How to Keep the Faith in College - Part 1

Welcome to God First, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible.

Now in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Please join us for today's episode. It's an honor and a privilege to join you each week. And I want to thank you for tuning in.

I am very excited this week about the program that we have laid out. For the last several months, I've had it on my heart. I've been thinking about the young generation and how the devil is really after our young people. And even at a very young age, preschoolers, the devil is after them.

There's so much indoctrination that is going on trying to get our young people, the young generation to turn away from God. And so it's been on my heart to address it. And I reached out to my friend, Elder James Fason, who heads up the God First Campus Ministries. And I asked him if he would come on to talk about some of the things that the college students are facing. And so he made the suggestion to bring on some college students to actually come on and talk about it because, well, they're living this thing day to day and they're in the trenches.

And I thought that was an excellent idea. And so for those out there, parents, grandparents, I know there are those of you who are worried about what is taking place on college campuses. And we just pray that this message will give you some encouragement and show you that there are those out there who are standing true to the faith, even in the midst of this wicked society. So I want to welcome Elder James Fason to the program.

Again, he is the leader of the God First Campus Ministries. And I want to, James, again, thank you for coming on. And will you do us the honors of introducing our college students today?

Yes, sir. God bless you, Brian. God bless to all the listening audience as well, too.

And man, this is a privilege and honor to join you again and join the listeners. But it's a privilege and honor to introduce these two college students, and I'll say they're warriors for Jesus Christ. Charis Williams, who is a rising junior at none other than the East Carolina University, and she is a human resources major. Charis is on fire for the Lord. And I mean, she's active in the ministry and she is a true example of how a young college student will go off to college and get her learning, but will not lose her burning.

So I thank God for Charis. And then also none other than Caleb Owens. Caleb, he is a finance and accounting major, a rising junior also at Campbell University. And he's in the Army dual enrollment program with the Army Reserve.

So he is protecting and serving us. And he's also he's he's on fire for the Lord. And so I'm so glad that Caleb is here as well and here to share his perspective and this young man.

He is a true example of being a young leader that young man can look up to as well. So I thank God for Charis and I thank God for Caleb. And I'm looking forward to hearing from him. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, James. And to our audience, James is going to drop off. But this is the first in a series that we're going to do on this topic. And we're going to title this series How to Keep the Faith in College. So this is part one and we'll have Elder James face and he's going to be joining us later on in the series to to discuss these matters even more.

But I want to welcome Charis Williams and Caleb Owens. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for the opportunity. It indeed is an honor to be on the show with you guys.

I'm excited to talk about what we're going to talk about today. All right. Well, thank you so much.

Again, I know you have busy schedules. You're excited about school, about to take place. But you took the time to come on and talk with us.

So I am very grateful. And I want to begin again, as I said, in the opening, there are so many things that college students are facing. You know, I am over 20 years removed from college myself. And I remember some of the things that I face and I can only imagine what it is today because I see things in the news, the indoctrination that is going on. And so my heart goes out to the things that college students, young people are having to face today. And so I want to begin with the question of sororities, the topic of sororities and fraternities.

So we're going to go ladies first. Charis, will you share with us your feelings, your thoughts about Christians and sororities? I do not think as a Christian that any any Christian should be a part of any sororities or fraternities because of the exclusivity of which the organization embodies.

Some of the fraternities, most or majority of the sororities and fraternities require members to pledge unrealistic and unreasonable levels of devotion and restricts them in so many areas of their personal life. How can you call yourself a Christian in today's time and claim that you obey God, follow Christ, follow his word and his ways, but then pledge yourself to a group of people who make oaths that are ungodly. And pledging yourself and your loyalty to something that is not holy is against the Bible. As Christians on the college campus, our allegiance should be to Christ, you know, for Romans 14, verse 8 states. So whether we live, we live until the Lord and whether we die, we die until the Lord and we are not of the world. Our bodies, what we do, how we function, how we think, what we say and what we do all should go back to Christ. You know, as Christians, we should be devoting our time, our attention and our energy and our commitment unto Christ, especially in days like today. You know, you get on the college campus now and, you know, you have the people who join the sorority and fraternities that say, you know, they want to be a part of a sisterhood, they want to be a part of a brotherhood. But as Christians, you know, we are already part of the body of Christ. You know, we're looking, you know, those people who join fraternities and sororities and they're looking for something to fill their time with. But the truth is, we should be filling our time in Christ.

All right. Well said, well said. Okay, so Caleb, I'm going to come to you with the same question about fraternities.

What is your perspective? Well, to piggyback off what she was saying, you know, there is an unrealistic amount of devotion that you have to make towards these organizations. But I think the big thing, especially living in the last days, is that the enemy is very masterful at, you know, disguising a lot of these organizations as being something good. But there's a lot of deep rooted spirits and demonic forces that are embodied in these organizations.

