Ministry Habits

As I reviewed some of what I've said in my last post and talking to some people about what I'm doing right now, I realize that I appear to be in dire trouble. It appears that the current lifestyle I'm living will lead to ministry burnout. I do recognize that currently I'm making myself too available to the students. Despite the fact that at this time I am single and have no family of my own to take care of I'm setting precedent for unhealthy habits. Although, I am allowing students an inordinate amount of access to me, I'm doing so in the hopes that I will not have to spend as much time with them later.

I'm really trying to lay a ground work for the spring semester and the future. My hope is that by spending as much time as I am now mentoring and teaching the students in my care, that they will use their memories of time spent with me and the lessons they've learned to develop future leaders. My hope is that this Spring the current leaders will begin aggressively training future leaders and spending time with younger people because I've done it with them.

I will never teach or ask someone to do something that I have not done or am willing to do myself. I will not expect someone to do something without me having demonstrated it first. I firmly believe in leading and teaching by example. I firmly believe in pushing myself and setting the standard so that those I teach will see that with a teachable attitude and faithfulness God enables us to do much.

I also recognize that my time here is short and I want to make the most of every opportunity. I try to live each day in view of eternity. I do my best to live each day in view of my obituary. That being said I know that the current pace of life I have is not realistically sustainable for more than this semester so please be in prayer for the young people I'm working with to grab hold of the vision and take ownership of the ministry they are a part of. Pray that a culture of discipleship, teachability, and leadership is cultivated in the ministry of Christian Challenge and Priority College Ministry.

In regard to leadership, specifically the kind of servant leadership displayed by our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the greatest obstacles of college students and Christians is to be people of substance. Not just people that say they are Christ followers, but people who by their actions show they live a life yielded to Jesus. Our leaders need to be people that are consistent in what they say and what they do. Many people have a disconnect between what they say they want to be and who they are. They aren't even aware of the discrepancy between their speech and actions. Pray that God would confront them with their speech that they become people whose word means something. That our leaders would not be people whose word is empty and hollow but full of life giving substance found in the Living Word.

The biggest challenge I find with those whom I work with is a challenge I struggle with daily. And it's simply to be authentic. To be consistent. So that what I say and teach becomes more than speech, it becomes action. So that when I say that we should pray, we pray. Not when I'm at home or in my car alone. All the things that I say and teach need to be shown. They need to be immediate. If those I'm leading never see me do any of what I say. And if they don't see me do it immediately, they will not begin to establish these spiritual habits and disciplines. They will not understand the urgency of applying habits to their lives now. So please pray that I am consistently demonstrating all that I say to my students setting a model for them to follow.

Stupendous September

This past month has gone by so fast! I'm amazed at how fast time flies by. I feel busier than ever but blessed to be in ministry. Even though the beginning of the month started with a holiday, I barely noticed the break. I'm still trying to get a handle on how to work with the students. I'm meeting weekly with 7 young men(Christian Challenge) and for the past month been trying to iron out what type of mentoring relationship I have with each one. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to practice spiritual coaching, spiritual directorship, discipleship, and mentoring. However I do feel overwhelmed at times! Thank goodness for gmail and all of the electronic tools at my disposal. For many of the students I work with the main area of growth is in time management and organization. As you probably know, poor time management and goal setting negatively affects the academic, social and spiritual portions of life. So I've been teaching varying methods of organization and time management techniques. I've also been teaching goal setting and intentional living(finally all that Leadership and Psychology training is paying off!).

I have also been meeting bi-weekly with student officers(Priority) and encouraging them as they seek to build identity and community within their college ministry through authentic fellowship facilitated by social events. It has been a blessing continuing to work with them and seeing how God has been building their character and seeing their commitment to one another. Before I began meeting with them I made a covenant stating my commitment to them and asked that they also enter into covenant with me. It's been a gradual process but I'm glad to see the change God is doing in their lives and how God is beginning to bring them out of their shells to reach out to people(they are naturally shy).

More recently I've been asked by a student to teach him how to do apologetics. I was a little reluctant to start because I had intended to use the one on one time with the student for something else. However, I agreed that I would use the one on one time with the student to do apologetics training. I had the chance to go back through all of the FCA material from high school, the Truth Project and How Now Shall We Live.

