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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
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| 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! |
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| 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. |
