February Snow and Sleet Storm Arrives at Ecclesia College

The snow arrived in the morning, February 20th. A snowball landed, inside. Students looked out over the snowy landscape from the balcony on the Dome.

Sleet is falling on Thursday, but the worst of the 18-state storm seems to be staying north.

New Testament Students - Who Is Pointing at This Greek Word and Why?

Bonhoeffer’s Birthday - By Eric Metaxis

Yale graduate Eric Metaxas serves on the Ecclesia College Board of Regents.
He is well known for Amazing Grace (about Wilberforce ending slavery)
and the new biography of Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer’s Birthday:

What would Dietrich Bonhoeffer make of the state of religious liberty in America today? I’ll attempt an answer, next on BreakPoint.

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Today is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s birthday. Since my book on him was published three years ago, fascination with the young German pastor continues to grow. The interest is so great I’ve recently been asked to do a ten-city Bonhoeffer tour.

I have to ask myself: Why are so many people intrigued by Bonhoeffer? The answer, I believe, is that the message of Bonhoeffer's life is hugely relevant today—especially when it comes to the growing threats against religious freedom.

Thoughtful people see the handwriting on the wall: First there's the HHS mandate, which demands that religious organizations buy insurance that covers abortion-inducing drugs.

Then there's the case of Pastor Louie Giglio, who was forced to step down from giving the benediction at President Obama's inauguration. Why? Because many years ago, he preached a sermon saying homosexual practice was wrong.

If you work in corporate America and hold to the traditional Judeo-Christian view of marriage, you'd better keep your mouth shut.   Or you might be fired or have your business boycotted.

And now, the Boy Scouts may finally be yielding to the enormous pressure put on them to allow opening gay men to participate in Scouting—including as Scout leaders.

In effect, the state and the culture at large are seeking to compel us to put aside our religious beliefs. If we don't do something now, it will be too late.

And this is why Bonhoeffer is so relevant today. Please listen to these words from my old boss and dear friend Chuck Colson, “Under persecution, Bonhoeffer discovered that, even though God's grace is freely given, it also extracts a high cost. It was costly grace that led Bonhoeffer to continue teaching and preaching the Word of God even though the Nazis tried to suppress his work. Costly grace led Bonhoeffer to stand against a turncoat church that mixed Nazi doctrine with Christian truth....Costly grace led Bonhoeffer to attempt to smuggle Jews out of Germany, even though it led to his arrest...Along with other faithful believers, Bonhoeffer signed the Barmen Declaration, which boldly declared their independence from both the state and a co-opted church.”

As I said, today is Bonhoeffer's 107^th birthday. And were he alive today and living in America, costly grace for him would likely mean preaching what the Word of God teaches about human sexuality--even when activists and their allies in government try to suppress his work and attack his church. Costly grace would mean standing against churches that mix radical new doctrines about marriage with Christian truth. Costly grace would mean standing up to a government attempting to force him to buy health insurance that violates his beliefs—even if it led to his arrest.

And costly grace would, I believe, lead him to sign the Manhattan Declaration in defense of human life, marriage, and religious liberty, just as he signed the Barmen Declaration, which I quote at length in my book.

Now I must say that Chuck Colson had the Barmen Declaration in mind when he co-authored the Manhattan Declaration. Chuck saw many parallels between what the church faced in Nazi Germany in the thirties and what faithful Christians are facing today in America.

So let me ask you—are you willing to count the cost and sign the Manhattan Declaration? If you visit BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary, you'll find links to both the Manhattan Declaration and to my Bonhoeffer tour where I’ll have the opportunity to unpack a lot of these ideas.

Today—68 years after his death—will we, like Bonhoeffer, call on the Church to wake up and be the people of God, no matter the cost?

'via Blog this'

Ecclesia College Baseball Team Making High Grades a Priority

Ecclesia College Baseball Team

The vision of the National Christian College Athletics Association is:

“To produce champions of Christ-like character while providing an environment that fosters academic and athletic excellence on a regional and national level.”

The NCCAA nationally recognizes teams that have a cumulative team GPA of at least a 3.4 as a NCCAA Scholar Team. 

The Ecclesia College Royals baseball team, comprised of all freshman and one upperclassman, have put themselves on track to receive this honor; ending the Fall 2012 semester with a team GPA of exactly 3.40. 

“I knew we would, because we are just that great, said freshman Daniel Authement, tongue-in-cheek. He was named to the Fall Semester Dean’s List.

 When asked about what this accomplishment meant, Head Coach Hardie responded 
“For us, at Ecclesia, we aren’t just student athletes, we are student worker athletes. To come away with a 3.4 with all the work outs in the fall and the working, that’s a great testament to our guys, especially with being all freshman.”

With any team this is a great accomplishment, but with a team of all freshman, it says a lot about the dedication of these young men.

“It’s pleasing to know that we are striving for excellence not only on the field but also in the classroom, said freshman Brandin Fry. He was also named to  the Fall semester Dean’s List)

“This shows me that our team cares enough not only about their sport, but also this school and their grades. We have to have the grades to play. To be a part of this family you have to get it done in the classroom, and we have, ” observed freshman Caleb Kelley, also on the dean's list.

The students offer congratulations to the Ecclesia College Men’s Baseball team on this accomplishment, and wishing them the best this season, and hoping their studies continue to be strong.

Reported by Lydia Lewis, Student Communicator