Appalachian students keep their promises

Pamela Formyduval, Staff Writer

 It is 4 a.m. Saturday as Vic arrives on the mall in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
 
 The sun has yet to rise, but men have already begun to sing praises, others are on their knees in prayer.
 
 Vic can feel the intensity within himself to want to join in.
 
 As he looks out, a sea of people have filled the mall.
 
 Shoulder to shoulder, Vic feels an excitement in the air as the speakers are about to take the stage.
 
 "If we are going to see revival in this nation, we have to get back to a true understanding of God's character and His holiness," a speaker says from the stage, as Vic and the men applaud wildly.
 
 The men around Vic are hugging and crying, and the morning has just begun.
 
 On Oct. 4, over two million men attended the Promise Keepers rally.
 
 One Appalachian student, Marcus "Vic" Carpenter, a junior from Durham, was there to take part.
 
 Carpenter said he attended the Promise Keepers rally so that he could have a part in representing Christ in our nation's capital.
 
 "It would have been meaningless unless you knew you just could see the hearts of the people.  There was a desire to pray, an attitude of repentence, and the people were there for the reason of exalting the Lord," Carpenter said.
 
 Carpenter said that he left asking himself if he has a true understanding of God's character and God's holiness.  That was the message stressed at this rally.
 
   Jody W. Wooten, a senior from Wilson, has a common bond with Carpenter.  Both are Promise Keepers.
 
 Wooten wasn't able to attend the rally in Washington, but he has attended Promise Keepers meetings before.
 
 "The imprint that an experience like that leaves in your mind is something that will stay with you for a long time.  It's not about putting bumper stickers on your car, or living by the seven promises of a Promise Keeper, it's about being more like Christ," Wooten said.
 
 Both Wooten and Carpenter agree that they are a part of the Promise Keepers movement for its devotion to God, family and developing relationships with other men.
 
 "I look at it (Promise Keepers) as a tool to unite men under Christ and His teachings," Wooten said.
 
 Carpenter said that by being a part of Promise Keepers, it has helped to renew his heart, strength, and desire for God.
 
 By allowing him to look more inward at himself, Wooten said that Promise Keepers motivates him to be more committed to God in what he does, says, how he acts, and who he is.
 
 Wooten and Carpenter both agree that they are not a part of Promise Keepers because they feel that it will make them better or that it will "save" them.
 
 "I am a Promise Keeper but it's not this organization or this denomination that is going to earn my salvation or is going to make me better.  It's my relationship with Christ and that's what it is for me," Wooten said.
 
 Wooten and Carpenter both said that the most encouraging thing about Promise Keepers is to see that many men desiring God.
 
 Wooten feels that Promise Keepers started for the purpose of taking responsibility for themselves and their families, with the focus being on Christ.
 
 "The Bible puts it like this, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'  I feel like if people know the truth and live by it, that will affect everything they do, everything they think about, and the choices that they make for their lives and their families," Wooten said.
 
 Wooten and Carpenter agree that one way Promise Keepers is fulfilling their goals is by helping men take responsibility for the role God has designed for them.
 
 "Promise Keepers started to make men realize and then have a desire to fulfill their spiritual role as the spiritual leader of the home," Carpenter said.
 
 Wooten feels that Promise Keepers has only made a positive impact on the family.  Wooten agrees that the Bible gives a model of how the family is supposed to work and that the roles of a man and woman in the family are biblical, not oppressive.
 
 "If you think of what Christ did, which is die for us on a tree, then that's saying I would give up my own life for my wife," Wooten said.
 
 Carpenter said that not everyone is going to agree with the roles the Bible has set out, and therefore not going to agree with Promise Keepers.  Carpenter doesn't feel that one view is more threatening than the other, but that's the division there is in the world.
 
 "You are always going to have a humanistic, worldly point of view and you are always going to have a godly, Christ-centered view, the majority being from the first," Carpenter said.
 
