by Jael Teme | Mar 29, 2013 | News Slider
The words “Who will set me free?” covered Lipscomb’s campus during Resurrection Week, a week-long event sponsored by Campus Ministry. This special week at Lipscomb University seeks to answer the question. From March 25 to March 31, the Lipscomb community gathered as a family to proclaim the name of Jesus who died on the cross during the time of Passover and was resurrected to make us free from our sins. Campus ministry is working along with India Rescue Mission and End Slavery Tennessee with a common goal of raising $10,000 to fight against slavery and human trafficking. The United States still has 27 million people living in slavery and an unlimited number of people enslaved by their own sins, according to Farron Sutherland, a senior and intern for campus ministry. “Sin is kind of like chains,” Sutherland said. “[Sin] binds you. It keeps you captive. “Jesus in his Spirit and his grace provides us to be free from sin.” Resurrection Week was celebrated with a different event every day. So far this week, there has been a scripture reading with music, special speakers in the Gathering (President Lowry spoke on Thursday morning) and other learning opportunities that underlined the week’s theme. Thursday night, the “Set Them Free” Human Trafficking Awareness Event was held alongside Sanctuary at the Woodmont Hills Family of God. On Friday, there will be a “Remembering the Passion” Good Friday Service in the Doris Swang Chapel at 3 p.m. On Sunday at 9 p.m., a Communion Service will be held in the Flatt Amphitheater by the student center. If you are interested in donating to help eradicate...
by Brianne Welch | Mar 7, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Two days after a slew of famous country music singers performed at Lipscomb, the three quarterbacks for the Tennessee Titans spoke in the Gathering on Thursday morning to a crowd consisting of Lipscomb students from both the college and Lipscomb Academy. Quarterbacks Rusty Smith, Jake Locker and Matt Hasselbeck sat down in a Q-&-A with Scott Sager, the university’s vice president of Church Services, to talk about their faiths and, of course, some football as well. The very first topic addressed was how football and faith work together in the lives of these professional athletes. “I grew up around football in Colorado, but my parent’s weren’t really strong in their faith until I was in third grade,” Hasselbeck said. The veteran quarterback went on to say how involved he and his family were in the church even through his high school career. Locker took the mic next, but according to the newest Titans quarterback, faith did not really come into play until his sophomore year in high school. “I had a coach who challenged me to become a stronger believe, and he started a Bible study with us, and it kind of grew from there,” Locker said. When Smith took the mic, he said that faith definitely came first in his life because he did not even start playing football until his eighth grade year. “I was very fortunate to have a mom and a dad who grew up in a church themselves,” Smith said. The interview went on for around 30 minutes, but the guys were able to leave the student body and everyone in attendance with some...
by Cory Woodroof | Feb 18, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Earlier this semester, the campus ministry department announced that Steve Davidson would be filling in the role of becoming one of Lipscomb’s new campus ministers. While he’s new to the position, Davidson, a husband, father of two and grandfather of two, is no stranger to campus. Davidson was recruited coming out of high school to play basketball for the university under legendary coach Don Meyer. After his time as an undergrad, Coach Meyer helped Davidson find two jobs with Lipscomb. “When I was finishing up, Coach Don Meyer, who I played under, asked me to stay, and he was able to work out a deal as far as me working in admissions as an admissions counselor representing the school, but also working as an assistant basketball coach,” Davidson said. For Davidson, this was only a two-year plan. He planned to leave Lipscomb after graduate school, but the education major and graduate student ended up taking on the role of assistant director of admissions. A year later, Davidson became the campus’ director of admissions – a title he would hold for 13 years. Davidson used some of Coach Meyer’s organizational lessons to help him succeed in the work. “Coach Meyer was a very organized person and loved to teach on organization, so that helped me a lot as far as being an administrator in the admissions office,” Davidson said. During his time as the director of admissions, the university saw, as Davidson put it, up and down years. Through the challenges that came with the job, Davidson admits he greatly enjoyed in the opportunity. “I really loved the job,” Davidson...
by Cory Woodroof | Apr 11, 2012 | Opinion
Blue Like Jazz is a rarity. Once in a blue moon, the Christian base in Hollywood will strike lightning in a bottle, producing a satisfying look at faith and religion through unfiltered eyes. More often than not, audiences are served up a fresh bowl of faith-based pabulum – be it in the form of a “Kendrick brothers original” (Facing the Giants, Fireproof) or another off-brand copycat you might find at the local Redbox. Films made by the faithful often lack any bite. The projects are too focused on being happy, inoffensive and resolved. The end result is harmless, but a typical Sunday morning sermon usually finds greater success. This past August, golf-centric melodrama Seven Days in Utopia succeeded in slightly rising above the genre, providing a decently endearing story while staying within the confines of the churchyard. Having a cast featuring Robert Duvall and Melissa Leo didn’t hurt. Still, I wondered when the right movie would come along at the right time to finally put an end to the usually languished faith-based fare. I wondered when a filmmaker would be bold enough to portray the daily walk of a Christian without a coating of fresh sugar. Blue Like Jazz, adapted from Donald Miller’s best-selling memoir, finally offers Christian audiences a film they can be proud of – a journey into faith and life through the eyes of a scarred believer. Don Miller (Marshall Allman) stands as the example of the perfect Bible-belt Christian until a horrid discovery sends him from his Texas home to Oregon’s Reed College, a super-secular institution based in free expression. Miller begins to struggle with...
by Emily Snell | Jan 20, 2012 | News Slider
Donald Miller, Christian author and speaker, gave students his “rules to living a meaningful life” in The Gathering on Thursday. “The things it takes to live a good story are the same things it takes to live an interesting life,” Miller said, explaining that he learned a lot about storytelling while working with experts to produce the movie version of his book Blue Like Jazz, which will appear in theaters April 13. Miller said people have the ability to choose to live an interesting, enjoyable life or a boring, meaningless one. “The things that we’re doing with our lives actually shape whether or not we appreciate it,” he said. According to Miller, the first step toward living an interesting life is “you need to want something.” Miller said the reason people get bored during movies is the same reason they feel that life is meaningless–it’s unclear what the protagonist wants. “If I paused your life right now,” Miller asked, “and came to your closest friends and asked, ‘Ok, what do they want?’ Would anybody know?” Miller said he thinks people believe they have to want only God’s specific plan for their lives. But, Miller said he believes God doesn’t always have a detailed plan but allows people to choose what they do with their lives. He said too many people view God as “a dysfunctional dad who is controlling.” “I just see this picture of God as a dad, and He rolls out this big piece of butcher paper on the floor and He gives you a box of crayons,” Miller said, sharing his perspective. “And you and God get to...
