Inspire, Winter 2003

Inspire 7 Brown and Novenson Team Up at Fall Bible Conference The 2003 Cedarville University Fall Bible Conference was led by a tag-team of sorts. Cedarville’s own Dr. Bill Brown teamed up with Joe Novenson, senior pastor of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church in Tennessee, to split the sessions and deliver powerful messages. Dr. Brown covered the first half of the conference, speaking on “Excelling in Christ.” He explained that excelling in Christ requires an active mind and an active heart. Dr. Brown challenged students to “make up their minds” — to decide what kind of people they want to become, to open their minds to God’s perspective, and to mature mentally. He also exhorted them to “make up their Cedarville University is pleased to announce the addition of a new bachelor of arts degree in graphic design. Nearly every type of business, industry, service, and organization, both public and private, requires professionals for visual communication. Career opportunities for graphic design majors will include the design of advertising, corporate identity, packaging, publication design, environmental graphics, multimedia, and Web site design. Cedarville’s graphic design program offers instruction by leading graphic design professionals in an environment that provides optimal interaction between students and faculty. The curriculum combines two elements: an emphasis on foundation courses (focusing on traditional principles of design) and an emphasis on studio courses, (providing hands-on work for developing both conceptual and technical skills). Unique to most Christian colleges, Cedarville’s graphic design major also includes a required internship component, providing opportunities for students to gain professional experience as a complement to their academic work. This new graphic design major will be the first step in the process of Cedarville’s plans to offer three majors in art: graphic design, studio art, and art education. hearts” — to decide to love others, to see people as God sees them, and to be giving people. Pastor Novenson spoke on “Surprising Problems and Surprising Solutions.” Focusing on the book of Hebrews, he determined that the greatest danger to Christians is apathy, a state which makes believers irrelevant in the world. The surprising solution to this problem, he advised, is to keep our eyes on Jesus instead of focusing on ourselves. Pastor Novenson also noted that many Christians have no idea how to fail. His solution is that believers should learn to be the biggest, fastest, deepest repenters. One of Pastor Novenson’s key themes throughout his messages was that believers must stay focused on Christ. Pastor Novenson has been the senior pastor of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church since 1996. Along with his broad range of ministry and pastoral experience, he holds a B.A. in speech communication from Rider College and a M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary. He has done graduate work in Barthian theology with Dr. F. Dale Bruner at Whitworth College and served on the Covenant Theological Seminary (Missouri) Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2000. A well-known speaker at seminars and conferences, Pastor Novenson has had numerous articles published in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. New Graphic Design Program at CU