Jack Jezreel on Kingdom of God

Today marked the final day of a leadership conference in Colorado Springs on launching movements in the Midwest.  Jack Jezreel gave our group of Campus Crusade for Christ local directors a lot to think about.  If you haven't heard Jack present on God's justice for the hopeless and our response, you're missing a provocative paradigm-shifting experience. 

Jack, a layman in the Catholic church, has helped thousands of Catholics and evangelicals understand what salvation (in the fullest sense of the word) is really all about.  You can learn more about him and his organization of Just Faith at www.justfaith.org.

Mexico City Makes Top 10 World Cities

The Lonely Planet just released its latest travel guide, and Mexico City made the list for the world's top 10 cities.  Congratulations Distrito Federal!

Others that made the list:

• Antwerp
• Beirut
• Chicago
• Glasgow
• Lisbon
• Sau Paulo
• Shanghai
• Warsaw
• Zurich

Slap Me in the Face if This Ain't Clear

So I'm a little disgusted. The people who know me best know I have a passion for justice. If I see a bridge out and people drowning in the river, I not only want to pull the people out, but also to fix the darn bridge. And if I find the guy who knocked the bridge out, I'm going to ask him very kindly to face the consequences of his actions.

With our current financial crisis, a lot of people are in the river. And boy I'd like to have a talk with the smart folks that knocked this bridge out.



Inevitable Disclaimer: This isn't a political blog. I'm not espousing Republican jargon here. Let's just analyze the facts, and at the end of the day, hold everyone accountable (and check their pocketbooks in the process).

Money Talks: McDonald's Changes Stance

“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.” - Abraham Lincoln

The American Family Association boycott of McDonald's has shown the power that Christians have to hold corporate America accountable. In a recent e-mail to McDonald’s franchised owners, the company said, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.” I'd call that a victory for values.

A friend asked me the other day, "Where do we draw the line when holding unbelievers accountable?" I thought it was a great question.

As Scripture shows, only through Christ do we have the power to overcome sin. To hold unbelievers to the same standard as believers is not wise, nor plausible. But does the same hold true for businesses and organizations?

No. In fact, I believe it falls within the duty of a Christ-follower to help these entities uphold moral values, not destroy them. We've seen a great example in the recent financial crisis of what happens when we turn a blind eye to moral degradation in corporations.

If every believer made a conscious effort to support only businesses that blessed our society, how many more of them would find it sensible to change their stance?

New Movement Launch!

Our new team of interns saw their first movement launched this past Friday on a medical campus (hence the lab coats, not a new trend in Mexican fashion). Mandy Francis and Michelle Miller followed up with a contact we had from last year. That contact introduced them to another classmate, who in turn told them about another believer. After pulling four people together over the course of several weeks, they arrived at the launch point.

Upon hearing their story, I invited myself to campus with them. Daniela, one of our young Mexican leaders from another campus, also accompanied us to experience a launch for herself.

By God's good timing, I had just finished a new tool affectionately called, "The Movement Launcher" (credit to the Wiekamps for the ingenious concept). After working on the tool for several months, I was more than ready to test it out with some new students. Michelle and Mandy did an outstanding job leading the students through the booklet. Consisting mostly of Scripture verses, the Launcher walks them through the core of a movement: commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. As we came to the point of decision, the students made a commitment to one another to launch into the great unknown.

The ladies will meet with these four sophomores over the next few weeks to encourage them in this new effort. We're also pursuing a local pastor to give support to this group.

The Movement Launcher should be available for download within the next few weeks.

Way to go Michelle and Mandy!!

(picture on right: Ana (front) comes from a Christian family. David was led to Christ by one of her family members just 9 months ago.)

Christmas Conference Challenge

For all you young folks heading to Denver in January, this just came out for you. If you don't give it a shot for the cash, do it just to help people come and encounter Christ.

We’re asking YOU, the students, to make your own promo video for DCC '09. Get creative and add your own spin to your video!

The producer(s) of the winning video will receive $250 CASH!!!!!!!

Video Contest Rules:

1. Your video must contain a DCC related message. Entry must contain at least one clearly stated message regarding DCC, what it is, why people should go, what happens there, etc.

2. Be sure to include conference details and the website: www.goDCC.com.

3. Your video must be less than 2 minutes in length.

4. Do NOT use copywritten video or music clips.

5. YOUR VIDEO MUST BE POSTED on YouTube.com by NOON, Monday, November 10th (however if your video is completed earlier you can post it earlier to gain YouTube views).

