PUT A BOW ON IT

With finals less than 2 weeks away, the fall semester is quickly wrappin' up and coming to a close.

We spent the majority of November focusing in on the way our students think about and relate to the opposite sex.  I once heard Truett Cathy (the founder of Chick-fil-A) speak, and he talked about the three M's--the three most important decisions you'll ever make in your life.  He said the three things that would influence the course of your life more than anything else were who you choose as your Master, what you choose as your life's Mission, and who you choose as your Mate.

We talk about the first two constantly, but as a ministry staff we think it's critical that we address the third in light of the others.  Because of the age group we minister to and their current phase of life, there are few topics more relevant to them than sex, dating, and marriage.

There are plenty of "experts" and authors offering up their opinions, but what does the "author of life" have to say about those things?  What are the over-arching principles of Jesus' life and teaching that must reign over EVERY aspect of our lives, and how do those apply to the way we date and marry?  Those are the questions we want our students asking, and we spent the better part of three weeks exploring them.

Aside from that, we've been spending our time planning our upcoming Christmas party and our annual Winter Camp in January.  We're flying Geoff Mumley down from Bellingham, WA to speak to our students.  Geoff is a campus missionary at Western Washington University and has become a monumental blessing to our communities through his work with the Student Institute of Campus Ministry, as well as through the friendships he has with many of our staff.

He is a gifted speaker, but more than that, he has a deep love and passion for Jesus and college students.  He personally ministers to so many of our students over that weekend of camp, and I can't tell you how excited I am for January 18th to arrive!

Please be in prayer that this upcoming break will be restful and refreshing to our staff and students, and that the people that really need to be at Winter Camp will go.  And may the Lord work powerfully through that experience!

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It's beginning to feel a lot like...fall!

The weather is cooling off, and I'm a fan of that on every level!  It helps, of course, that I wasn't the one getting down in a chilly outdoor pool on Sunday to perform a baptism. :)

I'm kidding of course.  But in all seriousness, I wish you all could have been there this past weekend to share in such a special moment.  One of our corefas, David, has been studying the bible with a Chinese student that got plugged into our community last year.  And I have to say I was a little overwhelmed to watch this man commit his life to Christ, and to come up out of that water with such joy.  There were probably 25 other international students there to support their friend.  I hope you'll take a moment to watch the video I've attached.

Given this will be my last post prior to Thanksgiving, I find it fitting to share with you some of the things I'm most thankful for, and I hope you'll share some with me as well.  Given the story I've just shared with you--I'm thankful, in awe, confused at times, and completely overwhelmed by the reality that God has given us the right to become his child--to be born of God. (John 1)

As his children, we are able to experience the life and goodness that flows from him in so many ways.  I'm thankful for..

• Close friendships with every member of my family.  They are each so much fun, and have each made me better in their own ways.
• My parents love me fiercely and have shown me how and why to follow God.
• Brandon has equipped and empowered me in life and ministry.
• Kale has inspired me to work hard, thirst for knowledge, and be passionate about what I invest myself in.
• Brianna has been such a sweet friend to me over the years, and I find myself learning much from her these days.
• An overwhelming number of friends and ministry partners that are so dear to my heart.
• The privilege of getting to take part in God's work in such a unique and strategic environment, and people willing to support me in ways that make that possible!
• A crew of wise mentors.  I know many people don't have anyone in their corner.  God has blessed me with a team of people to who love and support me in every area of my life.
• A great living situation with a group of godly guys.
• A really special work environment outside of my ministry.  I work for and with an awesome crew that cares about people and offers me plenty of chances to learn and grow in business and leadership skills.
• God's constant provision.  I always have all that's needed (and much more!).  He is too good.  That's the only thing I can say to explain it.

What are YOU thankful for?

October?!

I was talking to Mandy the other day about how the girls' cores are going, and she told me about one core that has about 18 young women attending.  Three of them are American.  The other 15 are Chinese international students, and all of them want to study the bible.

One student from China was talking to two of our women corefas, and she said, "I want to learn more about God.  So I bought a book.  It's called "The Holy Bible."  Do you think it will help?"  To which they responded, "Uh, ya, that'll be good."

It has been such a neat blessing to our community to have so many international students involved.  The fresh perspective, genuine interest in learning about God, and plentiful opportunities for our students to serve and be hospitable have been very good for the health of our campus family.

I'm so proud of how our students are handling it, and I hope you'll be praying for those to be incredibly impactful relationships for both parties.

Here's a pic from one of our our women's cores.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 students came out for our annual Fall Camp this past weekend.  It's a quick 24-hour getaway for us to focus on building new friendships and spending some good time together after having such a large influx of new people.

