Random Thoughts: Creativity & Organization, City Ranks, and the Value of a College Degree

 

Summer traveling has taken a toll on my ability to write on here regularly. Here are some items that I have come across that you might find interesting…

 

Gina and I have just returned from a couple of weeks of vacation and we had the chance to visit some great cities: Vancouver (arriving the day after the hockey riot), Seattle (and we got to take in a Mariners game), Eugene, OR (a great college town), and Yachats, OR (city might be the wrong word, but a great place to spend some quiet time on the Pacific coast). In honor of our nation’s cities, here are two informative lists:

 

America’s Most Well-Read Cities

 

America’s Most Dangerous Cities

 

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There can be great discussions about which is more important: creativity or organization and structure. There can also be great frustration between those who are more creative and those who are more structured. This great video by Scott Belsky shows the importance of both. I would encourage you to follow him on Twitter (@ScottBelsky) and to subscribe to his website.

 

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Georgetown University has released a study showing what various college degrees are really worth in dollars and cents, as well as differences in pay because of gender. Let’s just say that if you are an art major, I hope you enjoy what you do.

AND

 

Last August, I pointed you toward a book by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay entitled, The Tangible Kingdom. It is a book that expresses the concepts of missional and incarnational ministry that I believe reflect the heart of God. Over the course of the past year, our staff has read it and we have used their Tangible Kingdom Primer with our student leaders and in some of our Cords (our missional communities on campus).

 

Last week, I finished their sequel to The Tangible Kingdom. It is called AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. In the book, they discuss the balance of a Biblical church (or campus ministry) – where people are both scattered through incarnational communities and gathered through structures that hold them together and provide encouragement and vision. It is, again, a book I would highly recommend to church leaders and church planters.

 

Here are some highlights. Hopefully some of them will provide you with food for thought.

 

"In Genesis 12:2-3, ... the people of God are being sent to live in a pagan land. Why? So they may bring the blessing of God wherever they go."   p. 34

 

“Missional isn't a form of church. It's a label we give to the qualitative or descriptive aspect of how a church actually lives. It's about how much like Jesus those people become and how much they influence, woo, and transform the culture in which they are placed. In other words, how 'missional' you are is largely determined by the extent to which your people model the life, activities, and words of Jesus."   p. 52

 

"Being missional is about our sentness - it represents the directional impulse of every church and every Christian in the world. Being incarnational is not so much about our direction; it's more about how we go, what we do as we go, and how we are postured in the culture God calls us to engage. Incarnation is the personality of our proclamation."   p. 56

 

"The principle is indisputable: the great things of God cost us our life. The more missional you want to be, the more incarnational you're willing to be, the more you release your people out into the world, the more you desire to equip and empower young leaders, the more effective and faithful you want your church to be ... the more you'll have to die to yourself."   p. 80

 

"Sadly, many people really are content to live as consumers, and they are just looking for a place to hold their beliefs together and to provide a sense of belonging relationally. In other words, all they want are some sermons and some friends.... We have to realize they aren't looking for transformation, either for themselves or for the world."   p. 106

 

"If you're worried about how to keep halfhearted, recreational Christians from leaving your church, I fear you've lost the big story."   p. 108

 

"What brings meaning to your gathering is how well you scatter. Jesus gave us the key to helping people find meaning when he said, 'Whoever wants to save their life will lose it.' (Mark 8:35 TNIV). Corporately, it's the same. If we want people to find meaning in our church gatherings, we must help them to gather for the purposes and people outside the gathering."   p. 174

 

"God's highest goal for our children isn't to keep them busy and safe. Our roles as stewards over the spiritual life and legacy of our kids is to model a holistic life of apprenticeship under Jesus - to invite them and include them in as much as you can and to trust that God will grow them, protect them, and use them to change the world."   p. 182-183

 

"Sermons have been an important part of our spiritual formation and will continue to fill that role, but we must also face the fact that even though we preach well, our focus on preaching as the main thing has not produced the level of discipleship we had hoped it would. Even more, our priority for pulpit-centered Christianity may actually be one of the most consumer-oriented aspects of evangelicalism today. Just as we must reimagine the church gathering, we must also have the courage to reimagine how we teach our people the Scriptures."   p. 183-184

 

What think ye?

News from the World of Higher Education

 

Here are some not-so-positive trends that have an impact on the students we minister to and the environment in which they live and we seek to represent Christ …

 

Some observations on recent college grads in the current economy from HuffPost College:

 

“A new survey of college graduates from the last five years finds that the Great Recession has hit them hard, forcing them into low-paying jobs often unrelated to their educations and leaving half of them expecting less financial success than their parents.”

 

* Eighty-three percent of them worked when they were in college … and they're coming out without a great job and with debt.

* The median starting salary for those who graduated between 2006 and 2008 was $30,000. For the 2009 and 2010 grads, it dipped to $27,000. And women graduates continued to make less than men.

* Nearly half the graduates say they're working at jobs that don't require a college education.

* Nearly half say they're subsidized in some way by their parents or other family members.

* About half say they personally don't expect to do as well as their parents. And 56 percent say their generation won't do as well as their parents' generation.

 

In related news, a survey reported by Time says that 85% of new college graduates move back in with their parents.

 

This Op-Ed piece from the New York Times discusses how the quality of higher education has been hurt by university and college attempts to appeal to our culture of consumers.

 

“Over four years, we followed the progress of several thousand students in more than two dozen diverse four-year colleges and universities. We found that large numbers of the students were making their way through college with minimal exposure to rigorous coursework, only a modest investment of effort and little or no meaningful improvement in skills like writing and reasoning.

