the SENTinel

Alan Hirsch video on 6 key ingredients for missional community–from Verge

February 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Verge Conference–which I just returned from–was built around Alan Hirsch’s book “The Forgotten Ways.” I’m kicking myself for not having read it earlier.

In Forgotten Ways, Hirsch identifies 6 biblical aspects which, taken together, are necessary for the missional Church to grow exponentially, to go viral. Before each main session, we watched short clips of Hirsch explaining these aspects. I don’t have time to explain or analyze all of them right now, but they are as follows:

1. Jesus is Lord. Foundational. Everything else is built on this. An entire worldview in 3 words.
2. Discipleship–Disciplemaking
3. Missional-Incarnational Impulse
4. Apostolic Environments
5. Organic Systems
6. Communitas

I highly encourage you to watch the following clip to see what Hirsch means.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: missional
Tagged: , ,

The Red Tractor–a cartoon metaphor for how we “do church”

February 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Francis Chan spoke a couple times at the Verge Conference last week in Austin, TX. God used him to drop some heart bombs on the attenders, as he passionately and prophetically called us to get out of the way of the Spirit’s work, to stop “doing church” in the same old ways, and to devote ourselves to the Word and prayer. During one of his talks, he showed us the following cartoon, which cleverly depicts how most of us “do church.” It was spot-on and well-done. As a bonus, I plan on showing it to my boys (6 and nearly 4), and having a conversation about what church is. Just click on the link below.

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: church planting · missional
Tagged: , ,

Some collected thoughts on Verge

February 6, 2010 · 4 Comments

I haven’t had the chance to process yesterday’s content, but fortunately other people have.

Jonathan Dodson asks “Is movement happening at Verge” and answers in the affirmative.

Jonathan McIntosh summarizes Matt Carter’s opening talk, calling us to keep Jesus first. Brad Andrews also chimes in.

Benson Hines posted some provocative college ministry-oriented thoughts on Verge.

DJ Chuang and the Verge social media team have done a fantastic job collecting and promoting all things #Verge! Find nearly every link available here!

The Christian Post has some interesting straight-news ish coverage worth checking out.

→ 4 CommentsCategories: missional
Tagged: ,

Thoughts on First Day of Verge Conference

February 5, 2010 · Leave a Comment

It was a fantastic first day at the Verge Conference. It’s already been worth it for me to come.

I have about 8 pages of notes, which is way too much to process before heading into our sessions this morning, but I’ll try to summarize my top 3 takeaways from yesterday.

1. “Jesus is Lord.” The conference is built around Alan Hirsch’s book ‘The Forgotten Ways.” In that book, he posits that the incredible spread of the early Church was based, essentially and fundamentally, on the dense & comprehensive belief that “Jesus is Lord.” 3 words that were powerful enough to launch an exponential movement. Hirsch is here and they’ve been running some videos where he elaborates on these themes. Great stuff that I hope will become available.

A great insight, and one that was vividly brought to bear on us by Matt Carter and Francis Chan. Matt led us off by saying “I believe that missional communities could be the long awaited structure to awaken the sleeping giant of the American church.” But he also said that he feared all our generation would be remembered for is…missional communities. Matt prophetically called us to love Jesus first, to not love our mission more than our Savior, because if we do, our Savior won’t have any part of our mission. Great start to a conference that could easily degenerate into a hip, aren’t-we-so-cool-and-innovative strategy session. This is all about Jesus.

Francis Chan also spoke last night and was dropping bombs. First time I’ve heard him speak, and he is both disarmingly funny and devastatingly convicting. He called us back to the simplicity of letting Jesus and the Bible shape our mission. He asked us what we would come up with if we used only the Bible as our guide for ministry. He urged us to not let any system or strategy usurp the primacy of Christ in our hearts AND in our models. He also showed us a cartoon called “the red tractor.” I hope they post that somewhere.

2. Missional Communities on Campus: I had the opportunity yesterday to discuss missional community strategies in the campus ministry context with Todd Engstrom, Logan Gentry, Tyler David, and Sarah from Austin Stone Church here in Austin, Denny Henderson, Heather Lodovico and others from Hill Country Bible Church-UT also here in Austin, Justin and Raul from Campus Renewal at UT, Aaron Snow, and my buddy Benson Hines. It was fantastic. My two main takeaways from all that?

1) Make the mission easier! If it seems too hard for my students, I’m overly complicating it. Instead of shooting for the moon, help my students see and celebrate the incremental step, “what would be a win for you this week.” Help students “reproduce the Jesus in you in 3 people.” I needed to hear this.

2) Take risks, put the adventure back in Venture, and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. We become what we celebrate. Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski from Soma Churches emphasized the partying/celebration/fun atmosphere they’ve cultivated in their movement, and how that coincides with and even fuels their constant sent-ness.

A lot more I could say, but time for first main session.

Benson Hines has a great college ministry take on Verge you can read here: http://exploringcollegeministry.com/2010/02/05/all-i-really-needed-to-know-about-missional-community-i-learned-in-college-ministry/

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Gospel · Issues in campus ministry · missional
Tagged: , , ,

Verge Conference

February 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Today I head to Austin, TX for the “Verge Conference” on Missional Communities. With a one-month old daughter, Jess and I didn’t make this decision lightly, but this conference is worth it. http://verge2010.org/

The lineup is OUTSTANDING, and diverse: Matt Carter, Francis Chan, Neil Cole, Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer , and many more. I’m personally hoping to meet both Jeff Vanderstelt and Jonathan Dodson, two guys whose ministries and writings have impacted me a good bit over the past year.

I’m also eager to meet up with the folks from Austin Stone (Todd Engstrom & Tyler David) and Hill Country Bible Church (Denny Henderson and Heather Lodovico), who are all doing an awesome job at reaching college students from the Univ. of Texas in church-based ministries. What’s happening at UT needs to be followed by anyone in campus ministry, and I’m hoping to soak up as much as I can.

This conference is worth following, so I wanted to make sure to tell you that you can live stream the content by signing up at the website: http://verge2010.org/

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Gospel · campus ministry · missional
Tagged: , , , ,

How Should Christians Read Genesis? N.T. Wright

February 2, 2010 · 2 Comments

How should Christians read Genesis? Is a “literal” interpretation (whatever that means) the only way to go? (I’ve met both fundamentalist Christians AND militant atheists who would say so–they each have their reasons for that, one of them being “control,” or the ability to sit OVER a text as opposed to letting it sit over you). How can Christians reconcile these accounts with what we know from Science, and how does our worldview factor in to the discussion?

N.T. Wright is a brilliant and prolific theologian & author.  I’m not sure I’m ready to agree with everything he says, but it’s worth considering.  Those of you who know me know that the Science/Religion/Genesis stuff is what I’m least comfortable with when it comes to these discussions.  Wright makes some points in the following clips that should make both the Christian and the skeptic pause and consider their assumptions.  I’m eager to hear what you think!


