College Will Do That to You... Thanks Jesus

Coming into my first year at the wonderful institute of Texas A&M I wasn't quite sure what to expect from anything. I had a couple things nailed down to start with, or so I thought. I knew I would church shop for a couple months. I knew what I believed. I knew that I wasn't going to become complacent in my faith, but I certainly wouldn't ever become what you would call "radical".

Well here is a little confession. Everything that I knew has been turned upside down, and my faith has been strengthened because of it. Jesus ended up planting me at Antioch my very first Sunday in town and He has kept me there ever since. Over this semester I've really had my faith pushed to its limits, but not in the way I expected. Contrary to what I've heard, it isn't hard to keep your faith in college - with the caveat that you choose to pursue it. It wasn't a struggle for survival, it was a struggle for truth. 

If you talk to me today, I would hope that you see something different. If you ask my community of believers for testimony of my life in College Station, they'd be able to tell you. A lot of the things I wrote off as for the "charismaniacs" have become a huge part of my life. I will spare you the all the details, but know that I have seen an increase of God in my life in radical ways. Exhibit A, my favorite thing to do on weekends is walk around campus and the College Station area and pray for people and tell them about Jesus. That's weird... or at least it used to be, now it's a lifestyle.

I grew with a "safe" Christianity. Church attendance, service projects, and inviting a friend to D-Now were the norms. No one dared utter the words prophecy, visions, healings, miracles, etc. I've known Jesus for a while now, but I've only recently come into a fuller understanding of just what He is capable of. Jesus is always bigger than how big you say he is, always. 

For those of you coming to Aggieland as students in the coming years, I want you to know that Jesus is taking this campus by storm. When you enroll in this university you're enlisting as a Freedom fighter in this Revolution against the powers of darkness. The battle is real, and it is raging more fiercely that you or I can understand. 

For those of you whom God has sent elsewhere, I urge you to affix yourselves to the Jesus Christ of the Scriptures and to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance in your life. God is just waiting to show you how good he is, just ask Him.

If you gather nothing else from this essay, heed Paul's cry to the Ephesians. "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Let that challenge your soul. Ask, Seek, and Knock the Harvest is at hand.

-matt