I’m sitting at my favorite coffee shop with Trent – 21 year old guy I introduced last week.  We’ve been talking about life, been good.  

Then, we saw a gentleman get out of his 4WD 2500 Ram Tough truck wearing a tie-dye Star Wars T-shirt with an epic Jedi battle scene on the front.  Unfortunately the glare off the door prevents you from seeing it, but OBI-WAN looked fierce.

So, I checked google and came across some others you might be interested in purchasing yourself.

It’s funny to think about the sub-culture of Star Wars or Star Trek…things of this sort.  When you see people wearing things like this, don’t you put them in some sort of category in your mind?  Maybe it’s a category you identify with, or maybe it’s a category you would title “weird,” possibly it’s a category you just don’t understand…or wait, maybe, it’s a category you don’t want anything to do with because you don’t understand…?

I wonder what people think when they see us get out of our car with a clearly Christian t-shirt…

Got back home late last night – around 10:30pm.  It was a long day of traveling.  Today I’ve met with three people from my church – all great guys.  Feels good to be back home in Portland.  I love traveling, but there’s no place like home (cliche, I know).  Nevertheless it’s the truth.

One of the best things about traveling so much is that I can step back and look at ministry from a distance.  So often you get so close to things that you lose site of what you’re leading…know what I mean?  Taking these steps back and looking at the “bigger picture” really helps me stay focused on where we’re heading in our ministry.

Sunday night I had dinner with about 10 youth workers at the camp that wanted to talk about college ministry and preparing kids for their college-age years.  It was a great time.  The thing I loved about it was we talked big picture and developing a ministry structure that helps college-age people.  I tend to think bigger picture anyway, but stepping back this weekend once again clarified some things for me for my ministry here in Portland:

1. God has given us more insight into ministry philosophy than we often realize.  If we can just tune into those more and develop infrastructures that facilitate that effectively in our context we’d be far better off.  I’ll probably write more on this – in blogs or articles.
2. College-age people are vital for any church…and the Church is vital for them.  So many youth pastors give up on college ministry simply because they don’t understand how it works or what it’s role is within the church.  Pastors don’t concentrate on college-age people because there are typically higher priorities at any given time.  Stepping back this weekend completely re-affirmed how this works in our church…or, how it fits in the big picture of what we’re doing.  I will be covering some of this topic more in a couple weeks at the National Youth Ministry Conference and also at the CollegeLeader regional training days.
3. If we’re not careful in our ministries we can VERY easily do things that actually undermine what we say we want to accomplish – without even realizing it.  Stepping back and thinking more deeply is the only way we’d see it.  This often comes from experience.  We know in our head that things ought to be a certain way, but without realizing it we can too easily implement things the ways we’ve always seen it done – simply because that’s all we know.  Again, I’ll write more about some of these things.
4. What we’re doing in our church is extremely unique.  Sitting with pastors as often as I do it constantly reminds me that what we’re doing is very different than “traditional” approaches.  Much of this is tied into #3 above, but I’m trying really hard to create a culture that is truly focused on the right things.  Not that traditional approaches are necessarily wrong.  I’m just trying to avoid some of the same problems that these approaches have created.  However, I’m also aware that even if we do avoid some of these issues…we’re just creating different problems.  I have no idea what those are (yet), but we’ll see.

Ok, I know that’s probably really ambiguous, but maybe it gets your mind going a little.  Or, maybe, it would push you to take some time away and take a fresh look at what you’re doing in your ministry.  Either way I’ll likely elaborate on these things again sooner than later….

I’ve had a great day meeting with youth pastors.  Talked with some great guys today.  That’s one part of being in so many places that’s fun.  Last night was “decision night” here at Hume.  I always have mixed feelings when it comes to decision nights.  

I think it’s good to have this time at camp.  I like the fact that there’s a point where students have to actually make a decision.  But, I’m always a little cautious.

The truth is in years past I’ve been more concerned about having kids “accept the Lord” or “get saved” than I was about clearly articulating the gospel.  I’ve realized, and I told counselors this last night, that my role is simple: to articulate the gospel message.  It’s not my job to get kids to respond, and it’s certainly not my role to drag things on to the point of getting kids to make emotionally charged decisions.  My job is to proclaim the truth…that’s it.

