Wednesday, May 1st
Did you miss Campus Preview? Do you want to visit TFC over the summer to check out the campus? President Bob Myers described Worldview Academy (a camp taking place on TFC's campus this summer) as a “premier organization in the country that trains high school students in a solid, Biblical worldview. We are excited to have Worldview Academy campers and their faculty on our campus this summer. If you are looking to provide Christian worldview training to your high school student, I encourage you to be a part of this remarkable summer camp.” Worldview Academy hosts about 25,000 students every year in various locations across the country. It’s great that TFC is able to host a number of high school students this summer who will be attending World View Academy!
Randy Sims, Executive Director of Worldview Academy states, “Worldview Academy is honored to join with Toccoa Falls College in providing a leadership camp experience like no other in America. As the premier provider of worldview and leadership training for Christian teens, Worldview Academy strongly believes in the mission and vision of Toccoa Falls College to impact the culture through truth, grace, and academic integrity. We look forward to this partnership and the blessings it will produce for the students, families, and churches of the region.” Worldview Academy is great for kids wanting to understand more about what it’s like to really grasp Christianity. Typically this camp is for high school students ages 13-17. For more information, check out the TFC website! We’d be happy to have you on campus this summer!
Thursday, April 18th
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| TFC Chapel |
TFC was really excited to bring in a new speaker, Brett Adams, who serves as a pastor at a church in Maryland called Sunnyside Alliance Church. Brett has served as a pastor for twelve years and spoke in Grace Chapel on Thursday evening, April 4th, and on Friday, April 5th.
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| Previewers at chapel! |
The previewers really seemed to enjoy the worship time during chapel and one unique aspect of our chapel teams is that they are led by students! Many of the chapel team leaders are music majors; however, there are also many non-music majors who play.
Monday, April 1st
Wednesday during chapel, Natalie Flake spoke about her testimony and
how God has been working in her life. She is now an author and has her
own book entitled "Tears to Joy," which you can buy on Amazon by
clicking on the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/Tears-Joy-Natalie-Flake/dp/1621473899/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
You can also view her personal webpage by clicking below:
http://www.natalieflake.com/2011/11/nat-cave-starring-natalie-flake.html
http://www.natalieflake.com/2011/11/nat-cave-starring-natalie-flake.html
Natalie is not that old, but her testimony is so powerful. It not
only spoke to me, but it spoke to other students and staff at TFC as
well. She and her husband, Michael, were a missionary family that
served and loved the Lord. One day, she noticed Michael wasn't
himself and after a repetition ocurred, she went to seek help.
Michael was then diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Natalie shared
that it was hard accepting help from the church because they were
missionaries so technically they should be the ones that have their
life together, right? That's what she thought at first, but then a
conference called Passion changed her mind.
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| Natalie in chapel! |
Passion is a conference for college students, I actually attended the
conference in Atlanta over Christmas break and loved it! Natalie
explained that at this conference, Francis Chan asked the group if
they loved the Lord, she of course said yes in her head and out loud.
Then, Francis asked the crowd if they were willing to suffer because
we should be willing to suffer for Christ. Natalie said she then
battled with this, but learned to trust God by the end of that week.
During this time, her husband was seeming to get better and he wanted
to surprise her so he took himself off of the medication. Later
during the following week she was driving to workout, she felt a sense
that she should go home, but she didn't listen. She changed her mind
another time before she finally started to head home. She found out
that her husband took his life through an overdose. At this point in
chapel, you could hear the crowd feel her pain. She then said that
after support from the church for her and her daughter, she really
realized what it was like to rely on God for everything.
Natalie's story is a powerful example of the situations that we may
have to go through as believers. She then told us that over time, she
learned to find love again even through the pain. She's planning on
getting married in a few weeks! Her main point was that trusting God
with everything was hard, because it lead to direct suffering for her,
but she said she has learned so much from the experience and she is
grateful for it. Usually once a week we will have a guest speaker
come in and share, Natalie did a great job!
Friday, March 15th
On Monday, we had department chapel. The week before via campus messenger, the Office of Spiritual Formation sends us our locations for chapel based on our predicted/declared majors! I am a cross-cultural/business major so this week I was in the world missions building. Dr. Honeycut, one of the heads of the Business Department, showed us a neat video from Princeton! The video covered the basics behind the term "business ethics." It was a panel of university professors and business leaders that discussed how we can teach business ethics in the classroom even when we don't have a relative definition or universal definition of ethics.
