Fall is in full swing and it has been joyful, chaotic, and life giving! There are lots of new freshmen which has been really exciting. We had a packed house for our first Cross Training of the year at Steve and Lori's house, and our first on campus meeting the following week was also buzzing with the excitement of a new year and new people. We are excited for this upcoming year and all that God has in store. I also got to lead a student to Christ the first week, which was so awesome!

In the midst of the chaos of a new year starting up, meeting with new students, planning fun activities, and figuring out small groups, book studies, one on one meetings, and what to do for Cross Training each week, we have been reminded of our desperate need and desire to be truly plugged into Jesus. He has blessed us with a very fresh perspective of the reality that it is all about HIM and that HE is to be our greatest love and treasure above all other things in life, including above ministry! We truly believe that our impact on the Stanford students will be much greater if we are plugged into Him, rather than operating out of our own strength. I am reminded of that daily!



I am studying 1 Corinthians with my small groups right now, and I can hardly bring myself to move us on to chapter 2 because Chapter 1 is so rich and relevant to our lives here today. Paul keeps emphasizing how the "foolish" plan of a crucified Messiah is so much more powerful and strong to deliver, redeem, make holy, purify, and rescue than the greatest of human wisdom and strength. He also emphasizes that God has seen to it that the world would not know him through its own wisdom, and that no one can ever boast in the presence of the Lord. That is a very relevant message to Stanford students who are being taught in overt and covert ways that there is no truth, that we define our own truth and reality and destiny, and that it is all about us. We live in a place that is often arrogantly hostile to God and exclusive truth claims, and as Paul says, views the message of the cross as foolishness and nonsense. This passage has been an important reminder that God has a handle on reality more than the world, and that His ways are different than the worlds ways. His wisdom is to be sought after and esteemed more highly than the world's wisdom, and we are wise to align ourselves to His wisdom.

We are thankful to be here on this campus fighting the good fight! We are thankful to be inviting students to get to know and love Jesus more and to come see what life in His Kingdom following Jesus is like. Please pray for us to be rooted and strengthened in HIM (we definitely get overwhelmed and discouraged at times because there is so much fighting against us here!) and pray that God would pour out His Spirit on the students at Stanford to come to know, love, and trust Him above all else.