Insights on campus and res life with George and Bryce

In this episode, I talk with Bible  majors George Merit and Bryce Bradley about a myriad of topics about spiritual life at Cedarville,  their experiences in residence life, how their faith has changed over their first year , and  how God has sustained them through college, and how chapel has impacted them. Tune into this conversation to hear from two friends about what spiritual life at Cedarville is like. Additionally, you  will learn about their favorite bible verses, and learn how they've depended on Christ


* This episode contains more content than campus life 

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Transcript

**Andres ** (00:00:10) - Hey, welcome to  Articulating with Andres where we discuss all things Christian life, friends, theology, Cedarville, and proclaiming the gospel. Today's episode we have Cedarville freshmen, Bryce Bradley and George Merritt. They're in Brock  and are both Bible majors in the MDiv track. In this episode, we'll be discussing their spiritual life at Cedarville and how community has impacted them. 
Andres: What's been your favorite part of community at Cedarville?

**Bryce** (00:00:43) - Oh, I think that's that's you first, rice. Yeah, I'll go first on that. I, just got hired as an RA because. And I chose to do that because I think my favorite part of community at Cedarville has been, the residence life. I love being in Brock. I love being around people. Both of you live in. Brock. You know what it is. I know you both have like, your your separate communities of people. And I think I think that's the best feeling in the world, like coming home and hearing different people in their dorms and like, right now the Masters is going on.

**Bryce** (00:01:12) - So like, there's some people in their dorms watching the Masters. There's some people in their rooms doing a Bible study, praying with each other. There's some people just like goofing around. And it's so it's so good to come back at the end of a long day and be part of residence life. Dude. Yeah.

**Andres ** (00:01:27) - Personally, I like the Christian community in classes in chapel, and I also like residence Life at Cedarville University.

**Bryce** (00:01:37) - Yeah, I would say.

**George ** (00:01:39) - I think that it's like there's separate groups, but I think like, everyone's like one together. I think it's like because like especially we're really the we live abroad. It's like it seems like everyone kind of knows each other, you know what I mean? It was like that was like, you hear like, every college talk about like, oh, we have good, you know, community, you know, like, but it's like, I think Cedarville actually does. Oh yeah. And I just, I think, like the type of people that Cedarville attracts are high quality people that you want to be around.

**Andres ** (00:02:03) - So how chapel impacted you and what's your favorite chapel speaker?

**Bryce** (00:02:09) - Oh, that's a tough question. Listen, I, I know my favorite chapel speaker off the top of my head. I love every time Doctor White speaks. Oh, yeah. And I know that's a pretty stereotypical answer, but Doctor White is so good, especially in this Roman series that we're going through. Last year he went through the Psalms and that was that was fantastic. Doctor white is very intelligent and a very effective communicator.

**George ** (00:02:33) - How do you listen to that one?

**Bryce** (00:02:34) - I was here last year. I'm a sophomore, technically. Oh, really? Yeah.

**George ** (00:02:39) - And I know that you're a sophomore.

**Bryce** (00:02:40) - I'm a sophomore. Only technically. Only technically. Yeah, I did, I did CCP and my senior year of high school because I lived so close to you. I just came up here every day. Okay. Gotcha. So I just lived the freshman life. Okay? Yeah. Nice.

**George ** (00:02:55) - Okay, well, there you go. Figure it.

**George ** (00:02:58) - oh. How's the Chapel? Well, that was actually one thing I was, like, really concerned about. I was like, every day I'm like, that's just like. That's just a lot. But, you know, it quickly became one of my favorite parts of the day because, you know, you see, like your friends, you know, we all say like, together in chapel and, and it's like, you know, to chapel and it's like, oh, man, I haven't seen anybody today. Like, what's everyone doing is that we, like, make plans for the day. Yeah. And again, just be able to worship and listen to a message which are usually pretty good is always helpful. And my favorite chapel speaker was when we had, Christopher Yuan.  holy sexuality? Okay, guys, on the screen I'm like, what's going on? But, you know, it was it was good. It was really good. Yeah, yeah.

