How to Keep the Faith in College - Part 2

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.

Greetings in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My name is Brian Thomas and I am honored to have you join us again this week as we are continuing our series on how to keep the faith in college. We had two awesome students that joined us last week and we have two fine students that are joining us this week as well. I'm looking forward to hearing from them.

So I want to give them as much air time, so we'll just go right to it. Elder James Fason is joining us again this week to introduce our guests as he heads up the God First campus ministry. So James, I want to welcome you to the program and do us the honors of telling us about these fine students that we have today. God bless you, Brian, and God bless you listening audience as well. And we thank you again for this opportunity just to share the gospel and also just want to mention, hey, we are an extension of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ, where our pastor is none other than Bishop Patrick L. Wood and Sr. And we thank God for his leadership and this opportunity just to share in college ministry and to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So today we have two great college students that I'm looking forward to introducing and presenting.

First we'll start out with Angel Hunter, who is a rising senior at North Carolina Central University. Angel, I've watched her down through the years and this young lady has stayed on fire for the Lord. And I mean, she is just, she's passionate for the things of God. And I tell you, she's an infectious person as well, too, and her personality really shows. And so I thank God for her just being on this call today.

And then thank God for my brother Jonathan Geiger. He is, man, he's a silent assassin. This young man, he's attending North Carolina A&T University and he is a senior as well. And he's a worker. He is indeed a worker. I mean, he works on the camera crew at our church.

And I mean, this guy, he's just on fire for the Lord. And so I thank God for these examples of college students and looking forward to hearing from them. God bless everyone.

All right. Well, thank you so much, Elder Fason. And to our listening audience, he will come back and join us in a couple of weeks as we conclude the series, sort of a recap. And so we will go now to our college students. Angel, I want to welcome you to the program. And Jonathan, it's so great to have you both. Thank you. So great to be on your show.

Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity. So in this series, we've been talking about how to keep the faith and we are discussing that. But we're also talking about some of the practical day to day things that you deal with that may not necessarily be tied directly to your faith. But at the end of the day, everything really comes back to your faith. So we're going to begin first.

We're going to start with Angel. Will you talk with us about liberal roommates? If you've ever had any experience with it or any advice that you would give to those who are entering college now and what they may possibly expect as a Christian, how should you approach and handle when dealing with liberal roommates?

Yes. First of all, you should always know politics, especially as a college student. You're entering a world where you're in open to different opinions and advices. So liberal, I'm thinking, first of all, think that government should be in the affairs of individuals. They essentially believe that government should be God. And so when you have a person with that mentality, you want to know where they're coming from, if they're coming from a Christian point of view or if they're coming from a home point of view or just listening from what is always constantly being projected. The first thing you should always, always as a Christian believer is just talk about God's truth. Just go straight to pure religion.

You can always come to them and let them know that, Hey, I understand that you believe that liberalism, it might be what is needed in the country. But last time I checked, you know, in Psalm 25, it talks about how God does Psalm 12 and Psalm, I'm sorry, it talks about how God has cared for the poor. They have, he has people that, that might have the best circumstances on his mind.

So he will always have them in his heart. So if you have government being God, that's, that's not equal enough to the word of God. And then you also have Psalm 24 that talks about how everything belongs to God.

Everything that is on earth, like the earth, the solar system, that all belongs to God. But then you have liberalism that's saying, you know, we have global warming and we have all these issues where then the Bible talks about how the earth moans and groans because there's so much sin on earth. So as a Christian believer, we start looking into the platform of liberalism, and you start looking into the word of God, you realize that it does not equal up.

And then you have liberalism, love to support a woman's right to choose what their mind went and said, I knew you before I formed you. And so we just going into the word of God and coming to the person you just give them the truth of God and just being kind about always have a constant about it because soon as people start talking about politics, everybody's prepared, everybody's on edge because those are one of the topics you don't bring up at a social gathering, you don't bring up politics. So you can you need to keep a level head, you need to be understanding like, okay, this person might not have the knowledge that I have, or this person might be in read, sadly, in the black community, we don't read. So then you got to be he has to ask God to give you a little picture spirit and give you patience and just hear that person's out of view. And then once you come listen to them, just bring them to the light. And then let them know that at the end of the day, if you just don't want to listen to the word of God, and there's looking at it, comedy part about it. They believe that liberalism platform has it that they think that because if government gets involved in individual affairs, that a monopoly can be created, which is not good for the economy, if you have one person in charge of all the food processing, that means classes of food going to go up, that means you know, labor is going to go up.

