Top 10 Spiritual Growth Acitivities for Students on Winter Break

1) Discuss how you’ve grown spiritually with one family member over the break

2) Take one day to be alone with Jesus

3) Pray through your course and activity schedule for next semester and ask God if there is anything you should change.

4) Pray through your college ministry involvement. What needs to change?

5) Contact the person that disciples you or leads your small group and let them know how you’re doing and how they can pray for you.

6) Call friends and help each other stay on track spiritually.

7) Read one book of the Bible you haven’t read before.

8) Pray for your upcoming professors this semester

9) Take at least 3 days in a row to fully rest

10) Go to Winter Conference (ok, ok…I know that one is a shameless plug)

By the way I stole all these idea from Benson Hines, he has a great blog http://exploringcollegeministry.com/ . You should check it out.

Serving Christ with Enthusiasm

If you want your people to bleed, you have to hemorrhage. – Howard Hendricks

One roadblock to influencing others for Christ is a lack of joy and enthusiasm for those of us who follow him, especially in ministry. If I have been given new life, saved from death and eternity with God because of Jesus’ death on the cross, that should be a big deal. Shouldn’t I be excited about that? Shouldn’t I have unquenchable joy? Easy answer: yes. Does my life and ministry reflect that? Honest answer: Not enough, sometimes very little.

Now I don’t mean putting on a mask and pretending I don’t have problems and struggles. We all do. But if this life is temporary and eternity is…well…eternal, it seems like my joy in Christ and my enthusiasm to follow Him would override any troubles I face.

I think there are a few mistakes we make that rob us of our enthusiasm in following Christ.

1) We think there are better options. I think that following Jesus is the best thing I could do, but life would be better or easier if I didn’t. I think that I’m making some great sacrifice, and although there are sacrifices we make when following Christ, they pale in comparison to what we receive. Not only is following Jesus worth it, it’s the best option. The other options will leave me with so much less.

2) We get lost in the mundane. As I go through the day, I am guilty of just breaking it down into the tasks that must get done before I can watch TV that night. Whether its discipleship with a student or putting my kids to bed, I don’t realize the impact it can have. I just think this is something I need to do. It’s just part of my routine. These tasks that I think of as routine can have an eternal impact. I may actually say something Biblical or intelligent during a discipleship appointment or my kids may remember books we read or something we prayed for when I put them to bed. God works through the small things in life we take for granted.

3) Peter writes in his second letter of the New Testament that he hopes to stir up those he is writing to by way of reminder. Sometimes we just forget. We get frustrated, we get bored, or in the last point, we just get into the routine. I pray God would remind me that I should be excited about all I have been given because of His grace and mercy shown to me on the cross.

What would be different if I woke up each morning and thought, “How amazing is God’s love for me?” “I wonder what He has in store for me today.” I can just imagine the joy and enthusiasm that would overflow into the lives of those around me.

Serving Christ Through Adversity

Here at SFA, our movement is growing. We are seeing students trust Christ, they are taking steps of faith as they walk with God. God has given us opportunities in the Greek system and with athletes to share our faith and disciple students we had no connection with a few years ago. More students are attending our weekly meeting and small groups, but it wasn’t this way just a few years ago.

In 2006, I was ready to give up, throw in the towel, jump off a bridge. Okay maybe that last one was too far, but I was considering a career change. Our ministry at SFA almost seemed non-existent. We had very few students involved, no money, and very little enthusiasm for the future.

Through prayer and continuing to trust God at SFA, we have seen God bring us through some very lean times. I stop short of using the word commitment for our part because we were ready to quit. We just stuck around long enough to be able to see God change our situation. Maybe it’s more like standing outside in the middle of winter. If you don’t die from the cold, the weather will eventually get warmer. That may sound like I’m taking God out of it, that if you just hang in there long enough, you will see results. That’s really not what I’m saying, because there are followers of Christ that labor for long periods of time but may never really see any tangible fruit from their effort.

