tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59062601925851250562024-03-05T18:42:31.008-08:00Brandon's FOCUS UpdateBrandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-54464071470718459302024-03-03T17:03:00.000-08:002024-03-03T17:03:22.235-08:00February Went Fast!<p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSQ67NTyhyfBQNb113T0eaUO0BMdhWsE2OideuWruz9-wrjnE6uz8dNlZhFM-7xfdM6glBjaRYpws7UBZjWaoQLnSggkWVRT6BhzEd0nPlsGnyjMeJGkUpc1jv7ONXpJagy5OEEItqSs_I92QiKaedamxomlTJkLxXMiD8sFrpJ8bUHsW_MoZtc6JFdkJ/s4032/IMG_6598.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSQ67NTyhyfBQNb113T0eaUO0BMdhWsE2OideuWruz9-wrjnE6uz8dNlZhFM-7xfdM6glBjaRYpws7UBZjWaoQLnSggkWVRT6BhzEd0nPlsGnyjMeJGkUpc1jv7ONXpJagy5OEEItqSs_I92QiKaedamxomlTJkLxXMiD8sFrpJ8bUHsW_MoZtc6JFdkJ/w640-h480/IMG_6598.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over 430 showed up to take notes and learn during 4 hours of teaching!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fm6jHrJFnKlPhyFMazwvyBU6AXl7Hx58EiWlKphpohXrb07XnWgi2x3oTL_JwV4JHcPc1LCpOYK7szhCuX2RczNNWlUwFAc4jvPq6djW7FZ6_Ke8FAaPXV0_tTOwghnt55vR-9Q3JEBmzEBSk0z6A6Nw-cv2dsjzFyiQ9LPEfeQMu1kYwuTn3Y1vjcQj/s6000/DSC_0810.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fm6jHrJFnKlPhyFMazwvyBU6AXl7Hx58EiWlKphpohXrb07XnWgi2x3oTL_JwV4JHcPc1LCpOYK7szhCuX2RczNNWlUwFAc4jvPq6djW7FZ6_Ke8FAaPXV0_tTOwghnt55vR-9Q3JEBmzEBSk0z6A6Nw-cv2dsjzFyiQ9LPEfeQMu1kYwuTn3Y1vjcQj/w640-h426/DSC_0810.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My beautiful wife was one of the teachers. She talked about the formation of the biblical canon.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKnexT11V0TivR48uiiTmccYqhG05zf8YxDtXYbZjgnvH7HDBya3hucdihbYu8PQS5bJOZo0fBaSLBITGXh2S-whD1OO8OdGdigbgP5GQY7RA0I7QnR4VIbeyWfPEzq2Z69iGNlsXGVjBoCqdgzWaXKU__Oa55OmlXOgaE41sD78bMH3CY7okrxF87C1sw/s6000/DSC_0830.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKnexT11V0TivR48uiiTmccYqhG05zf8YxDtXYbZjgnvH7HDBya3hucdihbYu8PQS5bJOZo0fBaSLBITGXh2S-whD1OO8OdGdigbgP5GQY7RA0I7QnR4VIbeyWfPEzq2Z69iGNlsXGVjBoCqdgzWaXKU__Oa55OmlXOgaE41sD78bMH3CY7okrxF87C1sw/w640-h426/DSC_0830.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students lined up to get pizza!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKlePG1-XVlmeXh7BDgk5ozWrBMRNFb_J5hYR99EJRoygArhmoYHKfaCeKPkDt4n-jfSGzj7Jl7_oM_sY36PazgemqDv9zuV9miz3jW9F3ROrSXbj0jRMgYqYn2FWh-ffc8szWPeSxMUhfT84SdnggBs5nbttNTVNAwm5KEP4OPbV8EPwZ2rHoZB6XPXf/s6000/DSC_0834.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKlePG1-XVlmeXh7BDgk5ozWrBMRNFb_J5hYR99EJRoygArhmoYHKfaCeKPkDt4n-jfSGzj7Jl7_oM_sY36PazgemqDv9zuV9miz3jW9F3ROrSXbj0jRMgYqYn2FWh-ffc8szWPeSxMUhfT84SdnggBs5nbttNTVNAwm5KEP4OPbV8EPwZ2rHoZB6XPXf/w640-h426/DSC_0834.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil75bYFtPPUMz0klfUDdnDtG8hcjfDWK16cuAJFsS46QaqcB8iCB8v6Dpj4r01cJUiEXKnCiWpqtQiY9Lre6KeLAh9jQQI2U3E58uZXeCw2m-PPO-neekHGBTAm6ukaLAJBZggObqbUsQxgcgbHzlA7Ae0WoT3z1uY_8Fp6ONrJFAkqv-by3OzUXh0DKP/s1728/March%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil75bYFtPPUMz0klfUDdnDtG8hcjfDWK16cuAJFsS46QaqcB8iCB8v6Dpj4r01cJUiEXKnCiWpqtQiY9Lre6KeLAh9jQQI2U3E58uZXeCw2m-PPO-neekHGBTAm6ukaLAJBZggObqbUsQxgcgbHzlA7Ae0WoT3z1uY_8Fp6ONrJFAkqv-by3OzUXh0DKP/w556-h640/March%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bonus Pic!</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDaqhrZHH1hth4zt3G7FYyySWlY978LV-sdlQid7Es5iQ7YLJUmv7W4jLjFpdajYtOw5CtJU0ZsKUaRcwwKhhCXwAHSVn1REqjP5cmnpzecIwSZnsqxtOs-HQqLFW9YHi3BjGcC06X7ZlrxqXsYUyFxNILI6XzHYfc1R6GQuec-RyDMW2Ujs4DvkAK8nS/s1894/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2012.12.05%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1894" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDaqhrZHH1hth4zt3G7FYyySWlY978LV-sdlQid7Es5iQ7YLJUmv7W4jLjFpdajYtOw5CtJU0ZsKUaRcwwKhhCXwAHSVn1REqjP5cmnpzecIwSZnsqxtOs-HQqLFW9YHi3BjGcC06X7ZlrxqXsYUyFxNILI6XzHYfc1R6GQuec-RyDMW2Ujs4DvkAK8nS/w640-h358/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2012.12.05%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-38063296714659704142024-02-08T14:59:00.000-08:002024-02-08T14:59:34.283-08:00Best Winter Retreat Yet!<p>Over 570 people came out to our annual Winter Retreat a few weeks ago. You would have been so touched to hear student after student reading Mark 14:24-25 in their own native languages, languages from all over Europe and Asia and Africa, not to mention American sign language and Choctaw. I cried through the whole thing and so did basically ever other pastor I've talked to. The Lord has sent the nations to us here, and his kingdom is breaking in and doing a new thing in an age of division. I just kept praying Psalm 2:8 over our mission: "Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." Join me in praying that the nations will know him because of the way we love one another here in DFW!</p><p>Students came to Retreat to hear Dr. Daniel Lee from Fuller Theological Seminary speak about Disruptive Grace. His talks were indeed disruptive for a lot of us--disrupting our subtle legalism and the lies we believe about God. As I've been sharing the audios with alumni and friends who weren't there, I'm continuing to hear how especially the first couple messages are ministering to people at a very deep level. I'm excited to share them with you here and I hope you'll take time to listen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5yrx4jslg0f9tmNO7S0eVX" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-_4Lduum_z9caUNZCdWpTRDvam-J5IKd_ZuvU3VzMwnIqQ3R-R9YL5TltREETum6MaXb8X94vfKQwnvk8dXqLwl5D5CU7tFhIpcgqE31UyYSzDmh7bApSqoGADSLm2gB4aIOH1HpgvhsAXycM3eZpD-hsGvggvwEzfEK1RFYu9Wh_yBKK3y1iQQ13qBa/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-08%20at%204.41.09%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="281" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjHv-zeFneCjpeMC5Z6EV4v6AFn6BNXYRrYfVNjtFBoe9PvqvrYbnqvMsVf4P26mz3nGp3sGDPtpH4WhANIJfBpABP3min5b1Nf2YAiXR02aJ1VK3BX117oDfszilNM3Aw7OWO6MTPr6hJwywAvibhgtoStNrz_pzpFc7IxMWQFmTn-rcm5IgMfdyIImd/s1600/winter-camp-full-group-2024_websize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjHv-zeFneCjpeMC5Z6EV4v6AFn6BNXYRrYfVNjtFBoe9PvqvrYbnqvMsVf4P26mz3nGp3sGDPtpH4WhANIJfBpABP3min5b1Nf2YAiXR02aJ1VK3BX117oDfszilNM3Aw7OWO6MTPr6hJwywAvibhgtoStNrz_pzpFc7IxMWQFmTn-rcm5IgMfdyIImd/w640-h426/winter-camp-full-group-2024_websize.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I always laugh at the students wanting to look nice for this picture. I'm like, "Your head will be smaller than the head of a pin when people see it." Feel free to play "Where's Waldo" looking for me. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCddbVcIPcoKMUluyGkLmlE9v8vM7c-p5cuqh_ENkZFhYykWoL7-9yxZ4ODIW2o03CsU6RH7jl3u96zAWGRylNIqdnwsjsSCxif7NKNFobGu8r-YnuiP1M1OXTTzi-Rt_6cqcWWBEFy-xIt6G9g-zbT0oRaYoiGe5nxWGJx7WhJP7STYL6ZCkC_kOVnGt9/s4032/IMG_1063.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCddbVcIPcoKMUluyGkLmlE9v8vM7c-p5cuqh_ENkZFhYykWoL7-9yxZ4ODIW2o03CsU6RH7jl3u96zAWGRylNIqdnwsjsSCxif7NKNFobGu8r-YnuiP1M1OXTTzi-Rt_6cqcWWBEFy-xIt6G9g-zbT0oRaYoiGe5nxWGJx7WhJP7STYL6ZCkC_kOVnGt9/w300-h400/IMG_1063.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus picture of Peter and me with Dr. Lee who spoke at Retreat. His class on grace was one of the major highlights of seminary for both of us, and we were so excited to share it with our whole community!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVlAZj-bu41b7hd_BoqkjWGsSlrR7nMek7THnYzOgKzm6eVnroZh4DuGGSd4VXfOJ0jJFVmODOPHGStWn26itZP6-VlzHg0ghvdlOfYZsJ6f6Y266DsgadfnyJAeKSqJX0gM8-lN0iengBHf5hMi82_AKqfn7aFXqWILnvwxku99KxYSDArT77MNChTVe/s1728/February%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVlAZj-bu41b7hd_BoqkjWGsSlrR7nMek7THnYzOgKzm6eVnroZh4DuGGSd4VXfOJ0jJFVmODOPHGStWn26itZP6-VlzHg0ghvdlOfYZsJ6f6Y266DsgadfnyJAeKSqJX0gM8-lN0iengBHf5hMi82_AKqfn7aFXqWILnvwxku99KxYSDArT77MNChTVe/w556-h640/February%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-42019889456078060682023-12-31T16:21:00.000-08:002023-12-31T16:21:25.631-08:00Is Faith a Noun or a Verb?<h3 style="text-align: left;">"Faithing"</h3><div>A campus missionary to the University of Vermont wrote these words recently:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">We often think of "faith" as a noun. Either you have it or you don't. You keep it or you lose it. You hide it or you share it. But for many emerging adults, faith is much more a verb. It's a journey of exploring, wrestling, deconstructing, reconstructing... Their "faithing" is a process of seeking and finding an adequate faith that makes sense of an increasingly complex world.</span></i></div></div></blockquote><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">I don't think that definition is limited to emerging adults, but it is certainly true for them. It is a joyful privilege as well as a bundle of challenges to walk alongside them through this season of figuring out how to live on their own in this world. Our hope is to provide them with a community that exalts Jesus as Lord but where they can honestly and openly wrestle with doubts, ask any question, and go through real experiences of trying to love and follow our Lord in a world that doesn't honor him. </div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">I hope you see your own faith in these terms as well--not as something static or under threat of being lost, but as something active and growing and developing. Some of us need to deconstruct; just don't neglect the reconstructing as well. That would be as foolish as demolishing a section of your home for an exciting new renovation and then never rebuilding the section you destroyed. The rebuilding usually takes more work and time than the destroying part! But it's worth it in the end. God is big enough to handle our questions and doubts and fears, and he's certainly not threatened by them. He actually seems to like the people who will wrestle with him the most--men like Jacob and Job and Moses and Peter. So wrestle away!</div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Individually, and collectively as churches, there is often "remodeling" that needs to be done in our "faithing," and I pray 2024 is a year for it. Jesus deserves nothing less!</div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><b>Thank you for investing in me and praying for me as I work in this important mission field! </b>Here's a sweet story from the community college front to remind you that for all the negative college stories we hear, there are so many stories of God at work as well!</div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJm98CkkDM1iogTelhhvbr9oRgVAgwbILcyPc5aniTnZxaTrx9oF5Rp3QGLc-lDTyxTGiGLfTy00mefS-wLzMiPcDXNFnCv6L86tEZtWagYrpO_cp1W8ZTi1dXjcwWNJ3BSAvWDVJfBFMuF4b-3B7wu-3NEnI9GQ3Nwit3SC04LJgxGZ2hg1QgevkcCdI/s1728/January%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJm98CkkDM1iogTelhhvbr9oRgVAgwbILcyPc5aniTnZxaTrx9oF5Rp3QGLc-lDTyxTGiGLfTy00mefS-wLzMiPcDXNFnCv6L86tEZtWagYrpO_cp1W8ZTi1dXjcwWNJ3BSAvWDVJfBFMuF4b-3B7wu-3NEnI9GQ3Nwit3SC04LJgxGZ2hg1QgevkcCdI/w556-h640/January%2024%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-7013488061673226072023-11-30T08:25:00.000-08:002023-11-30T08:25:25.700-08:00Reflections on Godly LeadershipI meet weekly with a number of young leaders to help develop their faith, their character, and their leadership skills. This week in those times we've been reading over an article by my dad, Ronnie Worsham, laying out some core essentials for spiritual leadership. We've had great discussions, and I thought I'd share it here for your reflection:<div><br /></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: large;"><i>Leadership</i></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>by Ronnie Worsham </i></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><i>False leaders lead you to them; godly leaders lead you to Him.</i></b></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> (Heb. 13:7).</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Leaders can only lead us to where they are actually going</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">. Character is much more caught than it is taught. If even an unwise association can prove harmful to our character, then most certainly associating with a bad leader can prove devastating to our inner being—“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Cor. 15:33). Too many are those who end up in horribly frightening places in life because they naïvely followed bad leaders.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>To be led by others means to be guided down a path by them, either by their showing us the way or telling us where to go. Leadership can be exerted on us either directly from the leader to us or indirectly from the leader through others. The leadership exerted on us by others can range in scope from quite broad to very limited, spiritually, religiously, morally, socially, politically, philosophically, and so forth. A leader’s impact is ultimately determined by the willingness of others to follow them. </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Worldly leaders are by definition incapable of leading us in God’s way because they are in the flesh and not of God. Being “under the influence” of God is not at all the same as “being under the control” of God. Their leadership is corrupted even though certain of their character traits and life principles may even, within themselves, appear good—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who are living according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose]. Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever]; the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God” (Rom. 5:5-8, Amplified Bible, italics and brackets are part of quote).</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">And all leaders along with their leadership principles and practices are a packaged deal; the bad comes mixed in with the good. Because of our inherent nature, made in the image of God, character is more caught than it is taught. Thus the worldly people we associate and live in partnership with, and especially the leaders we follow, will have a profoundly negative impact on who we are presently and what we are becoming—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> Sober up by acting like you should and don’t sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!” (1 Cor. 15:33-34, Common English Bible). God is completely holy, meaning he is completely “set apart” from all that is not of him. And because we are like him, we must follow his example, especially in our associations. If we are ignorant of his nature, we are ignorant of our own nature. And because of who we are, bad associations will lead to the corruption and continuing erosion of our core character.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">God has given each one of us individually the right to come into a relationship with and follow him, without any necessary approval of others—“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">13). Further, he has given us, as his children, the wherewithal to hear his voice over and above the din of all others, and he expects us to follow his voice rather than others—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">They will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice” (John 10:5, italics added). Our following another then must always be based on their following Christ—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Follow my example, just like I follow Christ’s” (1 Cor. 11:1, Common English Bible).</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Thus it is the responsibility of each of us to take care in determining our leaders</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Watch out for false prophets</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matt. 7:15, italics added). Carelessness and naiveté on the front end of our following others can lead to disaster on the backend! Because we are morally and spiritually vulnerable beings, we must choose most carefully those we allow to influence us in any way!</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">The test of authentic, godly leadership is in the long-term outcome, not in any short-term appearances.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">The one who leads best for God is the one who lives best for God—“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). And the fruit of one’s life is not to be measured by short-term appearances but rather by the long-term effects of our life on others. Short-term impressions can be most deceiving—“They come to you in sheep’s clothing…” Looking like a harmless, domesticated sheep does not make one a harmless, domesticated sheep. Let the follower beware.