These videos were produced by the BioLogos Foundation’s blog “Science & the Sacred,” which has many more resources worth investigating for these issues.  The insightful “RJS” (a Christian physics prof at a major university) is facilitating a typically thoughtful conversation over at Jesus Creed. The videos are also posted there if you can’t view them here.

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Issues in campus ministry · apologetics · theology
Tagged: , , ,

Missional Church–a 2 minute video intro

February 1, 2010 · 5 Comments

If the above is not working, just click here.

→ 5 CommentsCategories: missional
Tagged:

Avatar & the Longing for “Home”

January 29, 2010 · 2 Comments

It’s the biggest grossing movie of all time. It’s dazzled people with special effects, and left in them a longing so deep that quite a few viewers have left depressed. It’s garnered many admirers, but also some critics for its rather worn-out plot devices. But like Titanic, that doesn’t seem to stop it.

So what’s the secret to Avatar’s success? Is the plot just a prop for some 3D, HD thrills? Or is it worth going under the hood to ask what exactly Avatar is about?

Last night at the Sojourn Forum, a faith-and-doubt discussion group I host, about 30 Christians, atheists (from Penn State Atheists/Agnostics Association) and pagans (from Penn State’s Silver Circle group) gathered to discuss Avatar.

We discussed the various labels people have put on Avatar.  From our discussion and media coverage, people gravitate to one of the 4 following options:

1. A tract for pantheism
2. An anti-American military, anti-capitalist rant
3. A spiritually environmentalist call to arms
4. It’s not about anything–just shut up and enjoy the movie!

On the surface, Avatar is all of these. This partly explains its success, as it perfectly captures the zeitgeist. If James Cameron is a master of anything, it is that. Avatar meets our culture where it is at: Its pantheism is amenable to the Oprah-fied masses of people who are “spiritual but not religious,” people who are more open to eastern spiritual ideas than ever.

Its perceived anti-American, anti-military, anti-capitalist elements resonate with those in the West who are exceedingly uncomfortable with two foreign wars and the legacy of American international involvement.

Its battles to preserve Pandora’s beautiful landscape allow people to work out their anxiety–and guilt–about the state of the environment. We generally feel helpless and know our recycling doesn’t do heck of a lot. This battle is satisfying. It offers a resolution that “An Inconvenient Truth” never could.

Avatar even allows a glimpse of spirituality and the environment merging together–which commentators have noticed is a phenomenon here. Environmentalism, some say, is a new kind of civil religion, complete with priests, rituals, penance, and sacred texts.

And for those who don’t care for any of the big ideas & trends listed above, Avatar is great entertainment. We love our gadgets and special effects and we love to be wowed.

Given all of these factors, Avatar’s success is not surprising in the least. It has skillfully and attractively given people exactly what they wanted.

Still, seeing ingredients for its success does not entirely explain its allure. Those factors fall short, in part because each of them has serious holes.

Though the Pope has come out strong against the pantheistic elements of Avatar, (while also calling it “bland”), Avatar as a tract for pantheism is woefully deficient, to a true pantheist. It’s an open question whether the religion/spirituality on display is pantheism, panentheism, or a more generic Hollywood paganism.

Some have argued that Cameron has–perhaps inadvertently–allowed monotheism to creep in. Jake Sully doesn’t pray TO a tree, he prays THROUGH it, to a personal deity named Eywa (strikingly similar to the Hebrew Yahweh). Unlike depersonalized nature, Eywa intervenes specifically and directly in the affairs of Na’Vi (& humans). True pantheism (or Mother Nature) is blind and uncaring to the fates of particular creatures. And then there’s this: central to the story, and the salvation of Pandora, is that Sully incarnates himself–becomes a Na’Vi–in order to save them. How Christ-like is that?

As far as the anti-militaristic, anti-capitalist, anti-technological view–If that was Cameron’s goal, he failed miserably. I don’t think that was his goal, because he undercuts himself too obviously. Can we really take an anti-capitalist rant seriously from the movie that is now the highest grossing film in history, and which also cost more than any other movie to make in history?  Can we take an anti-militaristic rant seriously when the “Savior” is also a former soldier–a white, male, American soldier, and that the resolution comes violently? Can we take an anti-technology rant seriously from the movie that is being hailed as a technological marvel, a groundbreaking, bar-setting feat that will surely win every technical Oscar?

But I would argue that Avatar’s success is due in part to another reason, one which I haven’t seen addressed. Avatar succeeds most admirably as an evoking of a deep, barely conscious longing for “home.” What do I mean?

The phenomenon of post-Avatar depression is telling. As one fan posted on a fan website, “When I woke up this morning after watching ‘Avatar’ for the first time yesterday, the world seemed gray. It just seems so meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”

Avatar has caused, for many of its viewers, a deeply felt desire to live in a world that doesn’t exist.  It has awakened a longing for a world where humanity is not in conflict with nature, but preserving it.  Where people are deeply connected to nature, yet still in dominion over it.  A longing for a pristine world not defamed and destroyed by violence, greed, & technology.  Where life and vitality is winning over death and decay.  A longing for a place that feels more truly like “home” than our current planet.

This world doesn’t exist. It never has, except in one place, according to the Christian tradition: Eden. The “Avatar Blues” are more than a response to amazing special effects and contemporary anxieties. They evoke the longing for paradise, for the return to the Garden. They remind us that this is not all there is, and that things are not meant to stay like this.

As C.S. Lewis so wisely said:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.”

Avatar succeeds not so much because of its special effects or because of how it addresses contemporary issues, but because it addresses the oldest issue of all: the longing for another, better world, the desire to “get back to the Garden.”

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Culture · apologetics
Tagged: , , ,

College Students: Idealists? Nihilists? How about both?

January 25, 2010 · 1 Comment

Are today’s students idealists? Nihilists? I would argue that they seek to be both. This is an idea I expressed a while back, but worth elaborating on.

An inherent paradox exists in the lives of this particular generation of college students.

It’s the consensus opinion that today’s students are more socially minded than previous generations. They are more conscious of the problems and injustice in our world, and refuse to stand idly by while things go from bad to worse. They seek to be responsible global citizens, on issues from the environment, to Haiti, to suppressed civil rights, to cancer. Case in point: here at Penn State, Dance Marathon-or “THON,” as it’s known–has become one of the biggest events of the year, and the single biggest student-run philanthrophy in the country. Last year, it raised over 7.7 million dollars for pediatric cancer. Not bad.

