NEWS

Southwestern College Homeschool Essay Scholarship Winner
Lance Andrew Modzelewski

Below is the essay written by Lance Modzelewski for the Southwestern College Homeschool Essay Scholarship Contest
Fall 2007

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). I believe that it is clear, when exploring God’s word, that God desires for us to have fellowship with other believers in order to mature spiritually and avoid the pit falls of this world. There are countless diversions in life that could take us the wrong way if we choose to set our foot on the world’s path. Jesus said, “ wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it but narrow is the gate that leads to life and there are few who find it” (Mattthew 7:13). The only thing that is harder than enduring the endless temptations that this world has to offer is enduring them alone. The Scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:12 that a threefold cord is not quickly broken. I believe it is vitally important that we surround ourselves with like minded people. Jesus, Himself, had twelve constant companions. It is far easier to walk with God when your comrades strengthen you and encourage you to take the road less traveled with all the decision we must make in our lifetime. All too often Christians walking alone conform to the world rather than be transformed by the spirit of God. Believers can be severely stunted in their spiritual growth by a lack of support from their brothers. It is estimated that about 80% of all Christian students leave the church soon after graduating from high school as they enter secular universities. This can be easily observed in most churches today. Many who once faithfully came to church have now joined the herds of young people who are influenced by peer pressure and the view points of godless secular professors. It is my desire that I would not fit into the statistics and be one of the ones who are led astray. I seek to surround myself with others who believe in God and are walking in harmony with him. To better demonstrate how I wish to surround myself with fellow believers, I will delve into and explore several key issues in my own life such as how my homeschool background will impact my career at Southwestern College, what Southwestern as an intentionally Christian institution of higher learning, has to offer me that is incomparable and far above other universities and finally what I will bring to the campus.

I believe that my homeschool background will have a strong impact on my career at Southwestern college. I have been very blessed to have parents who were willing to teach me at home through grade school as well as high school. My homeschool education has instilled in me a solid Biblical foundation for me to operate on. If it were not for the privilege of being taught at home I would not have been able to fully develop my special areas of interests in the stock market, real estate and financial planning. Through these adventures I think I have found a God given direction for my life. I am looking forward to pursuing this with higher education as a tool. In essence homeschooling has been the rock that the rest of my learning rests upon. I feel confident in my area of study now that I am approaching college. Being taught at home has helped me to stay close to God and has given me a desire to seek His will for my life even during failure and hardship. I have made many mistakes but have never strayed away from my God. I am thankful for the support, encouragement and guidance from my parents to stay close to the Lord. I believe the godly emphasis at Southwestern college will help me to feel right at home. Studying God’s word is something that my parents brought me up to do as a necessary part of my education. My career at Southwestern will be greatly enhanced by the eternal perspective of my home education. I have grown up learning about God, but as a young adult I have come to enjoy spending time with Him in his word. Coming from a homeschooled background will impact every aspect of my experience at Southwestern because I have learned to take education seriously and I desire to honor the Lord with my life. I could even go as far as to say that my home education is the very thing that helped me recognize Southwestern as the university for me.

I believe that Southwestern as an intentionally Christian institution of higher learning has several things to offer me that are distinctive and different from other universities. First of all, the fact that Southwestern is an intentionally Christian institute alone is enough to distinguish it from the masses. Being intentionally Christian has fostered an environment in Southwestern that is very different from that of other colleges.
I have seen first hand during Southwestern days the effects of such an ethic on the environment of the school. Students at Southwestern are free to grow spiritually among their fellow believers; unlike secular college campuses where Christianity is thwarted or even openly attacked. I noticed that the students at Southwestern were surrounded by supportive like-minded professors who wanted them to succeed both academically and spiritually. If there is peer pressure on this campus it is not geared toward behaving like the rest of the world. I have noticed that this university believes in doing everything it can to help students develop a deep and lasting relationship with their God and other believers. There are many colleges to choose from but few, however, can offer me the opportunity to grow closer to God among fellow believers while at the same time prepare me academically for my future career in business.

I believe God is calling me into the business field and I desire to walk with him every step of the way. I have had a passion and enthusiasm for financial matters since I was very young. When I was twelve years old I invested some of the money in my savings account into the stock market. I lost nearly all of it but my financial interest was not discouraged. Instead I tried to learn from my mistake and continued to study how the stock market operates. In my studies I began to notice that the world today is in need of Godly business men, men with integrity and courage who are not afraid to make a profound impact on our world. In the nineteenth chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus told a parable about ten servants who were to wisely do business with their masters money while he was away. He made each of them responsible for ten minas, which was about three months salary. He then focused on three of these servants. Two made wise investments with their masters money but one was foolish and did not use what his master had given him but hid it instead out of fear. The first two were praised but the latter one was reproached. I believe God wants us to be wise and trust Him with the work and the money that He has entrusted us with. We are to remember that what we have is His to begin with and not to be like the rich fool in another parable that Jesus told. This man stored up treasure on earth for his own pleasure but was not rich toward God (Luke 12:16-21). I have a strong desire to acquire both the knowledge of how to run a business as well as the wisdom that can only come from viewing business from a Godly perspective. I intend to bring all of the interest in business that I have built upon over the years, as well as my desire to walk closely with God, to the Southwestern campus.

Taking a look at how my homeschool background will impact my career at Southwestern college, what Southwestern as an intentionally Christian intuition of higher learning has to offer me that is different from other universities, and what I will bring to the campus, has made me see more clearly than ever the need to surround myself with fellow believers in an atmosphere conducive for spiritual and academic growth. I know that God has had a plan and a purpose for me long before I was ever born (as he does for all His people). It is my intent to align myself with his plan in every area of my life. I believe that walking in Gods will is the only way to truly be successful. Being educated at home has created a solid Biblical foundation for me that is the root for why I would chose Southwestern college over another university. I am aware that Southwestern can offer me many things that other institutions can not. On that note I am ready to embark on the path that God has for my life and have every intent of bringing my love for God as well as my academic interests to Southwestern college. Someday I hope to look back on my education and be able to say as Roberts Frost wrote in his poem, The Road Not Taken:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.