In the discussion, we came to the conclusion that unless you base your principles off of God, there really isn't a universal term for good morals and what is right/wrong. I want to eventually be a part of the business world on an international basis so I think a degree from TFC will really help me establish proper ethics and a solid biblical world view to guide me.
Friday, March 8th
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AJ Rinaldi came and spoke with us this week in chapel. Tuesday and Wednesday we got to hear about how to ease into a conversation in where you could potentially share Christ with someone who may not know Him. I thought it was a great message because when we are questioned about our faith, we should be able to use our own life stories and experiences to share the Gospel. AJ gave us some helpful pointers on how lead someone to Christ.
AJ works for EvanTell, an organization that with the purpose of leading others to Christ. He serves as one of the head ministry directors and helps the grow and maintain the organization. Interested in learning more about AJ or EvanTell? Click here: http://evantell.org/
This week in chapel, SGA came to talk with us about presidential elections! SGA stands for Student Government Association and a lot of our campus wide events happen because of SGA! To be the president, one has to have high academic standing, be a leader on campus, have new and exciting ideas, have a junior or senior status and know the SGA guidelines.
There's a plethora of work an SGA president has to put in and it definitely showed this year in our campus events including the back to school bash, dodge ball tournaments, fall festival, and more. This year, Emily and Andrew are first pair who signed up for President and Vice President.
One of the cool perks of being president is you get to pick your VP and you get free tuition for that academic year! I've actually thought about being the head of SGA myself, but it's still too early for me to run, maybe in a few years you will see on stage!
Friday, February 22nd
This week in chapel and he said that he had a heavy heart
for putting emphasis on our school motto:
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| I spy Dr. Bob! |
“I have been thinking so much about our college motto,
‘Where character is developed with intellect.’ I just want us all as a campus
community to be serious about knowing God and asking time to know Him better.
We live in a fast paced world and sometimes we just need to slow down and spend
some time with God. We need to learn more about His character.”
This seems like a great idea for past, present and future
(YOU) TFC students! I agree with Dr. Bob
100% because we should all be focused on
God’s plan for our lives.
Friday, February 15th
For the past few weeks, our focus has been on the World Outreach Conference where missions organizations send representatives to the school so we can get plugged in with opportunities for sharing our faith after graduation. Prior to the conference, we decided to start talking about what we’d like to do for our service and outreach this spring semester! Faith Champion, my Barnabas Group leader, is actually the director of service and outreach, so I can ask her any questions I have.
What is service and outreach? Good question! It’s basically twenty-five hours of Christian/community service done during four semesters of a student’s time here at TFC. These do go on your transcripts and you will get a grade, however, it is not factored into your total GPA. The goal is that we become willing to serve in the local Toccoa area while we are here at TFC so we can begin impacting people during college!
I’m very connected to my home church, so after talking with Faith, I decided to start off by helping with the kids/youth program during the summer. I plan to graduate early, so I need an extra summer of ministry and this was the best way to do so. I am really eager to start working with the youth back home because I still feel connected with the group, and am close friends with several of the kids there.
After I finish up my summer ministry, I would really like to help out with a local AWANA program, mentor kids at a local high school, or even join a worship team at TFC or a local church. I don’t quite know what I’d like to do, but those are some of the many options that can directly relate to your major if you find the right one!
Friday, February 8th
During chapel this week, Jason Ostrander came to TFC to
speak with us. Jason shared that the
idea of our school having a World Outreach Conference was a great way to easily
get plugged in so that we can help be a part of the Great Commission.
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| Inca Link, a missions organization I looked into! |
He also shared that as Christ followers going out into
ministry, we also need to be excited about the faith and promise we have in
Christ. During multiple points in his
discussions, he proposed this question: If we are not excited about sharing the
gospel, will other people be willing to listen?
I immediately understood that what he is saying should be important to
us! We should be excited to share our
testimonies and relationship with Christ with others because that is an easy
gateway to evangelize with others!
Jason’s message proposed that we should take advantage and
talk with the organization representatives because when we tell them our
excitement, it also gets them excited that a new generation is willing to take
their place! Have you ever thought that
talking to a missionary about your life experiences and goals would get them
excited like that?
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| Missions organizations in the dining hall! |
I personally enjoy hearing Jason Ostrander speak because I
heard him at LIFE 2010 in Louisville, KY!