So economy is going to hurt. And so anytime you're dealing with somebody that has a different political view, and they claim to be a Christian, you always hit them with the word of God, but you always want to have your, your facts, and you always want to have your analytical thinking cap on so you can just translate to them easily, like, you might want to reconsider your point of view. And that's my outlook at when I am looking at liberalism. And I'm just, you know, you just want to make sure you hit those two key factors, what their platform, what they say they platform says not what they knew, say you not what the talking heads on TV tell you they stand for, but actually go and read what the platform stands for, and then help them to understand that there's word of God that does not support what that says. Yeah, well, I'll tell you, my sister, you were preaching, you were just giving it right, right truth.

I mean, I love it. Because as you said, I mean, there are so many out there that yeah, they look to government as God. And you know, Marxism is being pushed in our nation. And I know it's happening on college campuses. And they do it sort of undercover.

They don't come out and call it that. But basically, Marxism is all about, well, God isn't is the true God, God of heaven is not the one in control. But but look to the government. So you stated that so well. So thank you so much. So all right. So Jonathan, let's go to you liberal roommates.

What are your thoughts? Yes, I just would like to acknowledge that Andrew brought up a great point on I think it's very important to be well informed on your stance, and to have a stance that is biblically influenced. I go to North Carolina A&T. And in my experience there, my freshman year, I stayed in a suite set up with three other roommates. And when we first introduced ourselves, we came up with ground rules regarding our rooms and how we plan to govern the living room space. And of course, I was asked about how I felt about the presence of alcohol and marijuana. And with the background that my parents have placed, they've influenced and they've taught me about the importance of having a biblical viewpoint and going to upper room under the tutoring which is Bishop Wooden. He's also taught us to stand fast and be strong in our beliefs. And I was able to tell them that my belief doesn't allow me to partake in unholy practices such as drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.

And I believe that with me telling them out the gate that those were my beliefs that they knew not to try to influence me later on down the road and they kept those practices out of the dorm room. Wow, I tell you, you are preaching as well, my brother. I mean, you both are just standing true to the word of God.

And I just love to see that. And I know your parents and your pastor, Bishop Wooden, they have to be very proud of you for the stance that you are taking. You're standing true to the word and that's how you gain respect.

It's so important to go ahead and let them know upfront when you have these roommates, when you arrive on college campus, as you said, to let them know where you stand. So, all right. So Angel, let's talk about, I mentioned about the practical matters. So let's talk about time management. I know when you go from high school to college, it can be sort of a shock to the system in the sense that you have a lot more freedom. You're calling more of the shots as far as how to spend your time.

So what has been your experience and what advice do you have for incoming students? Coming from my background, I grew up in a single-parent household. So with that being said, I wasn't heavily monitored. I wasn't always a parent around me. My mother was either working or she was sleeping. So I had to, even in high school, make sure I maintained my grades, make sure I got up for the bus, make sure I didn't miss the bus, make sure I did my homework before I went to sleep. So for me, when I transitioned to college, it wasn't so much getting my work done, it was just having idle time. That's when I had to struggle because in high school, I either had the yearbook committee or I had student council or I had a track meeting. So I consistently had something to do, but freshman year is like starting all over again. And this time is not in a building.

This time is in multiple buildings on a campus. So now you're like, okay, I have, I've done my work or I study, I put my time in study. Now I have idle time. And that's when you have to be careful with your idle time because that's when a lot of your thought process can go from zero to 100. You can be thinking about, you know, what you're doing for the next day.

And then you can go from, well, maybe I should go out the night. So I had to learn how to control my idle time. And you know, I had to lean heavily on ecclesiastes when it talks about there's a time for everything. And I had to realize like, okay, Angel, you need to keep yourself doing something that is productive, that will help you grow spiritually, mentally, physically. And so the time management thing wasn't so much knowing how to get what I need to get done.

It was more, what do I do with my idle time? And it was just, okay, that's always going on on campus. And as a Christian believer, it is your job to say, okay, will this event that's going on on campus, would it hurt or help my walk with Christ? And that's when you begin to start looking at community service, you start trying to get involved for your idle time is not completely wasted. Because also once again, ecclesiastes in chapter three, it talks about how God does not mind us enjoying life, like having the joy of life and enjoy it while you're living because you know, we are here.

And this is not our forever home, but we still have to live here. So my thing was learning how to control my idle time, learning to understand that there's other things that can be more productive than just sitting there laying in the bed, or just watching TV, like I think we're in a new trade or reading a book. So for my time management skill, for people that already have that skill, far as knowing what to do and how to do it, my advice will be knowing how to control your idle time. And then also understanding when it's okay to say no from an event or say no to somebody. There's always going to be something to do on campus, always. But it's okay to say no, it's okay to go out.

Yeah, that's not my cup of tea. I'm gonna go to my room and I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. Yeah, that's very well said, very well said.

