The Pilgrim’s Protest

By Beverly Strobolakos

I was excited. After a twenty-year hiatus to raise a family, I was back in college once again. As I sank down into the seat of the large auditorium for ICS 1210, I realized I had no idea what ICS was. It was a required class but, in my eagerness, I neglected to find out what I had signed up for.
I soon discovered ICS stood for Intercultural Studies and my class was called “Introduction to the World Christian Movement.” The course was a general overview of the history and scope of world missions. Although I entered class that day horribly uninformed, it was not by mistake. Unknowingly, I had a serious heart problem the Lord needed to correct. When it came to missions, like Dr. Suess’s Grinch, my heart was at least two sizes too small.
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By Beverly Strobolakos

‘Twas the night before formal open dorms and none were at rest;
busy plotting and planning what would work best.
The theme was Disney, the mission quite clear-
to transform humble dwellings into stories brought near.
The day started early, running morning till night;
all working together to make it just right.
Better hurry, the judges soon will be here.
Quick into costumes, for alas, they draw near!
The characters stepped right off the screen;
Beauty and Beast, from the ballroom scene,
the Mad Hatter, Aladdin, Mr. Potato Head too
Buzz, Sid, and Mary to name just a few.
Palaces appeared in place of empty halls,
gardens and rooftops made from cinderblock walls.
Mad tea parties and enchanted forests filled our senses,
along with red roses by white picket fences.
Who would win? How hard it was to decide!
In the end it was the magic carpet ride,
That earned the prize and made East Two shout-
but our poor judges were left sorely worn out.
So away with the props, costumes, and glitter,
the dumpsters now filled with all kinds of litter.
Left only with memories to console through the years,
such as Dell in pink pajamas and kitty cat ears.

By Sarah Nixon

“When Sinners Say I Do” is a beautiful look at marriage, love, and relationships in a fallen world. As the title suggests, this book talks a lot about sin; however the author, Pastor Dave Harvey, writes not to glorify sin, but instead to glorify the gospel. Where he talks about sin, the truth of grace immediately follows. He writes “when sin becomes bitter, marriage becomes sweet”, and so he emphasizes sin to promote God-glorifying marriage built on the foundational truth of the gospel Read the rest of this entry »

By Caleb Wimble
Despite still being more than a year away, the upcoming presidential elections are certainly hot on the media radar. As expected, there’s plenty of controversy to go around, especially given the unprecedented level of diversity among the lineup of candidates. And, equally as expected, the evangelical community is once again struggling with the proper Christian approach to the elections, more so than ever thanks to a surprising new twist in the formula. Having received higher than an 11% ranking on the most recent Gallup presidential poll, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney currently finds himself the third most favored Republican candidate by a respectably close margin. Not only have his Gallup rankings almost invariably increased in percentage over the course of the race, but he has also emerged as the landslide “victor” in the Straw Polls. Romney’s list of endorsers grows more impressive by the day, and his level of support among the political right is nothing short of astonishing. The only true obstacle standing in the way of his aspirations, it seems, is the issue of his faith. As most politically active Americans are aware by now, Mitt Romney is, in fact, a Mormon. Which, of course, begs the obvious question: should evangelical Christians be willing to give their presidential vote to a Latter Day Saint?

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By Elizabeth Castellow

In a world of instant news that can be found with only the few clicks of a mouse it is surprising how easy it is to ignore what happens in this country and in the world. CIU itself is commonly referred to as a ‘bubble’ because it is so easy to experience little of life outside the campus. It isn’t difficult for a student to go weeks with little national or world news but this is not beneficial. In light of this, The Pilgrim’s Protest hopes to publish an article in each issue that highlights various news items. As the school newspaper, The Pilgrim’s Protest hopes to be a source of news in a way that it hasn’t been in the past. Also included will be links to various news websites so that further information can be gathered. As readers, if anyone sees a news item that they feel should appear in the next issue, please send it to thepilgrimsprotest@gmail.com.. Links the articles listed here can also be found on our website.

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By Courtney Kilgore

Carrie Caudill is a new professor in the Psychology department at CIU.

