We are having a wonderful time with our freshmen bible study.   We are maxing out the space in our home and we have had someone new join us the last few weeks.  The group has a loving, community feel to it.  They also like to eat.

Our study has been taking us through the Immovable Core of the gospel story (a study written by the staff of Christian Challenge at the University of Nebraska).  It begins with God and His character and greatness and moves through man’s willful ignorance and viral rebellion.  Then God’s initiative in providing a system wherein a substitute could bear the penalty of man’s sin and putting a plan into action through Abraham and the nation of Israel. Then ultimately how Jesus was the promised Messiah who would bear the sin of us all.  And we still have 3 more sessions!

If you ever feel like praying for us, I want you to pray for these freshmen.  Some are believers who have been challenged and encouraged with growing in Christ.  They are not at the same place they were when first coming to CU.  Others are not believers, but are consistent in attending.

One of the guys in this latter group surprised us last week.  One aspect of the Core is a verse to memorize each week.  This last week, this guy was the only one of the freshmen to memorize it.  The one who is not even a follower of Jesus yet.  He told me the story and how he used some unforeseen extra time to learn it. Pray for him and two others who have not yet submitted to Christ, but are very close.

Here is what he memorized:

^{Romans 4: 20} Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

And to make it better the story goes that he had been doing laundry late at night.  When he finished he was exhausted and all he wanted to do was collapse in his bed.  As he got to his room his roommate started a late night food fight and spilled spicy ranch on his bed.  So in his exhaustion and frustration (maybe even anger), he went back to the laundry room to wash his sheets and that was when he decided to memorize the verse.  In a moment of stress he went to the Word.

Word.

Trevin Wax has a well known blog, Kingdom People.  He has a recent post that explains well how we think of discipleship and why our homes are mission critical to what we do.

Apprenticeship is serious business. Never downplay the importance of sermons, theological education, and deep Bible study. Just make sure you match all of these with doing life together, modeling a new way of being human, inviting people to come alongside of us and learn what it means to follow Jesus – not merely by what we tell them but also by how we live.

You can read it all here.

I took a group of 5 students the weekend before last to the eastern Colorado town of Flagler (pop. 500).  We had a great time watching the basketball games (with the whole town) and spending time with some of the youth from one of the churches.  It was a great chance to form new relationships. The students loved it and enjoyed getting to know George Garner and his wife, Barb, and Pastor Bob Strauss.

And we will be taking a much larger group back for Spring Break.  We will be working on cleaning, organizing, and painting some buildings that are part of a lodge and conference center, as well as hosting events for high school students.  Our crew is really looking forward to it.

So what does what we do look like?  Well.  It looks fun and exciting and messy.  It looks like having our home open to welcome students whenever they want to drop by.  It looks like being prepared for an extra someone around for supper, or lunch (never breakfast really).  It looks like listening to them and getting to know their lives.

It looks like meeting with students on campus to look at Scripture together, talk to other people about Jesus together, work through life’s issues together, eat together, …

It looks like having our leaders in our home each Sunday night, freshmen (a lot lately) in our home on Monday night, weekly meeting on campus Wednesday night, Friday Night Thing on Friday night (imagine that), weekend retreats, movie nights, lots and lots of texting, …

It looks like listening to students talk about issues with parents and school and friends and money and anger and fear.  And then allowing the Spirit to help us walk through these things with them in a God’s way of wisdom that can bring clarity and healing and freedom and comfort.

It looks like spending Friday (like today) cooking for a Valentine’s banquet and getting our contributions finished before pulling 4 big lasagnas (that were dropped off the night before by our staff intern) out of the garage (extra refrigerator space in the winter) to bake in our oven.

It looks like loaning our big green van (a.k.a. the Swagger Wagon) to the youth group so they can transport kids to a downtown conference.

It looks like planning with Julee for the next session of pre-marriage counseling with a couple from our ministry.  And where it will fit in with all the other things.

It looks like spending time helping the high school wrestling team with leadership training (Habitudes) and  learning more wrestling moves.

It looks like giving our lives away for the sake of gospel ministry in others.

Blessed to be a blessing!

Laboring to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is the overarching goal of our ministry and lives.  So we try to evaluate everything we do in light of making disciples of all nations.

In our philosophy of ministry, evangelism and discipleship are inseparable.  To make disciples (knowing and learning from Jesus to live life like Him and so His life can be lived out through us) we have to first see people understand the Gospel and accept it.

One of the ways we are doing this is through gospel appointments - one on one meetings over lunch or coffee with friends or acquaintances in which we listen to their story, share ours, and explain the gospel.  So far this semester we have had 8 gospel appointments ( that I am aware of).

We also meet with students who know Jesus to help them know how to continue in relationship with Him, understand the Bible and how to apply it to life, how to practically pursue God-honoring relationships, grow in skills in helping someone else know Jesus, etc.  So helping students grow in knowledge (wisdom), skills, character, vision, and emotional health summarizes this area.

Next, What It Looks Like.

” Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ”

2 Corinthians 4:1-2

Share life.

Our home is a vital part of our ministry.  Students meet here for bible study, to eat, movies, games, food, to hang out, snack, etc.  And also to watch our family and be a part of our family.  We want them to see how real life works around our place and teach them about how real life works.  And how we walk through real life with God.

This means our door is open.  This also means we can go through a lot of food.  And it is food well spent when we can share stories, have relationships that are more than superficial or event related, pray together, let students see what we are like at home, talk about how God is working and involved at present, answer questions, laugh.

