One of the most exciting things a college minister ever gets to be a part of is a genuine spiritual awakening among students. Last semester my abiding prayer, along with others, was that God would save a whole bunch of college students, bring them into intimacy with him, and into the life of his church. In fact, I prayed this so much that I almost felt embarrassed at times for always bringing it up to the Lord and to others.
Over the winter break a group of students became convinced and determined that they should have 24/7 prayer on our campus. To make a long story short, it is happening and God is doing what he does best: transforming lives for his glory and expanding his kingdom. It is as if I am sitting in a boat and watching the wind of the Spirit fill the sails as we move across the water.
I write this simply to let you know what God is doing, as well as to encourage you to pray. Yeah, we all pray, but persevering in prayer is sometimes another thing altogether. Let the stories of students and movements of the Holy Spirit inspire you to continually be about the business of prayer. We have students who are asking God to save 6,000 people on campus. It is a crazy prayer. It is an impossible prayer. But then again we are not really talking about any of our abilities to pray, but the God who specializes in doing what we cannot.
To follow what is taking place on the I.S.U. campus, visit iowastateawakening.blogspot.com
May we all join together in prayer to see the advancement of the gospel, and the will of God done here on our campuses as it is in heaven.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Ministry from the Heart
We minister out of the overflow of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Loving college students and others results from the fact that God has first loved us. Since this is true, it is vital that we meet with Lord and allow him to care for our souls. Plans, strategies, schedules, evaluations, and the demands of life and ministry are the reality for the Christian servant. To neglect my own soul is to fall into the demonic trap of believing in my grandiose thinking instead of trusting in God for the ability to engage in ministry to others. The snakes of self-reliance and pride slither about our feet looking to strike at any time.
In order to be an effective minister, I must take the journey into self and discover the union that exists between me and God through Christ. Intimacy with the divine is the whole purpose of the Christian life. The practicality of reaching this is through the ongoing process of detachment from worldly allurements and a growing attachment to the things of God. Prayer is the vehicle by which we wean ourselves from trust in our intellects, abilities, personalities, and pet theologians and learn to become an intimate friend of God.
Prayer, then, is not primarily the means of getting what I want and promoting my ministry agenda as if I were making some sales pitch to a skeptical buyer. It is the place of meeting with God and experiencing the union for which Jesus Christ died to procure for us. God himself takes delight in dwelling within the innermost sanctum of my heart, as if I was his temple.
If this is the goal for me, then it is also the aim for the students for whom I minister. To lead them in the path of intimacy with God, with knowing Christ better, is our highest and most joyous call. What do I model to students around me? Is my agenda really God's plan for my campus? Does the journey of spiritual formation I lay out lead straight to the heart of God in a vital union with Jesus? How do I engage in the role of spiritual director with students? What am I saving them from?
If our college campuses are to be turned upside down for God, it must begin with me. There must be a healthy rhythm in my life of detachment from the world, attachment with Jesus, and then an engagement with others. To have engagement without detachment and attachment is to do nothing but perpetuate the brokenness that already exists in this decaying world. Instead, may you find in these next months the garden of paradise in the soul where God meets with you, that you might minister out of the overflow of a union with Christ.
In order to be an effective minister, I must take the journey into self and discover the union that exists between me and God through Christ. Intimacy with the divine is the whole purpose of the Christian life. The practicality of reaching this is through the ongoing process of detachment from worldly allurements and a growing attachment to the things of God. Prayer is the vehicle by which we wean ourselves from trust in our intellects, abilities, personalities, and pet theologians and learn to become an intimate friend of God.
Prayer, then, is not primarily the means of getting what I want and promoting my ministry agenda as if I were making some sales pitch to a skeptical buyer. It is the place of meeting with God and experiencing the union for which Jesus Christ died to procure for us. God himself takes delight in dwelling within the innermost sanctum of my heart, as if I was his temple.
