A Tough Month, But Also a Blessed One

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. Would you stop and pray right now for the Lord's comfort for all of these young people as they navigate grief and loss?

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 on Spotify if you are interested.

The Impact of Our Shared Ministry to Young Leaders, continued

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!

I asked Jadon and Paul to share in just a sentence or two how being a leader in FOCUS is impacting them:

Paul writes, "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."

Jadon said, "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."

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.

San Diego Visit

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!

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.

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!

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.

Student Testimony

Happy New Year! And a Little About How the Last One Ended

Finishing Seminary!

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. 

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.

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! Thanks for supporting me through this three and a half year season 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.

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.

The FOCUS staff at our Christmas dinner

The UTD Men Staffers. What a fantastic group! (Peter, Me, Cort, Stian, Rhett)
But I'm asking the question I ask most days: "What is Rhett wearing!?"

The Impact of Our Shared Ministry to Young Leaders

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.

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!

Michael writes: "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."

Mick writes: "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 invite you to join me in praying for these two as they step back in for semester #2 in a couple of weeks. I look forward to introducing you to another pair next month!

Student Testimony

Thank you!

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:

• Offer a weekly service on campus where students can hear about a loving God and the Good News offered through His Son, Jesus.
• Provide weekly Bible studies that meet throughout campus that allow students to explore faith, experience Christian community, and build deep spiritual friendships.
• Mentor student leaders to evangelize and make disciples of fellow students.
• Build intentional friendships with many people who don't yet know Jesus.
• Provide financial support to students who need specialized Christian counseling in addition to pastoral care.
• Purposefully reach out to different ethnic groups on our campus and provide them with a place to be seen, heard, and valued at UTD.
• Teach a 4-hour class on the book of Revelation to over 400 students who showed up ready to take notes and learn!
• Provide safe and substance-free social activities and parties for students on campus.
• Support students as they seek freedom from sexual addictions and substance abuse.

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.

TODAY is Giving Tuesday and our Keep FOCUS Growing Campaign!

We have $54,000 in matching funds pledged to help us reach our goal! So much of this campaign is about being able to support our amazing administrative team. Three points come to mind:

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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!

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! :)

You can give here!

This Month's Testimony

If you haven't seen them, check out all the neat student testimonies posted on Facebook for KFG this past week or so! 

2022 KFG (Keep FOCUS Growing) Campaign Coming Up!

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!

Teaching + Preaching

Trying Out A New Format

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!

Teaching Time

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.

Philippian Jail from 1st Century

Krenides River at Philippi

Preaching Time

As a team of pastors, we've been going through a book on preaching by Andy Stanley called Communicating For A Change. 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!

• A "good life" is not a life worthy of the Gospel
• Humble people honor people
• Ask God every day to see as he sees
• Plant sequoias and wait expectantly
• In Christ, your Family is bigger than you think it is and runs deeper than you think it does

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!

Special Prayer Request

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.

Student Testimony

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.

The Power of Personal Testimonies

We had a great turnout at our UTD Fall Camp a couple weeks ago! Our community is growing in size, depth, and diversity.

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 before 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.

FOJ Story

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. ;)

Student Testimony

Another Successful Welcome Week!

Welcome Week

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! If you'd like to watch the video commercial we had showing in the Student Union, you can click here! 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. 

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!
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!

Focus On Jesus Studies

One of our biggest challenges (and a big thing for you to pray for!) moving forward is getting our Focus On Jesus 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! (You can check it out here!) 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!

Student Testimony