Christians on Campus: A Cult?

The question: Is Christians on Campus a cult?

As an undergraduate at The University of Texas at Austin, I became aware of the accusation that Christians on Campus was a cult. I often heard of other students running into this allegation, but I was not personally approached until my senior year, in fall 2012. During a conversation about my future plans, one of my chemical engineering professors expressed genuine concern that I might be involved in a cult: Christians on Campus.

I was taken aback by this conversation because this professor was one of my most trusted advisors. I had been working as an undergraduate research assistant in his lab for more than two years. We were co-authors on several scientific research papers. Most recently, we had published a paper in Science magazine about an innovative method for controlling the orientation of block copolymer nano-structures [http://www.utexas.edu/know/2012/12/10/building-better-hard-drive-willso/]. We had a very close relationship, almost like that of a father and son. In addition, I knew that he had my best interests at heart. His genuine concern prompted a similar concern within me. So I was forced to reflect on my experience with Christians on Campus and investigate the allegations against Christians on Campus. Was this club a cult?

The answer: a resounding NO

I began participating in Christians on Campus as a freshman in fall 2009. The truth revealed in the Bible, fellowship, and friendship that I found with the club became a big part of my college experience. During my investigation, I discovered that some allege that Christians on Campus is a cult because the leaders try to control the lives of the club members. Throughout my four years with the club, I never once felt controlled or pressured but rather I sought and received much helpful shepherding. This care touched my heart and led me to willingly volunteer my time and energy to club activities. These activities were so enjoyable and enriching to me both spiritually and academically. Another allegation that I discovered during my investigation is that Christians on Campus is a cult because club members are brainwashed and damaged mentally. In my experience, however, being involved with the club helped me to keep my mind properly balanced and contributed significantly to my success as a student. I can recall attending weekend retreats with Christians on Campus during the middle of the semester and returning to school refreshed and ready to attack the books and the lab. Eventually, as a senior, I was recognized by the university for my involvement in making a breakthrough scientific discovery [http://www.utexas.edu/know/2013/05/13/leon-dean-a-moment-of-discovery/]. I can say with certainty that my academic success was not hindered, but rather bolstered, by my participation with Christians on Campus.

I have no regrets about spending four years with Christians on Campus at The University of Texas. I know that there are negative rumors about Christians on Campus and that others rightfully have fears as a result of these rumors. I am happy to say that my professor is no longer concerned that I was involved with a cult in college. I hope that my story can help to assuage similar fears and concerns. Meanwhile, I would encourage any students who are seeking Jesus Christ and Christian fellowship at UT to consider joining Christians on Campus!

Christians on Campus: Fellowship, the Word of God, and Prayer

Every Christian has a story. Have I ever told you mine? 

In this post, I will focus on my experience as a Christian since I arrived in college at the University of Texas in Austin, in particular my experience with a club called Christians on Campus. If you want the full version, I would be happy to tell you in person!

I moved across half the country to attend UT. When I arrived in Austin, I knew virtually nobody. One of my priorities was to get connected with other Christians. Fortunately, one of the few people I did know helped me to find a group called Christians on Campus. The first week of school, I went to Freshmen Connect, a welcome event for new students. Since then, my experience with the group has been awesome; I’ve been learning to live a normal, daily Christian life.

Christian Fellowship

My freshman year at UT, I built the habit of having Christian fellowship with other believers on a daily basis. In high school, what I considered an adequate pursuit of the Lord consisted of a weekly church meeting, an uplifting retreat every few months, and the occasional reading of a Bible verse or two. But when I arrived at UT and started meeting with Christians on Campus, I quickly discovered that these people were much more serious than that! Their pursuit of the Lord was not occasional, not weekly, but daily. During the course of my freshmen year, I began meeting and having fellowship with other believers every day of the week in Bible studies and small groups. I started to see a glimpse of the church life as described in Acts 2:46 – “day by day” and “house to house.”

Reading the Word of God

My second year at UT, I built the habit of reading the Bible on a daily basis. Some other students from Christians on Campus were doing a 90 day New Testament reading schedule, and I decided to jump in. For me, reading the Bible had always been a chore, something I knew I should do but didn’t always enjoy. Many times, I had the all-too-common experience of starting in Genesis or Matthew, only to fizzle out before reaching Numbers or Acts. This time, however, I started reading with companions. Each day, we texted each other verses that we enjoyed. Mysteriously, I started to gain a real appetite for the Word of God. I can honestly say that reading the Bible is now something I look forward to every day.

