Neat November

Neat November

November has yielded much fruit both for me and for students whom I serve with. What I’ve been learning the past month is that blessings most often are preceded or accompanied by challenges. However, in the midst of the challenge and despite difficulties, once the challenge has been persevered through blessing follows. We started November off with our monthly Evangelistic outreach “Faith Forum.” The topic for the forum that week was Christian=Hypocrite? Answering the question, why is it that Christians don’t act like Jesus or follow his teachings? The preceding week we went on campus to set up our table. We had intended to go out and ask students a couple of questions regarding the topic to try and prep the campus for the topic and to generate conversations that could form the foundation for relationships with people and also serve as an invitation to come to the Faith Forum. When we got out to the mall we discovered that we had been moved out of our spot to a location close to the administration building. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because there was a group of open air preachers that set up shop across from us. One of them was holding a gigantic banner that said, “Jesus said, if you love me why don’t you obey me?” We couldn’t have planned this out any better. The first few people that got up to preach were very polarizing and weren’t presenting a very good view of Christians. They insulted everyone that walked by and even mocked us as we were set up across from them. However, a good thing that came from the open air preachers was the crowd it generated. The crowd that stopped by to hear the preachers hurl insults at them were ready to get on camera and put their two cents in about what they thought. We started each interview with, “What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think Christian?” The second question we asked was, “Do you think Christian=Hypocrite?” These two questions tied into prepping and advertising for the “Faith Forum,” but more importantly it allowed us to discover a little more of these individuals stories. The questions revealed their attitudes towards Christians and religion. It also opened up the opportunity to talk more about their religious experience. I had the opportunity to share with the gospel with 8 people in the span of 3 hours. This experience produced mixed results. On one hand I was very excited to have found a new way to interact with students on campus and do evangelism. On the other hand I had sharp dose of reality through the responses of the students. Each one I talked to had questions that I answered and followed up with a question of my own stemming from scripture as a response to their question. After talking to each one and presenting them with the answer to their questions through scripture each one turned away. None of them were ready to respond to God’s Word. Moreover, I was sorely reminded how enslaved so many people at our campus are having been entangled and bound up in the lies of the enemy. This experience has caused me to take a fresh new look at how I see the people that make up the University of Arizona and take heed:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 6:12

The “Faith Forum” itself went very well in terms of creating dialogue between Christians about their experiences in the past of getting burned by fellow Christians. For several students I believe the dialogue made them reevaluate their own lives in and ask themselves if they were truly following after the example and teachings of Jesus Christ or if they were a hypocritical life. Here are some of the highlights from that night:

In my small group bible studies and one on one session’s things have really started shifting, placing more responsibility on the students. The 3 small group leaders I meet with have grown leaps and bounds in their confidence to study God’s Word and discern God’s Word. They have also grown in their ability to teach and facilitate discussion through scripture. It is encouraging to not have to push as much or carry discussion because now they are actually examining scripture and evaluating the things they hear or see on the basis of God’s Word. Another encouraging development has been seeing the students I disciple looking to teach what they have been taught. Going from the mindset of,” I need stuff just for me” to, “I’m learning stuff to teach others and that it is important to pass these things on.” I do hope that these young men will be faithful stewards of the discipleship relationships God has entrusted them with. Please pray that a culture and attitude of discipleship will grow in the men’s ministry at Christian Challenge. Pray that the men don’t just teach people to be leaders or teachers, but that they also teach them how to be teachers of teachers and leaders. I know that to develop this type of cultural dynamic God must be working in the hearts of the leaders of this ministry to faithfully live out the command of Jesus to make disciples and pass on the vision of disciple-making.

My Seminary classes have been stressful but fruitful. I am continually being given opportunities to apply what I learn in class to the ministry God has placed me in. This past month I had the opportunity to work with a student I’ve been acquainted with from my church but had never worked with one on one. He approached me after the young adults service at my church asking if he could talk to me. It was then that I discovered that he has been in a county diversion program for an assault charge against his sister. I also learned about a learning disability and depression issue both of which he was supposed to be on medication for. It took a very long time to flush out some of the issues he was trying to communicate, but eventually it came down to identifying his anger towards his family especially his sister. I had the opportunity to use the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy model I had just learned in my Pastoral Counseling class. And once we identified his anger and the irrational belief he had about his arrest and punishment we read through Ephesians 4 and discussed some of the underlying issues he had and what God’s Word had to say about it. I then challenged him to commit to reading Ephesians 4 and praying through the passage every until he would see his sister. I also challenged him to call both his sister and mother. I was greatly encouraged Sunday (November 28) because the student told me he talked to his family and spent Thanksgiving with his family for the first time in 3 years. He also reported that he was in good fellowship again with his sister. This was also doubly encouraging because the Sunday he first approached me the sermon that morning addressed the issue of forgiveness and on the 28^th the one of the passages preached out of was Ephesians 4. He thanked me for challenging him to love his family and pray through Ephesians 4. That in itself was encouraging but what was more encouraging was seeing how God was already at work and I feel blessed to have been a part of God’s restorative process.

God has definitely been at work in my life speaking to me regularly through His Word and His people. What I need to start working on is readily applying the truth of God’s Word to my life. Several times I have found myself relating the truth of God’s Word to the people whom I serve but often times don’t recognize how true God’s Word is for my life until someone I talk to speaks back the things God’s been saying to me. I am truly blessed to have teaching pastors (Randy Mullinax and Rob Gaschler) unflinchingly present the truth of God’s Word. God is always confirming what He reveals to me in my own study through the messages shared at First Southern. I am constantly faced with how I fail to apply God’s word in my own life through the director of Christian Challenge (Julie Evans) and my accountability partners. I also grateful to have a spiritual mentor (Jason Caywood) who is always encouraging me to persevere in the faith and patiently wait on the Lord.

The idea of waiting on the Lord has taken on a lot of significance to me in recent weeks. The past few weeks we have been studying prayer in our evening Breakaway Worship Service. I didn’t recognize how much of what God was saying was for me personally and not just for the people I work with until last Sunday. In my quiet time I read through Psalm 27 and nothing in it really struck me as preparation for the week to come. I noticed that a lot of lyrics from popular songs had been taken from the passage. The morning service was about God’s tough love. About how God disciplines and teaches His children. The discipline is always for our benefit. Then later that night the passage preached out of was Psalm 27. It was in that instant that the things I had read and heard earlier that day and in the week came together for me. I actually audibly expressed my shock during the service. What struck me then that night was the need to wait on the Lord. I recognized that in one area of my life (a possible relationship with a woman) that I needed to wait for the purpose of personal growth and timing. I thought that God had directed this passage to me for that sole purpose. Oh how wrong I was! Another passage that has come up several times in various readings and conversations is Proverbs 4:23. I didn’t make the connection between seeing and hearing this passage to what it had to do with my life until this past weekend. I lived out the passage and at the end of it came to verse 14:

“Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes wait for the Lord.”

This passage has rung true for me in every area of my life and I was confronted with the contradiction of my life in not waiting on the Lord. I didn’t remain strong and take courage waiting on the strength of the Lord. I tried doing things in my own strength living according to my own reasoning and knowledge. I didn’t trust God and wait on Him. God has really challenged me to be persistent and patient in prayer and not move without Him, because frankly I’m unable to make good decisions. I don’t have the strength to make good decisions or to keep myself away from things that will harm me.

So please pray that will be confident in the Sovereignty and goodness of God. That I will wait on Him and rely on Him knowing that I am unable to live without Him.