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Spelman Spotlight December 18. 1979 Page 6
Our Whole School for Christ
Organizations Serve
Spiritual Needs
"Spelman College is Christain
in origin. The attitudes toward
life exemplified by the life and
teachings of Jesus is the ideal
which governs the institution.
The College strives to emphasize
and develop all Christian virtues
in relations among peoples and
nations
These words about Spelman, as
stated in the 1977-79 College
Bulletin, are also descriptive of
JnterVarsity Christian
'Fellowship, Campus Crusade for
Christ, Navigators and the Baptist
Student Union. These
organizations serve the spiritual
needs of students in the College
community. They are unlike
other organizations, in that, they
require no "joining," no mem
bership fees and no initiations.
Campus Crusade
for Christ
(Second of a two-part series)
By Linda Fritz
Have you seen fliers around
campus advertising “College
Life” or the Discipleship Training
Institute (DTI)? Well, both are
connected with an organization
called Campus Crusade for
Christ.
Campus Crusade for Christ is
an international Christian
organization founded on 1951 on
the campus of UCLA. There are
Campus staff members in over
100 countries around the world.
There are several divisions or
ministries within the
organization, but the goal of the
campus ministry is to share with
college students and faculty how
they can establish a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.
Books
on
Sale
If you are tired of reading
books like Phycis, Contemporary
Economics, Government by the
People. Modern Spanish and
Chemical Principles, you should
drop by the Booktable located
outside the ,dining hall during
meal times. There is a book there
for you. You have the option of
purchasing, borrowing or maybe
. getting a book free.
The titles include Becoming a
Christain, Three Kinds of Love,
How Do You Say "I Love You".
How to Live with Your Feelings.
The Golden Cow and Rich
Christmas in an Age of Hunger.
The titles are enticing, aren’t
they? See you at the Booktable.
and if one already exists, to help
them grow or mature in that
relationship. In order to do this,
there are teams of Crusade staff
on major college campuses (AU
Center included) around the
country. They share with studen
ts through group meetings such
as College Life, through
classroom lectures, in small
group Bible studies and in
dividually. They have found that
most students do not reject
Christianity, but are a poor
representation of it’s doctrine.
So, for those who really want to
know what being a Christian is all
about, there’s practical help
available. That is one of the goals
of the Discipleship Training In
stitute.
Here are some of the upcoming
activities of Campus Crusade for
Christ at the Atlanta University
Center:
-Discipleship Training Institute
(DTI), every Wednesday, 6:30-
8:30 p.m., Giles 18.
-Christmas Conference,
December 27, 1978 thru January
1, 1980, Atlanta Biltmore Hotel.
-Social activities as announced.
!'&VfGATORS
No. Navigators is not the group
who has Bible study on a boat!
But, if you are interested in
studing the Word of God on a
boat, a Navigator-staff member
will willingly accompany you-life
jacket and all.
Navigators is an in
terdenominational group whose
goal is to help students grow in
faith in J esus Christ through
small group Bible study. The
organization focuses three major
points:
1. to help students develop the
character of J esus Christ,
2. to help students learn to ap
ply the Bible in their everyday
lives, and
3. to teach students to share
their faith with others.
One of the projects being un
dertaken by the Navigators this
year is “The Power Line.” “The
Power Line is a rap session in
which participants see for them
selves what God has to say about
abortion, J esus, sin, pot, disco,
heaven, hell, money, purpose,
family, sex, death, friendship and
anything else that you may want
to discuss. These discussions are
held on Monday nights at 7:00
p.m. in the Lounge of Thurman
HaLL. Too, The Navs teach Sun
day morning Bible Study at 8:30
a.m. in the Thurman Hall
Lounge.
If you are interested in learning
more about the Word of God, at
tend “Power Line and meet the
Navigator staff. They are eagerly
waiting to meet you.
Words from
Norman R. Rates
College Chaplain
CHRISTMAS IS FOR ALL
"GOD S CHILDREN"
The little boy threw his head
back and sang out loud and clear:
“Deck the halls with Boston
Charlie”. Well, that’s what he
thought the other children were
singing when they said ‘boughs of
holly’. The adults nearest to him
chuckled and one admiring
mother smilingly remarked,
“How cute”, and, with nodding
assent from the other spectators
confirmed their innermost
thoughts with the adjoiner,“Well
after all, Christmas is for-
children”. How true it is, and yet
how misleading the statement is
at the same time. Christmas is not
only for children but for people
of all ages, as well. Yet, when we
clothe Christmas in children’s
language and celebrate the
season with fairy tales and fan
tasies. we do an injustice to the
true meaning of the holiday
period. The mythological Santa
Claus that is forced upon children
becomes the mythological god
when they become adults. The
“gimme” syndrome of childhood
becomes a carry—over into
adultlife and when we become
too old to expect miracles from
Santa Claus we turn to the Big
Giver in the sky to see what He
can pull out of his bag of tricks.
