Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life."
1 Timothy 1:15-16
When I got to college, I had my life already planned: after college I would go to law school, become a successful litigator, earn an impressive salary, and live out the American dream. When it came to my faith, I was the good “Christian kid” in high school, but in college, lived for weekend "fun" rather than Jesus. When I realized that how I lived was different than what I claimed to believe, I felt as if my sins and screw-ups had cut me off from God for good. Early in my sophomore year at Penn State, however, I met some friends who were involved with The Navigators, and I was connected to a weekly Bible study and a mentor to help me grow in the Word. As I started to get to know who God was from His Word, I began to realize that my sin was not beyond the forgiveness available to me by truly accepting Christ and the work of His death on the cross. From that point on, He began to heal the wounds that my sin had left and redefine how I viewed myself and the world. This process challenged everything I knew and valued—from relationships to my life goals—but it brought me into a relationship with Jesus that was so much more real than I could have ever imagined! God grabbed my heart in college and gave me a new view of life.
Now He’s giving me the opportunity to speak truth to college men who struggle with the same things I did and help them to know what it means to know and follow Jesus! My past is less than perfect, but it stands as a testament to His love, grace, power, and patience because of how far He has brought me from it. That's why 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (above) resonates with me so powerfully. I'm confident that the testimony of God's work in my life will give hope to a young man on Vanderbilt's campus who will then grab a hold of the promises we have in Christ. His testimony will, in turn, give hope to another man, and so on, and the Lord will build His Kingdom through it.
