Brian Mills - A Different College Experience: Following Christ in College

The four years I spent at a small Christian university in North Carolina were some of the most formative days of my life. They shaped me and changed me, like they do for anyone who experiences college life. So many lessons learned, so many relationships formed, so many mistakes made. In my opinion, A Different College Experience should be required reading for every Christian who feels like college is their next step after high school. But it should be more than required reading, it should be required living. This is a Christ-centered, gospel-oriented book that digs deeper than the typical moral advice of dont sleep around and find a good Bible study group. This book gets to the root issue of your identity, what you believe about God, and how your relationship with Him sets the course for the direction your life will go as you enter college. You dont have to press pause on your faith during this season of your life. Instead, college is the perfect experience to ground yourself in the gospel and learn how to be on mission for the kingdom of God. Its readable, practical, and doable. I wish this book had been written when I was a college student.

Clayton King , teaching pastor, Newspring Church, founder and president, Crossroads Camps and Missions, and author of True Love Project and Grounded

I have spent my entire adult life trying to prepare students to keep their faith as they journey through the wilderness years of university and college. One of the greatest challenges is providing outgoing seniors/incoming freshman with a real resource that can have an edifying impact on the trajectory of their journey. In A Different College Experience Ben Trueblood and Brian Mills have now provided all of this with that resource! I cant wait to use this breath-of-fresh-air resource to further equip and encourage the amazing young men and women in my ministry at Student Leadership University!

Brent Crowe , vice president, Student Leadership University

Honestly, I wish this book would have been written when I was in college. This is NOT a handbook of how to get through college as a Christian, but rather a holistic discipleship worldview during one of the most crucial and formative seasons of a persons life. The emphasis is not on being good or on not being bad, but on having a right view of God, of self, and of the gospel. This book is both theological and practical, and I want to make this required reading for all of my college students.

Drew Worsham , college and young adult pastor, Community Bible Church, San Antonio, Texas

I came to know Christ as a senior in high school and the Lord used my college years to deepen my understanding of the gospel, give me a passion for community with other believers, and ignite in me a commitment to the mission of the local church. This is not only my story but the story of many who the Lord has transformed during their college years. By helping readers become rooted in the gospel, their identity in Christ, and Gods Word, A Different College Experience paves the way for a persons college years to be a time of great spiritual growth. This book is a needed and helpful resource for the church and families during a critical moment of life.

Eric Geiger , senior pastor, Mariners Church, Irvine, California

A Different College Experience is a doctrinally rich and incredibly practical book that youll want to ensure all of your students have read before they are launched to their college and university campuses. Loaded with a passion for the kingdom of God, the local church, and the students youve been investing in, Trueblood and Mills have put together a book that serves as an echoing voice to the hopes, dreams, desires, and hours of investment youve put in to your students since they entered your ministry. Its a must-read.

Jason Gaston , family ministries pastor, The Summit Church

Copyright 2019 by Ben Trueblood and Brian Mills

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4627-9424-9

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 248.834

Subject Heading: COLLEGE STUDENTS \ CHRISTIAN LIFE \ STUDENTS

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Also used: New International Version ( niv ), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.

Also used: English Standard Version ( esv ), ESV Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Also used: New Living Translation ( nlt ), copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Also used: Contemporary English Version ( cev ), copyright 1995 by American Bible Society.

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Preface

I was extremely excited to go to college; however, I was also quite anxious. It was not the coming to college part I was scared of, but the leaving home part. At this time in my life, my family was in shambles. My parents were on the brink of divorce and it seemed as if every relationship in my family was full of tension. You would think I would have been excited to move out, but in reality I felt guilty for leaving and helpless knowing that I would be so far away. I was carrying a burden with me that was way too heavy for my soul to handle. A burden I was not meant to carry.

In the midst of this struggle when I thought I could not handle it anymore, God swooped in and did what only He can do. He carried my burdens and healed me of my hurts. Where I felt like there was nothing more I could do, He showed me that I did not need to do anything but depend on Him: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isa. 41:10 esv ). In the midst of His presence, I found peace in my storm.

Whether you are in a situation like mine or you are battling with your own storm, know that the Lord is good and He is faithful. Through all aspects of college, the Lord will sustain you. If you know this to be truth, living out your faith in college will not be difficult at all. It will be a soul-fulfilling journey and God will use you in unbelievable ways. All you must do to live your best life in college is depend on Him. I promise that anything college has to offer you is incomparable to what God has in store.

Since leaving for school freshman year, I have seen the Lord use me in so many ways, but mainly in regard to my family. It is almost as if He pulled me out of the situation so that I could see it through His eyes. I empathize with you who are reading this and are in a similar situation with the same emotions because I know how bad it hurts. But trust God to be God. He will take care of you and your family and bring you peace. You have the special opportunity to seek God with nothing holding you back, so do it! See how the Lord can move in you and through you in your dorm, classes, sports team, family, and anywhere else He might place you.

Ashton Childree, Elementary Education major at the University of Arkansas

There is nothing like the college experience. Its one of those things in life that truly is what you make of it.

We wrote this book because we are passionate about high school and college students. Throughout our time in ministry, weve seen a lot of things go wrong in peoples lives because of an incorrect view of the college experience. We want you to succeed in your college years and we believe that it can be the best experience of your life so far, but that will require you to make some difficult choices. You wont be able to approach your college years like most of the people around you.