As I began to prepare to teach apologetics, the bad taste I had left over from doing that stuff in high school washed away as I began to view apologetics training through the lens of evangelism training. In times past when I've seen or done apologetics the tendency is to stay in rational and knowledge based arguments and never move conversation to a place where the unbeliever I'm talking to is forced to face Jesus the ultimate source of truth and make a decision about what they think about Him. When I had this recognition of how apologetics could and should be used as a bridge to bring someone face to Jesus my attitude toward this type of training changed from disdain to joy. Through the practice of apologetics I gain confidence in what I believe. I learn how to articulate my beliefs in a way that is easily communicable to others. Most importantly I learn how to use various topics as a common ground bridge to lead someone to discussion about Jesus.

In addition to the one on one and group discipleship meetings I'm also blessed with 3 small group bible studies. It is very interesting to see how God has formed each of the groups as the personalities in each group are very distinctive. It's cool to see how God brought people together that have similar stories and are going through the same things together to act as shield bearers for one another. It's also interesting to see how each group is studying something that pertains and speaks into the life circumstances of each of the groups. Monday(Ninja Cow's) is studying the book of Mark. Wednesday(Holy Rollers) is studying the book of John focusing on the "I am" statements. And Friday(Nerf Herders) are studying Galatians, 1 & 2 Peter. The first few meetings I have been teaching and facilitating discussion. However, this coming month we are beginning a rotation in each of the small groups and each member will have the opportunity to prepare study and facilitate discussion. I'm very excited to see them begin as many of them have never had the opportunity to teach much less ever been shown how to really do bible study. Each person will get the chance to prepare and go over some question they have with me. Then after they have presented receive two peer evaluations, complete a self-evaluation and meet with me to do a final evaluation. Once everyone has gone through I will teach again using a different method of bible study and the cycle begins again! So, Lord willing by the end of the semester each of the students will be exposed to a few methods of study and good resources so that they can rightly and maturely study and interpret the Bible for themselves. What I'm hoping is that after this semester we will have a few men that are especially gifted in teaching motivated to lead small group bible studies themselves for the Spring Semester! So please be in prayer for these young men!

I was very encouraged this past week meeting with some of the men student leaders as they began to report to me that they were on the prowl for new leaders among our freshmen and sophomores. They were asking how they might be mentoring and preparing them to be future leaders at Challenge. At first I was shocked when I heard them ask me this. I guess I forgot the whole idea of self replacement. At Challenge we currently have a lot of staff available to do training and a great ministry team. So the usual mantra of, " Look for the people God is placing in your life that are teachable and gifted to lead and teach. Then bring them along side of you and train them to replace you." This saying was something I completely forgot about simply because things have been going so well and the need for future leaders hasn't been as urgent as it has been in the past.

Thank you for your prayers for our Fall Retreat! We had a good turn out for the camp. God is doing a great work in the lives of our students. We had a lot of last minute additions from people that weren't initially sure if they could or even wanted to go. However, each of those students that went and were on the fence have come back and shared how blessed they were from getting the chance to go. One particular encouraging story of God working in the life of a student is one I met while on the U of A mall manning the Christian Challenge table. This freshman girl came up to the table and was so excited to see someone from a Christian group she could talk to( this 2 days before we left for the retreat). I told her a little about our ministry and some local churches she could get involved in. As an afterthought I mentioned the Fall Retreat even though we'd just met, she didn't know anyone from either Christian Challenge or Priority and it cost $55 dollars. The crazy thing is she said she wanted to go! She even invited her roommate to go! So we were very blessed to have this young woman come fellowship with us at the Fall Retreat. Please be in prayer for her as she seeks to be obedient to the Lord in finding a local church to fellowship with and a small group bible study to grow in her knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The topic that our camp speaker spoke about was evangelism and as I mentioned earlier there are several ways this topic is continuing to find itself emerge in both my life and the lives of our students. This coming Tuesday, we are having our first "Faith Forum." This is a open seeker oriented event that addresses various topics in the hopes of creating dialogue between believers and non-believers that lead to relationships that continue after the event so that our students may continue to be light in the lives of lost students. The topic for this first event is, "Is there purpose behind suffering?" Please be in prayer for our students and our discussion facilitator David Gainey.

