Torch, Spring 2000

P rayer may be foreign territory to you. It may be that you know to say grace before meals. You may even recite a prayer of thanksgiving when you get a clean bill of health at your annual physical. But the demands of a true commitment to diligence in prayer may seem a bit outlandish and maybe even overkill. While no one, save God, can know your heart condition, this is a dangerous attitude to have. David M’Intyre, quoting some of the great Christians of the past, wrote: “Chrysostom has said, ‘The just man does not desist from praying until he ceases to be just.’ Augustine declared, ‘He that loves little prays little, and he that loves much prays much.’ Richard Hooker wrote, ‘Prayer is the first thing with which a righteous life begins, and the last with which it ends.’ Pére la Combe said, ‘He who has a pure heart will never cease to pray, and he who will be constant in prayer shall know what it is to have a pure heart.’ John Bunyan proclaimed, ‘If you are not a praying person, you are not a Christian.’”* There can be no doubt that prayer is one of the outgrowths of a genuine salvation experience. If you are not sure you have ever experienced the salvation offered by grace alone through the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, we encourage you to take that step now, before you set this magazine aside. For more information, contact: Robert Rohm Vice President for Christian Ministries P.O. Box 601 Cedarville, OH 45314 937-766-2211 rohmr@cedarville.edu *David M’Intyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1993), 24. Editor Dr. Martin Clark Managing Editor Roger Overturf Associate Editor Kara Steinman Proofreaders Martha Baldwin Wendy Orchard Graphics Mike Bieniek Photography Scott Huck Cedarville Torch Vol. 22, No. 1, Spring 2000 Published by Cedarville College Dr. Paul Dixon, President NO PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS Cedarville Torch is published for alumni and friends of Cedarville College. Direct comments and requests for extra copies to: Managing Editor Cedarville Torch P.O. Box 601 Cedarville, OH 45314 937-766-7808 pr@cedarville.edu www.cedarville.edu Torch 3 ISSN 1093-4618 Serving God’s Purposes by Dr. Paul Dixon 2 A Sermon on the Mount For Christian Leaders Working in the Valley by Dr. Sharon G. Johnson 4 Inspiring Greatness in Students by Dr. Michael Firmin 12 Campus News 14 L eadership can be a scary topic. Most of us are frightened at our first experience with leading even the smallest of groups. We can think ourselves vulnerable—open to inspection and judgment by others. We know our own weaknesses so well that we believe them to be clear to others around us. W we fail to realize is that leadership, t least from a biblical perspective, is ot a matt of strength, power, or perfectio . Throughout Scripture, we read of leaders who were flawed, some of them tragically flawed, but all of them subject to the same fallen nature. What makes the difference between failed leadership and successful leadership? Hundreds of books have tried to answer that question. The one requirement that appears in nearly every author’s treatment of the topic is integrity. But, what does that mea ? Integrity literally means “undivided, whole, or complete.” It refers to a person who is he s me through and through. The antithesis is a hypocrite, someone with a compartmentalized outlook on life. From a biblical perspective, leaders need not be perfect. But they must be people of integrity if they wish to be successful. That truth is of great comfort to the Christian, because the recognition of our inability to perform and our total reliance on the grace of God in the pers n of Jesus Christ is what makes salvation a reality. Christians know they are only complete when they allow Christ to direct their lives. If you have never come to the place of confessing your sinful self and accepting the gift of new life in Christ, why d n’t you do that before you place this issue aside? For more information, contact: Robert Rohm Vice President for Chris tian Ministries P.O. Box 601 Cedarville, OH 45314 937-766-2211 rohmr@cedarville.edu