Freemasonry is one of the things that is in company with a lot of these organizations. And so, you know, a lot of people ask, you know, when it comes to squaring with these oaths, you squaring to an oath when you go into a courtroom or if you're joining the military, myself being a military member, I would say when I first joined, I took an oath to protect the country against enemies foreign and domestic. Well, the Bible teaches us that, you know, the Lord is, he condones the military, he condones law and order. And so I think it's very important to have biblical knowledge with these soldiers. Along with fraternities, you know, there's a lot of associations with partying and drinking, doing a lot of things that go against scripture. And so at Christian, we shouldn't participate in these organizations that will cause us to sin against the God of the Bible. You know, David once said, by word have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against thee. That's why biblical knowledge is very important at the end of the day, like today, especially on the college campus.

Because if we hide the word in our heart, then it will keep us from joining these organizations that will shift us away from the God of the Bible. I also had an excerpt from a book that Carol Branch, she wrote about African-Americans, fraternities, sororities. And one thing she said was that she was talking about the male gender and how in fraternities you carry on the stereotype of overt sexuality of black males, which raises the stature of the individual and that of the organization.

And then in regards to sororities, you know, they brag on the stereotype of their ability to take on, take any woman's man or the object of all men's desires. So in this case, while we're pledging our loyalty and our time to an organization that not only dishonors God, but disrespects the God of the Bible, disrespects scripture. And so I think it's very critical for us to have biblical knowledge and know the scripture so that we can flee a lot of these sinful activities that are embodied in these organizations. And folks, I know to our audience that we're probably ruffling some feathers here because there are people in the church, a lot of people in the church that are in sororities and fraternities.

But these young people are speaking truth. And I love the fact that you both gave answers that are rooted in the scriptures. And that is what we call having a biblical worldview. Your foundation is the Bible. And I love, Karis, the fact that you said our allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

OK, so we don't need an allegiance to anything else. And Caleb, you made mention of how there are things in there that is deceptive. And Jesus spoke about the last days. He said, Be ye not deceived.

Matthew Chapter 24, he said that multiple times. And so there's so much deception that is going on. And it made me think about when I was in college, like I said, over 20 years ago and I had no interest in fraternities. But the guys that I had became friends with in my freshman year, they were interested in. I didn't want to be a part of it. And so I will confess that I allowed peer pressure to cause me to go to the interest meeting.

I did say, OK, I'll go and listen. But all I heard about was partying and drinking and how many girls you could get with. And I said, no, I'm not having any part of this. And so they went ahead and players. They became part of the fraternities.

I did not. I did remain friends with them. But over the years, my relationship with them just gradually grew apart because they were doing things in the fraternities that as a Christian, I couldn't be a part of.

But my stance was I'm staying faithful to Jesus Christ. And it just warms my heart to see young people like you two that are still doing the same in which I know today the pressures are even more. So to sort of follow up on that, Karis, have you faced any pressure from peers to get involved in sororities? I have not experienced any peer pressure to want to join any sororities. And I, I have, if I just speak from what my parents have and rooted in me, it's just something that has never been enticing to me in the first place. Even as I was on campus and, you know, you have that week, the first week where they're kind of trying to pull people in towards it, it didn't even interest me one bit to want to even start to start to walk towards those tables with the people. Because I knew at the end of the day, it was something I need to be a part of.

And I knew that I wouldn't find what I need in those types of organizations. Wow. Wow. That's so great to hear.

What about you, Caleb? Any pressure from peers at all? So I haven't faced too much peer pressure.

Sort of what Karis said as well. My parents did a very good job, I would say, in putting those physical principles in me so that when I got to campus, you know, some things I just knew that I wasn't going to participate in, some things that I just wasn't going to do. Because, you know, I grew up in a church and I was a Christian, and I wasn't going to forget who I was once I got on the college campus. And my mom, she went to a HBCU.

My dad spent some time in college as well. And they were able to teach me some of the things that they experienced, some things that maybe they fell prey to, some things that they were able to avoid. And so, you know, there's something to be said for listening to the counsel that you get from those around you.

So I haven't faced too much peer pressure about it, but I'm thankful that I have parents who were able to guide me and put me in the right direction. Amen. Amen. That is so awesome to hear.

Well, folks, you are listening to Karis Williams and Caleb Owens. They are college students who are standing true and strong for the faith. And we're just here to encourage you that you out there, college students, you can do the same. Parents, your children can do the same. So we want to encourage you all out there. We're going to come back on the other side of the break and continue.

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Box 266, Knightdale, North Carolina, 27545. For more information. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to the God First program as we are discussing today how to keep the faith in college.

