Christian colleges and universities offer traditional academic programs, some with almost all degree levels (associate, bachelor, master’s and doctoral). They also offer something more – many of them also have courses and degree programs that are faith driven or ministry focused. While some Christian universities put more emphasis on this than others, due to their faith-based foundation, they encourage students to earn their degree based on the basic moral principles found in Christianity.

For those who are not Christian, Christian colleges and universities should not deter them simply based on faith. Most students find that while the faith and on-campus activities like ministry or even church services are not requirements. Students find that they can attend a Christian college or university as they would a state college without the need to feel any pressure to convert or participate in Christian activities. In fact, many Christian colleges and universities encourage students of other faiths and backgrounds to enroll in their classes, even if they are basic liberal arts or business degree programs.

Christian students will also find that there are plenty of activities for them to participate in, including ministry groups that travel around the country and the world, evangelical groups, and involvement in the college church through the choir or other musical group. Students who wish to actively participate in the school’s faith-based activities will also find they will be able to take their degree further, entering the working world with more to offer based on the basic values of the Christian faith.

Christian colleges and universities offer the most for both students of the Christian faith and those who aren’t practicing Christians. These schools offer an education with substance, hoping students will walk away with more than just a degree upon graduation.

C.J. Harrison is an educational writer and editor for a number of top educational directories, including the Christian Colleges and Universities directory where students can compare accredited Christian universities offering online degrees.

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The journey to become a Christian counselor is a lot like earning the standard counseling credits. However, there are a few added elements that are part of the mix.

If you feel you are called to become a Christian counselor, the proper training is critical in order to make this happen. There are several excellent Christian colleges that offer courses in psychology and counseling. Degrees on all levels – bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate – are available for this type of career goal.

Other learning institutions even offer Christian counseling classes on evenings and weekends. This is a great option for people who want to become a Christian counselor but have current work commitments. There are also part-time study options available for people who can only devote a specific amount of time to study in a given week.

There are individuals who have to juggle responsibilities at home and in the workplace. There are current roles to fulfill such as being an employee, a spouse and a parent all at the same time. If you can relate to this scenario, you can be a Christian counselor by opting to take classes online. This presents an ideal situation for your current lifestyle. It allows you to participate in classes in your free time and minimizes time spent commuting to and from campus.

You must also be open to joining to professional associations if you would like to become a Christian counselor. Efforts in connecting with other people in the same field may open doors for you. Networking by attending special seminars and conferences will help you out. You new contacts may be your go-to people for advice, mentoring, and training. You will also receive a lot of assistance in terms of getting licensed and certified. Finding out about hot job openings are also a great bonus!

The most important foundation in order to become a Christian counselor is to have a firm faith in the foundations of Christianity. There must be a thorough and solid understanding in the core beliefs. You will need this knowledge to impart as you help someone go through a deep healing process.

C.J. Harrison is an educational writer and editor for a number of top educational directories, including How to Become a Christian Counselor, where students can learn more about pursuing a degree in Christian Counseling.

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The early life of Noah Webster was dedicated to building an educational system that would impart, “a love of virtue, patriotism, and religion”, based on scripture. These were the three characteristics that he deemed as necessary to maintaining the American Christian republic. He, like most Americans of his time time “affirmed that the principles of republican government have their origins in the Scriptures.”

Noah Webster provided a steady stream of text books that were rooted in Christian morality. In his Moral Catechism he wrote, “God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.” Noah Webster published his “Speller” in 1783, followed by a “Grammar” in 1784, and a “Reader” in 1785. These works were shortly followed by his “Elements of Useful Knowledge”, which contained the history and geography of the United States. The crowning glory of all of his works was the Dictionary of the American English Language. All of these works were based in the Christian worldview. Mr. Webster comprehended that only a public educated in this Christian worldview would be equipped to withstand an onslaught from anti-Christian philosophies.