As for me seminary is a lot more work than I originally anticipated :) However, it has been a blessing to make the connections I have with the professors and fellow students. They have been an enduring source of encouragement and wisdom. I had the opportunity to shadow my professor for Pastoral Counseling at his Chaplain position at University Medical Center. One of the things that struck me as I watched was how intentional he was about using the opportunities he has through the stories of patients and his family to share the gospel. So God's definitely telling me to be more intentional in the area of evangelism. Please pray that I stay refreshed. That as I am pouring out into the lives of others that I'm filling my own life with good stuff. That I don't contaminate the students I work with and fill them with hollow empty words I try to find in myself rather than the life giving water that is found in Jesus Christ pouring into me and overflowing into the people God has placed in my life.

Due to the schedule I currently have I have not been able to attend my small group bible study with Epic Church. I have also not been able to meet with my spiritual director. I feel a little behind and like I'm constantly packing and preparing for the next trip. Lord willing, October will slow down a little for a couple of weeks so I can be in town to fellowship with friends and be refreshed. Our Senior pastor at First Southern is leaving this Tuesday from Georgia to drive down to Tucson. I am really looking forward to him coming and hopefully having the opportunity to serve and study under him. One other praise! I finally received a check from the Army paying me for May! However, if you would continue to keep me lifted up that I remain steadfast in my faith for God's provision as I am without any source of provision and have been living out of savings. Lord willing, the Army will pay up and back pay for August and September and I will receive some financial assistance from the North American Mission Board and maybe a local church.

Thank you again for your reading this and keeping me in prayer. I hope that you are encouraged in what God is doing at the UofA. I hope to hear from you and what God is doing in your community!

2010 Fall Retreat

This past weekend was the annual Fall Retreat for Christian Challenge and Priority College Ministry. The retreat took place September 17-19 at Southern Pines Baptist Camp. Our camp speaker was David Englehart the Christian Challenge director of New Mexico State University. The topic we covered was preparation for evangelism. The camp was a good time for new and visiting students to meet the student leaders of both ministries as well as the staff. It provided students the opportunity to fellowship with people they normally wouldn't get the chance to talk to. And I know that several students have made new relationships that will serve to encourage Christian fellowship and accountability. Additionally, because of the topic of evangelism I know that some of the students have expressed the desire to hold one another to be more accountable about being aware of opportunities they have to share with others what God is doing in their life.

Here are some of the Fall Retreat Highlights:

Awesome August!!!

Ok, I know the title is corny, but God has really been Awesome this AUGUST!!!! As some of you may know August marks the beginning of the school year at the University of Arizona and it is also the time when things really start picking up for college ministry. During the summer most of our student leaders are either on mission trips or back home. The couple of weeks before school starts is a crucial time of planning, training and praying.

One of the annual events that we have the opportunity to participate in is the Collegiate Conference in Glorieta, New Mexico at the Lifeway Conference Center. This annual retreat is a special time of fellowship with college students collegiate workers from all across the country. We spend a week worshiping together and learning from gifted godly men and women. This year worship was led by Addison Road and our teaching pastors were Mike Satterfield and David Platt. Having the opportunity to dive into God's word with teachers of this caliber is always a blessing. This year I was doubly blessed with the opportunity to attend the Collegiate Workers fellowships and received current information about social trends that are appearing on college campuses. I was also exposed to new discipleship and witnessing resources. One of the tools I'm really excited about is a product put out by Campus Crusade called "Solarium." Solarium is a series of 50 pictures used to conduct a national spiritual survey. The pictures are used to draw people out and engage them in deep personal conversation. We have started using the cards at the Christian Challenge table when we set up out on campus. I can honestly say that I've engaged people in conversation that I normally wouldn't have spent anytime talking to. It helps draw out their personal stories and allows you to share yours. I've also been using the cards in my small group bible studies and it's a wonderful tool that allows people to freely share things about their lives that they would feel awkward talking about otherwise.

