Jesus Incarnate

This time of year we are often thinking of the Incarnation, the idea that God became a flesh and blood human in Jesus. We focus on the memory of Jesus as a baby in poor surroundings. The Incarnation plays out through the entire story told by the Gospels--Jesus teaching and healing and most of all loving people, then dying, being buried, and coming back to life in a new flesh and blood body before his ascension. 

I've been studying 1 Corinthians this semester with two of the student core leaders I meet with weekly, and something new jumped out at me in chapter 6. In the midst of a warning about sexual immorality and a reminder that our bodies will be resurrected like Jesus' one day, Paul writes, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?"

I'm so familiar with Paul's metaphor of the body of Christ in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, that we each have different gifts to share and roles to play so that his church can be healthy. But here in 1 Corinthians 6:15, Paul says something more specific--my body is a member of Christ. The incarnation continues in me as his Holy Spirit comes to inhabit my physical body.

What people need is not to encounter more ideas. Our world is FULL of ideas. We're on idea overload! What people need is to encounter Jesus, his physical presence, his touch, the sound of his voice. The original children's minister at my church would always say that children's ministry was about being "Jesus with skin on" to kids. Now, setting aside the gruesome image of a de-skinned Jesus that would sometimes pop into my mind when I heard that, I think he had it right. 

One of the great revelations of the gospel is the Incarnation, that "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col 2:9). And we participate in that! The things we do matter--the meals we share, the affection we show, the times we just show up to be present with people in celebration or mourning or the humdrum of daily life. Our bodies are members of Christ. When we show up, he shows up. 

That's what campus ministry is all about--these students need to encounter Jesus on campus. Not just as an idea, but as a person. And it's what your ministry is all about too--your kids, your spouse, your friends, your coworkers, the stranger standing next to you in line--they don't need another idea; they need to encounter Jesus, embodied in YOU. As we reflect on the mystery of Christ in a manger, reflect too on the ongoing mystery of the Incarnation in your own life as a disciple, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27).

Managing Expenses

We are over halfway to our goal with our annual fundraiser, trying to secure all of the matching funds that have been pledged. One of my goals as we have built the organizational structure of FOCUS is to stay lean and mean. The bigger organizations get, the more bloat and red tape and bureaucracy tend to take over. I recently spoke to the area director of another campus ministry, one of the large national ones, and she told me that their first year staff had to raise about $120k to be on campus their first year! (For comparison, our first year staff are usually raising about $30-40k.) Now those staff weren't making 6 figures their first year; well over half of that went to ministry budgets and the national office. In contrast, our pastors only raise their personal support. They typically don't even cover the cost of their own benefits as we supplement health insurance and a small amount of retirement matching. 

All that means that we need money given in other places to cover ministry budgets on campus, pastor benefits, administrative expenses, etc. Those are a small percentage of our budget overall, especially compared to many other ministries. The student offerings help out, but don't come near to covering those expenses. And that's where the annual fundraiser comes in. Without this money, not only would we not be able to Keep FOCUS Growing, but we'd eventually need to shrink some. We carry no debt so that we are flexible and ready for the unexpected, and we live on (and plan for the future based on) the free gifts of those who are excited about the mission to transform the lives of young people on campus for the future of the Church.

If that's exciting to you and you have the means, I invite you to make an extra gift this year (that will in turn be doubled by another donor!) at anyfocus.org/kfg. Let's Keep FOCUS Growing another year!

Jacob and Kole were the ones I was studying 1 Corinthians 6 with!

I also meet with Felipe and Paul this year. Felipe told me after that he "doesn't smile in pictures." Lol!

My UTD staff team got to take a picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus (Arianna's mom and stepdad) at our student Christmas party. What a fantastic team! 

Student Testimony

Looking to the future

$77,000 in Matching Funds Pledged for Keep FOCUS Growing 2024! 

Make a gift now to keep us reaching new students and expanding to new campuses!

