Why Regent University?

Simply put – God called me here. When my wife and I were still dating in 2005, I worked at a place I loved, lived near friends and family in Ohio, and I was all set to go to another university on a full-ride scholarship. Yet, there was a sense of unrest – God was whispering and I listened... In a matter of two months, we quit our jobs, got married and moved here to get a degree at Regent. There is no question that Regent was the right choice.

Why Online Learning?

As a direct result of earning a Christian education, I have a better grasp of my roles as a Christian, a husband, a lifelong learner, a friend, a follower, and a leader. Moreover, earning a degree is a very fulfilling yet difficult experience. I can’t imagine earning it without the support and encouragement of dedicated Christian faculty and the freedom (and expectation) to grapple with spiritual challenges in the context of the classroom.

Why A Business Degree?

Leadership is interesting, relevant and applicable. Leadership is everywhere but it is not understood by many people. Also, there is a critical need for good leadership everywhere. Last, leadership is essential influence, and without influence, one cannot change the world. The real question is, “Why not a leadership degree?”

Alumnus

Gifts

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What is a gift? A gift is a natural ability or capacity, a natural endowment or talent. A gift is often something given to someone specifically with him or her in mind. A gift is something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient. A gift is also something we should share with others or use to serve others.

God has gifted us with the natural ability or capacity to do something or to be a certain way. Many of you are familiar with the following verse from 1 Corinthians 12:28, which reads, “And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.”

God has gifted you in a very special way, specifically for you. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5a). God has gifted you for His calling upon your life, and He has done so with a plan in mind. The Lord proclaims, “For I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11). Further, He has and will continue to give you what you need to fulfill His will.

God has gifted you without any effort on your part. You were born with your gifts. Granted, no one comes out of the womb teaching, healing or proselytizing, but there is a good chance that over the years you have found things that you do well without really even trying, things that come naturally.

God has gifted each of us in specific ways to serve his purpose, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). We honor Him when we use the gifts He has given us in ways that please Him. A Danish proverb reads, “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God.”

So, what gifts has God given you? Do you know? Moreover, what do you do with your gifts once you have identified them? If you do not know what your gifts are, here is my “two cents”… feel free to give me back some change:

· Pray for guidance and be ready to listen. The first step in figuring out just about anything is to pray. God wants us to ask for His guidance, but He also wants us to listen. I think we sometimes ask the question, but then fail to listen for the answer.
· Consider the innate desire that you have to serve others. In what ways do you see yourself serving others for glorifying God? Specifically, what are you doing? What skills were involved? How does it feel?
· Consider the ways in which you have already been successful. In what contexts have you been most successful? What were you doing? What role did you play? What skills were involved? How does it feel?
· Consider the opportunities in your environment. What needs to be done? Where do you see yourself as a best fit?
· Ask your trusted life advisors. For some people, your trusted advisors may be your parents or close friends, or they may be pastors or others involved in the church. Regardless, people close to you may be able to see your life from a different perspective and point out themes that you may have missed.
· Take an assessment. Sure, assessments are not always accurate. However, sometimes they can provide clarity by giving you the opportunity to affirm or deny the results. In addition, assessments can equip you with new ways to articulate what you feel intuitively, which can spur a more focused search. Here is the free test that was mentioned on the Center for Student Development’s career development web site.

Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk, 20th Century

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Prayer Against the Seven Deadly Sins

The following prayer is from his book, "New Seeds of Contemplation." It is widely available. For Merton, the word illusion could be substituted freely for sin. This makes sense in many ways: we often lament our past sins and say, "How could I have not seen how horrible this was?" or "What was I thinking of?" Here is a prayer from his book:

Let me use all things for one sole reason: to find my joy in giving You glory.

Therefore, keep me, above all things, from sin. Keep me from the death of deadly sin which puts hell in my soul. Keep me from the murder of lust that blinds and poisons my heart. Keep me from the sins that eat a man's flesh with irresistible fire until he is devoured. Keep me from loving money in which is hatred, from avarice [greed] and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the dead works of vanity and the thankless labor in which artists destroy themselves for pride and money and reputation, and saints are smothered under the avalanche of their own importunate zeal. Staunch in me the rank wound of covetousness and the hungers that exhaust my nature with their bleeding. Stamp out the serpent envy that stings love with poison and kills all joy.

Untie my hands and deliver my heart from sloth. Set me free from the laziness that goes about disguised as activity when activity is not required of me, and from the cowardice that does what is not demanded, in order to escape sacrifice.

But give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone.