The Tenpenny Files with Gary Lovejoy

Every Christian parent pours years into raising a child to know God and trust Scripture. Then comes college, where a single semester can begin dismantling everything a family spent nearly two decades building. Dr. Gary Lovejoy has watched that happen from inside the classroom for more than thirty years.

What did he witness that most parents never see? Why do so many Christian students leave for college grounded in their faith, only to come home questioning everything they once believed? Why are so many families blindsided when it happens?

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny welcomes psychologist, professor, and author Dr. Gary Lovejoy to discuss his book, Students in the Lion’s Den, and reveal what he witnessed after spending more than three decades teaching psychology and religion at the college level. His warning isn’t based on theory. It’s based on thousands of students, countless conversations, and watching the same heartbreaking pattern repeat itself year after year.

You’ll discover why some students begin questioning their faith within their very first semester, how ideological worldviews are introduced in ways many young adults never recognize, why the desire to belong can quietly overpower years of biblical teaching, and why parents often don’t realize anything has changed until their child comes home for Christmas break.

Dr. Lovejoy explains how America’s colleges evolved from institutions founded on biblical principles into campuses increasingly shaped by Marxist thought, identity politics, social justice activism, and cultural pressure. He shares why so many students are unable to answer even the most predictable attacks on Christianity, not because biblical truth has no answers, but because they were never taught how to defend what they believe.

One story changed the course of his life. Standing before a room filled with devastated parents who had watched their children walk away from the faith they had spent years teaching at home, Dr. Lovejoy realized those families weren’t asking for better arguments. They were asking why no one had prepared them for the battle their children were about to face. That moment became the foundation for Students in the Lion’s Den.

Dr. Lovejoy also explains why this challenge no longer belongs only to secular universities. According to his decades of experience, many Christian colleges are facing the same cultural pressures, leaving parents with an uncomfortable question: Is choosing a Christian school enough?

You’ll also learn how to recognize the students most vulnerable to ideological influence, why asking thoughtful questions often opens more doors than arguing, how churches and parents can work together before move-in day, and what practical steps families can take to prepare young believers for the challenges waiting inside today’s classrooms.

If you have a child, grandchild, or student preparing for college, this conversation may change the way you think about higher education forever. The battle for a young person’s faith doesn’t begin after graduation. According to Dr. Gary Lovejoy, it often begins the moment they walk into their first classroom.

Meet our Guest

Dr. Gary Lovejoy is a psychologist, counselor, professor, speaker, and author whose career spans more than four decades at the intersection of faith, psychology, and culture. He earned a Master’s degree in Religious Education from Fuller Theological Seminary and a PhD in Psychology from International University.

For more than thirty years, Dr. Lovejoy taught psychology and religion at Mount Hood Community College, where he witnessed firsthand the growing ideological shift taking place inside higher education. Those experiences, along with decades of counseling students and families, inspired his book, Students in the Lion’s Den, a practical guide to preparing Christian young adults for the intellectual and spiritual challenges awaiting them on today’s college campuses.

Throughout his career, Dr. Lovejoy has written and spoken extensively on Christian discipleship, marriage, depression, family relationships, biblical worldview, and equipping believers to think critically while standing confidently in their faith.

Website:

www.heartswithpromise.com

Book: https://amzn.to/4vZpW1o