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Satan is a liar and a deceiver. Thus, so are those leaders who are, wittingly or unwittingly, being influenced by him—“For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13–14). Looks and words can be most deceiving. The test of a leader must then be the “outcome of their way of life,” the only “fruit” that cannot be faked.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Godly leadership is the exact opposite of worldly leadership in all the basic ways</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">. Worldly leadership seeks control; godly leadership seeks surrender. Worldly leadership assumes power; godly leadership surrenders it, instead choosing to empower others. Worldly leadership seeks attention for itself; godly leadership eschews attention and seeks to call attention to God. Worldly leadership seeks personal gain; godly leadership seeks, in this life, nothing for itself. Worldly leadership follows in order to lead; godly leadership leads in order to follow. Worldly leadership seeks to be served; godly leadership seeks to serve. Worldly leadership is prideful, even if it may at first seem humble; godly leadership is humble, even if it may at first seem prideful.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">The one who leads best for Christ is the one who follows Christ the best.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> Christ is the one who calls and places leaders among his people—“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–13). Before we follow others, we must ask whom they follow, how they follow, and how they came to be in the positions they are in.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Christ’s authentic leaders understand that their calling and appointment is from him, that it is not earned, that it is not a right, and that Christ is the supreme Lord and leader. Therefore they understand that their purpose is to go make disciples of Christ and to mature those disciples in their ability to follow him (Christ), not them—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). Although there is always weakness and humanness in all leaders, there will ultimately be no equivocation in the direction and purpose of a genuine Christ-appointed leader. Godly leaders know their abilities and their calling are from God and not from themselves or others, therefore they seek only his interests.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Bad leaders always lead followers; godly leaders lead leaders.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> Bad leaders want no rivals; therefore they mature others primarily in the skill of following them rather than maturing them in personally following him (Christ). Bad leaders are at their core filled with pride and will always seek to be at the center, in control, and recognized. Godly leaders are humble and are always seeking to elevate others to the leader’s own spiritual maturity level and beyond—“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:2, italics added), and “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30, Common English Bible). The perfection of Christ is the goal, not conformity to anything worldly—“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Bad leaders lead from the top down; godly leaders lead from the bottom up</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">—“You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people”</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> (Matt. 20:25</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">28, Easy-to-Read Version, italics added). Godly leaders strive to look and lead like Christ and therefore they serve others on behalf of Jesus. They eschew esteem, honors, titles, and the best seats and parking spots. Godly leaders lead as lowly custodians rather than as high-minded CEOs.</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">The test of leadership is in the long-term outcome, not in the short-term appearance.</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"> Bad leaders will often at first seem confident and secure but in the end be found to be fearful and insecure, as was King Saul (1 Sam. 15:24). On the other hand, godly leaders may at first seem unwilling and unconfident but in the end show themselves to be most surrendered and therefore supremely bold, as was Moses (Exod. 3:11). Godly leaders will ultimately see themselves as the least, the last, and the worst because they see Christ as the greatest, the first, and the best (1 Cor. 15:9, Matt. 20:16, 1 Tim. 1:15).</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Godly leaders will also always be seeking God’s approval by careful regard for scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">—“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), and “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom. 8:14). They seek to please only one—“We make it our goal to please him [Christ]” (2 Cor. 5:9, bracket added).</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Because of the seriousness of the responsibility, godly leaders will choose to lead out of humility before God and will do so only after carefully considering if such a role is God’s will for them or not—“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). Any reluctance they may have to leading is only a reflection of their reverence for God; not a fear of others.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">Godly leadership will be most careful in the charge of leading others to and for God—“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16). Because godly leaders are seeking to lead us to him, not to them, their careful leadership will constantly point us only to Jesus—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">I’m deeply concerned about you with the same concern that God has. As your father, I promised you in marriage to one husband. I promised to present you as an innocent virgin to Christ himself” (2 Cor. 11:2, Common English Bible, italics added).</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">All in all, godly leaders not only look like Jesus, they are like Jesus, and the outcome of their ways will bring the life of Christ to those who listen to and follow them—“</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).</span><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>A Prayer:</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Lord, help me to follow only those who follow you.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>And help me to influence and lead others only to follow you.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Give me trusting eyes that are wary only in the right way.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Give me a careful heart that discerns rightly.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Be my only supreme leader, and lead me to life everlasting!</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Amen.</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;">I hope you are encouraged by that in your own leadership, whether in your family, your friendships, your church, or your workplace. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Thank you for all you do for college and university students, as well as for all your other contributions to building the Kingdom of God. In His economy, even small things can have far reaching significance, so don't grow weary in doing good!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "New Times Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;">KFG Fundraiser Update</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;">We are almost there! We're still accepting donations and hoping to get all of the matching funds. If you'd still like to give a gift, you can at <a href="http://anyfocus.org/kfg">anyfocus.org/kfg</a>. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZsEpXiGRs5tbPAygq6eSgk8eh_EdoitUJXMqiTcjJX397VkdWQrXhfub4WNAKNMZgPy7AvVfOpG40zRHzzlviZgebpyiMX6lqSGVTYD0eKRdU5Gl_qp0vqVKzQIeuw3Hrl0HvqQSQmtavhAFEsc-WiCTkl_r0c-uxejxCWczFlqgetErF1t0lGx6hQhoB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZsEpXiGRs5tbPAygq6eSgk8eh_EdoitUJXMqiTcjJX397VkdWQrXhfub4WNAKNMZgPy7AvVfOpG40zRHzzlviZgebpyiMX6lqSGVTYD0eKRdU5Gl_qp0vqVKzQIeuw3Hrl0HvqQSQmtavhAFEsc-WiCTkl_r0c-uxejxCWczFlqgetErF1t0lGx6hQhoB=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;">Student Testimony & Prayer Requests</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: New Times Roman, serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjroOKbC7PGQQEDeQMD0TjDaBWDLIYAR9OJ2MMLPLJqLYO8HSW7lIIHrmOsJW4e-c_BkWzo7UX5vLjiA0MtCYg3TBUnu9YwgrJLsKJc9eniNFK_AUZeGDyaTjFvek7l8CBaolUi0tjPeSxl0jINbk8K5z6C67Dtttj2kZConHgZd6jGhLu73toQlrCDgN1G" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjroOKbC7PGQQEDeQMD0TjDaBWDLIYAR9OJ2MMLPLJqLYO8HSW7lIIHrmOsJW4e-c_BkWzo7UX5vLjiA0MtCYg3TBUnu9YwgrJLsKJc9eniNFK_AUZeGDyaTjFvek7l8CBaolUi0tjPeSxl0jINbk8K5z6C67Dtttj2kZConHgZd6jGhLu73toQlrCDgN1G=w557-h640" width="557" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjroOKbC7PGQQEDeQMD0TjDaBWDLIYAR9OJ2MMLPLJqLYO8HSW7lIIHrmOsJW4e-c_BkWzo7UX5vLjiA0MtCYg3TBUnu9YwgrJLsKJc9eniNFK_AUZeGDyaTjFvek7l8CBaolUi0tjPeSxl0jINbk8K5z6C67Dtttj2kZConHgZd6jGhLu73toQlrCDgN1G" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /></span></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-57173891258532972452023-10-31T08:46:00.001-07:002023-10-31T08:46:07.515-07:00Introducing Our Apprentices! (Plus KFG Coming Up)Since 2010, the FOCUS apprenticeship has been a key part of expanding our mission and preparing a new generation of leaders. Each apprentice has completed at least a bachelor's degree and commits to working on one of our campuses for the entire school year. We have a fantastic group of 10 this year, and I want to let you know who they are. <b>Thank you for making stories like these possible--your prayers and gifts are bearing good fruit!</b><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WoY4EZ3F7ZtP0C-9p_8wLRbs4Hm4dYPTgZdscybZJHKKeoop0jIWEXk0_WFI2y8Az2C1dffEf8SRRmZ18bwZ56C5WPxEMpM4XEV7freV70b_oWQ1KdySKgle_AyJKF_bjqiBuJbKolXW9svX36RmIerbos_nBGgsEjUFmP7P0BmqvmtJZcf2H-uWQ58X/s2240/1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WoY4EZ3F7ZtP0C-9p_8wLRbs4Hm4dYPTgZdscybZJHKKeoop0jIWEXk0_WFI2y8Az2C1dffEf8SRRmZ18bwZ56C5WPxEMpM4XEV7freV70b_oWQ1KdySKgle_AyJKF_bjqiBuJbKolXW9svX36RmIerbos_nBGgsEjUFmP7P0BmqvmtJZcf2H-uWQ58X/w640-h360/1.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrfF6Yrg0u5qFnYQwSedNWE8dsVlisPVzyGwkYuggFATsPtoOVZGtoMbnHdmSqHEyWD9ou2TGbehVEMzHfInlOh_dgdLdZnQphvq-FtGMvGOtEq0MY3FHKmV-GZm6nI4DbxJBFn-zybxEYzMd8k1a-P3Zifk48G_ZqfIQDfu4IQiA5ZD-OnVVFGQZG3qH/s2240/2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrfF6Yrg0u5qFnYQwSedNWE8dsVlisPVzyGwkYuggFATsPtoOVZGtoMbnHdmSqHEyWD9ou2TGbehVEMzHfInlOh_dgdLdZnQphvq-FtGMvGOtEq0MY3FHKmV-GZm6nI4DbxJBFn-zybxEYzMd8k1a-P3Zifk48G_ZqfIQDfu4IQiA5ZD-OnVVFGQZG3qH/w640-h360/2.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-DRPqxoeMEM8V02GMyCra73ve29bhCZ0mAg2S6lvnEuGBRX9pylz49fY5dS1DvpFZ1jBQnUpIuhxQM-BGFea4AcA35IKnShvKdxv55o9L1W5cTZSLJNdVRqa_y5sfco3qiGzYlwn37aGkIG9Cfa9k9lvSENaOZw9RB204lA3G2dP4_TtRwG18u3hyY5t/s2240/3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-DRPqxoeMEM8V02GMyCra73ve29bhCZ0mAg2S6lvnEuGBRX9pylz49fY5dS1DvpFZ1jBQnUpIuhxQM-BGFea4AcA35IKnShvKdxv55o9L1W5cTZSLJNdVRqa_y5sfco3qiGzYlwn37aGkIG9Cfa9k9lvSENaOZw9RB204lA3G2dP4_TtRwG18u3hyY5t/w640-h360/3.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYNZhPykuYaiOgrnAMDQ0N7_XdNurZPe_SnGFLeaz3DSCcI66tvl7vbspms3iAVz5q5_HLeba_lxgCFYcIyVn02Ajvx-9LxEfWCBn2szsGOe19Ztsg4AKtkOM7WSoJ4Mw04JA0NYLtyP-IQULOG77t_dV29TUHJ3LnhhLocfktbMRix-5ez-VHOBFJwXw/s2240/4.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYNZhPykuYaiOgrnAMDQ0N7_XdNurZPe_SnGFLeaz3DSCcI66tvl7vbspms3iAVz5q5_HLeba_lxgCFYcIyVn02Ajvx-9LxEfWCBn2szsGOe19Ztsg4AKtkOM7WSoJ4Mw04JA0NYLtyP-IQULOG77t_dV29TUHJ3LnhhLocfktbMRix-5ez-VHOBFJwXw/w640-h360/4.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ijzJ7_TiDiYpA0y4bJgSkszy1VSnfbmiiQkia9INEBJjHwWxRp4IA1va5rsIeWvJUliumuvOVC-5zRaaqVcSdHNCFJCm8qsHA5FhE0aTXvlTm11OYifrPnpodR_DWbSTi72O7UoT6tjrceAVTijhHIGUG0RiSEQxmwpkdZaXNZIWM9aFBAZqB40Xlg5h/s2240/5.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ijzJ7_TiDiYpA0y4bJgSkszy1VSnfbmiiQkia9INEBJjHwWxRp4IA1va5rsIeWvJUliumuvOVC-5zRaaqVcSdHNCFJCm8qsHA5FhE0aTXvlTm11OYifrPnpodR_DWbSTi72O7UoT6tjrceAVTijhHIGUG0RiSEQxmwpkdZaXNZIWM9aFBAZqB40Xlg5h/w640-h360/5.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rbiKWUm5vbInR6leDn0KP82XfiOPp1KSEuUDCI_jmJHXyWnflT4DaMyqRc8U_qKy4TD_F9reQ1hN-MvZkLrk0Xz60GC6zBeWiyTBZQMl8AL3Mt6OoMHoY9I79qwU4BBkS-YwncP8pyRGQbKJdbJpmg84oejvAiW80yjykWw0mkmKRbILDFHYZkviNxca/s2240/6.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rbiKWUm5vbInR6leDn0KP82XfiOPp1KSEuUDCI_jmJHXyWnflT4DaMyqRc8U_qKy4TD_F9reQ1hN-MvZkLrk0Xz60GC6zBeWiyTBZQMl8AL3Mt6OoMHoY9I79qwU4BBkS-YwncP8pyRGQbKJdbJpmg84oejvAiW80yjykWw0mkmKRbILDFHYZkviNxca/w640-h360/6.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_r9P_w4y_Shdmov4291L3Y5WvIWft-eeVaMRkKc6vcygr0EOtJcyRhfSI_miH6_qSV-zruvmsQnGF6oxWkoOA8MG8CnZKOhXMRZOyvGhxtnntCrOBZ9DkIINgN1hKrfroKhR6c4Xgo8NdpmU6UJcSiZ9gPiq5w5DqL06NIk1BdpHon_V7RodaMZdvrmaa/s2240/7.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_r9P_w4y_Shdmov4291L3Y5WvIWft-eeVaMRkKc6vcygr0EOtJcyRhfSI_miH6_qSV-zruvmsQnGF6oxWkoOA8MG8CnZKOhXMRZOyvGhxtnntCrOBZ9DkIINgN1hKrfroKhR6c4Xgo8NdpmU6UJcSiZ9gPiq5w5DqL06NIk1BdpHon_V7RodaMZdvrmaa/w640-h360/7.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezmiNcjnENqUBMV06AcgzYjKJ7VASmDe5K2cUWmslco8DVLP1g_BGf0m8yc5Q_sAE_N5hqpHC3io9F0rlclQgUc-1mAOOFlKJ3ueZrSYBUUhlkiqHLq8plXT_fqWAr-fE0lKvHUHbmHTI3CKt-XyWNNCpRJWr-yU3_k9AYBAK_JG87Yp-1VZT76haOP-N/s2240/8.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezmiNcjnENqUBMV06AcgzYjKJ7VASmDe5K2cUWmslco8DVLP1g_BGf0m8yc5Q_sAE_N5hqpHC3io9F0rlclQgUc-1mAOOFlKJ3ueZrSYBUUhlkiqHLq8plXT_fqWAr-fE0lKvHUHbmHTI3CKt-XyWNNCpRJWr-yU3_k9AYBAK_JG87Yp-1VZT76haOP-N/w640-h360/8.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6a78KPUsuByc9LAEH6iWYLtydTpEOZ9UBfFGxLKyI3MpzkLKUxmyp53lOAB8f0ZgsTU2UC4Susq2ScRhsI28gcp2w2SUGrkbxXDTPD4hGBAi850spNdCs8FYMSreJy7zsWoox-CvB2vLjCYi9d_d6_CfyMeMgI5eP8k6GS-z5yzpnB25mZ0DzgrUUcXOY/s2240/9.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6a78KPUsuByc9LAEH6iWYLtydTpEOZ9UBfFGxLKyI3MpzkLKUxmyp53lOAB8f0ZgsTU2UC4Susq2ScRhsI28gcp2w2SUGrkbxXDTPD4hGBAi850spNdCs8FYMSreJy7zsWoox-CvB2vLjCYi9d_d6_CfyMeMgI5eP8k6GS-z5yzpnB25mZ0DzgrUUcXOY/w640-h360/9.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYd_zDqcnoAwYhl_PHZg7XNvGutWBDe9aOedg67-jBLkcVxpfKe6YQWV5xI9sSclk4za-Z9bwfo646TMHcx-_hL8GdFxpXDjqPlKnTX9Op1zYd4ezkoMw8R3EJ5sVR7puJtj1aD_6F-gLDs2yECJelAreVNz7hp4Et-9KDuoi8xHBZ6sZjKUp1iQgd5mGO/s2240/10.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYd_zDqcnoAwYhl_PHZg7XNvGutWBDe9aOedg67-jBLkcVxpfKe6YQWV5xI9sSclk4za-Z9bwfo646TMHcx-_hL8GdFxpXDjqPlKnTX9Op1zYd4ezkoMw8R3EJ5sVR7puJtj1aD_6F-gLDs2yECJelAreVNz7hp4Et-9KDuoi8xHBZ6sZjKUp1iQgd5mGO/w640-h360/10.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony (one more from a current student!)</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmugJvx2-Mkxx67wKxHmZj5amA325U3YR1cpQT15KgZsV4GCgf8e60xqpuTHDSO2W-q1EkITH2Lb_ISxUiIIU5HexhQaP00u3U5vU8RhXIWJqUz6yIegS3bv8zekVTpP4BsP7HCnfFwOsjbeNM-Zcxlp1OeWi_7T7y9RCwiFeMpZY-1Aa7iqgZyd7-N1D/s1728/November%2023%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmugJvx2-Mkxx67wKxHmZj5amA325U3YR1cpQT15KgZsV4GCgf8e60xqpuTHDSO2W-q1EkITH2Lb_ISxUiIIU5HexhQaP00u3U5vU8RhXIWJqUz6yIegS3bv8zekVTpP4BsP7HCnfFwOsjbeNM-Zcxlp1OeWi_7T7y9RCwiFeMpZY-1Aa7iqgZyd7-N1D/w556-h640/November%2023%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Our Annual Fundraiser Coming Up</h3><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguZZQ5Lecv6cP0h8MaL3r5MOkYdZxcZElhyX6l1jBOr2418fesPEpFjNVbILanFtCyeMIl_CGMPwYKyYMSV1EMqjakoyhfmCYbBPIwOhOh-3M7XyI-VxtkHqZTZ8kdxbKoT97mSbHvtV8u7l0KZaVTyZwxyb3AelHIANFL4QEDOKE2vENy6b5lWAOHaumR" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguZZQ5Lecv6cP0h8MaL3r5MOkYdZxcZElhyX6l1jBOr2418fesPEpFjNVbILanFtCyeMIl_CGMPwYKyYMSV1EMqjakoyhfmCYbBPIwOhOh-3M7XyI-VxtkHqZTZ8kdxbKoT97mSbHvtV8u7l0KZaVTyZwxyb3AelHIANFL4QEDOKE2vENy6b5lWAOHaumR=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-33610351939170344522023-10-01T12:38:00.003-07:002023-10-01T12:38:56.221-07:00This Story Touched My Heart<p>I have a special place in my heart for Richland College since it was the original birthplace of FOCUS when I was still in high school. That campus is still sending out new leaders to bless people in other places. This story is so sweet.