So we're going to take a short break. But when we come back, we're going to hear from Jonathan concerning time management and what advice he has and his experience. So don't go away, folks, we're going to come back on the other side of a short announcement, you are tuned into the God first program. You are listening to God first. If you believe in what we stand for a God first Bible fellowship, would you consider partnering with us? Our God first partners program is based on Matthew 633. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added on to you. For a recurring donation of $6.33 per month, you can help us share the message of placing God's commands first when viewing the issues of our culture. Please visit our website, God first.org or write to us at God first Bible fellowship, P.O.

Box 266, Nightdale, North Carolina 27545. For more information. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to the program is this week we are speaking with Angel Hunter and Jonathan Geiger, our college students who are guests today and they are speaking on how to keep the faith in college and talking to us about some practical things that students can learn and what their experience has been.

And so before the break, Angel was talking with us about time management. So now, Jonathan, what has been your experience concerning time management and transitioning from high school into college? The transition for me was somewhat of a difficult one for me because I took on the engineering route and I'm a biological engineer.

Making that transition from high school courses to an engineering workload is definitely something to deal with. I definitely have to pray and seek tutelage from one of my mentors, Chris Letter, who also attends upper room, about how to manage my time and my coursework and also make sure I also have time for myself and for my family and my friends. And basically what he told me was to make a plan. You have to be intentional with the time. Without a plan, days can just be wasted and time can just be wasted. And I thought it was also important to find time to be a man of service, just like how Christ was.

And Angel also spoke about it. Find time to help out in the community. So I've also reached out to organizations at ANT that allow me to complete community service.

And I feel like it's so important to give back. And I'd also say to any upcoming freshmen, just make sure you have a plan. Make sure you have a goal. What grades do you want to achieve for the courses that you're in?

Make sure you ask your professors, what steps do I need to take? How much time do I need to study to achieve whatever grade that you desire? And I would say always aim for an A. I think that's so important to have a plan, have a goal, and speak to people that have been through it before, what their experience was like, and you can always run from them. And always do God first and make sure that you have anything as possible. And I like the fact that you both have pointed out, you said, well, you know, if you have idle time, we know that saying, an idle mind is a playground for the devil. When you have idle time, that is when things can go in a bad direction. And so it's so important to have goals, to have a plan in place. And when you do that, you're equipped to already head the devil off before he has a chance to slip in there and try to get you to go in the direction that you know is not in the ways of God.

So thank you both for that. So where I want to finish off this, this is a big one. And that, not to say that the other two were not big, but the social life, you know, that is huge because again, going from high school to where you're, you're around family, everyday friends, people that you've known for a number of years. And then all of a sudden, a lot of people go to college and they're in an environment now where they know no one. And so there can be a temptation to fit in. And there can be a temptation to compromise when you want to be a part of the in-crowd. I love this topic because the first thing that came to my mind, Jesus talks about in Matthew, I believe, he talks about how he didn't really come for people. He came as the sword. He knew he was going to be a division amongst government, amongst friends, amongst family.

And he talks about all through the New Testament, how following him is going to cause. And, you know, at first when you're a freshman on campus, you know, you're looking at all what your campus offers. And let's be honest, we're people. Whether you're saving up, we all are people and we all are, want that feeling of belonging. And so for me, I don't think I struggled as hard as some of my other friends of having that longing to sit in, only because I knew myself before I went to college. And my mom, I was so funny, she asked me, why didn't you choose to go to school with the rest of your friends?

Well, let's be honest, the rest of my friends went to a college that was a little bit further out. And I told my mom, I said, the person I am right now in my walk with Christ, I know if I had to went somewhere where I could not get back to my home church, my salvation would not be the same once I would come back. I knew that I needed a space somewhere that was really founded in the Word of God. I knew that my pastor, my leader, our leader, Bishop Patrick, wouldn't fear. He preaches in the truth of God.

He also helped us understand the fundamentals. And so I knew that I needed to stay home. With that being said, I also knew that I had to have fellowship. When you have fellowship with Christ, when you have that prayer time, that study time, when you wake up in the morning and the first thought in your mind is like, okay, thank you God, I made it to another day, you already have the mentality that I have a social life, you already have the mentality that I have a friend, I have the best social life that I can ever have. And it keeps you out of trouble.

You know, when your social life is your church family, when your social life is people that your family has placed godly people around you, you have that social life. Also, in Second Corinthians, 6 and 14, we all know it, do not be unequally yoked. Like I was saying, in Proverbs 22 and 24, it talks about making no friends with an angry man. And let's be honest, a lot of our generation right now is mad. Were they mad at government? Were they mad at police?