 

In a typical semester, for instance, 32 percent of the students did not take a single course with more than 40 pages of reading per week, and 50 percent did not take any course requiring more than 20 pages of writing over the semester. The average student spent only about 12 to 13 hours per week studying — about half the time a full-time college student in 1960 spent studying, according to the labor economists Philip S. Babcock and Mindy S. Marks….

 

The situation reflects a larger cultural change in the relationship between students and colleges. The authority of educators has diminished, and students are increasingly thought of, by themselves and their colleges, as “clients” or “consumers.” When 18-year-olds are emboldened to see themselves in this manner, many look for ways to attain an educational credential effortlessly and comfortably. And they are catered to accordingly. The customer is always right.”

 

The drug of choice is on the college campus?  The Harvard Business Review reports that references to alcohol appear on 85.3% of male college students’ Facebook pages.

 

If you dug into the facts, you would be amazed at the number of incidents on your typical college campus that are alcohol related – from alcohol poisoning to sexual assaults to academic failure. And yet so many adopt a “boys-will-be-boys” mentality – like the parents I saw in a local bookstore, encouraging their 18-year-old freshman son to buy a poster for his dorm room on the “Rules of Beer Pong”, a popular drinking game.

 

Need more evidence that the answer to our world’s ills isn’t more or better education? USA Today reports that Yale University (one of our nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher education) suspends a fraternity for harassment of female students as the university itself is under investigation by federal civil rights officials.

Holy Discontent–A Year Later

 

A year ago today, I was attending a meeting just outside of Louisville, KY. Twenty campus ministers from around the country - each with at least 20 years of experience in doing campus ministry - had gathered to talk about ministry to students, where it was heading, and how we could better prepare the next generation of campus ministers. One night we sat up late, talking about ministry and families and life. Then one of my friends posed the question, "What is there in your life or ministry that is requiring you to rely on God?"

 

The question made me think and do a lot of praying. We continue to see God do a lot of great things in our ministry and we are excited about the lives that he is changing at the UofA. But the truth is that, though we were by no means just going through the motions, we were in a place where we were pretty comfortable. Ministry was going smoothly. Finances were stable. We were operating in our comfort zone. I wrote about this question in a blog post on May 17, 2010. Here is part of what I wrote at that time:

 

"It has been a pretty comfortable place to be. But I don't think God calls us to just be comfortable. And I don't want to just be comfortable. I want to walk in faith. I want to trust God. I don't want to be content with visions and dreams that are small enough that I can accomplish them. I want to be moved by God's visions and dreams - things that are only accomplished when God is providing the power and wisdom and resources. I don't know what any of that means right now. But I am praying for some holy discomfort."

 

So here we are a year later. And what has God done? He has put us in an exciting place with some great ministry opportunities that are going to make us completely rely on Him! Our Board of Directors and staff believe that God is leading us to take a couple of important steps - not just for Christ on Campus, but for the Kingdom of God globally.

 

In June, we will begin a partnership with a campus ministry in the Philippines. Christ on Campus will be providing financial support, student and staff assistance, and encouragement to a ministry at Benguet State University in La Trinidad where Crisanto Salvador serves as campus minister. Why do we think God is leading us in this direction? Because of the strategic nature of this ministry. The Philippines' greatest export is people and most of those who graduate from their universities take jobs in other countries. A large percentage of those will get jobs in areas where it is often more difficult for Americans to work and minister. We believe that a ministry that reaches and equips college students from the Philippines is a strategic way to access the parts of the world that are the most unreached for Christ. 

 

God has also led us to add another person to the Christ on Campus staff. Cory Garren graduated from the UofA in May 2010. Though he came to the UofA with a plan of going to med school, God began to change his heart during his four-year involvement with Christ on Campus. So Cory served as an intern with us during this past year. He feels that God is leading him into campus ministry and, specifically, into ministry with international students. We have seen Cory's heart for God and for students and his ability to work with students effectively. So Cory will be joining our staff on a full-time basis this summer and his primary (though not total) ministry focus will be on the over 1,300 international students from 123 countries that study at the UofA - many of whom come from those same countries in the most unreached parts of the world and most of whom will return to their countries as leaders in their fields of expertise.

 

We are very excited about the potential of both of these endeavors and their strategic importance for the Kingdom of God. And we are definitely in a place where we have to rely on God! First of all, we don't have the money for either of these projects in our current budget. Secondly, we have felt our nation's economic difficulties over the past few months. Giving to Christ on Campus has been down. For a logical perspective, it is not an ideal time to be adding these ministries to our monthly budget. But we believe that we are following God's lead in both of these. And we believe that he can provide the needed resources through his people.

Father, forgive us …

 

This afternoon I took part in A Walk to Remember as a part of Rwanda Awareness Week on our campus. As I silently walked around campus with the other participants, God spoke to me about the Church in the US – our lack of awareness of the needs of our world and the self-centered and inwardly-focused nature of most of our lives and faith.

 

I wondered how many students on our ministry or people in our churches know …

 

… of the genocide in Rwanda – that within their lifetime (1994) and over a period of only 100 days, 800,000 to 1,000,000 people were brutally killed because of the tribe to which they belonged. That is the numerical equivalent to approximately three Sept. 11 attacks occurring every day for three months.

 

… that each year more than 2 million children worldwide are exploited in the global human sex trade? That 600,000 to 800,000 victims are annually trafficked across global borders? That 14,500 to 17,500 of those are trafficked into the US?

 

… that 27 million men, women, and children are held as slaves around the world?

 

… that unclean water and lack of sanitation kill more people each year than all forms of violence, including war? That 90% of the 42,000 people who die each week as a result of unclean water and lack of sanitation are children under the age of five?

 

… that there are conflicts going on not only in Libya, but the Sudan, the Ivory Coast, Palestine, and other parts of the world?

