Thursday. February 27, 2025

Welcome to The Smart Edit newsletter! Brian here. Thanks for reading and sharing with others. Know that Kingdom faith takes focus.

This week … the art of the blur, fire on campuses, lifetime of the opportunity.

✅ SIgn up for the Smart Edit here.

P.S. — The United States of Pizza. Mapsplained.

High-res faith—the art of the blur

There’s a way that things work. This is totally true with life in Christ’s Kingdom.

Here’s a Kingdom Key—learn to blur most things out.

In psychology, there is something called selective attention—the capacity to react to certain stimuli selectively when several occur simultaneously. 🤓👈️ 

Benjamin Hardy says “our mind focuses on things which seem relevant to us.”

How can we apply this to Christ-following? It’s about focus and blurring.

Most importantly, we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author (or leader) and perfector of our faith” (Heb 12:2 NASB).

Then we are to focus on that path he has for us …

“Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established” (Proverbs 4:25-26 NASB).

Honestly, what am I giving my attention to?

Don’t underestimate the resistance around the issues of focus and attention. There can even be spiritual warfare connected to these issues.

I should affirm something like this … “Hey, Everything Else, you’re not that important to me. My prime focus is for Jesus and his pathway for me.”

What does his pathway include? The King. Serving the King. Significant relationships. Meaningful growth. The big beautiful stuff.

Drama and Distraction? Nil. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Ghost it. Blur it. Move on.

Stay sharp on what matters.

I want Jesus and the pathway he has for me to be high resolution. Everything else? Blur it to low rezz. Not the other way around.

So what do you need to blur?

What topic(s) do you want The Smart Edit to feature? Any other comments or thoughts?

🫵 Hearing from you matters! 60 seconds. Confidential. Thanks!

From the Great Awakenings to the Jesus Movement of the ‘70s, it’s often students and young leaders who spark the fire.

And we’re seeing it again today. College campuses are coming alive with worship, prayer, and radical commitments to Jesus.

Thousands are gathering. Many are going under the waters of baptism and rising into Kingdom reality.

"They're coming in with guilt and shame. STDs, unwanted pregnancies, abortions," Jonathan Pokluda, a well-known college speaker said. "And they come here and we're showing them the one—the only one—who can really deal with their sin, is Jesus Christ."

Unite US, one of the ministries leading these gatherings, has seen OVERWHELMING HUNGER FOR GOD.

At Auburn University, 5,000 students showed up—200 were baptized. Florida State is a school known for its party scene. 4,500 students came, and 350 decided to follow Jesus.

Campus ministries are seeing surges of salvations. InterVarsity saw a 33% increase in decisions for Christ. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is seeing more salvations than ever.

🔥Even college football teams are catching the fire.

Ohio State players led a campus-wide testimony service with 50 baptisms early in the season. A month after winning the national championship, nearly 2,000 students gave their lives to Christ in a gathering of over 6,500. Students braved temps in the teens to get baptized in the backs of U-Haul trucks.

Catch the wind. All of us can quest for repentance ➡️ refreshing ➡️ and restoration.

“Father, pour out your Spirit and on your sons and daughters more and more. Cause them to prophesy as the prophet Joel said (see Joel chapter 2). May they not only be discovered in Christ, may they develop in Christ. May they deploy for the cause of Christ. Make these moments to stream into Kingdom movements. We bless what you’re doing.”

More: 'They want God': 8,000 students seek Jesus in huge Kentucky revival, 2,000 give lives to Christ

🤔 TRIVIA: Who is known for his wisdom and wrote the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon? A) Peter the Apostle B) Epstein the Righteous C) Solomon the King D) Job the Sufferer E) Daniel the King’s Advisor (Answer below)

Have a bias for action. Prayer-borne action. Successful people have a bias for action. How much more people of the King—”success” is our true story under his story! Listening prayer gets the direction right. Remember, faith is movement. Simply pivot if necessary.

Your step. If you’re waiting for a sign, just maybe God is waiting for a step. It’s a sacred dance … you and the King. At some point, you have to trust the movements of his sovereignty and your sanctified instinct. You’re flowing with the Heart of the King.

You’re always sowing. shaping your future. Obedience today positions you for expanding influence and blessing tomorrow. Why not ask this every day … “What would my Tomorrow Self say to my Today Self?

Related newsletter: Teach me how your Kingdom works

LexiQuest: Joie de vivre (ZHwä də ˈvēvrə) — Exuberant enjoyment of life. From French, literally ‘joy of living’. “Her 90-year-old grandmother’s joie de vivre was evident in the way she still danced at every family gathering.” Source: WordDaily

Trivia answer: B) Epstein the Righteous C) Solomon the King