Scripture Smackdown

One of the biggest and most worrying trends I've been seeing is that even our students who grew up in church and participated in youth groups have never read any of the Bible. Students who have simply read a good chunk of scripture are seen as "spiritual giants." These students just don't read! Some can't tell me a single book they actually read during high school, instead having opted for online summaries, often in video format. Their faith is sincere, but I worry for its longevity in the face of all the challenges of life and those lonelier moments when you don't have a strong community to speak God's word to you.

So we've started a big scripture reading challenge/competition, men versus women, to encourage lots of Bible reading!  Students get points for each book they read along with bonus points for consulting resources like the Bible Project or commentaries alongside and for reading aloud with others. The plan is to keep the competition going the rest of the school year and make a big trophy with an engraving for the group that wins. So far, we're getting some good traction! After two weeks, we've had about 303 books of the Bible read, including just about every book. About 74% of those watched a Bible Project video along with reading the book, which helps a lot with understanding! And about 45% of the time they were reading aloud with others. Not only were many of these books originally intended to be read aloud in community, we've found that reading aloud slows them down and encourages them to talk about their questions and insights along the way. 

Please pray that this will not just be a competition, but will spark a lifelong love for God's word. One of my student leaders was telling me how much this had already changed his one on one FOJ Bible studies over the past couple weeks. He said rather than just sitting and listening to him, the guys were excited and actively making connections between the text in the study and other books they had read that week. That's what I like to hear!

So where is the competition after two weeks? 

Pizza Theology on 1 & 2 Samuel

Well, really it ended up being on Judges and the first few chapters of 1 Samuel haha! But that's because we brought in a passionate Bible teacher in Rikk Watts to help the students deepen their understanding and get excited about God's word! Feel free to listen yourself here!

Praying for a New (University) President

I know we've all been focused on our national presidential election, but the president of UTD can do a lot to either hinder or empower our ability to share the good news of Jesus on campus. Dr. Benson has announced his plans to step down at the end of this school year, and the search for his replacement is underway. Would you pray that the Lord would guide that process and put someone in place who will protect our students' right to share their faith and meet openly on campus?

Student Testimony

I finally got to take my beautiful wife to Europe! She's been asking since before we got married but a worldwide pandemic got in the way!

For those who haven't heard, my mom's cancer has returned and in quite a few places. We got to take this picture a few months ago before she started treatments. Please be in prayer for her and my dad. They are going down to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston every three weeks for treatments. The whole thing is pretty grueling. 

A Busy Year at UTD

The Lord has been doing a lot this year! First off, our numbers are up by a good chunk, and that means a lot of people to connect with and keep up with! We've been averaging around 200 people on Friday nights at "The Grove" and have 340 students in cores. (For perspective, last year at this time we were averaging 140 on Friday nights and 278 in cores.) These numbers are exciting, but they put a strain on our relational, one on one approach to ministry. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom to know how best to invest in these young people and stamina as we do so!

In the midst of this, I'm hearing really cool stories! We baptized a young woman last week who was a Muslim living in Pakistan when Jesus appeared to her in a dream. In FOCUS, she was finally able to learn about him and how to give her life to him. Another young lady told me that she was deep into Eastern spiritual practices and magic, but when walking by a FOCUS event, a voice spoke and said "These are my people and I want you to join them." She too has repented and given her life to Jesus. We don't get to take credit for these stories--they are all about God's Spirit moving! But we got to be a little part of those stories and are so honored that the Lord let us in on what he's doing!

I'm praying for more and more such stories. So many students are studying the Bible for the first time, learning about Jesus for the first time, wrestling with his call to follow for the first time. They are facing down all sorts of strongholds in their lives--drug addictions, past or present abuse, mental and physical illnesses, identity issues, money troubles, problems in their families--basically anything you can imagine. But we know "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." Will you pray that God will do the things only he can do and that we will be bold and empowered to do the things he's given us to do--proclaiming Jesus on this campus?