Yet these same students who seem intent on “doing right” by day seem equally intent on “doing wrong” by night. That’s not my value judgment–that’s theirs. Just listen to the This American Life episode “#1 Party School” about Penn State, and hear how the students express their own guilty reservations about their actions. Whether it’s getting wasted several nights of the week, random anonymous hookups, or debasing yourself in other ways, students are pursuing quicker ways to party themselves into oblivion.

By day, students are saving the world. By night, they’re partying as if it’s about to end.

By day, they fight to preserve human dignity for others. By night, they abandon their own.

They’re idealists. They’re nihilists. They’re both.

→ 1 CommentCategories: Culture · Issues in campus ministry · Penn State
Tagged: , , , ,

Campus Ministry as Zone Defense vs. Church Picnic Softball

January 22, 2010 · 2 Comments

This post is about how campus ministers can work most effectively with what I like to call “Double-dippers,” those students who frequent two or more ministries on a regular basis.

One of our favorite pastimes as campus ministers is to gripe about the double-dippers who treat the campus ministry scene like it’s their own personal Baskin-Robbins.

But our griping doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s a reality, and it’s not changing anytime soon.

So how do we deal with it? More than coping, how can we turn it into a positive for the Kingdom?

It’s like this: we have to choose between what I’ll call the “Church Picnic Softball” approach, and the “Zone Defense” approach.

Whether we realize it or not, we campus ministers are on the same team. But we often don’t act like it.

How we relate to each other can be compared to church picnic softball game vs. a zone defense.

In softball, you just run out into the field, and may not even know your “teammmates.”

In zone, you have predetermined assignments, and know the strengths & weakness of your teammates well.

In softball, you might talk to each other, but then again, you might not. The ball easily drops in-between the outfielders.

In zone, you have practiced and reliable ways to communicate with each other.

In softball, you are purely reactive to the play of the game. There’s very little planning or forethought.

In zone, before the play happens, you’re calling out signals and making adjustments. You are fundamentally proactive.  When you need to make adjustments, your proactivity allows you to be effective as you react.

In softball, little thought is given to positions, or who’s best equipped to handle certain tasks.

In zone, much thought is given to who covers whom, based on ability, & experience.

In softball, I’m fixated on my job.

In zone, we’re fixated on our job.  We can have fluidity in our assignments, because we’re focused on the larger goal. If it makes more sense for someone else to pick up that person than me, so be it.

In softball, the biggest, fastest player sometimes roams the outfield, not giving anyone else a chance.

In zone, each player knows his role and where he should be positioned.

I happen to like softball. But I’ve never played a church or fellowship softball game that had any consequence to it, other than some momentary bragging rights.

In campus ministry, our stakes are quite a bit higher.

Communication. Coordination. Cooperation. It’s what distinguishes good cooperative campus ministry environments from  ineffective ones.

Are you playing casual softball, or zone on your campus?

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Issues in campus ministry · missional
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Unorthodox Martin Luther King, Myth, & Christianity

January 20, 2010 · 4 Comments

My friend “Ed the Gnostic” shared some interesting quotes with me from Martin Luther King from this article. These weren’t from the “I Have a Dream” speech or “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Rather, they were from papers he wrote in his grad school days on the connection between Christianity and ancient mystery religions (eg, Mithraism) and other pagan spiritualities. If you’re not familiar with some of the contours of King’s theology, this may be troubling to you.

For example, King wrote ‘It is at this point that we are able to see why knowledge of these cults is important for any serious New Testament study. It is well-nigh impossible to grasp Christianity through and through without knowledge of these cults. That there were striking similarities between the developing church and these religions cannot be denied.’

‘To discuss Christianity without mentioning other religions would be like discussing the greatness of the Atlantic Ocean without the slightest mention of the many tributaries that keep it flowing…The staggering question that now arises is, what will be the next stage of man’s religious progress? Is Christianity the crowning achievement in the development of religious thought or will there be another religion more advanced?”

Many Christians I know realize that King was not completely orthodox, though many do not. Around this time of year, I see many well-meaning Christians embracing ALL of MLK. This isn’t wise. “Watch your life and doctrine closely” Paul said to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:16). King’s theology had problems. He was a product of his time and environment. Liberal scholarship was in its heyday when & where he was studying.

For me, that doesn’t detract from the enormous respect I have for King as a leader or from his fantastic contribution to civil rights. I just wouldn’t get all my theology from him. Still, the moral force that fueled the civil rights movement was Jesus and the prophets. We don’t get King if he’s just drawing on Mithraism and Plato. We get King because he’s drawing on Jesus and Amos.

In reading the article & quotes above, I saw mostly an acknowledgment that we should recognize the context of Christianity’s origin, which I agree with. In my seminary classes, we spent a good deal of time discussing mystery religions & the general religious environment of that period. I think that’s important. (I also think that particular article pushes King so far into paganism that he wouldn’t recognize himself).

Still, King goes further than I will in somewhat relativizing Christianity as but one iteration of humanity’s spiritual evolution, when he asks “what’s next?” The “What’s Next” question is in flat contradiction to the claims of Scripture about Jesus. Jesus himself says he is the “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:8). There are no letters after Omega in the greek alphabet. “In Christ, all the deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). Not part of the deity, but all of it. The incredible claims of Jesus and the NT authors is that the fullness has arrived, the Kingdom has come, and we do not need to wait around for someone greater than Jesus to arrive on the scene. He’s the prophet greater than Moses, the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, the eternal heir to the throne of David. He’s all that and then some.

Incidentally, Christian readers, Brian McLaren makes some similar claims to King in his books. There are sound, deep, and weighty theological reasons for rejecting his “conversation.” The “what’s next” argument also leaves the door wide open for the claims of Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and anyone else who wants to claim to be the latest and greatest.

Now, back to the question of Christianity’s similarity to certain aspects of ancient mystery religions. Do these real and irrefutable overlapping aspects somehow threaten the uniqueness of Christianity, and therefore its Truth-claims? No. Christians have, from the very beginning, seen the commonalities we share with other religions as part of how a sovereign God was preparing the world for the reception of the Gospel message. This is true whether we’re talking about ancient religions, or modern ones. With reference to Mithraism and the like, we believe it was part of how God was preparing the world to receive the Gospel message, in the “kairos” moment in history, “when the time had fully come,” (Galatians 4:4).

I’ll go even further with regards to Christianity’s similarities to mystery religions than saying it doesn’t bother me. I’m with C.S. Lewis on this, when he writes in “Myth Become Fact” (an article in the anthology God in the Dock) that

[t]he heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens—at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle. … God is more than god, not less: Christ is more than Balder, not less. We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting on our theology. We must not be nervous about “parallels” and “pagan Christs”: they ought to be there—it would be a stumbling block if they weren’t. We must not, in false spirituality, withhold our imaginative welcome. If God chooses to be mythopoeic—and is not the sky itself a myth—shall we refuse to be mythopathic? [Check out this great article on C.S. Lewis and Myth.]

