Christian Chronicle Article

Through the last few years, I have talked several times about the prayer sign on campus. It is such a freeing thing in my schedule and has definitely continued to evolve each semester I sit out on campus. I was asked to write a little article in the November 2009 edition of the Christian Chronicle about my experience with the sign.

I can't find a direct link to the article online, but you can download a pdf copy of the Christian Chronicle on the right side of their site. My article is on page thirty five.

Other campus ministry articles in this edition point to how campus ministry is a major mission field often overlooked as a mission. We often think of it as one of the regular ministries of a local body when it is more appropriate to approach campus ministry like a foreign mission effort. It just happens to be in the same town.

Enjoy the reading and send me feedback on my blog.

Perfection or Maturity

It seems like this time of the year always brings about an energized propensity for focused campus ministry dreaming sessions for the coming academic year. It is a good thing for our work here in Huntsville! This is the exciting part of ministry.

Reflecting on how previous dreams have actually materialized in years past, I must say that I have lacked the ability to execute what is up in this bald head of mine. The semester brings with it a busyness that seems to choke out my good summer intentions. I get caught up in the details of maintaining a ministry somewhat solo. I haven't communicated well. I haven't empowered others well. I spent way too much time perfecting things that don't need perfection. The spacing between paragraphs on our weekly announcements doesn't HAVE to be uniform throughout! The page layout doesn't need to carry with it the golden ratio of design (1.62) before it goes to print.

As I return to my dreaming session, I have realized that something has to change at a core level especially dealing with things being perfect; my attitude needs a little adjustment. I have these perfectionist tendencies that don't want things done sloppy or incompletely; they can always be done better...and so I do them better. While this might be good at times, I think it prevents me from working on matters that really...matter.

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With that said, I wonder about Jesus' admonition to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect in Matthew 5:48. How far should we take that little phrase? It would be easy for me to take that one statement completely out of its context and place it on my announcement preparation. Maybe we should do that.

I am inclined, however, to have a little bit of textual restraint. The beginning of Jesus' sermon on the mount (specifically Matt 5:17ff.) calls to mind the shallowness of following rules verses the maturity of true righteousness. You can follow the rules without changing your attitude. You can refrain from murdering someone (the rule), but your anger has already murdered them (the attitude). The shallow righteousness of the Pharisees is surpassed by the mature righteousness of those who take Jesus' words seriously.

I use 'mature' here instead of 'perfect' intentionally because 'mature' gives the connotation of growth or completeness that 'perfection' doesn't. "Be mature as your heavenly Father is mature" is a plausible translation of this passage. It also does something more for me. I can strive for maturity more readily than I can strive for perfection. Perfection seems to be allusive whereas maturity is possible. Maybe it is a mental block of mine...I don't know.

Back to my perfectionist tendencies. The mature/perfect person (as I understand) would let some tasks go in an effort to get other (more important) tasks finished. In order to guide a larger process, the manager needs to step back from the details of the assembly line. In order for Kats for Christ to pursue being mature disciples of Jesus better, I need to let go of the margins in our announcements. I probably also need to let go of other tasks as well.

This summer will be a time for us to think about the maturity that Jesus desires of his disciples. Do you need to let go of some things in order for God's purposes to be completed?

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!

DMin

This year's Family Retreat at Pineywoods was good. David Malone came to speak to us about Re-Envisioning Christian Community. I will probably have the retreat audio available online by Wednesday on our church website. We will see how things go.

In my several conversations with David Malone I found myself contemplating what pursuing a DMin would involve. As he discussed the process he went through in deciding to get his DMin at ACU after 20 years of ministry experience, I felt more and more compelled than ever before to start thinking about it. It will probably happen down the road some time.

My initial thoughts are definitely geared toward helping campus ministry. Not much is written about campus ministry and college students in the church. I will be listening to God's moving in this regard. May he lead my heart to pursue his in all my endeavors.

My Plate

So...it took me eleven days to write anything in 2008. I have enjoyed the break from the normal routine. I got to enjoy platefuls of food with family and friends. This year I didn't eat as much as I have in the past! Even during Thanksgiving I think I only got one full plate and then snacked a little later on. Christmas was the same. This year was not the year where I couldn't fit something else on my plate if I tried.

I wish I actually had some sort of schedule plate to put things on so I would know that I cannot do anything else.