Upcoming Events!

We're excited to invite back our UTD alumni (and anyone else who wants to join) to see what's going on in our ministry this year! Coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Our annual Keep FOCUS Growing Fundraiser is coming up, and you can even give now if you want! Our pastors raise their own salaries, but they don't raise the costs of our administration or our budgets for reaching out on campus. KFG is a huge part of that each year.

Student Testimony

We are underway!

Teaching Students to Pray

This is the time of year when all of our leaders are working extra hard to get this thing off the ground. We are tired, in a good way! I like to envision us as a small gear trying to turn a large one. We have to spin and spin and spin to get that thing turning, but once we do, it's momentum can carry us for a while!

A major theme in my ministry of late is teaching students to pray. I've lately been pondering this reflection from Eugene Peterson, a long-time pastor:

“My primary educational task as a pastor was to teach people to pray. I did not abandon, and will not abandon, the task of teaching about the faith, teaching the content of the gospel, the historical background of biblical writings, the history of God’s people. … The more I worked with people at or near the centers of their lives where God and the human, faith and the absurd, love and indifference were tangled in daily traffic jams, the less it seemed that the way I had been going about teaching made much difference, and the more that teaching them to pray did.”

Over the past couple of weeks I've encountered students who feel their faith is dry and emotionless, students with powerful emotions but who don't know how to take those emotions to God, students who feel like their relationship with God is purely intellectual. So over and over I've been sharing about my own experience with the Prayer of Examen and how I've practiced it. This has been a very meaningful practice for me, especially during harder or more emotional seasons. Here's what I typed up for one student and then found myself sharing with another every day or so because it addressed all these concerns. I encourage you to try it!

Prayer of Examen

Brief Description: While more formally developed by Ignatius of Loyola, this pattern of prayer crosses history and traditions, being found in various forms within early church writings, to later Wesleyan/Methodist approaches, and throughout many others throughout the world.

It is a way of bringing your day into conversation with God. In this approach, a person daily renews their perspective in light of God's calling, remembering the day and inviting the Spirit to provide discernment.

This relatively brief pause is a cue to re-orient if you have fallen aside into sin or chaos or simply distraction. It can also be an encouragement, to help you see how God was with you. It offers a moment to see if there are trends of growth or tendencies that are best addressed early. 

The Prayer of Examen offers a way to encourage daily reflection on God's work, God's grace, and your calling

I just do around 10-15 min. You basically run back through your day 3 times, each a bit more intense. At first you just remember what has happened but then you think more deeply about how you experienced and responded to different things emotionally, mentally, and through your actions. I like to think of it as processing my day with my dear friend. Who also happens to be Lord of the universe. :)

There are tons of instructions on how to do it online (and variations), but here's the ones I've used:

Pattern:

• Presence - spend time in God's presence to calm/quiet yourself
• Invitation to the Holy Spirit - ask the Holy Spirit for discernment
• Gratitude - review your day with gratitude
• Review - review your day again, objectively, without judgment and without rationalizing/justifying, taking time to experience all the range of emotions in the presence of God. Ask yourself questions that prompt you to consider both times of consolation and desolation (When was I most loving/most able to receive love? When was I hurtful/unloving? When did I not feel loved? When was I resistant to love?)
• Examine -Review your day again, examining your thoughts, reflections, and experiences. Here you can let God speak to what you have done and felt. What does he want to say? You might examine your thoughts about current events (whether large or small) in light of practices of Christian community (forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking, truth-telling, testimony, and discernment). 
• Response - allow God to invite you to respond in some way to what you have seen and experienced during your time of prayer; be open to receiving what God has for you
• Presence - you can end by just being in God’s presence, knowing you are loved

My Guys 

Each year I get to mentor pairs of young leaders as they take on the task of recruiting and then mentoring a group of young men, helping them learn to devote their lives to Jesus. I've got an amazing crew this year!