And also, when Lewis writes in his conversion memoir, Surprised by Joy:
I was by now too experienced in literary criticism to regard the Gospels as myths. They had not the mythical taste. And yet the very matter which they set down in their artless, historical fashion — those narrow, unattractive Jews, too blind to the mystical wealth of the Pagan world around them — was precisely the matter of great myths. If ever a myth had become a fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this. And nothing else in all literature was just like this. Myths were like it in one way. Histories were like it in another, but nothing was simply alike. And no person was like the Person it depicted; as real, as recognizable, through all that depth of time… yet also so luminous, lit by a light from beyond the world, a god. But if a god — we are no longer polytheists — then not a god, but God. Here and here only in all time the myth must have become fact; the Word, flesh; God, Man. This is not “a religion,” nor “a philosophy.” It is the summing up and actuality of them all.
It is precisely this, Jesus as the Myth-Become-Fact, that causes people to either embrace him or reject him. If you are a highly spiritual person from another religious tradition or a pagan spirituality, Jesus’ arrival and ministry is not spectacular enough. It stops short. My friend Ed is continually frustrated by the Christian fixation on Jesus. He says we make too much of Jesus, and that we focus on Jesus to the detriment of our spiritual development/evolution. He wants us to push past Jesus to the next click in humanity’s evolution. We Christians remain stubbornly fixed on Christ, “the image of the invisible God.”
Of course, if you are a secular person, your offense is in the opposite direction: the message and claims of Jesus are too spectacular to be plausible. A God-become-man. Not only the existence of the deity, but the fullness of the deity in bodily form. The claim that though there are passing similarities to dozens of other mystery religions, THIS man, at THIS time, was the real deal. That this is no mere legend or fable. That this is no imaginitive wish-thinking with supernatural fairy-dust sprinkled on top.
Perhaps it is the very fact that it confounds our expectations, secular and spiritual alike, that points to its Truthfulness.  As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:22-25,

22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

→ 4 CommentsCategories: Culture · History · Issues in campus ministry · apologetics
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Pat Robertson Doesn’t Speak for Me

January 19, 2010 · 8 Comments

[Sigh]. Pat Robertson did it again.  As predictably as the sunrise, Pat made an erroneous, harmful, and hurtful public statement.  Pat said that the earthquake in Haiti was God’s judgment on that nation for its alleged pact with the Devil.  Even if he believes that, what kind of person says that while thousands lay buried alive in the rubble?

Last week at Sojourn, we discussed Brit Hume, Tiger Woods, and faith in the public square. Inevitably, we got into Pat Robertson’s comments about Haiti, which had just broken the day before. Robertson and Jerry Falwell had similar things to say about 9/11 and Katrina. Notable about this round of comments was that several prominent Christians quickly made it clear that they disagreed with Pat, in the strongest possible terms. I’ve found it important to state, clearly and consistently, that Pat Robertson doesn’t speak for me, nor does he represent most Christians, and I do not believe he is faithful to Scripture in his pronouncements. I’m not alone.

I gleaned these quotes from Twitter:

Al Mohler:
“Theological arrogance matched to ignorance.”

Rick Warren:
“Some prophets are nothing but windbags.The Lord hasn’t spoken through them,so let what they say happen to them”Jer.5:13

Judging other’s pain is arrogance: “It’s easy to condemn those who are suffering, when you have no troubles” Job 12:5 CEV

Labeling any natural disaster as God’s judgment is nonsense.True “judgment begins with God’s family” 1Peter4:17, not others

Donald Miller also weighed in with a humble, healthy perspective. He called for Christians to not get angry with Pat about Pat’s angry judgments. Worth a read.

My favorite tweet about Pat Robertson was something like this: “God loves Haiti, and Pat Robertson, even though both are natural disasters. Still, give money to Haiti, not the 700 Club.”  Yup.

→ 8 CommentsCategories: Culture
Tagged: , , , , ,

Four Reasons I’m Excited about this Semester

January 13, 2010 · 2 Comments

A new semester has begun, and I’m excited by what we have in store. At least four reasons:

1). The Sojourn Forum. We’re kicking things off with a discussion of Brit Hume’s comments calling Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity, and the subsequent media firestorm. This raised issues of proselytizing, evangelism, faith in the public square, tolerance, and comparing religions. I’ll post more in depth on this later in the week.

In following weeks, we’ll cover, in no particular order:

  • Avatar and its pantheistic, pagan, capitalistic, imperialistic subplots
  • “Is Environmentalism a New Religion?”
  • Meaning & Purpose
  • A special “Darwin Day” discussion on 2/11
  • Free Will, DNA, and Destiny
  • Critical, but not Constructive Thinking
  • We may discuss the movies “The God Who Wasn’t There” and “What Would Jesus Buy”
  • Other topics our Sojourn Forum will determine together

2. The “Skeptics Bible Study.” This is brand new, an offshoot of Sojourn. We’ll be looking at particular biblical texts, making sure to deal with questions & objections skeptics may have about the Bible. Where Sojourn tends to approach issues “top-down” (starting at the Big Idea), this Bible Study will approach questions from “bottom-up,” by looking at specific biblical texts.

Among other topics/texts, we’ll be looking at:

  • The Prodigal Son as a parable summarizing the Bible’s (hi)story of redemption (with help from Tim Keller)
  • Is the Bible really all about Jesus? Luke 24:44-49
  • The Bible’s View of Itself  2 Timothy 3:16
  • The most famous verse of all–John 3:16
  • “Judge not lest ye be judged”
  • Did Jesus fulfill or abolish the Law (or, should Christians be kosher?) Matthew 5:17
  • Biblical texts on women
  • Biblical texts on homosexuality
  • Biblical texts on slavery
  • Irrational, Angry Jesus? The cursing of the fig tree and cleansing of the Temple
  • The resurrection: historicity, conflicting accounts, etc.

3. Partnership with other ministries

I’ll continue working with several other ministries for the larger purposes of the Kingdom here at PSU.

  • coaching ACF’s church-planting couple, Pete & Jackie; & working with ACF on missional movement
  • speaking 3 times to Navigator’s student leaders on apologetics
  • featured speaker for Harvest’s on-campus “retreat” in March (Harvest is a largely Korean student-church on campus)
  • developing partnership opportunities with Campus Crusade
  • praying for our campus with several ministries on Wednesdays at lunchtime
  • working with fellow CCO ministers, including Calvary Baptist/Doulos

4. Conferences

I’m participating in two conferences in February. The first is the Verge Conference in Austin, TX, 2/4-6. It’s all about “missional communities,” with some leading thinkers & practitioners including Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer, Neil Cole, Francis Chan, Jeff Vanderstelt, and the good folks from Austin Stone Church and Hill Country Bible Church UT. I’m very much looking forward to taking in everything they’re doing at Univ. of Texas.

