Dr. John Ed Mathison, former Montgomery pastor and Christian leadership coach, told Troy University graduates on Friday that the only thing that can limit their accomplishments is the limits they place on themselves.
Speaking to nearly 800 graduates taking part in Fall Commencement ceremonies in Trojan Arena on the Troy Campus, Mathison encouraged graduates to take the tools TROY has equipped them with to make a difference in the world.
“Because of your time here at Troy University, you’ve got the tools to do anything God leads you to do,” he said. “The only limits you have are the limits you put on yourself. Commencement is often looked at as a time of ending or completion. Commencement is a time of beginning. You are commencing to put into application all the things you have learned at Troy University. This is the beginning, so on your mark, get set, go!”
Mathison used the word TROY as an acronym to provide graduates with guidance as they prepare for the next chapters in their lives.
“The T stands for think. Be a thinker,” he said. “Henry Ford said ‘If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.’ The Bible says, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ Excellence is never an accident, and when you think big, look what can happen.”
The letter R, Mathison said, stands for respect.
“Respect the flag, respect your teachers, respect the people you live with, respect the religion of other people,” he said. “Be a person of respect in every way.”
Mathison encourage graduates to think of the O in TROY as standing for others.
“Others is what is important. Think about all of creation and divide it into two categories — people and things,” Mathison said. “There is one basic thing we need to know if we are going to be educated – people are to be loved, things are to be used. The problems of life will occur in the future if you get those two confused and you start loving things and using people. Others are so important in your education and your life.”
Mathison said the Y would stand for yardstick.
“A yardstick is how you measure something. You will never build anything if you don’t have an accurate yardstick,” he said. “Your education here at TROY and how you have been prepared coupled with the greatest yardstick that there is, The Bible, will prepare you to be successful in the future.”
Dr. Mathison retired in June 2008 after serving 36 years as senior minister of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. At his retirement, Frazer had eight Sunday morning worship services at the Atlanta Highway campus — 3 traditional, 3 contemporary, one Hispanic and one Chinese. Frazer televised its worship services nationwide each week with INSP network, reaching about 40 million homes. They were also cybercast live and carried on local radio and television. Under his leadership, Frazer grew from 400 members to 9,000 and had the largest Sunday School attendance for United Methodist churches in America. In 2006, The Church Reporter magazine recognized Frazer as the 25th most influential church in America.
In July 2008, Mathison and his board of directors established the John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries, which involves preaching, teaching, conferences and seminars, focusing on training pastors and lay persons to be leaders impacting the world for Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. He also records a daily one-minute audio devotion for several radio stations, weekly blog for newspapers and e-mail subscribers, and weekly one-minute Got a Minute videos that are available on YouTube and social media. He has written 11 books.