If this is the goal for me, then it is also the aim for the students for whom I minister. To lead them in the path of intimacy with God, with knowing Christ better, is our highest and most joyous call. What do I model to students around me? Is my agenda really God's plan for my campus? Does the journey of spiritual formation I lay out lead straight to the heart of God in a vital union with Jesus? How do I engage in the role of spiritual director with students? What am I saving them from?
If our college campuses are to be turned upside down for God, it must begin with me. There must be a healthy rhythm in my life of detachment from the world, attachment with Jesus, and then an engagement with others. To have engagement without detachment and attachment is to do nothing but perpetuate the brokenness that already exists in this decaying world. Instead, may you find in these next months the garden of paradise in the soul where God meets with you, that you might minister out of the overflow of a union with Christ.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Simplicity
Well, its that time of year again where all us college ministry dudes use the Christmas break to reflect on the past semester and make any necessary changes for the next. As I have spent the past few weeks in prayer and pondering, it seems to me that we must always come back to what is important to God and not make ministry such a complex beast that overwhelms us.
Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God, and when we pray to ask that God's kingdom would come and be manifested on this earth. That is, since the fall of humanity, this world has been under the realm of Satan. God, however, is in the business of restoring his rule and reign. So, my ministry must have this controlling agenda.
The kingdom of God is established and expanded through proclamation of the gospel in Word and sacrament. In other words, the means of God's grace to us is through communication of the Bible and its central message of the redeeming work of Christ. There is now reconciliation between God and humans through the death of Jesus. God has united us to himself in order that we would enjoy him, and he us. As Teresa of Avila has said, "the soul is God's paradise, being made by God and for God." Intimacy with the divine is the purpose of our existence. Therefore, prayer is the primary means by which to commune with God and is not optional equipment for the Christian but vital to seeing the kingdom expand in my heart and to others.
We must come back to the simplicity of this ministry. It is easy to become sidetracked from this and be content with erecting massive ministry structures, programs, and events that may please other people and feed my ego, but do little toward accomplishing what was important to Jesus and is necessary to seeing the kingdom of God realized on my campus.
So, then, maybe we need to ask ourselves such questions as these:
1. Is the kingdom of God a controlling goal for my ministry, and do I even understand what it is and how it works?
2. Do our ministries truly develop intimacy with God?
3. Is prayer necessary and central to everything we do?
4. Are our ministry structures simple and contribute toward the kingdom of God, or cumbersome and divert students away from this focus?
Just as football teams must never forget the fundamentals of the game in order to win, so we need to come back to what is important as defined by Jesus, and let this be the evaluative grid through which we look at all of ministry. Ministry may require hard work and sacrifice, but it need not be complex. Simplicity toward doing what is essential is required. May you experience joy in ministry as you see the kingdom of God come in all its power and grace.
Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God, and when we pray to ask that God's kingdom would come and be manifested on this earth. That is, since the fall of humanity, this world has been under the realm of Satan. God, however, is in the business of restoring his rule and reign. So, my ministry must have this controlling agenda.
The kingdom of God is established and expanded through proclamation of the gospel in Word and sacrament. In other words, the means of God's grace to us is through communication of the Bible and its central message of the redeeming work of Christ. There is now reconciliation between God and humans through the death of Jesus. God has united us to himself in order that we would enjoy him, and he us. As Teresa of Avila has said, "the soul is God's paradise, being made by God and for God." Intimacy with the divine is the purpose of our existence. Therefore, prayer is the primary means by which to commune with God and is not optional equipment for the Christian but vital to seeing the kingdom expand in my heart and to others.
We must come back to the simplicity of this ministry. It is easy to become sidetracked from this and be content with erecting massive ministry structures, programs, and events that may please other people and feed my ego, but do little toward accomplishing what was important to Jesus and is necessary to seeing the kingdom of God realized on my campus.