 

… that an average of 171,000 Christians are martyred for their faith each year?

 

My guess is that most Christians in the US are unaware and uninterested. We have other things to worry about. We have conferences and camps to plan and Bible studies to prepare. We have “family life centers” to build. Plus, the Razorback Red/White game is this weekend and it’s on ESPN! We don’t have time or an appetite to hear or think about those who are suffering or the injustice in our world. We don’t want a faith that is aware. We want one that is comfortable and that keeps us entertained.

 

And, to be honest, I have often been the same way – wrapped up in my ministry and programs and plans. But thankfully God has placed students around me whose hearts and vision are often bigger than mine. He has given us Ines, a student in our ministry from Rwanda who spoke at today’s walk. She and the other Rwandan students on our campus are reminders that these aren’t just numbers, but people with families and hopes and dreams. God has given us a group of students who have a heart for those who are being trafficked and meet each week to pray and seek ways to raise awareness and funds to combat the problem.

 

It really isn’t my goal to make you feel guilty. (OK, maybe just a little bit guilty.) I really want to move you to action, to cause you to pay attention and look beyond yourself. We live in a world of hurting people. Some are close to you, but many aren’t. Yet they are people created in the image of God, many of whom are your Christian brothers and sisters. So read the paper with a prayerful attitude. Get a copy of Operation World and pray through it. And remember this words of Jesus:

 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”   Matthew 25:27-40

Leadership Lessons from SWAT

 

Over Spring Break, while the rest of our staff and many of our students were working in New Orleans, I spent time visiting with former students in Tulsa and Little Rock. One of the rewarding things about campus ministry is seeing where your alumni wind up and the ways they find to serve the Kingdom of God. During that week, I got to visit with ministers, college professors, an architect, an attorney, a nurse, an accountant, a NCAA Div. I head coach, a software tech and Sergeant in the Army Reserve, a banker, a financial consultant, missionaries, and the Central/Eastern Europe director for Heifer International. These are men and women with whom I spent a lot of time during some of the most important years of their lives. Some came to Christ while at the UofA. Others developed spiritual values and maturity. I performed many of their weddings. And though our time together during their student years was relatively short, each of them (and hundreds of others) left a mark on my life.

 

The most unusual visit, however, was with a former student who is now the commander of the Little Rock SWAT unit. When Tim heard I was going to be in town, he invited me to go along as they served a warrant on a narcotics dealer. I was able to meet the team, sit in on their planning, ride along with them during the raid, get a “tour” of the home and drug stash once the scene was secure, and listen in on the debriefing after it was over.

 

I was reminded of an important lesson as I watched Tim lead his team – the importance of planning, preparation, and review even with something that you have done over and over again. Though the SWAT unit is trained for hostage and/or barricade situations, there are fortunately only a few of those a year. So they help the police force by securing scenes so that the narcotics officers can safely serve warrants and shut down narcotics operations. Last year, the SWAT unit served 220 narcotics warrants! Though they have done this type of thing hundreds of times, the time they took to plan and prepare was significant.

 

They had maps of the neighborhood and photos of the house. They knew how many doors and where they were. They knew how many windows and where they were. They knew where the bathrooms were. They knew how many people were usually around during that time. Their eleven man unit knew exactly who was doing what job – who was using the battering ram, tossing the flash-bangs, going right and going left. And even though the operation went smoothly, there was a thorough debriefing after they returned to headquarters. Each officer reported on what he had done and any problems that occurred.

 

The lesson is even with something you have done hundreds of times, you need to make sure that you and your team are focused and prepared. Why? One reason for the SWAT unit is that they were entering into a potentially dangerous situation and they needed to be sure that everyone was sharp and focused. Though our leadership may not be in an arena that is physically dangerous, we should believe (especially in ministry) that every event, conversation, service, or study is spiritually significant. We need to be sharp, focused, and prepared for that.

 

Another reason for good preparation is that it prepares you to deal with the unknown. When the SWAT unit enters a situation, they don’t know exactly what will happen. How many people will be there? Will they have weapons? Will there be children? How will those being arrested react? Because of the exact preparation, the unit is better prepared to deal with any situation. They know which of their team is doing what. Who will be going where. They know where their people will be. That knowledge removes a lot of questions and uncertainty. Good preparation on our part makes us better able to be flexible and respond to the needs or opportunities that arise unexpectedly.

 

A final reason for focused preparation is that when you are doing something that you have done over and over again, it is easy to relax and not work as hard in preparation. When that happens, things get forgotten. Assignments get dropped. Problems develop. We need to approach even regularly occurring events with an attention to detail that won’t let us slide by with a half-effort.

 

Two side notes: 1) SWAT team members don’t eat donuts. They drink protein shakes. 2) The one question I never resolved was what is the appropriate thing to say to a handcuffed drug dealer who is laying on the ground as you step over him? “Excuse me?” “Nice house?” “Dude, you’re busted?”

 

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One more baseball recording that I should have mentioned a couple of weeks ago: If you haven’t heard Garrison Keillor’s story “Babe Ruth Visits Lake Wobegon”, you need to. He is a gifted story teller and this story about Babe Ruth and the Lake Wobegon town team is classic.

Random Links: Japan Moved, Airline Prayers, Diet Coke, Small Animals, and Great Athletes

 

Here are a few things that have been sitting in my inbox. Hope you find at least some of them interesting …

 

According to this report on CNN World, the earthquake that hit Japan last month actually moved the island nation eight feet and shifted the earth on its axis. That sounds incredible! Does anyone have any follow-up on that?

 

Let’s just say that if you are going to be praying out loud in another language on an airplane, it is probably a good idea to give the flight attendants a heads-up.

