David Balzer is talking with students about dating, marriage and sex this semester.
As leader of Reformed University Fellowship, Balzer addresses the issues from a biblical perspective. Issues to be discussed this semester at the meetings held on Thursdays at 8 p.m. include what to do when you meet the opposite sex, how to tell if you are called to be single and what the Bible says about marriage.
Balzer hopes that his dating talks can provide a foundation of biblical principles for meeting the opposite sex. “If they will take these experiences out into the world and try to make changes in their own communities it will make a positive impact on the culture around them,” he says.
Balzer uses four main principles when he talks to students. These four principles are: that truth exists and people can only know the truth through the Bible, how people can only be made right through God, the hope people have for change only comes through Christ and that Christians have the hope that one day when people die and Christ comes back, they will finally be set free from sin and have unimaginable pleasure with the Lord.
Balzer hopes these four principles mixed with the issues addressed in the meetings will hopefully help students learn that positive things come from sex only in the context of marriage, and that sex, marriage and the communication a couple share point to the love that Christ has for his church.
RUF has been an on-campus ministry for seven years. This is Balzer’s second year as leader. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister, who wants to reach students and equip them to serve through various callings.
“RUF emphasizes the importance of a local church, and wants students to know that we are not a substitute for being active in a Bible-believing church in their area,” he says.
RUF helps students find a sense of community and provides opportunities to help students get to know each other. Something that Balzer notices about ETSU is that most students go home on the weekends. “The dynamic of this campus makes it difficult to meet new students,” he says.
Students don’t have many places to hang out on campus, and Balzer believes that college can be a very unrealistic environment and that this is a time in a student’s life when they have more taste of community than they would ever have again.
Balzer encourages students that if they have ideas or interests, he is open to meet and talk with them. He can be reached at 963- 9174.

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