Have you ever been to LIFE, if
so, what year did you go? Comment
below and let us know and we will send you a free TFC t-shirt! For those who don’t know, LIFE is a
tri-annual four day conference for high school kids in the summer. I remember him talking about missions back
then as a sophomore and that sparked my interest for possibly interning or
doing a short term missions trip. I
enjoyed this week a lot because it brought back memories from LIFE and it got
me thinking about missions again as a possible option!
Friday, February 1st
This week in chapel, we discussed the new events SGA has planned for the
new Spring semester. Caroline, our social events coordinator, and
Debbie Moore spoke about upcoming elections for anyone who would want to
run for president. I wonder who is going to be running this year? You
have to be a least a junior to run. Maybe I will consider it when I am a
junior.
This semester, they plan to implement a point system based on each class: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. For certain events, recitals, games, and other things, you have chance to help your class earn points by attending. The class with the most people in attendance will win. For attending the Men's basketball game against Clearwater on Saturday, the class with the most people in attendance gets 25 points! Another event where classes can earn points is the talent show on campus. The winning class gets 50 points! I am not sure what the winning class will get but I definitely think is going to be the class of 2016. Go Freshman!
Next week is the World Outreach conference week, stay tuned! I plan to blog about what Jason Ostrander speaks
Friday, December 7th
On Thursday, we had a candle light service in Grace Chapel. The theme was, of course, Christmas!
I didn't get to go because I was attending the basketball game, but everyone who went said it looked very nice and all who went even dressed up! The different music programs at TFC such as the regular band, jazz band, and chior ensombles all preformed.
From the girls in my dorm who went, they said it was a great experience and it was neat because some of the community members came as well.
Friday, November 30th
In my Barnabus group, we're beginning to figure out what
we'd like to discuss as a group. Now
that we understand a little bit about everyone, we can focus on really
developing those relationships and exploring other topics at a deeper level.
So far, we've come up with a few ideas, but we haven't really figured out what's the best one. A lot of them are centered on the idea that we need to set examples for others and hold each other accountable if we want to live a Christian life. Accountability helps us realize our faults so we can learn how to work with them. Another topic we've touched on is how to be mature Christians during a time of transition. I think that this topic is appropriate because college is really a time to redefine you as a person and grow as a Christian.
Being a group of all girls, a few topics have also come up
like dating and how to be in a God centered relationship. Both of these topics really relate to guys
too, but I think girls have more fun talking about these topics of discussion. Have you ever participated in a small group
before? What were some of your topics?
Friday, November 16th
This week
during chapel we had a unique visitor come and speak. His name is Dr. Gil Odenaal and he works as
the Vice President of Integral Mission with World Relief.
Background:
Gil has
been in the ministry field for 30 years now and continues to with his wife,
Elmarie. They have been married for 37
years! In the past 15 years he has
faithfully committed himself to caring for the nation of Africa, where he grew
up, and getting the church involved with HIV and AIDS.
Mission:
Dr.
Odenaal’s mission is pretty straightforward. He strives to get the church to
care about HIV and AIDS, specifically with the African people. During his lectures, he said that now that we
are informed, we should move to act in some way. As Christians, our hearts should break for
what breaks God’s heart. Each child in
Africa God cares about deeply and unconditionally so we should be willing to do
the same!
Main
Points:
Throughout
the different lectures, Dr. Odenaal mentioned a number of different
topics. Mainly he addressed that we as a
church should pray and ask God to give us a servant’s heart so we may be more
inclined to help people in need. He
talked about how when Jesus healed the people with Leprosy, he didn’t just
command them to feel better; Jesus knew that a command was the common thing so
he physically touched each individual.
We should have and feel that same kind of compassion!
Another
main point he addressed was when he talked about David. Everyone knows the story from Sunday school:
David, a little guy with 5 stones and a slingshot, killed a giant. So
what? His point really stuck me; we need
to understand that we are just like David when we start out as Christians, but
we need to use what we have currently too!
Often times, we want to just say “Oh I’ll make a difference later on
when I have a degree or grow up.” The time is now! As a believer, we need to trust that God can
use us whenever, including right now!
God then turned David into a great warrior and he could use the sword
and shield he wasn’t able to earlier on.
This lead to the last key point that God wants us to be ready to fight
with what we have at the current moment.Friday, November 2nd
Every
student here at TFC has to take at least thirty hours of bible classes. It may seem like a lot, but so far, I enjoy
the bible classes that I'm in. I have
Spiritual Formation with Dr. Woodworth and Old Testament with Dr. Wanner. Both classes have taught me so much, within
just a few months of school!
