Word of Cross

I preached last Sunday about the word of the cross. As I was preparing for this message, I realized that I had never preached in 1 Corinthians! It was a bit surprising, but not completely. My canon within the canon would include the book of 1 Corinthians. So, because I am aware of this, I tend to steer away from it.

Struggling to find a good method for preaching this sermon, I settled on Paul Scott Wilson's Four Pages methodology. This is the first time I'd tried it. It could be better, but it went okay I think. The basic elements of the sermon are Page 1: Trouble in the text, Page 2: Trouble in the world, Page 3: Grace in the text, and Page 4: Grace in the world.

The goal of the sermon is to help us consider and begin understanding the metaphor of the cross of Corinth for our lives...a huge, necessary, but possible task.

Campus Tribes

Ben Hines is a friend of mine from a couple of grad school classes we had together at ACU; he is working on his degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I ran into him again last August as he was on his year-long trek across the United States visiting 181 different campuses. Yes...181 different campuses in one year!

He has finished this trek, written a free little ebook, Reaching the Campus Tribes [an opening inquiry], and sent it to me before its official release date of April 20th. I wanted to share it with you because it does a very important and much-needed thing: it spreads awareness about campus ministry efforts in our nation beyond the boundaries of campus ministry circles. We can't continue to think about campus ministry like we do other ministry efforts in the church, but campus ministers need to let other people in on this familiar concept. Also, very little good research has been done in this area! I am excited about what his work will produce.

There is also a 19-minute interview that Ben did in Colorado with LEAD Network in August of 2008 that gives a little insight into his journey as it was coming to a close. This is good stuff and well worth your time! Please feel free to spread these files wherever. You can even keep up with other things that Ben is doing on his blog (http://exploringcollegeministry.com).

As for me, I plan on continuing this conversation with all kinds of people. Hopefully, God will accomplish powerful things for his glory on our campus tribes scattered throughout the nation! Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

The End of Christian America

Someone passed this article entitled "The End of Christian America" on to me. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The Silent Voice Speaks Volumes

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Psalm 40:1-2

I find myself struggling to understand this period in my life. This semester is full of busyness that never ends. I go from one thing to the next to the next to the next. When I have a free moment, I am thinking about how to get ahead a little more on the endless tasks.

God is silent. Freedom. God speaks. Do I listen? I want to listen. All the other things jockey for my attentive ear, but his voice is there. I am compelled to listen, to put behind all the other seemingly very important matters and just listen with attention. What am I listening for? God.

Just stop and listen to the silent voice that speaks volumes.