Sitting with Paul and Felipe at our favorite McDonalds. These guys are a joy and so eager to learn God's word! We are studying Romans together in addition to covering leadership skills.

My other pair is Kole and Jacob. Jacob is a senior who I've been looking forward to getting more time with for years. Meeting with Kole is a special joy as he is the son of my dear friend John Von Runnen.

I got to visit Paul and Felipe's core this week. 20 guys showed up and another few couldn't come! These guys were so real about sin and also about how they are striving to live for God. Others aren't Christians yet, and I'm pumped that their first experience of Christian community was so honest and real and full of love and acceptance! Please pray for these young men to become or mature as disciples of Jesus!

Student Testimony

The Freshmen are Here. Time to Pray!

The past three days freshmen have been moving in at UTD, and I think we have the most excited, bold, bought-in team of student leaders ever! They are killing it. Please be praying for these students every day through next Friday. These are the most important days of our year in some ways. If we sow generously now, there can be a great harvest in the year to come. Many of the opportunities we miss are unlikely to come back around. We have many events planned in the coming days, but here are a few pictures from freshmen move-in days.

We set up each evening between two of the residence halls and the dining hall with all sorts of games and activities. This area gets a lot of foot traffic.

Spike ball is always popular. We had 5 sets out and people are constantly using them. It's great when you get to be partners with a new student.

A lot of the young women enjoy simply sitting around and talking. We have craft materials if they want to make something.

We go until well after dark. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but we have had hundreds of new students come through and participate. Peter estimated that we met at least 250 new students one night.

I love this image. We've been reaching out to new students on Instagram. In this case, we missed his question because the event had already started, but he came and our students were shining with the love of Christ! It's my prayer that every new student gets loved on their move in day.

Please pray for the Lord to connect us with students who are seeking him, for boldness in forming spiritual friendships, and that we can be a blessing in every way for these young people at such a critical time in their lives.

Other Updates

We had an amazing group of students in town for the summer. We got together every Thursday in June and July, generously hosted by Care Church in Richardson.

These are the 2024-25 FOCUS Missionaries. What an amazing team impacting so many campuses across DFW, including our new mission officially launching at TCU this week!

I got to travel to New Jersey to officiate an alumnus' wedding a couple weeks ago. Jonathan Rao (second from the left) found an amazing, godly bride in Sharon. Josh Wallace (left) and his wife Mandi did their pre-engagement counseling. I remember going to Bible studies in Josh's apartment my freshman year in FOCUS, so it was so special to do some ministry together!

Alumna Testimony

Once a year, we have one of our amazing alumni share about the longer term impact of our mission in their life. Elise's story is so encouraging to me!

Resting and Revving Up

I was in prayer this morning for the thousands of new students who will be coming to our campuses in a little over a month. And then I was reminded of these words from Brady Bobbink, one of my ministry mentors:

"There is a passage in Jonah where the Lord speaks of Nineveh being a great people where they do not 'know their right hand from their left.' What a pithy but sad description of how morally confused and lost people can be even though they are part of a powerful, rich, and well-educated empire. When I think of our campuses, I think the Lord would say the same thing about lots of secular students and the professors who lead them.
"But here is the surprise. The Lord’s statement is not the rationale for Him condemning the city for its moral lostness, but rather to explain to Jonah why he is acting in compassion to rescue them from their situation. Our Lord is long-suffering, not desiring that any should be lost, but instead desiring all would come to know Him."

Would you join me in praying for open hearts and minds? And in praying for our missionaries and student leaders to be bold and creative in living open, inviting lives on campus. While many see the church in decline, I see open doors on campus. As this more cynical generation of students loses hope in the ability of science and politics and secularism in general to solve the world's problems, their hearts are primed to encounter the only One who is worthy of our hope. Thank the Lord we are positioned and ready to meet thousands of them in the coming weeks!

