CAMPUS LAUNCH PAD

If I’ve got to be honest, I think my love language is numbers. Seriously. When more people show up at our events - I feel loved. I mean, numbers have to be important, right? God named a book of the Bible Numbers! But nothing can suck our souls dry or set our souls afire like numbers. When we run out of chairs and people are standing in the back we go home and have trouble sleeping we’re so excited! When we only have half the people show up who we thought would come we go home and have trouble sleeping we’re so depressed. The numbers game. Ever been asked: “How big is your ministry?” This question has a way of exposing the sin in our hearts quicker than any other. When we walk into a room and we think we’re one of the larger ministries we fight pride. When we walk into a room and we think we’re one of the smaller ministries we fight insecurity and self-doubt. Have you been there? Always looking at how many are there. Feeling like you’ve arrived because you can gather ...

Fish. Thirteenth –graders. Newbies. Freshmen have many names.  Our campus sometimes calls them baby ducks (don’t ask, you don’t want to know). Freshmen ministry is one of the most time consuming and rewarding things in college ministry.  For many, it’s the first time they begin to own their faith. For some, it’s the first time they are exposed to discipleship and evangelism.  For those of us in collegiate ministry we see the pros of freshmen getting plugged into a ministry and growing in their faith, but we also see the dark side of freshman year  as vast numbers of church attending freshmen disappear from the faith after they hit campus.  Within the first 4-8 weeks incoming freshmen have set their pattern and their peer group, and many times Jesus and discipleship aren’t in the picture.  We have a saying here, “Catch them in four or chase them for four.”  It’s the rally cry the first month of school.  We have four weeks to help them discover a...

I remember the moment my paradigm shifted. I had turned over the leadership to one of our lunch outreaches to our interns.  I told them, “find a way to make this better.”  They did. I sat and watched how students responded to them and how within a semester more students were coming than ever before.  Then it hit me: I’d been training them to do their role in my ministry and not training them to be effective ministers. The bottle neck wasn’t them and their ability; it was me and my lack of vision. If we are going to reach the world for Christ and have an impact on not just our campus, but every campus, we have to raise up men and women and give them the opportunity to be better than us.  It reminds me of the life of Barnabas in the New Testament. Barnabas was a man who never wrote a single page of the New Testament, but his fingerprints are all over it.  He was a man who humbly knelt at the cross so others could stand on his shoulders to see Jesus better. ...

This isn't rocket science, but it seems like we are always striving to build community.  How do we get these strangers to come together and love each other and get along. With the constant influx of new people its hard to build a culture of family and community. Mike Breen writes about this and uses the the Greek word "oikos" or household. Here are 5 things he says that a household does togther. PLAY TOGETHER Have fun together.  Go to the movies.  Have some hangout time. If it's all business all the time then you won't have each other's backs because it's just a "working relationship" PRAY TOGETHER When you pray together you begin to hear each other's hearts before God and it binds you closer.  Besides, it's harder to have discord with someone after you pray alongside of them and for them. EAT TOGETHER There is something about food that brings people together.  You notice that Jesus eats with his disciples alot?  Break bread...

I remember the first time I tried to share the gospel like it was yesterday.  I had recently become a follower of Jesus and I knew, almost instantly, who I was supposed to share with - someone I’ve known most of my life.  With a lump in my throat, I stuttered and stammered my way through my testimony, the gospel, and asked for a response.  That person looked at me and calmly said, “Get the [explicitive] out of here.  I don’t want your Jesus drug!”  I was a little shaken to say the least! Have you had that kind of response before? We’ve all seen people hear and respond to the gospel, but we’ve also seen many who hear and for whatever reason, choose to reject it.  Are there things we can do to create an environment in order for people to hear and receive the gospel? We’ve noticed on our campus that there are three things that we can do in order to help people come to Christ. SHARE THE RIGHT MESSAGE This is going to sound over-simplistic, but we have go...

Have you ever thought about how similar Jesus’ situation was to the average college minister?  Think about it.  Jesus walked into his ministry knowing he only had about three years with his disciples. We’ve got five, maybe.  He knew that after three years they would be separated from them and so he had to begin knowing his exit strategy and what they needed to know before he left.  Not only that, but Jesus’ disciples didn't come to him as blank slates.  Many of them had emotional, ideological, and theological baggage that had to be stripped away before Jesus could begin to build a sturdy foundation. His disciples came with strengths and passions that needed to be channeled so they could be used for the Kingdom. This is our story! This is college ministry, folks!  This is what we do!  We have a limited time, unlimited potential and immeasurable sending capacity!  I’m struck by Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17.  It’s similar to us as ...

It’s that moment when you sit with your students and look into their eyes and they are done. And I mean done. They’ve pushed through the first of the semester rush. They’ve engaged their campuses with the gospel and they are spent. Like Paul, they would say, “I’ve been poured out as a drink offering.” It’s nearing the end of the semester and they are spent emotionally, physically, and academically. Maybe, if we are honest, we are there too. The underlying question we even whisper in our souls is, “if I kick this thing into neutral is there enough to get me to the end of the semester?” Have you been there? Does this sound familiar? The semester or quarter just seems to be longer than your stamina. So on the midst of being empty and being tired, what does it look like to finish the semester well and help your students stay strong?. REJOICE IN WHAT GOD HAS DONE Chances are, God has done some great things for you, your students, and your ministry this year! The psalmist writes i...