Keith Johnson, director and organizer of the seminary classes, wrote an article about the music of the gospel. He said to imagine a young man sitting in a chair listening to his ipod play music through headphones. He taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and juts his chin with the beat of the music. Keith then had us imagine a deaf guy walking into the room, and out of curiosity, he picks up an ipod, puts on the headphones and begins performing the same actions. The deaf man taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and eventually even learns to jut his chin in synchronization. Keith asked us, “If you are an outside observer and walk into the room, what do you see? Two people apparently doing the same thing, listening to the same thing. But is there a difference? Absolutely.” Keith continued, “The first guy hears the music and his actions are a natural response…being deaf, the second guy is merely imitating. He is not listening to anything. There is an important spiritual parallel here…” M...
I'm joining my fellow Americans, and praying for USA during this National Day of Prayer. Here is the prayer that Dr. Jack Graham, my pastor when I'm in Texas, wrote and will be praying over our nation today at 12, noon, EST. I have seen God do incredible things when we pray in unity! Let's pray this together, no matter what time or day you read this: Heavenly Father, We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You. Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land. We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word. We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You. Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to l...
Last fall, 3 students at Texas Women's University (TWU) in Denton showed up at our weekly Bible study at UNT (also in Denton). Having heard of Cru from friends at other universities, they were eager to start a movement at their campus in order to reach out to their peers. They committed to come to our leadership training for the first semester. Fall Retreat and Winter Conference (pictured above on "fun day") gave them a bigger picture of Cru's mission to see the Great Commission fulfilled around the world. People ask us how we can possibly minister to a scope of 280,000 college students in Dallas. The answer is: Students like these. They have the heart, faithfulness, vision, training, and they are willing to sacrifice their time to really own a ministry at their campus. The 2 Timothy 2:2 principle: "Therefore what you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will also in turn be able to teach others."