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Christ on Campus

Rev. Mark Jasa: Getting to the Heart of the Matter

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Katie Micilcavage

For 47 years the University Lutheran Chapel has faithfully ministered to students at UCLA—from those who need their faith nourished to those who have no faith at all. And since August 2005, Rev. Mark Jasa has served as pastor there, bringing his unique life experience and apologetics skills to the table, sometimes literally.

In the beginning
Pastor Jasa was born into a Lutheran household and has fond memories of going through Little Visits With God with his parents. However, he was a skeptic at a young age. He recalls believing that everything was finite, that there was no infinite God and he feared, therefore, that perhaps he himself didn’t even truly exist.

In junior high Jasa came to the conclusion that all religions were basically the same, or as he put it, “You need to be good to get the good stuff.” He reasoned, why choose one? So, he chose nothing. By the time high school rolled around, he had developed a keen interest in biology. He felt his teachers clearly cared for him and invested time in him, so he had no reason to doubt what they said. Jasa operated under the assumption that evolution was true and God really wasn’t necessary.

In the back of his mind he recalled hearing a sermon wherein the pastor said, “God loves you in spite of yourself.” And he remembered the words in the liturgy, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves…” (1 John 1:8). But he shoved those things aside and left the church for a time. No one seemed to have any good answers. It wasn’t personal. Not yet.

The turning point
In college at UCLA, this thinking was reinforced. Evolution=fact. Bible=lie. But a fear of death had begun to creep in and take hold. One day he was asked a question by a man named Cliff Knechtle, a Christian apologist who travels from college campus to college campus conversing with skeptics. “Is Hitler bad?” The question haunted Jasa. It dawned on him that of course he would have to say yes, but then that meant, logically, that there had to be a standard—a law. It was a watershed moment for Jasa, who vividly recalls that day when he said aloud, “I believe in God.”

However, it would be some time before the full impact of that truth settled in. He continued to grapple with these matters. There are things that are true. Right and wrong do exist. But how could he prove it? He was on a quest for truth, but not salvation yet.

During his investigations he began to see that Jesus as a Savior was unique. Reading through Isaiah 53, he saw that claim of the Bible began to take shape. Another benchmark: Jesus is God, but not necessarily my savior. In fact, for Jasa it all boiled down to: “Jesus is the one sending me to hell.” Clearly it was not good news yet.

Now it’s personal
Two Lutheran friends of Jasa would often take the time to engage him in many discussions and while he loved the interaction he was not personally convinced. His fear of death had continued to grow over the years. So one fateful day, these two friends took him to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California, where Jasa heard the words that he says changed the course of his life: “The good news is outrageous forgiveness for undeserving sinners.” Jesus’ promises were coming from the mouth of Rev. William Cwirla. “He has an amazing way of telling you that the Gospel is for you,” Jasa explains. Now it was personal. Now it was for Mark Jasa.

At this point Jasa knew that he wanted to be a pastor but he still lacked direction. At the urging of Rev. Cwirla and another pastor, he spent time as a missionary in Japan. He started putting more apologetics pieces together, reading Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics and Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. He wanted to know how to be an effective apologist. He wanted to get to the heart of the matter.

What he began to notice was that in all of the world’s religions, there aren’t promises—only demands. Joseph Smith doesn’t make promises. Mary Eddy Baker doesn’t make promises. Mohammed definitely doesn’t make promises. But Jesus does…over and over and over again.

After Japan, Jasa went to Concordia seminary in St. Louis and served his vicarage at Humboldt State University in California. He recalls an incident after working with a student there, who claimed, “Mark Jasa has convinced me that God exists.” Jasa could only think, “I have failed!” Of course it was gratifying to lead someone to that point but he wanted to be able to clearly communicate the truth of the Good News—the promises. Lutheran attorney Craig Parton explained to him that the Lutheran doctrine of Law and Gospel, as well as Christ’s resurrection, are the keys to effective apologetics. Jasa took this and ran with it.

The harvest is ripe
In August of 2005, Jasa was installed as the pastor at the University Lutheran Chapel at UCLA. It was here where all of those pieces he had been gathering together formed a wonderful portfolio that would be utilized and tested in the most satisfying ways. His ministry there involves two worship services a week, Bible studies, fellowship and three days of evangelism on campus. He also gives lectures on various apologetic-oriented topics. Jasa has gained a reputation for posting unique and sometimes provocative signs, e.g. “Religion is for the weak,” in plain view on his ministry table that prompt people to stop and ask questions…all part of the plan, of course.

