Inspire, Summer 2007

Summer 2007 Inspire Pres ident’ s Pen “I’m bored,” he said. I wasn’t surprised. He was 14 years old and didn’t have much of a family life. The television in his bedroom accessed at least 100 channels. His iPod held more than 1,000 songs. His PlayStation offered him two dozen games, and there were even more games loaded on his computer. This was all in addition, of course, to everything the Internet had to offer. Yet he said he was bored “because there’s nothing to do.” Much of modern youth culture is defined by weariness and boredom. The shallowness of relationships and the superficiality of popular culture drain current youths’ spirits of life, creativity, and hope. Many are like Eustace Scrubbs, a character in C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , who had no imagination because “he read the wrong books.” Nowadays, reading any book is unusual for the majority of young people. More than 90 percent of Christian youth do not believe objective truth exists. Most think that Christianity is right for them but may not be right for others. Their generation believes that each person must choose his or her own truth. They are unable to articulate the biblical worldview and remain unprepared to answer challenges to it. For these reasons, between two-thirds and three-fourths of today’s Christian youth will stop attending church altogether in their twenties. While it may sound as though I am pessimistic about today’s youth, I am actually quite positive. Today’s young people do not want to be patronized, can see through phony personalities, and are weary of playing games. They want to do something with their lives. They are ripe for truth. They are looking for role models. The Bible is clear that parents are responsible for teaching spiritual discipline to their children (Deuteronomy 6:7-9), but sadly this is increasingly rare in today’s society. Even in Christian families, parents may be ill equipped to offer guidance to children navigating today’s postmodern world. In the absence of stronger parental guidance, youth leaders give our children hope. Many of them fill roles that are unfilled at home. They teach youth how to love God, how to love each other, and how to serve a lost world. Youth leaders help young people find security and significance in Christ and His Word. Many youth leaders connect with families, too, teaching parents how to raise their children God’s way. And, of course, Cedarville University is working hard to provide an excellent educational experience that produces incredible youth leaders who change lives for Christ. You will read about them throughout this issue. They are anything but boring! Dr. Bill Brown President Look who’s hiring Cedarville grads www.cedarville.edu 1-800-CEDARVILLE … just to name a few Abbott Laboratories American Cancer Society American Enterprise Institute Athletes in Action Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. Bayer BearingPoint Boeing Caterpillar Chick-fil-A Children’s Medical Center The Coca-Cola Co. DaimlerChrysler Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Logistics Agency Delphi Duotech Services Dept. of Homeland Security Dept. of the Treasury Dow Chemical Eagle Council Eli Lilly and Co. Ernst & Young FBI The Federal Reserve Fifth Third Bank Focus on the Family Ford Motor General Dynamics General Electric General Mills General Motors The Heritage Foundation Honda IBM Indiana Pacers Internal Revenue Service JCPenney Johnson Controls Kellogg KPMG International Kraft Foods Latham & Watkins LLP The Leadership Institute LexisNexis Lockheed Martin NASA Northrop Grumman The Pentagon PepsiCo PricewaterhouseCoopers Procter & Gamble The Research Council Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. Rolls-Royce State Farm Insurance The Timken Co. Triton Technologies United States House of Representatives United States Secret Service United States Senate U. S. Steel Vanguard Wells Fargo Financial The White House Wright-Patterson A.F.B. Wyeth “Where in the World is Cedarville?” Contest 4 th Annual! One of Last Year’s Winners With such beautiful scenery, we couldn’t help but choose this photo as the best overall last year. When Andrea McNeal ’01 (right) visited college roommate Elizabeth de Boer Thirey ’01 in Washington state, the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon seemed the perfect opportunity to take the perfect CU picture. Share Cedarville University with the world by wearing a CU shirt on your summer vacation. Then send us a picture to enter our “Where in the World is Cedarville?” contest. There will be one winner of a $50 CU bookstore gift certificate in each category. Categories • Most Adventurous • Best Participation (most people with CU shirts) • Best Family Picture • Most Famous (pose with a famous person) • Most Unusual Location • Most Creative • Best Overall Photo Entries E-mail alumni relations at: alumni@cedarville.edu OR Mail your entry to: Cedarville University, Alumni Relations 251 N. Main Street Cedarville, OH 45314 Rules 1. Only CU alumni may enter the contest. 2. At least one CU alumnus wearing a Cedarville shirt must be in the photo. 3. Photos must be unaltered. 4. Photos submitted via e-mail must be at least 4x6 with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. 5. Photos must be received no later than August 1, 2007. 6. Only one winner per household. 7. Photos will not be returned and may be printed in Inspire . 8. The prize will be awarded to the person(s) sending the photo. 9. The following information must be included with the photo: name, grad year, address, e-mail, phone, location of photo, names of people in photo. Winners receive $50 gift certificates to Cedarville University’s bookstore!