Prayers for a Mission to India
As I mentioned in my last blog posting, our 2008 commencement is upon us. Two days after our middle son and his classmates graduate from Covenant, Kathleen and I will depart with a wonderful group of first-year students for south India, where we will spend two weeks watching, learning from, and working alongside Indian Christians in their wide-ranging ministry: community evangelism, children’s programs, mercy ministry, tsunami relief. In our previous trips with students to Romania and Kenya, we have been deeply humbled and encouraged as we have witnessed the remarkably fruitful work of our brothers and sisters in these countries, and we are anticipating a similar experience in south India.
In every case thus far, our earnest desire to “help” is always rewarded by our being helped more: to see firsthand the boldness and effectiveness of Christians who are doing ministry that we could never do; to observe types and shapes of ministry that we would never think of; to watch fellow Christians stretch often quite meager resources to accomplish what we might be tempted to consider impossible; to see the Spirit bring results in hearts and lives that remind us that God’s purposes and ways are grander and more lovely than we ever imagined. (more…)
Published on Apr 28, 2008 at 8:47 am. No Comments.
Free to Choose Boldly
With our 2008 Commencement less than three weeks away, I am keenly aware of the excitement and nervousness that grip our graduating seniors (and their parents!). Covenant has provided the context for mind-stretching, relationship-building, discipline-creating, gospel-orienting study and life. Now it’s time to move into the next stage of God’s providential calling. Many of them have long-term plans in place for jobs, graduate schools, missions, weddings – clear next steps in pursuit of God’s specific callings. But some are unsure about exactly what they should be doing and where they should be doing it. And they continue to think and pray and inquire, finding work and homes “for now” as they look ahead.
This is a time when many graduating seniors would love to hear that voice from heaven announcing the future and giving out work assignments! Stories of such clarity, as worthy and wonderful as they are, often lead the rest of us – the vast majority of us – to a kind of discouragement about our own futures. In the absence of God’s voice, how do we know what to do? How do we find the right path? How do we avoid missing God’s purpose for our lives? (more…)
Published on Apr 14, 2008 at 3:18 pm. 3 Comments.
Reading and Writing Well
Over this past weekend (March 27-29), we hosted our Campus Preview Weekend for prospective students and their families. With such weekends in both fall and spring semesters, CPW provides the opportunity for them to get to know us just a bit – to attend classes, stay on residence halls, eat in the Great Hall, meet our faculty and students, and begin to imagine themselves at Covenant.
During a Q&A session with parents, I was asked about the emphasis we place on writing across the curriculum, and I was delighted to be able to respond that writing continues to be a strength of our program. Not only in specifically writing-oriented disciplines like literature and history, but also in business and education and the sciences, written assignments are a consistent feature.
After the session, a student related the story of a friend of his who is enrolled in our pre-engineering dual-degree program with Georgia Tech. (more…)
Published on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:45 am. 5 Comments.
The Future of Religion in the World
Two views of the future of religion in the world are vying for our favor. Of course this is too simple: There is a well-populated continuum of opinion about what lies ahead, and there are numerous distinctions, both obvious and subtle, among even those perspectives which agree in larger relief.
However, I think it’s possible to discern this general divide: Some foresee the 21st century as bringing the triumph of secularization, while others anticipate that it will be the “religious century.”
In his recent essay “And the Winner Is…” (The Atlantic, March 2008), Alan Wolfe presents the case for the triumph of secularization. (more…)
Published on Mar 20, 2008 at 9:20 am. No Comments.
Interdisciplinary Studies
Our middle son Dan is a senior at Covenant, and has greatly enjoyed his years of study, living on campus, playing intercollegiate basketball and tennis, frequently leading our singing in chapel, and getting to know a grand group of friends.
After much searching, Dan decided to major in interdisciplinary studies, selecting coursework from the English, French, and music departments. This major has enabled him to pursue a variety of interests in literature, writing, languages, and music composition and performance. As he looks toward next year, he is investigating positions as coach and teacher in a secondary school, hoping to find a place where through his gifts and knowledge and experience he can make a worthwhile contribution both in the classroom and on the athletic field. (more…)
Published on Feb 26, 2008 at 9:03 am. 2 Comments.
Prayer
On Tuesday last week (Feb. 5), we set aside our regular schedule for our Day of Prayer. Twice a year, once during the fall semester and once during the spring, the Covenant College community gathers in various groups and settings throughout the day to focus on the ministry of praying – for one another, for the church, for our country, for the world.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 guided our minds and hearts –
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
Published on Feb 12, 2008 at 8:18 am. 2 Comments.
Sanctity of Human Life
As many individuals, churches, and organizations recognized Sanctity of Human Life Day on Sunday, January 20, news reports reminded us of the horrendous death toll of 50 million lives taken in the United States since Roe v. Wade in 1973. At the same time we have recently heard that the number of abortions is declining, and both pro-life and pro-choice voices are claiming credit – the former because of the reduction of abortion outlets, the increase of pregnancy resource centers, broader use of ultrasound technology, and persistent emphasis on abstinence, and the latter because of sex education and the ready availability of various forms of birth control.
Another piece of recent news is that, after fourteen years of steady decline, the birth rate for American teenagers grew by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006. Again the two sides pin the responsibility on different factors: pro-choice proponents blame abstinence-only programs which, they claim, fail to provide “common-sense solutions,” and pro-life advocates blame conventional sex education programs that focus on condom and contraceptive use, addressing symptoms rather than underlying causes. (more…)
Published on Jan 28, 2008 at 8:04 am. 1 Comment.
Millennials
After a Christmas holiday break from blogging, I’m delighted to be back at it. Happy New Year!
Some of you may have seen the November 11 60 Minutes, a program entitled “The ‘Millennials’ Are Coming.” Host Morley Safer took his viewers on a quick tour of the rising generation often referred to as millennials:
They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can take your job and shove it.
Published on Jan 15, 2008 at 8:14 am. 1 Comment.
Evangelical Leaders and Ecclesiology
Some of you will be familiar with Michael Lindsay’s recently published Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite. Lindsay is a member of the department of sociology at Rice University, and this book is a thoroughly researched and clearly written account of the ascendancy of evangelicals in the public square—in government, in education, in the arts and media, and in the marketplace.
There is much on which to reflect in Lindsay’s book. His distinction between “populist evangelicalism” and “cosmopolitan evangelicalism”; his description of the personal and somewhat informal networks that bind powerful evangelical leaders together; his accounts of evangelicals’ efforts to gain intellectual respectability in, and to bring Christian principles to bear on every aspect of, the broader culture—these are fascinating and important features of his research and deserve to be understood by evangelicals of all stripes. (more…)
Published on Dec 10, 2007 at 8:42 am. 3 Comments.
An Ordinary Purpose
Virtually every college or university touts its capabilities to produce leaders, men and women who will provide vision, energy, and competence to transform society and culture in some way or other. In recent years, Christian colleges have been especially interested in this focus, and some have even made this the centerpiece of their mission statements: “________ College produces leaders!” The underlying idea is that the church and the cause of Jesus Christ need more characters such as William Wilberforce who take on the challenges of living and leading Christianly in the broader culture, so that the values of the Kingdom of God would permeate every dimension of human life and work.
In one sense this is clearly acceptable and laudable: Christians throughout the ages have been God’s instruments in bringing profound impact for good. We rightly take joy in Wilberforce’s relentless drive to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire, and we also rightly acknowledge others across the centuries who have provided leadership not only in government but also in the arts, in business, in education, in significant religious movements, and in justice and mercy. (more…)
Published on Nov 26, 2007 at 8:32 am. 4 Comments.