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“Hang out with non-Christians, hang out with non-Christians, hang out with non-Christians!” encouraged departing senior Dan Nordyke at one Christian student organization’s senior farewell barbeque in the spring of 2006.  As a first-year student listening to the parting remarks of seniors, well seasoned in campus ministry, I did not fully understand the profound wisdom Dan had purposed to impart to future “generations” of Christ-following students.

I was born and raised in a house that proclaimed God and Christ, but did virtually nothing about it – no prayer, no Bible reading, no church…nothing. I don’t think I could have found a Bible in the house if I had looked. Needless to say, this did not foster in me a very deep conviction of the love of God and sacrifice of Christ. Around the age of 13, I started thinking and decided religion was a tool created by man to keep people more in line. After all, people are more likely to be “moral” if eternity in Hell is at stake rather than a couple days/months/years in jail.