10/13/25

This week we saw God at work all over the place! We've had so many great conversations and interactions at the whiteboard and outside of that! Our whiteboard asked a number of different questions this week, but something relatively new for us is asking what people think of something that Jesus says in the Gospels. We are continuing to see students engage alongside us in evangelism, and we just started a new DMC with a group of guys on campus! This group of guys seems really engaged and hungry to jump in and apply the things we will learn as we work through Matthew 5-7.

I also was privileged to share about evangelism with a local youth group this week which was awesome! There are so many things that I could share regarding evangelism, but I settled on addressing the common myths/misconceptions I've encounter at CSUF and among Christians I engage with. There are certainly many myths that are circulated about evangelism - often an excuse or exemption from obligation, but I've also found a profoundly large degree of mere ignorance. I don't even put the weight of this on the individual, as it seems they've simply not learned it, but it begs to me the question of how and why this is the case? It's certainly puzzling to me as I ponder this issue - that people who've grown up in churches, attended private Christian schools, or are involved in ministries in their various communities lack such a basic understanding of things like evangelism. The weirdest part to me is that it isn't isolated to merely one community or group, but it rather presents quite generally as an issue.

These engagements cause me to consider many things in a different light - from a different angle. How could people be involved in so many Christian spheres and never gain a simple understanding of what something like evangelism is? I've talked to a few students who have been Christians for a number of years and involved in church communities significantly who told me that they thought evangelism was a sect of Christianity, not something that you do. Perhaps similar to the way someone might subscribe to Calvinism, Arminianism, Dispensationalism, Fundamentalism, etc. They didn't know that evangelism was something that we could go and do, let alone know that it's something that we should do. I venture to guess that they've heard of churches being evangelical and simply assumed it was just another name for a sect; however, the irony stands that granting their awareness of evangelical communities ought also to naturally carry an understanding of what evangelism is - since that appears to be that community's emphasis.

I'm really fascinated by this issue as it seems to point to a greater reality and trend in the Christian world. It seems that, for one reason or another, people can be involved and connected with religious communities, to the point even of entering various ministries, and yet bear little to no fundamental understanding of their religion. I'm honestly not sure what to make of this completely, but I am troubled by the weight of this reality and its future and imminent implications. It makes me further ask the question of who/what went wrong? And in asking this question, I'm not trying to place blame but rather identify the issue so we can address it properly. Is it due to the faulty assumptions of mature Christians that young Christians were never fed? That everyone thought it was already taken care of and therefore didn't cover it? I certainly don't think it was malicious in any degree, but it is certainly concerning.

I look forward to what I'll discover as I continue to explore this and ponder its implications and solutions. I'm certain I'm not the only person engaging with this glaring issue, and perhaps I'm merely stepping into a long-fought battle in ecclesiology and spiritual formation, but I appreciate the challenge nonetheless!

Since I'm writing this update so late, I have a few extra days to add as well! On Saturday, we participated in the Placentia Heritage Day festival with a group of local pastors in a prayer tent! We also had a whiteboard out for part of the event, but it was a great opportunity to partner with other Christians and churches that live and do ministry around us! We pray that this partnership will continue and strengthen the various ministries that we are involved in as we unite in the same primary ministry!

Nick and I were also invited to teach this past Sunday at Friends Church Fullerton, and we team-taught through Hebrews 3:1-6. You can check that out below or on the FCF YouTube stream. A truly challenging and convicting passage, not only for the original audience (though especially for them), but also for us as we have exponentially less excuse for our secret and casual confessions. As we prepared to share about this passage, I was convicted as I realized how profound it actually is to consider (kateneo) Jesus as instructed by the author. The author is addressing a people suffering real persecution and danger for their confession of Christ, but they find it important to tell this audience to firstly, meditate on Jesus. How much more so for a community of Christians experiencing no serious opposition and yet still hiding our hope?

As I thought about it, and reflected on it throughout ministry engagements, I recognized how extremely simple ministry and life gets when I truly ponder Jesus deeply and intently. It reminded me of the time Jesus called Peter to come to Him, walking on the water. In such a similar way, I noticed, ministry is exponentially more realistic if I let God do His part and I just focus on imitating Jesus. I don't need to weigh and worry about this variable or that group that might be upset at my actions or engagements if I'm properly oriented around Jesus alone. It's a bit of a shame that the phrase has been so lightly thrown about because I actually find it quite profound if you genuinely ask, "What would Jesus do?" The other issue is not how casually it's been used, but rather that most people don't even know what Jesus did, so how could the know what He would do? And here we come back to what the author of Hebrews commanded their audience: deeply ponder Jesus - and may our lives be deeply changed. May the transcending glory of Jesus captivate us and burst from us in confident boasting in our hope!