Were they mad at each other? It's just like, come on man, like it's too much joy, too much good things that does happen in America for me to have to be mad at the world. So when it came to social life, I was always, even as a child, I was always careful about my friendship. But I had to realize that there was just some social events or some social gatherings that I just want to be attending, because of my beliefs, because of my faith, because where I want to go in Christ, I don't want my relationship with Christ to be hindered. Because what people don't realize when you're when you're striving for that popularity, when you're striving to be that it person, you end up losing something that you could have had in it long life.

And that's your annoying thing. Do not you know bad behavior, good communication, you know, and you just, you just realize like you're now you're 35. And you might be in your career, you might, you might be at a good pay rate. But then you look back and you see your best friend that you you kind of don't because she was too churchy for you. But here she is, maybe working, have a lower pay to you got a couple of kids that have been, but she's happy. She can she can get a prayer through. She can come to the hospital and heal. But you the only thing you don't have to do is call your mama and ask to pray. I don't think I need it because my mama don't pass away one day.

And I need to know how to get a prayer through. And I don't I don't want my social life to crush the anointing that God is placing, not only just me, but my generation. And sometimes, but when I see some of my friends that are going left field, my heart hurts, but I'm not about to follow you out into that list.

Still, I'm afraid for you. But we ain't going to that list or together. And I think once people have that mentality, that one, Jesus is going to divide it. I mean, if at the end of the day, he's going to divide, you're going to have your thanks and your things.

That's it. And you boil down to you have to realize what do I want more? I used to ask my mom, how are you so strong in the Lord?

How do you do it? One thing she just said to me that always, always said to me, she said, I got a made up mind. And, you know, it was so fearful. But to me at the time, it was like, my boy, and I was like, wow, I made up my mind. And I never forget in my teenage years, you know, we teenagers, female, just rebellious.

And after calling me out, and we had a little good old come to Jesus meeting in his office, and I never forget, he, he let me get in my eye pointing his finger at me. He said one day, he asked me how old I was at the time, I believe I was 16. He was like, one day, you're going to turn 18. And you're gonna look back and realize, you're going to turn 25. And you're gonna look back at 21.

And I haven't made it 25. And that's like, but that's the wisdom that you get. That's, that's the encouragement you get. And when your social life, when your friendships, your relationships, even some of your family members, you might have to tell me your social life is supporting you and feeding you and you're encouraging them and you're feeding off the target to go for Christ.

At that point, whether it's one friend or zero, long as you remember that the end goal, Jesus did not place me on earth to have a social life. He placed me on earth to serve him and then to give me the opportunity to make it into heaven. Point blank, period. That was so beautifully stated. And I love the fact you just talk about how you came in focus and you already knew. And to our listeners, if you're noticing a trend, so all of these students that we have, these are products of the upper room church of God in Christ, where Bishop Wood and his pastor, and this is a church in which it stands on the truth of God's word.

It puts God first and it's so evident. So thank you so much for stating that. That was so well stated. So let's come to you, Jonathan, as we wrap things up with social life, how do you battle that tendency, that temptation to fit in?

Yes. And I would just like to echo everything that Angel said. Those points are so true for me. I came into college also focused on a mission to be a servant and a warrior for Christ. And what you guys were saying reminded me of Mark chapter 8 verse 36, For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And when we were just speaking, it just made me think about how, you know, at point, you get to a point in life sometimes where you may look at someone who may be praised by the world, but you also have to think about what group they have to take to get there and what sacrifices they have to make.

And, you know, maybe those sacrifices may have cost them their anointing, as Angel said, or their connection with Christ, and I never want to be in that position. And I always want to strive to make God proud and also make my church family proud and my parents proud. So having that yearning to fit in, I think when you have those feelings and have those thoughts, you kind of have to re-evaluate yourself and ask yourself, what do I need to do to get closer to Christ?

You know, whenever you have thoughts like that, I think it just should point you back to Christ, point you back to the book. From there, I think you can grow, and I think if you ask people that are also in Christ, you know, what can I do to get involved with my church family? That's the social life that we should be after. How can we bring others to Christ?

That's the social activity that we should be after. And I think with that at the front of your mindset, you know, you can do a lot of good work for the kingdom. Amen. Amen.

So well said. And to our listening audience, did you hear that he said he wants to make God proud. He wants to make his parents proud. He wants to make his pastor proud.

And then he says he wants to be closer to Jesus. You know, these are young college students here that are saying these things. And again, these are products of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ. So Angel Hunter, Jonathan Geiger, I want to thank you both so much for coming on and talking with us. I'm so impressed and encouraged by you two as we are continuing with just awesome college students that are standing true to the faith. So thank you both. And I pray that God will bless you as you continue in your upcoming school year. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you so much. All right. To our listeners, come back next week.

I know you're enjoying the series hearing from these college students. We're going to continue next week with part three. So please come back and join us 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. To the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.