Chi Alpha @ Stanford

I received this email from a friend today: I wanted to let you know about a prayer walk through the campus we are doing tomorrow at 1:00 starting at the gates of the University at Palm Drive. We will be meeting at the CalTrans parking lot at Alma and University. We have students, faculty and staff from both the university and hospital coming and the leader of the Evangelical Youth movement in Argentina will be coming along with Ray Llovio who is on staff with Harvest Evangelism.

Sounds good–so Saturday, March 1st at 1pm be at the gates of the university!

God made each of us unique, and He therefore expects each of us to make a unique
contribution in His service.

Consider: Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl,
it works quitx wxll xxcxpt for onx kxy. Xvxn though thxrx arx 46 kxys that work
wxll xnough, just onx not working makxs all thx diffxrxncx in lxgibility, corrxctnxss,
and xffxctivxnxss. Somxtimxs it sxxms that our group is somxwhat likx my typxwritxr,
not all thx kxys function propxrly. You think, "I am only onx pxrson. Thxy
don’t nxxd mx. I can slack and it won’t makx much diffxrxncx." But, you
sxx, Christ has madx us diffxrxntly. Xach of us is uniqux, and xach of us is
rxquirxd. It is writtxn, "God has arrangxd thx parts in thx Body, xvxry
onx of thxm, just as Hx wantxd thxm to bx." And also, "Thx wholx body,
joinxd and hxld togxthxr by xvxry supporting ligamxnt, grows and builds itsxlf
up in lovx as xach part doxs its work." So thx nxxt timx you think you
arx only onx pxrson and that your xffort is not nxxdxd, rxmxmbxr my old typxwritxr
and say to yoursxlf, "I am a kxy pxrson madx by God for a purposx and am
nxxdxd vxry much."

This week we’ll talk about exactly how "You Were Shaped To Serve
God" and how we all work together to do God’s will.

Please join us this Tuesday from 8:00-9:30 p.m. in room
300-300. It’s located between Memorial Church and the Clock Tower.

Just a reminder that William Lane Craig will be speaking tomorrow night (Saturday Feb 22) on “The Historicity of the Resurrection.” (7pm in TC Sequoia Lecture Hall 200).

He spoke tonight at Berkeley on “The Existence of God” and packed Wheeler Auditorium out–by my estimate at least 1,500 students showed up for a facility that could accomodate around 750.

The moral: be sure to arrive early!

I urge you to invite any friends who are wrestling with making or maintaining a commitment to Jesus–His resurrection is the crux of the matter, and Dr. Craig is one of the most effective explainers of the Christian faith on the planet.

From his bio: Dr. William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, CA. With two doctorates - one in philosophy under the eminent philosopher of religion John Hick and one in theology under arguably the greatest living German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg - Dr. Craig is widely considered to be a leading figure in the philosophy of religion and the premier evangelical Christian apologist. He has participated in dozens of debates on the existence of God, the foundations of morality, and the contentious claim that salvation is in Christ alone. Furthermore, Dr. Craig has over 175 publications appearing in the best academic and top popular journals and presses. His diverse research interests include the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of time, and New Testament studies. He is the current president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the Philosophy of Time Society.

Chi Alpha is one of many Christian organizations on campus co-sponsoring this event: the full list is Asian Baptist Student Koinonia, Cardinal Life, Campus Crusade, Chinese Christian Fellowship, Chi Alpha, Fellowship in Christ, Harvest, InterVarsity, IVGrad, ReJOYce, and United In Christ.

Pei Ling won our “find the typo in the Spring Retreat brochure” contest, and she gets to go for free!

For the rest of you, Spring Retreat will cost $71.

I’ll make a more extensive posting soon, but here’s the essential info.

When: April 11-13
Where: Jenness Park (registration includes all that wall climbing stuff)
Who: Chi Alphans from around Nor Cal and Nevada
What: challlenging preaching, exuberant worship, and mucho fun!

Don’t forget the Power Evangelism seminar this weekend:

Power Evangelism: Learning to Hear God’s Voice and Depend on His Spirit and Gifts for Evangelism

A seminar by Dr. Gary Greig & Catherine Greig
Saturday, Feb 15
Ricker Dining Hall
seminar begins at 7pm

I’ve created a simple tool to help you invite your friends to Chi Alpha.
It’s a small Flash file (<100k) you can email to your friends.

Right click on this link to download it: check_out_xa.swf

1) Email it to one person at a time–if you send it to everyone you know
they’ll assume it’s junk mail (and they’ll be right).

2) Talk to the person about Chi Alpha first. Something like this is much
better as a reminder than as an initial exposure.

3) Use something like this for the body of the message (but be sure to put it in your own words):

Hey–how’s it going? Keeping on top of all your classes?

Come as my guest this Tuesday at 8–it would be the highlight of my week!

Please give me some feedback–I want to make this useful for you! I
tried to make it cool yet keep it small, so there’s no jazzy animation or
anything. If you think it should be a little larger and have some whiz-bang
stuff, let me know. If it’s already too big, let me know. Whatever you
think–let me know!

Evolution vs. Atheism: The Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism

Annenberg Auditorium
Thursday, Feb 13
Lecture begins at 7:30pm
Q & A session to follow

A lecture given by Dr. Alvin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame.

Usually thought to be wedded and even mutually-entailing theses, Dr. Plantinga argues that evolution and naturalism exhibit quite the opposite relationship.

Dr. Plantinga is perhaps best known for his work in the field of epistemology, and recent publications include a trilogy on the subject, consisting in Warrant: the Current Debate, Warrant and Proper Function, and Warranted Christian Belief.

The lecture is sponsored jointly by Campus Crusade for Christ and Cornerstone Ministries.

I STRONGLY encourage you to attend if possible. Alvin Plantinga is one of my personal heroes, and I cannot speak highly enough of his contributions to Christian philosophy and the Body of Christ as a whole. Come and bring a friend!

Today there will be a twenty minute prayer vigil in memory of the Columbia astronauts at Stanford Memorial Church at noon (sponsored by the Office for Religious Life).