 

Diet Coke has just passed Pepsi in soft drink sales, making it number two behind Coke. Now if they could just make a Diet Coke that tasted good and wasn’t feared to be bad for you.

 

Here is a list of ten of the world’s smallest animals. Which would you want to take home?

 

Finally, here is a list of the greatest pro multi-sport athletes of all time. There is lots of room to agree and disagree in this area. For instance, where’s Bo Jackson? I believe he out-classed both Brian Jordan and Deion Sanders as football/baseball athletes.

Happy Opening Day!

 

Today is the Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season. Those who know me well know that I believe this should be a national holiday – that everyone should stay home from school or work and watch baseball today! But, alas, that will not be. However, I will make my annual trek to Kansas City for the Royals’ home opener. I’ll tailgate with three of my best friends from high school and we’ll cheer on the Royals with hearts confident that this will be the year! (You are know we are true fans, because who but true fans would continue to cheer for the Royals after all these years of disappointment.)

 

In honor of Opening Day and the start of a new season, here is my lists of the best baseball movies and the baseball songs. They aren’t in any particular order. Let me know what you think or what I may have missed …

 

Best Baseball Movies

 

The Natural (A little slow in spots, but the final home run is classic.)

A League of Their Own (Even if it is about girls, they can play the game.)

The Rookie (I love stories of people who got to fulfill their dreams.)

Bull Durham (Some of my more conservative friends will probably disagree, but it’s a great and funny baseball movie.)

The Sandlot (A little cheesy but brings back a lot of memories for those of us who spent our summers at ballparks or on schoolyards.)

Eight Men Out (Not every baseball movie is about just the good things and happy endings. Most Royals’ games don’t have either.)

Field of Dreams (Not sure of the metaphysics of it all, but James Earl Jones’ soliloquy on baseball is classic.)

 

Best Baseball Songs

 

Who’s on First – Abbott and Costello (A classic who can listen to and laugh at again and again)

A Song About Baseball – Bob Bennett (Wish I could have found this online. A great song on unconditional love set to a baseball theme. Worth the time to track down.)

Willie, Mickey, and the Duke (Talkin’ Baseball) – Terry Cashman (This song just got Cashman into Cooperstown. I couldn’t find a link to the original, so here is a link to the Tigers’ version.)

The Cheap Seats – Alabama (We love minor league baseball. Go Naturals – the team that gives us Royals fans hope!)

Centerfield – John Fogerty (Brings back memories of when I coached the Kiwanis Babe Ruth team. Don’t ask.)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Edward Meeker (A 1908 version of the baseball classic with verses I had never heard.)

 

What do you think? What have I missed?

Palatable Truth

 

There is a debate going on among those who minister to Muslims: How far do you go to make the message of Jesus accessible to the Islamic culture? I am not going to go into detail, but would encourage you to read this article from Christianity Today on the conflict. Basically the issue comes down to this: there is Biblical language used of Jesus (specifically “Son of God”) that is “offensive” to many Muslims. So some translations of Scripture have changed that language to something that is more neutral. The result is that there are many Muslims willing to read the Bible and study the life of Jesus with the new translations. But in making the change, have the translators compromised the identity of Jesus and the nature of his relationship with the Father? I’ve not studied or thought about the issue deeply enough to take a side on this issue.

 

But it does cause me to wonder if, in the US, we have ever become so eager to share the Gospel in a culturally relevant way that we have misrepresented it? Have we, in a noble desire to remove any obstacle, not presented clearly who Jesus is and the implications of following him?

 

I have served on a university campus right on the buckle of the Bible Belt for almost 29 years. The vast majority of the students on this campus have attended church growing up. They have been involved in FCA or Young Life. They have been exposed to Jesus and most have made some type of statement of faith in him. In other words, they are like their parents and their grandparents.

 

But I don’t see much transformation among Christians in the US. I see culturally comfortable Americans with a religious habit. Their faith leads them to see Jesus as their friend or their healer or their counselor or their “ace in the hole” when things go wrong. But they don’t see Jesus as their Lord who has something to say about their career and their relationships ands their marriage and how they use their money and time. We have preached a Jesus that is palatable to a self-centered American culture that often doesn’t accurately depict his real identity or the implications of following him.

 

Currently, our staff is reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Though his words are familiar to many, they are worth repeating:

 

“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace…. Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian ‘conception’ of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins…. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

 

May we, in our desire to make sure that the truth about Jesus is understandable to the world and culture around us, never fail to present the full and complete picture of who he is and what the implications of Biblical faith and grace really are.

Leadership: The Trap of Pleasing Everyone

 

After almost 29 years of campus ministry experience I have learned at least one undeniable thing: You cannot please everyone. That hasn’t been an easy lesson to learn. I want people to like me and to like Christ on Campus – our ministry, our worship, our teaching, and our purpose. I want them to want to be a part of what we care doing and the direction we are heading.

 

But that doesn’t happen. Every leader knows what it is like when people opt for another church, another ministry, another leader that better “meets their needs”. Every time someone decides that Christ on Campus isn’t for them, it hurts a little. When that happens, a part of me wants to say, “Let’s see if we can work something out.”  No matter what I tell myself or others tell me, a part of me takes it a little bit personal. There is a small feeling that it is me they are rejecting.

 

Yet you never find Jesus running after those who chose not to follow him. Though he looked with love on the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22), he didn’t try to “renegotiate” when the young man walked away. And when many chose to no longer follow him (John 6:66), Jesus didn’t chase after them and try to change their minds or soften his stance.

 

How was Jesus able to deal with this so confidently? Because, as John tells us in John 13:1-4, Jesus knew who he was and what he was called to do. He knew where he was going and how to get there. So he was content to let those who didn’t share that vision or calling to walk away. Some will choose not to walk with us for a variety of reasons. But if we remember who we are and to what we are called, we can handle this like Jesus.