So, then, maybe we need to ask ourselves such questions as these:
1. Is the kingdom of God a controlling goal for my ministry, and do I even understand what it is and how it works?
2. Do our ministries truly develop intimacy with God?
3. Is prayer necessary and central to everything we do?
4. Are our ministry structures simple and contribute toward the kingdom of God, or cumbersome and divert students away from this focus?
Just as football teams must never forget the fundamentals of the game in order to win, so we need to come back to what is important as defined by Jesus, and let this be the evaluative grid through which we look at all of ministry. Ministry may require hard work and sacrifice, but it need not be complex. Simplicity toward doing what is essential is required. May you experience joy in ministry as you see the kingdom of God come in all its power and grace.
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Gospel is for Everyone
One of the finest ways of sucking the joy right out of the Christmas season is to subtly refashion the gracious "good news of great joy to all people" announced by the angel to the shepherds at Christ's birth into the Scrooge-ish bad news of great judgment to all people who aren't like me and who don't think like me.
The church of Jesus Christ has struggled through its history to uphold this basic message of the gospel of grace for everyone. From the Council of Jerusalem in the book of Acts that met to decide whether one ought to become a Jew first in order to be a Christian, to the with-holding of membership to African-Americans in certain churches in the 20th century, to the just plain ignoring of the poor and marginalized among us, we must be intentional and deliberate about reaching and ministering to all people. The joy of salvation is that I do not need to jump through certain spiritual hoops to enter into Christianity, nor be a certain kind of person. The church is not an exclusive club of one particular sort of people based in race, gender, ethnicity, class, spiritual pedigree, or even certain preferences on issues. Through repentance and faith in Jesus, all may come to God.
All people have intrinsic worth as individuals created in the image of God, and therefore need the attention of Christians in bringing the gospel to them. It is much too easy to ignore people we do not understand and who are different from us, or to look down on those who do not agree with me on disputable matters. When it comes to the good news of Jesus, having people out of sight does not mean we keep them out of mind. College students are too often off the radar of many churches for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because they are far from being the power brokers in a congregation. To intentionally reach and minister to them is to cross generational lines and is seeking to develop programs that do not just meet my own needs. The fact that nearly 70% of all college-age persons leave the church between the ages 18-24 testify that we are not serious about reaching them in the greatest change moment of a person's life.
Jesus had a big enough inner space to accommodate prostitutes, drunks, tax collectors, and a whole variety of sinners. How big is your inner space? Is it big enough to allow people in your life who are not like you without you feeling threatened and insecure? The Pharisees feared being contaminated if having table fellowship with such people; the Sadducees were afraid of losing their religious power over people if the status quo was changed in ministering to such low-lifes; and, the Zealots feared continued Roman domination if Jesus kept up spending his time in graciousness to all kinds of sinners. So, all the religious people killed him.
We celebrate this season the incarnation of Christ; the Son of God was born in order to die for us. The gospel of Jesus is the good news of great joy for every person who will look to him. We are to work together to propagate this message by having the shared purpose of evangelism to everyone, including all kinds of college students, without discrimination. When we together engage in this critical endeavor, there is tremendous joy, and the giant sucking sound of the joy going out of the season is gone. May you find the joy that is yours in Christ. May your heart rejoice and be glad, for salvation has come to every person who believes.
The church of Jesus Christ has struggled through its history to uphold this basic message of the gospel of grace for everyone. From the Council of Jerusalem in the book of Acts that met to decide whether one ought to become a Jew first in order to be a Christian, to the with-holding of membership to African-Americans in certain churches in the 20th century, to the just plain ignoring of the poor and marginalized among us, we must be intentional and deliberate about reaching and ministering to all people. The joy of salvation is that I do not need to jump through certain spiritual hoops to enter into Christianity, nor be a certain kind of person. The church is not an exclusive club of one particular sort of people based in race, gender, ethnicity, class, spiritual pedigree, or even certain preferences on issues. Through repentance and faith in Jesus, all may come to God.