Indeed it was his text books that carried Biblical principles over the American countryside. His “speller”, which became popularly known as the “Blue Backed Speller”, sold over one hundred million copies over a one hundred year period. As a result the American public was prepared to accept Mr. Webster’s analysis of the philosophies of the French Revolution when her missionaries launched their attacks on Christianity and republicanism.

Noah Webster took up the pen against these subversive doctrines in his Minerva Magazine during 1790’s. He warned that “If…that system of raising a multitude of isolated private clubs over the nation as its guardian – should spread thro the country, we may bid adieu to our Constitution.” The Christian nature of America’s education system overcame the attacks of the Jacobins. The Enlightenment thinking of the French Revolution was never able to gain a foothold in the thinking and activities of 18th and early 19th century America. It wasn’t until the 20th and 21st centuries, long after Americans began to reject Biblical Christianity, that these anti-Christian and anti-republican philosophies were able to hijack the American system of government.

Randy Pope, our primary author, is the founder of Modest Clothing Distributors and Natural Healing Herb. He served on City Council ran for School Board, City Treasurer and State Representative. He has worked inside and outside of the political machine for over 30 years. Randy has a burden to bring a Christian worldview to the market place of ideas. He is now doing this at http://www.christianworldviewofhistoryandculture.com

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Internet is supporting better Christian education. While online, you’ll always learn about Christian faith and doctrines without much ado. Usually, studying online is known to be flexible contrary to traditional learning that is saddled with many up sides like using a lot of transport on the road, cycling and even walking.

You can type away few keywords where you’ll get results of accredited Christian colleges. From the pool, settle for the colleges that are ranked highly.

Northwest Christian College, Florida Christian College, Somerset Christian College, and Southwestern Christian College are a few examples. The curriculums at these colleges educate students about issues of the church while building strong biblical foundation. With a broad range of options in terms of reviews, financial aid, and states, you can search what fits your style. You must not be computer savvy to gather information as the sites are easy to use.

If you want to balance faith and ordinary life, lots of information about accredited Christian colleges can be found online. They are blared on most web portals that with few mouse flicks, you’ll absolutely access meaningful colleges. You can connect to the internet to download, learning materials, to view video demonstration and even to interact with lecturers and other students through chats and messages. From the comfort of your home, you are able to learn Christian doctrines.

While traditional Christian masters would take many years, two, four or three, you can receive the same qualifications much faster. However, a lot of commitment is required if you want to expand your Christian horizons. Finance has been a stumbling block to many individuals. Use important resources like scholarships and college grants to unlock your potential.

Thus accredited online bible colleges are more than credible in providing religious studies in right and appropriate direction to one in following divine path leading to the ultimate.

Author-Pankaj Gupta

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Afterwards, it became clear to me that his understanding of hypnosis and mine were quite different. And any good debate must begin with a clarification of terms. Too many reasonable discussions deteriorate into pointless argument because no one fully defines himself.

What do we mean then by trance and hypnosis? More specifically, what do Christians who fear hypnosis mean by it and what do ethical clinicians mean by it? For our purposes today, we will leave the madmen out of it.

The Christian Definitions or Concerns:

1. “Mesmerism”

It is very important to address this because what Christians fear about hypnosis is something rather fearful: deliberation manipulation, external mind control, or spell-casting that leaves a person open to spiritual corruption. They form their impressions of the technique from what they have read in popular media (including the early reports on “Mesmerism,” which was presented as a demonic seduction of young women by irresistible and wretched old men), watched on TV, or seen in lounge acts where hypnosis is reduced to having some poor sot play air guitar or bite happily into an onion.

It is not hard to see what makes them uneasy. And, what is worse is that there are people in the world who use hypnotic trance unethically. They may not be madmen, but they should not be calling themselves healers or professionals by any means.