Joined by two wonderful young people, a young lady by the name of Caris Williams and a young man by the name of Caleb Owens, both in the third year college, both staying true to the faith. So where I want to go next, I have to give sort of a preface disclaimer sort of upfront before I go into this next question in that for those who are listening on radio, you cannot see us, but we are all brown skinned people here talking. OK, some would call us black, some would call us African-American. We are all of that ethnic group.

All right. So but what I want to ask is, can one of you speak to the black student movement first? Can can one of you define what it is? What is the black student movement? So when I was researching just a brief list of the black student movement, majority of what popped up was a formation of African-American students who wanted to form a movement because of the slow growth African-American population on campuses. And the black students were dissatisfied with how their representation was on the campus. They wanted their voices heard. So they created the black student movement. And so, Caris, can you continue to tell us, I mean, should should Christians get involved in this?

Personally, I think it depends on the person. I think as a Christian, you can be a part of the organization, but understand that you will not agree with every idea and concept that may come through. Yes, Christians, we should use the discernment and judgment to determine what you will voice your concern on. And I think it's also it's something we're talking about Christians here. If you're going to be a part of organization of that, that's your I think you should use your your witness, like your stance for Christ.

I'd rather let your voice be heard and also listen to what you know and what you believe and what the Bible says. You know, don't people now at this point are so big on the race part that, you know, you can sometimes separate your race from Christianity because you don't want to lose sight. First and foremost, you are a Christian. You know, at the end of the day, my Christianity will top my race any day because I'm a Christian.

That's what I identify as. And you shouldn't lose sight of that. And if you know your school is one sided from the perspective of being an HBCU, you know, you have when you're in that type of environment, 24 seven, you're more persuaded to think that you have to be all about Black Lives Matter and black pride and all of this. But if you're going to be a Christian and you're going to do that, you need to recognize what they believe, what they state, all the ideas and theories that they're coming out for you and be bold enough to make your voice, your voice heard because, you know, they're so adamant of let your voice be heard and I won't be silent. Well, if you're a Christian, a part of that kind of movement, then let your voice be heard and don't let them silence you.

And then note your limits. Know what you know and know that you cannot allow them to sway you or your thinking. And I'm glad you mentioned Black Lives Matter because that organization was not around when I was in college, but I can imagine the way it's being pushed now, especially within a movement like the Black Student Movement and critical race theory. I gave a talk last week on those subjects and there is so much wickedness tied into those things.

So you're right. People need to know what it is they're getting involved with. There's witchcraft, there's summoning spirits of the dead. I mean, all of those things is just antithetical to the Christian faith. And so we want to educate people to know what it is that you're truly getting involved with.

So so thank you so much for pointing those out. All right, Caleb, what about you? What is your perspective of the Black Student Movement? Well, first and foremost, I think we're all caught up in the movement somewhat because we are a part of the Black Student body.

However, I think as a Christian, we're called to be wise and practical when it comes to the circumstances that we're taking as believers. I think the difference between, you know, back then during the civil rights movement, when a lot of these organizations were being formed is that they were fighting for basic human rights. They were fighting for the right for African-Americans to even be enrolled at these schools.

To have black study programs, to have black faculty to prevent racial bias in their classrooms or to simply have equal treatment of black faculty at a lot of these schools. So I think the battle is very different being that we're in 2021 now. And I think there's a lot to be said for Christians and even unbelievers being, you know, being able to look around and see how far God has brought us as a race.

Bishop Whitten, he said something very impactful on Sunday, something that I thought about for many years as a young person. You know, we are the reparations, you know, a lot of people are fighting and protesting and chanting how we feel like we're owed a lot of things because we went through so much bondage and segregation. But a lot of us feel to realize how far God has brought us. A lot of us are even able to go to college, able to get financial aid.

Some of us are getting full scholarships. So I think the movement, you know, you have to be able to be wise in how you pick and choose what battles are deserving of being fought nowadays. I think it's a wonderful opportunity for Christians to share the gospel, to shed our light so that many will see our good words. I think it's a wonderful opportunity for us to spread the gospel and to share the good news. But I think we have to be wise as Christians and I think we're called to be wise as Christians and to not get caught up in a lot of these antithetical teachings and doctrines that a lot of these organizations embody. Well said, well said, because, you know, there are a lot of people that unfortunately they've made an idol of their their ethnicity, of their race. And I'm so glad, Karis, that you mentioned you said, well, you're a Christian first.

Everything else is secondary. Christian comes first. But there are so many that when you look at their decisions and how they approach things politically, what they do, they put their race first. They'll go inside with the one who has the same color skin, who looks like them, even though what they stand for, their principles, their policies go against the Bible.

And we should not do that. And then like you said, Caleb, I try to share with people as well. Look at where God has brought us from. And I think back to a class that I had in college. It was a religion, a religion class. And there was a black guy in there. And he kind of stood up because of what I said, like he was going to come at me because I said, well, look at the blessing that has came out of slavery.