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3xmP_-BbebVXGT44PImqj8R9vlETnqtBTb7eQ3nkaWij_yRU80lFRCGIWhcqmbkmJNDjMd0T1vPClLLtlvtH-1dR4-th3dHGdJlV-ywyh4_-0pzvfENWAkc71XhuGvoy_q_KzGGE_GmlQoc7yK8Z0usJkYm-nAy5wWQ6IPwbVMQdTYiT3p8qlHkcaj1kH" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3xmP_-BbebVXGT44PImqj8R9vlETnqtBTb7eQ3nkaWij_yRU80lFRCGIWhcqmbkmJNDjMd0T1vPClLLtlvtH-1dR4-th3dHGdJlV-ywyh4_-0pzvfENWAkc71XhuGvoy_q_KzGGE_GmlQoc7yK8Z0usJkYm-nAy5wWQ6IPwbVMQdTYiT3p8qlHkcaj1kH=w557-h640" width="557" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Invitation for UTD FOCUS Alumni</h3><div><br /></div><div>If you've ever been a student or worker in our UTD ministry, we are inviting you to join us for Friday Night Fellowship later this semester! Of course, any of our supporters are welcome to visit any time, but this is a good chance to see old friends and reconnect.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVpW6hUzUsvKVqPY1bHV4CBqdBs9ChB69Piet80Yfdp9ffYhdWKieXn6TwNR4icO-oENrDuNjdyu196Rp4VZT-v-ETiCuOsmKQNBBZX_ZpWTDA8eoJXVc7fUAs5peBV4_-o7QNldUkJgf2F556UQRDv3TYPG3u-tAmFlaQj-0_AGK-fQXr9SBB73HMsYL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVpW6hUzUsvKVqPY1bHV4CBqdBs9ChB69Piet80Yfdp9ffYhdWKieXn6TwNR4icO-oENrDuNjdyu196Rp4VZT-v-ETiCuOsmKQNBBZX_ZpWTDA8eoJXVc7fUAs5peBV4_-o7QNldUkJgf2F556UQRDv3TYPG3u-tAmFlaQj-0_AGK-fQXr9SBB73HMsYL=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">A Book to Check Out</h3><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of alumni, one of the young men I had the honor of mentoring while he was at UTD has written a <a href="https://a.co/d/iiyrVpF">short book</a> sharing his testimony. Adam has become a son in the faith, and I'm so proud of the man he has become in Christ. His story here (some details of which I had never heard before) was a powerful reminder to me of why we do what we do on campus, of how we have the opportunity to intersect someone else's story--often a story we couldn't even imagine--and be the hands and feet of Jesus to them. I know you would be encouraged if you have time to read it.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://a.co/d/iiyrVpF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="971" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6TW0BdQhk6fgijC-X4ZRVmL6q6dniuT9rRrIpZBdYtWkxO5HGxQdzGHU29m-fTtZEB43JYH6XTQb_H8UQWeBV366-kB-VDDiJGmPgEtnqIl7zYF965MzB9K1M_syW1cr2XVqozgTRJTGN27fO5nuXlQP4trUzg6DA4qUBVcdR7rVLnmoq33xM-pm_JqcC=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Words of Jesus On Campus</h3><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, I want to tell you about a project we have bringing the words of Jesus to our campus. Yard signs have always been one of our most effective ways of communicating with the campus, so we decided to go a step further than using them to tell about our events and let Jesus' words speak directly to the campus. Stian, our newest pastor at UTD, designed these eye-catching signs--66 signs, each with a unique teaching from the Gospel of Matthew. Here are some examples.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbm3KK6EEixgnEKNHiLdQspKpqbbnNbRKoD1en6h1lHR2A467siNoiqMLWuDMo11uYNEXf6tOONYkUn99vRWkiEupd1XRxjhpCuED_UKzploZmEPEhHQAMmp2UbVJ2_HpCPusC1tqoV6e3wptDJXVcmizxb8s0WcE2CpPsjbTiAiS0XllHDVrmcSAQeRwa" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="2154" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbm3KK6EEixgnEKNHiLdQspKpqbbnNbRKoD1en6h1lHR2A467siNoiqMLWuDMo11uYNEXf6tOONYkUn99vRWkiEupd1XRxjhpCuED_UKzploZmEPEhHQAMmp2UbVJ2_HpCPusC1tqoV6e3wptDJXVcmizxb8s0WcE2CpPsjbTiAiS0XllHDVrmcSAQeRwa=w400-h301" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglaNNWx5WlSmZdSDhb0OheIH9xUS6o8bNyw3jqSUrSRL70DYxznZbc6tH1fOXEt0-bVDjgEBd2kATn6-fqvfrBb3yn-Bx9srdvpETkoqRWv0i6_B0EqIy-vFLnWrsUYGiySlvQwZAxtUDzpD8-p70VDJQ0rXg6ENr0bAEc3TaFJxHB6LHCbgVJqQHSyMe0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="2160" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglaNNWx5WlSmZdSDhb0OheIH9xUS6o8bNyw3jqSUrSRL70DYxznZbc6tH1fOXEt0-bVDjgEBd2kATn6-fqvfrBb3yn-Bx9srdvpETkoqRWv0i6_B0EqIy-vFLnWrsUYGiySlvQwZAxtUDzpD8-p70VDJQ0rXg6ENr0bAEc3TaFJxHB6LHCbgVJqQHSyMe0=w400-h301" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjds2Uy4puC_83j8b2tp0NN5GGN5nTNpy2mgydWOufsvIr18Q8y3D56ut4EQvJLTO9icUCyre6Btbd1vR2s9g6o0AqyRzvuqDhnnyklLMmpzZCX-MlheNfyA1ag_psFl2WZNwxrc6F9fyrw5KSTOqSZ7jzAEmZZpec92XGQRUpqC7SUXu3LGaLWV2baoGtf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="2168" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjds2Uy4puC_83j8b2tp0NN5GGN5nTNpy2mgydWOufsvIr18Q8y3D56ut4EQvJLTO9icUCyre6Btbd1vR2s9g6o0AqyRzvuqDhnnyklLMmpzZCX-MlheNfyA1ag_psFl2WZNwxrc6F9fyrw5KSTOqSZ7jzAEmZZpec92XGQRUpqC7SUXu3LGaLWV2baoGtf=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><i>Our goal is for students who may never go to a Christian event to get to consider the words of Jesus for themselves.</i></b> And it has not been without some controversy! We put these out on 33 double-sided signs, and a week and a half later, only 12 remained. Others were thrown away, damaged, or simply disappeared.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCoy3CfSDj1HPQIn1pmLwuRzwuX8h-z5GMVJCI8DNGmWA_0Mb5vOiaq-ErmIv_onWG2eTCpkpLLU2X27fQHXtQjGMPWt9xPq3R7ECN_7NsIsVDCeeh-J1MWmXYJ_ZdTz-YWIh9AuNjCO6QLktQo7sfTBrMI-CckMTkI--SdqnNA0O9CYzEkiyGWK46jGR5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCoy3CfSDj1HPQIn1pmLwuRzwuX8h-z5GMVJCI8DNGmWA_0Mb5vOiaq-ErmIv_onWG2eTCpkpLLU2X27fQHXtQjGMPWt9xPq3R7ECN_7NsIsVDCeeh-J1MWmXYJ_ZdTz-YWIh9AuNjCO6QLktQo7sfTBrMI-CckMTkI--SdqnNA0O9CYzEkiyGWK46jGR5=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYSULzS8UkhQhI5xxtvoZV3ODQtRcBBsFKMlQF-qf-4CoEsNn7Zw-WpNDeV0X1vKDzU6JTFHKBVFICFIOeEffqXEo394FKheTqpJbzgSiVHWRPWLYhJy8kyv9jfrF8zOdcm6y19uwHaYixYJqv1u7IWFg0yq9zHBNkTwrf7jBCbqh2kUHG-muTF1Jo5JCq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYSULzS8UkhQhI5xxtvoZV3ODQtRcBBsFKMlQF-qf-4CoEsNn7Zw-WpNDeV0X1vKDzU6JTFHKBVFICFIOeEffqXEo394FKheTqpJbzgSiVHWRPWLYhJy8kyv9jfrF8zOdcm6y19uwHaYixYJqv1u7IWFg0yq9zHBNkTwrf7jBCbqh2kUHG-muTF1Jo5JCq=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /> </div><div><br /></div><div><b>While that might seem discouraging, we are actually encouraged!</b> It means they are being noticed and getting some of the same reactions that people had when they originally heard these words nearly 2000 years ago. These signs probably cost about $15 each all considered, but we are replacing the ones that we've lost and are planning to do a new set of teachings from the Gospel of John in the coming weeks. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Please pray that the seed of Jesus' words will bear much fruit on campus!</span> (Mark 4:1-34)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-55511238479036753762023-09-04T16:42:00.004-07:002023-09-04T16:42:43.770-07:00Into the School Year<p>We made it through another Welcome Week! Which is actually Welcome WeekS--14 days in a row when we put on 1-3 events every single day with the ultimate goal of spreading our nets wide to meet, befriend, and ultimately bless some of the 32,000 students who showed back up for college this fall at UT Dallas. We did all sorts of things! We hosted game nights outside the residence halls every day that the freshmen were moving in. We had field nights with lots of sports. We played "Zombie Tag" in one of the classroom buildings. Lindsey and I taught a college-level class on the book of Jude for more students who were curious about the Bible. We had special events for black, Hispanic, and Asian-American students. And so much more! </p><p>Thank you for supporting me to be present on campus during this key time! </p><p>Just a few snapshots below:</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjq5QDZOXDIG0Ij7LQh-cXgUKIOGH2uYeQh1IqIaATA-h5lmRNOljRdQfXPaNSphPXIm1krr_Rf2Tz3TomYqJ519gFY_39ViuaQHp1FWTBKkfUGwSGuZNLSkUjxockBNfFbhon6kvrTtIoDPaLLE-AzS72tsLibzvLHiiOe3s57RwtVn1kl304S4G0_ovUw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjq5QDZOXDIG0Ij7LQh-cXgUKIOGH2uYeQh1IqIaATA-h5lmRNOljRdQfXPaNSphPXIm1krr_Rf2Tz3TomYqJ519gFY_39ViuaQHp1FWTBKkfUGwSGuZNLSkUjxockBNfFbhon6kvrTtIoDPaLLE-AzS72tsLibzvLHiiOe3s57RwtVn1kl304S4G0_ovUw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This year's "Black People Meet and Greet" had nearly 150 students show up! Only about 5% of UTD students are black, so this is an underserved group.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs10prVeo1Z5EyjSQ5Uu0nJVpgZZPmjTNeSHwiM6PUF77n4wIBtTmOUuY610wVj5P7FK9f8rvYG7ZSdCown7rdnkV8QwkuGpA57R1vEHXgMz_t6GQb6ltOvU_NQJalVoQA4b5y2rRBx1aeobI0CXG20LZVC9sHdZEJ_duJ-qasj6QagM15P77fWkSB-sEJ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs10prVeo1Z5EyjSQ5Uu0nJVpgZZPmjTNeSHwiM6PUF77n4wIBtTmOUuY610wVj5P7FK9f8rvYG7ZSdCown7rdnkV8QwkuGpA57R1vEHXgMz_t6GQb6ltOvU_NQJalVoQA4b5y2rRBx1aeobI0CXG20LZVC9sHdZEJ_duJ-qasj6QagM15P77fWkSB-sEJ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At our Asian-American social, students made friends, drank boba tea, and did trivia games. One of these little rounds told me they became such good friends that night that they took a group picture and set up a GroupMe to stay in touch!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik7ofAq-3rdG706ip2IEVi65XV8eD3nBU8QxinVfOjWVbnsd8pvQUcu-Dpz6q75bD6_V1domBtNbblsoDciqQtwsONRlEz0zgQQ_bmrw2fr-bVdbYEZ2WQvCU5d_zAzI1TdEhwnr2ESM2DQSrZbgQuR_pRrdElZw7gY7WdrvpGDpOamp19SKVufWvNdUB0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik7ofAq-3rdG706ip2IEVi65XV8eD3nBU8QxinVfOjWVbnsd8pvQUcu-Dpz6q75bD6_V1domBtNbblsoDciqQtwsONRlEz0zgQQ_bmrw2fr-bVdbYEZ2WQvCU5d_zAzI1TdEhwnr2ESM2DQSrZbgQuR_pRrdElZw7gY7WdrvpGDpOamp19SKVufWvNdUB0=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We worked together with the Baptist Student Ministry staff to host a lunch for all of the Christian campus ministers at UTD a few weeks ago. It was our biggest turnout since before the pandemic! At our table are ministers from FOCUS, from ICF--the main international student ministry, and also from...FOCUS--Fellowship of CATHOLIC University Students. Ha! We love our fellow FOCUS ministers! They are truly such great partners in the gospel.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYFlEwLfbKa6tpmlJuYVNv2MIwvUQ9vPq8rATz6UpMvjHWNKgsDK1S2vDyHfdCYlMeP8CSwWQ_tqMyBUw8rLmsv9wL_zQgK6rQ71v_l_nb_hLvBpqEWdKAJ3EGasZTi-tjiLBpJ29tNzznL2QgmuYmojCmBfsbJc3Xy3LlUM14qoP39o991L4JFWHczwN7" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYFlEwLfbKa6tpmlJuYVNv2MIwvUQ9vPq8rATz6UpMvjHWNKgsDK1S2vDyHfdCYlMeP8CSwWQ_tqMyBUw8rLmsv9wL_zQgK6rQ71v_l_nb_hLvBpqEWdKAJ3EGasZTi-tjiLBpJ29tNzznL2QgmuYmojCmBfsbJc3Xy3LlUM14qoP39o991L4JFWHczwN7=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had tables like this one out on campus for a few hours a day for nearly 2 weeks. We gave out many gallons of cold brew coffee, sooo many bottles of water, campus maps and tours, church fans with our event information on them, and the opportunity to sign up to be in a FOCUS core group.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">God Goes Ahead</h3><div><br /></div><div>As the year approached, I was praying for the returning student leaders that I work with. For one of them, I had a sense that God wanted to upend some of his well laid plans for the year, but a bit of trepidation about saying that to him! But I wrote him this message and quickly got a response. It's a great reminder that I don't initiate God's work--He just lets me take part sometimes.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwEK6v7gXOYzuJWZpFyEvej0LCflvucAzvL7javRbaGnKw_N9Yuxu34YKBqpXnBNgY07NR7JiiJVHTg4VeEflJNqi1zpyP_WnIpMCsXu9TNSxUxKXZakHhiRzojodgJ_0rgy1g9I-TCSzfq0EKFWvHKbQvuQ9Oj0mcrtl5PTXOdsSeg0LQA29N58WIlrHf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1709" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwEK6v7gXOYzuJWZpFyEvej0LCflvucAzvL7javRbaGnKw_N9Yuxu34YKBqpXnBNgY07NR7JiiJVHTg4VeEflJNqi1zpyP_WnIpMCsXu9TNSxUxKXZakHhiRzojodgJ_0rgy1g9I-TCSzfq0EKFWvHKbQvuQ9Oj0mcrtl5PTXOdsSeg0LQA29N58WIlrHf=w273-h400" width="273" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsYlMqR9gvS8FEqzX-l6EFGot2jLA9sEyr__o5eb3g3CmPJUHHO26ub_FzkNiX2atDyEnrqnwLSisxhgWjw6MKZo-uLsdNtLnKHpGnmIEttrab9ujP3XbE01-qyBLbo_JDkr5u47RtFAPQy8oAC7p-ZZrwwS6QgX6lSU_tP_fm24x_H2AZ8S8z0k4KKiBZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1170" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsYlMqR9gvS8FEqzX-l6EFGot2jLA9sEyr__o5eb3g3CmPJUHHO26ub_FzkNiX2atDyEnrqnwLSisxhgWjw6MKZo-uLsdNtLnKHpGnmIEttrab9ujP3XbE01-qyBLbo_JDkr5u47RtFAPQy8oAC7p-ZZrwwS6QgX6lSU_tP_fm24x_H2AZ8S8z0k4KKiBZ" width="253" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9Scx9MYXYI2zMSsMoWVin-vhvImuGYjEunilhpLQufqRiMZa1oudd9RzqUteg0mTU8bv239uWevzz8ONPpnqgd58HF2KcgoAH_qPB8QudYWx50t3QWu8eydV60gCuJPuNRY00sAOw9b1UBkCDP3l7SvUM0EeHDPInPGiFYh_7IRMHRphguomVyFRqGBN2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9Scx9MYXYI2zMSsMoWVin-vhvImuGYjEunilhpLQufqRiMZa1oudd9RzqUteg0mTU8bv239uWevzz8ONPpnqgd58HF2KcgoAH_qPB8QudYWx50t3QWu8eydV60gCuJPuNRY00sAOw9b1UBkCDP3l7SvUM0EeHDPInPGiFYh_7IRMHRphguomVyFRqGBN2=w557-h640" width="557" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fun Trips</h3><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBrTs1Y4hAocQTcW92odJnRHp3E_iETo_0HlBu0Zxa9j_o3yKcOY0zyZ4tB2mcngH6cZal0gBOUMUjBqVJDQ--EOR82M-9jY09uHjTKVVgUlKCbC98wV7uufayAma-bxVaH0YEBMBU46CcyAlSDSOZYDzF_xm0i9EUH7VCmvx8KqSmOhzGJl-1zcKhSQKU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBrTs1Y4hAocQTcW92odJnRHp3E_iETo_0HlBu0Zxa9j_o3yKcOY0zyZ4tB2mcngH6cZal0gBOUMUjBqVJDQ--EOR82M-9jY09uHjTKVVgUlKCbC98wV7uufayAma-bxVaH0YEBMBU46CcyAlSDSOZYDzF_xm0i9EUH7VCmvx8KqSmOhzGJl-1zcKhSQKU=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our FOCUS Staff from all the campuses got to go on a retreat before the students showed up. This is the crew for 2023-24! (minus a couple of maternity/paternity leave people)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRfVmCnMUjCUYgsGeqaICugOIWXuYoSyZ6sm3A_eAXpcBruC66RnXdJbyx_AwdcAA6kME6hR1l3N6JA5WChIMh8iAh8HmoKmu7JxmzTJsPL-K5OGGqlBNwKc8nv4rz5Bcm-e6YeJsTe4iL4IF_sABrLrokFD4tIG4_d4W60SB_f9D1-6bCIXJX-jC2PUiJ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRfVmCnMUjCUYgsGeqaICugOIWXuYoSyZ6sm3A_eAXpcBruC66RnXdJbyx_AwdcAA6kME6hR1l3N6JA5WChIMh8iAh8HmoKmu7JxmzTJsPL-K5OGGqlBNwKc8nv4rz5Bcm-e6YeJsTe4iL4IF_sABrLrokFD4tIG4_d4W60SB_f9D1-6bCIXJX-jC2PUiJ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of my men's staff team from UTD went to Colorado together in July. Here's a picture of me and Peter at the highest point in Colorado!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizjECcrOPWLXT0CWLSBtjlxv1V6N9Q7jYwbDSDQPHKSnt1L9NdC79KmfOszwbwL5TNbzZZHUpwrwCoNVwFbsOU2-47MveJkoD-3yVS5miIewgmB2O64nepqgUhB0nJY8Tg36KiE7aaLEN0HV8TyA2i8bpsKHHxsQPFvBl6s5kmyhTjM410hEed0EdNDMTV" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3022" data-original-width="4029" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizjECcrOPWLXT0CWLSBtjlxv1V6N9Q7jYwbDSDQPHKSnt1L9NdC79KmfOszwbwL5TNbzZZHUpwrwCoNVwFbsOU2-47MveJkoD-3yVS5miIewgmB2O64nepqgUhB0nJY8Tg36KiE7aaLEN0HV8TyA2i8bpsKHHxsQPFvBl6s5kmyhTjM410hEed0EdNDMTV=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After Welcome Week, Sarah and I took a quick 2-night trip to NYC. She loves Broadway!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-793676147396929992023-08-03T09:24:00.000-07:002023-08-03T09:24:19.050-07:00An Encouraging Message<p>I was reading some updates from UTD this month and came across this blurb about one of our former FOCUS corefas:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9mggxKNI8o3a6XD0Sq8IwhxoArv0q2rbn00OGwg48Zjk4VVnVawD9VqX9ZKew4Z1_7otSfL8bRfCED2lbHjM02NxRguBB3uYwIzaj-VVAKE_TrlNZE7nmspKyJ8Xo7JfMZnmKsrmgG4yzHxGnOi1pHA-vHoVVNZOSGvaFJVvtW6IqlItt_Koi7GE_YrBF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1218" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9mggxKNI8o3a6XD0Sq8IwhxoArv0q2rbn00OGwg48Zjk4VVnVawD9VqX9ZKew4Z1_7otSfL8bRfCED2lbHjM02NxRguBB3uYwIzaj-VVAKE_TrlNZE7nmspKyJ8Xo7JfMZnmKsrmgG4yzHxGnOi1pHA-vHoVVNZOSGvaFJVvtW6IqlItt_Koi7GE_YrBF=w640-h362" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>I reached out to encourage Justin, and he shared that the award was cool but he has found his experience as a Corefa to be more helpful in his career than his CPA certification. I'm excited to share with you his response:<p></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>My job is a business analyst at Capital One, which is a mix of data analysis and strategy. It’s basically using data to make different business decisions. </i></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>I think being a corefa built up a ton of skills for me, but maybe most importantly it has boosted my communication and relationship building skills a ton. My job involves quite a few presentations and meetings, and leading core was great preparation. It has been very helpful for being able to read the room and ask good questions. </i></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>I also feel much more prepared to talk to and relate to people that are very different than me, which is much more important than I expected. Being able to be purposeful in relationships, relate to others, and manage conflict are all some of the most important things to my job and I’m sure many others. Many FOCUS axioms fit in here!