Jasa says that his preferred apologetics methods are ones anyone can use. He explains that, for the most part, we can approach apologetics with intellectual arguments or existential arguments (someone’s experiences). He likes to employ either or both, on a case by case basis. For example, talking to someone who feels guilty (existential) may drive that person to know the truth (intellectual). Jasa says we often try to include information/facts that aren’t necessary. He makes it a point to ask himself, “What does he or she need?” Then he leads them to the truth. This is an application of God’s Law and Gospel. He encourages anyone defending the faith not to focus on the existence of God, although it is okay to talk about that with someone if they bring it up. Also, he advises you not to spend hours trying to prove evolution is false. This will take you away from the heart of the matter. Instead, make sure you have your facts straight on the resurrection. He notes that the Josh McDowell book mentioned earlier, as well as John Warwick Montgomery’s book History, Law and Christianity are must reads in this regard.

Jasa says to keep in mind that there are certain things nearly everyone can accept. One of them is, “I have chosen to hurt others and have contributed to the way the world is.” Also, most people are afraid of death, so it is important to bring them back to that point. Finally, it’s okay to concede a point with someone, particularly if it is taking you away from the truth you are leading them toward. For example, if someone tells you the Trinity is a crazy idea, tell them they’re right, but on judgment day what do they think will happen?

“It’s a delight to be able to do what I do—whether I’m in the pulpit proclaiming Christ to our members or talking to atheists and telling them that Jesus is really free. Being a Lutheran is the easiest thing in the whole world because all you have to do is tell people what is true.”

Rev. Mark Jasa can be reached at markjasa@gmail.com You can read more about the LCMS ministry at UCLA at www.ulcbruins.org.

Katie Micilcavage is the editor of Higher Things Magazine and the mother of two active teens in Gilbert, Arizona. In her spare time she is an elementary teacher. She can be reached at katie.micilcavage@higherthings.org

Categories
Life Issues

Really Receiving

Another great article from HT’s Sandra Ostapowich where she lays out the Good News of who women are in Christ. This article originally appeared in the Fall 2009 Issue of Higher Things Magazine.

by Sandra Ostapowich

I’d have made an awesome pastor.

At least, that’s what I once thought. It was pretty much the only thing I could think of becoming when I grew up. It totally made sense. After all, I was a huge church nerd. It wasn’t even enough for me to go to and do everything I possibly could at my own church. I went to my friend’s church youth group and Bible studies before school too. Naturally, I believed that the Lord was calling me to be a pastor.

Boy, was I wrong!

God making me female should’ve been my first clue. It may be an astonishingly obvious statement, but men and women are very different. Not only is there the whole anatomy thing, but there are a plethora of vocations that go along with being one or the other. For example, a man can’t ever be a mother. God has set it up for men to be fathers instead. And He only calls men to be pastors.

It’s not because men are somehow better than women. Scripture actually teaches that to illustrate Christ’s love for the Church, women were created for men to take care of and serve. And the vocation of pastor is perhaps the most servant-oriented in the Church.

When we walk into a room, we tend to think of the person standing up front wearing the fancy clothes as the one in charge. That’s where the buck stops. He talks, and people listen. Not so when it comes to the Church. The guy up front, the pastor, doesn’t get to say or do anything simply because he wants to. The only true authority a pastor has is the Lord’s. He says as much in the Absolution: “As a called and ordained servant of the Word.” It’s not like he’s the lead singer of a band or the lecturer at a personal growth seminar while we in the audience sit in awe of him and his glinty-toothed, dynamic amazingness. Remember, we’re at church on Sunday mornings to be served by God through His Word and Sacraments. That’s why it’s called the Divine Service. The Lord Himself instituted the vocation of pastor to deliver His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ to us. It’s kind of like a pizza delivery guy, only with Word and Sacraments instead of the pizza.

My mistake was that I thought being a pastor was just about being that person up front and center, leading a service, preaching a sermon, communing, and teaching people about Jesus. But I was looking only at the outward aspects of being a pastor, as though it was like any other job. I liked doing all those things and figured that with enough education and practice I could do them well enough to be a professional pastor.

But vocations don’t work that way. The Lord gives us people to serve in all sorts of ways whether or not we think we’re good at it, have the training, or even want to do it, but because His Gospel will be proclaimed through us to those our vocations serve. Being a decent speaker, educated in theology, and reasonably able-bodied doesn’t mean anyone should be a pastor—male or female—but being a man to whom the Lord has called and given the vocation of pastor does. God has set them up to be the providers, the protectors, the sacrificers. The rest of us receive.

No doubt you’ve heard the saying, “It’s better to give than to receive.” It’s generally a good idea to put someone else before ourselves, considering others’ needs more important than our desires. But when we’re dealing with God, there’s nothing we can possibly give Him that He needs. He really is the One it’s impossible to find a gift for because He already has everything. He is the One who has the gifts for us.