I’m also leading some breakout sessions at CCO’s Jubilee Conference, 2/19-21. I’ll be moderating a panel discussion on faith & doubt with some atheists and Christians, as well as speaking on college ministry as vocation. Looking forward to it!

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Gospel · Issues in campus ministry · Penn State · apologetics
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Towards Modesty

January 11, 2010 · 1 Comment

Modesty is an issue in our culture. As a college minister at the #1 Party School in the country, where girls wear “frackets” to and from the frats to cover up their minimalistic ensembles, and now as the father of a girl, I’m mindful of the importance of this discussion.

We need to talk about this issue, because it is symptomatic of the sexual idolatry rampant in our culture. Women (girls) believe that becoming a sexual object will somehow bring joy, acceptance, and fun. Men (boys) are all too complicit in the sexualization of everything.

Yet its all too easy to react to the licentiousness of our hyper-sexual, immodest culture, and go to the other extreme of legalistic Phariseeism. Even those with great intentions can start approaching a kind of sartorial legalism. How long before someone invents the Christian burqa?  “Dress like the Virgin Mary!”

We’re in a tough place. We don’t want our girls to by hypersexualized before puberty, and we don’t want them to dress immodestly. Neither is embracing legalism & mandating skirt lengths the answer. Ever.  So how can we give girls helpful and clear advice?

We’ve got to go to the heart and its motives. It’s not what goes into a man that makes him unclean (whether through his mouth or through his eyes!), but what comes out of his heart that makes him unclean, says Jesus (Matthew 15:17-19).

The problem is not the clothes, ultimately; the problem is the heart. And the only way to deal with the heart is with the Gospel. The heart has to want purity and modesty out of love for Christ, before the mind and body can pursue genuine modesty. Don’t talk about clothing choices until you’ve talked about heart choices.

So as parents, friends, campus ministers, & pastors, we must call people to prize Christ more than immodesty & sexual immorality. We must help them prize their identity and acceptance in Christ over any illusory identity & acceptance they get through sexual pursuits. We must teach them that sexuality is a tremendous gift in its God-designed context, but–as with any idol–a tremendously destructive & dehumanizing burden outside of God’s design.

If we don’t address the heart, its very possible to end up with a person who dresses modestly (because they’re forced to), yet does not think, speak, or act modestly.

To address the heart, we need some heart-directed questions to get the conversation going. “Why” questions and motive questions are the best way to get there.

  • Why are you wearing that?
  • What are you hoping other people will think about you?
  • What are you worshiping with your choices?
  • Whose acceptance are you seeking?
  • Where is your identity, worth, and value found?

Practically speaking, the always helpful Michael Hyatt had a post a few months back that I thought was helpful. In it, he outlined “Four Guidelines for Modesty” which he found useful in raising 5 daughters.

  1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
  2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
  3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
  4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

All of this is much more easily said than done. So I’m asking–parents, fellow college ministers/pastors, friends, students–how do you pursue modesty and encourage others to do so? How do you avoid the twin errors of licentiousness and legalism? How do you fight for modesty with the Gospel? What have you found helpful?

→ 1 CommentCategories: Culture · Issues in campus ministry
Tagged: , , ,

Random reflections on birth & parenthood from a bleary-eyed Dad–& some pictures

January 7, 2010 · 20 Comments

Abigail was born yesterday morning. I’m writing this post to organize my many thoughts, and to show them to her someday.

In no particular order:

I don’t know if there’s anything that has caused me to love Jess more than witnessing her bringing our children in to the world. She’s so tough, so strong, so nurturing. Simply amazing.

Having a baby is surreal. In the last couple weeks before Abigail was born, I kept thinking “I’m about to meet someone who will utterly change my life.” It’s not often you can anticipate that, or know that it’s true immediately as it’s happening.

Jess had been having contractions every 12-15 minutes for several days. We had expected Abigail to arrive for so long that it started seeming unreal, like Jess would be 9 months pregnant forever. This was more funny to me than her.  Then it went from unreal, to surreal, to VERY real, very quickly.

I was more emotional for Abigail’s arrival, baby #3. Probably because I have a better sense of what it means to love & care for a new life.

Dominant emotions: Joy. Relief. Gratitude. Awe. Being humbled. The good kind of pride. Welcoming a new child is one of those times when none of what I’ve just said is exaggeration or cliche.

More on that good kind of pride: I’m proud of my wife, how strong she is. I’m proud of my new daughter. I’m proud of my family. I’m blessed. I would define “the good kind of pride” as a grateful, Godward celebration of his gifts. God has been good to me.

Abigail is a champ. She’s a natural at feeding so far, and had an amazing first poop. It’s the little things on that first day. She’s awesome.

Abigail is now in her 2nd day as I write this. I keep wanting her to say “What, do you think I was born yesterday?” and I’ll say, “Actually, you were.”

Great 1st night, for me at least. And we needed it. We been all geared up to go in to the hospital on Monday night, and when we didn’t, I had trouble sleeping. Then we went in on Tuesday night around 9:30, and stayed up all night until Jess delivered at 5:15am. Then we were up the rest of the day. When I went to bed last night, I had only slept 5 of the previous 60 hours. I slept harder than I have in years, on the worst pull-out couch/bed I’ve slept on in years.

For you non-parents out there: being a parent of a newborn is a whole new class of tiredness. Finals week doesn’t even come close.

For you Dads out there: one of the best things you can do for the hospital is prepare the perfect playlist. I had it ready to go on iTunes, including the instrumental classical guitar/piano collection of classical music & lullabies we’ve used at all 3 of our deliveries. The music is invaluable for shaping your environment. Also on the playlist: Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, some Rich Mullins, and I snuck in some Keane.

When you’re the parent of a newborn, you lose all sense of time. In fact, there is no time. It’s like being on the edge of the universe or something.

I don’t know if this is another Philly/State College difference, or if things have changed, but with Samuel & Micah, we felt like the hospital was eager to get us out after 24-36 hours. With Abigail, Mt. Nittany Medical Center doesn’t really want us to leave until 48 hours. It’s nice to not feel rushed.

Our first full day with Abigail & I’m already wrapped around her tiny little finger. And protective. I told her that she’ll be allowed to look at boys exactly 21 years from now. I’m gonna go out and get a shotgun to scare off prospective suitors.

The boys met Abigail yesterday afternoon. They were really sweet and interested and gentle, and took turns holding her. They were also really interested in Jess’s motorized bed. Watching them interact with her is just a blast!

