Jared McGuirt

I grew up in a Christian home but was personally very far from Christ up until college. My family went to church (albeit a spiritually dead one), but there were never any deep conversations/challenging about my relationship with God or my personal faith. This led to a strong disconnect, where I was knowledgeable about certain aspects of the church, but I never had a clear picture of the Gospel or my need for it. I was living the typical self-serving life as a rebellious youth interested in surfing/punk rock culture, worshipping the creation rather than the creator. During my sophomore year of college, while very distant from Christianity and the church, I found myself starting to question the world, people, and the idols I had created and worshipped. I also started feeling very uncomfortable with my path and life and with the future. I remember walking through the house I was living in and seeing my friend's Playboy magazine and for the first time thinking "Something is really wrong with that". As I was mulling through all this, I decided to start praying to see if the God I knew of but didn't have a relationship with could start providing me with some answers. I also started reading a bible that I randomly had (someone had given to me as a high school graduation gift) but had never actually opened to read. Reading through the New Testament, I started to understand why I was feeling the way I was. I was a sinner who had fallen short of God's standard with just about everything I had done and was separated from him. Even my best was wrapped in self-centeredness and was like dirty rags. I also learned what the Gospel was really about for the first time. Eventually one night I remember falling on my knees in my bedroom, crying my eyes out, praying to Jesus to forgive me of my sins, and giving my life to Jesus. After that, I knew my life was different. It was like a light bulb had gone off. The world seemed so different. I knew I needed a change of scenery, and Christian support since at that time all of my friends were non-Christians. After a lot of prayer, I transferred to a different university. I felt like God wanted me in a different place for me to grow. Sure enough, at that new university, I got connected with a campus ministry and found believers that were very genuine and very much interested in understanding and living the gospel, in evangelism, and in loving our community. I also met my wife there, and have been married for over 10 years and have two beautiful children. Along the way, I have experienced wonderful discipleship as part of a Jesus loving church and small group. I now work as a professor at a university and love the opportunity to love on and reach college students, no matter what their background or current situation is. I was once a lost college student just trying to find my place in the world. I truly feel that God has placed me in this job as an opportunity to do some of his amazing work in this world.

My Life

Favorite Quote

Jesus in my place.

Friends describe me

laid back, has a lot of hobbies, always up for trying something new, sincere, honest, willing to go deep

My hobbies

Hiking, hunting, fishing, chickens, mountain biking, beekeeping, gardening, landscaping, building, all kinds of sports

Fantasy dinner guests

Jesus, John Piper, Jordan Peterson

Best advice I ever received

Love Jesus

My undergrad alma mater

East Carolina University

In college I drove

Whatever car my parents were getting rid of

If I weren't a professor, I would

Forestry

Favorite books

Apart from the Bible, anything that will teach me something new

Favorite movies

Cold Mountain

Favorite city

Brevard, NC

Favorite coffee

Fresh ground, black, pour over

My latest accomplishment

Raising two beautiful children and trying to be a good husband for my wife.

Current Research

I study the food environment, how it impacts people, and how we can modify it to help improve people's diets.