The Church is the Bride of Christ; she is the one the gifts are for. She perfectly and faithfully receives all that Jesus has to give her, and she knows without a doubt that she is the most beautiful, perfect, sinless, blemish-free, beloved woman in His whole entire universe. His Word and Sacraments make it so! She trusts her Bridegroom, Jesus, to always do what is best for her, even giving His own life in the process.

Not only are we women part of the Church, but the Bride of Christ is the perfect icon of Christian femininity as well. Yes, we have ways that we serve others through our other vocations. We are daughters, sisters, classmates, teammates, friends, girlfriends, citizens, neighbors, babysitters—and maybe even one day, wives and mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers. We even serve others at church in all sorts of ways. But first, and most importantly, we receive.

Receiving means trusting that what you’re receiving is ultimately for your good and to bring you to Christ. It means knowing that the Lord takes care of you through the men He’s given to serve you and sacrifice for you. There’s no way we can do any of that on our own, no matter how much we try. In fact, Luther tells us that faith is really nothing more than receiving gifts from God.

The life of faith is all about receiving. So it makes sense that the Lord would, in His infinite wisdom, create woman to receive all the gifts He has for her in His Word and Sacraments and from the men He sets apart to stand in the place of His Son and deliver them not just to her but to the whole Christian Church: His Bride.

So while the world might argue that women would make awesome pastors, we’re so much better off being women.

Categories
Life Issues

Knitted Women

With all the recent chatter across the social media regarding the role of women and the topic of women as pastors, we’ll help the discussion with these great articles by Ms. Sandra Ostapowich. Here we learn the God-Given differences between men and women and why they’re important and how they relate to the Gospel! This article orginally appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Higher Things Magazine.

by Sandra Ostapowich

“It’s a girl!”

That was possibly the first stitch God made when He began to knit you together in your mother’s womb. (Check out Psalm 139.) By making you you, God placed you into a lifetime of circumstances and opportunities different from those He designed for those XY types.

God intended humanity to be in relationships with Himself and with other people. After all, man by himself wasn’t good, so the Lord created a woman. He could have whipped up another batch of His Adam recipe, but that just would have made more of what wasn’t good already. Instead, God specifically created woman to be in relationship with man to solve the problem of being alone. Neither man nor woman is created to be independent of the other.

They both had roles to fill as man and woman, loving and serving each other. Woman was created for a specific purpose—to love and trust the man the Lord gave her. Man was given the opportunity to love and authority to care for the beautiful, perfect creature God made just for him.

And then… you know the story: serpent, forbidden fruit, nakedness, fig leaves, sin. Sin messes up everything.

Every individual is corrupted by sin. All relationships are now corrupted too. We do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves. We pick at flaws and do and say hurtful things to others. What the Lord created to be a relationship of serving the other has deteriorated into selfishness.

The inherent desire of women to be in a relationship with a man now has been corrupted by sin so much that we make unwise decisions. Among other things, we’re tempted to compromise our values in dangerous ways to get or keep a man— eating disorders, giving in to go all the way (or most of the way), putting up with mistreatment. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re also tempted to manipulate, compete, and generally do whatever we can to prove that we’re better than men, don’t need men, or don’t want men.

Men are sinners too. Serving and providing for the women God gave them was supposed to be a joyous privilege. Now, with sin, they’re tempted to use women for their own wishes, take advantage of them, and prey on their sin-corrupted desires. Relationships can be dangerous. Caution is a necessity.

But Scripture tells us that this arrangement of woman trusting man and man loving woman still holds. (Of course, this takes place within vocation; in other words, daughters submit to fathers and wives to husbands, not to the stranger at the bus stop or the loudmouth in the school hallway.) It is still His perfect design for us today because we have another example of it after the Fall: Christ and His Bride, the Church.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands” (Ephesians 5:21–23).

Did that make you bristle a bit? “No way! Does that mean she’s just a slave to him, to do whatever he wants whenever he wants? That’s not fair. And worse, that just sets her up to be mistreated! God couldn’t have meant that.”

That’s all sin-talk. Repent. Along with that, maybe we should find out what submission is.

God the Son became man, taking on all our sins and dying for us. Through Baptism, we are holy and sinless in His eyes. Jesus considered us more important than Himself and gave everything He had to serve us and look out for our good. God calls us, as women, to submit to certain men. We don’t have a problem submitting to the Lord, so why would we doubt that our earthly husbands would do anything less for us? That doesn’t mean we’re commanded to slavishly cater to their every whim while they order us around and threaten punishment for disobedience.That’s not how Christ husbands His Bride. Remember, it says to “submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” The Lord looks out for us. We trust Him to do just that as husbands do for their wives. Submission is really just serving someone as you trust them to do their vocation for you.