After I got back from Glorieta I had the opportunity to attend my student orientation for Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. I met many of the professors that I will be having for my seminary courses and met fellow students that I will be going to class with. It is such a blessing to have the opportunity to attend courses that will better equip me to do ministry. Moreover, it is a blessing to find mentors and colleagues in the faith that I can turn to for advice and support in ministry. I am only taking two courses this semester, New Testament Survey I and Pastoral Counseling. I've only had one class meeting for each but have already been given the opportunity to apply lessons I've learned in class to ministry. For example, in my first Pastoral Counseling class we learned about the skill of reflective listening in counseling. A half hour after class ended I stopped by the Christian Challenge building and there was a student there that needed someone to talk to. I'll be honest, in times past when this student would talk I kind of zoned out and would interrupt to hasten the student to the point and just tell him solutions. However, because of my new awareness of communication styles and the skill of reflective listening I had the opportunity to listen to the student and start hearing some of the root causes of the issues he has. Had I not taken the time to simply listen, the student would have never been given the opportunity to open up. My seminary classes have also been a humbling experience for me. Many of the other students are older than me and have already been serving in ministry for decades. I feel fortunate to listen to them and learn from their experiences. Whenever the professors ask questions I sit in awe of the wise and insightful responses of the other students. One thing that I think has characterized my experience at seminary thus far is the realization of how much I don't know and how much more room there is for me to grow.

As I mentioned before the first couple of weeks/days prior to the start of school is a crucial time of preparation and planning for the school year. Over the summer I had been attending the Freshman Orientations and Club Expos to try and meet and gather as many student contacts as possible. While staff leaders at Christian Challenge and Priority have been keeping in touch through email and facebook we recognize that the connections students are really looking for are relationships with other students. At both the Christian Challenge and Priority College Ministry leadership orientations we divided all of the student contacts we had and charged our leaders with making contact with their students and personally invite them to our kick off events. The first kick off event was the Priority Welcome BBQ near the Park Student Union and AZSO dorm. This event turned out better than we planned because the dorms were supposed to have had a welcome event with free food. Fortunately for us, they didn't so when the students started walking out looking for the event they found our BBQ. I don't know exactly how many students were around but well over one hundred students participated in our fellowship. This platform event built a pretty solid launch for the rest of our August events such as our Guys/Girls night out, Scavenger Hunt, and Meet First Southern. Already in just the first couple weeks of school we've spotted some new students that God is developing to be future Christian leaders at the university.

Christian Challenge's first event the Fajita Fiesta was equally blessed. If you've read one of the earlier blog entries you may already know how God used the first event to grow us in confidence of His faithfulness and provision. We served fajitas to over 125 students and had the opportunity to invite them to our More to Life groups as well as our Tuesday night fellowships. We've also handed out gift bags to incoming freshmen inviting them to become apart of our fellowship.

One of my biggest fears coming into this semester was not finding any guys to connect with. That I wouldn't have anything of value to offer students. Well God has blessed me with the opportunity to lead two small groups for Christian Challenge. Interestingly enough each group seems to be drawn to one another in a weird way. I've had the opportunity to meet with each of the individual members prior to the start of the small groups and its been interesting to hear how similar their stories are. It's incredible to hear about the personal trials that each young man is going through and how God is burdening them to grow. Another blessing is finding that the separate issues each group is dealing with is something I've dealt with in my own life. So I rejoice in the opportunity to share with the students the mistakes I've made and successes I've had in the season of life they find themselves. It is a humbling and cleansing experience to see how God is using the journey He has led me on to speak into the lives of the young men He's placed in my life.

Closing the end of this month has been the start of many new things and with the new starts comes the hope of what God is presently doing and how that affects what He will do in the future. God has blessed First Southern Baptist Church with a new leader in Randy Mullinax. He and his family are set to move to Tucson and begin serving October 2. Meanwhile, we have have recently started a series called, "Changing your War and Your Wardrobe" during our Breakaway service. The series addresses the topic of spiritual warfare and all of this reminds me of the charge that we believers have to be faithful servants of our Lord. As I recognize that my God is working around me now, He gives me the opportunity to join with Him in His work by being faithful in prayer, exhortation of fellow believers with His Word, and fellowship with His people. So as I end this letter please be in prayer that I along with my fellow laborers in the mission field of the University of Arizona take heed to be found faithful and join in the work God is doing in our community.

Also things you can be in prayer for in the upcoming month will be Christian Challenge and Priority College Ministry's annual Fall Retreat! This is always a time of great relational and spiritual growth for our students setting the tone for the rest of the school year.

If you want to keep up with what's going on check out:

www.christianchallengeuofa.com

www.priorityministry.com

Check out our facebook page and groups too!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=477505621448&oid=4844400259

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=477503946448&oid=4844400259