The latest edition of the Collegiate Chronicles has just been published!  You can snag the online version right here.  Check it out!  Just click the picture to read it all.

I often find myself looking for something that will make be feel better.  It might be a bag of chips or a cup of coffee.  It might be a TV show or movie.  In small doses they’re great.  There’s nothing like a Coke Zero and a great comedy to make you feel a little better after a tough week, but for most of us it’s more than a weekly experience.

It seems like more and more we’re looking for an escape from our lives.  We want to lose ourselves in the lives of characters on our flat screens and just be happy.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Happiness can be a great thing, but not when it prevents us from becoming the people we were designed to be.

 ⁴ “In those coming days,”
says the LORD,
“the people of Israel will return home
together with the people of Judah.
They will come weeping
and seeking the LORD their God.
⁵ They will ask the way to Jerusalem^[c]
and will start back home again.
They will bind themselves to the LORD
with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.

Jeremiah 50:4-5 (NLT)

In the words above, the prophet Jeremiah is looking forward to a better day for exiled Israel.  It’s a sorrowful homecoming.  They return to Jerusalem and their God weeping, remembering what they forfeited as a result of their sin.  It’s their sorrow that moves them into bind themselves eternally to the Lord.  Their sight is blurred with tears, but they’re seeing more clearly then ever before.  Weeping will bring them back to their lost source of goodness.

Paul speaks of the same thing when he says to the Corinthians, “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.” Sorrow resulting in salvation.  It’s the good gift that God wants to bring to us, but are we ready to receive it?

This Lent, I’m feeling the need to invite godly sorrow into my life. I’m praying the prayer of the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  I realize that’s impossible if I’m constantly reaching for something that will make me happy, so I’ve decided to give up my standard go-to: Netflix and Hulu.  Instead of grabbing the remote to spend an hour or two escaping my problems, I want to devote that time to introspection, prayer, repentance and renewal.  I’m going to resist the urge to be entertained open myself up to be enriched.  It won’t be a Happy Lent, but the thought of salvation infiltrating more of my life makes me believe it will be a good one.

The blogathon is on for the next 3 days and it’s definitely worth a look.  There are 4 posts up already from the likes of Tim Elmore, president of Growing Leaders, Barbara Miller, director of spiritual life @ Biola University and there’s even one from me.  I’m humbled to be included in this group and I’m looking forward to being a part of the conversation that it facilitates.  Take a look and be sure to add your voice.

I asked Bethany, one of our small group leader to put together a “What is XA” video to kick off the year.  She partnered up with Abby, our group secretary and amateur photographer and they came up with this:

Yeah, you could call that talent.  Great job Bethany, Abby and all our featured XA leaders!  I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

Thanks Bernadine for the kind words.  Such an honor to be used by God in your life.  Your post made my day!

110 ft above the Quad on a carnival slide @ an AU Welcome Week Party

AU Year number 13 for the Godzwas is off and running! Freshmen arrived on campus last Saturday and we’ve been there to welcome them morning, noon & night. This year we scheduled a huge slate of activities from move-in to glow-in-the-dark lawn games and they’ve been a huge hit. We’ve been in contact with a record number of freshmen and are hearing some great buzz around campus about Chi Alpha. In fact, this has probably been Chi Alpha’s best opening week yet. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. An all-in commitment. From staff to student leaders everyone has shown up. The majority of our small group leaders arrived before the freshmen to pray, plan, and prepare for the new year. When our events kicked off, they’ve been there to pull them off, but more importantly, they’ve been there to make connections with new students. AUXA leaders have been amazing!

2. Visibility. Our new t-shirts, designed by GMU XA staffer, Dan Choe incredibly cool! Our leaders snapped them up quick. Because we had an enormous inventory of old t-shirts (some dating back 6 years) we gave them a special offer, buy a new shirt, get a retro shirt for free. The result was XA shirts everywhere! I’ve overheard several conversations on campus about how Chi Alpha seems to be all over the place.  Thanks to our new CMIT Blane Young, we’ve also ramped up our social media and web visibility.  Check out and like our new AU Chi Alpha Facebook page and help us out!

3. Significant connections. In years past, many of the relationships that were started during our opening week seemed to fade when classes started. This year we focused on getting students in small groups and I think it’s going to make a huge difference. As we meet to discuss follow-up not only are most new students known, but they’ve also plugged into a small group. That will translate good welcome week events into a transformational semester through focused discipleship–awesome.

4. The Holy Spirit. Every morning our leadership team has gathered to worship and seek God on behalf of the students we’re trying to reach. His power has been evident in our focused mission, effectiveness in building relationship, and our joy while serving long hours.

To sum in all up, it’s been an amazing week! Please keep praying for us as we continue to reach out to the students God is passionately pursuing. I know He has some great things in store for them.