But you don’t have a husband to whom you are to submit. Now what? The Lord has still provided men in your life to care for you and look after your best interests— especially at church. Your father, pastor, and elders have been given authority from God, not to wield it like a weapon but to serve you. Trust them to do that as you trust the Lord to care for you.

God says in Scripture that being a woman is important and wonderful. The universe was not perfectly perfect until God made woman. God knit you together to be a woman, and so you are. He made you His own child in Christ through Baptism, and so you are. You are who you are because He did what He has done for you.

It’s an amazing thing to be specially created just to be loved and cherished, not just by God but by the men to whom we submit because they are gifts from God to us as well. We are truly blessed!

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 177: March 9th, 2012

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This week Pr. Borghardt and Jon Kohlmeier are joined by Pr. Mark Buetow who spends the first half of the episode talking about Lent and how it is about Jesus not you. During Free time Pr. Buetow and Pr. Borghardt talk about God struggling with you in order to save you and how this ties in to last weeks Gospel Lesson, your baptism and confirmation vows.

Categories
News

UNWRAPPED – 2013 National LCMS Campus Ministry Conference

 

We are pleased to draw your attention to the recently released publicity for the UNWRAPPED – 2013 National LCMS Campus Ministry Conference!

Higher Things salutes the LCMS Office of National Mission for all that it is doing to increase synodical support of campus ministry. We pray that many college students, and those who work with them, will be blessed by all of these endeavors, including this conference.

We encourage you to read the recent Reporter article about the Conference, get connected at the conference Facebook Page, and forward this information to others who may also be interested.

Please note that in order to encourage maximum participation at UNWRAPPED, Higher Things will not be holding what would have been a tenth annual Christ on Campus Conference this summer. Whether you are a college student, or someone who works with them, we encourage you to do everything you can to attend this conference, and encourage those you know to do so too!

Rev. Marcus Zill, Executive
Higher Things, Christ on Campus
zill@higherthings.org

“Confessing Christ on Campus Since 1517”

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 176: March 2nd, 2012

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Happy Birthday to the Host of HT-Radio, Pr. George Borghardt! Throughout the episode Pr. Borghardt receives birthday greetings from a few of his close friends and regular guests on HT-Radio. In the first half Pr. Joel Fritsche of Zion Lutheran Church in Staunton, IL walks through the account of Jacob Wrestling with God and points to some other places that the pre-incarnate Christ shows up in the Old Testament. In the second half, Sandra Ostapowich gives us some conference news and then Jon and Pastor Borghardt talks about Birthdays and death during Free Time.

Categories
News

Announcing Plenary Speakers for TWELVE

The Plenary Speakers for this summer’s TWELVE conferences are:

  • Winston-Salem, NC
    • Rev. Klemet Preus, Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN
    • Rev. Charles St-Onge, Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston, TX

  • Maryville, MO
    • Rev. Jeff Grams, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Scottsbluff, NE
    • Rev. Tim Pauls, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Boise, ID

  • Irvine, CA
    • Rev. Dr. Steve Mueller, Dean of Christ College, Concordia University in Irvine, CA
    • Rev. Kurt Onken, Messiah Lutheran Church in Marysville, WA

  • St. Catharines, ON
    • Rev. William Cwirla, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, CA
    • Rev. Brent Kuhlman, Trinity Lutheran Church in Murdock, NE

    • Today is the last day to pay your conference registrations IN FULL before registration fees go up on March 1st.

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 175: February 24th, 2012

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Blessed Lent to you from all of us at HT-Radio. This week Sandra Ostapowich talks about Women’s Ordination and Women in the media recently. Then during Free Time Pr. Borghardt and Jon Kohlmeier are joined by two surprise guests. First, Chris Loemker talks about Weddings and relationships. In the final segment, Stan Lemon talks about Marriage. Is Marriage a Sacrament? And what that means for relationships. Each of them manage to be mean and make fun of Jon Kohlmeier at some point in the episode.

Categories
News

Lenten Resources

Higher Things Media is pleased to offer a variety of resources for the 2012 Lenten Season!

The Higher Things Reflections are free daily devotionals that run throughout the year. Lent is a great time to make use of these Gospel centered short devotions. You can receive them in a variety of formats. You can subscribe to have them delivered directly to your email inbox or read them here on our website on the “Reflections” page. You can also download them in a printable booklet, an IN LINE format great for your computer or mobile device, or in an ebook format for Kindle.