</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>I loved my time in FOCUS and learned a ton - thank you for being a determined, thoughtful, and purposeful leader!</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">What a testament to our shared work among university students! Your gifts and prayers and support for FOCUS are making an impact on campus and beyond. Thank you!</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEic-Mlzb_7OoQMqwq7NARzdb-IspmUFO-BM6lsS97SE2Sdu4UEwAj1rl-hlSOLLPYsFQBV2-ATRdS5ZwuD6RSh4NmitINy1RCfnb1cKKDCOr_5LxtNsxc4MTOs11_3a5crx9cp-nPrmg10vb7M-7S8WgNBrTFTV8Qytfe5_RRKnWz4rtQ6Ck5uFTFbhCklK" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEic-Mlzb_7OoQMqwq7NARzdb-IspmUFO-BM6lsS97SE2Sdu4UEwAj1rl-hlSOLLPYsFQBV2-ATRdS5ZwuD6RSh4NmitINy1RCfnb1cKKDCOr_5LxtNsxc4MTOs11_3a5crx9cp-nPrmg10vb7M-7S8WgNBrTFTV8Qytfe5_RRKnWz4rtQ6Ck5uFTFbhCklK=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spending the next couple of days with this group from our pastoral staff at the Global Leadership Summit. I'm excited to invest in their development as thoughtful, strategic leaders as we prepare for the 2023-24 school year!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8muTgmeLQHRUypJZq-j23BLAz6_UBeY6aqrd4hsTUQwj7qSV-T8txU3IhjFC257Uumt4D0zZTX8XoNRJ1E3VRMalCbAbhr7_AhMgjD0LNxzKoVL8Hp5QEY5OMrNlRN8OiTsTFhQGNzfqYB6AdhfrmeRagJN4j9DQzYFbSfFbQO6r7mMDYKPlzm0PDy4p_" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8muTgmeLQHRUypJZq-j23BLAz6_UBeY6aqrd4hsTUQwj7qSV-T8txU3IhjFC257Uumt4D0zZTX8XoNRJ1E3VRMalCbAbhr7_AhMgjD0LNxzKoVL8Hp5QEY5OMrNlRN8OiTsTFhQGNzfqYB6AdhfrmeRagJN4j9DQzYFbSfFbQO6r7mMDYKPlzm0PDy4p_=w557-h640" width="557" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-55007334118217484592023-07-07T07:47:00.000-07:002023-07-07T07:47:33.796-07:00Thinking Ahead to New Leadership<p>Well it's summer, and that means lots of conversations are happening with young men and women about stepping up to lead a Core in the coming year. It's a big commitment, probably 12-15 hours a week, but we never have trouble finding students to serve. They work with a partner to meet new students, recruit their own small group, plan a weekly meeting, develop their group into a community of spiritual friends, wrangle them into our larger community, and offer a one-on-one discipleship experience to each member. Some of them are doing all of this at 19 years old! It's no wonder they grow so much! It makes me excited for the future of the Church, knowing that we are sending out skilled and experienced leaders into so many different churches, workplaces, homes, and other environments. At UTD, we already have 23 guys who have committed for the year, and another 6 that are still prayerfully considering. Please pray that God will prepare these young men (and their counterparts among the women) for the opportunities ahead and that He will be preparing the hearts and minds of the students they will meet in August. I'm confident that divine appointments are already being booked!</p><p>I recently read a very compelling reflection on Luke 5:36-39. (<a href="https://www.bethimmanuel.org/articles/new-wine-and-old-wineskins-parable-luke-536-39-re-examined">You can read it here</a>)</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span class="text Luke-5-36" id="en-NIV-25144" style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;">He told them this parable: <span class="woj">“No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;"> </span><span class="text Luke-5-37" id="en-NIV-25145" style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;">And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;"> </span><span class="text Luke-5-38" id="en-NIV-25146" style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;">No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;"> </span><span class="text Luke-5-39" id="en-NIV-25147" style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial;">And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”</span></i></p></blockquote><p>The author posits that we have missed the point of this teaching of Jesus because we haven't paid attention to its context, a meal at a tax collector's house and questions surrounding the differences between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of the Pharisees. What if this is not a comment about the old and new covenants of the scripture but rather commentary on why Jesus did not choose his disciples from among the best and brightest religious minds of his day? I won't recount the whole argument, but it has me thinking about what Jesus was looking for in those he "called to be with him" so he could "send them out to preach" (Mark 3:14). </p><p>Jesus didn't play it safe, taking the ones who already knew the right answers. He didn't pick apathetic men and women, but rather passionate ones--sons of thunder who wanted to call down fire from heaven on people who wouldn't listen, a zealot who wanted to overthrow Rome with violence, people who wore their questions and even lack of faith on their sleeve. He included a betrayer, a denier and a woman who had been demon possessed. He was doing something new, and he wanted people he could shape, who were eager to receive his message and adapt to it. </p><p>Choosing these core leaders is not <i>as</i> significant of a decision, but it is significant. They are sent out two by two as well. They do not know what they will encounter, but there are still sick to be healed, truths to be preached, and demonic forces to be encountered. These young disciples are just as raw; they struggle with big questions, deep hurts, and very real temptations. But like those original disciples, they show up and step up, facing their fears and making sacrifices for the chance to be a part of whatever Jesus is doing. And like Jesus, we try to prayerfully and discerningly give them a chance to be a part of something amazing. </p><p>Last night I sat with one of those young leaders from last year as he tearfully talked about a painful relationship with a deeply hurting guy he has built a friendship with. "Why me?" he told me he'd been asking God. Why? Because it's important work, Spirit-work. Every year we see our axiom come true: "Your misery can become your ministry." I get to build deep friendships with and mentor young men of all races and from across the globe. I get to sit and hear their heartbreaking and deeply private stories of abuse and personal failure; I get to celebrate with them their victories and triumphs. Why me? I guess because when I got the invitation I said yes. And now I get to extend that invitation to a new generation in my little corner of God's kingdom. It's one of my favorite parts of campus ministry. We never know what God will do next!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Some Big Staff Transitions</h3><div><br /></div><div>This is more for those of you who know a lot of the staff. Feel free to skip this section if these names don't mean anything to you! </div><div><br /></div><div>For a campus ministry, our staff team is amazingly stable over the years. Even yesterday I had a director from another ministry at UTD asking for insight on how to make this a viable long-term option for his staff so he doesn't lose them just as they gain some experience and wisdom! But transitions do happen, and God is so faithful to us through those transition periods. This year we had some long-term staff members transition off the team to new opportunities. Leah Lorenz (one of the founders at UTD!), Victoria Seiler, and Casey Worsham all transitioned off of our admin staff. Leah and Victoria will be spending more time with their kids, and Casey is stepping up to full-time hours as lead pastor of East Plano Fellowship, the church he helped start in 2020. We are sad to lose them, but I can very confidently say that they each left us in a significantly better place than when they started. They set up systems, refined processes, resourced creative solutions, and built key relationships. As a result, we are going into the coming year with a significantly leaner admin team (both in people and overall staff hours) supporting a bigger ministry than every before (a lot of that is also due to our amazing admin director Paul Ueng). </div><div><br /></div><div>On the campus side, after a time of prayer and discernment, Jalen Quintana (one of our UTD alums) has left our UTA staff after a few years to pursue opportunities in software engineering. He has been such a huge help over the years in laying the foundation for our ministry in Arlington (as well as a great friend to my wife!). Rhett Hayes is leaving UTD after 5 years to take Jalen's place in Arlington and lay groundwork for a TCU plant in the future. While we are losing Rhett, we are getting Laurence Glenesk back! Laurence worked on our team for years but then left to pioneer a ministry at SMU. The SMU ministry is stronger than ever, but Laurence is looking to work closer to home now that he has two little ones, and we are excited to have him back on our team! Garrett Davis will be overseeing the SMU ministry moving forward. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjln5Z6dEX0UX86Q2zu1zRZiFluLJ5a6xzPxX0CnMNW0okiqH9CEEk31Iw2MoFm9yEsB5JVhJhC4S7-9Yolkz0IZw8G_MI-judinOtyUszMXg9vrxR1Rxb3juIFT6ytKE1EZPbFL8szYPhCnOFqgebN_QpF69dHZ04S-GVmC9JazJ_nZr3V6Fju0vkIeKUw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjln5Z6dEX0UX86Q2zu1zRZiFluLJ5a6xzPxX0CnMNW0okiqH9CEEk31Iw2MoFm9yEsB5JVhJhC4S7-9Yolkz0IZw8G_MI-judinOtyUszMXg9vrxR1Rxb3juIFT6ytKE1EZPbFL8szYPhCnOFqgebN_QpF69dHZ04S-GVmC9JazJ_nZr3V6Fju0vkIeKUw=w557-h640" width="557" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-73958661671884977722023-06-17T18:50:00.004-07:002023-06-17T18:50:58.821-07:00I Graduated!<p>I think I'm done with degrees. I <i>know</i> I'm done with footnotes! I finished my coursework back in December, but I (and Peter along with me) finally walked across the stage on June 10 in Pasadena, CA, where Fuller Theological Seminary is located. It was a very special and spiritual ceremony, and I was moved to tears when we sang "I Give Myself Away" in the middle of it. I was moved to a different kind of tears sitting through 400 names being read, but at least it's over!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-R6ranAFXDUgihm2Mko8Bnr_AbcJobTWi42wzJYyKJV2U5PsYZt_IRqbeiM3MsGpuLJ70TUlKhN3HSeRwyV0Svd9Z3ZreATJhPZJdm0AsS673HfkIiTvWtVzS0F6uLEIMTnAK7YBE-Yrr7uQdoFrSJdI9EJ2GJ7dAtwcoCmLh3YaZAQLPuv_I-xompg/s2049/IMG_7254.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2049" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-R6ranAFXDUgihm2Mko8Bnr_AbcJobTWi42wzJYyKJV2U5PsYZt_IRqbeiM3MsGpuLJ70TUlKhN3HSeRwyV0Svd9Z3ZreATJhPZJdm0AsS673HfkIiTvWtVzS0F6uLEIMTnAK7YBE-Yrr7uQdoFrSJdI9EJ2GJ7dAtwcoCmLh3YaZAQLPuv_I-xompg/w400-h300/IMG_7254.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZ61LneIox1GXOfy2CMDi3Uf3YCO0_en6dcubKv3jQ2wKn0gvpCynVhN4dmfkxCQG8O4XTZ-EIYgNEUcDpVQZA6aYjN61BAfjJrOVsoG0zczkPl11Q3rO2fKjqpd7LrTX4ZWcpMowQK8tgIah5o_buUmPA7GE7cxGEf6w6xd7EUtOGRSb3MKdoRJsmw/s1204/IMG_7199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1204" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZ61LneIox1GXOfy2CMDi3Uf3YCO0_en6dcubKv3jQ2wKn0gvpCynVhN4dmfkxCQG8O4XTZ-EIYgNEUcDpVQZA6aYjN61BAfjJrOVsoG0zczkPl11Q3rO2fKjqpd7LrTX4ZWcpMowQK8tgIah5o_buUmPA7GE7cxGEf6w6xd7EUtOGRSb3MKdoRJsmw/w640-h446/IMG_7199.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't believe how many people got to come to our graduation so far from where any of us live. It was such a blessing to me! A number of people from the FOCUS staff, my wife and parents, and Peter's entire family got to be there. The special thing Peter did to get that red stole hanging down was just being Asian American. But the special thing he did to get the red hood (around his neck) instead of my white one was taking 50% more classes than me!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I've been reflecting on seminary and its value and place in campus ministry. Because campus ministers typically come straight from the secular university (for example, I have bachelors and masters degrees in business from UTD), relatively few have a seminary education and almost none start their ministry with one. A big part of going to seminary for me was answering my questions about it. I have a couple of initial reflections.</p><p>1. There's incredible value in studying slowly while actively being a minister. I thought I would not like online school as much, but what was unexpected was that, rather than sitting in a classroom with a bunch of full-time students, I was actively learning alongside a bunch of full-time ministers. We were trying to figure out how to use what we were learning realtime. I got to be in classes with church pastors, other campus ministers, missionaries, chaplains to various hospitals and prisons, Salvation Army officers, youth ministers, and more. They brought a richness to what I was being taught, but so did talking it over with the university students and alumni I get to meet with every day! I loved taking this degree one or two classes at a time, slowly pondering and integrating what I was learning. </p><p>2. What we've been doing in FOCUS all along for education is REALLY GOOD. We've long had a commitment to continuing education for our pastoral staff. We are always reading, listening to lectures, or otherwise pursuing deeper understanding of the scriptures and ministry leadership. Our staff reads multiple books together each year, and our commitment is to graduate level learning. We believe that if we are to lead university students, we should be operating at their level or above. Fuller has expanded our list of resources and given us new topics to explore, but I believe anyone on our team for a few years will ultimately come out ahead of someone with a one-and-done seminary education before they start their ministry career.</p><p>I am soooooo thankful for this education, and I assure you I'm using it every day. Through your gifts, the ministry helped pay for it and gave me the time to devote to it. It has raised my game in teaching and leadership, and I'm passing that on to these younger pastors that I mentor. I've gotten to do things I never thought I'd get to do, like make my own translations of scriptures from the Greek and Hebrew! I know it will take a few more years for all of this learning to sort of settle in my heart and mind, but I'm committed to blessing our mission what what has been invested in me. So thank you!!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">SICM!</h3><div><br /></div><div>SICM was a huge success, as usual. We are busy meeting up with all these wonderful students and talking to them about making a commitment to serve and lead their peers next year. The future is looking bright!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPy7WB3EgT0_nkK9JqwrBgtjw6NCf8ZeilBy2SnHlfrbufEDwaZtZpqfaciattEYlTH2QqxPbTy1IH0f5CQriBGyfSjr5PEzksjAMtjx_HbBN1utxy-mkZCdYDPTEPSHDcFVd9h-SJ4mrIVMNZhdtzjuxLp4-F3u68GoQehoaY7_mQoDJamcPmI9iMPw/s4032/IMG-6664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPy7WB3EgT0_nkK9JqwrBgtjw6NCf8ZeilBy2SnHlfrbufEDwaZtZpqfaciattEYlTH2QqxPbTy1IH0f5CQriBGyfSjr5PEzksjAMtjx_HbBN1utxy-mkZCdYDPTEPSHDcFVd9h-SJ4mrIVMNZhdtzjuxLp4-F3u68GoQehoaY7_mQoDJamcPmI9iMPw/w640-h480/IMG-6664.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the group we took to SICM from FOCUS this May. The crazy thing is that it doesn't include about 5 people who were not there at the moment and another 5 we sent in June!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN461xKztyw75doBR4o8QxbdGYPJ1KN5zCLSwMRzBaFRXOWqBvCoX3oT8-_ywPoimsR8z-adumP_9e4FkSBCTkd-e7_iC4dinQciMfW_OeTO4s8kEdaC5s0_18_evnAfT8nR_LHcufqNmNGKT5iq2n6Xl_cdBSgF94atcwZS8eSYKjiD9yeMYl-9qIVQ/s3088/IMG_0785.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2316" data-original-width="3088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN461xKztyw75doBR4o8QxbdGYPJ1KN5zCLSwMRzBaFRXOWqBvCoX3oT8-_ywPoimsR8z-adumP_9e4FkSBCTkd-e7_iC4dinQciMfW_OeTO4s8kEdaC5s0_18_evnAfT8nR_LHcufqNmNGKT5iq2n6Xl_cdBSgF94atcwZS8eSYKjiD9yeMYl-9qIVQ/w640-h480/IMG_0785.