Pastor Jonathan Falwell speaks at Wednesday’s convocation

Jonathan Falwell, senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, encouraged students at Wednesday’s convocation to be “authentic” and practical Christians.

In Matthew 7, he said God shows what it means to be real in Christ. He said God does not want Christians to live their lives judging others; they should instead focus on living their lives constantly seeking Christ.

“Twelve thousand people yesterday lost their jobs. A lot of people in that 12,000 are going to be searching for something that can give them comfort and peace,” Falwell said, telling students not to seek out what the world has to offer but to seek out what God wants for their lives.

Falwell then encouraged students not to follow the crowd and to focus on the person of Jesus Christ and what He wants to say to them.

“We need to stop hanging around the people who will drag us down and keep us from that authentic relationship with Christ,” Falwell said.

He concluded by warning students to beware of the frauds and false prophets in life (Matt 7:26-27) and not to build their lives on “trash.”

“Are you building [your life] on sand or are you building it on rock?” Falwell asked them. “If you build it on the rock, you cannot fail.”