Starting in H-Town

Hey guys,

Well, God provided in amazing ways, and $12,000 was raised in the 36 hours before RUF stuff started. Wow. I got the call from Clif that I was approved to move to campus only two hours before the first RUF leadership meeting. It's good I was going to a campus not far from where I was staying!

My new contact info is:

832.656.1548
3400 Edloe St. #331
Houston, TX 77027

I am only two blocks from Lakewood Church, which I hope to attend, if just out of morbid curiosity. It recently moved to the Compaq Center -- yes, a basketball arena -- and has grown to the tens of thousands under its now-famous pastor Joel Osteen, author of Your Best Life Now.

The Rice campus is absolutely beautiful. The school administration is very helpful, and we've had no trouble getting me an ID, parking pass, etc. Wow! I've met the leaders of the other major campus ministries, and I'm glad to say that they all seem like great ministries. I couldn't say that at UT. I spent last week working on finding potential freshmen RUFers, and I must admit that the dynamics of working at a school of 2500 people (Rice) are very different from those at a school of 60,000 people (UT). It is certainly a culture shock for me!

We are also starting to do some RUF stuff at the University of Houston, a primarily commuter school of about 33,000. With that many students, though, there are plenty on campus or near campus, and so there is a lot of potential. We hope to get recognized as a student organization soon, and will be starting our UH Bible study tonight. Soon it may become a full-fledged RUF.

I will be starting a directed discussion called "The Deuce." (I think the name refers to some Rice thing...) The idea is to engage in applied apologetics by having topics of a semi-apologetic nature and holding open forms in which to discuss them. Last year Pat did stuff like "Are the Gospels reliable witnesses to Jesus' life?" and "What does God think of the [Presidential] election results?" Any topic suggestions you guys could make would be great. We're trying to do stuff that isn't extremely common (e.g., evolution vs. creation), but still stuff that can be relevant in getting conversations about Christianity started.

I had a rude awakening recently because I attended a "Singles" Bible study. I'm no longer in college and I'm not allowed in the married peoples' groups, so I'm stuck with the "Singles." Now, I love twenty-somethings just like me, but it's a bit disheartening to be grouped with the "Singles." Translation: "Christian dating service for people too inept to get dates elsewhere." Man, that hurts. But, hey, it's true. And maybe I'll have a date soon. ;-)

One of my roommates still hasn't moved in (after two and a half weeks!), but the other, Bob, is a good friend from growing up. We buy fine beers at Central Market and split them, which (obviously) cuts the cost in half. Ahh. His dog, Gary, is totally crazy, and we love playing with him. We also like watching Arrested Development, which is a brilliant show.

I think that's everything I could possibly say.