Abigail was born on 1/6.  In my family, 1/6 used to be the day my Mom’s Dad died. Now that day is for celebrating new life, and joy!  It’s a foretaste of the redemption of all things, when, as Tolkien said, “everything sad will come untrue.”

I still can’t believe how much HAIR Abigail has! It’s long and thick. And dark. I actually had a similar head of hair at birth. Sam had some, but not as much–his fell out and came back in blonde. So we’ll see.

I’m glad for the help of social media in getting the word out. I was able to prewrite text messages and emails, and was able to send them out within an hour of Abigail’s birth. Because the hospital is awesome and had wifi, I was able to do all this, including pictures, from my laptop in the delivery room.

I–and Jess–have REALLY enjoyed receiving all the emails, facebook messages, text messages, and other forms of congratulations that many of you have offered. Though we can’t possibly respond to all of them, we appreciate them!

Written from our room at Mt. Nittany Medical Center.

And now what you really want to see: some pictures!

Some blurred images, as I didn’t use flash to “shock & awe” Abigail.

You’ll see that Sam employed his latest party trick, crossing his eyes, for the family picture. His eyes are normal the other 99% of the time.

→ 20 CommentsCategories: Family & Personal
Tagged: , , , ,

A Bible Study for Skeptics

January 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I’m in the midst of gearing up for the rapidly approaching semester (while simultaneously STILL gearing up for this baby to arrive).

This semester, due to popular demand, we’re starting a Bible Study for Skeptics. It’s an outgrowth of the Sojourn Forum. Where Sojourn tends to approach issues “top-down” (starting at the Big Idea), this Bible Study will approach questions from “bottom-up,” by looking at specific biblical texts.

Have you ever wondered:
–What about those passages that seem to endorse misogyny, slavery, religious warfare, conversion by coercion, and the like?
–Does the Bible teach creation in 6 literal days?
–Does the Bible teach the world will end like in the “Left Behind” novels?
–How do the authors of the Bible–including Jesus–view it?
–How do different sects of Christianity approach the Bible?
–What do people mean when they say the Bible is “inspired” and “inerrant”?
–What about the passage that says (fill in the blank)?

If you’ve ever thought about these questions and others, or just want to increase your biblical literacy, this group is for you. You’ll help determine the texts we study. Like Sojourn, we’re aiming for an honest, respectful, no-straw-men discussion.

If you’re in the State College area, plan on coming, and tell your friends!

Even if you’re not in State College, I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions on specific verses/topics.

I’ll schedule this meeting at a time and location that works best for the most people. Please go to the Doodle link below to record your preferences:

http://www.doodle.com/wgfi2eqbw4ub9yfw

I’m looking forward to studying this with you in the new semester!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , ,

The Hidden Costs of Support Raising

November 24, 2009 · 21 Comments

My buddy Benson Hines–who I recently had the privilege of hosting for a few days on his most recent college ministry road trip–is asking some questions about one of the big issues in college ministry, Support Raising. I’m glad he did, because let’s face it: For many college ministers, this is the elephant in the room and the monkey on their back. It’s eating their lunch and sucking the life and energy from their ministry. It’s a timely issue as well, as many of us are gearing up for the year-end giving push, with mailings, emails, and lots of personal meetings around the holidays.

I raise full-support. I live in the Northeast. I am neither a campus ministry rookie, nor a “lifer.”  I’ve worked for both churches and a parachurch. Like nearly everyone in 2009, I’ve had my ups-and-downs with SR, though we seem to be on a definite upswing. Support-raising remains a HUGE part of what we campus ministers do.

The old guard–those who have “made it” and have a solid base of supporters who have been with them for 10, 20, even 30 years–can sometimes forget what it’s like to build your base and to really struggle. They can be a bit dismissive and simply tell people that “it’s just about putting the time in” and “you need to walk by faith.” All of which is true. But I believe it ignores that issues related to SR are among the most costly and detrimental obstacles in our field.
I hardly ever hear people in our field discuss the opportunity-cost of support raising. Perhaps we’re afraid of what we would discover if we did. For many college ministers, its both sky-high and somewhat hidden. Here are some of the ways we feel the cost of support-raising:

  • Many organizations require their staff to be at 100% before they hit the field. As a result, it’s not uncommon for new staff to languish on the sidelines for an entire year as they raise support, not doing any actual college ministry.
  • For others of us who can hit the campus at less than 100%, it can still consume much of our mental energy and time during the week. When your SR is weak, it will impact your ministry. It often brings up huge heart-issues of faith, fear, and trust. The young campus minister with support raising issues does not just need a coach–he or she needs a counselor.
  • Uncertain & low pay is often the primary reason many young campus ministers leave the field. They get tired of the grind and want the steady paycheck.

When SR is having that kind of impact, what is the net effect on ministry? What is the cost? How many less students are reached? If we have to spend upwards of 10 hours/week on support, that’s a lot of evangelism & discipleship that isn’t happening. What other field is ok with that?

What about the impact on ministry reputation? I’m going to offend some people here, but there are lots of less-than-effective campus ministers and campus ministries out there. Nearly every potential supporter knows (and has likely supported) the campus minister who never made it, or never seemed to accomplish anything to speak of. These less-than-stellar ministries have a general depressing effect on our entire field. They make it that much harder for us to raise support and to get people excited about our field.

How many gifted staff are lost to our field because of these dynamics every year? What is the opportunity cost, in terms of things we could be doing better or differently?

I don’t know if any organizations, including the “Big Guys” like Cru, IV, Navs, etc. track staff statistics on support raising, and if they publish them. But I would love to know some stats. My suspicion is that we’re propping up a system with some huge flaws–if it’s not already broken. I just see too many of my college ministry colleagues languishing and struggling with this issue to think “that’s how it’s always been” and “we just need to try a little harder.”

I have deep concerns about this model of funding ministry in a post-Christendom world. I think the next 10 years–when many estab. churches will disappear, when the WWII generation is gone, and Boomers move to reduced incomes–will fundamentally reshape the landscape for support-raising.

General giving patterns are also changing. My mother-in-law works for the United Way. They have seen a huge shift in how people give charitably–and old-school orgs like United Way are losing out. These days, donors want not only access, but specificity and control. It seems that people are increasingly not content to let their gift be a drop in the bucket. They want to know exactly what it will be used for.

So I’ve toyed with the idea of “itemized giving.” Instead of simply asking for the old $50 or $100/month gift, to ask for $1000 for our “resources” fund–X amount of books or what have you. Basically connect their gift to a specific item, event, trip, initiative, etc. How then do I get my salary? Tack on a percentage to each of these line-items to fund at least part of my salary. I’ve yet to actually try this, and I’m not sure how it will work. Anyone tried it?