In fact, the worst of these “trance inducers” have nothing to do with lounge acts or private practices. There are at least two times a day when most people are in the deepest, most vulnerable and suggestible trances they are ever in: When they are driving in their cars and when they are at home watching television. And the messages they receive in those states-usually corporate advertising-are what they are unconsciously absorbing.

2. Spiritual Bankruptcy

In Christianity’s beginnings, as in early Judaism, sickness (or insanity) was seen as a function of sin or possession. And the ONLY thing that could cure sin was God and our faith in Him. Anything that interfered with that relationship and dependence on God was prohibited. In those days, that interference usually took the shape of idolatry and pagan religions.

When seen as “mesmerism” or as a loss of control to an unknown entity (e.g., the intentions or spirituality of the hypnotherapist), hypnosis leaves the individual vulnerable to literally who-knows-what-malevolent suggestion, criminal manipulation, and demons.

As Father Russell Radoicich, an Orthodox priest from Butte, Montana, wrote, “Christianity has always called people to live in full awareness, in reality, with nothing having mastery over us except God.” When hypnosis is defined as making one person subject to another (spiritually or mentally), is it any wonder that it is seen as questionable if not downright dangerous?

Hypnosis seen this way-as a quick fix with little depth-can also be considered a crutch or a deterrent to spiritual growth, which is why Father Russell reminds us that “the spiritual work must be done or there is no true rehabilitation. People may lose weight or stop smoking, but the deeper matter has not been addressed.”

Hypnosis, when used as a proper tool in a healing manner, can actually help to facilitate what Fr. Russell is referring to as “the spiritual work” or “the deeper matter.” Again, it is in the hands of the practitioner and the patient as to where the work goes. And in this regard the choice of clinician is important.

3. The Loosening of Moral Inhibition

One of Christianity’s great fears about hypnosis is that it induces a moral laxity and makes the prohibited permissible in the patient’s mind. And, again, when hypnosis is seen this way its prohibition is understandable.

The truth, however, is that clinical hypnosis cannot make anyone do anything that would undermine their moral or ethical resolve.

In an article interview on Hypnosisnetwork, Paul Durbin, a United Methodist minister with a long history of clinical and pastoral service, recalls a famous story about Milton Erickson, M.D., one of the great hypnotherapists and psychiatrists of the last century.

One day Dr. Erickson went to his secretary and told her he was tired and wanted to rest. If anyone called, he told her, she was to say that he was out of the office. She agreed to do this for him. Some time later he put her in a hypnotic trance. He then made the same request-to tell people he was out of the office when he was in fact taking a break. While still in a formally induced trance, she refused him. “Why?” he wanted to know.

“Because,” she said, “it would be a lie.”

Ironically, in hypnosis she had a stronger moral resolve than in her normal waking state.

Hypnosis is not “brainwashing,” as Durbin points out. Brainwashing can be accomplished at any time, with or without formal trance simply by the constant repetition of suggestion. In our culture we call this advertising and media bombardment.

Let us now take a look at how responsible clinicians see hypnosis and how it can be helpful and safe for Christians to utilize it in their own healing process–whether that’s from a back injury, a surgical procedure, or a painful divorce.

The Clinical Definitions:

1. Trance As An Ordinary State of Consciousness

Perhaps the most important definition from the clinical point of view is that hypnosis only utilizes a state of consciousness that is already natural and normal. Trance is not something that is artificially induced in a person. It is not something the hypnotherapist “does” to the patient. It is simply a state of awareness in which we are more focused on an internal process (breathing, thoughts, heartbeat) and most importantly it is something all of us move in and out of all day.

Trance is normal rather than exceptional. What a good clinician will do is utilize that ordinary ability to shift awareness so that pain can be relieved, psychological blockages removed (e.g., fixations on traumatic events), and healing can be facilitated in a variety of ways.

This normal shift of awareness is even more common and spontaneous when we are frightened, hurt, or ill, which is why Verbal First Aid works so well to help stop bleeding, reduce an inflammatory response, and lower blood pressure. We can see it even more dramatically when it is used with children who enter fairly easily and frequently into “trance.”

