Question: If individual believers in Jesus, local churches, and Christian institutions dedicated themselves to living out the Gospel unashamed, would it not also impact society?
I'm a graduate of Southwestern College in Phoenix in the early to mid '80's, when the enrollment was between 150 and 200. Southwestern is now Arizona Christian University (aka ACU), and hit an enrollment of 1400 in Fall '24, making it the ninth consecutive year of record enrollment. Let this sink in - this consecutive record streak continued DURING the COVID pandemic. How in earth could you explain this?
If you think the President of the University would be a factor, then you'll be looking at Len Munsil, an attorney who ran for Arizona Governor in 2006, and has been the President of ACU since 2010. The story is told in "Transforming Culture with Truth" (1st edition in 2015; 2nd edition, which I'm reviewing, in 2020).
In 2012, Munsil brought a set of principles, called ACU's Core Commitments, to the Board of Trustees. This book looks at each of these 9 Commitments in the 8 chapters and Conclusion of this book. His goal is to make ACU the number 1 Christian worldview college in the country.
Nobody should be surprised if those Commitments are illustrated by what's going on at ACU, but there are other anecdotes which would help a church or a Christian organization to implement the same ideas.
After I graduated in '86 from Southwestern, I moved gradually east till I arrived in Indianapolis in '95, so I have not been following the transition of the school. However, after reading this book and hearing Munsil interviewed on the Natasha Crain podcast, I'm excited to be a Southwestern College/ACU graduate.
