Lately I have realized how much vision is important for the normal Christian life. Last semester I had an appointment with one of the brothers serving on the campus and another fellow student. We spent the whole semester in the book of Daniel. I was thoroughly impressed with the person of Daniel. During his time, the children of Israel were in a degraded situation while they were captive in Babylon. Despite such a discouraging scene, there is Daniel, a man whose heart was set on God, the people of God, and the city of God (Dan. 6:10). Since Daniel had such a heart for God he was able to see the great human image, which is the vision of the totality of human government. The book of Daniel thoroughly shows where this image is heading and unfolds God's eternal plan in the midst of the outward situations.

Just like Daniel, I have been in certain situations where I felt I was in "captivity" and the whole scene and surroundings in my life felt discouraging. Regardless of the outward situation and the circumstances that we go through, there are always fellow believers that we can pursue the Lord with out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). This is my testimony with Christians on Campus. This Christian group affords the perfect opportunity to gain the Lord with other believers in the midst of our situations by home meetings, bible studies, and appointments throughout the week. There is also an outing and a conference each semester. These times gave me the opportunity to leave everything behind and have a time set apart wholly for the Lord. Through all of these different ways of pursuing the Lord during each semester, I can testify that a vision of God's eternal economy has been imparted into me which has enabled me to enjoy the Lord through my first two college years.

RICHARD STEEN/Senior/EE

The Christians on campus have been a safeguard and preservation for me in my college experience. As college students who are maybe on our own for the first time and seeking the meaning of our life, or what we will do with our life, surely having a safeguard with other believers is such a blessing from the Lord.

The brothers and sisters who pursue the Lord and enjoy Him in His word have always been so encouraging toward me and never judgmental toward me in any way. It's as if they are blind toward all my imperfections and only care that I may know Jesus. Because of their care solely for the person of Christ, there is oneness here that I have never experienced anywhere. I really feel at home and am so thankful the Lord has brought me to a group where Christ is spoken, exalted, and magnified.

I met the Lord in a real way my senior year of high school. I was pondering many things concerning the existence of man, the meaning of human life, and faith. This word faith really gave me some trouble in 2003. But gradually as I began to hear more and more about this wonderful person, Jesus Christ, somehow I believed in Him and received Him! I surely had some far out concepts and questions, but the brothers and sisters were so gentle with me, like a nursing mother and an exhorting father. They just cared for me as a human being and as a spiritual being. Lord, thank You for Christians on the campus, and thank You for preserving me from many of the other things I could be doing, that would not be so beneficial, by planting me and rooting me with other believers who just love You. I love You Lord Jesus.

JAMES SMITH/Junior/Biology

One day as I was driving to school this semester, a spiritual song came to me titled "Draw me dear Lord". This song was one that some dear brothers and sisters and I had enjoyed in one of the local weekly Christians on Campus home meetings held close to the UTD campus.

This song caught my attention because of the the following stanzas:

'Draw me dear Lord,
draw me today,
from everything else, dear Lord,
draw me away.....
but Lord I want to set my heart
and Lord I want to stay with you
because only when You are near to me
is everything okay.....

As I was enjoying it again, I began to pray it to the Lord Jesus Christ and 1 Corinthians 14:15 came to mind. In this verse we see that when we sing with the spirit we will also sing with the mind.

Then, I recalled reading about Mary and her meeting with Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1 verses 41-56. Specifically, verse 46 stood out to me. Here Mary says, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior...' My enjoyment from this passage comes from the fact that Mary was drawn out from everything else and her spirit and heart were set only on the Lord. I also enjoyed that her praise to God issued from her spirit and was expressed through her soul. Here her spirit was filled with joy in God our Savior, and her soul manifested that joy for the magnifying of the Lord.

Therefore, this sweet experience of singing with the brothers and sisters during home meetings made me realize that when we exult (1 Corinthians 12:3) and sing with our spirit and with our mind (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Ephesians 4:23) we are actually enjoying and being one with our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45b; 1 Corinthians 6:17) who is our life (Colossians 3:4).

DANNY ZEPEDA/Graduate Student/Chemistry