Spiritual
Formation with Dr. Woodworth is a great class because like I said earlier, I
tend to be really outgoing and laugh a lot!
Master Woodworth, as some of us like to call him, is a great teacher and
he totally understands my random outbursts.
Stay tuned;
next week we have a special guest speaker during chapel!
Friday, October 26th 
TFC students participate in Barnabas Groups instead of
chapel on Thursday mornings. I really
enjoy Barnabas Group because I have become friends with the majority of the
girls in my group! Not only are there
Letourneau girls in my group, but I also get to know girls who live in Fant and
even a girl who lives off-campus. Sometimes before we begin, Faith brings in doughnuts or makes coffee for us! Throughout the semester, we have been sharing
our personal stories: where we grew up, who are family members are, how we came
to know Christ, and finally how we ended up at TFC! 
I didn’t think our stories would be so involved, but some
of the things the ladies in my group shared really made me realize we’re all
going through the same things, and we all just want to be able to come together
as a group to help and encourage each other!
This next week we have planned a Barnabas Group dinner at
our leader, Faith’s house! I’m really excited to socialize with the group
outside of just meeting for chapel time.
Come back next Friday to hear all about it!
Friday, October 19th
This week in chapel we had an interesting change of pace
with the presentation from “Breaking Free” Ministry. Breaking Free is a newly established ministry
here at TFC, and their mission is to reach those who feel that they can’t hide
their burdens any longer. It is similar in
many ways to the popular PostSecret series. There are designated areas throughout
campus where students can anonymously write about any of the following
hardships:
·
Struggles
·
Addictions
·
Secrets
·
Burdens
·
Worries/Fears
·
Temptations
Students coordinating the “Breaking Free” ministry then
collect the cards at different times throughout the week and pray for those specific
struggles and offer opportunities for accountability and guidance.
During chapel today, the head members of” Breaking Free” spoke
about their personal hardships. Those in
Breaking Free leadership had a lot of guts to share their personal struggles
with the entire school. More than that,
we were so encouraged to hear how they learned to overcome those struggles. They even had a team of student actors
preform a skit to show the magnitude of what it’s like for one to let go of
their chains and give them to God. I
really love the heart of the ministry, and I am excited to see the growth that
will take place on campus from this!Friday, October 12th
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| Maybe the coffee looked like this? |
Why
is this big deal you may ask? Well, Jessica (who graduated from TFC in 2010)
went on to become an author of the new hit science fiction novel, Origin. Dr. Woodworth conducted an interview with her
asking her the synopsis of the book, her inspiration for the book, her writing
process, and what it was like to be a Christian artist in a secular
marketplace. I found the inspiration for
the book fascinating and here is why--Jessica
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An interesting turn occurred when Dr. Woodworth asked
Jessica about being a Christian author in a secular marketplace and what that
process was like. Through her answer she explained the need for Christians to
bring the gospel to others in ways that they understand—art, literature, music,
movies, and more. She said that to reach
the secular world, we must remember that the quality of our work is just as
critical as the message if we are to gain the respect of our secular audience.
The best quote of the chapel came when Jessica explained
that Chuck Norris is a Christian who is working a in a secular
environment. She said, “As Christians,
we’ve got Chuck Norris and Jesus. Why does Satan even try?” After that comment
all of us were laughing so hard we thought we were going to cry!
Needless to say, I know more about publishing than I did
before and am so excited about Jessica’s success as an author!
Friday, October 5th
TFC has chapels services starting at 10am on Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday mornings. You can even follow them on Twitter by clicking here!
Our Director of Spiritual Formation, Dr. Steve Woodworth,
has set our theme around the idea of “New Beginnings.” This week, Dr. Woodworth has elaborated that
God has a plan for each of us and although we may not know it right away, we
don’t have to be afraid because He will
provide! I personally have Dr. Woodworth for a typical freshmen class
called “Spiritual Formation” and it is currently my favorite class! Every week, I tend to do something embarassing
in that class. I’ve busted out laughing while reading Genesis and even
waltzed on the chapel stage during class!
My Barnabas group leader is Faith Champion. I really enjoy having Faith as my leader because I can contact her whenever I need guidance. From day one of Barnabas group, I felt very comfortable around her and the other girls in my group. Faith texts me just to check in and see how my week is going and I can always go talk to her in the Spiritual Formation Office if I need to.
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