All people have intrinsic worth as individuals created in the image of God, and therefore need the attention of Christians in bringing the gospel to them. It is much too easy to ignore people we do not understand and who are different from us, or to look down on those who do not agree with me on disputable matters. When it comes to the good news of Jesus, having people out of sight does not mean we keep them out of mind. College students are too often off the radar of many churches for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because they are far from being the power brokers in a congregation. To intentionally reach and minister to them is to cross generational lines and is seeking to develop programs that do not just meet my own needs. The fact that nearly 70% of all college-age persons leave the church between the ages 18-24 testify that we are not serious about reaching them in the greatest change moment of a person's life.
Jesus had a big enough inner space to accommodate prostitutes, drunks, tax collectors, and a whole variety of sinners. How big is your inner space? Is it big enough to allow people in your life who are not like you without you feeling threatened and insecure? The Pharisees feared being contaminated if having table fellowship with such people; the Sadducees were afraid of losing their religious power over people if the status quo was changed in ministering to such low-lifes; and, the Zealots feared continued Roman domination if Jesus kept up spending his time in graciousness to all kinds of sinners. So, all the religious people killed him.
We celebrate this season the incarnation of Christ; the Son of God was born in order to die for us. The gospel of Jesus is the good news of great joy for every person who will look to him. We are to work together to propagate this message by having the shared purpose of evangelism to everyone, including all kinds of college students, without discrimination. When we together engage in this critical endeavor, there is tremendous joy, and the giant sucking sound of the joy going out of the season is gone. May you find the joy that is yours in Christ. May your heart rejoice and be glad, for salvation has come to every person who believes.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Good News of Great Joy for All People
When the angel came to the shepherds to announce the birth of Messiah Jesus, he told them not to be afraid because this was an occasion of good news of joy for everyone on the face of the planet. In a day when churches and college ministries often define themselves with short, pity phrase-statements of mission, this would not be a bad one at all. Is the group you are a part of full of joy? Is joy in the DNA of your ministry?
It doesn't take long in looking at joy in the New Testament Epistles to see that joy is closely linked with the unity of Christians expressing their common obedience to Jesus. To this, the book of Philippians speaks a clear word. The theme of joy runs deep through this letter, but the occasion for Paul writing was the issue of unity. In other words, when unity is pursued, practiced, and realized, joy is the inevitable by-product so that the pursuit of joy in and of itself is not the issue but believers working together in the gospel is.
The book of Philippians, then, is a apropos model for both evaluating and constructing any ministry and developing a group of students in the good news of the incarnated Christ. Unity is realized through: the shared purpose of evangelizing the lost together (chapter 1); the shared attitudes of service toward one another (chapter 2); the shared values of loving Christ above all (chapter 3); and, the shared suffering of walking with each other through the hard circumstances of life (chapter 4).
This commonality in the gospel of Jesus Christ is how the church is to work out its shared salvation together. A simple observation of Philippians is that it is filled with plural pronouns, not singular ones. Ministry is not to be done in isolation, but in community. When this fellowship in the gospel happens, the result is a joy and a deep satisfaction that God is at work, with all kinds of people impacted for Christ.
If we would like to keep the "Christmas spirit" alive all year round, we will need to put effort in working together at practicing the message of Philippians so that we can see good news of great joy for all people permeate this world. Where is the joy in your ministry?
It doesn't take long in looking at joy in the New Testament Epistles to see that joy is closely linked with the unity of Christians expressing their common obedience to Jesus. To this, the book of Philippians speaks a clear word. The theme of joy runs deep through this letter, but the occasion for Paul writing was the issue of unity. In other words, when unity is pursued, practiced, and realized, joy is the inevitable by-product so that the pursuit of joy in and of itself is not the issue but believers working together in the gospel is.
The book of Philippians, then, is a apropos model for both evaluating and constructing any ministry and developing a group of students in the good news of the incarnated Christ. Unity is realized through: the shared purpose of evangelizing the lost together (chapter 1); the shared attitudes of service toward one another (chapter 2); the shared values of loving Christ above all (chapter 3); and, the shared suffering of walking with each other through the hard circumstances of life (chapter 4).