**Andres ** (00:03:40) - Fun fact he came to speak to my church in like summer 2018.

**Bryce** (00:03:46) - Christopher Yuan.

**Andres ** (00:03:47) - Yeah, He's a cool.

**Bryce** (00:03:49) - Guy.

**Andres ** (00:03:50) - He's a good guy. Personally, I think pretty much all the Bible prophets and all of the pastors have been great. They've really challenged me in my faith. Yeah, they've really made me trust in God's Word more. I like the Roman series. One of my favorite verses in Romans is Romans 323 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So we're going to take a pivot from this and talk about how you view spiritual life as literal as Bible makers, like as people preparing for prayer, church or ministry or just to go into the marketplace. Yeah.

**George ** (00:04:31) - I think that you're I think you're very well prepared. I think, like, even just like non Bible classes even you're taking like, like a political American culture, there's still like biblical integration in those classes. So pray before every class and it's just and that like that reflects all the professors.

**George ** (00:04:47) - Cuz you feel like the professors really do care about you and care about your spiritual life. And I think, I think that one of the biggest struggles for me has been like separating, like school Bible time and like personal Bible time. Yeah. So and it's like, I don't it's something I catch myself like, I don't need to read my Bible because I already read, you know, 17 chapters of Joshua for Old Testament, you know what I mean? So it's like and then sometimes you get a little like Bible out, but that's, you know, the personal time with God is something that you can't replace. So yeah. Yeah, that would be my answer.

**Bryce** (00:05:17) - I think just the commitment to personal time being like, God like this matters to me enough that even though I've read all of Isaiah twice over. Yeah, yeah, I'm still gonna read one more chapter. Yeah, guys, I love you. Yeah, I think I think that something that's particular to Bible majors is just the way that the professors kind of prepare you for ministry, because they know that that's what you're going into.

**Bryce** (00:05:35) - And so I had doctor MacKinnon for Intro to Biblical Studies, and he just kind of talks about like the mentality that a Bible major should have. And something that he would remind us of is like, we are the servant of the church when you're when you're going into ministry. And so he wanted us to kind of take that mindset on now, like serve the people around you, be ready to to do things for them and help them out as much as you can. Yeah, I.

**George ** (00:05:56) - Love when they talk about, you know, everyone, everyone wants, you know, a big church, a big ministry, got a bus or a ministry, but not everyone to be faithful of what they have now. I think that's like such a good reminder. Like, what has God given you now that you can steward with whether you know it's a podcast or like your schoolwork even or like there's these, these lost people that are around you, how are you doing that? Because if you can't be trusted with something small and God expects you to be like, I want to trust you with like a big church, you know what I mean? So yeah, that's something I they, they the Bible professors here.

**George ** (00:06:25) - I mean, I'm a little biased, but I think they're the best on campus department on campus. Oh yeah. For sure. I mean, just how smart they are. And, you know, coming to see her, it's like you really like, figure out, you know, how much you really don't know. So it's like taking a step back here. But yeah.

**Andres ** (00:06:40) - So with broadcasting, there's a lot of pastors and ministers who are also broadcasters. They broadcast the gospel. And as a broadcaster myself, I view it as ministry, as coming alongside the church. And that's in totality, what this podcast is designed to do. And I've had professors like Mister L, Professor Gilbert O'Connor, and they always integrate the Bible into it because no matter what you do, that's ministry. And I just love Cedarville because of that, because that's what makes us distinct from other Christian universities.

**** (00:07:25) - Yeah.

**Bryce** (00:07:26) - For sure.

**Andres ** (00:07:28) - What's a Bible verse that has sustained you throughout freshman year?

**Bryce** (00:07:35) - Oh dude, Romans eight I think it's.

**Bryce** (00:07:38) - 31. I have used this first through high school two and it says for I consider that neither height nor depth, nor angels, nor rulers, nor demons, nor powers, nor any other thing on heaven or on earth, will separate us from the love that is found in Christ Jesus. And what I like to do is I like to take that middle part and replace it with something so like neither height nor depth, nor angels, nor rulers, nor this test that I'm about to take is going to separate me from the love that is found in Christ Jesus. Nor this this roommate being angry at me, nor like this dispute among my friends, like none of these things are going to separate me from the love that is found in Christ Jesus. And like that's that's what really matters. At the end of the day, if I have nothing, but I have that. Yeah.