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the group of guys Peter and I hosted (minus one) at a house in Bellingham all week. They are all UTD guys--a really neat bunch!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiq_F57uf_LpVmN3owl_V9jtdOBXjyTrm0Upan3PHKV6R4mvawVry4X_M2nVLRU0DtypIRFrrZvOQkckJBQSc7ibxz0hJOm5u7OThgRBkKAIJTcuo8vABbQTJHpC3asBiQMwNA2qSLP9wa_cZjd7LZKpZPAd5j7kF76DANpeOvrER8t6QmuEtID7yuw/s1728/June%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiq_F57uf_LpVmN3owl_V9jtdOBXjyTrm0Upan3PHKV6R4mvawVry4X_M2nVLRU0DtypIRFrrZvOQkckJBQSc7ibxz0hJOm5u7OThgRBkKAIJTcuo8vABbQTJHpC3asBiQMwNA2qSLP9wa_cZjd7LZKpZPAd5j7kF76DANpeOvrER8t6QmuEtID7yuw/w556-h640/June%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-12734209275848946842023-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:002023-05-03T20:06:00.449-07:00Stories from the YearLast Friday night we had our last FNF, which is always one of my favorite nights of the year. Instead of a teaching time, we open up the mic for students to share about how they've seen God working this year. The stories are so sweet! Here's the prompt we use:<div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vpVRyFdjJ8pOmBsoedGfb?si=8bb027fec1544ab4"><img alt="" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="2034" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpSu8wux2L9yPrF9Dp_Q1oGvuX9GoOJoqxtAD9aVpUUwNtZT815Qmf7qQoeTZPDg4IN75Flk-TYVfx54ZJ4F_4FkO7Wtt3VjcWXc7tZOot95bkImJ2xAtj_Z3wWDx8aQJEYkgpQMaNa2Mq3AeqQ1D9rmFWc-kqy3Pmj2OBD0FdqTouk1MFusoWYJuCCg=w640-h358" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vpVRyFdjJ8pOmBsoedGfb?si=8bb027fec1544ab4">We always cover the "ABCs of Sharing" to help make the time as meaningful as possible.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You would have been so encouraged to hear the students sharing on Friday night, but you still can be! Just <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vpVRyFdjJ8pOmBsoedGfb?si=8bb027fec1544ab4">click here to listen students share about the impact the Lord has made in their lives through your prayers and generosity!</a></div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I joined in this year's Parking Lot Graduation ceremony to celebrate my new seminary degree!</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOi-h_bNjf62AnuaV30-6AbViRt0YHW1fLrOBok87MTqleVoDs0N16lUYa548equnIqq624hmkG2vLPykC6m8AZcl5OCtcxhyAsyu1GHvR1qzRte4WZWvrP8FMo3lLBJMbAUSWpMi174siONipJ5VBKkxqJFuRZyTR50SOQw8pjOV9As1rJ_Hq8a7IYg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="2563" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOi-h_bNjf62AnuaV30-6AbViRt0YHW1fLrOBok87MTqleVoDs0N16lUYa548equnIqq624hmkG2vLPykC6m8AZcl5OCtcxhyAsyu1GHvR1qzRte4WZWvrP8FMo3lLBJMbAUSWpMi174siONipJ5VBKkxqJFuRZyTR50SOQw8pjOV9As1rJ_Hq8a7IYg=w541-h640" width="541" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Since I was walking, Rhett handed out the "diplomas," which are actually a letter of blessing and sending from our pastors to the graduates.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiujyJAejQ6qCq3fuX2LC_H_M3mHL41lO9ptYQhJuy5MBqJ_4mZIvoOl6maQrXK3rUUZ5ob4zb85oy_sW5oLZJ19AvONOG9o782QW6L8_6pEQjE5OQEbWlfk9wXs4mTRal4H1jHJN-oe7z7v4HxeQaiPNjZTg1EnPENh_8AA3o8-arhn-ZI1AJObVsNwQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1809" data-original-width="3748" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiujyJAejQ6qCq3fuX2LC_H_M3mHL41lO9ptYQhJuy5MBqJ_4mZIvoOl6maQrXK3rUUZ5ob4zb85oy_sW5oLZJ19AvONOG9o782QW6L8_6pEQjE5OQEbWlfk9wXs4mTRal4H1jHJN-oe7z7v4HxeQaiPNjZTg1EnPENh_8AA3o8-arhn-ZI1AJObVsNwQ=w640-h308" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had 43 graduates this year from UTD alone!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBt9RS5GvJbaHyEjPk-GIKyiFR1yG-CxMnL0pVy4tl0YUDd_c2Bcqc7BvHeX3lOAUTGsrnPMfdBHLFiw5fGGsjIyo1CriClVdf0UsS5fVyAvl2uaAZfJsaWTp0yFwvBxtxHRvDlc0fvyBcTHc21QZJDKiGGG5U5inMsgcBAqrNMe-E1QCmSBcZ4hJANA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBt9RS5GvJbaHyEjPk-GIKyiFR1yG-CxMnL0pVy4tl0YUDd_c2Bcqc7BvHeX3lOAUTGsrnPMfdBHLFiw5fGGsjIyo1CriClVdf0UsS5fVyAvl2uaAZfJsaWTp0yFwvBxtxHRvDlc0fvyBcTHc21QZJDKiGGG5U5inMsgcBAqrNMe-E1QCmSBcZ4hJANA=w557-h640" width="557" /></a></div><br />Thank you for loving young people into God's kingdom!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-9545809767825364392023-04-19T12:13:00.003-07:002023-04-19T12:13:21.164-07:00Links from Last Time<p>I realized that when the email when out, it didn't have the links for any of those videos or audio! I got too fancy in making my blog. You can always click through the email to get to those things if that happens again. I'll also include them again here. (Hopefully it works this time. If not, I'll have to call IT. :)</p><p>Here's the audio from our Pizza Theology on Wisdom, linked on Spotify:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/16Dvs8bb4ihm7Uc5Iuy35W?si=3d9dc9373cc943f3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1180" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5omPqp8-jtyVsBHYro19FIHiphBSFZG8JAy8yyNEU15a-4p4VGwQMOjvo67GOi9Ip7SLosxyV1M4PLlnA8Msu4L1YaDiqhbYyH6riwsb-Qjh5I3mWLDfMJAohITyNLPQvjAL9ifBLbiYEqkIXFE95kxDTjp-NfxcbiTHyaLFYRH_IXt_QNXaTBlqiLg=w640-h398" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Here's the senior epistle from Kim:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1crUURP_YqDIaNet-f4WoE17lrwm8xN1e/view?usp=share_link" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="664" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUIl0-P_tYUQp5qj0M9KDmJHTAOZTRJm2nGHCvliPQGCoLoCblcw5LGYUYrYNOjgrO4ulkvAVpKgJXpUWbZFroQfp86df_eIy_I2UYRouAsdcuX6_VWpzGG944y4Vs4O71Ro12ULWcgvyqibIwtJ_wTsnS1fXAmrR2wnWNS870TGC-pJ6irv-oWUew7A=w400-h338" width="400" /></a></div><br />And here's one from Jared:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xa0ZAT5IhEdASN9tThbzlurGRL9DygOi/view?usp=share_link" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="668" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtLd7etxVnIAWCba1b7DSwMt2PJ78GK1726ff-gOkP3NbblAkNxtIRkPnuxkD8gX-8BG4z0_xSRt8zXYCwYbQqxx8sDoqnylEuefng71LE-vXfqyOe2OVHeAEc13-4h7w87KF4q-S_XVLK1a-NIJ4v6fLfI73hFy-xA8dQ_Vl1-3ht_w7Un-n2D7KSQw=w400-h334" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />And as a bonus, here's a pic of me and my UTD directors team when we all wore pink for Easter Sunday!<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixadqewS4IRHb8gWnqZXNoBAohihNUouIEDU84PV_cXVB_HHL6DEwzOSkGHfS0Bzw-OdSRY0DpyfdrRG2EnVqqrgj5Uh5z-sfx-gGc_r4CAFL1pPQhwrWlsR4bdz3F__sD0T8sj_3-ahUR45uY2AyR_s6o04JpRGD0u_C_mtUO6p7NwsMuJ_nUbPLSaA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixadqewS4IRHb8gWnqZXNoBAohihNUouIEDU84PV_cXVB_HHL6DEwzOSkGHfS0Bzw-OdSRY0DpyfdrRG2EnVqqrgj5Uh5z-sfx-gGc_r4CAFL1pPQhwrWlsR4bdz3F__sD0T8sj_3-ahUR45uY2AyR_s6o04JpRGD0u_C_mtUO6p7NwsMuJ_nUbPLSaA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-51591948080989495522023-04-03T20:17:00.000-07:002023-04-03T20:17:08.111-07:00Wisdom for Dummies<p>Over the weekend I got to do part of the teaching for our Spring Pizza Theology entitled <i>Wisdom for Dummies</i>. Three of our younger pastors helped us look at the messages of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, and then I finished by looking at the idea of wisdom more generally. Prepping for this message was especially meaningful as I got to spend a significant amount of time quizzing Ronnie Worsham and Brady Bobbink for their insights. It was a great night of teaching attended by hundreds of our students. It's well worth a listen if you want to take the time!</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/16Dvs8bb4ihm7Uc5Iuy35W?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p>I received an incredibly encouraging email from an alumnus the other day that reminded me of the importance of teaching times like this--how formative they are to young people learning to think like a Christian. Here's an excerpt:</p><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I was listening to a podcast I subscribe to that’s based in the Dallas area. They were talking about a church down there that hosted a worship night and then the pastor started preaching for full acceptance and support of the homosexual lifestyle, basically saying it’s blasphemous to separate two people in love. My podcast was discussing the importance of being able to think and reason through scripture so we’re not led astray by false teachings.<br /><br />Immediately I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the solid foundation I gained upon coming to faith in FOCUS. The biblical literacy I learned, let alone the ability to create family culture and disciple others, while there has greatly impacted the trajectory of my life. For that I am profoundly grateful.</span></i><p>Thank you for supporting this important kind of ministry. The church (not to mention the world!) needs more men and women who are equipped and experienced at thinking biblically, carefully, and deeply about the tough challenges that face us. That's slow work, but it pays off over the long run!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Senior Epistles</h3><div><br /></div><div>Every year we let our graduating seniors at UTD write and read letters to our community in the last weeks of the school year. They are so encouraging! I wanted to share a couple with you here. I think you'll see how much your support impacts young people and how much wisdom they have gained in these years!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxTXJ4ep4hYQcL8W5yiwbptbTliyLEa6XGvX71S8h1x_vRg8EybqhpZ9hR-49AxlbkS7BuDTca71tm8uDvFaA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dye-0qqO0kUf9VbmgCdB-GOrBIg7NIDS8Hyx8pi08f9FC66S8EUjF-2bUhG3qK0xEP9mh6ROtPvTCcpBtpzZA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZiTmixOdkDGrfEjpZyJWW1RgDjG_uwFTBySg4M34ILyaOhWfaMd8xM8PXY0e0pfAI-q4Cus2RMv6iDCA9hxlGnhJRmlb3HfvJAKRd95UFUySMWAKw0ORmZooJ2wSgA0DcU9Ad4GHmH10AxfZjOa6OjZruQmgD0dthuRenWsN7EcCRkkH-qW5kkoI_Q/s1728/April%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZiTmixOdkDGrfEjpZyJWW1RgDjG_uwFTBySg4M34ILyaOhWfaMd8xM8PXY0e0pfAI-q4Cus2RMv6iDCA9hxlGnhJRmlb3HfvJAKRd95UFUySMWAKw0ORmZooJ2wSgA0DcU9Ad4GHmH10AxfZjOa6OjZruQmgD0dthuRenWsN7EcCRkkH-qW5kkoI_Q/w556-h640/April%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-15305849610658070882023-03-07T10:39:00.002-08:002023-03-07T10:39:41.735-08:00Help Protect Our Mission in 8 Minutes or Less!<p>The US Department of Education has recently announced plans to remove existing protections for religious student organizations at colleges and universities across the nation. Their reasoning is that these rights are already protected under the Constitution, so students can take their colleges to court if these rights are infringed upon.</p><p>However, most 18-year-olds are pretty unaware of their rights and have neither the desire nor the resources to sue their own college. And we've seen that before the existing language was put in a place a few years ago, universities were inconsistent in how they protected or did not acknowledge these rights.</p><p><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">Would you be willing to take 5-8 minutes to write a personal comment on this proposed change before March 24 (the deadline for comments)?</b></p><p>We've put together a website that will show you exactly how to do it and give you some ideas of things you might say. It does not need to be long, but ideally it would be personal and highlight one of more reasons why the DOE should give colleges guidance in protecting the 1st Amendment rights of students.</p><p>We want to generate hundreds of comments from our network alone!</p><p><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b>Here's the website that explains everything: <a href="https://anyfocus.org/campusaccess/"><span style="font-size: large;">anyfocus.org/campusaccess</span></a></b></span></p><p>(one quick note: when it asks you "What is your comment about?", that's just a weird way of asking what category you are in. You will most likely put student, parent, or individual.)</p><p>Thank you!</p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-84978318545197767102023-03-02T14:16:00.002-08:002023-03-02T14:16:34.290-08:00Encouraging Posts<p> A couple weeks back, one of our student leaders shared these screenshots from a Facebook group for UTD Parents that her mom is a member of. These are in response to parents worrying about their kids being lonely and not finding good friends. I found them so encouraging!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6Z6rzqwulltuT9SaoJYfrq27DFkCCNMOXRMl8VA5Cc7bpsQNnbaiRHdW71ilI-ORWBZx4BkXwuEhrRgt1DxGNvhV79WP1ll-3hy0fzsS5qDPYVoJwEfKH_FnBrY2k9kJDQmYa1DIMSQKh_228tpvbwFFCj5gGqVkkoE9XtEjATPFxCsoumeYBBXDrA/s1808/IMG_4591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1808" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6Z6rzqwulltuT9SaoJYfrq27DFkCCNMOXRMl8VA5Cc7bpsQNnbaiRHdW71ilI-ORWBZx4BkXwuEhrRgt1DxGNvhV79WP1ll-3hy0fzsS5qDPYVoJwEfKH_FnBrY2k9kJDQmYa1DIMSQKh_228tpvbwFFCj5gGqVkkoE9XtEjATPFxCsoumeYBBXDrA/w290-h640/IMG_4591.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvCjujmAROfZ7bv5Y702-vlqghQw_KURE83QBzHGz0m6iFLn-nDYF9XR_I8pZhpNSh-DjtcYYgGWURRrV7ObE3JeyLQrnWiHPW-FM-Uxgc1vyrEl2Qy0flgRyPAC6GX4Ud2nrZ2ABu8_fA-epB0Zb3phpN8_NZY1ktj5FTMF1fGey6a9-JipqX1jjog/s1808/IMG_4592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1808" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvCjujmAROfZ7bv5Y702-vlqghQw_KURE83QBzHGz0m6iFLn-nDYF9XR_I8pZhpNSh-DjtcYYgGWURRrV7ObE3JeyLQrnWiHPW-FM-Uxgc1vyrEl2Qy0flgRyPAC6GX4Ud2nrZ2ABu8_fA-epB0Zb3phpN8_NZY1ktj5FTMF1fGey6a9-JipqX1jjog/w290-h640/IMG_4592.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><p>And then this was posted on Instagram by a new student in Denton. This is the vision guys! Thanks for being a part of it!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxoRqcMaHDwCygfD6sYbgmj75VzrFzUp60M6iRTIpGf-oXKWDL3dB3uH7z3ughcD4yA74qq39WmrnKPPhXFTCtNx46RACf5n48MvtqRSNdtQrsanxIa1yBgJOghrwoFEkhrhX6kSe6AC_zNIFIQbHL5cPbuOvnpkGisvo7jZ6MejmMhFhARrPNOUjyg/s1963/IMG_4702.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1963" data-original-width="1170" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxoRqcMaHDwCygfD6sYbgmj75VzrFzUp60M6iRTIpGf-oXKWDL3dB3uH7z3ughcD4yA74qq39WmrnKPPhXFTCtNx46RACf5n48MvtqRSNdtQrsanxIa1yBgJOghrwoFEkhrhX6kSe6AC_zNIFIQbHL5cPbuOvnpkGisvo7jZ6MejmMhFhARrPNOUjyg/w382-h640/IMG_4702.jpeg" width="382" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Funny Videos</h3><div><br /></div><div>I meant to share these last month. Our staff always makes a funny video for the opening of our big Winter Retreat. This year the joke was all around inflation and our pastors trying to make some extra money. (It's in 2 parts, but only a few minutes total.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YEgNkiNVX6g" width="320" youtube-src-id="YEgNkiNVX6g"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YxdNKac1OXs" width="320" youtube-src-id="YxdNKac1OXs"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-href="https://youtu.be/YEgNkiNVX6g" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" data-richlink="true" data-view-as="youtube-video-small" data-viewer-props="{"videoId":"YEgNkiNVX6g"}"><h3 style="text-align: left;">Checking up on <i>Focus on Jesus</i> studies</h3><div><br /></div><div>In February each year we pause to take stock of the FOJ studies we've started that year. At UTD we have completed 17 studies (completing is always a miracle haha), have 95 studies that are currently happening, and another 12 studies that began and have stopped for some reason. That's 124 students that have been receiving weekly one-on-one instruction and discussion about how the gospel intersects with their lives, usually in addition to discussions in Core and biblical teaching on Friday nights. It also means so many of our students are the ones teaching those studies! They are getting real experience ministering to their peers and sharing the good news of Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Officiating a Wedding</h3><div><br /></div><div>I don't do as many weddings as I used to because I work on such an amazing team of pastors, but it's always special to officiate for people who are special to me! This past weekend, I got to officiate Cullen Capili's wedding. Cullen was in my Core back in 2009-2010 as a freshman, and I got to study FOJ with him that year. We've stayed friends the many years since he graduated and went on to become a physical therapist. Congrats, Dr. Capili!