Torch, Spring 1996

- 1ne ~......(D+- President Cedarville College De11eloping Discernn1ent 0 n June 8, Cedarville College will celebrate its 1OOth commencement. As commencement speaker, I will address over 500 excited graduating seniors and their many proud family members. The text for my message will be the 1996 class verse, Ephesians 5:15-16: "Be very careful then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." I commend the senior class for choosing such appropriate verses. These young men and women have spent the past four years pursuing knowledge. Now they are poised to begin new careers, pursue new goals, create new families, and chart the course for their adult lives. They are entering a world that holds great opportunity, but also great risk. It is my prayer that the lessons learned these past four years will enable them to be a living testimony of these verses. The implication of Ephesians 5:15-16 is the necessity for discernment in the way a believer lives and pursues his or her 2 Torch opportunities. In the Greek, these verses stress the need for wisdom, accuracy, skill, and diligence in choosing where and how we invest our time. Paul reminds us that the stakes are high. We must discern how to rightly live our lives and spend our time, lest we fall victim to evil that abounds in our culture. Cedarville College is committed to helping young men and women become discerning Christian adults. The College objectives state that we strive to undergird the student in the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and to stimulate him to evaluate knowledge in the light of scriptural truth... to encourage growth in Christian character. .. to increase the student's awareness of the world of ideas and events which are influencing our contemporary culture... to prepare the student to knowledgeably participate in our society... to develop sound critical and analytical reasoning ...and, to foster the student's appreciation of, and participation in, wholesome avocational and cultural activities. Daily chapel services, godly faculty and staff, a required Bible minor, the integration of biblical truth throughout the curriculum, an extensive student outreach program, and residence hall programming are some of the vehicles through which we accomplish these objectives. Everything that we do at the College flows out of these objectives with a desire that godly, discerning students will be the outcome. Our culture and our churches desperately need men and women who are motivated to live by godly truth and sound reason. Discernment does not just happen. It must be developed. It is the result of time spent in God's Word, prayer, careful planning, and conscious effort. It is a character quality that results from continual practice. I trust that this issue of the Torch will encourage and assist you in your efforts to affect our culture for the cause of Christ. I also covet your prayers for our graduating seniors. Pray specifically that God will use them mightily to spread the gospel to all the world.