**George ** (00:08:17) - I think for me, you know, especially in college, but I think also in high school as well, it was, John 13 seven Jesus replied, you not you do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand.

**George ** (00:08:28) - And I think so often we can correlate with God's goodness with how our life is going. Because if life's not good, that means God's not good. And I think there's just a lot of things that happen, like this year after high school. And it was like, you know, you know, God, where are you? Like, you're like, where are you going with this situation? But believing that God is still good when life is not has been such a good reminder to me and that which that verse correlates with as well. So yeah, and God, that kind of puts everything in perspective, like the bigger picture of like, you know, this, you know, situation isn't then I'll be all, you know, the, the God has the final say. So, yeah.

**Andres ** (00:09:02) - So you mentioned you're going to be an RA next year. Yeah. As a Christian, but most importantly, as a Cedarville student, how is student life impacting you spiritually? among the residence halls?

**Bryce** (00:09:19) - Yeah, among the residence halls.

**Bryce** (00:09:21) - Oh, dude, that's a tough one. I would have to say I room with my RA right now. So the first the first person who I've mentioned is like my roommate, who is also my RA, has really come alongside me, and he's also a bond major. And we call each other Greek accountability partners with each other and make sure we're like studying our studying our Greek, because both of us tend to slack in that, because Greek is hard and I don't want to learn it. I am taking the next year. Oh yeah. Good luck. Yeah. Pray for this, brother. Yeah, but.

**George ** (00:09:49) - Any m to.

**Bryce** (00:09:50) - 8 a.m.. Oh, dude, I had the 8 a.m. the semester. It's tough waking up at eight in the morning and reading an ancient language is not always enjoyable.

**Andres ** (00:09:58) - I had 2 a.m. classes last semester. An intro to broadcasting. And Paul.

**Bryce** (00:10:04) - God bless you. Andreas. Yeah.

**George ** (00:10:06) - Oh, Paul. That class.

**Andres ** (00:10:08) - We were actually in the same class.

**Andres ** (00:10:10) - Yeah, we.

**George ** (00:10:11) - Loved that class. Anyway, we got through it together.

**Andres ** (00:10:15) - We got through it together.

**Bryce** (00:10:16) - Together by the power of Christ. Right. That's neither you nor depth, nor Paul love.

**Andres ** (00:10:22) - Nor depth, nor composition.

**Speaker 5** (00:10:24) - Yeah.

**Bryce** (00:10:27) - Yeah. Back to your original question. I think my roommate, number one, like him, him praying for me and taking care of me and also being my RA. And then like the guys in my hall, we we have a Bible study that we, we meet with on Saturdays. And that's so good. Just just being around those guys because like, we don't we don't all see each other all the time because we're all busy. And so even though we're all in the same hall, like we're some days moving past each other and like, you'll just wave at somebody mostly, but like to know that there's somebody out there who's, like, willing and ready to listen to me and and hear my griefs and, and pray with me and then pray for me afterwards, because I know those fellows are praying for me.

**Bryce** (00:11:01) - Just having that like, kind of comfort behind it really helps. Yeah.

**Andres ** (00:11:06) - One of the things that I like about Cedarville is that there's people everywhere that you can find help. And like even profs, they're not just here to teach you the subjects that you're here for. They're here to help you in your spiritual walk.

**** (00:11:26) - I agree,

**Bryce** (00:11:29) - I don't think there's a whole lot more to add to that. That was good. I think that was good. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

**Andres ** (00:11:35) - So another thing, in my opinion, that makes it distinct is we treat every major as ministry like and as a Christian, that's helped me so much realize in my spiritual walk with God. Yeah, that what I'm doing is for the Lord.

**George ** (00:11:57) - Yeah. Yeah. If I were to add to that is I don't know if you experience this too, but when you tell people you're only in the ministry, sometimes you'll get like, oh bless your heart.

**Bryce** (00:12:06) - Like, oh.

**George ** (00:12:07) - You got your work cut out for you. But I'm thinking in my head I don't really say this, but it's just like, well, you're supposed to be ministry to like, it's not just me.