2. Hypnosis is a Tool. Healing is Spiritual.

Healing is not dependent on one technique. A good healer or responsible clinician has more than one tool in her tool kit. Hypnosis may be one of them, but it is almost never the only one.

Hypnosis, when seen this way, as just another tool, becomes less threatening. Most clinicians acknowledge that the deepest healing is often spiritual in nature and that they are facilitators, not magicians.

Pope Pius addressed the concerns of Catholics regarding hypnosis in childbirth and stated that when used by a health care professional who was properly trained, treatment was permitted.

He also cautioned us that:

· Hypnosis was a serious issue and that it should not be toyed with;

· Practitioners should be guided by the same moral principles (Judeo-Christian ones) in their use of hypnosis as with anything else;

· The rules of good medicine must apply as much to hypnosis as to any other technique.

The truth is that no one other than God knows how healing actually occurs. We can suture one piece of skin to another, but how it knits together remains an ineffable mystery.

How Verbal First Aid Works in Alliance with Faith and the Faithful

If the definitions of trance as clinicians use it are accurate (and I believe they are) and the dangers are real as Christians see them (and I believe they certainly can be), how can the healing use of imagery work together with the faithful so that as Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”

In the beginning was the word.

That words are powerful is a familiar concept to those who read the Bible. According to many biblical scholars, the first sin was not pride, was not disobedience, was not sex. It was gossip-the misuse of words. And it is a most serious act with terribly dire consequences. The serpent whispers to Eve: “You shall not surely die.” He lied. He misled her and all of humanity, for with those words he surely brought us death.

And the only sin for which the Lord will not find us guiltless is using His name in vain.

Words have a prominent position in the Bible from the third sentence: And GOD SAID LET THERE BE LIGHT. He did not create with His “hands” or “eyes”. The “word” is used throughout to mean the “truth.” He spoke-”By the word of the Lord were the heavens made (Ps. 33).” To speak is to WILL into existence. What we say and how we say it is a co-creative act. What we say hangs somewhere between heaven and earth.

Words matter. The mystics have always known this. Only now is science catching up.

Why? Because they create images in the mind of the person to whom we are speaking. Those images and the thoughts that flow with them generate cascades of chemistry that dictate not only how we feel emotionally, but how fast or slow our hearts beat, how high our blood pressure goes, how profoundly we feel the pain of an injury, even the way our livers function.

We all use words all the time. And they have the power to help or to harm. This is already happening–on the streets, in our classrooms, on our cell phones, in our cars. What we say–and what we hear–changes the way we live and heal at the most fundamental levels. Isn’t it our obligation to make what we say as healing as possible? That’s what Verbal First Aid does–gives us the tools to be healing with our words.

Hypnosis is no different than a sermon, a lecture, a television show or a good book. It is the use of words to move us. When used in the right way with a proper intention, those words can help us heal.

Judith Acosta, LISW, is a licensed psychotherapist, crisis counselor and classical homeopath in private practice in New Mexico. She is the co-author of The Worst Is Over: What To Say When Every Moment Counts, hailed as the “bible of crisis communications.” She lectures around the country on Verbal First Aid, trauma, stress, and animal-assisted therapy. She may be reached at her website: http://www.wordsaremedicine.com/verbal-first-aid.

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What does that mean for homeschoolers? Some Christian homeschoolers accept psychology wholesale, some reject it entirely, and some wrestle with which aspects to accept and which to reject. This article suggests that whatever you believe about psychology, the time to address academic psychology is BEFORE your student leaves home for college.

