Chris Bean

As a campus minister with the CCO and Church of the Nazarene here at the University of Cincinnati, one of my hopes is to see students plug into a healthy church during their collegiate pursuits. In my own college experience, a small group of 18 to 20-something’s and a vibrant church played a major part in my spiritual journey and subsequent calling to give God every square inch of my life.

One of the churches I’ll be encouraging students to plug into is University Christian Church on the southwest corner of campus. The church is located on the corner of Rohs Street and McMillan and is within walking distance of any spot on campus.

This morning was my first opportunity to attend a worship gathering there and I was glad to connect with a couple of students. In my opinion, the display of genuine hospitality, no-frills style of worship,  and solid teaching makes UCC an attractive spiritual community for students as well as families and individuals in the surrounding area.

Pastor Troy Jackson shared the introductory message on the book of Colossians today and used a great illustration from the world of mac-nology. One of the ideas which Apple has recently branded into our consumer psyches is that there’s an “app” for everything. Abbreviated from the word ‘application’ but also a play on words from ‘Apple’…there are now thousands of ‘apps’ which iphone users (especially) can dowload to do anything from finding nearby restaurants to leveling a piece of art on the wall.

In similar fashion, we often treat Jesus as one of many ‘apps’ which can be useful at particular times in our lives. When encountering a true crisis (death, loss, exam, etc) we pull out the prayer ‘app.’ If a conversation leads in a certain direction, we may dowload the evangelism ‘app’ and take advantage of Jesus for a particular moment in time.  But Jesus is more than ‘app’ for our lives…though his blood on the cross, Jesus in reconciling ALL THINGS to himself and is the supreme organizing principle (operating system) for our lives.

The message was a great challenge to recognize God’s desire for our lives to be completely reconciled in Christ…not just occasionally supplemented by the download-him-when-you-need-him Jesus ‘app!’