So where does that leave us: The overall donor base will shrink, and competition for funding–already pretty tight–will increase. Not to get all Darwinian on you, but only the strongest and most adaptable will survive. I’m seeing this right now: those who are good communicators, good vision-casters, who are self-disciplined and can put in the work, who can demonstrate why their ministries are good investments, who are clearly entrepreneurial in nature–these people will not only survive but thrive.

But those who lack the ability to communicate why they do what they do beyond platitudes, who don’t have much to show for their time on campus, who are not disciplined and lack the energy and fire to take initiative–these people are already falling by the wayside. I’ve written here on my blog about sustainability issues in our field–this is probably the biggest area of concern that i have. Of course, maybe we NEED to be pruned a bit (?)

One possible solution is to tap into other potential sources of income. The obstacle is that most campus ministries explicitly forbid holding another job while you’re on staff. There are some good reasons for this: time management, conflicts of interest, PT job income being a crutch when you should be support raising. But I do think this will have to change. Because the ones who stick around doing campus ministry will be more entrepreneurial in nature, and will seek out these opportunities; and we’ll need to find those other sources of income.

I would suggest that the entire field of campus ministry needs to become more bivocational in nature, and that we should look first to people already on our campuses: faculty and staff whom God has already burdened for lost students, and who are uniquely positioned to reach them.

→ 21 CommentsCategories: Issues in campus ministry
Tagged: , ,

Towards a Christian Theology of Innovation

November 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment

innovation light bulb[The following is excerpted from a talk I gave at the Faith for Thought conference in State College, PA, on 10/31/09]

What is Christian Innovation?

At first “Christian innovation” may seem like an oxymoron. Because as Ecclesiastes says,

“All things are wearisome,

more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of saying,

Nor the ear its fill of hearing.

What has been will be again,

What has been done will be done again;

There is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which one can say,

‘Look! This is something new’?

It was here already, long ago;

It was here before our time.” Ecclesiastes 1:8-10

 

So if the Bible teaches that there is nothing new, is it even accurate to talk about innovation?

The answer is Yes. We find this to be loud and clear as we seek to build a theology of innovation. And as with most everything, we begin with Genesis 1-2.

 

Creation: As we see in Genesis 1-2, God is a creative God. He IS the Creator. He takes great delight in it. He calls it “good.” It’s part of being created in the Imago Dei, the image of God, to be creative. It is part of how we reflect him. Our ability to create was created. Everyone has the capacity to be creative, though many do not tap into that.

 

The way to reconcile Ecclesiastes 1 with christian innovation is to recognize that God is the Creator. He is the only one who has created everything ex nihilo, from nothing. All our other creative work is inherently derivative, because it derives from the Creator. So nothing is completely novel, though it may be a new expression. While cars, TVs, and the Internet are relatively new inventions, people have always had ways of getting around, things to look at for amusement, and methods for communicating with one another.

 

Fall: However, the world is broken and fallen. Sin infects and works itself into everything, including our intellect and our creative impulses. All innovation is NOT good.

We only have to go a few chapters in Genesis to see the creative impulse gone awry. In Genesis 6, before the Flood, it says “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5). The were inventing ways to do evil.

 

Moving on to Genesis 11, we see the Tower of Babel. What’s their stated purpose in building this tower? “Let’s make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). This innovation was in direct defiance of God. God dispersed them—not because he’s petty and insecure, but because he knew the self-aggrandizing impulse can do great damage. Making a name for ourselves has been used to justify all kinds of terrible evil and injustice, like the Holocaust. Humanity has proven that we are most innovative when we’re inventing new ways of killing each other. Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done.

 

Redemption: In response to evil innovation, God does something surprising. He doesn’t squash all innovation/imagination altogether. In fact, he does something new to deal with the problem. His innovation is to bring redemption through a man, working within the system instead of outside of it. Think about how innovative God’s plan is: Jesus Christ, the God-man. Born of a virgin. Countless miracles. And the most outside-the-box idea of all: vicarious, atoning death on a cross. We couldn’t have thought of it if God didn’t think of it first!

 

Jesus talks about his work using innovation language. He says in Revelation 21:5 that “I am making everything new!” We believe that Jesus is making all things new. What does he mean by “new”?  The “new” that Jesus is speaking of is not so much “novel,” but new in the sense of renewal. Restoring things to the way God intended, to conform with God’s design. Redemption.

 

In that sense, then, innovation is the art of joining Jesus in his redemptive work of making all things new. Instead of squashing our creative impulses, God wants to renew them, and equip us in doing new things that lead to redemption. Therefore, we can say that all good and true innovation is redemptive.

 

Christians believe that we are caught up in the “Big Story,” the story of God doing new things to make all things new. This story, this life, is going somewhere—the redemption of all things! Now that’s a “bottom line” worth striving for!

 

With this bottom line, with this metanarrative in view, we have a new perspective on our purpose and work. Doing things the same old, same old way is not redemptive. This has always been true; it is more true than ever. So we need a holy imagination. We need innovative, redemptive solutions to the problems we see. How do we recognize redemptive innovation when we see it? I’ve listed six marks.

 

Marks of Redemptive Innovation:

1. It makes us more human, not less

Much innovation dehumanizes us. At its worst, methods of war and extermination.

2. It’s useful, not useless

Do you really need all the crap they sell? Do we really need the “Egg Genie” and the “Magic Bullet” and the combination hot dog cooker/bun warmer? (This is why all those personal storage places exist)

3. It’s the product of a sanctified imagination & creative impulse, not a depraved one

4. It doesn’t exploit—it edifies

5. It meets a real and pressing need, instead of creating a false one

How about all the constant ads for penis and breast enlargement? Creates a sense of inferiority.

6. It’s not about making a name for ourselves—even better, it’s about making God’s name great!

 

Take technology for example. It’s a powerful tool, period. It can connect us in amazing ways, but like anything else, it will have fallen, sinful applications. The internet allows us to share information and resources like never before, but it is also connecting more people to more porn than ever.

 

Because technology has sinful applications, some Christians will say what we need to do is unplug and retreat to simpler times. Dismiss all tech as sinful. This would be a mistake.

 

Technology, like anything else, can and must be redeemed. And it has powerful redemptive potential/capability. It’s our job to discover what that is. Technology part of the problem, but in Christ, it can be redeemed to be part of the solution. We won’t find those solutions by sitting out, but by engaging and innovating from within.

 

 

Innovation for Redemption through Churches and Ministry

It may be hard for us to grasp, but the Church throughout history and in many parts of the world today has been extremely innovative.

 

We see this in the Early church.  The church adapts to rapid growth, change, and persecution by innovating new ways to spread the Kingdom: They create deacons. They bring in Gentiles. They figure out how they church should be expressed in new places in the diaspora. Paul constantly adapts his missionary methods for his different contexts.

