On May 15, Dr. Jim O’Neill, executive vice president and Seminary dean at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn., challenged 450 graduates from the Moody Bible Institute class of 2010 to allow Jesus to capture their dreams and make the Cross their primary goal. As the keynote speaker, he addressed the graduates and their families at The Moody Church in Chicago as part of the Spring Commencement Ceremony.

Referencing the Gospel of Mark, O’Neill, whose daughter Shawna is a 2010 Moody graduate, said that when Jesus asks,“Who am I to you,” He demands a clear response from Christians. “You cannot say to Jesus, ‘You are one of many options,’” said O’Neill. “So many voices are pulling us away from Jesus…we are in danger of the great disconnect with Jesus and His dreams for us.” He encouraged the graduates to embrace Jesus’ dreams for their lives and to continually die to self as they seek the Lord’s will for their ministries and their lives. O’Neill began his ministry work as a church planting missionary in the Philippines and challenged the graduates to turn their generation back to Jesus by making “the Cross central to your dreams.”

At the ceremony, Dr. Gary Chapman, senior associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., was granted an honorary doctorate degree. Perhaps best known for his 1992 book, The Five Love Languages, which has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, Dr. Chapman has traveled the world fulfilling his calling from God as a speaker, pastor and author specializing in marriage, family and relationships.

Students from the Chicago campus Undergraduate School, Moody Theological Seminary and Moody Distance Learning programs were presented with their diplomas and certificates of study. Students from the MTS—Michigan campus will confer their degrees on Saturday, May 22, in Plymouth, Mich. The Spokane campus Undergraduate School will hold its ceremony on Saturday, May 29, in Spokane, Wash. For more information, please visit Moody’s Commencement website.