And when we don’t get what we
asked for, then there is too often
the temptation to discard Him as
nothing more than a hoax, just as
we discard Ole Santa in our later
childhood.
Christmas is not a childhood
fantasy, however, it is an event
based on true human experience.
The realness of Christmas can be
found in the human drama that
was played out in the lives of a
number of people nearly two
thousand years ago over in the
Holy Land. There was a troubled
J oseph who, in finding out that
his virgin bride—to—be was
pregnant, became filled with the
human emotions of jealousy,
suspicion, rage, shame. Getting a
hold on himself, J oseph resolved,
however, that he would not scan
dalize Mary by making her a
public example. Instead, he made
up his mind to “put her away
privily” (Matthew 1:19), only to
have an angel of the Lord explain
the divine significance of this
great human drama to him.
There was the young Virgin
Mary who could not explain in
human terms what had happened
to her but whose womb carried a
human child. But no matter what
explanation she carried within
herself, think of the things she
must have gone through in facing
others. Some ascertain that she
was around fourteen years old.
But regardless of her age, she was
still a virgin. And I know that the
women on the block were really
wagging their tongues all over the
place. If there had been a local
Planned Parenthood Association,
it is likely that they would have
worried over not having educated
her about family planning. And,
if there had been an enterprising
abortion clinic in town, they
would have readily made them
selves available to help destroy
the embarrassing fetus. However,
in the midst of all these human
complexities, a much troubled
Mary accepted her condition
with faith in God with the
resolution: “Behold the hand
maid of the Lord: be it unto me
according to Thy word” (Luke
1:38). For she could not explain a
divine situation in human terms.
Then there was Mary’s cousin,
Elizabeth who, years beyond
menopause conceived her one
and only child, John (to be know
as the Baptist). Her husband,
Zacharias the priest, was so
dumbfounded with disbelief that
he lost his speech. And Elizabeth
was so startled that she hid her
self from her neighbors and
friends for five months, probably
wondering if it was all really true.
Later, it all made sense to the
elderly couple when cousin Mary
visited them and revealed her
condition. But what about the
local skeptics? What about the
medicine men who knew that
Elizabeth’s situation was im
possible? What about...well you
know all the people who would
make up the cast for this human
drama? They were all on stage,
acting out their parts.
Then there were those lowly
shepherds watching their sheep
in a field outside the city of
Bethlehem some months
later, late at night. How do you
think they reacted when voices
from the sky burst out with a
sound unequalled in their
lifetime, hailing the birth of the
Christ—child and declaring
“Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward
men” (Luke 2:14). How many
common folks and even the
religious leaders of their time had
had the privilege of having “the
angel of the Lord” to come upon
them and “the glory of the Lord”
to shine around them? Very few,
if any, except for the Holy Family
and their relatives. And yet here
were these shepherds being led to
the manger to be the first to see
the Christ—child. What do you
think they said when they went
home? Who do you think
believed them?
And what about the wise men
from the East who followed a
mysterious appearance in the sky
until it led them to the Holy
Family? And think of the
life—time ambition of an old man
call Simeon being fulfilled when
he saw the baby J esus in the Tem
ple in Jerusalem? Who could
know the joy of the widowed
prophetess Anna who had been a
widow for eighty—four years but
who too looked for the coming
Messiah? Her joy was fulfilled
when she saw the baby J esus.
All these and many more
people went into making the cast
that participated in the human
drama of Christmas. It was hardly
a series of events that was for
children only.
More significantly, however,
Christmas is a divine drama
which, when played out, goes
beyond all human com
prehension, regardless of
whether we are children or
adults. The divine drama requires
but one thing from us all—to ap
proach it with the faith of a little
child. This is the one time that
Christmas is for children of all
ages.
College Life Assembly
Held in Abby Hall
By Amell West Leighton Hayes
Campus Crusade for Christ,
one of the most active campus
ministries in the A.U. Center,
held their monthly “College Life”
assembly on November 7 in the
Abby Hall lounge. Campus direc
tor Tom Fritz rendered a
humorous presentation on the
topic, “When is God Going to
Get His Act Together?”
The evening started off with
some light entertainment-a skit-
and two testimonies, followed by
the featured message. Fritz
brought out questions dealing
with various misconceptions of
Christianity, and some distorted
views about. He also pointed out
the three attributes of God-
omnipotence, omniscience, and
omnipresence. Fritz stated that
God “got his act together” when
He provided the way to eternal
life for all through His son, J esus
Christ. He then asked the stu
dents, “are you a part of the prob
lem (sinfulness), or are you a part
of the solution (life in Christ)?
Finally, Fritz presented the
student audience with a
challenge to accept Jesus Christ
as their personal savior, and get
their acts together with God. Af
ter all. who knows more about
life than the Creator?