The Prayer Request
I don't often post prayer requests on the site, but thought there were some that should be permanently added, as the need doesn't really ever disappear.
This one is for our colleges and universities. For my request, I'm going to pray for the top 500 colleges and universities in the nation. I'd first thought to pray for the top 150, but God said why limit what I can do. I thought about 250, and then settled on 500. My posting this is letting you, the reader, add this prayer request to your own list and hopefully pray for whatever group of colleges you feel led to pray for. Maybe it's those in your state. Maybe it's those in your region. Maybe it's those in a particular sports group. Maybe, for foreign readers, it's those in your home country. But whatever group you select, please pray. Why limit what God can do?
My prayer request is pretty basic: Let Christian students and faculty at each of the colleges we're thinking of be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let them begin to hear from God to direct their paths. If the college or university has a Chi Alpha group established, lead the students to join together there as a group. There is power, strength, and support when fellow believers gather together in unity with God. If there is no Chi Alpha group established, or if it is inactive, then my prayer request is for the students and faculty to start or restart a group and request help from the national Chi Alpha organization in starting a successful group on campus.
My prayer request includes protection for our Christian students, for every aspect of their lives. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give them the knowledge they need without allowing their minds to be contaminated with what should remain apart. I pray that they will have strength and health during their time at college. I pray that they will pursue the course of study that God wants them to take, that they will choose a course path for that major that is what God wants (especially in electives), that they will remember what they will need from what is taught, that they will have good instructors and professors, that they will do well on exams, papers, labs, and other work, and that when done, they will find the job waiting in the place where God wants them to be. I pray that they will continue to study God's Word. I pray that if they haven't read the Bible yet, that they will do so, cover to cover, and try to do that once a year. If they've read the same version over and over, pick another Christian version and read that the next year instead.
Once the students are firmly established, then my prayer request is that the Holy Spirit will begin speaking to the hearts of unintentionally lapsed Christians, or Christians who perhaps spent part of their lives in church but went away to school with the intention of making a break from the religion of their parents, or to the hearts of those who have rejected Christianity for whatever reason or who have never heard of Christianity. I pray that they will be prompted to question and seek out the members of Chi Alpha or other Christians to figure out what Christianity is all about.
I pray that the Christians will have the answers that those who question need to hear. If the answer isn't readily available, I pray that they will search out truth from God's Word and from the Holy Spirit to change lives and save fellow students and faculty, and ultimately their families and friends.
The Reality
We hear bad things said every year about secular schools, but I think it is time to take back our colleges. There was a time (when the oldest of our colleges and universities were founded) that they were not secular at all. They were largely religious institutions. Over time, this has fallen from favor, and they have become secular. I'm not saying we should turn these institutions into seminaries. God needs Christians in all walks of life and not just as pastors or missionaries. But I do think it is time to allow God to paint Christianity as the only path to Him. He can do this in many ways. I'd rather He do it through Christian students and faculty than leading our people into captivity for a long time as He did with the Jewish people or showing his power via plagues. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill all of us and for His glory to be shown through the Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). Pray that our hearts will reflect the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). Show God to the people as it was done in the New Testament's early history. Make God real to fellow students and faculty.
A Quick Message to the Students
This is primarily written to those who are now freshmen, but the thoughts can apply equally to sophomores, juniors, seniors, or graduate students. You're just farther along the path that you have chosen than freshmen.
For the students particularly, you are now away at college. Maybe it was where you always wanted to go. Maybe your favored school turned you down or you couldn't swing it financially so you are at a college you didn't really want to attend. But you are where you are for a purpose. Part of that purpose is to learn a skill set and acquire knowledge to put you in a better position for your future. Hopefully, you have chosen a career path at which you can excel, and the debt you will take on will be manageable with your future income. If that isn't likely to be true, make a better choice now. There are many skilled jobs like electricians, plumbers, machinists, and welders, to name just a few, that don't require a college degree. Others may not require a four year degree. Sometimes an associate degree will suffice at least for a start. And there are college degrees that have better chances of success than others in providing a living, although there is at least some need for most established college degrees. Trying to predict the future is a hard thing with aging populations, globalization and competition from every country in the world, the sad state of corporate short term outlook, profit driven and looking for the cheapest solution in everything to get their product out the door. Let God be your guide in the path you take.
But regardless of the educational purposes you have, you are also likely in a brand new position in your life. Most of you will be attending a college or university that is not local. You'll be living on your own, either in dormitories or renting an apartment or part of a house. Your life is now largely your own to live. Granted, if you live on campus there are still rules to follow. But your parents, if they were an active part of your life before, aren't looking over your shoulder to make sure you follow the rules. Just remember that although you are out from under mom and dad's watchful eyes, God is still watching. Sorry to break it to you, but He always is. That's true for everyone, not just Christians. So whether or not your parents ever find out about the alcohol at the fraternity or sorority party you attended last Friday and Saturday, and the hangover you had Saturday and Sunday, God knows. He always knows.
