College Hour

Today I discovered a new take on our University Motto...Wisdom, Faithfulness and Service. A Senior Citizen who regularly attends College Hour here on Main Campus fell into a tremendous problem. She is being evicted from her home, and denied entrance into another, abandoned by her only living relative and in need of care from her community. Guess where she came for help and support? The Office of Spiritual formation at FPU. Sharon is no stranger to TUG students, staff or Faculty. She is a regular at Basket Ball and Volleyball games. She attends recitals, Track meets, Soccer games and a host of mission related activities on campus. She loves this place and this place loves her. She is our neighbor, and she is another face of poverty that lives in a one-block radius of this campus. When she approached our office for help, we mobilized students who are being trained in pastoral leadership to spring into action. They did not disappoint. They mobilized a moving strategy, prayed and cared for her, loaded up their cars, took her things to storage, began to clean up her house and walked with her through a very lonely a difficult time. Why? Because they provide spirit care for this community. This my friend, is FPU, where we exercise, wisdom, faithfulness and service. Their project and mission with Ms. Sharon is not complete. We are yet working on mediation with an estranged family member, low income housing for her and hoping to provide support and ministry through a continual collaboration with the local church, senior citizen services and a host of others who have rallied to help her through these difficult times. I was reminded today of why I love this place and just how much it changed my life while I was a student here. I'm So grateful for soul care that matters, to everybody in this neighborhood.

By: Greg Laurie "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you."—Exodus 20:12 It has been said that a family can survive without a nation, but a nation cannot survive without the family. God established the family by bringing a man and a woman together in marriage. Then came children and grandchildren. That is His order. The Bible tells us, however, that in the last days there will be an attack on the family. One of the signs of the end times will be a lack of respect for one's parents. We read in 2 Timothy 3, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy" (verses 1–2). We have certainly lost sight of God's commandment to "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12). Notice the commandment is to honor your fatherand mother—not honor your father and father, or your mother and mother, or your mother and her live-in lover or partner. We tamper with God's order at our own peril. Know this: Satan always hates what God loves. God loves the family. He established the marriage of a man and woman as a physical representation of His love for the church and the church's love for Him. God effectively says, "You want to know how much I love my people? Look at the way that Christian man loves his wife. You want to know how much My people love Me? Look at the way that Christian woman loves her husband. This is my model. This is my example for all of you to observe." Therefore it should come as no surprise that the devil would try to undermine the family.