What really frustrates me is when believers compare that person to others who are seeing great tangible results. I use the word tangible because I know God is always at work, we just don’t always see or know what he’s doing. We are in the wrong if we see a ministry, missionary, or church that is not seeing the same results as others and assume they are doing something wrong, or not putting forth enough effort, or maybe even living in sin. Now, sometimes, that may be the case, the group or person in question could be in need of change. However, I have seen in our ministry, times that we have prepared well, prayed fervently, and worked hard and then seen miserable failure. But we have also seen ministry poorly planned, hardly a prayer whispered, and thrown together at the last second yield incredible results.
I don’t want to judge someone else’s ministry by the numbers and statistics they report whether those numbers are increasing or decreasing. Instead, I would rather know if those involved are growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So I guess I wrote this for those who are experiencing adversity in ministry, not seeing what you had hoped; and for those who would criticize them for that. Press on. Maybe God is doing something in your life through this adversity and dry time in ministry, I know He did in mine. Hopefully soon, the weather where you are will get warmer because our movement here at SFA is a lot more fun now. No matter what, continue to trust and follow God, He sees that which takes place in secret (Matt 6:6)

And yes, I know the picture doesn't fit the blog, but I'm just too excited about the game this Saturday. Axe'em Jacks!

Privilege of Serving Christ

Yesterday was a long day, but full of purpose and promise. On Mondays, myself and a few others fast and pray for our campus at SFA. I prayed for my own heart, that I would not be captivated by this world, that I would not cling to any temporary home or possessions here. I prayed that I would look forward to heaven, to my home and eternal life with Jesus. Then I prayed that men at SFA would come to know Christ, follow Christ, and live their lives for Him and not for this world.

This afternoon, I spent an hour with three fraternity guys, one of my favorite times of the week. Last semester we were able to start this Bible study and we’ve had anywhere from 1-8 guys show up. I love spending time with these guys because they want to grow closer to God, but they don’t fake spirituality. If they are struggling with something or if they have a particular sin that’s tearing them down, they’re honest about it. A few guys say it’s the only time of the week they sit down and talk about their relationship with Jesus. By the end of the Bible study they are lobbing questions at me about God’s view of alcohol, homosexuality, and God’s creation of mankind. I’m praying this group will grow and some of these guys will really begin to pursue Christ wholeheartedly.

Last night, we were able to put on a program for Hall 16, the last true guys dorm on campus. About 35 guys showed up for free Raising Canes and to answer focus group questions on subjects ranging from purpose of life, to sex and dating, to Jesus. At the end of the program, I hand everyone an index card and I ask them to write down one question they would like to ask God. Then I give them the option of writing their name and number on the card if they would like to talk more about that question or anything else. Eight guys wanted to get together and talk more. Some of the most heartbreaking questions came from guys that didn’t put their name or number. “Why did my mom have to die?” “If I died today am I going to heaven?” “If I’m gay, does that keep me from going to heaven?”

As I drive home from campus most days, I think of that which frustrates me about students or all the areas where we aren’t reaching students, or wishing we had more money and resources for our ministry. Yesterday was different, I drove home thinking how privileged I am that God allows me the opportunity to reach college students with the gospel.

Top Ten Outreach Ideas

These are outreach ideas I would like to try. I have no idea if they will work, so if you try and fail, I will not take any responsibility.

1) A dunk contest with the goal set at 8 or 9 ft. (so regular guys could dunk). I would like to do this on a Friday afternoon in front of our student center. We have a large open area in front of our student center, and it’s a high traffic area, so I think we would catch a lot of students just stopping to watch. We would just have to be really intentional about getting students that are watching to fill out contact cards.

2) On a hot day, so I guess this couldn’t happen until the Spring, but set up a Slip-n-slide in front of a specific dorm. Advertise at that dorm all week. Make sure we have a few students that will be the first to try out the Slip-n-slide, then have at it. We could serve hot dogs, burgers, or ice cream and ask students to fill out contact cards.

3) Set up a table with Soularium and a table next to it with Perspective Cards in a high traffic location. See if students will stop and talk through the surveys pertaining to both those tools. (credit for this idea goes to our staff and students)

4) Another one for the Spring. A cookout at one of our baseball games. I’ve been saying we are going to do this for a long time, but we’ve never pulled the trigger. Our baseball stadium is set up for students to back up trucks (we’re in East Texas), and watch the game from their tailgates. This usually draws a pretty big crowd, especially if the weather is good. Would be great way to meet students we probably wouldn’t normally come into contact with.

5) Triathlon! We did this several years ago and had pretty good success, about 40 students participated. Interest in these have gone up over the years, might be worth bringing it back out.

6) Movie Discussion. The student center theatre shows two movies on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. If the movie has some meaning, so no Will Ferrell flicks, we could set up a table outside the theatre and ask students what they thought of the movie with a survey designed around the theme of the movie. We’ve also thought of just setting up a Soularium table between showings of the two movies.