And you know what? He cares more than your parents ever could about what happens to you. Regardless of how uptight your parents are, God cares more. And He always will. He might not step in and put a stop to things like your parents would if they knew (or at least should if they knew), but He does care. He hates it when you are thinking about having sex outside of marriage. And that isn't because He doesn't want you to find your soul mate for life, fall in love, and experience all the great experiences that life can give. It's because He knows that STDs are real. He knows babies are hard to handle at any time and birth control isn't 100% effective. Babies are especially hard to handle as a college student, or as a single mom, or single dad. Are they worth it in the long run? Yes... all babies are worth it. But they can derail your best laid life plans, just the same. So it isn't that He doesn't want you to have fun. He just knows the probabilities of something going wrong, and doesn't want it to happen to you. That's really the heart of all of His commandments. He wants to keep you safe and to draw close to Him. Keeping His commandments helps in both regards, although to truly be close to Him requires Jesus blood to wash away your sin. And by the way, your parents feel the same way, regardless of whether or not you always thought they were old stick in the mud people for not letting you experience life to your fullest. They also knew what could go wrong, and just wanted the best outcomes their kids could achieve, or they should have.
So back to your life... You were probably brought up Christian if you're reading this message. Maybe you've chafed at attending Church for years. I know I went through that phase. Only the passage of a long time permits me to look back and truly judge my life's path. But rest assured that my comments to you come from experience. You have choices to make. The choices you make will decide your future. The pleasures of the world are there, and they wouldn't be called pleasures of the world if they weren't. Alcohol, drugs, sex... they all have their pleasure and allure for a time. Until you crash while DUI and kill or severely injure someone or maybe yourself, until you have a bad trip from some drugs laced with bad stuff and are never the same again or become hopelessly addicted, until you get pregnant or get someone pregnant and the carefree life is over... I know. You think it'll never happen to you because you're special.
Choices. It's up to you to make them. Your parents love you - I hope. If your parents don't, then someone does or would or could if you'd open yourself up. God does. Who you listen to matters. Seek out God. Seek out the Holy Spirit. He really will talk with you at times if you are quiet and allow him to do so. Seek out fellow believers. There is truly strength in numbers.
Can you go it alone? Well yes, you might be able to. I survived four years at college without going to church while at college but one or two times, and without seeking out a Christian support group on campus. It was a big college in a big city. There were around 7,500 to 8,350 students at all levels depending on what source you reference. I think it now claims an enrollment of around 16,500. At the time, the town I lived in had around 50,000 people to give you a reference. There were over 2,600 degrees at all levels awarded in the year I got my two. That was about four and one half times my high school class size. Suffice it to say, there were many opportunities to experience something new if I had been so inclined. I would have come out a stronger Christian if I had participated with Christians more. I wouldn't have made as many wrong choices in college. If I was stronger through that period in my life, maybe I wouldn't have made as many wrong choices after college and through life till I got to where I am. Church in the summers and Christmases isn't really enough. Although my ultimate family would have probably liked it more if I had failed and been less of a Christian than I turned out to be.
To be clear, I'm ancient, compared to you. I realize it's tougher to be a Christian now. I grew up when programming a computer meant using an IBM key punch, submitting your deck of cards as a batch job to the college mainframe, and waiting for the printout. I'll never forget the frustration of no backspace or the sound of a line printer producing the output of your job along with the required banner and footer pages. It's why I'm a pretty decent typist and don't make many errors programming. Like I said, ancient. Having a push button phone and portable television in the dormitory was a luxury and hand held phones were unheard of. I really loved my little 9" Sony color TV. It still worked the last time I plugged it in. They made things to last in those days. There were on-line bulletin boards, but the WWW? That wouldn't be proposed till seven years after I graduated. Ancient. But here's the important take away from all that. The same forces trying to drive you to take the wrong path were the same forces that tried to do the same to me. The methods may have changed from antiquity, but the forces are the same.
Choose God. Choose to associate with fellow Christians. Choose a church and actually attend. Read your Bible. Stay strong in the face of the world. And finally, don't just be a passive Christian. Remember a bit ago I said God has a purpose for where you end up attending college? Well He does. If there isn't a Chi Alpha group on campus, start one yourself. Put in the effort to attend when one is established. But beyond that, answer truthfully when asked about your religion and what you believe. Don't pretend you're like everyone else. If you're a Christian, you probably aren't like most others on campus unless you're attending a Christian college. If you look and act like everyone else on campus, and you aren't attending a Christian college, you need to examine your life. But we are all called to witness...