Three different students shared with the group on Saturday about something that God has made new in their life, and then one of our peer team leaders, Chad, shared Sunday morning.  I was deeply moved by some of the stories he shared.

Given our theme of "Everything New," I've been thinking a lot lately about God's ability to take what we are and make us into something entirely new and whole and good.  I love chapter 62 of Isaiah--you should read it! :)

Chad shared about a young guy that he reached out to during his sophomore year.  This guy had experienced a lot of trouble making friends and therefore was pretty lonely for his first few years in the states.  Chad had befriended him and had been spending regular time hanging out with him as well as studying the bible with him.  One night, as they were driving, he turned to Chad and said, "Why you pick me?  My whole life, nobody picks me."

Ya know, I think the same thing about God all the time.  I look at myself, and then I look at God...and I'm such a worm.  Why did he pick me?  Why am I here, doing this, getting to experience all this good?

Why did he pick you?

I don't know, other than that he is really, really good.  And his grace is really, really big.

That young man is now at another school.  He's on the evangelism team.  And he's the one doing the picking.

God offers us a new name.  We don't have to be what we were.  We don't have to be what we are.  He has bigger plans for you and I.  He counted the cost of seeing those plans come to fruition.  And he was willing to pay it in full.

Praise Jesus.

A New People

Our first 2 weeks of Friday Night Fellowship have been awesome (over 150 students attending!), and they have truly reflected our campus' diversity.  We have so many international students coming and checking things out.  The first week there was literally an entire row of Chinese women.

So many of these students are not Christians, but their desire for friendship, especially with Americans, presents an awesome opportunity for relationships.  

I hung out with an Indian guy at his apartment after FOCUS this past Friday.  He told me his roommate had invited him to a family function that night.  His replied, "Any other night of the week and I'd love to go, but if it's on Friday I'm not evening hearing it.  I've gotta go to FOCUS."  This student isn't a Christian.  He told me he loves the people.

I'm equally overwhelmed AND encouraged by the task at hand, knowing it's all about God's plan to take people from every culture, age group, area of study, etc., and form them into one people.  His vision is redemption, his means is love, and is method is his people.  May His reign reach its fullness at the University of Texas at Dallas!

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." - Revelation 21:3

Please pray for us, and for all of God's workers on this campus.  The fields are ripe for harvest.

Much love and gratitude,

Casey

Rampin' Up

18 days.  The fall semester is upon us.  I'm not ready, but I'm excited!  Are you???

I've spent most of my summer working to pull together a team of student leaders.  It's been a tall task, but most rewarding as well as I transition into a new ministry at UT Dallas.  Would you believe that we are going to have over 50 people filling all sorts of different leadership roles in our community this year?  No wonder it has taken so long!

We're having a student leader retreat this weekend aimed at re-orienting and affirming our vision and mission on our campus, building relationships, and gaining some momentum for the coming weeks.  God desires to bring life, wholeness, hope, and extra-ordinary love to every student at UTD, and we intend to distribute those good gifts widely.

As school draws near, I can't help but think about years past.  This is my tenth year at this, and I have so many special memories of the first few weeks of each fall semester.  I met some of my dearest friends...heck, I met one of our new campus ministers!...on those first few days after move-in.

I think about Ricky.  We met at a free meal that FOCUS hosted in the freshmen apartments.  Ricky's a guy that grew up "Christian," but really had no sense of what that meant.  I (ONLY by God's grace) had the privilege of studying with him, baptizing him, leading core with him, living with him, and watching him grow in faith and maturity every year since.  And, I just held his first born about a month ago!

I think about Matt, who I met the next fall.  By all accounts, he was kind of a goober (I say that with great affection) when he showed up at UTD, with little direction in life.  He and Ricky had similar stories, and my story with him follows much the same pattern.  After graduating and while working full-time, Matt helped me mentor young men at Collin College for 2 years.  He has since quit his job, completed a year in our full-time internship program, and is moving out to Denton to lead our ministry at the University of North Texas.

It's impossible for me to concisely communicate what all God has done in the lives of those guys, much less the immense blessing that they have been to my life and the ways they have made me a better man. But the sweet memories I have include many others, and they all remind me why we do what we do.  It's because God is just too good.

Please pray for us consistently over the next month..

• That we would go forward with great purposefulness and boldness
• That God would open doors for us to serve, love deeply, and speak truth
• That all of God's people at UTD would find unity and community under our common Lord and his redemptive vision for university students

New Beginnings

Well I've barely scratched the surface of the task, but my main priority these days is getting some face-time with the student leaders from UT Dallas.  That's my first big step in making the transition between ministries this fall, and it's only increasing my excitement for what lies ahead. 