Some Sad News

Some of you may have heard already, but my mom's cancer from eight years ago has shown up again and has metastasized to a number of places in her bones, lungs, and liver. We're in the process of figuring out a path forward, but I'm sure this will affect what my year of ministry looks like and my overall capacity. Please be in prayer for my family, and ask God for wisdom for me in all these decisions.

Some Happy News - A Student Testimony!

Ready to Be Back in Town!

May is always a crazy month with our SICM trip--10 days in the Pacific Northwest, spending time investing in students and equipping them for leadership in the coming school year. Sarah and I were back for a couple weeks to wrap up the school year and the apprenticeship, and then we left for Colorado! We got to spend a few days with Geoff and Jessica Mumley from Bellingham, WA. For those who don't know, Geoff is the director of the ministry that hosts SICM. He and Jessica first became key partners in ministry, and that grew into a very meaningful friendship. We got to spend time in the mountains with them, encouraging one another and talking about ministry for the coming years.

Then Sarah and the Mumley's flew out and a group of younger men pastors and alumni joined me for a few more days in the mountains. I use this time each year to build deeper relationships with key men who I see as especially worth investing in. One of the exciting parts of this year was inviting Mick, Kevin, and Stian who will be on our pastoral staff at Collin College next year. Collin will be a new area of focus for both Sarah and me in the coming year as that team transitions away from Garrett Davis's long-term leadership (since he's at SMU now) and gets ready for exciting new things!

All that to say, I'm ready to be home! I will spend the summer connecting with God, with potential new student leaders, with various alumni and ministry partners, as well as plenty of our pastoral staff and current student leaders. It's a lot of people, but a slower pace. We will also start planning for the fall, but most of that work will come in August. I gathered a bunch of pics to show you what's been going on!

Not mentioned above, I got to spend a night in Austin hanging out with three alumni who I got to coach when they were student leaders. It's awesome to see how their faith and service continues to grow!

At SICM, Stian and Lindsey and I got to lead a hike for around 40 of our students.

Sarah and I live a rough and sacrificial life, having to go to places like this. :-P

Hanging out with Geoff and Jessica Mumley. And the Breckenridge Troll.

Jonathan is a recent grad who I spent time with all through his college career. He's back in Colorado Springs, where he grew up, and I got to spend a day with him! I was so encouraged to hear how he is thinking through where to go to church and how to meet the needs he sees around him.

More of the crew who came up. Not pictured are our admin Paul and Mick, who will be an apprentice at Collin.

Many have asked about my nephew Brooks who spent many months in the hospital after being born prematurely.

He's home and doing well! He's doing multiple hours a day off the ventilator as his lungs grow stronger. The hope is that he will be completely off it by early fall and they can remove his trach completely once the next cold and flu season is over.

I've also got another new buddy in Peter's son William.

We watched some apprentice sermons together. I wasn't distracted at all.

Thank you for investing in this mission work and praying for God's work on campus. FOCUS is in a great place, and I'm excited to see the impact we can have together the next school year. 2024-25 here we come!

Student Testimony!

End of Year Sharing!

One of my favorite times each year is our final Friday Night Fellowship at UTD, when we open the mic up to all the students and let them share what they've seen the Lord doing in and around us this year. I know you will be encouraged if you take the time to listen to this small part of all the stories that your prayers and financial investments have produced this year! (You can click the picture below or to go to this link.)

SICM 2024!

And we're at SICM! We've come up to Bellingham with our biggest group ever--over 150 of us! Please be in prayer for us this week, that these students would catch a bigger vision for their own discipleship as well as for how God may want to use their time on campus. 

Also, I'm teaching some this year! I'll be teaching Jesus Style Discipleship and Spiritual Friendship, the bookends of the conference. These lessons that I originally heard from Brady Bobbink up here over 20 years ago have deeply affected my life, faith, and ministry. They have shaped the values and direction of the FOCUS community. I'm honored to be sharing them with a new generation, but these are big shoes to fill! So pray for me, that God will use me as I share these great Jesus truths to help shape these young hearts and minds.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your faithful participation in this little piece of God's very big mission!