A Habit of Prayer

My third year at UT has been a year of learning to pray with others. Building an atmosphere of prayer with close Christian friends is not easy, but I have been learning to pray with others on a daily basis. This matter is a little bit harder to explain in words, but I feel like Galatians 6:2 does a pretty good job: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ completely.” Both in scheduled times of prayer and spontaneous times of prayer, I am learning to let others bear my burdens by praying with them.

Fellowship, the Word of God, and prayer are three crucial elements of our Christian life. I am thankful to the Lord that through my experience with Christians on Campus at UT, He has built these habits into my daily life.

P.S. You can also read a more detailed testimony from this past fall semester.

Growth as a Christian: what does it look like?

As Christians, we often seek big, flashy experiences from God. However, we sometimes forget that our Christian life is just that - life. All kinds of life grow slowly and almost imperceptibly. It's true for human children. It's true for the plant pictured below. It's also true for the life of Christ within us.

Check out this list of verses about the normal Christian life that I received from Kyle Barton at the first Christians on Campus meeting of the semester last night:

• 2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."
• Exodus 23:30 - "Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have become fruitful and inherit the land."
• Proverbs 4:18 - "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day."
• Isaiah 50:4 - "The Lord Jehovah has given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens me morning by morning; He awakens my ear to hear as an instructed one."
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 - "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit."
• Psalm 84:5-7 - "Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion...they go from strength to strength; each appears before God in Zion."
• John 1:16 - "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."
• Isaiah 28:13 - "Therefore Jehovah's word to them will be...here a little, there a little."
• 1 Corinthians 14:31 - "For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encourage."
• Acts 2:46  - "And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart..."

Coming this Saturday...

To a blog near you...

More specifically, to "Come, see a man"...

The finalized, updated, and always entertaining top ten chapters in the New Testament!!

Mr. Fulton over at Sidekicks Anonymous and I are both big fans of rankings as well as the Bible. A few months, we decided to prepare personal lists of our ten favorite chapters as we read through a New Testament reading schedule with Christians on Campus. The reading schedule ends on Saturday, so that day we will each begin with a post about #10. From there, we will count down simultaneously to #1 by unveiling one chapter a day.

Both of us assembled a preliminary top ten at the halfway point through the schedule a few weeks ago. My preliminary list can be found here and his preliminary list can be found here.

By now, I know you can hardly wait for the first post to come out on Saturday, so here’s something to keep you busy until then. Look at the picture from an arm's length. Who do you see?

Then look at it from 10 feet away. Now who do you see?

We'll be back on Saturday!

A Reflection on the Past Semester

Friday was the final day of class, bringing to a close my fifth semester here at UT. Of the five, this semester stands out as the best so far. Before the semester started, I made a major decision that I knew would deeply affect my life. The decision was to stop running competitively. Running had been a big part of my life since fifth grade, when I first turned out for cross country and track. Though I didn't always enjoy the training aspect of running, I always enjoyed competing and the team camaraderie. However, this past summer, I felt like it was time to move on due to some outward and inward arrangements.

Including practices, meetings, and competitions, most Division I NCAA sports take at least 20 hours out of an athlete's week. Distance running is no different. In fact, in some ways, distance running takes more time than any other sport since there is no off-season. So I knew coming into this semester that I would have a lot more time on my hands. Of course, having entered the upper division of chemical engineering, I knew that some of that extra time would be dedicated to academic work and research. However, I also knew that despite the additional school work, I would have more free time than previous semesters. Before the semester, I consecrated my free time to the Lord in a definite way. I did not want my time to be wasted with vain or idle things. I wanted to redeem the time (Colossians 4:5, Ephesians 5:16), that it would be useful to the Lord.

Well, the Lord honored my consecration in a definite way. This semester, my time was filled with bible studies, gospel preaching, appointments with other Christians on campus, and times of fellowship in the homes of the saints. I also had the privilege of getting to know quite a few new freshmen and help them grow in the Lord. Many times, these freshmen also helped me to turn to my spirit and pursue after Christ!

