You may have heard it on the news. You may have heard about it from others.Yes, it's true: This week, the UTSA campus organization "The Atheist Agenda" is indeed running their "smut for smut" campaign in which they encourage students to trade in one form of smut (from their perspective) for another form of smut. Specifically-they are encouraging students to turn in Bibles in exchange for pornography.
It is heartbreaking. It is also a snapshot of the "New Atheism" that is springing up in America-aggressive and confrontational. It outrages the senses of Christians. And the Atheist Agenda does this solely for this purpose: To get under the skin of Christians and to provoke an angry response so they can point at screaming Christians and say to their peers: "See-they are angry, self-righteous, judgmental people." The last time they had this campaign, tensions were quite high on our campus. This year the tensions are exceptionally high. I do not know what to expect this week.
As you can imagine-emotions are high this week on our campus. As students saw the posters for the campaign last week, many were upset, offended, angry.
Groups have been forming in response. Some groups are addressing the administration, others are forming to establish a 'counter movement' to 'fight back.' Some groups are starting prayer groups. Others are planning protests. Tensions are indeed high.
I've never seen a person won to Christ through legislation. If legislation could change the human heart, then we could be saved by keeping the Mosaic Law. Do I hope they change school policy when it comes to this matter-yes. However, even if the policy is changed, hearts are not changed.
I've never seen a person won to Christ through anger or arguing. All that is accomplished when spiritual forces are addressed in fleshly means is the further calcification of the position of the person outside of Christ.
And, I've never seen prayer as political or protest rally anywhere in Scripture, nor have I seen it change the hearts of lost humanity.
I am blessed by the students in BSM. They are intentionally missional. We have students investing their lives and relationships with Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindu's. We have students intentionally befriending the lost, praying for them, investing in them and God is using our students to profoundly impact lost humanity.
This past week, I challenged our students to re-consider Christ's words on ridicule, opposition, even persecution and what it means to take up our crosses and follow Jesus, to share in His sufferings, to pray with fervency on our faces, to intercede and engage in spiritual warfare. Our enemy is not flesh and blood. We too, apart from the Grace of God and the Redeeming Blood of Christ were lost once-just as the Atheists are now. We are praying for our campus, for other followers of Christ and yes, even for the Atheists.
I share this story with you to encourage to you please pray for our campus. At the same time, I share it with you because this is a snapshot of what is to come. We are now a land of many gods and no God. My heart breaks when I consider how much of our attention is spent on ourselves while we are surrounded by lost and broken humanity.
So please pray for us--and please continue to read (following two entries). There is GOOD news to report! Please read prayerfully. The enemy is at work, but our GOD reigns and HE is working in powerful ways!
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