It's really neat to hear about how God has worked differently in the lives of all these people, having brought them all together and united them in mission and purpose.  Everyone has a story, and our God has the flexibility to communicate to us in so many different ways and through so many different people.

To be honest, I'm kind of freaking out over how close we're getting to the fall semester.  There's so much planning, praying, fundraising, and decision-making to do!  But God is good and, thankfully, in control of it all.  I feel blessed just to be along for the ride.

Our Thursday Night Fellowship has been a blast this summer, as well as very encouraging. Each week, our speaker has been a different FOCUS staff person or intern, and I feel like every one of them has hit a home run.  I've heard from three of the interns thus far--Andrew, Jamiann, and Brianna--and it's awesome to see how much they've learned this past year and how that has improved and reshaped their ability to communicate truth in powerful and practical ways.  I so wish we had an internship program like this when I graduated!  Their lives will never be the same.

Our summer School of Ministry class that I mentioned in my last post has been great for me.  Honestly, having talked with so many students and staff about what they're getting out of it, I'm confident that God had some specific things he wanted to teach us as a community this summer. 

One of the things the professor brings out is the concept that the gospel is about life, not about being good.  He points out that, out of the four gospels, John most purposefully explains and interprets the life of Jesus for the sake of non-Jewish listeners.  As a result, John repeatedly points to Jesus as the source of life, speaking only briefly of the kingdom of God--a theme used consistently in the other three gospels, but one that perhaps doesn't translate well into other cultures unaware of Israel's history.

The gospel is about life.  I have trouble wrapping my mind around that in some ways.  But he beats that drum again and again, trying to shape an accurate view of God, the way he relates to us, and what he offers us in and through his grace.  I'm seeing more clearly that we truly are FREE in Christ.  Free to enjoy the good things in this physical life.  Free from trying to impress or striving to earn what we cannot.  Free from guilt and shame, AND free to pursue God's character.  Free to love, and honor, and encourage others.  Free to pursue a changed world, a redeemed society, a people reconciled with their God.

It's a release from feelings of obligation, fear of judgement, self-doubt, and constantly comparing yourselves with others.  It's freedom from hopelessly focusing on the flaws of this world.  Life, found in Jesus, is freedom.  And there's true joy in that.  There's real peace in that.  There is LIFE in him.

I pray you all experience the life that is truly life.  Please pray the same for me!  And please pray for the weeks ahead as we head into the fall.  There are over 1000 international students headed to Richardson, Texas to study.  The world is at our doorstep.  Here we go!

Summa time!

I must admit, I'm not sure where to begin.  So much has happened, and a lot is still happening, since my last post!

SICM was an incredible experience as always.  As it has been for me, I know these students will look back at their time in Washington as benchmark (if not a major turning point) in their lives--a time when they gained a new, broader, deeper, and farther reaching vision for the world and for their university campuses.

This was my 6th time at SICM, and even after all these years, it challenges, refreshes, and excites me to move forward and take my devotion to God's agenda to the next level.  He is just so good.

Here's the whole clan at the Canadian border.

Washtington is a little beautiful.

We took over their Friday Night Fellowship on campus. Also, Ava is happy about it.

This summer, simply put, it basically madness for me.  In a good way, I think. :)

I will be transitioning back to our ministry at UT Dallas in the fall, so I'm working on getting some face time with current and future student leaders from that ministry.  As a part of that transition, I am also switching churches to be around those students.  I have no doubt that this will be a struggle, as there is great sadness in leaving a crew of students that I have invested in for several years and a campus I have grown so familiar with.  But am also pumped about getting to be a part of the UTD world again.  I have really missed it, and I'm thankful that God has given me the opportunity to minister to that university community once more!

In addition, I am co-leading an awesome class called New Testament Foundations.  We are listening to the audio lectures from a graduate level course from Regent College in Vancouver, and then coming together to discuss each week.  I am learning so much from the crazy Australian professor.  More than anything, this is a guy that loves Jesus deeply.  But it's clear that he doesn't ONLY love God with his heart, but also his brain.  

I'm only 1/4 of the way through approximately 30 hours of audio (in addition to a lot of subsequent reading), and I've already walked away with some really good stuff.  I'll try include a few tidbits in my next post!

In the meantime, please be praying for our fundraising efforts.  Yep, it's that time of year again!  God always provides, and what a blessing it is to be a part of a network of people that are passionate about changing the world, and who see campus ministry as the most strategic way to start!

I am so grateful and humbled by the love and support I receive from so many directions.  God is just too good.  To Him be the glory all of my days, and long after I'm gone!

Case