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeij_7FCGHND7lPB8zEjsrHYkiQ4jH-_crrHTFGuXGJU9YauBUEzK4-j_M4NKJCWcjCaJMSJD-kGhSUEOdoUpAttd3j74UBogIHWOU3cGD7xj9jvh8LdXiqM5NfNWFfhMrwBwJ0tZCkis_IQNm6VgiThn4YOZPmlKTaxNbDwYajv8yk_-Rv7fuUMC8UQ/s4032/IMG_4673.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeij_7FCGHND7lPB8zEjsrHYkiQ4jH-_crrHTFGuXGJU9YauBUEzK4-j_M4NKJCWcjCaJMSJD-kGhSUEOdoUpAttd3j74UBogIHWOU3cGD7xj9jvh8LdXiqM5NfNWFfhMrwBwJ0tZCkis_IQNm6VgiThn4YOZPmlKTaxNbDwYajv8yk_-Rv7fuUMC8UQ/w400-h300/IMG_4673.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why are those lights so shiny!?</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsC3q5gMZwjZivRATD5MOR6MBoym1fncLbBdcJA9tIu_6k2LLN76DhQL-rfyBU3BvJQiswTrn0rQnkWorBHLVcTIVcPUbMdPimSp1boIuIVH5NjENOvyYdx0hs5OLFlkhJnVmiZx9j3IgjfMSznLQTmHGjbxjSDyEKe1BYBvuor2eDTKZ5garHcGP_Kw/s1728/March%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsC3q5gMZwjZivRATD5MOR6MBoym1fncLbBdcJA9tIu_6k2LLN76DhQL-rfyBU3BvJQiswTrn0rQnkWorBHLVcTIVcPUbMdPimSp1boIuIVH5NjENOvyYdx0hs5OLFlkhJnVmiZx9j3IgjfMSznLQTmHGjbxjSDyEKe1BYBvuor2eDTKZ5garHcGP_Kw/w556-h640/March%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers! You make this ministry possible and share in its fruit!</div></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-27940212248819274812023-02-09T14:14:00.004-08:002023-02-09T14:14:44.255-08:00A Tough Month, But Also a Blessed One<p>We've had a number of tough things happen this month. Three days before our Winter Retreat/Camp, our biggest event of the year, we found out that Andrea's mom (Andrea is one of our pastors at UTD) has cancer that has metastasized in a number of places. Andrea was even scheduled to speak at the retreat. That same day our administrative director Paul was injured playing sports and required surgery. We made it through the retreat, and then a few days later, while at FNF, two of our students leaders (one was Mick who I introduced last month) got the news that their 18-year-old brother had died in a car accident. I got to drive the boys down to be with their family in Houston that night and go down again for the funeral. So many hearts are heavy in our community right now. I could tell a number of stories that aren't as dramatic but are very painful to those involved. <i><b>Would you stop and pray right now for the Lord's comfort for all of these young people as they navigate grief and loss?</b></i></p><p>Winter Retreat itself went so well! We were at a new location that I think will work well for us for years to come. Our messages were preached by FOCUS pastors from 1 John. We also did a special extended session on Theology of Work and Vocation, helping the students think about how their careers fit into God's plan for their lives. All of this content is available <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5yrx4jslg0f9tmNO7S0eVX?si=e74fd47491304366">on Spotify</a> if you are interested.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><h3 style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0px; position: relative;">The Impact of Our Shared Ministry to Young Leaders, continued</h3></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNR8SFVMSpZ4h4s4-D34vuRk6kB-069KUYeGmhsURlgu1DICQUeUUgafZ8UOrKcwS5kBoePU84uxak7t-OkCvEQYE8eyz4bID5vIHgehz1N0IPnuZcH84zTB4Y7nwrfgCFCHvDFEuLBvkeiD6QPMdrTv9LAbMEnu6o3rftauLfSlQutimeW1lT0WkBg/s2477/IMG_4368.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2477" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNR8SFVMSpZ4h4s4-D34vuRk6kB-069KUYeGmhsURlgu1DICQUeUUgafZ8UOrKcwS5kBoePU84uxak7t-OkCvEQYE8eyz4bID5vIHgehz1N0IPnuZcH84zTB4Y7nwrfgCFCHvDFEuLBvkeiD6QPMdrTv9LAbMEnu6o3rftauLfSlQutimeW1lT0WkBg/w640-h396/IMG_4368.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jadon (left) and Paul (right) are the other pair of core leaders I meet with weekly this year. They are incredibly thoughtful and insightful young ministers. I'm so impressed by them!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I asked Jadon and Paul to share in just a sentence or two how being a leader in FOCUS is impacting them:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Paul writes, <i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"One way I am learning from being a leader in FOCUS is realizing how true community is not something that always comes naturally, but often takes effort to build, resulting in support and love."</span></i></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Jadon said, <i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Being in FOCUS has taught me the importance of intentionally pursuing others as a means to community building. Growing up, my friendships required very little conscious effort in order to maintain, but learning how to be purposeful in my relationships has helped me mature and enhanced my relational depth."</span></i></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div>Thank you for all the ways you invest to make this ministry to students possible! I think it will pay rich dividends for the Church in the years to come.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">San Diego Visit</span></h3><div><br /></div><div>I missed the annual Dallas ice days during a visit to San Diego last week! Among other things I got to travel with my good friend and coworker, Garrett Davis, as well as connect with some amazing UTD alumni who I miss very much!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PR2JqBl1f7ralxtX5UiU_0s1rpSREtGOe0OEh4lQuQTiuWND6QsEzHxbce3843EasIACZ0Z3_4kdiSaazLqxeKvXaQhLLdlY-afDw1kkxdjpBiwrM7WmduWk7n7RQCBt5n6Lz4_aDuqeDiDJT4DWKCVEUxfjbHbQe1Fq38WysGMpUKimHrvg7M2l5g/s1024/imagejpeg_0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PR2JqBl1f7ralxtX5UiU_0s1rpSREtGOe0OEh4lQuQTiuWND6QsEzHxbce3843EasIACZ0Z3_4kdiSaazLqxeKvXaQhLLdlY-afDw1kkxdjpBiwrM7WmduWk7n7RQCBt5n6Lz4_aDuqeDiDJT4DWKCVEUxfjbHbQe1Fq38WysGMpUKimHrvg7M2l5g/w480-h640/imagejpeg_0.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got to hike with Luke Anderson, one of the sweetest and most loving guys I've ever met. He was in my peer team a few years back.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7knDlw1aqv6fdgdSZLCCqhI_LoSUAZ_znS0l4npWvTvQvqvIl3cu2E8JDl76HOqRuEyN-N4t3YxS6HWSZ2EE3DQOxWQA1c_2Om3gVVMDjxiZyremxaXFnKVI9uxpqBQxCC1blfr2CfkcTdY00kjGvdLFzsQtYD2aTeQrbjHtlM4Wpwovc71tsc8q7A/s4032/IMG_4610.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7knDlw1aqv6fdgdSZLCCqhI_LoSUAZ_znS0l4npWvTvQvqvIl3cu2E8JDl76HOqRuEyN-N4t3YxS6HWSZ2EE3DQOxWQA1c_2Om3gVVMDjxiZyremxaXFnKVI9uxpqBQxCC1blfr2CfkcTdY00kjGvdLFzsQtYD2aTeQrbjHtlM4Wpwovc71tsc8q7A/w640-h480/IMG_4610.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spent a few hours with Daniel Colina, such a wise young man of God. I was deeply encouraged to see how he is passionately pursuing the Lord in a new place and season. It was chilly, but the beach was beautiful!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XNc-uwnJ3PauxkCVYxofZ__-4mo6Icqal3IsB0tbuuTAY3TKXtnDyFs-yxO2UUzq1goEDZZlCaUyyT4LvJeZqo8R6BDSzVW4MN8iyW8R-AQE-SUt6gZKWT-0yL5dh6ooLF6VzUeFWnOUPVEqikfn_gywjyRqjgkbm0-uEQOJ4jgfeoZJHi5nNex1yQ/s4032/IMG_4615.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XNc-uwnJ3PauxkCVYxofZ__-4mo6Icqal3IsB0tbuuTAY3TKXtnDyFs-yxO2UUzq1goEDZZlCaUyyT4LvJeZqo8R6BDSzVW4MN8iyW8R-AQE-SUt6gZKWT-0yL5dh6ooLF6VzUeFWnOUPVEqikfn_gywjyRqjgkbm0-uEQOJ4jgfeoZJHi5nNex1yQ/w640-h480/IMG_4615.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garrett has been my friend for well over 20 years at this point. He's a good one to have! FOCUS is blessed to have all of his gifts from the Lord serving our students and pastors.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMRKUBW5v23cm8-75KbXJtp5AqGD0Frb2_VhQQC8r5t5V9p8YEpTkh_B8i7bj9FxTA7n7tvje_fMoZjD6T6rf0Ebpr7Gs8YpqVF_WLoarsZOXGJVYPBh1YEwl6Pfk_7A7q6qVcg2Kms-sKDGbozrHkg74Pm7oOkgsqnf3ao5SsHEx6VcURZKgRPz5Jw/s1728/February%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMRKUBW5v23cm8-75KbXJtp5AqGD0Frb2_VhQQC8r5t5V9p8YEpTkh_B8i7bj9FxTA7n7tvje_fMoZjD6T6rf0Ebpr7Gs8YpqVF_WLoarsZOXGJVYPBh1YEwl6Pfk_7A7q6qVcg2Kms-sKDGbozrHkg74Pm7oOkgsqnf3ao5SsHEx6VcURZKgRPz5Jw/w556-h640/February%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-25510377505258631172022-12-31T15:23:00.001-08:002022-12-31T15:23:27.155-08:00Happy New Year! And a Little About How the Last One Ended<h3 style="text-align: left;">Finishing Seminary!</h3><div><br /></div><div>It will be a few months before I get a diploma, but, assuming I and my advisor didn't make any mistakes, I finished my last seminary class in December! So I should be earning a Master of Arts in Theology. It was a great experience overall and one that I am VERY glad to be done with! I think two master degrees is enough for me, and I have no plans to pursue any more degrees in the future. I love reading and listening to lectures, but unless the Lord specifically tells me to, I am DONE writing papers with footnotes and bibliographies. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of my biggest takeaways from the whole experience is that I am so proud of the continuing education experience for the pastors on the FOCUS staff. Our pastors are perpetually learning and processing material together. The things we learn are very much at a graduate school level, and we are learning and applying in community. We also have the luxury of going back through material again every few years, both to bring new staff along and to review and process anew for those who have been around longer. My seminary experience has enriched what we do for our team by expanding my list of topics and resources in a huge way! I'm still working to share the things I've been learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think there will always be a place and need on our staff for a few people to pursue this kind of formal education and use that extra gift of knowledge to bless our students and protect us from inadvertently becoming heretics! <b>Thanks for supporting me through this three and a half year season</b> where I've had a bit less mental space to devote to our students in hopes that I would have more to offer in the future.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_lmtj051HFXCfj2mnuLhHBRsAVb-BUsa1U96pTyx30jg6H5K7SdmzE9DVRwnmWpsVl5Q61xZXlSFNIpmdt9y5ZZxLuTspr6Dw06jZOR3ophuo9lJwT0DCmkqu2GYLJlVZD35yN7CiVXMj_M6DZdXtUPmng83qcDyIPhZ4KWPoueCSVJmVGFTGb0JSA/s4032/IMG_4276.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_lmtj051HFXCfj2mnuLhHBRsAVb-BUsa1U96pTyx30jg6H5K7SdmzE9DVRwnmWpsVl5Q61xZXlSFNIpmdt9y5ZZxLuTspr6Dw06jZOR3ophuo9lJwT0DCmkqu2GYLJlVZD35yN7CiVXMj_M6DZdXtUPmng83qcDyIPhZ4KWPoueCSVJmVGFTGb0JSA/w480-h640/IMG_4276.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In lieu of a real graduation in California, my sweet wife made me a fake diploma and had a small graduation ceremony at our staff Christmas party. I'm told the cap belongs to a high school girl.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJl6_yOWdQ7bKA6fLyYA2JearlR68DOJPnycE8p1lbGR9ZAyzqyVV-GhoGQVcNH_W1EkN1cTydazIeHto7TAHLAc4_myC6SSMxk0mBerTj82H_yInZyOaocQos9ge4RzDK3en5OUUKm9PnHU-DON822tNaI8AYNDq5cEQw7TQkTBkqrgXSpfvt-ZWyw/s4032/IMG_4391.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJl6_yOWdQ7bKA6fLyYA2JearlR68DOJPnycE8p1lbGR9ZAyzqyVV-GhoGQVcNH_W1EkN1cTydazIeHto7TAHLAc4_myC6SSMxk0mBerTj82H_yInZyOaocQos9ge4RzDK3en5OUUKm9PnHU-DON822tNaI8AYNDq5cEQw7TQkTBkqrgXSpfvt-ZWyw/w640-h480/IMG_4391.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The FOCUS staff at our Christmas dinner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8FW0ay45xMYE9w_JMKgQsHgqj7MUwx75wkQRqCD53yjZjsFG6JmNma7w9zEDvQTPWGwip8K6ONMfHaj94_f44VzwpXLZVpR9Ef0f7L67NwNQAmHwSbShGUBjMJwhLhAesnalckC9RpS7FJkSzHG4W4xhgWy-rId8BR3IEQusTgw5A03ciSsW9ySYQ/s4032/IMG_4398.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8FW0ay45xMYE9w_JMKgQsHgqj7MUwx75wkQRqCD53yjZjsFG6JmNma7w9zEDvQTPWGwip8K6ONMfHaj94_f44VzwpXLZVpR9Ef0f7L67NwNQAmHwSbShGUBjMJwhLhAesnalckC9RpS7FJkSzHG4W4xhgWy-rId8BR3IEQusTgw5A03ciSsW9ySYQ/w640-h480/IMG_4398.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The UTD Men Staffers. What a fantastic group! (Peter, Me, Cort, Stian, Rhett)<br />But I'm asking the question I ask most days: "What is Rhett wearing!?"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Impact of Our Shared Ministry to Young Leaders</h3><div><br /></div><div>During the semesters, I spend time every week with a few of our core leaders. I wanted to give you some brief insight into how they see the experience of being a leader in FOCUS shaping them.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaIszIvTIeu74CM025E9emMSqevSiCeRhjd7s7Y4KJEqBbrhDuXgLTXlB0S9IdIeKyr12YSp4XPEAmW6kAITuAAaBjM-fygVrUf2w-lD9R1J6tqKut142-Hmb0VMF7hc4VNK4EcaIO0cvn545GYjoR0-Runm1OW0rtW2FLccyS-mOBiI0rP8_XwWP-A/s2570/IMG_4375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="2570" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaIszIvTIeu74CM025E9emMSqevSiCeRhjd7s7Y4KJEqBbrhDuXgLTXlB0S9IdIeKyr12YSp4XPEAmW6kAITuAAaBjM-fygVrUf2w-lD9R1J6tqKut142-Hmb0VMF7hc4VNK4EcaIO0cvn545GYjoR0-Runm1OW0rtW2FLccyS-mOBiI0rP8_XwWP-A/w640-h404/IMG_4375.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael (left) and Mick (right) are one of the Core Facilitating pairs that I meet with weekly this year. They are such a blessing to me!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;">Michael writes: <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><i>"Being a leader in FOCUS has shaped my view of a relationship with our Savior from something that is a part of our life, to the entire purpose of our lives."</i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Mick writes: "<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><i>Being a leader in FOCUS has blessed me with a zeal for God like I have never felt before. It has kept me focused on the Cross at a time where so many others walk away from the faith."</i></b></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>I invite you to join me in praying for these two as they step back in for semester #2 in a couple of weeks.</b> I look forward to introducing you to another pair next month!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFL_HTrt36brwtQPoir-5hwvyg9uM4QtvxBJYfXxpQDC4dtnh6RquoO2xbxY3VvFpJIVnFqhqCLSM3od6l8XpZdEH3XgeVxy_U35fx9c8McJArT8Ox92_16q2WHMj8Ve_EjfVBp2Q4jnjHAcBapGioC4DpIlZm0OfEdfG2qe6rdjZ4LNVLhOz7LpQQw/s1728/January%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFL_HTrt36brwtQPoir-5hwvyg9uM4QtvxBJYfXxpQDC4dtnh6RquoO2xbxY3VvFpJIVnFqhqCLSM3od6l8XpZdEH3XgeVxy_U35fx9c8McJArT8Ox92_16q2WHMj8Ve_EjfVBp2Q4jnjHAcBapGioC4DpIlZm0OfEdfG2qe6rdjZ4LNVLhOz7LpQQw/w556-h640/January%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-70258977397124008502022-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:002022-11-28T21:30:24.722-08:00Thank you!<h3 style="text-align: left;">After celebrating Thanksgiving this past week, I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to all of you who pray and give to make our work on campus possible. Because of you, this semester we have been able to:</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Offer a weekly service on campus where students can hear about a loving God and the Good News offered through His Son, Jesus.</li><li>Provide weekly Bible studies that meet throughout campus that allow students to explore faith, experience Christian community, and build deep spiritual friendships.</li><li>Mentor student leaders to evangelize and make disciples of fellow students.</li><li>Build intentional friendships with many people who don't yet know Jesus.</li><li>Provide financial support to students who need specialized Christian counseling in addition to pastoral care.</li><li>Purposefully reach out to different ethnic groups on our campus and provide them with a place to be seen, heard, and valued at UTD.</li><li>Teach a 4-hour class on the book of Revelation to over 400 students who showed up ready to take notes and learn!</li><li>Provide safe and substance-free social activities and parties for students on campus. </li><li>Support students as they seek freedom from sexual addictions and substance abuse.</li></ul>The list could go on and on. I deeply appreciate your investment in these young men and women. May God bless you and your families and deepen your knowledge of His incredible love, grace, and compassion.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">TODAY is Giving Tuesday and our Keep FOCUS Growing Campaign!</h3><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">We have $54,000 in matching funds pledged to help us reach our goal!