Blacks being in slavery in this country. And I wasn't condoning slavery, but I shared the story of Joseph in the Bible. Look at what Joseph went through. But look at what God brought out of it. The nation of Israel, the Israelites and not only them, but really the entire world at that time was saved from the famine because of what God was doing. And so God will turn evil for the good for those who trust in him. And so it's so good to have that that perspective. And again, that's why it's so important to be rooted in the Bible when we approach these issues.

So so thank you both for those responses. Now, the last thing I want to talk about today is when it comes to professors. We know there are a lot of liberals out there. They are hostile toward Christianity.

We're not saying that they're all there. There are some good professors out there who are Christians, but we know that there's a great movement to indoctrinate students to go against what the word of God says. So what are some of the areas in which you all have experience where professors are pushing against the Bible? And and when you face that, how should Christians address this?

So so let's go to you first, Karis. I will say personally, I have not encountered any professors who have gone against what I believe. But however, if I do in the coming future with me going back to school and future, I do find myself in that setting. I am not afraid to fake what I believe. You know, I am all for defending the faith when and if necessary, because at the day, as a Christian, I am not ashamed to say that I am a Christian. I belong to the body of Christ. And the bottom line is I would I would speak up. You know, so many have so many college students now that are afraid that are Christian to speak up.

But you know, you do have the professors that may, you know, bring your grade down, you know, it may disrupt how your work progress is for the course. But at the end of the day, I'm living for Christ. And sacrifices do have to be made being a Christian in today's time.

So for a second, it says in Second Timothy, chapter three, verse 12, that says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, thou suffer persecution. You know, the way of living for God is a lonely road. Sometimes you do have to walk alone. Sometimes you have to be the only one that speaks up while everybody is being quiet.

Sometimes you're the one that's standing up while everybody else is sitting down. And as a Christian in today's time on the college campus, you have to have the courage to speak boldly for Christ. You have to have the courage, even of your own convictions, because the professors will come at you. I know I've had people that I do know that have professors, you know, come against them for their beliefs. And it was it was a long hard process, but she didn't back down.

She stood flat footed and she ended up still getting an amazing grade in the class. So the other day, God will work out for you after it's all said and done. You know, you shouldn't worry about, you know, you're not going to get the grade that you think you're going to get. Because the other day, God will make a way. Sometimes you have to ask yourself the question, what's more important, making sure you get all the A's or making sure that you give God the glory that you stood up for him when the time is right. Because God will take an account for that at the end of the day. All right.

So how about you, Caleb? Any experience at all with liberal professors trying to get you to go against the Bible? So I've had a few experiences. It wasn't necessarily them trying to get me to go against the Bible. But they would they would take a disrespectful shot at Christians in the room. They would say certain things that were embodied in their in their lecture that day.

And I think it's sort of surprising when they saw not only a Christian, but a young black male stand up and make a comment that was contrary to what they're saying. I think one way we as believers can counteract that is by first and foremost being model students. You know, people are more liable to respect what you have to say. They're going to respect your perspective.

You know, if you're carrying yourself a certain type of way, you know, if you're that student who's always late, who doesn't turn in their work on time, who's always asking for extra time, who's disruptive, who's class clown, you're a target at that point. So I think, you know, there's something to be said for having a good relationship with your professors, for being able to stand up and say those things without being fearful of the backlash. You know, like Kara said, we're going to face some backlash, being Christians, especially in today's society. But I think it's important to know the scriptures, to be confident in who we are as believers. And I think, like she said, God will take care of us.

God will handle our sins and take care of his citizens. But I think first it embodies being a model student, you know, acting the way you're supposed to act, not only as an African-American, but as a Christian, living the Christian life, walking the Christian walk. And then that will open doors for you to be able to witness.

I've had a couple of times where I've said certain things in class and the professor tried to shine my opinion and tried to move on with the discussion. So I wouldn't say what I have to say, but I've had people who came to me after class and we ended up having very good discussions. And I believe that is a tribute to the way I carried myself as a believer. And I'm thankful that the Lord ended up opening a door for me to be able to have dialogue with my peers.

Wow. Well, I tell you, you are both wonderful Christians. I'm so encouraged just having this conversation with you both. And I want to thank you for taking time again to come on and talk with us about these things. And I think that many people will be blessed by you.

They will be encouraged and just keep standing for the faith. So I pray that God will bless you both as you are continuing your journey in college and keeps staying true to the faith. So thank you both for coming on today. Thank you for the opportunity.

Absolutely. Caris Williams and Caleb Owens, two mighty warriors for the faith who have really blessed my spirit today. I am so impressed and encouraged by these two young Christians and folks. Remember, this is part one in a series.

So be on the lookout for part two later this month. And please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. And to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.