But most of all, what I enjoyed this semester was praying in a consistent way with a few other brothers, who I would call my companions in the Lord. I felt like all semester, we were bearing one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). The time we spent praying to contact God and intercede for others was definitely not wasted.

Last night, Christians on Campus had our final event of the semester - a celebration banquet. I had a chance to share about my experience with the Lord this semester. Hearing testimonies from other students about their experiences with the Lord this semester was awesome, as well. The Lord is moving on the UT campus! Praise Him!

The Top Ten Chapters

What are the ten best chapters in the Bible? No doubt that is a subjective question. It's also a question to which there is definitely no wrong answer, and probably no right answer, either, since "all scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16).

Nevertheless, when this question was raised to me I decided to take a stab at it. Since I could first read and write, I have always loved lists of items, particularly ordered lists or rankings. More recently, I have developed a love for the Bible. A list of my favorite ten Bible chapters meshes these two loves together.

Before I give my list, I would like to present a similar list posted by a friend of mine. I would also like to make a few disclaimers. First of all, this list is my personal opinion. I do not claim that these are God's favorite ten chapters, or that they should be your favorite ten chapters. I also reserve the right to change this list at any time in the future as God reveals more to me in the Bible.

Finally, because I am halfway through a New Testament reading schedule, this list only includes chapters between Matthew 1 and 2 Corinthians 8. I will continue updating or expanding as I finish the New Testament and perhaps even return to add Old Testament chapters. But for now, these are the chapters I feel most comfortable with, so these are the chapters I would like to rank.

Without further ado, the top ten...

1. Romans 8. I once memorized this chapter, so it has a special place in my heart. But objectively speaking, this chapter is loaded with juicy verses about freedom in the Spirit by Christ's indwelling and our inheritance as children of God. Some examples:
- Romans 8:2 - "The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death."
- Romans 8:11 - "And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who indwells you."
- Romans 8:16 - "The Spirit himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God."
- Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose."
- Romans 8:31 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us."

2. John 1. This chapter takes us from eternity past to eternity future, showing us God as the Word before creation (verse 1), Christ's incarnation (verse 14), Christ as the Lamb of God for our redemption (verse 29), the pouring out of the Spirit (verse 32), the transformation of the believers into stones for God's building (verse 42), and the final consummation of the building in which Christ unites heaven and earth, God and man (verse 51). Verse 51 is a fulfillment of Jacob's dream at Bethel (which means house of God) in Genesis 28. John 1 also includes a key verse about regeneration:
- John 1:12 - "But as many as received him, to them he gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into his name."

3. 1 Corinthians 15. This chapter is a whirlwind of amazing verses about resurrection, starting with the preaching of the gospel of resurrection and finishing with the application to our corrupted flesh of Christ's victory in resurrection. We also find out at the end of the chapter that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Here's a juicy tidbit:
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 - "And when this corruptible will put on incorruption and this mortal will put on immortality, then the word which is written will come to pass, 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

4. 2 Corinthians 3. Short but sweet, we learn in this chapter that we are living letters of Christ inscribed by the Spirit (v. 3) and that we are mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord (v. 18). In between, we learn that turning our heart to the Lord removes the veil separating us from the Lord (v. 16), that the Lord is the Spirit (v. 17), that the Spirit gives life (v. 6), and that this life is transforming us (v. 18).

5. John 15. John 14-16 are a breathtaking trio of chapters in which Jesus is speaking intimately with his disciples. I only had room for one on the list, so I chose John 15, in which Jesus talks about the analogy of the vine and the branches. He is the vine and we are the branches, whose purpose is to bear fruit. Interestingly, the topics of love (mentioned 10 times) and separation from the world play a prominent role in this chapter.

6. John 4. The blog's namesake verse comes from this chapter, so it just had to be on the list. Of the many stories in the first part of John, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 is my favorite. Read more about it in this post. A couple key verses from the story:
- John 4:14 - "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life."
- John 4:24 - "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truthfulness."
- John 4:34 - "Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."
In this chapter, Jesus also talks about reaping from the ripe harvest and heals a dying boy.