Our 2024 SICM crew sitting on "The Stairs to Nowhere" on WWU Campus.
Please pray for us this week. This can be a life-changing week for these young adults!

Student Testimony

Spring Outreach Week!

For the week leading up to Easter, we hosted 9 young missionaries from Western Washington University to help us tell the good news about Jesus on campus at UTD.

Each day from Monday to Thursday they were out on campus with our students and pastorsa engaging with people one on one. On Monday, they relived the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet by getting on their knees in front of strangers with shoe cleaning kits and cleaning their shoes for them. As they cleaned, they asked whether the person had ever heard the story of Jesus washing feet (many hadn't!), told the story, and started conversations about whether that was compatible with the person's views of God.

On Tuesday they engaged people to talk about what burdens them and burdens the world. They had them write those things on small wooden tokens that we took up and glued to a cross. Then, on Thursday, students were asked to share what they thought were the characteristics of a perfect world on colored tokens and glue those on top of the burdens. These kinds of conversations where we combine asking questions with acting something out physically create deeper interactions and memories that stick.

Wednesday was an extra special day, our annual Rez Fair (Rez for Resurrection as we celebrate Easter coming up) with all the other campus ministries and a bunch of area churches. Hundreds of students came through the fair for live music, giveaways, games, food, and spiritual conversations. At booth after booth they had the gospel shared with them in many ways as they experienced Christians of many kinds--Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant included--joining together in unity to celebrate the most important day in history!

Andrea from my team MADE this beautiful sign!

Our table that day was a classic--"Ask a Spiritual Question; Get a Cookie." This always leads to so many interesting discussions with people who don't yet know Jesus! We also ran all of the games and music, as well as all of the setup and tear down for the event. Many of our alumni and church members cooked and hosted so that we could make all these special things happen this week. Thank you for supporting us so that Jesus can be boldly proclaimed on campus. Salt and light! Pray that these seeds now planted and watered will grow.

Student Testimony

Darreyl is such a kind, godly man. I remember my first real conversation with him in Bellingham, WA, during SICM a few years back. He had a heart then to love and serve his peers in college, and he lived it out over the next few years! Now he is taking that same heart and the things he learned into a new context.

February Went Fast!

Our biggest event this past month was our Pizza Theology on the Bible. First Baptist Church Plano was SO GRACIOUS and generous in hosting us for this event when we couldn't get a large enough space on campus. Five FOCUS pastors did the teaching, helping students understand what the Bible is, how it came together, some of the challenges and choices of translating the Bible into our language, and what it means that the Bible is inspired. They did an amazing job! It should be uploaded soon to our Pizza Theology channel on Spotify for those who are interested in listening. 

One moment that was particularly encouraging was when the young adults pastor from FBC-Plano stood up to pray for the meal and told the students how this teaching was just as good as any seminary teaching and that he was blown away they were getting that (plus a pizza dinner!) for only $10. 

At the end of the evening, one of our pastors overheard a girl on her way out saying to her friends, "I wish everyday could be like this." Thanks for investing in us and praying for us and believing in our mission to train and equip young people rather than babysit them to keep them out of trouble. They can do remarkable things with our support!

Over 430 showed up to take notes and learn during 4 hours of teaching!

My beautiful wife was one of the teachers. She talked about the formation of the biblical canon.

Students lined up to get pizza!

Incredibly, it was over 80 degrees outside for a beautiful evening in February. We are not used to being able to eat outside at this event!

Student Testimony

Bonus Pic!

I love this picture. One of our alumni is a kindergarten teacher. They had a college day, and we were able to work out with student life to give every kid a UTD t-shirt left over from recent events. This is her class trying to do the UTD "Whoosh"