"Blessed are you college student(s)..."

This past Sunday, we held our first Sunday night service of the semester/year. I thought it went pretty well, and I've had some students still talking about some of the conversation we had that evening. I wanted to share with you what I wrote and ended the teaching with, in hopes that maybe it would be a blessing/help for you or someone you know. I did my best to remain accurate to the original text in terms of the overall message, but coupled it with some artistic liberty/flair to try and embody what Jesus would want today's college students to hear if He were speaking today. I'll leave this with you and pray you are refreshed in the grace and goodness of our God!

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5.1-2 – Seeing the great mass of students, Jesus went up the hill. And sitting, everyone gathered around him. Opening His mouth to teach, He said

5.3 – You who are miserable, oppressed, and utterly depressed, cheer up! Because you have a home with me.

5.4 – You who are stressed out to the point of tears, cheer up and breathe! Your performance in school doesn’t matter nearly as much to me as you do.

5.5 – You who feel alone and excluded, cheer up! I will give you a family who will never leave or exclude you.

5.6 – You who are drowning in debt for just pursuing your calling/dream(s), cheer up! I will provide for you.

5.7 – You who are patient with those who just don’t seem to learn, cheer up! I’m excited by your example.

5.8 - You who are excluded, taken advantage of, and made fun of because you look/long for the positives in life and avoid sketchy situations, cheer up! You’re someone I want to sit down with over coffee and meet with no hidden agenda. I just want to know you!

5.9 - You who are ostracized for doing the right thing, especially when it’s not popular, cheer up! I’d be proud to call you my own!

5.10 - You who are targeted for your convictions, by others who are both religious and not, cheer up! I want to show you what true love looks like in my Kingdom.

5.11-12 - And you who already one of mine, when you singled out, framed, and utterly destroyed by others who aren’t a part of my Kingdom, cheer up! Rejoice in knowing that the forces of darkness are intimidated by your allegiance to me, and this is why they are using those held captive to remove you. Remember the example of those who have shared your inheritance. God was with them and see how He moved. Know this fact, He’s with you too!

Review: May It Be So: Forty Days with the Lord's Prayer

May It Be So: Forty Days with the Lord's Prayer by Justin McRoberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a VERY short book. You could easily read it within an hour if you wanted to read the whole thing. It's purpose is to be a 40-day discipline utilizing the Lord's Prayer as an anchor, to explore both prayer and your own relationship, both with God and others. There are many prayers that are in this book that have stuck with me and I'm planning on encouraging college students in the campus ministry with them this year. Every prayer is super short, but will challenge you to meditate on what on not only what you're asking, but your current state/health of receptiveness to that prayer's answer. Justin includes personal stories that are great for trying a difference perspective in engaging a particular part of Jesus' model prayer. Overall, this is certainly a book that I'm going to utilize in a number of ways over the next few years within my life and my ministry. I certainly recommend you give it a read if you're interested in an 'artsy' take on a 40-practice centered around the Lord's prayer.

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NSC 2019

Well Emily and I just got back this past Wednesday afternoon from the 2019 National Student Conference up at Milligan College in Johnson City, TN this week. We had the honor and privilege to serve as worship leaders for this years conference. After spending some time resting and recovering from a whirlwind of a conference, I figured I'd share some highlights with you guys.

Each day, we led our morning and evening worship times, with Monday evening being a bluegrass set (in honor of being in east Tennessee). On top of that, I also had the cool opportunity to teach/co-teach 5 sessions worth of workshops. I co-taught a 3-session workshop on the book of Revelation with an old friend who is a campus ministry up in Pennsylvania, and I taught a 2-session workshop on troubling texts found in the book of Romans. The biggest obstacle for the week was trying to do whatever I could to keep from losing my voice. Trust me, at times it proved a little difficult, haha!

A few things I took away from this year:

1. I was reminded (yet again) that God is faithful and will show up/do something powerful whenever you do what He asks you to do and you fully trust Him. Our scheduled speaker had to back out a week and a half prior to our conference beginning due to the discovery of a very aggressive form of cancer that required immediate testing/treatment. I had been praying and planning our worship sets since the better part of February of this year, so this obviously would cause ANYONE who is an enneagram classified type-1 significant stress. Nonetheless, I was blown away at just how PERFECT the song selections meshed with the teachings each evening.
2. I really enjoy teaching. I was borderline a nervous wreck for parts of my workshops. Yet I had students and ministers alike come up to me at the end of the sessions telling me just how much they learned, enjoyed, and were challenged from the material and presentation. You could say this is a continuation from the first takeaway in that I should trust that as long as I'm faithful and do what God calls me to do, I shouldn't worry too much because He's always going to show up and do His thing. =)
3. I love being creative and planning corporate worship services. They may cause me stress in every aspect of the process, but in the end I always breathe a sigh of relief and gratitude at: a) the opportunity God's given me to do it; b) the willingness of others to follow my leading and make abstract ideas into reality; and c) lead/see people to truly worship their God with full abandon and be reminded of His love and truth.

Overall, while exhausting, I would say that I miss this conference. In a way, I also hope that those who attended feel the same way. I hope that when everyone who was there looks back to what we did and experienced together, we all are filled with a deep sense of fondness and excitement, not the kind that only sits and reminisces, but the kind that will move us forward into what we're being called to do.

God showed up. God was praised. We were all challenged, encouraged, and motivated to return to our areas and respond to Jesus' call to 'Go.' So let's go!

18 Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28.18-20 (The Amplified Bible) 

Review: A Tale of Three Kings

A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book in the span of about an hour and a half while waiting for my car to be serviced. It was a recommended reading by my brother-in-law and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Edwards does a good job of creating a drama-like story involving King Saul, David, and Absalom. Throughout the story, you see the inner-character of a person undergo pressing and testing, while facing opportunities at every corner to compromise who he is and become someone he never was. Overall, you'll find yourself asking yourself questions about how you might be becoming (or already are) a 'King Saul' or a 'King David'. If you take it seriously and truly wrestle with the questions, scenarios, and illustrations provided, you can't help but walk away with a brutally honest assessment of your inner attitude and perspective on your life and service in relation to God's kingdom. Certainly a highly recommended read!

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Review: Extreme Prayer: The Impossible Prayers God Promises to Answer

Extreme Prayer: The Impossible Prayers God Promises to Answer by Greg Pruett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very quick read. Using personal stories from the mission field as well as from his years of leading Pioneer Bible Translators, Greg Pruett invites us in to experience just how powerful prayer is as a regular practice. He explores passages from Scripture, as well as outlines what he means by 'extreme' prayer. I recommend this book as one to read if you're interested in reading up on prayer. It's certainly a quick read, it includes discussion questions, and it an excellent encouragement to invest more time in prayer.

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