Why Ideas Matter
by Megan Mueller
OKWUeagle.com
Ideas. Inspire. Impact.
You have the chance of winning an entire year of college tuition.
Yes, you heard that right.
Oklahoma Wesleyan University wants you, the students, to tell them why your college degree at OKWU can help you make an impact on the world.
There are a number of ways you can get your idea across: make a video, create graphic or visual art or write an essay or blog.
This competition is determined in part by a panel of OKWU judges, who will select the top ten entries, and from there the winner is determined by the social community through voting on Facebook and Twitter.
The earliest entries can be submitted from Wednesday, February 17 at 8 am through Wednesday, March 3rd at midnight.
Voting will last for a week and the winner will be announced on Monday, March 15th.
The winning student receives a One Year Full Scholarship, the second place student receives an Apple iPad, and third place receives a $200 iTunes card.
So what is your impact? Where does your momentum to make an impact come from?
Everything starts with an idea.
Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University
President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Everett Piper, Ph.D., has caused many people to consider the impact of their ideas.
This scholarship is an extension of Piper’s belief that ideas have the power to change a person’s life for good or for worse, and giving students the opportunity to consider how they can impact the world is the reason behind the scholarship.
“Start [thinking how you will impact the world] now, before you end up in the classroom or court and tell us what you think these ideas will do in your life and how they will impact you and everybody else around you,” Piper said.
The scholarship is a way for students to communicate their impact – and for OKWU to spread the gospel.
“We want everyone that we can possibly connect with nationally and internationally to hear the special message of the OKWU mission statement – which boils down to the impact the gospel of Jesus Christ has on the impact of your life,” said Piper.
Dr. Piper recently released a book entitled, “The Wrong Side of the Door: Why Ideas Matter,” in which he talks about how our ideas can impact us and also have consequences.
“I’m trying to make the point that ideas have consequences and the way we think will actually bear fruit in our lives,” Piper said.
The material for the book was gathered from various blogs Piper had written for sites such as Crosswalk.com, Bullypit.com and Politicalmavens.com.
Other chapters were taken from editorial pieces Piper wrote for the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise and for Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint World Magazine.
In all of the blogs, Piper found a theme – truth matters and ideas matter – so it was not difficult to transform the short chapters into a book about the impact of ideas.
Piper paralleled the chapters to boxing, in that each chapter is like a bunch of short little jabs that are enough to get your attention and get you thinking.
“They stand alone so you don’t have to read the rest of the chapters,” says Piper. “Each chapter is like a short jab to wake you up and get you to realize there are consequences of thinking a certain way – for good or for ill.”
One of the main points Piper tries to communicate is that you cannot compartmentalize your life.
“You cannot separate your head from your heart, fact from faith or belief from behavior, it does not work that way,” Piper said.
One OKWU student, Andrew Daniels, sophomore, has read “Why Ideas Matter” and has already been affected by the ideas Piper is conveying.
“It really made me consider the choices I was making in my everyday life and how I am letting my friends and the culture which is apathetic towards Christ affect how I am living my life for the Lord,” Daniels said.
Piper has frequently traveled to promote the book, “Why Ideas Matter,” and has been able to point others to the Truth of Jesus Christ.
“I’m speaking about the primacy of Christ, the priority of scripture, pursuit of truth and the product of an obedient life,” says Piper. “It all comes back to those better ideas – and not just because they’re right – but because they work.”
Cyndi Rothfuss, senior, has also read “Why Ideas Matter.”
“The book has challenged me to remember that absolute truths do exist. Even if nobody believes the truth, it is still the truth, and if everybody believes what is false, it still remains false,” Rothfuss said. “Christ did not come to this earth to die for sinners so that we could all find our own way to heaven.”
Just like Daniels and Rothfuss, Piper wants students to think about how their ideas will affect their lives.
With these ideas in mind, students are encouraged to show how their ideas and time at OKWU can help impact the people around them.
What is your impact?
