It’s hard to believe that there are only 4 weeks left of the school year here in Fresno. For Jennifer and I our time here in Fresno is quickly winding down.

Yet our schedule shows no signs of letting up until we actually move to Davis at the end of the summer. Here’s a brief look at our upcoming itenerary:

April 17-19: Vintage Days at Fresno State University. Vintage Days is a crafts fair. Campus Crusade and other student groups are allowed to sell food at the event. This is our main fundraising event for the ministry.

April 24-25: Spring Retreat

April 30th: move out of our apartment here in Fresno; put our stuff in storage.

May 3-8: Regional Conference in Temecula

May 16th: fly to South Carolina for a Campus Crusade for Christ Summer Project. Also, receive training for new job positions in Davis.

July 16th: Summer Project ends; fly back to California.

August: Move to Davis

September: School Starts

Last week, Jennifer and I spent our Spring Break in Davis looking for an apartment for next year. It was fun for us to get acquainted with the town and the University. However, housing in Davis is hard to come by. It seems like everywhere we went was already full for the fall.

Students make up half the population in the town of Davis and many students start reserving apartments for the fall as early as January.

We put our name on the waiting list at two different complexes and Lord willing, we’ll be able to get into an apartment sometime in August.

The next several months will be crazy for us. We definitely need your prayers for us. Please pray for safe travel, finding an apartment, and getting used to our new job in Davis.

Pray also that the Lord would provide the additional funds we will need to live in Davis. Our housing costs in Davis will increase by about 60%.

UC Davis Wish List

Starting a new ministry isn’t easy. Not only do we need to build up our student base, but we also need to build up our base of ministry materials. There are a lot of different materials that we will need in order to get off to a successful start. We’ll need written materials like Bibles, tracts and other literature, as well as physical materials like a table, plastic brochure holders, and an overhead projector. For a complete list of our ministry “wish list” check out our website at: http://www.jps.net/davejen/registry.htm

At the Wish List Registry Site you can see exactly what materials and supplies we'll need to get started. You can "register" to donate a gift to help the ministry get started. Think of it as a "Ministry Shower". Your help is appreciated. To go to the registry click here...

Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

Remember the old game where several different people all claim to be the same person. After each person gives several different statements the contestant is supposed to guess which one is the “real” person. The host would then say “Will the real John Doe please stand up.” The audience then gets to see which of the panel members is the real person and which ones are fake.

Believe it or not, on the campus we’re playing a game similar to that old TV show. This game however isn’t played in front of a TV audience. Instead, it’s played within the minds of students.

You see, everyone has a different idea of who Jesus is, and everyone’s idea is different. Common sense and logic tells us that they all can’t be right.

As an example, this semester, I’ve encountered several different students who have vastly different ideas about the identity of Jesus. Here are a few:

Student 1: Jesus is the Son of God the Father. He was once a man like you and I are and by living a life of obedience, he became a god.

Student 2: Jesus is the Son of God, but He is not God Himself. He is a separate being altogether.

Student 3: Jesus is a prophet, a good man sent from God.

Student 4: Jesus was just a man. He is not the Messiah, but was merely a religious leader.

Can you guess what religious persuasions these students each come from?

Some people may wonder what the big deal is. “Who cares what your view of Jesus is”, some may say. The response is that it does matter. It matters a lot.

The identity of Jesus has far reaching implications. Though the aforementioned descriptions are all slightly different, they do have one thing in common. They all deny the deity of Jesus Christ; they deny that Jesus is God.

Why does it matter if one believes that Jesus is God? It matters because only God can pay for sin.

I like to use this illustration with students with whom I share the gospel.

Imagine that you owe a trillion dollar debt to someone. The person is demanding payment, but you don’t have the money.

A good friend comes along, and after you share your dilemma, they agree to bail you out. So your friend whips out his checkbook and writes a check to you for $1 trillion. He gives you the check as a free gift.

You’re feeling pretty good. But there’s a problem. Your friend, though well-meaning, doesn’t have $1 trillion. The check isn’t any good.

You see the only person who can pay a debt on your behalf is someone who has no debt.

Now the debt is sin. And the person we owe the debt to is God. All of us have a sin debt we owe to God. The only person who can pay our debt is someone who has no sin of their own. And if they are going to pay everyone’s debt, they not only have to be debt free (sinless) but they have to have an infinite amount of resources (righteousness). By definition, the only person who is both sinless and infinitely righteous is God. Only God can actually pay the debt we owe.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He was God. That is significant to Christians because it proves that Jesus’ death actually pays for sin. Using our analogy, it’s like the check cleared the bank, proving that there was money in the account to pay the debt.

If Jesus isn’t God, He cannot pay for our sin. That is why our view of Jesus is extremely important and that’s why we as Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ.