An Amazing Year

Well this is my last post as I am leaving UNT Focus so a better man may take my place!  Our end of the year banquet was special as the students shared about how God has worked in their lives and presented me with a special surprise.  They donated money to an organization I volunteer for called Special Abilities of North Texas!  It really is an honor to have served on a great staff and with so many great student leaders.

I have learned so much and grown so much.  God has revealed himself to a lot of students and has included them in his work.  We met at the UNT gazebo for our last meeting.  Three of our graduates shared about their experiences in college and challenged the students to make the most of their time, to trust God in their insecurities, and to make a lasting impact on the people around them.  I shared about the mission God gave us to replicate ourselves in others and not just settle for the kind of fruit that gives a quick refreshing meal but that doesn't plant a seed.  I know that this community under Matt's leadership will continue to grow and join God in his larger plan for UNT and Denton.  I'm so excited to get to watch what's next!

This month has been great!  We were able to do some more public outreach stuff on campus including putting posters up around campus on misconceptions about Jesus that we were able to discuss with students passing by and having two groups for non-Christians to come together and discuss spiritual topics with Christians.  One of these groups was on purpose/ future and the other was on relationships.  Initially our students really didn't have too many people to invite so we have really challenged them to make more non-Christian friends in their lives.  It is so easy to get too inwardly focused and busy that we don't take the opportunities that are right in front of us.  Just this last Friday, we had a speaker from an organization called Grad Resources speak to our students on not just "collecting" like the people at Babel, but going out and ministering to people outside of our churches.  He told them that God's unchanging love from the beginning of scripture until now has always been directed at all of the world.  The command in Matthew 28, he said, should be read "as you GO" make and mature disciples.  He challenged us to be God's representatives to whatever environment God has us in.

Another great thing about this month is the always anticipated spring break!  I was able to take seven of the guy leaders to my Uncle's lake house at Cypress springs where we cooked, fished, explored and slept, haha.  It was a relaxing time and reminded me of how important it is to just do life with the guys I minister to.  It's so easy to sit across from someone you are mentoring and forget that they have a life outside of your conversations, haha. Getting to spend three days with these guys helped me see in action how God has changed them and where he may still be working in their lives.  It's so important that we do "life" ministry.  Most of us aren't counselors, so sitting across from someone 1-1 at a meal and just talking might be appropriate, but living life alongside others in creative ways is necessary too!  I think God is teaching me how to have great conversations while I'm gardening (we just planted our huge garden yesterday!), working on the mower, watching tv, shopping, etc.  I want ministry to be an integral part of my life not just something I do in an office environment in a specified time frame each week.

Finally, I want to personally invite all of you to our end of the year banquet on April 29th.  It will probably be around 6:30pm.  We will have a meal, slideshow, and will honor our leaders/ graduates and God for all he has done this year!  It will be at UNT, more details forthcoming!

Bearing Fruit

February is usually a tough month for me personally.  I get a little discouraged thinking of all the needs still unmet in our group and in the community.  I often expect that people should be further along than they are and then question my effectiveness and the health of our community as a result of their lack of "enough" growth.  And it is usually this time of the year that God reminds me I'm only a minor player in his major work.  He also reminds me that he isn't all that worried about what happens semester by semester rather than what happens over the course of someone's life.  I'm reminded of the saying that we often overestimate what we can do in 1 year and underestimate what we can do in 5.

Two main events have reminded me of God's faithfulness in that he continues to work despite my mood, attitude and narrow perception of the kingdom.  The first event is our SICM info meeting.  For those of you who don't know SICM stands for Student Institute of Campus Ministry.  In large part, God has used this training, conducted by a seasoned ministry called CCF in the uppermost northwest corner of the continental United States, to mold our community into who we are today.  Between the godly leaders and visionaries in Washington State and those at Northeast and Wylie Northeast, God has taught us that our relationships with people are important, that ministry is done 1-1, and that calling people to live like Jesus will bring you a lot of heartache.  However, they have also taught us that if you stay in there with people through the muck and mire, God will use you to be a blessing to them for the rest of their life. This meeting we hold each semester helps identify the future revolutionaries God will use to turn this society upside down.  It's a reminder that God will work miracles in the lives of individual people that many of us will never know in this life.  I suggest you watch a video our UNT intern, Kelly, showed me, as it has touched me deeply http://edsstory.com/films/my-garden.php.  It pretty much sums up what I'm trying to say.

The second event is parent night.  This night is such a blessing to me even though I sort of dread the planning/ work it requires. This parent night especially was so rewarding.  Getting to share how parents, most of which I have never met before, have been impacted by our community through their son or daughter amazed me.  And then getting to hear how students have begun to identify qualities in their parents, whether Christian or not, that remind them of Jesus was faith-building. God has done some wonderful things here.  I just wish I could hear all the other stories of people's lives that have been touched by his presence.  I constantly feel constrained by being here in one time and place in one specific organization as I struggle to grasp what God's bigger vision is.  My hope and prayer this next month for you and me is that God will give us a taste of what he has us involved in.  I pray that he will let us see beyond the artificial barriers and boundaries we have all created so that we can truly take hold of the life that he has offered us, a life that is poured out everywhere in a variety of ways and isn't just kept for special occasions like that China my grandparents use once a decade.