If your student goes to college, there is an excellent chance he/she will take an introductory (at least) psychology course. Most medical schools, liberal arts colleges, seminaries, and teacher’s colleges require students to have some exposure to psychology. Psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate majors at public and Christian colleges and universities. College enrollment in psychology courses outpaces every other scientific discipline. Christian students are often ill prepared to confront the criticisms of Christianity and the anti-Christian worldview presented by modern psychology. The material taught in introductory psychology courses WILL challenge their worldview. University level instruction in modern psychology is generally atheistic and humanistic. Psychology departments often are home to the most anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses. As a group, psychology professors have high levels of agnosticism, skepticism, and atheism. The psychology professor is unlikely to be sympathetic to your child’s Christian worldview and may attack their faith as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve.

If psychology is fraught with such danger, shouldn’t Christian homeschoolers reject it completely? Maybe. But isn’t the humble investigation of all of God’s creation part of what it means to love God with one’s mind? Do Christians, and by extension Christian homeschoolers, have a duty to explore all of God’s creation? Does that duty to explore extend to His grandest creation; Mankind? Does that duty extend to Mankind’s mind? Though the conflicts between modern psychology and a Christian worldview are many and perilous, it may be a mistake for Christians to completely reject the study of psychology.

The bottom line is this. Beginning with Darwin’s Origin of Species, all sciences, including psychology, underwent a transformation. Scientific data were interpreted in ways to exclude supernatural beliefs. Darwinian evolution imposed itself on the Christian understanding of life (biology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian. Darwinian evolution imposed itself on the Christian understanding of Man (psychology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian.

The study of the soul, the mind, the brain, and behavior (psychology) are right and proper for Christian homeschoolers. The goal of Christian education, in biology, physics, theology, chemistry, and in psychology, is to understand God’s creation and, in the words of Johannes Kepler, to “think God’s thoughts after Him.” Christians have a duty to assert the Christian worldview in academia and Christian homeschoolers have an opportunity to lead that effort. The involvement of homeschoolers in the study of psychology is an integral part of that effort.

Now browse your favorite homeschool catalogue. Count the number of biology, physics, history, and chemistry texts (and every other academic discipline) written from a Christian perspective. Lots right? Now count the number of psychology texts. Zero right? This article suggests that the absence of material for Christian homeschoolers to study psychology is a function of those critics referenced in the opening paragraph.

Those who condemn psychology cast their nets too wide. Those on the web and in Christendom who criticize psychology are generally critical of “counseling” psychology. The criticisms may be correct, but psychology is much more than counseling. It is not the purpose of this article to evaluate the criticisms of counseling psychology. Many critics seem to be thoughtful God-fearing Christians. But painting the entire discipline with the same brush used to paint counseling psychology causes many Christians to shy-away from the whole field. The study of the mind, memory, emotions, learning, development, sensation, neurons, and all the other topics that comprise psychology, is right, proper, and important for Christian homeschoolers.

Want to use this article in your website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Tim Rice, D. Min. is the author of Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psych 101 available at http://www.homeschoolpsych.com

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Below you will find a number of The Christian Connector (CC) questions and Sara’s responses (SG). Our hope is that Sara’s experience at the Christian college she attended will be an encouragement to you. Sara attended the same Christian college where her dad taught biblical studies.

CC: Did you plan to be in the Christian music industry while you were in college?

SG: Like any girl who grew up singing Amy Grant songs into her hairbrush, I had secret dreams, but no, I did not see myself doing this in any real way.

CC: What led you into Christian music?

SG: Well, it’s a long story, but in a nutshell, my husband believed in me, and felt that the music I was writing in my piano room would be well received by others, and put his time and energy to that end.

CC: What do you most, and least, enjoy about being in Christian music?

SG: I love communicating and meeting with people, and I love the work of writing music. My least favorite part of Christian music is that label. I don’t think music can be Christian or non-Christian. I think Christ calls us to a fully integrated life of faith, and as an artist, I want to write honestly from my worldview.

CC: How would you describe the professors at the school you attended?