7) Camcorder Outreach. On Friday afternoons, we gather as staff and students and initiate spiritual conversations on campus with students that are just hanging out. I’d like to use the same tools we always incorporate but let people know we’ll be videoing the conversations. Seeing us walk up with a camcorder can either be intimidating or it can cause students to light up and engage you more because they think it’s going to launch their acting career.

8) Habitat for Humanity. Spend a Saturday working with the local Habitat for Humanity, helping build a house. Advertise this opportunity on facebook and in our university’s newspaper, and invite students to join us.

9) Coffee and Donuts during Finals. This would require very low expectations because you wouldn’t be able to follow up with any of these students, but could make us more visible on campus and just be a good way to serve the student body.

10) You fill in this one. I’d love to hear your ideas on what you think would work on our campus at SFA, or any campus for that matter.

Campus Time

Credit for this post goes to Brian White, who had the quote of the week at our Missional Team Leader conference a few weeks ago.
“I know that if I’m at the office, I’m not going to run into too many students.”

Although he meant it half-joking, it’s one of the things that stuck with me. I can be guilty of hanging out at the office working or at least pretending to work on a talk for our weekly meeting, or a Bible study I’m leading, or planning for discipleship, but actually I spending time there because it’s easier. Plus, I can “take breaks” from working on a weekly meeting talk to listen to the latest news on Cam Newton or check out the possible coaching candidates for the Cowboys job (which after yesterday could be Jason Garrett’s job to lose). Then the next thing I know, I’ve been on espn.com for an hour and haven’t accomplished anything.

Appointments with students I’m discipling and new students I’m meeting fill a good portion of my schedule, but if I’m honest there is some flex time in there I don’t always use very well. Thanks to Brian’s comment, I’m actually trying to plug in a few ideas in order to make sure some of that flex time is spent on campus seeing current students and meeting new ones instead of reading a list of the Houston Astros top prospects (Jordan Lyles gets my vote, 90’s plus fastball, good movement, great change up for his strikeout pitch…sorry I just got carried away).

Here are some of the ideas I’ve either put in my schedule or I’m in the process of adding.

1) On Monday mornings at 8am, I spend about 30-45 minutes prayer walking our campus. This gets me on campus at a time I’m usually not there, draws my attention to God, and helps me to pray for what we’re dreaming about as a movement.

2) Going to campus at least once, maybe twice a week, with a set amount of time to just walk the quad and student center and have some spontaneous conversations with students. (thinking maybe an hour or two a week)

3) Take a book that I’m reading and sitting down in a high traffic area of campus to read. I did this a few weeks ago, and I saw four students I knew, had a great conversation with one, met a new student, and then introduced a guy on the fringe of our ministry to one of our leaders. That was only about 30-45 minutes out of my week, but it turned out to be productive, at least socially.

If you have a movement of 300 students, you’re schedule may be too full for this. But if you’re like me and you have a movement of less than 100 students, maybe this is helpful.

Five Cool Links of the Week

Here's a great question to wrestle with. Would you be happy in heaven if Christ were not there? Tim asks how this should effect the way we present the gospel.

http://www.timcasteel.com/2010/11/would-you-be-happy-in-heaven-if-christ-were-not-there/


I once had someone tell me, "If Thursday night is party night at SFA, and your meetings are on Thursday, then make you meeting the best party on campus." Not exactly sure how we do that without beer, but I do think we could probably make our meetings a bit more fun. If I were a new student walking into our CRU meeting at SFA, would I walk away thinking that was a good time. Benson poses that question here.


http://exploringcollegeministry.com/2010/11/10/the-good-time-evaluation/


Some of the words and phrases in this one are a little over my head. We don't use big words like "research" when you major in kinesiology. However, I always enjoy reading an article that reminds me of the reliability and validity in the Bible. Yeah, I had to look up both of those words.

http://theresurgence.com/2010/11/12/why-fast-company-sam-harris-need-to-do-their-homework

This is probably my favorite of the week. Its a video expressing all thats happening in Ethiopia. I had the opportunity to spend a week there in Spring '09, and was amazed at what God's doing and the zeal of the believers. If you're a student at SFA, you can go see all this first hand this summer with students from Arkansas and Oklahoma State.

http://onleadingwell.com/2010/11/11/video-studentled/


Great story on how Athletes in Action and FCA are partnering together to reach the Athletic Department at NC State with the gospel.

http://www.athletesinaction.org/news/post/2010/09/28/FCAAIA-Ministry-Thriving-at-NC-state.aspx

Plus, SFA started their basketball season with a win last night and our football team pretty much assured themselves of a playoff spot with a blowout win over Southeastern Louisiana. Great Week!