College: What's the Point?
Embracing the Mystery of the Kingdom in a Postmodern World
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I have a suspicion that in a short time you will have reshaped the church’s understanding of faith so that we begin to seek to serve instead of seeking to be served. You will have helped some older believers to understand that we too can be a blessing instead of wanting to be “blessed” with more things. You will have taught us that we long to be in solidarity instead of alone. You will have taught us to listen and identify with the other instead of pursuing our own agenda even if and maybe especially when we pursue our agenda asking God’s blessing at the end. You will have taught us to make Christ preeminent by bearing witness to his coming Kingdom.
Living in between brokenness and reconciliation as an embodiment of shalom makes all of life now bloom with meaning. Every part of living is filled with striving to bring healing. We are now beginning to bring grace to all things as we live to bring reconciliation to all things, systems, and people who are broken. We become characterized with an inner strength and brokenness, filled with character and integrity. We walk the pathway of the King offering ourselves to meet the needs of a broken world. Our big dreams and noble thoughts are targeted towards the needy more than ourselves. We begin to become people with Jesus shaped characters and convictions.
And great hope rises up right in the middle of the nightmare, smack dab in the middle of brokenness and reconciliation. Because of eschatology. Jesus will return for his people and the entire cosmos- a renewed cosmos for his children to live in with him forever. Revelation 21 describes the final phase of his love story with us- we will join with his children from the nations of the world celebrating the promises and the gifts of the King. Jesus will be high and lifted up on the throne. No more injustice, abuse, or sin. All things will be made new. All people who accepted Him will be glorified. We will join with many other believers in the new city radiating the glory of the Lord. And we shall see him face to face and be with him. God’s shalom will be complete.
That vision of the end sustains us. When Jesus brings heaven to earth the nightmare will be gone. All of it. Forever. What’s so deeply meaningful to life is that God’s right-making work is breaking into this world now. That realized eschatological hope both inspires and shapes up. The darkness will not last even now light is breaking in. Just as the morning star emerges in the dead of night, so too God brings the forces of heaven to battle the evil elements of the nightmare. Practically our confidence in heaven coming to earth means that no situation is beyond hope, no system irrevocably broken, no person damaged goods. Experiencing a reshaping of the heart reorients and ignites us, propelling us into the world with faith, hope, and love. . .
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About the Book
In the compelling book College: What’s the Point? Embracing the Mystery of the Kingdom in a Postmodern World, author David Van Heemst passionately and insightfully challenges Christian college students to abandon superficiality and apathy during their four years of college to instead go deep, ask the hard questions, and pursue a life of radical meaning. College: What’s the Point? addresses the significant issues facing college students today such as identity, calling, academic integrity, relationships, and healthy sexuality to guide the reader in a thought-provoking journey of faith, reflection, and discovery.
College: What’s the Point? frames these difficult issues confronting college students in the context of biblical justice and God’s redemptive purpose for the world, and speaks directly to the young adult desiring more than the status quo. The author invites students to use their time in college to grapple with the tough questions, to embrace the brokenness, and to participate in ushering in the Kingdom of God. Accessible and engaging, College: What’s the Point? enables the reader to approach their college education with a deeper understanding of the impact of these years upon their life, their calling, and the world.
About the Author
David Van Heemst has been a professor of political science at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, for the past two decades. He holds a BA from Dordt College, an MA in political science from the American University, and a PhD in political theory from the University of Virginia. He also earned two additional masters’ degrees: one in pastoral counseling and the other in professional counseling.
He is the author of Empowering the Poor: Why Justice Requires School Choice, Herman Dooyeweerd and Eric Voegelin: A Comparative Study, and he is the co-author of Hope in Troubled Times: A New Vision for Confronting Global Crises.
Van Heemst lives in Kankakee, Illinois, with his wife, April, and their five daughters. Maggie and Ellie are ten years old, and Anni, Libby, and Jessie are four years old. They enjoy bike riding, going to the park, reading books, and playing games.