 

Those in leadership must have a clear sense of vision and direction. And that doesn’t come through a congregational vote or democratic action. It comes through time spent alone with God, seeking him and searching his Word. It comes as you hammer it out with godly and like-minded leaders who are seeking God with you. If our ministry is driven by the wants and desires of the people or community around us, we are setting ourselves us for disappointment and frustration. If we think our purpose is to gather a crowd or provide entertainment or keep everyone happy, we are looking to please men more than God. In these cases, we are taking our cue and calling from men – not from God.

 

God’s call on the Church is to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), bring them to maturity in Christ (Colossians 1:28) and equip them for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16). These are the values that should shape the vision and direction of our churches and ministries. We have to beware of calendars that are full of activities without substance that keep people involved but produce little maturity. Our campus ministries cannot be “spiritual baby-sitting services” – designed to keep students busy and entertained, making sure that students stay in church and out of trouble.

 

Not everyone who walks through our doors has this perspective.

 

Two writers that I resonate with are Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. (I would encourage Christian leaders to read The Tangible Kingdom and AND.) In talking about those who don’t stay, they write:

 

“Sadly, many people really are satisfied to live as consumers, and they are just looking for a place to hold their beliefs together and to provide a sense of belonging relationally. In other words, all they want are some sermons and some friends. Now, neither of these is bad in and of itself, and any person who grows into a community ought to find that these come naturally; but if they are the only two reasons people are coming to our church, we have to realize they aren’t looking for transformation, either for themselves or for the world.”   AND, p. 106

 

All of our ministries experience this dynamic. When our ministry has a clear sense of vision and direction, we are better able to deal with those who have yet to catch it. We don’t want to run people off, but we realize that not everyone is at the same place we are. Like Jesus, we teach and cast vision and help others gain a sense of excitement about our calling. We invite them to watch and listen and be a part of what we are doing, but we don’t design our programming around them or change our vision to please them.

 

One of the traps of Christian leadership is trying to please everyone. When we do that, we lose a sense of ourselves and our calling and fail to please the only one whose opinion ultimately matters. Jesus’ eyes were continually set on his Father and his calling. That shaped what he did and it influenced who chose to follow. And he seemed to be OK with that.

Misc. Thought: The Girl Effect, a New Favorite Band, and the Ten Greatest Records

 

Here are a few random thoughts. I hope you enjoy, but mostly I hope they make you think ….

 

Check out this great video regarding a major problem with some very practical solutions. Also, check out the African Education Resource Center. A couple of our former students (Jenise Huffman and Jene’ Huffman-Gilreath) are on the Board of Directors of this organization that is taking steps to provide resources.

 

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I first heard Gungor at Catalyst last October in Atlanta. I’m usually not a big fan of most Christian bands, but love their style musically and the things they have to say. Here is a video of theirs that has been making the rounds: “God is not a white man”.

 

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Finally, in honor of this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships, here is a list of the “Ten Most Untouchable” high school track and field records.

Spiritual Jazz: Improvisation

 

There are many things that are attractive about jazz music as a metaphor of the Christian life. Both are built on discipline, commitment, community, and structure. And both should also be marked by a freedom that gives life and adds beauty and blessing to the world. There is a freedom that comes from a life lived in step with the Spirit. There is freedom to improvise and follow the call and leading of the God. I would encourage you to go back to posts from September 24, October 1, November 12, and February 4 to see where we have been.

 

My last post in this series talked about the place of syncopation in the Christian life. Syncopation is a shifting of the accent, usually by stressing the typically unaccented beats. It’s emphasizing the things that aren’t usually emphasized. Jesus’ life and teachings are great models of spiritual syncopation. He accented things that neither the secular nor religious cultures of his day emphasized.

 

Another characteristic of jazz that has great implications for the Christian life is improvisation. Here is what Robert Gelinas says about jazz improvisation:

 

“When jazz musicians take the stage, they are there, in part, to take the risk of composing in the moment – improvisation.

 

The word ‘improvisation’ derives from the Latin ‘im’ and ‘provisus’, meaning ‘not provided’ or ‘not foreseen’. Improvisation is the willingness to live within the bounds of the past and yet to search for the future at the same time. Improvisation is the desire to make something new out of something old. It is the craving to respect tradition while at the same time leaving one’s own mark. Improvisation is having a plan and yet not being incarcerated by the plan….

 

It is about being so familiar with one’s instrument of choice, the song, and the essentials that we can trust ourselves to search for the unseen – for what the moment is presenting. When we incorporate improvisation into our faith, freedom follows (for jazz is all about freedom!). Not freedom for freedom’s sake. Rather, freedom within and freedom that results from the good and right standards of our God. Improvisation will keep us from just copying others spiritually and set us free to play a little.”   Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove, p. 33-34

 

Improvisation is not possible without the discipline to learn one’s craft and to stay within the “rules” of music, harmony, etc. Improvisation takes those rules and that discipline and then sets them free to explore new territories and to express one’s individuality. One of my favorite examples of jazz improvisation is John Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things” played at the Newport Jazz Festival. Though I’m not much of a fan of the original song from The Sound of Music, Coltrane’s version is over seventeen minutes of exploration and individuality. He and his band take the melody, the theme, and follow it into new and wonderful places – always coming back to the foundation of the song.

 

Scripture is full of examples of spiritual improvisation. Jesus’ life is full of it. He was always open to the will of his Father and the leading of the Holy Spirit. You can see this in the “on the way” incidents in his life – those times when he was “on his way” and followed the Spirit to improvise into something unplanned. The Apostle Paul improvised in Acts 16 when he abandoned his plans to go to Asia and Bithynia and went to Macedonia on the Spirit’s leading.

