Recent Campus Activities

I have had a busy couple of weeks on campus. Most of it has been really great. Some of it I could have done without.

April 4th - my 30th birthday

In adding insult to injury, not only did I turn 30, but I got the flu. I told my sister that if 30 feels this bad I can't imagine what 40 is going be like.

April 5th

Campus Crusade co-hosted a campus wide Easter service with CSF (one of the local campus ministries here at UK). It was a great event. The room was packed with college students. The Director of CSF and I spoke at the meeting. I shared about the Offense of the Cross and he shared about the Re-creation of the Resurrection.

April 8th
I led Easter Chapel for the University of Tennessee Baseball team. They were in town for a weekend series with UK (UT took the series 2-1, go Vols!). I regaled them with my Little League stories. My coaches in Little League took one look at me and knew I had the "right" stuff...the deep right field stuff. "Friederichsen, get out there and hug that foul line!" I think all my coaches just hoped and prayed that no one would hit the ball my way.

I also shared with the UT guys about the truth of the cross and the hope of the resurrection. I explained that on the cross Christ experienced physical pain beyond belief. But the most excrutiating thing he felt was the full wrath of God for my sins. He took my death on himself, but death is not the end because Easter morning is here! Because of Easter I can know that Jesus is victorious over death.

The team gave me a game ball they had all autographed. It's one of the coolest things I've gotten since I have been on staff.

April 10

I was the keynote speaker for a Greek Prayer Breakfast. I shared with around 175 Greek students about the importance of worldviews. A worldview is the lense through which you view the world. It is the grid that everything in life is filtered through before you make a decision about it. We all have a worldview...and often Christians have a worldview that is incompatible with Christianity. I explained the difference between the two dominant worldviews on the college campus: Secular Humanism and Christian Theism. When it comes to worldviews, everyone must answer three basic questions. Why am I here? What is wrong with the world? How do we fix it? Secular Humanism says, "I am the product of random chance with no purpose. I should consume and enjoy. The problems of the world are that I do not have the power to consume and enjoy all that I want. The solution is education and government." The Christian Theist's answer to those questions is summed up in Colossians 1:15-23. The Christian Theist responds by saying, "I am created in the image of God. I am the crowning glory of His creation. There is inherent worth and value in every person, regardless of age, race, gender, or ability. We are here to glorify God. The problem of the world is sin and hostility to God. The answer is the cross of Christ and His resurrection."

April 17

Our ministry hosted a Prayer Vigil on Tuesday night to pray for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. I spoke briefly to the 250 students gathered about the hope of the Gospel. My main text was from Habbakuk 1:2-5 and 3:17-19. In the midst of tragedy there is hope that the Lord is at work. He is doing things that are beyond our comprehension. But even though His plans are beyond our comprehension doesn't mean that God cannot understand our suffering. He understands suffering and injustice because experienced suffering and injustice on the Cross. Through the Cross, Jesus Christ brings hope to all who will call on Him. This is a good message to come out of an incomprehensible situation.

You can find more info about the Virginia Tech Campus Crusade and UK Campus Crusade response to this situation at www.ukcru.blogspot.com.