By Brian Blackwell
Message Staff Writer
PINEVILLE – Evangelist Dave Edwards challenged Louisiana College students to be a part of the Jesus generation on the first day of the school’s fall revival September 11.
“The idea that you and I are called to live like Jesus can seem like an unattainable task,” said Edwards, founder of Dave Edwards Speaks in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “We become more aware of our weaknesses when we think about that. We become more aware of our inconsistencies and the contradictions in our life.”
Edwards said members of the Jesus generation are controlled by the Father’s desire, committed to faithfully disciple other believers and consumed by a future dream that one day the presence of God will cover the earth.
He encouraged all students to ask themselves the same question that forever changed his life as a high school student … what does God want for them?
“What’s the eternal significance of your major?” he said. “What’s the point of your athletic ability? It can’t just be to put points on the board or get people’s respect. There’s got to be something deeper than that.
“To any person who is bold enough to ask this question, the spirit of God begins to place the desires of God into your heart and you start to sense what God wants for you.”
Just as Jesus’ disciples changed their world, the Jesus generation can do the same.
“Think about what it was that made Jesus so persuasive,” he said. “He didn’t just have a message. Jesus was the message.
“The Jesus generation doesn’t just have a message about Jesus,” he continued. “They are the message by the way they live and speak.”
Students like Emily Rodgers, a junior from Evergreen, Alabama, left the revival more passionate about sharing Christ on campus.
“Each time we have a campus revival it encourages me in my own walk with Christ,” Rodgers told the Baptist Message. “Hopefully what we learned today will reach beyond just LC and we as students will do our part to spread the Gospel around the world.”
Hunter Parker, a junior from Dry Prong, said he hopes all the students at the revival will accept Edwards’s challenge to become part of the Jesus generation.
“Just imagine if every one of us were to decide to become a part of that movement,” he said. “It could spark massive changes.”
LC President Rick Brewer said the annual revival allows students to refocus their attention on Christ as they begin a new school year.
“These young adults are passionate about God,” he said. “The revival sets a tone at the beginning of the school year to teach them to seek the Father’s heart and worship Him.”
The revival continues inside Guinn Auditorium through Thursday, September 13. Each session begins at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.
