Great Commission – The Lowedown

A few weeks ago, in my daily Bible reading, I came across a passage in 2 Timothy 4 in which Paul mentions two different disciples (Mark & Demas) who are going in different directions spiritually. I shared my thoughts in a blog post entitled “It’s Not How you Start but How you Finish” which you can read here.

Not long after, I was faced with a real-life example of this blog post when I had the opportunity to meet my long-time friend Mark Loomis for lunch.

Me and my friend Mark Loomis – 35 years later!

I met Mark when I was a student at Cal Poly, Pomona sometime in the previous Millennium. I had just returned from a Cru sponsored Summer Mission Project in South Lake Tahoe where I experienced amazing community, personal and group discipleship as well as in-depth teaching and training in evangelism.

When I returned for school in the fall, I was eager to make my mark as I entered my 5th and final year.

A couple I knew from the church I had grown up in contacted me to tell me that their son Mark was going to be attending Cal Poly as a freshman. They wondered if I would meet with him and show him around. I was looking to start a small group so I saw this as a potential divine opportunity.

I remember meeting Mark outside the upper level of the student union. I introduced myself and we went inside, grabbed a table and talked for a while.

I told Mark about Cru and that I was starting a small group Bible study for guys who were new to Cru and I wanted him to be a part of it. Like me, Mark commuted to school. Also like me, he didn’t know a lot of people because there weren’t a lot of folks from his high school who ended up at Cal Poly. I had relayed to Mark how difficult it was for me my first year in college precisely because I was not connected to anyone and I didn’t know anyone. If I had to do it over, I would’ve gotten involved with Cru right away instead of waiting until the middle of my 4th year.

Mark took me up on the offer to get involved and he joined my small group, which consisted of 4 guys.

Leading that small group was a pivotal turning point in my own spiritual journey. My experience in leading these men, discipling them and training them in evangelism and discipleship skills was the seed that moved me to give my life to full-time ministry.

Though my time with Mark and the other guys was brief (only 1 year), I’ve maintained a connection with each guy over the years.

Old school photo of me and my old Cal Poly small group (ca. 1988) on a group outing with some of the Cru women. Mark is in the center and yes, we both had hair back then, though the writing was already on the wall for me!

When I sat down with Mark for lunch, I was encouraged to hear that he and his family remain steadfast in their commitment to walk with the Lord. Mark has served as an elder, small group leader and mentor, and has been committed to taking the gospel to the world through many various avenues and projects.

Yet I was also discouraged when Mark shared with me that another student we both know had recently abandoned the faith in pursuit of a worldly lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this is a story I encounter far too often. The allure of the world is real and it’s becoming increasingly more challenging to walk with Christ in our post-Christian culture.

Our church is engaged in 30 day campaign called One Life. The idea is that one life can have a tremendous impact in the life of another.

The first week in our home group, the central passage was Matthew 28:18-20, which is commonly known as the Great Commission. The primary command Jesus gives is to “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, hopefully for a lifetime.

This has been our mission, to make disciples, whether with students in the past like Mark, who continues to follow Jesus, or in our current ministry with Young Adults who are trying to find their way in this crazy world in which we live.

Please pray for us to remain steadfast in our own relationships with Christ and pray that we would continue to impact Young Professionals as we seek to heed the Great Commission by making disciples!

Did you know that one of the most frequented internet sites for people wanting to know more about God and Jesus is hosted by Cru?

Since 2002, more than 4 million people have indicated a decision to trust Jesus as a result of visiting one of our evangelistic sites.

Back in February I wrote about how Cru is reaching millions of people through our digital websites everystudent.com and everyperson.com. By utilizing strategic google advertising, literally millions of people from around the world are visiting our sites to learn what it means to trust Jesus for salvation and experience His peace through the adversities of life.

I got involved earlier this year in helping to monitor our Facebook page, which has seen increased interaction as we’ve begun to utilize more advertising on that platform to attract seekers to our site.

A few months ago, Marilyn Adamson, the director of our everystudent.com site sent out a quick e-mail update to let people know how effective the site has been in recent months. I thought you might be encouraged to hear some of the results.

In July, nearly 6 million people visited one of our sites with over 80,000 people indicating a decision for Christ. That’s nearly 2600 people every day making a commitment to Jesus!

Everystudent.com has been translated into more than 40 different languages, giving people from nearly every country in the world an opportunity to access the information on the site in their own language.

Marilyn says, “Many of these people are in India, UK, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, China, Australia…all over the world, actually. Some come via a VPN because they live in difficult countries, under threats to them. Yet, in private, God is leading them to EveryStudent.com, then to himself, and revealing himself to them as they grow.”

It’s exciting to see so many lives being changed and it’s especially encouraging to hear from those whose lives have been impacted.

People like Adarkwah, who says, “I appreciate what you are doing for me and am very grateful. I hope by the end of this lesson, I will be the one to tell people how wonderful God is.”

Nikitha says simply, “Thank you so much…my new life has begun.”

Anne wrote, “Thank you for sharing your sites. I read everything you send and more on your sites. Finding this has opened my understanding of faith, grace, etc. It’s amazing! I mean amazing!! I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

Many of those whose lives have changed by coming to the site and hearing the truth about God and Jesus, are in turn, sharing with others and becoming multiplying disciples.

It’s amazing to me how God uses every avenue at his disposal to reach those who are earnestly seeking him.

The great news is that you can use the site to reach those in your community and sphere of influence as well. To find out how you can make Jesus findable to those around you by utilizing the resources of these websites, go to http://www.everystudent.info. There, you’ll find a wealth of resources that will help you to see the various ways you can actively and passively point people to the site.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership as we seek to make Jesus Findable to Young Adults and the world!