SG: When someone has a genuine relationship experience with God it is like a diamond ring that comes in a velvet box. When it comes time to hand that experience down I think sometimes it is human nature and the nature of institutions to hand down, not the ring, but the velvet box thinking, “This is how the ring came to me, it must be how it will come to you too.” It takes a very special place, and very incredible people to pass down the ring instead of the box.

CC: Did you consider schools other than your final choice?

SG: …I never really considered going anywhere else. I practically grew up on the campus, going to games, talking about worldview and “All Truth is God’s Truth”… I don’t remember thinking about any other college.

CC: What did you most enjoy about your college experience?

SG: Having my dad for a class called Essential Christianity. The texts were Mere Christianity and Celebration of Discipline, and the point of the class was to get students to think about their own worldview outside of the way they were raised. I got to see what my dad did every day when he took his briefcase and left the house – I got to see what he was really passionate about. All of our conversations around the table made more sense after that class.

CC: What do you think were some of the advantages in attending a Christian college versus a secular school?

SG: Well, I made every major decision of my life at that time. I met Troy (her husband), I picked a career, and the seeds that many of my professors planted are still with me today. I know many people who made it through secular schools just fine, but I really enjoyed learning about Literature and History through a Christian worldview.

CC: How has your Christian college experience affected your personal life?

SG: My marriage and friendship with Troy is the most personal and meaningful thing… Our parents both went to (the school we attended), so we had a lot in common. I might not have found that at another school.

CC: How has your Christian college experience affected your professional life?

SG: The professors … really encouraged me to think about my worldview, to take it apart, and to ask good questions. They believed that God was big enough to handle my questions, and that questions and conversation are a part of intimacy with God. Also, as a Liberal Arts college, we were encouraged to see the purpose of every career path, not just that of a pastor or missionary. These ideas still influence my music a great deal.

CC: What was your major in college?

SG: English and Social Science Education

CC: Can you share any longer term goals you may have, say over the next ten years?

SG: Well, my goals for the next ten years are the same for my life in general: to know Christ more, to continue to build a strong marriage, to be a good mom to these boys.

CC: If you had to do things over again, would you attend a Christian college?

SG: Yes. I feel like that was a formative time, and I was so impressionable. I’m grateful there were so many people who cared about, not just attaining knowledge, but about my becoming a whole person.

CC: What advice would you give to those who will read this in regards to attending a Christian college?

SG: I don’t feel like there is one way to do anything – God is creative in the way he teaches us, but for me, my Christian college experiences, and the friends I made were and still are priceless.

The Christian Connector, Inc. would like to provide a special thanks to Sara Groves.

You can learn more about Sara and her music by visiting her web site: www.saragroves.com

Thom Seagren is president of The Christian Connector a Christian college information resource. The Christian Connector lets you select from over 100 Christian colleges that will send you free information, and awards a $2,500 Christian college scholarship each year.

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The intention of this article is to offer what I hope will provide a fresh perspective regarding the choice between a Christian college and a secular college.

I’m confident that important characteristics such as academic excellence, internships, school size, location, career opportunities, quality of faculty, variety of programs, extra-curricular activities, etc. can be found at both secular and Christian schools across the country. With that being said, why then should one consider enrolling at a Christian college?

According to the US Department of Education, one group of Christian colleges, CCCU schools, grew over 70% from 1990 to 2004. During that same period of time, all independent four year schools grew 28%, while public four year institutions grew only about 13%. These statistics reveal that there must be something “different” about Christian colleges. I believe this difference can be primarily attributed to the environment, and it is this difference that provides the most compelling reason to enroll at a Christian college.

If you’ve been following higher education in the media over the past couple of years, you’ve likely heard some alarming news from both state and private secular institutions. I believe most people would agree that institutions of higher education in the US have promoted themselves as places of respect, tolerance and diversity. The irony is that there seems to be an ever growing intolerance for diversity in regards to issues of faith, values and even politics in higher education.

