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Friday, December 16, 2011

God goes before you

5:05 p.m. Today's project was for Steve and me to attend my colleague and friend Cara Murray's graduation from California Baptist University. Because of the large audience of family, friends and well-wishers, the ceremony was held at the huge Harvest Christian Fellowship sanctuary a few blocks away.  Cara graduated magna cum laude in English, no small feat while seriously working her Mary Kay career!

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for CBU, because that is where I got my teaching credential, Master's Degree in Education, and my Preliminary Administrative credential. Four wonderful years of hectically running from my Pedley Elementary School teaching assignment, to grad classes a few days a week, except on the 1st and 3rd Mondays, because those were my School Board meetings. Good thing my kids were in middle school, high school and college by then, and my oldest was married with two sons. I love Cal Baptist because it has never left its core purpose: The Great Commission, Jesus' words in Matthew 28:18-20a:

And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you..."

CBU has poured itself as an academic community of highest accreditation into the furtherance of the gospel as its graduates begin their professional lives in their communities. Having received my Bachelor's degree at the University of Redlands, another religiously-founded school iin the Inland Empire, I see a difference between the two schools: one school's commitment to Christ as their reason for being, with mandatory chapel weekly, Bible classes, and missions assignments for their students; and another, U of R, that is an excellent private liberal arts school with solid alumnae support. When I attended U of R for my senior year, 1977-78, I wasn't even a Christian, so it was fine by me!

The keynote speaker, Dr. Montia Setzler, senior pastor at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church, chose Joshua 1 as his text. He particularly focused on the struggles the graduates may face in the current economic situation. But he reminded them that God helped them overcome serious challenges their entire academic career, and He will be with them as they launch into independent adulthood. 

At the time of Moses' death, God encouraged Joshua  as the new captain and leader of the Lord's forces, in verse 9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

For us believers of the new covenant in Christ's blood shed on the cross, the promise is the same as was given to Joshua. Jesus concluded His commands to the disciples in Matthew 28:20b with the finest promise a human being could ever receive:

... lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

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