On Wednesday night I realized how much is going on right now, how much I have on my plate. I am training an LST team (maybe two at the same time); teaching Wednesday night class, Thursday devo, and Sunday class; creating the curriculum for our small groups each week; developing and meeting with a leadership team of students; leading a women's weekly small discipleship group; spending time being available for prayer on campus; leading a church small group discussion starting in February; preaching at least once a month; going through premarital counseling with one of our students; going through marital counseling with a couple at church; maintaining the church website and the campus ministry website; staying on top of two service assignments each month; raising funds for our LST trip this summer; spending better time with Tanya, Kayla, and Tyler; and trying to fit in hanging out with students when the opportunity comes.

I'm not sure if there is any more room on my plate...even for any garnish. I'm not sure what to do about all this just yet. I wait to see how things go.

Lord, help me to stay focused. Give me your energy. I cannot do this alone. May your presence sustain me.

Incarnational Ministry

The Lord is slowly opening my eyes to see him in the small things I do (I will talk about my holy pen in a later post). What may seem like an insignificant act or conversation becomes huge when I see the kingdom of God advancing in these small moments. These moments are not forced or contrived; they come and there they are for the taking.

This semester I am doing a couple of small things differently in an effort to put myself in situations to advance the kingdom of God. The first thing is to spend less time in the office and more time in an area where God can use me for his glory (I thank Dan Kimball for giving me this idea at NCMS a couple of weeks ago.) Monday and Tuesday are in the office. Wednesday and Thursday are somewhere else. Currently, I am sitting in Kaldis, writing this post. I hope to slowly get to know the workers, the regulars, and other people who come into these places. The Lord knows how he will use me here. I just wait for the small moments over the course of a few years. Lord, keep my eyes open to see these moments you want to use me. Don't let me be consumed with work here and lose sight of how you can use me to advance your kingdom.

The second thing I am doing will begin next week when school gets back in. I will sit on campus for a couple of hours (the busiest times of the day student-wise) with a sign next to me that reads something like, "I want to pray for you. I'm here to listen." I have no idea what will happen, but over a period of time this is what I imagine might happen. Someone's world comes crashing down one night and the thought occurs to them, "I wonder if that guy I see everyday is going to be there tomorrow. If he is, I will stop." Honestly, I don't know if that is going to happen or not. All I know is that I am compelled to be available to any student on campus and I am compelled to pray for our campus. Lord, again give me the courage to be available outside of the "office." You alone know who needs more of you. I want to be used for your glory. Please bring students to yourself.

All of these things are part of my idea of transforming my ministry into an incarnational one; I want to be Jesus to others.

Let's Start Talking

God got me thinking about the future last night.

Last night we had another training meeting for our LST project this summer to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Larry came too because he wants to go. While I'm not sure if this will even be possible, it is exciting to think about the future.

Perhaps we can really get many in our congregation excited about God's mission in the world. How exciting it is to think about people being so passionate about God's mission that God begins to flood our doors with those who need him! As the number of workers goes through the roof, so the people who need God.

Not only that, but our students could begin to catch a glimpse of where God can use them. Brazil... Japan...Germany...Argentina. Maybe mission teams will form in our ministry. Together they leave SHSU after graduation seeking to become a mission team. Together they catch a vision of campus ministry and seek more training to become campus ministers.

God got me thinking about the future last night.

Incarnational Ministry

Paul's admonition to the Corinthians challenges me in my ministry with college students: "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." (11:1)

Sitting in my office last Wednesday, it occurred to me that I spend WAY too little time with students outside of the Student Center. It is embarrassing that I don't know where many of our students live. It is not good that if I were to enter a student's apartment, dorm, or house that they would think, "Okay, what is he doing here?"

If I am to take the incarnation of Jesus seriously, I need to follow his example. Jesus came to us. Therefore, in imitating Jesus, I go to students. Why do we get in our mind that students need to come to the Student Center to change their lives? While that will certainly happen by the power of God, students really need Jesus (in us) to come to them.

I will slowly begin going to our students' instead of the other way around. How are you doing the same with others?

Women in Ministry

I have mentioned Let's Start Talking on a few occasions now. I am finding out that women are my most enthusiastic students. They are the ones who take seriously the challenge involved with LST. They are the ones who seem halfway interested. They are the ones willing to go around the world to be used by God. Why is this?

When I get to thinking about this just in campus ministry, I see similar results. The women are more involved than the men. Women are more likely to talk to me after class about something that I mentioned than men. Women are more likely to think about how to coordinate events when I ask them to do that. [And they usually do a much better job at it than our guys!!]

I find this phenomenon interesting. This topic came up in a conversation I had recently and David mentioned that women are not given too many opportunities in ministry to make a big impact. As a result, they jump at the opportunity LST provides. I thought it was an interesting proposal, but a good one.