</span> So much of this campaign is about being able to support our amazing administrative team. Three points come to mind:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The work they do in the background frees up our campus pastors to spend more of their time with students and less on administrative tasks. I think of them as laying the tracks that the campus ministry train runs on. We wouldn't get very far without them!</li><li>By raising this money through this special offering, it frees our campus pastors from having to spend more of their time fundraising to each raise a share of the overall ministry budget. Again, that means more time devoted to the mission.</li><li>All of our administrative team are past small group leaders in our ministry, and all continue to do some meaningful pastoral ministry to college students. So they both indirectly and directly support our mission to make and mature disciples to God's glory!</li></ol><div>Not all of the funds raised today go to pay administrative salaries. We also use these funds for new initiatives, special needs for our new campus plants, and seizing unexpected opportunities that arise. Please pray about giving a gift to be matched today! (We'll definitely be taking money after Giving Tuesday too! :)</div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://anyfocus.org/kfg" style="background-color: #fcff01;">You can give here!</a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">This Month's Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div>If you haven't seen them, check out all the neat student testimonies posted on Facebook for KFG this past week or so! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoAKJRx_2_RQ8iEsmYy9yHnaKifRK6nZ82U3RSGyNfHn6JPRQqOgFeGpEr5Ad2fHMT6duYsXi6a8jOzX-zs5YEZPb9I4uoPlYcePjUMQnIHNDYB8ZUNMd3ZqjVC6KU_G2_Sk07MOKpgOZMPgRjaSU9mzLN9KkSIdxxJQ9tmLB4O17XFlkBLTO_3LgHQ/s1728/December%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoAKJRx_2_RQ8iEsmYy9yHnaKifRK6nZ82U3RSGyNfHn6JPRQqOgFeGpEr5Ad2fHMT6duYsXi6a8jOzX-zs5YEZPb9I4uoPlYcePjUMQnIHNDYB8ZUNMd3ZqjVC6KU_G2_Sk07MOKpgOZMPgRjaSU9mzLN9KkSIdxxJQ9tmLB4O17XFlkBLTO_3LgHQ/w556-h640/December%20ST%20Portrait%20(1)-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-7967690876642698602022-11-11T12:36:00.001-08:002022-11-11T12:36:32.112-08:002022 KFG (Keep FOCUS Growing) Campaign Coming Up!<p>Every year, we raise money on Giving Tuesday after Thanksgiving to cover administrative costs (so the pastors don't have to raise those in addition to their own salaries) and have money set aside for growth initiatives. Please keep this on your radar as you prayerfully consider any year-end giving!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ABl5fqfZZl22K4n3weh-1J711nocAaPozIjYVUDghY5XsZPuss_7wx9WsdwtPPG8_S0_UizdoIl9rA-1ALvL8WA1qzgtz0UW3x9PTLhRYiMr5-WLMI6zUmqA525Bh_Rl7-JnhBzRjB3gJm2y3OibFI4Xxy-qLmYdNr5FI5fxzqEEdJH_GPVOhNEZBw/s1800/KFG%20Donor%20Text%20Image%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1650" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ABl5fqfZZl22K4n3weh-1J711nocAaPozIjYVUDghY5XsZPuss_7wx9WsdwtPPG8_S0_UizdoIl9rA-1ALvL8WA1qzgtz0UW3x9PTLhRYiMr5-WLMI6zUmqA525Bh_Rl7-JnhBzRjB3gJm2y3OibFI4Xxy-qLmYdNr5FI5fxzqEEdJH_GPVOhNEZBw/w586-h640/KFG%20Donor%20Text%20Image%20(1).png" width="586" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-76454120438965855592022-10-31T21:51:00.000-07:002022-10-31T21:51:02.090-07:00Teaching + Preaching<h2 style="text-align: left;">Trying Out A New Format</h2><div><br /></div><div>We've been experimenting with a new format for our sermon time for Friday Night Fellowship at UTD. We have so many goals for that time--growing biblical literacy and knowledge, equipping students to read the Bible well, teaching the basics of the faith, addressing relevant topics, helping students grow in their relationships with God and other people, etc. But when we try to do so many things, the messages can get muddled and hard to remember. So, we've been trying a new format where we have a 10-15 minute teaching time followed by an 18-20 minute preaching time. We are in a series on the book of Philippians, and so far so good!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Teaching Time</h3><div><br /></div><div>The teaching time is designed to equip the students to better study God's word on their own. We are both demonstrating the kind of information that is available and how to use it. As we study Paul's letter to the Philippian church, we've looked at the history of the city of Philippi and how its status as a Roman colony bears on both the story of Paul's work there in Acts 16 and the letter he wrote the church. We've pieced through Acts 16 to understand the background of Paul's relationship with this church. We've talked about letters as a genre and some key insights into the purpose and situation behind this letter that we can glean from reading it. And this week, we'll be outlining the letter and identifying some key themes to keep an eye on. One of my favorite parts of the series was when Cort showed some pictures from Philippi itself. Did you know the actual jail that Paul and Silas were chained up in (and miraculously freed from) in Acts 16 has been uncovered? He also showed us the river where Paul met Lydia and baptized her. These and other insights are helping the scriptures become more real for the students, and we're getting great feedback.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiVPZL-9FqUBUYrWiDx3PunLJbSs9YxaRVBsnRyU5TNI_HvLYPSU6QI0_ls70pO0w21iq91-rfeiobyP5kg7NUw0xXfp37kRPYLm57lMfqQVmm4M1NJ3cNNOZZd3WZdriiqmVJNQo8E-t5CC15Tt9cO_mRs7Riwt3G4ZlM_k68IMsnYmFM4az20cv0A/s1024/jail.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiVPZL-9FqUBUYrWiDx3PunLJbSs9YxaRVBsnRyU5TNI_HvLYPSU6QI0_ls70pO0w21iq91-rfeiobyP5kg7NUw0xXfp37kRPYLm57lMfqQVmm4M1NJ3cNNOZZd3WZdriiqmVJNQo8E-t5CC15Tt9cO_mRs7Riwt3G4ZlM_k68IMsnYmFM4az20cv0A/w400-h300/jail.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philippian Jail from 1st Century</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8vSCN7_cc9LzvYIBVR4txK8n-u1fldegYQGbf7dHY2aUsyY0g0ToRQZpYLrkD66JjLr8lj7V-Ac4bZkuGK_fHmUj39Ct6HtDTdMQ-2p7YRNg44-pseWH77PRf1X6YHQiZ3CphDOWUek2RnNTDfiOW6w5KN-UtGMM9IxGxXE5UQgKgVCUOuE_LnsURw/s562/Krenides-River-possible-place-of-Lydia-tb031106954-Jun-26-2022-02-40-19-70-AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="562" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8vSCN7_cc9LzvYIBVR4txK8n-u1fldegYQGbf7dHY2aUsyY0g0ToRQZpYLrkD66JjLr8lj7V-Ac4bZkuGK_fHmUj39Ct6HtDTdMQ-2p7YRNg44-pseWH77PRf1X6YHQiZ3CphDOWUek2RnNTDfiOW6w5KN-UtGMM9IxGxXE5UQgKgVCUOuE_LnsURw/w400-h223/Krenides-River-possible-place-of-Lydia-tb031106954-Jun-26-2022-02-40-19-70-AM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Krenides River at Philippi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Preaching Time</h3><div><br /></div><div>As a team of pastors, we've been going through a book on preaching by Andy Stanley called <u>Communicating For A Change</u>. It has been really helpful to process and discuss it together. Stanley believes in one-point sermons. He argues that even the preacher doesn't remember their 3 or 4 points a couple of weeks later! As we've been experimenting with this throughout the semester, I find that I can remember many of the lessons clearly without having to look anything up!</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A "good life" is not a life worthy of the Gospel</li><li>Humble people honor people</li><li>Ask God every day to see as he sees</li><li>Plant sequoias and wait expectantly</li><li>In Christ, your Family is bigger than you think it is and runs deeper than you think it does</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLFe-jg4QCXZYscREABpzbNtfExt-lIAPYFq_Bz_Au01DlqlkNcP9weP8a1rn51bQzKHVw-9eT9ZsbuLnhqRhY_H2miI4wsUMIFWiqJyBUun-1JP7689JDFDkB1BCMYlo2LSzyryo3sbDrdz-t2u3Ytzpn2uoB064-TZUJai0T3hjkI_UMOrQ-YjP_Q/s500/511QF1o5YKL.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLFe-jg4QCXZYscREABpzbNtfExt-lIAPYFq_Bz_Au01DlqlkNcP9weP8a1rn51bQzKHVw-9eT9ZsbuLnhqRhY_H2miI4wsUMIFWiqJyBUun-1JP7689JDFDkB1BCMYlo2LSzyryo3sbDrdz-t2u3Ytzpn2uoB064-TZUJai0T3hjkI_UMOrQ-YjP_Q/w266-h400/511QF1o5YKL.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>It's a process and we don't know where this all leads, so please pray for wisdom for us. But in the meantime, we are having fun and the messages seem to be connecting with the students!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Special Prayer Request</h3><div><br /></div><div>We are down one key staff member, Amy, for the time being as she steps out to take care of aging parents with unexpected health issues. Mandy and others will be stepping in to take up the slack. Please pray that students and apprentices that Amy normally mentors would be blessed by that transition and that the Lord will give Amy extra wisdom and grace through this tough time.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFS8MK6-EG1mMCUSg028A8L5kf13bsUcKsIAjJxqPwroignEgyDkZQQS6-nHU2AX5ZfqXqCr_Av7HdccSdoR_LCG_QasX0tylI22888i4v1UGz8C6KBtuDlxorYOXt2aMJ_VH2cgY-B-G0-ifmjobVpSD2DM9Olbhc4YHqBYuuMBTX_XR2dZTXKEPdg/s1728/November%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFS8MK6-EG1mMCUSg028A8L5kf13bsUcKsIAjJxqPwroignEgyDkZQQS6-nHU2AX5ZfqXqCr_Av7HdccSdoR_LCG_QasX0tylI22888i4v1UGz8C6KBtuDlxorYOXt2aMJ_VH2cgY-B-G0-ifmjobVpSD2DM9Olbhc4YHqBYuuMBTX_XR2dZTXKEPdg/w556-h640/November%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for all you do, pray, and give to bless college students! The Lord takes what little we can do and grows it into beautiful things.</div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-71988013522258747392022-10-05T13:11:00.001-07:002022-10-05T13:11:07.005-07:00The Power of Personal Testimonies<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNabvPoaagvHYMz78F44anR30QWknYMgEwmb706WVFJH2phTs3NefhSX03M1Dl2Yw9oa4FNcTp3ARFT1n78JKM9nSHmRSW5F5JkWOBOWDUDmW0GRc8cwF7-qBxQHBukD15r1NE9KIXHO97fbcYUVYEUgt77-9xlqehIdccfaSXIk7d_K-AqqGmbrVFQ/s4808/_MG_6559%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1986" data-original-width="4808" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNabvPoaagvHYMz78F44anR30QWknYMgEwmb706WVFJH2phTs3NefhSX03M1Dl2Yw9oa4FNcTp3ARFT1n78JKM9nSHmRSW5F5JkWOBOWDUDmW0GRc8cwF7-qBxQHBukD15r1NE9KIXHO97fbcYUVYEUgt77-9xlqehIdccfaSXIk7d_K-AqqGmbrVFQ/w640-h264/_MG_6559%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had a great turnout at our UTD Fall Camp a couple weeks ago! Our community is growing in size, depth, and diversity.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Rather than preaching sermons, our tradition at Fall Camp each year is for our students to share from their own experiences in following Jesus. You would have been so touched to hear these courageous young men and women get up in front of nearly 200 of their peers to share about decisions the Lord has led them to and the obstacles they've had to persevere through. They shared about depression and struggles with other mental health issues like OCD, about fighting through cancer and years of treatments, about tough breakups and major life transitions and moving across the world, about the challenges of keeping commitments and opposition from family members who don't love Jesus. Then we sent all the students out in pairs to walk and talk and share their own experiences. The overwhelming thing I heard on the backside was new students expressing something like "I realized that if they can be leaders and not have it all together, this is a community that I can be a part of and be honest with." It's so sad that people have the impression that they need to have it all together <i>before</i> they come into Christian community, but the good news is that more and more are realizing that Jesus invites them as they are, and this community is one that will love them through the ups and downs of life.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">FOJ Story</h3><div><br /></div><div>Last month I asked you to pray for our new FOJ studies. One of our core leaders shared this story with all of our leaders, and I think you'll find it encouraging! (If only I knew how to make all of these the same width so it looked good. ;)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7vYIBRQnS-KAkirSeDopl3L8h6RMB8sTdO774okK5P38RfS57OnxXqHj1M18tW82pcZmDUtfWjXNHZ9Q-XaGPObKHGvfsQM-RRJjgKRv2Yev3Q3oMGo5431J1gCa6wY1lYyrZLmTnRjfCJurzgJssP6R_WJfCoEXt9MU_to0fR66oYty9S3Mgzdegg/s1242/34f0e0d529704251ba4eef6f3ac78c70.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="964" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7vYIBRQnS-KAkirSeDopl3L8h6RMB8sTdO774okK5P38RfS57OnxXqHj1M18tW82pcZmDUtfWjXNHZ9Q-XaGPObKHGvfsQM-RRJjgKRv2Yev3Q3oMGo5431J1gCa6wY1lYyrZLmTnRjfCJurzgJssP6R_WJfCoEXt9MU_to0fR66oYty9S3Mgzdegg/w496-h640/34f0e0d529704251ba4eef6f3ac78c70.jpeg" width="496" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGEsxkuUnCQni7PYg3FoUaRpZspVsa3UpY32jgpHjhh5kwYfQHO0WN9otpjIbQ5W3wErMkox5iDJmr78Pze-uumXW2rN_TMymW_rxXEdU2w9J7Jp6dP4uNldrachlfV9QRUcxS--Abh9JY8e8EKdXhU9_zagFiCY4P8TGhgHy9Zx7WyuEvi_F9udZnA/s1025/fbdeb1598e9f474e8cd4ba63dfe962ca.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="898" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGEsxkuUnCQni7PYg3FoUaRpZspVsa3UpY32jgpHjhh5kwYfQHO0WN9otpjIbQ5W3wErMkox5iDJmr78Pze-uumXW2rN_TMymW_rxXEdU2w9J7Jp6dP4uNldrachlfV9QRUcxS--Abh9JY8e8EKdXhU9_zagFiCY4P8TGhgHy9Zx7WyuEvi_F9udZnA/w560-h640/fbdeb1598e9f474e8cd4ba63dfe962ca.jpeg" width="560" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMLXjfgK3xEDOGf8VcufZ8zqq8x21L90PcRbbAb1jl3cQvQV7w17HDSkj5A6IwqIAZ22SYIzS2VepJJGY9iF_oAOrTdacgZZT5xbcQDL2TRkND4HNvSp2CDdGkhH9jwPRDUQxqw25U6g2fKcbRKaKJaQivZyz-fpt7YwuI5OGGS41Bu278JpzMX4ulA/s1242/3a202aba9ee44fde91be8171dc147984.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="1242" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMLXjfgK3xEDOGf8VcufZ8zqq8x21L90PcRbbAb1jl3cQvQV7w17HDSkj5A6IwqIAZ22SYIzS2VepJJGY9iF_oAOrTdacgZZT5xbcQDL2TRkND4HNvSp2CDdGkhH9jwPRDUQxqw25U6g2fKcbRKaKJaQivZyz-fpt7YwuI5OGGS41Bu278JpzMX4ulA/w640-h294/3a202aba9ee44fde91be8171dc147984.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljBL9gP_nONC6TK4uROK1_1ppgHFp8BMxqJuhlQVNPSyTOkEl0swGc2T8EnMI-5SBvY7L2Lrro4AvZzbWoVyucuRqXDNKW3dxdSCrxlRFwwoaGzHqSSNRP33eOPOKOnnZ1keU3q6uIKe2rtxddmh6uW_EyT7OPCJ7ZE-sFLXYBc46BDnUBX8MF5U4pA/s1728/October%20ST%20Portrait.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljBL9gP_nONC6TK4uROK1_1ppgHFp8BMxqJuhlQVNPSyTOkEl0swGc2T8EnMI-5SBvY7L2Lrro4AvZzbWoVyucuRqXDNKW3dxdSCrxlRFwwoaGzHqSSNRP33eOPOKOnnZ1keU3q6uIKe2rtxddmh6uW_EyT7OPCJ7ZE-sFLXYBc46BDnUBX8MF5U4pA/w556-h640/October%20ST%20Portrait.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-58422851171572887852022-09-08T08:56:00.000-07:002022-09-08T08:56:25.021-07:00Another Successful Welcome Week!<h3 style="text-align: left;">Welcome Week</h3><p>We had the first normal-feeling Welcome Week at UTD in years, and it was a big success! Peter and Andrea led our team of over 60 pastors and student leaders, and they did an amazing job! <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yC81b9AfZbm1Ar5wQoW2W5BdAJRjrH1w/view?usp=sharing">If you'd like to watch the video commercial we had showing in the Student Union, you can click here!</a> We've got so many new students involved in cores, and many new friendships started up. One day we set up a table near the residence halls and offered to help new students find their classrooms. As I walked one freshman around campus, he shared that he hadn't been in church much and had never read the Bible, but was interested in getting a copy and reading in "cover to cover." I offered to study the Bible with him and he immediately agreed! Scheduling with him has been a challenge so far (I think he's overwhelmed by all the transitions!) but he's been very responsive to keeping in touch. It was a reminder that the harvest is indeed plentiful and there are many students eager to ask their spiritual questions but unclear on where it's safe to do so. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2S8F8fxhoWEwIF_M4h7eUzWbOkgdoEsiiDfuzrEszolHcmLwsu9g9JLvMxDMZA2Jgd6Oy-C48DOJoOAiS3hNoXBkIRE-9q3HnvgBo2vRNz9PxxjdTMmj2OQmM34vyfkJlIHB61gXUWctoczu3loG6cDsvc1A7ehNtf46pmViEnhhtxSm0eWJO7kgiQ/s1424/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-08%20at%2010.47.02%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1424" data-original-width="1100" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2S8F8fxhoWEwIF_M4h7eUzWbOkgdoEsiiDfuzrEszolHcmLwsu9g9JLvMxDMZA2Jgd6Oy-C48DOJoOAiS3hNoXBkIRE-9q3HnvgBo2vRNz9PxxjdTMmj2OQmM34vyfkJlIHB61gXUWctoczu3loG6cDsvc1A7ehNtf46pmViEnhhtxSm0eWJO7kgiQ/w494-h640/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-08%20at%2010.47.02%20AM.png" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was on the back of campus maps we gave out to students at our table and will give you an idea of what we did to create opportunities for students to start new friendships. We actually had 7 more events that were either before these or that were by personal invitation only, so we were busy!