Consider the following statement:

At secular schools across the country, people of faith are often not respected and even ridiculed for their beliefs. You may be surprised to learn that I generally don’t believe this statement to be true, nor do I believe this attitude would be allowed at secular schools in this country. However, adding a single word to this statement dramatically changes both the meaning and the accuracy of the statement:

At secular schools across the country, people of Christian faith are often not respected and even ridiculed for their beliefs. If you disagree with this statement, I challenge you to ask a few committed Christians attending secular schools how their professors and classmates view their faith.

While there likely are exceptions to this rule, if you’re considering the difference between a secular and Christian school, the intolerance toward Christian values on secular campuses is an essential issue to consider.

Most fair minded people would agree that the environment where one lives has an affect on that individual. In 1994 a study was conducted that showed that approximately 52% of students who attended public institutions either no longer called themselves “born again” or had not attended a religious service of any kind in over a year. This study was done over ten years ago. One wonders what this figure would look like today.

A traditional college age student begins their collegiate career at about 18 years old. For a student from a Christian home, there are two sets of beliefs that the student likely takes with them that are particularly pertinent:

The student’s Christian faith/values Respect for those in authority While it may be argued that secular schools challenge these beliefs overtly, the greater challenge for the Christian student may be the unexpected collision of these two principles.

For 18 years, most students in this group have a basic and appropriate trust of those in authority over them. Their experience has demonstrated that the vast majority of people in authority positions have their best interest at heart – parents, pastors and even teachers. So what happens when authority figures suddenly have a very different set of values than the students, or even a completely different agenda? While the student has learned the importance of respecting those in authority, that authority figure may be the very person ridiculing the student’s faith, values and worldview. Perhaps this represents one reason why the above study discovered such a large number of students “walking away” from their faith.

Does this mean that if you’re a Christian who attends a secular college, you will turn your back on your faith? Of course not. However, the issue is more personal than statistics and generalities. The real issue is whether or not a Christian college is the best choice for you. While it’s important to consider Christian colleges for what they offer, it’s also crucial to make an honest comparison to the alternative – a secular campus environment.

Some may think that Christian colleges merely offer a “safe haven”, a place that is separated from the “challenges” in the world. I believe this view is unrealistic and flawed. It is disingenuous to think that there are not challenges to overcome at a Christian college in terms of faith, lifestyle, and ethical choices. However, generally speaking, the faculty, staff and students within a Christian college environment are concerned with seeing the student develop in all areas of life.

A Christian college offers more than just the “addition” of Christian beliefs to the educational experience. Christian faith is not merely an “extra” at Christian colleges, it is a critical element woven into the fabric of the college experience. The Christian dynamic is evident not just in chapel or a Sunday service, but also during pizza in the dorm at midnight, during an honest debate over moral and theological principles in the dining hall, and during a discussion of ethics in regards to career and family. The Christian component is noticeable in the classroom, but it is not limited by those walls. I believe this is the real difference of a Christian college environment, as well as a key reason why there has been such tremendous growth at Christian colleges. It is Christian colleges that must encourage true tolerance, respect and diversity, as these are essential principles within Christianity.

Christian colleges offer much more than a “safe haven”, they offer life preparation. Christian campuses should not be viewed as an opportunity to avoid the world, but rather as an opportunity to influence the world. The years spent within a Christian college environment can aid the student’s ability to serve, thrive, and become a modern day follower of Jesus Christ – regardless of their profession. Christian colleges are in a unique position to honestly address the spiritual and moral issues that people of every age face every day. People can spend years in training for their chosen profession, sport, and hobbies. Christian colleges can offer all of those opportunities, but within a Christian context where the student becomes more prepared to impact and live within our world.

Attending a Christian college means you don’t have to settle for only part of the educational experience.

Thom Seagren is president of The Christian Connector a Christian college information resource. The Christian Connector lets you select from over 100 Christian colleges that will send you free information, and awards a $2,500 Christian college scholarship each year.

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