Building Leaders!

Ravi Zacharias was speaking to Prince Ra'ad from Iraq in Jordan some time in the past and asked him - "What is the greatest need in this part of the world?"  His response was:

"It's the same as any part of the world:Leadership and Youth. The world is desperately in need of leaders and the youth are desperately in need of watching good models of leadership. If we fail in those two areas, there is no great hope for the future of this world."

What are we looking forward to in our ministry with Cru?  Lots of things!  But one in particular - We build leaders.  We take students, by the leadership of the Father, the grace of Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and we turn students into Christ-centered laborers.  Leaders on their campuses, leaders in their churches, leaders in their homes, leaders in the workplaces.  Leaders who know and follow Jesus Christ.

Day in and day out we model biblical leadership to students on college campuses.  We equip them to be leaders themselves.  We encourage them.  We pray for them.  We give them confidence.  And then - we give them opportunity.  We challenge them to actually step up and lead.  Our campus ministries are student led, with our staff members leading and mentoring the student leaders.

On our summer mission trip to San Diego, Tiffany and I were discipled, we were invested in.  We were put on leadership teams.  I was on the campus movement team.  I was trained in how to lead.  I was prayed over.  I was mentored and discipled.  And then most importantly, I was challenged and given the opportunity to lead!  The staff and interns LEFT.  We were there only 4-6 weeks after arriving in San Diego to lead ourselves.  So as a student I was in charge (with 2-3 other students) of leading some others on our trip (20-25) to do outreaches at San Diego State University.  Each student was on some team and did the same thing.

I am excited to have the privilege of performing this critical role of raising up the next generation of leaders.  Transforming ordinary students into Christ-centered laborers and LEADERS.

2 Timothy 2:  1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

I want to love like THAT!

Love ain't easy.  Love is not an emotion.  It is a decision.  It is Action.  Usually the emotion goes with it, but not necessarily.  Real love is not a feeling, it's how you treat someone else.  It's selfless, it's kind, it's gentle, it doesn't accuse, it always trusts, etc.

Look at Stephen in Acts:
7:58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Seriously?  As they were stoning him to death he cried out, Father do not hold this sin against them!  So if someone raped your daughter, could you cry out - Father do not hold this sin against him?  Or as they robbed you at gun point, could you plead - Father do not hold this sin against them?  Or how about when they cut in front of you in the wal mart check out line, could you lift them up and ask - Father do not hold that sin against them?

THAT is love.  I can gaurantee Stephen probably didn't have bubbly emotions for these people, but he loved them with real love.  Godly love.

Laws, rules, punishment, death penalties, congress, none of this is the answer to crime or hate.  Only love can transform lives.  And the most powerful love is when it's undeserved.

Romans 5: 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called

Did you catch that: Saul (or Paul) was in that crowd that Stephen prayed for?  Was Stephen's prayer a contributing factor in the grace Paul received?  I can guarantee Paul probably NEVER forgot that prayer of Stephen's.  Real love transforms lives.  Yes, the road to Damascus is where Paul began following Christ, but this act of love had to of stuck with Paul for the rest of his life.  Ask yourself - if you were beating someone to death and they prayed this - would you ever forget that?  Hell, may be it's the reason God had mercy on Paul to begin with.  I don't know... but it's sure interesting.

I want to be able to love like THAT.  That is love.  The world does not know love.  We do not know how to love.  We don't even recognize it.
1 John 4: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

Apart from God, you cannot love.  You can mimic it, you can fool some people.  But apart from God you cannot love.  Because true love is like Stephen's love.  And I can promise you, that is only possible by the power of God through experiencing the love of Jesus Christ and being empowered to love like that by His Holy Spirit!

Why Doesn't God Stop Evil?

You may not get what you were expecting, and you'll hopefully be relieved:

I don't know why.  I don't understand, just like you.  Horrific acts like in CT leave me with questions too.  They don't make much sense to me either.  I don't have an answer.  But I do have a few hypotheticals that may give a little perspective.