I told all the counselors that if nobody stays behind when I’m done, but I did my job at clearly laying out the gospel message then I can lay my head on my pillow with a clear conscience.  That’s all I’m concerned about.

I’m thankful to the Lord for working through last night – kids did stay behind.  But I guess I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not the end, but rather it’s possible that God uses me as a means to bring forth His truth.  It’s freeing to know that it’s not up to me.  

Like every other talk I’ve given there’s always something you’d like to change, but I laid my head down last night with a clear conscience.  For that, I’m thankful.

Tonight I’m speaking on standing firm on Scripture and hearing God’s voice in midst of the noise of the world.  What does that look like?  How can we tell it’s God?  Should be fun.

Yesterday was a travel day.  I left home at 6am, flew down through SF to Fresno, then drove up to Hume Lake Christian Camp.  I’m teaching at a high school camp here.  I LOVE this place!  I can’t say enough about it. They have great hearts and truthfully nobody does camp better. It’s a pleasure and honor to speak here.  Oh, and they always seem to have the greatest themes for camps – “Hey Rube” is the them this summer.  It’s a clown/mime theme but designed to walk through what it means to be salt and light.  Should be fun, I’ll be up here doing a week this summer.

This winter the theme is “Decision ’09″ – a politically charged theme designed to bring kids to decide what it they are going to live for.  The theme verse is 1Kings 18:21 where Elijah asks the people, “How long will you limp between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”  

This is great.  There are too many kids in the church today that are wavering in life between two opinions.  Because they are (as I talked about last night) going back and forth they can’t stand firm in either – they limp in both.  The call this weekend is to decide what they’re going to live for.  If it’s for Baal, then do it.  If it’s for the LORD, then do it.  We all have to decide at some point…so why not right now…?  Fun theme.

Tonight is the gospel message.  I’m praying that I would be clear in articulating it and making sure they know what they are deciding on.  I don’t unfortunately have a camera with me, so no pics.  But I might have some people email them to me so I can post them this week.

The last two days I’ve met with almost a dozen different pastors/leaders in the Portland area to discuss approaches to higher education.  As a church we are going to be an extension campus for Eternity Bible College.  6 years ago, while I was on staff at Cornerstone a few of us were discussing our dream of starting a Bible college.  We ended up starting the college and it’s now completing its 5th year of education.  We had a few distinct reasons why we wanted to begin a new college:

1. Disconnection from local church.  All too often Christian college students go away to school and lose connection with the life and ministry of a local church.  We raise them in the church, but if someone desires a Christian education they have to leave and go away to a Christian college.  This is not a bad thing in itself, but it isn’t without some issues.  Essentially the college campus develops a system where they fulfill the role of the church: campus pastors, chapels, discipleship structures, mission trips, etc.  In some ways this is good because many local churches are still not ministering effectively to college-age people.  However, the separation from a local church during college is not healthy – no matter how you look at it.  Connection with a local church is vital for an individual to actually apply what they are learning – in their personal life as well as in ministry.  So, at the foundation of EBC, it’s connected to local churches in many different ways.  For example, EVERY student is required to serve in a local church 4-8 hrs a week.  Another thing that is unique is that the classes are taught by local pastors.  There is much more to it, but the gist is EBC is uniquely connected with local churches and intentionally makes sure students stay connected as well.
2. Indebtedness.   Far too many students desire a biblical education but end up accruing way too much debt to do so – especially those that desire to go into ministry or overseas missions.  This is a great disservice.  The reality is the university system (as a whole) has become a business and it’s costing the Church probably more than we realize.  At EBC you can complete your entire 4-year bachelor degree for about $13,000!  That’s about the same as one year at a typical Christian college.  This allows students to graduate with little if any debt.
3. Christian Bubble.  The reality is that many Christian colleges become a bubble.  And frankly many students get weird – some might even say “dis-functional.”  They are being filled with a bunch of head knowledge that can really cause a sense of arrogance.  Of course there are those that stay grounded, but I’ve found these are usually those that stay connected to local churches in some way – or are mentored by someone who is.   EBC requires certain classes to be taken at a secular university to keep Christian students engaged in the culture.  They sit through psychology, philosophy, social science, etc classes with people from completely different worldviews.  This is crucial and helps avoiding the bubble factor.  The truth is, in the Christian world, we are really good at building up straw man arguments about other worldviews and beliefs and then tearing them down.  Or, we just ignore other schools of thought all together.  Both can be damaging to students.  So, rather than exposing our students to other ways of thinking and then walking them through it, we ignore it all together or tear it down unfairly.  EBC also doesn’t have dorms, keeping the students living in the city in which they are going to school.