Looking realistically at our "student leadership" I see women AND men, but the women seem to step up more and more. I am looking to have a leadership team next semester when our intern leaves. We will see what happens.

God give me wisdom.

Concentrated Ministry

Happy Birthday, Chris. It is now one year until I am the age at which Jesus began his ministry. Kindof crazy to think about. He hadn't even started yet. All the work. All the changed lives. All the preaching. All the life.

What stands out to me is that he actually spent that long in preparation for this concentrated ministry. He was very focused. He was very intentional. There was a time when he actually left! The only glimpse of what he did before he set out is as someone who was learning. He continued to learn more and more. He grew taller. People liked Jesus, and he pleased God (as our easy-to-read LST workbook says).

What am I going to do to prepare myself for the beginning of concentrated ministry next year?

Ministry to My Family

Well, I mentioned that last night was a good reminder for me in regard to my marriage. Something happened in my mind last night for the first time. It wasn't the first time I thought about it, but it was the first time I actually pictured what it would look like. Let me explain.

I have said before that my family is my ministry. When I said this, my mind thought about spending time with them doing family things, being around the house, going out occasionally, and just being ourselves. That is what I "do" for this ministry.

Here is the shift that happened last night: if my family is my ministry, then I need to minister to my family. This may seem like a simple observation and obvious to some, but it is not so obvious when you are at home with your family. I thought that ministering to my family was just being myself. This is true because I always want to "be myself." But, I can't just let down my guard and say whatever thoughts come to my mind. I can't just vent my frustrations when they first come. I can't "go on pause," so to speak, when I am at home. I still need to be a minister.

At the Student Center, I would never think about venting to a student I am mentoring. If I did, I believe and pray that it would be done in a very pastoral and wise way. Why do I think that I can have this freedom at home? That is unfair to my bride and my little girl.

I need to work at home. I can't just go on pause and offer my raw self to my family thinking that this is ministry to my family. I must intentionally be the minister and leader of our family.

That is not to say I can't express emotions or be real with my family. No way! It is to say that I use pastoral care and ministry skills when I do so.

I pray that the Lord enable me to stay focused as I begin to intentionally minister to my family.

The Burden Shared, follow-up

Well, I must say that last night went well. I got caught in the hall before class, so I was a little late coming to class anyway...cool deal. I had set the announcement sheets on the floor at the door and the attendance sheet was on a chair near the door.

When I came in I went to talk to a couple of students for a bit and then took a not-my-normal-place seat. Immediately, some asked what was going on. I asked, "What do you mean?" "Do we start?" I said, "sure." A small awkward moment passed. Then another student asked, "Are you going to start or should we take the initiative?" I didn't even say anything and a student hopped up to welcome everyone, to pass out the announcement sheet, to get the signup list going, to offer prayers, and to open up the singing of two songs. He sat down and I got up to teach. Sweet chocolate pie!

I just asked a lot of questions, and the students got a chance to discuss the balance between me doing everything and them doing everything. I shared Romans 12:6-8 and added a few verses of my own (can I do that?): "if it is singing, let him sing; if it is doing announcements, rock on; if it is planning, bring it; if it is organizing, use the Staples easy button." Yes, I think I am a dork, but oh well! Basically, I think I led the class well...even though someone looking in on the class might say that I didn't lead.

Anyway, our students are great! They, I think, are beginning to feel a burden for taking my offer to share in ministry seriously. Some more than others, true, but we are all learning what it is like to partner together in ministry. For this I can only praise God!

Thank you, Father, for continuing to teach me new things. Give us your wisdom as we take your "great commission" seriously on the campus of Sam Houston State University.

The Burden Shared

I struggle with how much I should do for students. My "official" duties and responsibilities say I am to "plan and organize yearly student activities with students." There is a huge word I see here: WITH. This says nothing about doing these activities FOR students. I need to come alongside of students to partner WITH them in the things that we do every year.

Not that this happens or would happen in this way, but I want to consider a hypothetical situation so I can think out loud. Suppose I see a planned activity, broomball, coming up pretty soon. We need to make sure it happens...at least I would like it to happen, as I am sure students would like it to happen too. I make the announcement that it will happen on X day, according to the plans set by myself and a group of students before the semester began. I call the place to reserve the rink. I pass around a sign-up sheet and communicate that the cost is determined by the number of people going, but it will be somewhere around $15 at most. When the date arrives, we hop in the vans that I filled up with gas earlier that day, go to the place, have a great time, pay up, come home, and let our bruises and soreness heal for a couple of days.