How did you meet your husband?
In the nursery at church. He volunteered in the nursery even though he was a single guy. His first words were “I don’t know how to change a diaper”

What motivated you to pursue psychology?
I love to understand how people think and live and how they are affected as a result of that; what makes them healthy and happy and what makes them dysfunctional and miserable. It fascinates me trying to understand who we are and what makes us who we are.
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By Courtney Kilgore

I grew up in a missions-minded Southern Baptist Church. I can remember being involved in “Mission Buddies” in kindergarten on Wednesday nights at church, and I spent grades 1-6 involved in GA’s (Girls-in-Action). We learned about missions in different countries and would even write letters of encouragement to International Mission Board missionaries who were serving in those countries. GA’s is, in a nutshell, just like ICS1210 drawn out for 6 years; we read hundreds of books about missionaries and memorized numerous scriptures about missions. We were often told that being a missionary meant you were special. You were the one who was to go to the deepest, darkest jungles and give the message of hope to poor lost souls who had no hope. For many years I believed that if I did not make the effort to go those poor people would die and go to hell; the burden rested on me to go or send. If I did not then their blood would be on my hands. I do not know about you, but I think that is some pretty heavy theology for a 9 year old.

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Hello everyone, welcome to the website of The Pilgrim’s Protest. Here you will find the articles from our most recent issue as well as additional articles and past issues. Please feel free to comment on and disscuss the articles. I hope that you enjoy the first issue of the semester. There will be two more issues this semester, one in October and one in December.

Keep in mind that The Pilgrim’s Protest is submissions based- you do not have to be on staff to write and submit an article. Please send any article submissions you have to thepilgrimsprotest@gmail.com.

Also, if you would like to be on staff there is an informational meeting this Friday, the 7th in the CIU cafeteria (in the back dinning room). Please come and learn more about the paper!

Thanks for reading our newspaper and discussing ideas!

-Elizabeth

Editor-in-Chief

TPP feels that it would be beneficial and informative to interview Dr. Jones in his new position as president of the school. On July 1st, Dr. Murray, the former, was named the Chancellor and Dr. Jones, then the provost, was made president. TPP Editor Elizabeth Castellow had interviewed Dr. Jones as the provost and was happy to interview him as the new president. We began with discussing the summer and Dr. Jones shared some of the things that he had done.

How was your summer?
On a personal level, I spent a lot of time trying to finish my book on the New Testament. Since Putting Together the Puzzle of the Old Testament came out this spring, I wanted to finish the New Testament sequel this summer but I had to start getting ready for convocation and other responsibilities. I have only two chapters remaining to write in order to finish the book. I also had the privilege of seeing a mid-50’s year-old man as well as an attorney and his wife pray to receive Christ. Good summer!
In terms of the school, I spent a lot of time on reorganizing student life though, of course, the student life staff did most of the work. The President’s Cabinet spent much time on CIU’s direction; I’m very excited about our future. We have presented it to the university’s faculty and will soon take it to the Board of Trustees. I think the students are going to love our direction, and TPP can do an article on that in October.

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Many apostates have numbered amongst CIU graduates; certainly our school’s students are no less immune to falling away from the faith than any other generation of Christians. The New Testament itself repeatedly exhorts believers to keep the faith, and the author of Hebrews addresses the issue directly. Hebrews 3:12-13 says: “Take care that there be not in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day…so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” How, according to these verses, may a Christian be preserved from descent into sin terminating in total unbelief? This passage instances mutual encouragement as the antidote. Which seems, at first sight, like a strangely anemic response; either the author or the translators must have envisioned a much more robust form of encouragement than that with which I am familiar between Christians: the author of Hebrews speaks here of an encouragement potent enough to combat sin and apostasy. Despite talk about confrontation and bearing each other’s burdens, few of us at CIU, I think, experience this mysterious and volatile encouragement, and almost none of us, as per Hebrews, on a “day after day” basis. Despite the fact that all of us sin day in and day out, only very rarely do any of us receive or minister invasive correction and help. And this is only one of the New Testament’s supposedly 58 “one another commands”—my point being, we are categorically failing to practice the corporate spirituality taught by the New Testament.

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