. “And don’t,” he says, “assume that somehow you are exempt from this because you are children of Abraham, because God can raise up from these stones children for Abraham.” He says, “You need to recognize and understand that you are in the process of being deceived.” If you and I are carrying the Gospel to whatever sorts of places and whatever sorts of avenues that God has called us to, we are called to break the deceiving power of the devil, and the way that we are to do that is to start within our own hearts. Russell Moore is the President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has authored several books including the forthcoming Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel . He has spoken on religious issues at The White House and in multiple United States Senate committees. Ronnie Floyd April 8 Everyone wants to be exalted. And the way we think we’re exalted is if we take care of it ourselves. But God says if you want to be up, you need to lower yourself before Me. You’ve got to go down before God before God might choose to take you up with Him. I ask you students, have you humbled yourself before God lately? When was the last time you bent on a knee and humbled yourself before God?When was the last time you cried out to God and told Him, “God, I need you so desperately”? And it wasn’t just in a song, but in the depths of your prayer and the depths of need in your life? I challenge you today, when you walk through tough times in your life and when your future is uncertain, don’t be an egomaniac and try to fight your way forward. If you want to go forward, you humble yourself before God. And you let God speak to your heart, even while you are humbling yourself before Him. Ronnie Floyd is the President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Senior Pastor of Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas. Floyd has been a pastor 36 years, 27 of those at Cross Church, the largest congregation in Arkansas. He is former SBC Executive Committee Chairman and a former SBC Program and Structure Task Force member. “THE WORD OF GOD CALLS US OUT OF OUR SPIRITUAL ‘HIDING PLACES’ ... THAT LIGHT COMES FORWARD AND BREAKS THE POWER OF DECEPTION.” Nov. 13 9Marks Conference Danny Akin President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, North Carolina Sebastian Traeger Executive VP of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board Washington, D.C. Greg Gilbert Sr. Pastor of Third Avenue Baptist Church Louisville, Kentucky “GOD CAN DO MORE IN A MOMENT THAN YOU CAN DO IN A LIFETIME.” Oct. 21 Chip Ingram Sr. Pastor of Venture Christian Church CEO and Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge Los Gatos, California Oct. 13–14 Gospel at Work Conference “OUR FAITH DEMANDS OUR LIFE AND OUR ALL, ESPECIALLY IN WAYS THAT SHOW GRACE IN THE MARGINAL AREAS OF THE WORLD.” Cedarville Magazine | 25