 

What keeps us from practicing spiritual improvisation? Some of the more common reasons are:

 

A failure to listen f0r God or to look for the leading of the Spirit in our lives. Sometimes we don’t slow down enough listen for God. Some aren’t close enough to God to recognize his voice when he speaks through this Word or his Spirit or others. We often live as practical atheists, without much though given to God or what he might be saying as we go about our lives.

 

Fear can keep us from spiritual improvisation because, by definition, improvisation takes us out of the familiar and into new territories. Some of us prefer the safety of structure, of routine. Improvisation challenges routine. Improvisation takes risks. And many prefer the safety of routine over the excitement of walking on the edge with God.

 

Busy-ness is a mark that many in our society use to gauge our importance. In reality, it is the curse of our age. We live so rushed and harried that there is no margin for improvisation. If we divert from our planned agenda, we feel guilty. Though Jesus accomplished much during this ministry and launched a movement that changed history, he was never rushed or harried. He always had time to follow the leading of his Father and improvise in ways that brought his Father glory.

 

For many, our lives are all about ourselves, though we would never say it that way. But we have plans, agendas, and goals for ourselves, our families, our churches, our businesses – for everything in our life. And, if we were painfully honest, we find anything that disrupts those plans to be very aggravating – even if it is God! We have our lives in order, going the direction we want them. Improvisation would just get in the way.

 

Is your life marked by spiritual improvisation, by the freedom to follow the Holy Spirit to new and exciting places that are on God’s agenda? If so, please share an example where you followed the Spirit!

 

If this is not true of you, do you want that kind of life? What is getting in your way?

Spiritual Consumers

 

“Unfortunately, the consuming spirit of our age has taken possession of most Christians in North America, and as a result, they too find it difficult to imagine another way of life. They assume, along with virtually everyone else, that the primary purpose in life is to make choices that will satisfy their own interests and desires in every sphere allotted to them by the commercial institutions of society. Numbered among those spheres is religion. It thus seems natural to talk about our relationship with God as yet another lifestyle choice, another good or service for our enjoyment. Unless we are careful, ‘meeting needs’ simply becomes another way of saying, ‘satisfying the customer.’”

- Storm Front: The Good News of God, by James Brownson

 

 

What do you think …

 

How do you find consumerism sneaking in to your spiritual life?

 

Do you evaluate spiritual opportunities by what you receive rather than what you give?

 

As a Christian leader, where do you feel tempted to compromise your call and purpose to appeal to the desires of spiritual consumers?

 

As Christian leaders, how do we free people from the grip of spiritual consumerism and release them to the joy of true discipleship?

Interesting News from the World of Sports

 

Some odds and ends from the world of sports over the past few months.

 

The reason that we should all be fans of Wake Forest University’s baseball team: Their coach is donating a kidney to a freshman on their team.

 

Last week was the NCAA’s National Signing Day. Though most of the attention goes to football, who are really the best recruiters among college coaches? ESPN rates the Top 20 recruiters in college athletics. If you can’t access the ESPN site, here is the list on Texas A&M’s site (which may give you a clue to at least one name on the list).

 

For you track and field fans, here is one person’s list of the Top Eight Field Event Athletes of All Time.

 

With so many athletes forgetting what sportsmanship is all about, here is a great story about an act of sportsmanship by a high school is Ashland, OR.

 

I mentioned this post a few months ago, but it is so fascinating that I had to mention it again. Here is a great article on the highest paid athlete of all time. I bet no one has his poster on their wall!

Spiritual Jazz: Syncopation

 

A few weeks ago, I began a series of posts on jazz as a metaphor for the Christian life. Many think of the Christian life more as a marching band than a jazz ensemble. It is about marching together and staying in step and in line. It is structured and rigid. And though it can be beautiful and amazing, the lines are clearly drawn and everybody knows when you get out of step. It is about making music as a unit and in a way that typically doesn't emphasize the individual.

 

There is nothing wrong with those things. But when they are applied to the Christian life, it can become stifling. There is a freedom that comes from a life lived in step with the Spirit. There is discipline and there is structure, but there is also freedom to improvise and follow the call and leading of the God. Many are missing that. I would encourage you to go back to posts from September 24, October 1, and November 12 to see where we have been.

 

In his book, Finding the Groove, Robert Gelinas writes:

 

“Jazz swings. That is, it picks up momentum, presses forward, and searches for what is to come. Syncopation is the technique that creates that characteristic. Simply put, syncopation is accenting the offbeat…. You accent that which has always been there but hasn’t been heard. Syncopation is not limited to musicians; it just requires an eye and ear for that which goes unnoticed and unheard in life.”

Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove, p. 31-32

 

Syncopation is a shifting of the accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats. It’s emphasizing the things that aren’t usually emphasized. I think Jesus’ life and teachings are great models of spiritual syncopation. He accented things that neither the secular nor religious cultures of his day emphasized. His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a great example of this. Jesus shifted the accent – the emphasis and perspective – of both cultures.

 

* He did this with the religious culture by changing the accent from “You have heard that it was said …” t0 “But I tell you …” He changed the accent from public displays of religious acts to giving, praying, and fasting in secret.

 

* He did this with the secular culture by changing the accent from laying up treasures on earth to laying up treasures in heaven. He changed the accent from worry over food and clothing to trust in a Father who knows and cares.

 

Even Jesus’ actions were marked by syncopation. He noticed the unnoticed. He made time for those who were on the margins in society. Jesus would take time to listen to those others told to be quiet. When Jesus was on his way to other “appointments” (such as healing a dying child), he would make time to minister to those he met (a woman who touched him).