 Neither Wooten or Carpenter feel that Promise Keepers is trying to pose a domination in society.
 
 "Promise Keepers is trying to make men aware and spark the desire to fulfill the Biblical position of a man," Carpenter said.
 
 Carpenter feels that by men coming together, it helps to develop relationships, which is one of the Promise Keepers goals.
 
 "What getting other men together is [about is] it promotes accountability, it promotes being godly men," Carpenter said.
 
 Both Wooten and Carpenter feel that Promise Keepers does provide an atmosphere where men can more honestly "come clean before God."
 
 "It (Promise Keepers) promotes an atmosphere of confession and searching your heart for sin," Carpenter said.
 
 Both Wooten and Carpenter feel that our nation needs an organization such as Promise Keepers.
 
 "I think God is using Promise Keepers and will continue to use it as long as they adhere to the truth of God's Word," Carpenter said.
 
 Both Wooten and Carpenter feel that Promise Keepers has come at a time when men are looking for something to fulfill them.
 
 "People are hungry for something, for truth I think, and people look in all kinds of places for it . . . be it in unpure relationships, or in a bottle, or just striving for one more thing or one more goal in life to be the best.  I think people are realizing that those things don't bring you satisfaction and those things don't last forever and hopefully people are searching for God and searching for truth," Wooten said.
 
 The following are the seven promises that the Promise Keepers adhere to:

1.  Honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and obedience to
     God's word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

2.  Pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding
     that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises.

3.  Practicing spiritual, moral, ethical and sexual purity.

4.  Building strong marriages and families through love, protection
     and biblical values.

5.  Supporting his church by honoring and praying for his pastor, and
     by giving his time and resources.

6.  Reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to
     demonstrate the power of biblical unity.

7.  Influencing his world, being obedient to the great commandment
     (Mark 12:30-31) and the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

 The Promise Keepers movement was designed to adhere to biblical standards and teach these standards to men willing to take them.

 Two Appalachian students have taken these standards.  Both feel that Promise Keepers have done nothing more than help them and the world around them.
 

Being a Christian when church is over: A Christian student profile

Pamela Formyduval, Staff Writer

 On a foggy fall evening along an interstate between North and South Carolina, a 10-year-old boy and his father are coming home from helping a friend move into his new house.
 
The friend had just moved because he was in the ministry and had taken a new job.

 The little boy already knew what it was like for things around him to change.  His parents divorced when he was four.

 Moving this friend in was just another change to him.

 The little boy had begun to see a difference in his dad.  His dad acted different than the dad he remembered.

 He wanted to know why his dad was different.  He wanted to know why his dad's friend was different.  He wanted to do more than just see change happen around him.  He wanted to be a part of it.

 "What is ministry?" asked the boy.  His father explained to him that ministry was when you invited Christ into your heart and made it your life's calling to share that same joy with others.

 The little boy still didn't understand why Christ made his dad and other people different.  He wanted to know what inviting Christ into your heart meant.

 The little boy's father continued to explain that a relationship with God is very personable, you have to want it and acknowledge what sin is and pray to ask God to forgive you.

 "What is sin?" asks the little boy.  "Sin is just missing the mark, the times in our life when we mess up," said the father.  He told the little boy that he could talk to God anytime he wanted because that is all prayer is.

 "I want to talk to God right now and ask him to come into my heart, Daddy," says the little boy.

 As the car continues to creep down the highway, a father prays with his son to "ask Jesus into his heart."

 Chad M. Vinson, a senior from Selma,  is the Student Director of Campus Crusade for Christ  and still recalls that moment with his father as vivid as if it had just happened yesterday.

 Vinson said that being a Christian is a gradual process where God is continually changing him.  The change occurs on the inside, not the outside.

 Vinson feels that through a relationship with God, you become more concerned with others.  He feels that he cares about people and is concerned for them.  He said that you don't see that very often in today's society.

 "Christianity is not just a one day thing, it is a lifestyle," Vinson said.