Rev. Mark Buetow wrote an article about how “Lent Ain’t About You” posted here: http://dtbl.org/4668.

Yesterday, we also posted two videos on our YouTube channel concerning Ash Wednesday and Fasting during Lent.

We post videos each week on our Youtube channel and on our Video short page: http://dtbl.org/4320.

Finally, in Episode 174 of HT-Radio, Rev. George Borghardt and Jon Kohlmeier talked to Rev. Sam Schuldheisz of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, CA about Fasting and Lent.

In Christ,
Jon Kohlmeier
webmaster@higherthings.org
IT Assistant

Categories
Catechesis

Praise the Lord! Lent Ain’t About YOU!

Rev. Mark Buetow

Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” – Matthew 6:16

What are you going to give up for Lent? Why do you have ashes on your head? How come you aren’t singing any “alleluias?” The holy season of Lent is upon us and brings with it a whole host of traditions and practices. But there’s Good News in Lent. The Good News is that Lent isn’t about YOU. It’s about Jesus. More specifically, it’s about Jesus going to Jerusalem to be handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted, spit upon, scourged and killed and to rise again. (Luke 18:32-33). For you.

Lent isn’t about you. But it is FOR you. Because Lent is about Jesus. Jesus going to His suffering and death to fulfill the will of the Father to save sinners. Jesus taking your sins and being crushed by them until they kill Him. Jesus shedding His blood for you so that those sins which killed Him won’t kill you eternally. Jesus being pierced with nails as the offering and sacrifice which takes away the sin of the whole world. And then, on Easter, Jesus rising again triumphant over death, having taken care of your sins and leaving them buried in His empty tomb.

Historically, Lent has often morphed into a season that’s more about US and what WE do or give up than it is a season where we are immersed in the suffering and death of Jesus as Good News. Long ago, Lent was the time when those who had really pulled off some whopper sins did acts of penance as part of their discipline to show they should be let back into the church. More recently, fasting (not eating certain things or giving certain things up for a time), almsgiving (giving money to the poor), and works of charity (doing things to help others) have been the works seen as central to the celebration of Lent.

Now it’s true that in Lent, as at any time, there’s repentance for us. We can always shine the light of the Ten Commandments on our lives and see the sins in which we’ve robbed God of His glory and blown off our neighbor as unimportant. To that end, giving something up in order to use that money or time for prayer, and doing things to help others are always noble pursuits. Lent is a good time to remember that its a good thing to curb our selfishness and put others first. But shouldn’t you be doing that anyway? Now do you see? It’s too easy to make Lent into a season about YOU. Here’s YOUR problem and here’s YOUR 40 day plan to get over it. That’s a YOU Lent and doesn’t have anything to do with Jesus.

True repentance isn’t wallowing in the fact that we eat too much chocolate or drink too much soda or don’t read our Bibles enough. True repentance beholds what price sin truly costs. Your sin is so much worse than too many sweets. Your sin is unbelief and self-worship that killed God! But God dies to take away all of that! Now do you see? Lent can only be about Jesus. In hearing of his sufferings, we are reminded what our sins cost. That surely leads us to some sorrow. But that’s not yet repentance and faith. Just getting sad because they beat up on Jesus doesn’t save you. That’s just more of YOU.

No, true repentance is learned when we hear that the suffering and death of Jesus was done to take away our sin. All of it. Every last wicked thought, word and deed. Every last drop of selfishness and self-worship. All of it. Bled away by the Lamb on the cross for you. THAT is what Lent is about: The Savior who rescues you from your sins. Who rescues you from false works that you want to do just for forty days. Who rescues you even from a false repentance which pretends it’s sorry just because it feels bad that Jesus got some nasty boo-boos. Jesus’ death takes care of all of that. Every last bit of it.

So what about fasting, giving things up, and all that? Go for it. But not to make yourself feel bad. Not to make yourself suffer because, you know, Jesus suffered. Not to show others you got some religion for a month or so. You can do them because those practices can be helpful in reminding you that your sinful flesh is no longer ruling the roost. But more than that, the best Lenten practice, discipline and activity is to have more Jesus. More preaching of Jesus, that He died and rose for you. More remembering your Baptism by which you’ve been made a Son of God. More Absolution which releases the devil’s claim on you because your sins are gone. More body and blood of Jesus so that you are filled with the one who lives in and through you and will raise you up on the Last Day.

Lent just means more Jesus. You can never have enough of HIM because you’re always trying to have too much of YOU. Which is why HE is for YOU. A happy and blessed Lent to you in Jesus! Happy and blessed because it ain’t about you but all about Him!