Faith:
Let me just say Collegiate Week, more known to me as Glorieta, is one the most spiritually filling weeks in the life of a Christian college student if you ask my opinion. If I could recommend one thing to all Christian college students it would be to go to collegiate week. First off collegiate week always always always has amazing breakouts and great main session speakers.
This year was my first year attending breakout sessions taught by Chris James. He quickly became my favorite speaker and I fan girled him the rest of the time. Also, the simple knowledge that you are surrounded by thousands of college students that love God is so humbling and allows you to know that even though sometimes it may seem as though you are the only one on your campus in those dark times that there are others out there that have the same discouragements but you are able to build each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ. Now that was amazing but let me get back to Chris James because he had some new insight for me. So, I took his “don’t waste your singleness” class, “the Gospel and Race” class, and “political correction” class. The things I walked away with from them were astounding. I learned that singleness is not just the thing you do before getting married but it is a way of showing the world of God’s love and glory. We know that a lot of times in church culture that when you are single people will do anything to set you up with someone so that you can be married. I have amazing views on marriage and I want it one day but I was shown that we shouldn’t look at it as a curse but as something that we can use to show the glory of God.
I learned in the “Gospel and Race” class that the gospel is the only thing that will reconcile the world to each other. We must be intentional as Christians to watch what we say because we are the ones that must show the love of God over all things that this world shows us. I learned in his “Political Correction” class that we sometimes don’t use wisdom when we talk about political issues. I also was reaffirmed that we must not treat this world and government as if it is the end all be all because this is not our ultimate home. I also realized that as Christians we say that all the time but do we really believe it and by that, I mean do our actions show that we believe that this is not our ultimate home.
Overall collegiate week was amazing the breakouts, the main sessions, the brothers and sisters in Christ all there to worship God, and the friends I was with made the week something unforgettable.
With Love, F
Heidi :
As a third semester college student, I have witnessed firsthand the absolute need for Jesus’ name within the young adult culture. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend my favorite summer camp of all time for the second year in a row- Collegiate Week! Collegiate Week is a camp dedicated to the teaching, reaching, and equipping of college students. Collegiate Week was held in Glorieta, New Mexico- a beautiful, mountainous area with weather to die for (it’s just that great!) But, besides the beauty of God’s masterpiece that is evident in Glorieta, I was able to take back some valuable lessons, tools, and information that I would like to share with you today.
In my experience, it can be difficult to insert yourself in the political world when you are a Christian. Our culture today preaches a lot of “do what makes you happy,” meanwhile practices great intolerance. As you may have noticed, racism is a huge problem in our society. This week one statement stuck with me: “Every racial injustice can be overcome by the gospel.” Tragically, this intolerance for a group of people based on their skin color exists, but by the gospel of Jesus Christ, even something as vile as racism can be overcome. You may identify yourself with a political party such as Democratic or Republican. As Christians, we must be careful in the way we present ourselves within our political views. As speaker Chris James stated: “A lot of non-Christians know more about what Christian’s political stances are, rather than what their Gospel stances are…” He continued by saying “You should be pointing people to the ultimate King, not the political king.”
Professor at Houston Baptist University, Mary Jo Sharp spoke at Collegiate Week on Apologetics- a fancy word for the study of how to defend your faith. This week I learned that having knowledge of Apologetics is important because it can serve as a confidence builder in my belief in God. If you are a Christian, you have probably experienced or witnessed someone denying your faith, or even accusing you of intolerance based on your beliefs. After all, Jesus did say in 2 Timothy 3:12: “In fact, everyone who wants to life a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...” In these situations, we can apply apologetics by adhering to scripture, addressing hate speech, and asking questions such as “How do you know that?” or “Where are you getting that from?” It is very important as Christians to have a defense for our beliefs that is rooted in the truth- His Words- and ultimately shown in love.
Something that God laid on my heart during Collegiate Week, and was daily reaffirmed was my need to participate in scripture memorization. Scripture memory is something that I have not focused on since Sunday School as a child. But truly, it is such an important tool. As one speaker said: “if you love God and have a deep passion for him, you naturally will be drawn to scripture memory…” So, I have pledged to myself that every day I am going to take out an index card, write down a scripture that God has lain on my heart, and take time to think about it, meditate on it, and memorize it
Next year, Collegiate Week is changing its tradition of taking place in Glorieta and relocating to Falls creek, OK. Still, I am excited to see God work in the preparation of that great change, as well as my own application of everything I learned at this summer’s Collegiate Week.
By Grace, H