 Vinson feels that his primary purpose in life is to glorify God, mainly through serving others.

 "My purpose is to be a servant and not to be glorifying myself," he said.

 Vinson feels we are all here for a reason.  He believes that reason is to have a relationship with God.  He simply wants to share that with people and allow them to decide if they want to accept or reject Christ.

 "I believe there is a Heaven and there is a Hell and that's reality . . . we are only here for a short time," Vinson said.

 Vinson feels that accepting a relationship with God through Jesus is the truth.  He doesn't feel that God is in the business of proving himself but that is where faith comes in--believing in things that you cannot see.

 "I know because I've seen how I changed.  I've seen how the way I used to think--very selfish and self-centered, very arrogant and cocky--turn into seeing myself become more compassionate and caring, more concerned about others," Vinson said.

 Vinson says that when he became a Christian, Christ became the most important thing in his life.  He became centered on others and  focused less on himself.

 "You want to live that lifestyle that Christ portrays throughout the Bible, to have that compassion and integrity and not be judgmental," Vinson said.

 He feels that God gives him the strength and courage to face tomorrow.

 "I am still going to struggle with things, still going to fail, to come up short, still going to lose my temper, still going to get angry, still going to get frustrated, get ticked off," Vinson said.

 He said that the difference is that as a Christian, he allows God to control these reactions for him.  He tends to become more aware of his actions.

 "I probably struggle more being a Christian than [I would] without Christ [in my life]," Vinson said

 Vinson feels that at Appalachian State University, there are different views on how people interpret the Bible and it leads to a misunderstanding of Christians.

 He has never felt judged or discriminated against at Appalachian but does feel that people will and do talk about the fact that he is a Christian.

 "You can't help what people say about you but you can control what you do," Vinson said.

 Vinson considers himself to be an unusual college student.  He doesn't drink, smoke, do drugs or any of the other stereotypical things placed on college students.

 Vinson feels that you can have just as much fun, if not more, without the constant drinking and partying.

  He said that these two ministries have helped him to see what real relationships with people are supposed to be about.

 "They showed me really what relationships look like in a pure sense and not a manipulative way."

 He feels that this type of relationship is the same one God offers to everyone, as he did to him when he was 10 years old.

 Vinson did not grow up in a Christian home.  His parents divorced when he was four years old and the Christian lifestyle was something never modeled for him.

 "I didn't grow up in the church and grow up every Sunday morning going to church," Vinson said.

 He began going to church with his dad around the age of 10 but never fully understood his relationship with God.

 "I saw the pain in life growing up.  I saw the broken home, and to live with a single mom, to live with a single dad, to live with step-parents.  I saw a lot of hurt and pain in life and that's why I even struggle with Christ now," Vinson said.

 Vinson feels that the Christian life is very exciting, not boring.  He feels that people should get involved and experience the Christian life to see for themselves.

 "I think people think that you go to church and it is boring and it's no fun . . . and that it's a bunch of rules but that's not the case at all."

 Vinson said that once you become a Christian, you are going to want to go to church.

 "You are going to want to go to church and worship God and just say, 'God, you're the man!'"

 Vinson feels that God gives us rules to protect us just as parents give us rules to protect us.

 "It's a great life because you are constantly being tested, and it's exciting because you're seeing God work and that you can't do it but God can," Vinson said.

 Vinson said that being a Christian does not make him perfect or he'd be Jesus.  He said that he is going to screw up and  let people down, so people can't look for him to be perfect.  Instead, he says look to Christ who is perfect and will never let you down.

 As Vinson looks to graduating and being out in the "real world," he sees himself as being a bright spot in today's society.  He wants to live his life to the fullest by allowing Christ to have as much potential as possible in him.

 Vinson feels that people want to see Christian's live out the life they talk about.

 Religion is an aspect of everyone's life.  What you choose to believe is up to you.

 For Chad Vinson, his relationship with Christ has made him different.  His religion isn't just an aspect of his life, it is his life.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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