This commonality in the gospel of Jesus Christ is how the church is to work out its shared salvation together. A simple observation of Philippians is that it is filled with plural pronouns, not singular ones. Ministry is not to be done in isolation, but in community. When this fellowship in the gospel happens, the result is a joy and a deep satisfaction that God is at work, with all kinds of people impacted for Christ.
If we would like to keep the "Christmas spirit" alive all year round, we will need to put effort in working together at practicing the message of Philippians so that we can see good news of great joy for all people permeate this world. Where is the joy in your ministry?
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Disciple's Lament
Lord God Almighty, I praise you for stepping into my life, opening my eyes, and bringing me new life in Jesus Christ my Savior. I was adrift, without hope, and without God in this world. Yet, you became my heavenly Father, the One who intervened and brought love and grace to me and grafted me into your church, bringing to me relationships that spurred me on to love and good deeds. Not only did you, Holy Spirit, come alongside me and teach me your ways, but you brought me spiritual fathers to help nurture me in the truth of your Word.
I was a clown, a really weird kid when I became a freshman in college. There was one, however, who saw through all the craziness, who looked and believed there was much more there than a good laugh. Tom could see a heart that loved God, and potential in loving people that no one else did. Now, my spiritual father, my friend, my mentor of nearly thirty years is gone. In the flicker of a moment he was taken, like Elijah in the chariot of fire with Elisha looking on. I am lost, with the encourager of my soul snuffed out in an instant like some common sinner. Where is the justice in this? How does this bring glory to your name, O Lord? To whom shall I pour out my complaint over this travesty? Who will now give me the encouragement and direction that a disciple needs? Having touched perhaps thousands of lives, a man of God has been taken, and I am without my spiritual father.
Yet, in the pain of this deep wound, I confess my trust in you, my heavenly Father, who transcends all earthly relationships and extends grace for the moment. Despite the loss on earth, heaven just got a lot more fun with Tom now in the presence of the cosmic host. Your providence, blessed triune God, will prevail; your plans and purposes shall be fulfilled. Although I cannot see the reason for the death of a saint, I will live my life by faith in the Son of God who gave his life for me. Just as Jesus died and gave his life for many, so may Tom’s passing impact lives for years to come. People need the Lord, and may this event usher hundreds into the kingdom of God.
God Almighty, help me to take up the mantle of Tom’s ministry of grace and love, and do what he did. Let the Word of God dwell richly in me that the boldness and confidence of a life lived in Jesus might bring new disciples and fresh converts to your church. Give me, God, a portion of Tom’s spirit; grant to me a piece of his life that I might teach others and pass on what was given to me. Let me be a father to the fatherless, and may my spiritual children increase. And, may my girls live to serve you as Tom’s family has given their lives to you.
You are the God who hears, and I place my hope in you, my Father. I praise you, O God, for you have turned my mourning into joy, my despair into gladness, and my weakness into strength. May you be glorified forever and ever. Amen.
I was a clown, a really weird kid when I became a freshman in college. There was one, however, who saw through all the craziness, who looked and believed there was much more there than a good laugh. Tom could see a heart that loved God, and potential in loving people that no one else did. Now, my spiritual father, my friend, my mentor of nearly thirty years is gone. In the flicker of a moment he was taken, like Elijah in the chariot of fire with Elisha looking on. I am lost, with the encourager of my soul snuffed out in an instant like some common sinner. Where is the justice in this? How does this bring glory to your name, O Lord? To whom shall I pour out my complaint over this travesty? Who will now give me the encouragement and direction that a disciple needs? Having touched perhaps thousands of lives, a man of God has been taken, and I am without my spiritual father.