7. 1 Corinthians 14. Paul speaks strongly in this chapter about prophesying, which is not merely to foretell the future, but to speak on behalf of God. He particularly contrasts prophesying with speaking in tongues. He tells us that we can all prophesy (v. 31) and that prophesying builds up the church (v. 4) and encourages men (v. 3). Verse 26 tells us that when the believers come together, each one has something to give, and verse 14 shows us that a good way to respond to others' giving is to say "the Amen."

8. Acts 9. This chapter, which speaks of Saul's conversion, is my favorite chapter in Acts, given the context of the rest of the New Testament. Saul was an approving witness of Stephen's martyrdom in Acts 7 and the primary persecutor of the believers in Acts 8. Yet, the next fourteen books after Acts are written by the same man, who became Paul, a wise master builder of the church (1 Cor. 3:10). Acts 9 is the bridge between these two realities, which makes it a key chapter for me. Saul particularly sees the matter of the church being the Body of Christ. He thought he was persecuting humans, but the Lord asked him, "Why are you persecuting me?"

9. 1 Corinthians 3. This chapter will probably get axed later, so I won't say too much. It speaks of the church being God's cultivated land and God's building. I love verse 6: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth."

10. Romans 5. Ditto 1 Cor. 3. This chapters drives home the point that just as sin entered through one man (Adam), grace entered through one man (Jesus Christ). Verse 10 shows us two sides of his grace toward us (redemption through his death and salvation through his life).

A Chapter a Day...

This semester, quite of few of us from Christian Students on Campus here at UT-Austin started a Bible reading schedule that basically amounts to a chapter a day. We decided to begin in the book of Acts since many of us had been reading the gospel of John over the summer.

Last Monday, we were on Acts chapter 2. I read the chapter in the morning with two other friends on the 9th floor of Jester dorm. Later in the morning, three different people texted me the same verse, Acts 2:21, which says: "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Needless to say, that verse was running through my head when I went to lunch. While standing in line at the SAC waiting to order my teriyaki chicken bowl, I started explaining the Bible reading schedule to another friend. Behind us, a random guy overheard our conversation.

Actually, the guy definitely wasn't random. He and I had been prepared for a divinely arranged appointment at that very place and time. He asked if we were talking about the Bible, and after I told him we were, he asked me to share something with him. A bit surprised, the only verse I could think of was Acts 2:21, because I had read and received that verse in the morning. The conversation quickly turned to salvation, and I learned that he had not yet been saved. To make a long story short, after we both got our food, he called on the Lord and prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his savior! He was happy, I was happy, and God was happy too!

This past Monday (yesterday), we were on Acts chapter 8. A few friends from Christian Students and I went over to a house near the campus for lunch, where we read and discussed this chapter. The fellowship eventually turned to verses 35-38, which say:

"Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him."

We soon found out that one of the brothers there had believed but had not yet been baptized. After looking through verses about baptism all throughout the New Testament, we settled on Acts 22:16, which says: "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized..."

At that point, we stopped waiting, took the brother to a nearby apartment complex, and baptized him in a swimming pool. God was happy again!

It's amazing what the Lord can do with a group of people who simply read a chapter of the Bible every day.

The Seventh Man in John 4

I haven't wrote on the blog in a while, since I have been very busy moving back to Austin and getting ready for the semester to start. Well, the semester started yesterday and this evening was an enjoyable beginning with a welcome dinner for Christians on Campus. I have to blog about the dinner tonight because afterward, brother Cary Ard gave a short message on John 4, including the title verse of this blog.

One new thing impressed me very much about the passage. Jesus was actually the seventh man met by the Samaritan woman at the well. The first five were husbands and the sixth was not her husband (v. 18), but perhaps a man she was living with at the time. What is the significance of these first six men? Each one represents something in the physical realm that she went to for satisfaction, but could not satisfy her. That's why she kept searching for a new man to satisfy her! For those of us in college, our "husbands" could be many different things. Some of us may seek satisfaction from new clothes, from new electronics, or from new friends. But in the end, none of these things in the physical realm will satisfy.

The only thing that will satisfy us is the seventh man, Jesus! When the woman met Jesus, she met the living water which quenched her thirst forever (v. 13-14). In the same way, I beseech the Lord that we would each meet him in such a personal way as the one who satisfies our thirst.

Then we can truly say, "Come, see man."