This is discipleship beyond content and our hope is that it helps all be ready for living their entire lives in light of eternity and God’s purposes, helps many know God personally, helps some become healthy.  It means we are transparent and vulnerable and open for inspection and correction.  Changing the world through God-honoring relationships.

This also means our schedules look a little different.  Its not 9 to 5 and then home.  Our ministry is our life.  We don’t have many early morning meetings with students (at least at CU), we often tell students to lock up when they leave, we never know who may be around for supper, Our ministry is our life. Our life is our ministry.  In fact, many of the things students said they remember learning from us happened in the midst of mundane, unplanned times - not a planned meeting.  So every conversation and comment counts and maybe some of the most teachable moments are those we haven’t scheduled.

I will look at evangelism and discipleship in the next post of What We Do.

Our byline at Christian Challenge is:

Changing the World through God-honoring relationships

We do this first by helping students have a growing, intimate relationship with God.  For some this means entering a relationship with God  for the first time by hearing the Gospel and receiving Christ. For others it means understanding for the first time what this relationship entails and taking it seriously.  And for others it is simply coming along side them and walking with them in the god-ward way they are already moving.

And for all we want to help solidify a foundation of connecting to Christ and looking more and more like Him that they can build on for the rest of their lives.

We also fulfill the objective by helping them know how to be in relationships that honor God.  To be a blessing, to initiate, to practice a holy curiosity,  to clear up relationships, to forgive and ask forgiveness, to serve, to do well in school - these are just some of the areas in which we mentor students.

And then changing the world.  As we practice God-honoring relationships in the places where God has us, people are changed.  But the scope of our vision goes beyond just our present location. We give students a vision for the people’s of the world.  Some can only be informed and pray, while others are able to spend a summer or semester in another country.

This is just a brief glimpse at our overall vision.  In following posts I will describe what this looks like more specifically.

We would appreciate your prayer for a student involved in Challenge.  Andrew T. fell from a tree on Saturday (he loves to climb trees) and landed on his back.  This resulted in a burst disc, two fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken clavicle, and a broken shoulder blade.  He underwent surgery to place screws and a pin to stabilize the vertebrae.

He is in very stable condition now, but in much pain (as you can imagine).  They are slowly moving him between a chair and the bed.  He will have to wear a back brace for 3 months.  His parents are also with him.  In the next few days he will make a decision between remaining in school or withdrawing for the semester.

Andrew is a delightful young man and we always enjoy when he is around.  You can also pray as his friends in the dorm have taken this pretty hard and many may be open to some good conversations.

In 2006, our family had the opportunity to lead a mission trip to Oberlin, LA, contribute to the rebuilding of

First Baptist Church and begin some encouraging relationships.  God used that trip to not only reestablish a place for community in Oberlin, but also to establish a heart for people in our family and a desire to be part of what He is doing in the world and to explain Him to the world.  Of course, the main expression of this heart and desire takes place in our sharing our lives with college students at CU, ASU before that, and OU before that.

     As a continuation of this desire, we have been preparing as a family for a trip to SE Asia.  A former student and his family are now serving full-time among students in this country.  They have seen God draw many students to Himself and have their hands full.  Several people have spent the last two years laboring alongside them and are in their last days and months of service. 

     We will be spending around 7-9 days in country.  During this time we will travel with a group of students who are involved in the ministry with the purpose of speaking into their lives and discipling them as we are able.  We will also be working at an orphanage alongside a mix of Christian and non-Christian students.  Our friend there says that this has been a very effective way of seeing new students move to accept Christ.  Another goal would also be to encourage and pray for our friends and the ministry God has given them.

     Finally, we hope to work out the timing so that we can travel to another SE Asian country close by and spend a day or two with a former associate and his family and our summer team from CU and then join them for the trip home.  This last hope is still very tentative, but is on our prayer list.

    The tentative dates for this trip are July 12-21.  Our estimated cost is $15,014.  We would like to invite and ask you to pray about partnering with us financially and prayerfully for this trip.  An undertaking of this size is far bigger than us and we would value anyway you can be part of this with us.  Contributions for this trip can be made to Christian Challenge and will be a missions contribution as this trip is part of our summer missions program.  Please send to 167 Cherokee Way, Boulder, CO 80303.

Thank you for your prayers.

I was just looking over some comments on a Facebook status I posted and as I chuckled I thought about  how good it is to really be known.  It is a deeply satisfying feeling.  As our pastor says, “Fully known and fully loved” - deeply satisfying.

This is a lot of ministry.  Paul said it this way.

    ¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.   2 Timothy 3

Timothy knew Paul fully well.  He had spent untold hours with him, beginning with hearing him speak and then seeing him stoned and left for dead.He knew not only what he taught, but how he lived. You learn a lot by being around someone, not just when you have a Bible open, but when you have your life open.  Paul was not perfect and probably had to work a bit to keep relationships clear and reconcile things from time to time.  Yet he could say to Tim to continue in what he was convinced of because he knew those he had learned from.

Paul consistently and intentionally speaks of this:

⁸We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. ⁹Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 1 Thess. 2

⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4

¹Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. ²I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,^[a] just as I passed them on to you.  1 Corinthians 11

So it seems Paul’s method of discipleship was not just preaching alone, but fully sharing his life - the good and the bad and how he handled the bad and the good.

And we do all we can to model this method with students.  Our homes are open to students and they are in it regularly - though not all the time.  They are able to see our lives and we are known.  Hopefully and prayerfully and intentionally, people around us are able to be more like Jesus because of this, or at least understand Jesus’ way.

It is good to be fully known and fully loved.  It is good to be used by God to move students closer to Jesus.  It is good to have people know you on Facebook.  It is better to have them in your house.