Yet, in the pain of this deep wound, I confess my trust in you, my heavenly Father, who transcends all earthly relationships and extends grace for the moment. Despite the loss on earth, heaven just got a lot more fun with Tom now in the presence of the cosmic host. Your providence, blessed triune God, will prevail; your plans and purposes shall be fulfilled. Although I cannot see the reason for the death of a saint, I will live my life by faith in the Son of God who gave his life for me. Just as Jesus died and gave his life for many, so may Tom’s passing impact lives for years to come. People need the Lord, and may this event usher hundreds into the kingdom of God.
God Almighty, help me to take up the mantle of Tom’s ministry of grace and love, and do what he did. Let the Word of God dwell richly in me that the boldness and confidence of a life lived in Jesus might bring new disciples and fresh converts to your church. Give me, God, a portion of Tom’s spirit; grant to me a piece of his life that I might teach others and pass on what was given to me. Let me be a father to the fatherless, and may my spiritual children increase. And, may my girls live to serve you as Tom’s family has given their lives to you.
You are the God who hears, and I place my hope in you, my Father. I praise you, O God, for you have turned my mourning into joy, my despair into gladness, and my weakness into strength. May you be glorified forever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Church is My Mother
Is church essential to your life? Statistics continue to pour out from groups on how nearly two-thirds of college students simply drop out of church between ages 18-24. This does not necessarily mean that young adults are losing their faith; they simply do not view church as vital to their lives, and so with the pressures and deadlines of school, making church part of the fabric of a student's life becomes optional. A student, instead, may rely on intermittent personal devotions, community through existing networks of friends on campus, and connecting with others through technology rather than face to face meetings and encounters.
The issue here is not one of church attendance; it is the reality that a whole generation of young people are choosing to put themselves outside of the means of grace given by God for their own benefit and spiritual formation. There is a profound lack of understanding concerning the nature of the church, as well as a paucity of significant relationships between college students and the rest of the Body of Christ. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her so that she might become pure and holy, and become one with Jesus in practicality, as she is in reality through the cross (Ephesians 5:26-27). The church is God's ordained means of bringing growth in grace to any person's life; to neglect her like ignoring your mother.
Like a mother caring for her children, the church is to be a nurturing community for the exercise and development of faith and perseverance. Without her, the believer is at risk of being like an orphan, cut-off from the life-giving Spirit of God who uses the Word of God in preaching and sacrament to edify and feed. John Calvin has put this in rather vivid terms:
The issue here is not one of church attendance; it is the reality that a whole generation of young people are choosing to put themselves outside of the means of grace given by God for their own benefit and spiritual formation. There is a profound lack of understanding concerning the nature of the church, as well as a paucity of significant relationships between college students and the rest of the Body of Christ. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her so that she might become pure and holy, and become one with Jesus in practicality, as she is in reality through the cross (Ephesians 5:26-27). The church is God's ordained means of bringing growth in grace to any person's life; to neglect her like ignoring your mother.
Like a mother caring for her children, the church is to be a nurturing community for the exercise and development of faith and perseverance. Without her, the believer is at risk of being like an orphan, cut-off from the life-giving Spirit of God who uses the Word of God in preaching and sacrament to edify and feed. John Calvin has put this in rather vivid terms:
“For there is no other way to enter into life unless this mother (the Church) conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly, unless she keep us under her care and guidance until, putting off mortal flesh, we become like angels. Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all our lives. Furthermore, away from her bosom one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation… it is always disastrous to leave the church.”
College students need to both experience and recover what it means to be the church. Church leaders need to think in terms of grace and nurture with ministry to those students. The goal is not simply to get young adults to stay or come to a church service; the purpose of ministry to college-age persons is to enfold and engraft them into the life of a local body of believers in relationships and ministry so that they might grow in faith and use the means of grace that is available to them. This formative experience in the college years provides a foundation for a lifetime of walking with God and steels them for the years ahead in their engagement with the world. So, how do you view "church"? What adjustments to your life must you make in order to experience the grace God has for you through his Body?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