I trust God.  Just like I trust Tiffany.  If you trust God your reaction to these types of events are different than if you don't trust God (or don't believe God exists).  No commentary on that, just stating a truth.  Same way my reaction is different to Tiffany's actions if I trust her vs. if I don't trust her.

So why didn't God stop Adam Lanza before the shooting happened?  Again, I don't know.  I do wish He had, just like you do.  But may I suggest:  Let's say God did stop Lanza.  For just a moment, imagine on the way to the school Lanza's car flipped and he was killed instantly in a single car accident.  Only thing is, you would have never known he was heading to murder innocent children.  I guarantee if this had been what happened, many would have cried out in anger - God, why did this innocent man driving his car have to die for no reason!

My hypothesis - Many reactions are not based solely on the event or reality of what happend, but on one's perspective on God.  If you don't trust Him then you blame Him for everything or for not doing anything.  It doesn't matter the situation, b/c your position is against God no matter the situation.

One more hypothetical.  When you want God to stop evil, do you know the full implication of your statement?  Of course shooting people is something we'd all agree we wish had not happened.  But middle school bullying leads many children to commit suicide.  So should God 'take out' a 12 year old boy before he bullies another child?

Where do you draw the line on what evil God should stop?  I don't know, but I trust He does.  It doesn't make me ok with the evil.  And it doesn't mean I think God is ok with the evil.  I just trust Him in all situations and cling to Him.  Where else are you going to turn?

Who are Laborers in the Harvest?

I love this verse in Luke:

Luke 10: 2  And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

First, who are the laborers?  They are few.  Why?

'The Laborers' is not synonymous to 'full-time missionaries'.  As followers of Christ we should all be laborers in the harvest.  The harvest is men, women, children, neighbors, co-workers who are all in need of a relationship with Jesus.  There's no small harvest either, it's plentiful.  There are many people who not only need Jesus, but many that the Lord is preparing to hear the gospel and respond!

The harvest is the Lord's.  But He uses laborers.  We have the awesome privilege of being used in the process of reconciling people to their heavenly Father.  God has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).  He has entrusted the most critical message ever to us.  I don't think I would have done that, but luckily I'm not God.  What a responsibility.  But what a privilege.

Why are the laborers few?  Because it's hard.  And for various reasons.  Fear of rejection, fear of looking like a fanatic religious person, we might offend someone, don't have enough time.  I know all of these reasons affect me.  How about you?  But we should pray earnestly that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into the harvest.  Everyday people, building relationships with those around them and also intentionally sharing the ministry entrusted to us - reconciliation with our Creator.

How MPD reaches people for Christ

I love to make connections with culture.  I get really excited when they jump out at me.  Truth is all around us and I love to affirm it wherever I find it.  One recent connection that jumped out at me was from the movie Argo.  Here's a little trailer in case you are not familiar with it.  It was a fantastic movie by the way.

Basic gist of the movie: A CIA agent comes up with a plan to rescue hostages in an enemy country.  His plan involves staging a fake movie as a cover.

There was seriously so many parallels to faith in this movie.  I wish I had time to break them all down.  I mean, this guy is risking his life to bring 6 people home.  And the one who is most skeptical is the one who ends up being the key person who gets them home.  If that doesn't peak your interest, I don't know what will.

Ok, on with my main connection.

One scene in particular grabbed my attention.  It was the scene in which images of a huge press spectacle for the fake movie was juxtaposed with images of war in the country in which the hostages were being held.  As the scene progressed I found myself wondering what the whole point was.  Here these people are drinking, laughing, schmoozing big Hollywood all the while people are being shot and hung.  A huge sense of injustice welled up inside of me.  I thought there must have been an easier way to rescue these people.  As the rest of the movie played out, I slowly came to realize the purpose of the time and care in which Ben Affleck's character takes to make the movie a plausible cover. 