**George ** (00:12:15) - It's like, this is what I feel like God has called me to do is, you know, serve the local church in that way and, you know, be a pastor and all that. But like, everything but everyone's supposed to do like, everyone should have had their work cut out, cut out for them, you know what I mean? So, yeah, I think that's a yeah, Audrey is a good reminder that everybody is in ministry, you know, because if you're like an accountant, you'll have people, you know, the, the able be able to reach. People that you know will never be able to reach, you know.

**Bryce** (00:12:41) - Because they don't go.

**George ** (00:12:42) - To church or whatever. So.

**Andres ** (00:12:44) - Yeah. And that's our primary calling is to be in ministry no matter what you do.

**Bryce** (00:12:48) - Yeah, yeah. I was actually also going to add to that what I like most about Cedarville is that, like, I don't feel like they push that idea on you. They're not like, oh, like because you're in broadcasting.

**Bryce** (00:12:56) - Like, you also have to have to be in ministry. It just kind of assumed like because you're a Christian and Christianity is the truth, like you're going to experience Christian parts of broadcasting because it's just Christian life. The Christian walk is going to bleed into broadcast.

**Andres ** (00:13:10) - Or computer science or English.

**Bryce** (00:13:11) - Or English or all of them, or dude.

**George ** (00:13:16) - The whole major scheme.

**Andres ** (00:13:17) - We could list 149 majors, but we're not going to do that.

**Bryce** (00:13:21) - Like you have to be in ministry. Like it's just like assumed. It's kind of like an underlying principle. Like because we're Christians, we're going to live like we're Christians all the way into our profession.

**Andres ** (00:13:30) - And that flows through every major here. I see nursing majors. I see com majors, I see English majors, I see all these other majors. And I'm like stunned. And I'm like, you're going into a secular vocation, but you're viewing it as vocational ministry. And that's also why we have a biblical studies minor here. I currently have Bible in the gospel right now and it's helped me so much in my faith.

**Andres ** (00:14:08) - Because before I just listen to pastors and to like their word for it and didn't actually says a word for myself. And as a Christian you have to become a theologian yourself. Yeah.

**George ** (00:14:19) - Yeah I think that's a good point. And that's, that's so dangerous that people don't, you know, study the show that they, they don't, you know, whatever the pastor says, kind of just like, all right. Like that's I mean, I don't, I don't this may be a overexaggerate answer, but if someone was at church, like, let's say a big church, where, say, the pastor is like, guys, I just found out the Trinity is not real. I think, honestly, half the congregation is like, oh, okay, I guess you know what I mean? Because they don't want to study for themselves. So I think, yeah, yeah.

**Bryce** (00:14:48) - That's crazy. I just had that conversation with a guy at my church. I asked him, I said, like we were talking about baptism and I said, how many, how many people in this congregation do you think could actually, like, tell you what it means to be baptized if you ask them? And he said, oh, we gave people a quiz a couple of years ago, and like only 20% of our congregation, like.

**George ** (00:15:04) - Even like the gospel is someone like, how do you get saved? Like, I don't, I honestly don't. There's people going to church or like, they don't like they they kind of give you a clear answer, you know what I mean? But like like what it means to, you know, you know, accepted Christ. I think that's just not.

**Bryce** (00:15:18) - Not to say that you have to know all the answers to people. Yeah. You know. Christ. Yeah. You desire to know me. Yeah, exactly.

**Andres ** (00:15:23) - And that's the study of theology. It's knowing Christ more. And that's the primary aim of biblical studies is to know Christ more. I heard a podcast from Boyce College in Kentucky that stated that all the other areas of studies have an end to their means, but knowing God doesn't have an end to their means. And since that's your primary calling, you should know systematic theology. You should know the principles of salvation, all that kind of stuff.

**** (00:15:54) - Yeah.

**Bryce* (00:15:55) - And lots of professors focus so much on that.

**Andres ** (00:15:59) - Yeah.

**George ** (00:15:59) - For sure.

**Andres ** (00:16:01) - This was episode eight of articulating with Andres, and I'm glad you were with us on the podcast. See you later