 

Spiritual syncopation accents the things that society and the religious “establishment” often overlook. It is in tune with the values of God and the leading of the Spirit more than the values of culture and the voice of the crowd. Though it is lived out “in the world”, it demonstrates a value system that is definitely – and obviously – not “of the world.”

 

Does your life emphasize and value the same things as our culture? Or do you accent and value the things that God values? Are you just going along with the religious flow, or are you accenting things that often go unnoticed in the structure and busy-ness of American church culture?

 

Spiritual syncopation – shifting the accent to the normally unaccented, noticing the unnoticed, valuing the things of God and not our secular or religious culture. It adds a dimension to our lives that makes them move to the rhythm of God.

Needed Environments For Growth

 

One of the highlights of the summer months are the Farmers’ Markets in Arkansas that sell some of my favorite things – sweet corn, tomatoes, and watermelon. The varieties that you can buy in the supermarket during the winter months just don’t measure up to the fresh home-grown produce you can get during the summer. Recently, I had a desire for some watermelon, so on January 16 I tossed a handful of seeds on the floor. As of today, there is still no sign of watermelon. Why? Because the carpeted floor isn’t the right environment for seeds to grow! For seeds to mature, certain “environments” have to be present.

 

It’s the same for spiritual growth. For us to mature spirituality, we have to put ourselves in environments that are conducive for growth and that provide the elements God uses to bring us to maturity. The longer I follow Jesus, the more I’m convinced that there are four:

 

God’s Word – The Bible is God’s primary tool to give us direction, wisdom, and correction. It is how God has chosen to reveal himself, his plan of reconciling the world to himself, and his will for our lives. (See Psalm 119.) We have to put ourselves in environments – corporately and personally – where we are studying God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word, and applying God’s Word to our lives.

 

Prayer – Prayer is a trait in the lives of all whom God has used greatly. Not the “out-of-habit” prayers that we say at meals or in religious services, but honest communication that is based on a relationship with our loving Father. We are called to “pray without ceasing”. (I Thessalonians 5:17) Prayer is to be the atmosphere in which we live.

 

Community – “Community” and “fellowship” are words that Christianity has cheapened to mean such things as eating together or taking part in some fun activity. The type of community that we need to grow is one that sharpens us and makes us better, that picks us up when we fall, that “spurs us on” to better things, and that defends us from the attacks of our enemy and our world. (See Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.) It involves relationships that are marked by devotion, openness, transparency, honesty, and accountability.

 

Mission – God has called us to join him on his mission to reconcile all things to himself and to bring all things under the leadership of Christ. One of the greatest traps of modern Christianity is our tendency to get wrapped up in prayer and Bible study and “community” and forget that we are to be a community on a mission of restoration and reconciliation. We have come to measure spiritual maturity by how much we know and how many Christian meetings we attend. But if we aren’t involved in God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation in our communities and in our world, we’ve missed the point of God’s call on our lives. (See II Corinthians 5:16-21.)

 

I believe that an absence of any of these environments in our lives will keep us from reaching maturity – being conformed to the image of Christ. A lack of God’s Word can lead to a subjective religion where we pick the “truths” that fit the life we choose to live. A lack of relational prayer can leave us with a “rational” belief system that doesn’t engage our hearts. A lack of community can leave us unaware of where we need to grow and people who know us well enough and care about us deeply enough to help us mature. A lack of mission can leave us self-absorbed and inwardly focused as individuals and bodies. I’m less concerned about the exact “methods” we use in these environments than I am making sure that each of them is present in our lives and in our Christian communities.

 

We each have different personalities and our lives have different rhythms. My way of studying the Bible and praying may look different than yours. The community that I am committed to will look different than your community. The places where I am involved in God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation will be different than the places where you are involved. Regardless of your preferred method, get yourself in the needed environments. Commit to studying and meditating on and obeying God’s Word. Make prayer as much a part of your life as the air your breath. Commit yourself to a community of godly people. Stretch yourself to be a vessel of restoration and reconciliation in the world you live.

 

When you do, God will produce fruit in your life that will be much sweeter than any found in a Farmer’s Market and that will last through eternity.

Trends on College Campuses

 

Below are some items share in the January edition of the Ivy Jungle Network Campus Ministry Update. This is a great resource. You can can subscribe by going to their website. Thank you, Evan Hunter, for putting it all together!

 

Students Don't Learn Much:  A new book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses(University of Chicago Press), raises an alarm that students show remarkably little learning in their first two years of college, and some virtually no difference in their critical thinking, analytic reasoning and other higher skills over the course of their college career.  According to the study, 45% of students did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning during their first two  years of college.  36% remained at the same level after four years.  Those who did learn, showed, on average, only modest gains after four years.  The authors blame the lack of rigor for the poor performance by students. Students who do learn report high expectations from courses (i.e. 40 or more pages of reading per week and more than 20 pages of writing over the course of the semester). The data shows most students study only 12-14 hours a week, and much of that time is in groups. Students spend 50% less time studying than their counterparts two decades ago. Students in fraternities and sororities show smaller gains in learning, while other extracurriculars (clubs, volunteer opportunities, etc.) show little impact on learning. The authors do not see federal mandates as the solution but challenge the culture of higher education which has moved away from academic rigor. (Inside Higher Ed January 18, 2011)

 

Addicted (almost) to Self Esteem: A new report shows that college students crave boosts to their self esteem more than any other pleasurable activity such as favorite foods, drinking, sex, seeing friends or a paycheck. The study shows that ego boosts – such as receiving a good grade or a compliment – trumped all other rewards in the minds of college students. The study also measured the difference between liking a pleasurable activity and "wanting" it. In addicts, "wanting" something actually surpasses the addict's level of "liking" it.  In this study, the results showed that college students "liked" all of the pleasurable activities mentioned more than they "wanted" them. However, self-esteem boosts were the activity "wanted' more than any other and whose margins moved closest to addictive patterns. Brad Bushman, lead author of the study, says college students aren't addicted to self-esteem, but they are closer to being addicted to self-esteem than any other pleasurable activity. Their concern lies not in the desire for high self esteem, but the extent to which students might go to obtain their ego boost. (Research News Ohio State University January 11, 2011)

 

Megathemes of 2010:  In December, Barna published its "megathemes" for the church in 2010. These are not written for college students in particular, but Christian students seem to mirror the broader church in many of these areas.