I wonder if what I just described fulfills my duties and responsibilities of planning and organizing events WITH students. I must say that I don't think I am living up to this part of my "job" description. I am doing it by myself and not with students. But, what do I do? I could just do nothing and put students to a test they don't know they are taking. What would it look like it I just didn't do anything? I again would not be planning and organizing events WITH students...the students would be doing it. To be honest, I am not even sure that the event would happen. Perhaps it would, but I really don't think it would. Doing nothing doesn't seem to be an viable option...it doesn't give students a chance to grow. Or does it?

Somehow, I would like to help students feel the burden of ministry while they are students. This is part of discipleship training that will lead to involvement in the church when they leave college. Perhaps a tangible lesson on a smaller scale will communicate effectively what I am trying to convey to students.

I will do this tonight during class. I have communicated to the whole group that I will be teaching the class on Wed nights. Part of the class is singing. Usually we have a PowerPoint put together. There is also usually a brief time of announcements. Tonight I will just come to class, sit down, talk with students, and wait. I won't even pass out the announcement sheet like I usually do. However long it takes, that is how long it takes. I imagine someone saying, "Are we going to get started?" To this I will say something like, "Sure." and continue sitting there. I will just let time pass (at least until everyone stops talking). At some point, I will just be the one who starts asking questions about what just happened. I don't know if someone will just start songs or if there will be prayers or scripture readings or anything tonight. But whatever happens, I hope my questions will lead our students to feel the burden of ministry on a larger scale. I hope to ask questions about what my "job" is or what it "should" be in their minds. I hope to ask questions about what their "job" is or what it "should" be in their minds. I will probably bring up my duties and responsibilities as a campus minister that I talked about above.

I'm kindof excited about what will happen. I guess we will see. This semester seems to be turning into a time of foundation building more in the direction I was imagining before I started working in Huntsville last summer.

Wed Night Class

I am super-excited about the responses I have gotten about what we are doing on Wednesday nights. We are going through an introduction to Kats for Christ. (You can check out the notes on our class notes page.) People have been saying they like this class because it really lets everyone know where we are and where we are planning to go. This is encouraging.

Our first class was really cool with a ton of discussion. It was mainly because of the topic: our Church of Christ heritage. We talked about hot topics or issues that we deal with. I am thinking about doing something in this regard in the future, but we don't need to do this right now.

The Biblical basis for KFC also had good discussion. Many students contributed many good scriptures to contemplate as a guide for our ministry here. Right now we are still in the middle of talking about our mission statement. I like our thinking and the modifications that we are making as we go along.

The part of the class that I am really looking forward to is the one where students will be breaking up to brainstorm about our various ministries in a couple of weeks. This will also give students the opportunity to get plugged in and start trying out various ministries for themselves. That is what I am really about. Students would not otherwise be trained for leadership in the church in the future.

Thanks for the encouragement!!

My Two Primary Jobs

As we eagerly plan to move to Huntsville we think about transitions in ministry. This is an important time in the life of the church as well as the life of the minister. We know this because we have been on both ends at one time or another, and people have told us this. While we were students two different ministers came to our church (one a college minister and another an associate). We also made the transition as the new college minister at University Church of Christ. Both have proved to be opportunities for us to learn...and learn we did.

As students, we found out first-hand what happens when a college minister comes in without regard for what is already happening. He doesn't last too long and he makes many enemies. We also experience the wisdom of a minister who went to great lengths to understand the situation he came to. He is still there and has become the preaching minister of the same church.

All ministries are not the same, and each should be treated as unique. We will not make the mistake of ignoring context. College ministry at Sam Houston State University will be unlike any other place on the planet...we need to learn what that is going to look like. Lord, give us your wisdom and strength as we begin.

My two primary jobs as a new minister: historian and lover. I will do everything I can to learn what has happened to make Huntsville Church of Christ and the Student Center what they are right now. I will also love the people of Huntsville Church of Christ and the students at the Student Center. These are huge! They will also teach me a ton about how God will use my gifts in ministry in Huntsville, Texas.

Alabadle

We must send praises up to God for the opportunities he has given us!

Tanya and I have accepted the position as college minister at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. We are super excited about this new part of our lives! It is crazy to think that I finally have the opportunity to do ministry full-time. We have been waiting for this for a while. I don't have grad school to work on or a graduate assistant job to maintain. We can't wait to start!

Now we are working on packing things up. We anticipate this being the last major move we make, and that is a good thing! Tanya and I were commenting the other day that we have been in three different apartments and one rent house since we were married. That is a lot of moving!