Cedarville Magazine Fall 2019

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE One goal of discipleship is to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16 ), or as the parallel passage says, “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18 ). At Cedarville University, we try to clarify the Gospel and then firmly root followers of Christ in the Word of God, teaching them to pray without ceasing in order to live a life of wisdom filled with the Spirit. We also strongly encourage them to join a local church while a student at Cedarville and then to be a producer and not a consumer in a local church upon graduation. Genuine, authentic Christian community cannot be encouraged strongly enough. These cocurricular activities come alongside our desire to develop students’ God-given gifts aligned with their God-given passions, educated and refined with excellence so that they graduate to use those gifts for God’s glory as good stewards the rest of their days on earth. This effort throughout each of their 1,000 days produces graduates equipped to serve God well and prepared for whatever life may bring them. If we educate students without discipling them, we have failed. As C.S. Lewis said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man a more clever devil.” In this issue of Cedarville Magazine , you will read about our emphasis on discipleship. I believe that our strategic and intentional emphasis on discipleship separates us from other universities, including many who claim to be Christian. In fact, we believe so strongly in intentional discipleship that we added it to our mission statement: Cedarville University transforms lives through excellent education and intentional discipleship in submission to biblical authority. Many of our policies and strategies work together to create a greenhouse for making disciples. To begin with, we only accept students with a profession of faith. Structurally, we have chapel five days a week, a Bible minor for every undergraduate student, discipleship groups encouraged for every student, a Student Life and Christian Ministries Division that houses our Global Outreach office, a biblical worldview in every class, all faculty and staff affirming our doctrinal statement annually, resident directors in our residence halls focused on ministry, and so much more. All across our campus, intentional decisions create a culture of discipleship. These pages do not contain even half of the story. Discipleship happens because of genuine, authentic Christian community, in which people care for one another deeply and seek to serve God faithfully. My wife, Joy, and I have hundreds of students in our home each year. I know many of the vice presidents on campus have students over regularly and disciple multiple students individually. Our faculty and staff members do the same. From our missions student organization holding a prayer night in the backyard of one of our missions professor’s homes to our Vice President for Advancement mentoring young married couples, God has called people to these cornfields to accomplish His work of making disciples. As you read these stories, would you pray that God would grant wisdom to those serving at Cedarville and that God would pour out His Spirit on our campus in such a way that revival would visit us? Would you ask God to convict of sin, to encourage the weak, to strengthen our faith, and to help us to find our satisfaction in Christ? Ultimately, would you pray that we do a good job of discipleship? In Christ, Thomas White, President cedarville.edu/president @DrThomasWhite facebook.com/DrThomasWhite instagram.com/drthomaswhite linkedin.com/in/jthomaswhite Subscribe at drthomaswhite.com 2 | Cedarville Magazine Cedarville Magazine