<br />I got to co-teach the class on Jonah with Lindsey Royal, and we had 80 people show up, about half of them brand new!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">Focus On Jesus Studies</h3><p>One of our biggest challenges (and a big thing for you to pray for!) moving forward is getting our <i>Focus On Jesus</i> studies started. On top of the fact that most of our leader team are students who came in during the pandemic and didn't have a normal FOCUS experience to begin with, we have switched back to a revised version of our older FOJ study that none of them have been through! (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14fcABkkBvKPsXFubrHZo9MKl-xIwTy8e/view?usp=sharing">You can check it out here!</a>) Now that we have people in cores, we have a lot to do to ramp up these one-on-one Bible studies that are so central to our ministry. So please pray for us!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvOZ284FMT6HGBVMqgO_y8zf5IkvyXlLZpmWraUejaAr78GjvRCq95lkJi3D4tUU2hMMvtyyaXwNqT4V3eUrMwoopTgTTgvo4IXwg3N9RZkCb1aiMRgWceH6We-VmxG19przkrqMFHAMFYDLd9rLyrf1oGudzuTO3bM93fRmhi5hR6ktSXO9Qh5z06A/s1728/September%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvOZ284FMT6HGBVMqgO_y8zf5IkvyXlLZpmWraUejaAr78GjvRCq95lkJi3D4tUU2hMMvtyyaXwNqT4V3eUrMwoopTgTTgvo4IXwg3N9RZkCb1aiMRgWceH6We-VmxG19przkrqMFHAMFYDLd9rLyrf1oGudzuTO3bM93fRmhi5hR6ktSXO9Qh5z06A/w556-h640/September%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-13765262773714926812022-08-05T10:03:00.001-07:002022-08-05T10:03:18.180-07:00Developing Our Pastoral Team<p>We are back in August and ramping up for the school year! We have an amazing pastoral staff, and an outstanding group of student leaders. At UTD, we are planning for 13 men's cores and 13 women's cores! I'm already excited about the four young men that I get to mentor this year, and I'm a little jealous of the ones my team get to meet with. After 25 years at UTD, I love what I get to do and these young men that I get to build friendships with and point toward Jesus. </p><p>One of my primary roles in leading in leadership development at every level of our community. We are planning to innovate this year in the way we develop student leaders, adapting to this younger generation. How can we incorporate more interaction without sacrificing meaningful content and preparation? Students love hearing themselves talk, but often don't have the knowledge-base, context, or wisdom to bring much to the table. On the other hand, we can have the best lectures in the world, but students aren't being shaped by that in the same ways that they used to be. We are using shorter teaching segments punctuated by case studies and stories of personal experiences from students. These exciting experiments are growing out of partnering with our younger staff members--I'm giving specific development and content goals and they are repackaging the material in ways that will speak more effectively to their peers. And then we debrief, of course!</p><p><b><i>Thank you for investing in and praying for me so that I can invest in and pray for a new generation of leaders for the church!</i></b></p><p><b><i>Please be in prayer for all the new students we will meet this month. Freshmen start moving in at UTD on August 16!</i></b></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Global Leadership Summit</h3><div><br /></div><div>My good friend Bob Tiede from Cru offered once again to pay for ten of the young pastors from FOCUS to attend the GLS for the past couple of days. Bob has modeled for me the value of investing early and often in other leaders. The GLS brings in some of the top leadership gurus from the business and non-profit worlds to share their wisdom. It has been a huge help to me and the FOCUS team over the years, and I'm so excited to share it with a bunch of young pastors who have never had an opportunity like this before. They've loved it!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8_wVmDVJ_AgK4S4FPdMiwgO4EdIU-6lYOmAPaNKg6PP_YYufWPrJHV8mL61tEd5JSAOMZNS30W6rX4JfKT5OZEhSzeNsyogIjc0nmFQ-n2y-VA1cnRNNxmiQzMKubgRof1mVrbnxdOweNPo85t0rSOl5aiLVU5qYpr1nYBLzX2lEmF7ZJrziNyPGyw/s1792/IMG_2454.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1792" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8_wVmDVJ_AgK4S4FPdMiwgO4EdIU-6lYOmAPaNKg6PP_YYufWPrJHV8mL61tEd5JSAOMZNS30W6rX4JfKT5OZEhSzeNsyogIjc0nmFQ-n2y-VA1cnRNNxmiQzMKubgRof1mVrbnxdOweNPo85t0rSOl5aiLVU5qYpr1nYBLzX2lEmF7ZJrziNyPGyw/w296-h640/IMG_2454.jpeg" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I noticed I was featured in the social media for the GLS site where we attended the conference! Not my most flattering angle, but at least I look like I'm paying attention!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldw14ziTkdicivIxLeHMd2VTfycc3eUHoBalW2B9kJeqtbuJcv_MXY15qNzqCXMRRPTSBojosADITXIDzKJ6LHBOvzsXutFdcyhwyB07pS5JU3jple1tyYZ80WUUNxnP3VUZReEBMp9x9O5cXdjNjOSMyMbDg1yfdjo0FrbvW9SPYlAc3uv7UTpBdng/s4032/IMG_3887.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldw14ziTkdicivIxLeHMd2VTfycc3eUHoBalW2B9kJeqtbuJcv_MXY15qNzqCXMRRPTSBojosADITXIDzKJ6LHBOvzsXutFdcyhwyB07pS5JU3jple1tyYZ80WUUNxnP3VUZReEBMp9x9O5cXdjNjOSMyMbDg1yfdjo0FrbvW9SPYlAc3uv7UTpBdng/w640-h480/IMG_3887.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew from my staff team at the GLS. We have two more watching from home because they are sick. This is an uber-talented, loving group!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zlJU8NjNJJ9KWLQU1NGB_YjjnCV0aIueDHGfb-E0mHs9bqHenP3QBswrzRnhjbGhy1ZH62CQGqkDALLnzhzGdoMufSJMkDD4WVH0qEXP3u9KXtTYHnDwRpsWxMqMEVKcsr11xV8_0hkJAnGDKcsICqsE_jt3bJ9q6I2ZBVRo_kpcleIqAG55q1OfZQ/s1728/August%20ST%20Portrait.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zlJU8NjNJJ9KWLQU1NGB_YjjnCV0aIueDHGfb-E0mHs9bqHenP3QBswrzRnhjbGhy1ZH62CQGqkDALLnzhzGdoMufSJMkDD4WVH0qEXP3u9KXtTYHnDwRpsWxMqMEVKcsr11xV8_0hkJAnGDKcsICqsE_jt3bJ9q6I2ZBVRo_kpcleIqAG55q1OfZQ/w556-h640/August%20ST%20Portrait.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-43749851941081400522022-06-30T14:19:00.001-07:002022-06-30T14:19:00.152-07:00Reaching University Students<p>We're in the middle of summer, and I'm spending my time building our student leadership team for the next school year as well as getting materials in place and events planned for when students show back up in August. I'm looking forward to what will hopefully be our first normal Welcome Week since the pandemic began. </p><p>We have big opportunities ahead and it's looking to be a great group of student leaders that we will be equipping and sending out into our mission field this fall!</p><p>Thank you for your continued prayers and financial partnership in this mission. You are changing the lives of students!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sharing a Great Article </h3><p>I recently came across a short series of articles on university evangelism by Tim Keller and his son that I found to be precise and on point in regards to our mission to the campus. It is well worth a few minutes to read. Each of the five points they make is something that we have also learned about reaching students in our current culture. Understanding these can give you insight into why we approach some things the way we do as well as give you more specific things to pray for our mission to the campus.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Read it here:</span></p><p><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-principles-for-university-evangelism/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5 Principles for University Evangelism</span></a><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div>Angeloh is such a neat young man. He's going to be one of our core leaders at UTD this fall!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4O-eTqNXzZEtPd-udy0BaGsXMazvX4ZPZC4XSXP4ULI0gxEbw6r3eI-IPT9UPg2yzzbXbeURnbS0YPO_tDM8u6zCM2AzST1q8KodbiVNzrw_yt8v08ZlGfRC8xS7SskEoEYNvQuS12h4v6Q9tN_nhT-k3dR3FhFKqQyUpJijra2T7EeEo4hMuzyNnHw/s1728/July%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4O-eTqNXzZEtPd-udy0BaGsXMazvX4ZPZC4XSXP4ULI0gxEbw6r3eI-IPT9UPg2yzzbXbeURnbS0YPO_tDM8u6zCM2AzST1q8KodbiVNzrw_yt8v08ZlGfRC8xS7SskEoEYNvQuS12h4v6Q9tN_nhT-k3dR3FhFKqQyUpJijra2T7EeEo4hMuzyNnHw/w556-h640/July%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5906260192585125056.post-22380332740248637972022-06-02T12:53:00.000-07:002022-06-02T12:53:12.022-07:00Partnership in the Gospel<p> I'm getting close to finishing the seminary degree I've been working on the past few years, and to that end, I've been taking THREE CLASSES this quarter. What was I thinking? Who knows!?</p><p>I've actually really enjoyed getting to FOCUS a lot of my time on learning and growing as the students have dispersed for the summer. One of the books I've read is a commentary on Philippians, and the description of Paul's relationship with that church made me think of those who have partnered with me to bring the good news to college students--namely you!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizC9L-ZFLuRg3RBKSTKKhR9Hi29nkGhPd6abkPHhdDz8qgGH4PpWxfIJR11yxRvL9vdkXDz0AG_ryzy2Mg2sVviQTy5DNKQO8ZbdTavPZJPvQSaUlL6pm4wr-IVb5NQXyI1auIX-nhjlMm7p9CFe1eCM_eUVDzcKfyKrf6wiuIfK2UbvTli91Gavc8Yg/s2400/71ZuqUssMFL.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizC9L-ZFLuRg3RBKSTKKhR9Hi29nkGhPd6abkPHhdDz8qgGH4PpWxfIJR11yxRvL9vdkXDz0AG_ryzy2Mg2sVviQTy5DNKQO8ZbdTavPZJPvQSaUlL6pm4wr-IVb5NQXyI1auIX-nhjlMm7p9CFe1eCM_eUVDzcKfyKrf6wiuIfK2UbvTli91Gavc8Yg/s320/71ZuqUssMFL.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>Reflecting on Philippians 4:10-20, Cohick writes, <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>"On a personal level, some people struggle to accept any gift, because they feel it will tie them to the giver. We have all received gifts 'with strings attached' [that place] the recipient in the difficult position of pleasing the giver rather than God... In this passage Paul declares that they alone, the Philippian church, have supported his ministry from the beginning. Yet the church gives no evidence of directing or manipulating Paul's ministry, teaching, or actions. They do not think of him as responsible to meet certain criteria or goals as contingencies for their gifts. Their relationship is such that Paul can level direct warnings and critiques at their disunity without seeming to fear financial reprisal. Probably part of this godly reciprocity rested in their shared conviction that their gift to Paul was really their gift to God, to the gospel, in obedience to Christ."</i></span><div><br /></div><div>I got to the end of that and just sat back thinking, "I've gotten to experience that. What an incredible and rare blessing." Some of you have joined with me in this ministry for many years; others have joined more recently; all have shown this same attitude.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for living out this little piece of the gospel. Just as the Philippians' partnership was bearing good fruit in cities far away (even in Caesar's own household! Phil 4:22), your gifts and prayers are changing the life trajectories of young men and women on these campuses, and especially at UTD. You don't get to see all the fruit you bear but the Lord sees it all. I pray all of our generosity would continue to build and overflow into all the little nooks and crannies of our world until God's kingdom is everywhere and every tongue joyfully acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! (Phil 2:11)</div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Student Testimony</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DtNzPWHCuaXIbDRW0LjXOkcwy_buzBuPWNiSf5j50s2EuT_uS4XLJjjG0JS6e4i_BVWZIR-6zNtYozX22cbux0Rzz2U8vRglxScWoUBdPUHBjdt9iAYQqyUAOAqzMyDvbR49_tMupO5U004lI5K02-VfT6xM1Me_23IwJCkpvqrEE4EIA3P8rfKHGg/s1728/June%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DtNzPWHCuaXIbDRW0LjXOkcwy_buzBuPWNiSf5j50s2EuT_uS4XLJjjG0JS6e4i_BVWZIR-6zNtYozX22cbux0Rzz2U8vRglxScWoUBdPUHBjdt9iAYQqyUAOAqzMyDvbR49_tMupO5U004lI5K02-VfT6xM1Me_23IwJCkpvqrEE4EIA3P8rfKHGg/w556-h640/June%20ST%20Portrait-1.png" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pictures from May</h3></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxshPztpbrLnmIczuLC-A5C4tmEGnpptqNY5jUEl55veMnrmD7xDGQWH2ij8qFW5T0w9sUc0E2dvMoiVZLT6ijdXmzmWJbXK0sP6mBDg0vssryh8_0C1Ji8wkJTqpxDBrty7IVEUq7DgkmuLhWIlcACYuZdlQsAlQge6klGekST9HtYFh9xc3TbmbPBg/s4032/IMG_3516.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxshPztpbrLnmIczuLC-A5C4tmEGnpptqNY5jUEl55veMnrmD7xDGQWH2ij8qFW5T0w9sUc0E2dvMoiVZLT6ijdXmzmWJbXK0sP6mBDg0vssryh8_0C1Ji8wkJTqpxDBrty7IVEUq7DgkmuLhWIlcACYuZdlQsAlQge6klGekST9HtYFh9xc3TbmbPBg/w400-h300/IMG_3516.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My UTD Men Staff Team for the past year at our End of Year Party<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvShfBL976Z867P9q5JAFMjfSLVJ6g1w_49O2qb1kfsWIzbk0gf056ZvqARImScBKiiRzhrxbN20Wpl-ABJhPtJK4NxrYw5JqctDF6EMDSwXmObbWEUYpmu4g8t1qarPSA7CMNp1YwpRGCQIwluX2HDa2xZ9zPNU9EFznM-30y3uh_U8t7DlEMpSxNFQ/s4032/IMG_3489.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvShfBL976Z867P9q5JAFMjfSLVJ6g1w_49O2qb1kfsWIzbk0gf056ZvqARImScBKiiRzhrxbN20Wpl-ABJhPtJK4NxrYw5JqctDF6EMDSwXmObbWEUYpmu4g8t1qarPSA7CMNp1YwpRGCQIwluX2HDa2xZ9zPNU9EFznM-30y3uh_U8t7DlEMpSxNFQ/w300-h400/IMG_3489.heic" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got to baptize Harrison and Nhala in Mandy's pool. They are both such sweet friends!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6tZwbua62NkLZCqkJ1Iv5ZMY5jIb-lRqpyEu6PXAwtVHmW2aLy6QjhyaOud-5lt1ZgEu48HtEnIAB3fdpfp6Gh08qD1CBY-MoKFIY2SFRISn8UeOLed_gWrgjH68m1F7cqB5JDZKHPljaEyaTLm99ECKx8tZOtonL0-huPUwtLaWOoLNsZkwNswDdwg/s4032/IMG_6548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6tZwbua62NkLZCqkJ1Iv5ZMY5jIb-lRqpyEu6PXAwtVHmW2aLy6QjhyaOud-5lt1ZgEu48HtEnIAB3fdpfp6Gh08qD1CBY-MoKFIY2SFRISn8UeOLed_gWrgjH68m1F7cqB5JDZKHPljaEyaTLm99ECKx8tZOtonL0-huPUwtLaWOoLNsZkwNswDdwg/w400-h300/IMG_6548.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We went to SICM again! I got to hang out in Seattle with some UTD and Richland guys.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnpP9Scfi87cwUPhfV45kFy-noFzpBU4-8fYAKmca69d1tlfGWgleG0KaWlkSsbTwOJvTSZBE33qAWlhDsN-qvlROs3E3jnTm-1Nb0zH1eaxrc-oy-9IjPp9zauczYl9_xsVqKzr8u79GxBEE8aRFv-NJt5JjTolxH5QxTVynglyrEmoQaodSTenLMA/s4032/IMG_1459.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnpP9Scfi87cwUPhfV45kFy-noFzpBU4-8fYAKmca69d1tlfGWgleG0KaWlkSsbTwOJvTSZBE33qAWlhDsN-qvlROs3E3jnTm-1Nb0zH1eaxrc-oy-9IjPp9zauczYl9_xsVqKzr8u79GxBEE8aRFv-NJt5JjTolxH5QxTVynglyrEmoQaodSTenLMA/w300-h400/IMG_1459.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah and I got a rare moment together at SICM. Even though we are both there, we're very focused on our students, but we happened to be on this ferry at the same time. Doesn't the background look fake!?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNL2CF97eCKtTC-0NxpaTO0ILBpEFM4FhD3DYpIhKnf8ctGYWPuw3h_NzxrJT6BNbOICBQZisityv0HDWfrxRpv5HscfqvPczZ_zjjGUxP6Rjqm9zMmFYm99WsdZd9v2QOfRYzx4jdjkTVMSryDV9RyI7GOl0ED5RWdFrFWzfcdU4tgHHQz6avVVUBA/s4032/IMG_3612.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNL2CF97eCKtTC-0NxpaTO0ILBpEFM4FhD3DYpIhKnf8ctGYWPuw3h_NzxrJT6BNbOICBQZisityv0HDWfrxRpv5HscfqvPczZ_zjjGUxP6Rjqm9zMmFYm99WsdZd9v2QOfRYzx4jdjkTVMSryDV9RyI7GOl0ED5RWdFrFWzfcdU4tgHHQz6avVVUBA/w400-h300/IMG_3612.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rikk Watts and his wife Katie drove down from Canada one day to have lunch with me and some of my campus directors. Geoff Mumley from CCF joined us!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jC6D7W__KsiJU6vfzw7vs4nSSApOpSM-f5hNWPuE8f6Fbmuly_XINAUvQ0U9DuzBUV48McbA3ezAv7ejAAQ_u0gyUN8FEHGpqhiXs0OnIDOfEJNU9YAuXsW6LEM0hfbwzw74oora4KRlUsxCXJKJ37MMS8sb79337btAnWQ3uFYyCmiv78qNezzonQ/s819/IMG_3630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="819" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jC6D7W__KsiJU6vfzw7vs4nSSApOpSM-f5hNWPuE8f6Fbmuly_XINAUvQ0U9DuzBUV48McbA3ezAv7ejAAQ_u0gyUN8FEHGpqhiXs0OnIDOfEJNU9YAuXsW6LEM0hfbwzw74oora4KRlUsxCXJKJ37MMS8sb79337btAnWQ3uFYyCmiv78qNezzonQ/w400-h296/IMG_3630.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the crew of UTD guys I stayed in a house with all week at SICM. We plan to ask all of them to lead cores this next year!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brandon Worshamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01132813944749303870noreply@blogger.com0