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mk. 8:38
Take this time to really learn what Christianity is all about. This may be the first time in your life to be around Christians from other denominations. My roommate for three years was a Catholic from a big city. We still talk once a year or so. Lots of differences. Who knew that Bibles had different numbers of books? Who knew that the spelling of names was different or that Psalms wasn't numbered the same way in all Bible versions? Clearly, many did, but I learned things just by associating with another brand of Christianity. If the denomination is Christian, they may have different views about different concepts in the Bible. Use this time to explore your own faith and figure out what the Bible really says. You can count on it to be true, even if the denomination you were brought up in didn't always emphasize all of its verses equally. God put them in there for a reason.
You now have a larger group of equally curious minds with different backgrounds with which to interact. Don't pass up the opportunity. If there are questions that you haven't known the answer to or concepts you don't understand, or things you may think the Bible says that are weird, now is the time to enhance your education in more ways than simply Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, and other challenging subjects. You may find out, in talking to other believers, that the Bible wasn't weird at all. You had just been taught to believe something that it doesn't really say. I think there's going to be a lot of surprises when we get to Heaven and find out all the truth that we should have figured out for ourselves. You can look at Kid's Questions for some things to start thinking about. The questions there came from Junior High students, but are answered as to adults. Remember, you're still a kid at heart.
And finally, if you haven't yet accepted Christ as your savior, now's the time.
Chose God. As a Christian, don't hide from what He's asked you to do. Figure it out, and I'll try too. I know I pushed Chi Alpha because I think an infilling of the Holy Spirit, and a continual renewing of His presence in your life is important, but if that group isn't available, you could also check out InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a group. Wherever you choose, pick a Christian group and get involved.
If you're one who walked away from God the second you left your parents door, then seek out a Chi Alpha group. Christians have made a lot of mistakes as a body. None of us are perfect. Many of those mistakes were made by those who only claimed to be Christian and much was swept under the rug that should not have been. Various denominations will have much to answer for for things done in Christianity's name through time. But know this: The failures of people in the past, Christian or just claiming to be, doesn't change God's character or nature. We are all supposed to try to imitate Christ and hold Him up as our example. No Christian is now or ever will be perfect, but if you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you'll be stronger and do better in Christ if you choose to follow Him and His leading. God calls on all of us to forgive others. If you've been hurt by a Christian or a particular body of believers, forgive and seek a new start with a new group. It's your life. God is watching all you do. If you've walked away from Him, He wants you back. Choose God.
For the Chi Alpha and Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship groups that are already established at our colleges and universities there are many tasks to fulfill. First, you are a social organization. One of your tasks is to provide a fun place for like minded students to hang out and to monitor their activities while on site to ensure that not only are college and university regulations followed, but also those of government, and ultimately, God. Clearly, these are listed in a reverse order of importance in case of conflict. God's rules win. Beyond this, you have a duty to provide a safe place where Christians can discuss Christianity and what it means to them. This has to be conducted in a safe, polite, and orderly fashion. The leaders aren't the judges of who is right and who is wrong. God's Word is the ultimate authority, and barring a clear edict from it by verse or principle, then rely on the Holy Spirit to handle conflicts. The rules given in the Bible for handling conflict remain true for your organizations. Let your members learn their service gifts... administration, teaching, and the like... and step up and put them to use. Figure out a method for anonymous questions. Stage debates. Have people from multiple denominations answer the questions. Respect each other. Scripture wins, every time. Just be sure you're correctly understanding what the scripture says in context and in the social environment it was written in.
But remember that you are also different from every other organization on campus - or at least most of them. You don't have a set number of members that you can't exceed. Any person can come as long as they are civil and not disruptive of what is going on. Everyone should be welcome, under the same guidelines. You aren't exclusive. You can't be racist. You can't be political. You can't be cliquish. Your job is to support a thriving Christian body on campus. But an equal mandate is for that body to continually grow. Pray that you will outgrow your space and have to go to multiple meetings. Pray that when every day has a meeting, you can figure out how to meet two times a day. Pray that when that is exhausted, you can start filling unused lecture halls. Pray that you will get to the place where alumni fund a separate large facility on campus to house your meetings. Pray that no student matriculates or leaves for other reasons without knowing Christ and being involved in your organization in some way. If, like the college I attended, that'll mean 16,500 people this year.
Don't be afraid of a challenge. Having a few people come together each week to have fun is not your sole purpose. But all to often a Christian campus organization doesn't really look to be much more. Be different. Choose God.