 

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

 

Each of these is not new to campus ministry – and offer unique challenges in how we spur students on to live lives worthy of the Gospel.  (Barna.org December 13, 2010)

 

Any thoughts on these?

Words That Give Direction

 

My last post talked about four words that summed up my 2010. Part of it dealt with blessings I experienced during the year. Though the purpose  was never to give an all-inclusive list of blessings, I should have been more careful. As soon as I posted it, I thought of those whom I should have mentioned. I mentioned my wife and daughters, but I should have included all of my family. My mom, my brother and his family, Gina’s family, my cousins and extended family – I can’t think of a finer group of people. When I hear about the drama that so many families endure, I appreciate all the more the blessing they are from God. He has also given me great friends who encourage and sharpen me – from old high school friends to those here in Arkansas to friends scattered around the country and the world.

 

A couple of years ago, I read a blog post by Chris Brogan. He wrote about a different way of setting direction for the new year. He wrote about thinking in terms of "words" that set the direction for the year rather than specific resolutions about what you are or are not going to do.

 

His ideas resonated with me. Over the past few years, I have been thinking more in term of a compass than a clock. A compass makes sure you are heading in the right direction (or at least in the direction you want to go). A clock measures where you are right now, without regard to the direction you are heading. The older I get, the more value I see in the compass. In fact, I have a few compasses sitting on desks and tables at home and in my office. In my mind, Brogan’s "words" idea is like a compass - setting the direction for the year.

 

So here are three words to help shape my 2011:

 

Purpose: I want to live my life purposefully and not just drift along. This applies to every part of my life. It includes living spiritually and physically disciplined so that every part of my life brings glory to God. It includes being purposeful in my relationships – with my wife, family, staff, students, and looking for ways to be a blessing to those with whom I interact. It includes being purposeful with my time and resources.

 

People: I want to live in such a way that relationships - and not programs, projects, or tasks – are my priority. I want to make room for more conversation and less administration. I want my life to be less about me and more about those whom God puts around me. I want to be more sensitive to the needs of others and not just my own.

 

Prayer: I want prayer to be a hallmark of my life. Prayer has always been something that is easier for me to talk about than to practice. I want to be more disciplined in it. I want it to be the atmosphere in which I walk.

 

I will have some more specific goals to fill these out. After all, I am a goal-setter by nature. But these are the major directions I would like my life to take during the next year, the themes I want to see developed.

 

What about you? If you were to choose words or themes to set the direction for your 2011, what would they be?

Before Moving Ahead, Take Time to Reflect

This is the time of year when people set New Year Resolutions. I have always been a "goal-setter", so making resolutions is almost a default mode for me. I will have some resolutions for 2011. But before I look ahead, I like to look back at the year just finished and see what themes may have developed. Looking back on 2010, these themes seem to sum up my year:

Blessing – It was a year of being blessed beyond what I deserve. That starts, of course, with God’s grace for a sinner like me. More and more I’m aware of my dependence on Him. It includes my family – from my beautiful, gracious, and patient wife to my wonderful daughters (and the men they married). It includes my ministry: Seeing God work in the lives of students from around the world and sharing that experience with a great staff, some incredible students, and prayer and financial partners - people and churches who share our vision of reaching students and influencing the world. It also includes what I do with track and field: From getting to head events in 2010 where World and American records were set to being selected for a couple of prestigious honors by USA Track and Field. On top of all of that, the response of friends and family to my birthday water project was overwhelming. Almost 70 people gave $5052 to help provide clean drinking water in a developing nation. In 2010, my cup definitely overflowed.

Responsibility – 2010 presented me with growing areas of opportunity and responsibility. I’m serving in leadership with local, state, and national organizations of various kinds. I’m excited about the purposes and potential these opportunities present, but they are responsibilities with which I have been entrusted and that I take seriously.

Communication – One of the big themes in my spiritual life this year was learning to listen more carefully to and walk more purposefully with the Holy Spirit. I have to be careful not to be so intent on my task of leading that I fail to listen and look to see where God is leading. But I also found that I didn’t do as good of a job as I should have in communicating in some of my areas of responsibility. There were times when I wasn’t on the same page as those working with me because I didn’t do a good enough job of casting vision and clarifying purpose.

Harried – Because of the blessings, opportunities, and responsibilities I have sometimes felt harried and scattered. As a result, I have often let urgent needs crowd out the important values of my life and ministry. I haven’t always been able to do things to the best of my ability because I have been trying to do too many things.

Those are the themes I see as I look back on my 2010. What about you? Looking back, what do you see as recurring themes of your past year? What things did God try to communicate to you?

Inventions, Vending Machines, and Christ’s Return

 

Here are some “interesting” odds-and-ends I discovered as I was cleaning out the bookmarks on my browser. I hope you find at least some of them interesting!

 

Christ’s return is set for May 21, 2011!

 

A sign of the above: We are running out of chocolate!

 

What the internet killed – some important things.

 

Coke, soda, or pop? It depends on where you live.

 

The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (so far).

 

10 Weird Vending Machines Foods