 

Through the centuries, the Church continued to innovate, nearly always on the cutting edge of mission to new, unreached lands. The modern era of foreign missions in the 17th-18th century saw an explosion of new strategies to reach new people in new places. Even denominations, which to many people are the epitome of stodgy, institutional Christianity, were originally an innovative strategy for figuring out how state churches should organize and work together in the “New Land.”

 

Campus ministry, especially in the 1950s-1970s, was a hotbed of innovation in ministry. Campus Crusade, Intervarsity, and others paved the way not just for engaging college students, but engaging society as a whole. Bill Bright of Crusade was a legendary leader and pacesetter for an entire generation of Christians.

 

And finally, the American church has awoken again to the importance of starting new churches through church planting. It’s widely known that church planting is a high risk endeavor (but that’s what entrepreneurship is all about). It’s high risk, but also high reward.  The vast majority of church plants fail. But one study found that 80% of new converts came from churches less than 2 years old!

 

Jesus is into making all things new by starting new things. We should be too.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: innovation · theology
Tagged: , ,

Thoughts on using “Gospel Centered Life”

November 3, 2009 · 2 Comments

A friend and campus ministry colleague recently wrote me about a concern she had with Gospel Centered Life, a 9 week study distributed by World Harvest Mission that I’ve used pretty extensively with students, and which I’m a big fan of.  I was thankful for the question, and suspect more people have this experience. There’s nothing very original in my response, but I hope it’s helpful to the person working through this material. I’m interested in your thoughts on the Q&A, particularly if you’ve used GCL or something like it.

Here’s our exchange:

 

Hey Steve!
…Quick question for you. When you did “GCL” did you feel that it was a little sin and guilt heavy? I didn’t really recognize it when I read through it and was thinking about teaching it, but now that we are actually using it I have noticed. And my students have as well. We do have a lot of discussion, and usually that is pretty encouraging, but sometimes I think they leave a little more discouraged than encouraged in their walk. Thoughts? How did it end up turning out for you?
Hey ______
–great question.
I don’t think you’re alone in experiencing this, but I wouldn’t say the material necessarily causes people to leave–and stay–discouraged.
I often say that the Gospel is “two handed,” that is, there’s a lot of “On the one hand/on the other hand.”

On the one hand, we are more sinful, broken, and messed up than we would ever admit.
But on the other hand, we are more loved, forgiven, and accepted than we could ever imagine.

If your students are leaving discouraged, it sounds to me like they are getting “halfway there.” And while you don’t want them to stay there, this isn’t entirely bad.

Seeing the depth of our sin is necessary to grasp the Gospel. If the Gospel has ceased to be good news for us, it is likely because we don’t see the height, depth, and length of it. If we don’t see just how great our sin is, we don’t see the extent to which God has reached out to us through Christ. If we don’t think we’re all that bad, than the Gospel just isn’t that great.

Without the “bad news,” the “Good News” isn’t really good. When it comes to the Gospel, the way up is down. The Bible says that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God. Going through a season in which we become discouraged because we are worse off than we thought we were is good and necessary.

That said, you must help your students take hold of Christ! If they’re walking away discouraged, let them despair of themselves, but help them to find hope in Christ! One old preacher wisely said, “For every one look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ!” We don’t want people to be filled with morbid introspection–we want them to be filled with the life and love of Christ. Remind them that the Gospel is two-handed. Help them see that God’s grace is greater than ALL their sin and failures. Help them see that humility, confession, repentance, and forsaking self is the “upside-down” way to experiencing the Good News of Jesus for all its worth!

I hope this is helpful–if I can be of further help as you lead your students through this, let me know.

 

 

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Gospel · campus ministry

What do you do to stay “in the loop”?

October 28, 2009 · 2 Comments

As a minister, and perhaps even more particularly, as a campus minister, it’s important to stay in the loop.

Theologian Karl Barth famously stated that it was wise to begin the day with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.  Nowadays, we may integrate all our Scriptural and news resources into our laptop or smartphone.

I can think of 3 reasons why it’s important for campus ministers to work at staying in the loop, every day:

1. For personal reasons

We need new ideas. We need to be challenged. We don’t want to become static entities, just doing the same old stale things we did 5-10 years ago. This is what Stephen Covey calls “sharpening the saw.” One of the best ways to stay active, alert, vital, and fresh is to know where to go to sharpen your saw.

2. For professional development.

These first two overlap, but are important enough to be distinct. Campus ministers, like anyone else who believes their field is important, need to be active learners. Some of the best lessons to be learned are across disciplines. For example, it was through faithfully reading the Harvard Business Review email that I read an article on “How Innovators Think.” The first characteristic of an innovator is “Associating,” that is, making connections across disciplines. Quite a few good ideas have come to me through the seemingly incongruous reading of the HBR.

3. For missional reasons.

We work in places that highly value knowledge. A fully incarnational and faithful ministry should be constantly building our own knowledge-base. When we’re constantly reading, associating, and connecting the dots, it builds credibility with those we’re serving. I’ve had more than one professor smile with surprise and recognition when I cite something I’ve read in the Chronicle of Higher Ed or the New York Times related to their field.

Being active learners can open doors to new opportunities. It helps us learn and listen. It helps us remember what our students are (supposed to be) doing much of the time they’re not meeting with us. It helps us feel that we too are part of this learning community called a university.

So what do I do to stay in the loop?

It starts with my daily emails. Every morning, I get emails with headlines from the following sources:

The New York Times

I always read David Brooks on Tuesdays and Fridays. I also like Thomas Friedman. I read a lot of the Tech articles, including David Pogue’s posts. I’ve set up an “Alert” for special emails on anything related to Higher Ed. This saves me some search time. I also get special emails for movie and books reviews.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed

Much of the content they distribute is “premium,” which I don’t subscribe to, but a good bit of it is free. Plus, just glancing at the headlines gives me a feel for what people are thinking about and discussing.

Inside Higher Ed

Not as polished as the Chronicle, but with more free content. Also very valuable as a gauge of what’s “hot” in Higher Ed.

Harvard Business Review

Tons of great, readable articles on leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and other areas that are very relevant to what I’m doing.

I typically scan all these emails, clicking on articles that pique my interest, and I typically end up with anywhere from 5-10 that I’d like to read.

The only actual newspaper I read is Penn State’s Daily Collegian, one of the best student newspapers in the country.

Now, call me old-school, but I still like magazines: There should be a place for long-form journalism. I subscribe to several mags:

Rolling Stone

Fast Company

Inc.

The Atlantic

Christianity Today

Books & Culture

Also: Time, Wired, Comment, Entrepreneur

Add to these a host of blogs, many of which are listed at the right. My blog reading ebbs and flows though.

How about you? What do you read to stay in the loop?

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Culture · Issues in campus ministry · Uncategorized