IMG 1426

IMG 1428

A New Semester

Winter Camp Worship Video 

Winter Camp Worship Video 2

As you can see we had an amazing winter camp together with all four campuses! The speaker talked about Joshua and encouraged the students to be promise keepers and bud nippers :)  He told us that our monsters become other peoples' monsters if we don't learn to let the Spirit prune sin from our life. We spent time one morning doing evangelism stations where students could learn more practical, Christlike methods for befriending and sharing the gospel with people they meet. Overall it was a refreshing and momentum-building time for our students, staff and interns.  I can already see the results after these first three weeks of school.  We have a lot of first year students taking ownership of our community and asking for more responsibility.  Our students are meeting and befriending people around campus and in the larger Denton community.  

One of our first year students emailed me this week saying she was challenged by the sermon that week and was convicted to stop by a street corner in Denton, where migrant workers were waiting for work, to ask them if they had any needs for their families. She then asked me if we could get something going for them.  I laughed as I wrote my response, because, unbeknownst to her, one of our leaders, who brings guys from his small group with him, already visits this spot most weeks in order to feed these guys so asking them what their families need would be a simple addition to what we are already doing!  Another one of our first year students asked me last Friday night if he could get some people together to meet on campus to go out in pairs and talk to people about their faith.  Again, I laughed a little in my response as I told him we have a whole team of people who do that weekly and then recommended he go out with one of those pairs just to get a feel for what they do and what he might like to do in addition to that.  I just love when God puts things on people's hearts so they can join in with what he is already doing...I want that to be a common theme in the story of our ministry.  

As far as my personal life goes, well, I finished my dissertation proposal yipppeee!  So I am hoping I can finish my PhD this December. I have also gotten involved with the Christian Graduate Fellowship so I can spend some more time with people a little closer to my age as well as Christian faculty.  So ya everything is great on that front.  Just a little note, we will have a Parent/ Spiritual Mentor Night February 25th at 5pm @ UNT, and I would personally love for you, who can, to come and visit us that night.  

Please pray that God will continue to give our leaders the wisdom they need in their personal life to lead people to Christ.  Pray that we will have the courage and the patience to challenge people and encourage them in their faith.  Pray that God will continually reveal to us people he is working in so we can be a part.  

Peace

Oh yes!  The break!  This is a coveted time for a campus minister, haha.  We get to "hypothetically" sit back and relax for a few weeks.  After serving breakfast (we had it all, including amazing biscuits and homemade gravy cooked by one of my roomies) for over 100 UNT students at our Ranch House Christmas Party (the theme was Christmas morning), our staff and student leaders needed a break!  I worked on my dissertation almost the entire break...which was actually quite relaxing.  I also spent a lot of unplanned time with people around the house and my family.  This past weekend all 11 of our FOCUS staff and interns retreated at my uncle's beautiful lake house.  I think the retreat was icing on the cake of this break.  It was so encouraging and inspiring to join so many other faithful ministers who are pursuing God's will in the Dallas area and beyond.  We cooked meals for each other, prayed, and spent some time discussing how to balance "waiting on God" and planning strategically for our ministry.  We also laid out some plans for the next few semesters. It was a busy break, but an enjoyable one.  I can't wait for this weekend's winter camp as I know it will be such an impacting time for so many of our students!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this all possible!

"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes." - Jesus (Luke 19:42)

This will be our theme verse for the semester as we continue to preach through the "God is Unchanging" series.  One of the hardest things for me personally is to recognize when Jesus is at work.  I search for peace in all the wrong places.  For me it's often the excitement of a new experience or gaining intellectual insight into a topic.  I often define peace in the wrong way expecting that peace is always synonymous with comfort and relaxation.  The biblical authors define peace through the lens of Jesus' life.  Jesus, however, is more complicated.  He says in one place that he brought peace and was now going to give it to his disciples yet in another says he didn't come to bring peace but instead a sword.  When I try to redefine my understanding of peace to align with Jesus' life and teachings, my world is often shattered.  It's not so simple anymore to understand.  My best stab at it is to think that Jesus gives us the power through the Holy Spirit to face any circumstance or situation like he would.  That's amazing to me especially when I am so quick to associate peace with circumstance.  What a power he has blessed us with!  What an amazing gift he has given us to go beyond circumstance, personality, obstacles, struggles, etc. to find the peace that comes from following him no matter how turbulent the times.  I don't want to be like Israel in this passage and miss his peace.