Welcome To Campus Day!

October 7, 2007

“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.” Acts 19:8-10

Campus Ministry can change the world! In Acts 19, Paul and his fellow disciples have daily “Bible Talks” with non-Christians at the “Tyrannus Campus” in Ephesus. In two years, all of “Asia” (presently the entire western area of the nation of Turkey) was evangelized! From the book of Revelation, we glean that there were at least seven churches – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea – established during this two year period. The Acts 19 disciples and their converts were so fired-up about the kingdom and the changes in their lives, that they spread throughout Asia reduplicating
what they experienced in Paul’s ministry. As in Ephesus, the disciples were heavily persecuted, yet it was in this way, through “bad report and good,” that “all of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.” Of great encouragement to all of us, first century Asia was a larger geographical area than modern day California!

In Mark 3:14, Jesus chose twelve young men who were most likely in their teens and twenties (college age), to “be with Him so that He might send them out to preach.” Some like James and John were still working with their father. (Mark 1:19-20) Peter was married, but probably not yet with children. (Mark 1:30) After walking with these 12, whom He called apostles – Greek for messengers – Jesus gave them the charge to make disciples in all nations, thus evangelizing the world in a generation. (Matthew 28: 19-20) According to Paul, this is exactly what they did. In Colossians 1, written just 30 years after Jesus’ dream is revealed to His apostles, Paul records “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing…This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.” Amazingly the world was evangelized without mass–communications, such as telephones, television or the internet or without mass–transportation, such as cars, trains or airplanes! Certainly with these advantages today, though the world has a much larger population, the nations can be evangelized in our generation. In fact, McDonalds, Coca–Cola and Nike have already accomplished this level of impact!

Why were young people so attracted to Jesus’ message and movement? In Mark 1, Jesus’ call to Peter and Andrew was, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark adds, “At once they left their nets and followed Him.” Since they were so quick to follow, something must have excited these young men. Interestingly, Jesus did not say come follow me and you will receive eternal life. Nor did he say come follow me and you will have so many blessings. The felt need for most young people is a sense of purpose. This was the exhilarating call of Jesus. For Peter and Andrew, no longer would their lives be a monotonous daily routine of fish–eat–sleep, but now they were going to impact their families, their acquaintances and everyone they met. Then, through the multiplication of disciples, they changed the world! Presently, I am 53 years old, yet I will never forget as a 17 year old freshman at the University of Florida being invited to a Friday night devotional of “totally committed” Christian college students. It was held in a home. Approximately 60 students gathered to sing, pray and then listen to a dynamic Bible message. The most impacting aspect of the evening was the incredible love I felt among all who gathered. After about an hour of fellowship, I was then invited to go out for dessert with the campus minister and his fiancée. I was so excited! At the time, I was religious and even led a Bible study for a denominational church. However, I quickly saw from the Scriptures and by observing these true Christian’s lives, that I had never made Jesus the Lord of my life. Therefore on April 11, 1972 at 1:30 am, I was baptized into Christ!

A year later, my younger brother Randy was diagnosed with cancer. Though I was a pre-med student, I came to believe that God was saying to me, “As a Christian doctor you will be able to help and save many lives like your brother, but in the end all will die. Therefore give up everything and go into the ministry.” After much prayer and advice, I decided to train to become a campus minister. A few months later, I met this incredible new college disciple, Elena Garcia–Bengochea. Since we shared the same dreams, and after three years of dating, we were married on December 11, 1976. Now having been married over 30 years, I see what a fantastic blessing it is to have a pure Christian dating relationship as a foundation for marriage. Also, the value of older Christians lovingly discipling our marriage through the years, likewise cannot be underestimated.

Some of my fondest memories of campus ministry certainly include double dates to the Gator football games, retreats in wilderness settings, and even “brothers’ football.” However, the ones that I most value occurred when individual lives were eternally changed, as with my brother who was baptized as a freshman six months after his cancer was diagnosed. Later, he too went into the full–time campus ministry and married an awesome sister at the church. Another vivid memory from my college years were the weekly Bible Talks in my room at the Sigma Chi house. Eight of my fraternity brothers were baptized, many of whom are faithful to this day. I can still envision my first Bible Talk as a full time campus minister at Northeastern Christian College. We had 50 visitors in attendance! A year later, the Spirit sent Elena and me to Eastern Illinois University. Starting with a handful of students, in three years God added 300 baptisms to our number. In fact, in one dorm located directly behind our church building, Carmen Hall, we had 45 disciples!

My dream through these early years was to be the campus minister at Harvard University, so the gospel could reach some of the brightest and most capable young people in America. In 1979, the Lord sent us to Boston, where I served as both the preacher and campus minister for a small congregation of “30 would-be-disciples.” By the end of the 80’s, the Boston Church of Christ had over 1000 college disciples, about 30 of whom were at Harvard! With our dream to evangelize the world in a generation, many of these campus disciples joined mission teams that the Spirit sent from Boston to Chicago (1982), London (1982), New York (1983), Toronto (1985), Johannesburg (1986), Paris (1986), Bombay (1987), Mexico City (1987), Buenos Aires (1987), Hong Kong (1987), Tokyo (1988), Cairo (1988), Los Angeles (1989), Honolulu (1989), Washington DC (1989), Seattle (1989), Bangkok (1989), and Manila (1989). In each city, from the very first day of the planting, our goal was to establish dynamic campus ministries that as in Ephesus, would spread throughout the entire region.

The City of Angels Church began on May 6, 2007. The Spirit sent 42 disciples from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles. During this short time, campus ministries have been established at UCLA, USC, Santa Monica College, Fullerton College, LA City College, Musicians Institute, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge. The Lord has poured out His blessings not only on the campuses, but upon all ages, races and social economic groups. In our first five months, God has added to our number 33 baptisms, 37 restorations and 52 placing membership! Victor and Aurora Gonzalez spearhead our efforts for the Lord on the Los Angeles campuses. They are assisted by the Comisfords, the Bartholomews, Mike Underhill and Rachel Bond. If you are visiting for the first time, we have been praying that the Spirit will move your heart through His Word and the love of the disciples to join our church family. Perhaps today you will sense that God can radically change your life, and with this new purpose you can arm–in–arm with us and disciples everywhere, change the world!

Welcome to Campus Day for the City of Angels International Christian Church! And to God be the glory!