He has to find people in the industry who are willing, able and have the resources to help him.  After Affleck enlists John Goodman's character to join his team they then make their appeal to Alan Arkin's character for his help as the screenwriter.  They go to great length to set up an office, get business cards, choose a screenplay, hire actors, get artwork, and press attention to make this plan plausible.  The scene in which I referenced earlier was the culmination of all their work.  And it was juxtaposed perfectly with a reminder of the need for all their hard work.  Because, without all that care and attention taken to make the story plausible, the plan would have never worked.  Something that seemed so pointless, was the crux of the whole plan.  It was the whole reason Affleck had any success in rescuing the hostages.

All of this came to a head when I saw how much this paralleled with our stage of life right now.  Ministry Partner Development (MPD) is not for the faint of heart.  It takes great care and time to cultivate a sending team.  But without them, we could not go.  It just would not be possible to have the opportunity to reach the nearly 4 million college students for Christ without our partners!  And sometimes, I find myself wishing we could just go now.  We are ready to jump into our new roles in Southern California.  Sometimes I find myself wondering how MPD will really reach people for Christ.  But then I remember that it's the center of how we reach people for Christ.  Together, as the body, we are enabled to share the Gospel with college students.

And then the last scene was a perfect picture of the joy that we pray our team shares with us.  Affleck's Hollywood team finds out that the plan worked.  They saw the fruit of their service.  The hostages came home safe.  They celebrated just as much or more than the CIA agents, and even the hostages themselves.  Even though no one could know of their role, they knew the huge part they played in the rescue mission.

        

Why SoCal? One Reason Among Many...

You knock on an unfamiliar door, you walk into an unfamiliar office, you drive to an unfamiliar place.  Then you introduce yourself and sit down in front of an unfamiliar face.  Such is the life of support raising.

I never know what the Father's purpose is for a particular appointment going into it.  Sometimes I know when I leave, at least partially, and sometimes I do not.  It may be for financial support; it may be for the Father to use me in encouraging the other person or their encouragement for me; or many other possibilities.  Most of the time a combination of several things.

I met with a gentleman in Raleigh, Steve, whom I did not know until this past Thursday.  A friend gave me his name and an introduction.  We spoke on the phone and then I walked in and sat down in his office.  And then the Father opened my eyes to see part of the reason for this appointment.

Turns out Steve is originally from Pasadena; about an hour from where we'll be moving.  He spent his first 25 years there, went to college there, attended church, came to know Jesus there.  Steve was part of our preparation for moving to California.  He explained to me some of the differences between there and here; he shared with me expected challenges we will face; he painted a picture of the average state of mind in the particular area we will be moving to.

And as he talked, my excitement grew.  I was saddened by the state of the hearts of the people he described.  But I was encouraged in knowing more about why the Father has led us to move to this area. Steve talked about materialism, which is a problem in all of America.  He talked about superficial conversations, again not a specific problem to southern California.  He shared the general monetary state of the families in the area.

All of these challenges and difficulties can be found in any town in America.  But to differing degrees.  And as Steve painted the picture of southern California, I saw the need.  And the Lord has invited us to be a part of meeting that need through the Gospel.  Steve said to me, "if you want to get someone to open up and to engage the real issues in someone's heart in the geographic area you're moving, ask them how they're doing... financially."  Bingo - my passion, personal finances.  

Really?  So to engage beyond the superficial, surface level conversation in this particular area of the country my best 'in' is to engage in a discussion about personal finances?  Wow.  God is good isn't He? This would not be the most effective route in all cultures or areas of the country.  But the majority of the time it will be in our new home.  

God showed me one more reason, on top of many others, He is leading us to move across the country.  He loves us enough to give these glimpses.  And to do it through people we never knew until now.  

I often walk into an appointment with a stranger.  But I always walk out with a new friend, a new brother or sister in Christ, and a bigger picture of my heavenly Father.

Thank you Lord.