6. Also, send the YouTube embedded URL to: DCCvideocontest@gmail.com by NOON, Monday, November 10th.


The DCC Marketing team will judge entries based on the following criteria:

1. DCC MESSAGE and ADHERENCE TO CONTEST RULES (25%)

2. CREATIVITY & QUALITY (25%)

3. POPULARITY (50%): Entries submitted via YouTube.com should be forwarded to friends and family to accumulate “views” thus increasing the video’s popularity on the World Wide Web. The number of “views” the entry receives will be very significant in the judging process. Use whatever means necessary to get as many people on as many campuses to watch your video.

Disclaimer: Entries that contain any inappropriate language or material will be automatically discarded from the contest.

Winners will be announced on Thursday, December 11th, 2008.

Questions? E-mail: DCCvideocontest@gmail.com

Francis Chan in Mexico City

I became a Francis Chan fan after spending the weekend hosting him and his daughter here in Mexico City. He began to win me over sharing how his church is reaching out to their community and coming alongside other ministries to meet the needs of the poor and the homeless.

After browsing through a few of his websites today, I thought I'd share some with you all. Below is a great video from his site www.juststopandthink.com.



I was also converted as a Rachel Chan fan - probably the sharpest 12-year-old I've ever met. Here is her acting debut, starring as Francis.




Click here for some great shots of the Passion event in Mexico City!!!

Our Common Language

Cindy set down her glass of liquor on the bar and said, "How can I help? Do you take donations?" I struck up a conversation with Cindy at the bar of the hotel where the Passion staff were staying. I had just mentioned a few of our core focuses, including eradicating extreme poverty and caring for the street kids of Mexico City.

I soon learned that Cindy didn't care that much for religion, but she does love her kids, and her heart hurts for the underprivileged children of Mexico. She insisted on helping us in some way, and that sentiment continued, even as we talked about Christ.

Language seems like such a simple distinction between cultures, but the gap created by it is a big one. (This seems off topic, but hang with me.) I've learned this time and again while living in Mexico. Another great lesson came at the Passion event this past weekend. Although every song had its equivalent meaning spelled out in Spanish (below the English lyrics), you could see and feel a marked difference when Chris Tomlin would sing a few lines in Spanish. You could sense their hearts engage.

Cindy exhibited this same response. We weren't speaking different languages linguistically, but we came from different cultures. Beyond the fact that she's Canadian, we each had our own culture of spiritual background. I could've talked about our commitment to helping people have a relationship with Jesus all night long. That would've fallen on deaf ears. But the minute I mentioned my passion to bless the children of the city, she started to sing with me. And you have to love her very first comment: "How can I help?"

Wouldn't you like to hear that more from nonbelievers in your community? If we want them to listen to what matters most to us, namely Christ, we better learn how to sing in their language first.

Mexico City: Passion Ignites

Nearly 8,000 people rocked the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City this past weekend, as the crew from Passion helped college students experience the transforming grace of Jesus.

Our journey with Passion began over a year ago when I made a phone call to their offices in Atlanta, Georgia after hearing about their world tour. It just so happened that the woman answering the phone, Gina Shaw, would coordinate the planning team for the Mexico City event. That simple call eventually lead to dozens of wonderful relationships as we worked together to see the world's second largest city experience a spiritual awakening.

Although short of the 18,000 expected this weekend (Passion actually distributed over 20,000 tickets), the crowd gained momentum throughout the two-day event and finished with an electric atmosphere last night. Suffice it to say that the right people made it.

Thousands worshiped the King, basked in his goodness and grace, and expressed their desire to move forward in faith to impact their campuses and their city. You can hear their response in the video below as Louie Giglio spoke to them.



We will hold a follow-up training meeting next Saturday to help students immediately put their passion into action.

Give Life to Our Troops

Our men and women are still fighting for freedom and American security over there. You can't go visit, but you can send the Word of God and a source of encouragement with them. Check it out.

Passion Mexico City!

Only two days remain before 18,000 young people will crowd into El Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City for the Passion World Tour. Over a year ago, I began a relationship with Passion that has enabled us to help them with this event, and at the same time, search for hundreds of students that will return to their campuses and launch Christ-centered movements.

The Passion event will start on Friday evening and run through Saturday evening. We will use a long lunch break on Saturday to cast vision to interested leaders in how they can reach their campuses for Christ. Would you join us in praying that God will ignite the hearts of hundreds of students and Christ’s love will compel them to live out a commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission on their university campuses?

Saturday of the following week, we will gather these leaders together to train them in starting Christ-centered movements. We have over 50 movements in the city right now, but this event could help propel us over 100 very quickly. The day when we all 1,000,000 college students in the city will know someone who truly follows Christ draws closer.

José, one of our sharp grads, led a training time yesterday for students that will wear t-shirts at the event and help answer questions about movement-launching on campus.