There is much more to the school and uniqueness (of course), but those are a few key aspects.  It has the academic rigor, but keeps students connected to the local church, does everything it can to keep them debt free, and forces them to stay engaged in culture while they’re being educated.

At EBC we’ve also defined “educated” differently.  I recently wrote an article on this for Journal of Student Ministries called, “Educated or Indoctrinated?.”  It’s designed for us to ask ourselves questions regarding how we define education.  The bottom line is at EBC, as Joshua Walker (President) so distinctly said today, “We are not trying to impart knowledge (information) to our students, but wisdom.”  He talks about wisdom being knowledge applied in life.  I like that.  In the article above I talk about how we too often define educated as someone who can regurgitate information – but this is not education, this is indoctrination.  There’s a big difference!

Anyway, much more on this subject to come.  But, I’m excited to have EBC as a part of my church here.  With my heart for college-age people, this is going to be a vital part of our church…

Oh, I forgot to mention…classes can be audited at NO COST.  Fun stuff to be a part of, for sure.

I’m sitting at Peet’s coffee with my friend Trent (nice pic, huh?).  He’s a college-age guy (reading this as I write by the way) who moved with me to help plant our church.  Oh, he says to add, “…and is the coolest guy ever!”  Truthfully Trent is pretty cool.  And no, I’m not just writing that because he’s reading this right now.  We’ve been hanging out, playing with and laughing at kids through the window, and talking about life.

Well, we’ve been talking about life…and death.  Discussing how living in light of death and when we do that it helps us see what’s really meaningful.  We were actually coming up with questions for our community groups to discuss this week.  Fun.

Earlier today I heard a quote (Trent hasn’t heard this yet, but is reading it as I write – and laughing right now) that I want to share.  It’s about a missionary who after a few years went back to the people he originally shared the gospel with and helped plant a church.  He went back and asked them how they were doing.  They said, “Well, when you came we were hungry and you brought us bread.  Now, we seem to be choking on the packaging.”

I think this is perfect when it comes to college-age people.  ALL WE NEED IS THE BREAD.  College-age people just choke on the packaging.  Just bring the bread.  Don’t worry about how it’s packaged.

I met with a girl in our church this morning.  She’s great!  Spiritually solid and really wants to serve.  She’s thinking about going overseas for a while and wanted to “bounce” it off me.  She was thinking through it, but had a couple questions that – I think – can be very common for college-age people thinking about this to ask.

Her first question had to do with motivation.  She said she really wanted to go out of a love for the people, not out of a sense of adventure.  That was good to hear  and I think it shows her “solidness.”  She recognizes that people her age often get restless at times whenever they have a lack of direction, often jumping overseas to just do something.  Going overseas in Christian culture is a sexy thing.  She didn’t want to have motivate her.  She’s working a great job, but that’s not enough for her – which I also like.  She’s not settling for comfort and identity in a career.

Secondly, and this one really impressed me, she didn’t want to leave if it hindered our ministry here at all.  The reality is having someone like this leave for two to three years would be a hit.  Any church would love having solid college-age people like her.  But that doesn’t mean God isn’t calling her out somewhere else.  My job is to help guide her toward His will in this.

So I asked her a few basic questions that I think helped her think through this:

1. Do you think you’ll ever have pure motivations in anything you do?  She said she didn’t think so.  We then talked about the importance of being able to recognize the impure motivations, but if she was going to wait until she didn’t have ANY she’d never go anywhere or do anything.  It’s not whether or not we have impure motivations, its whether or not we can recognize the ones we do have and then keep them in check.  If a person can’t recognize the impurities in their decisions…that’s when I get concerned, especially with college-age people.
2. Do you think you’re being faithful here, today?  The truth is we can always do more, but she is being faithful.  She lives in close community with others, she works hard, serves others, is growing in her faith – takings steps as well, and is open for whatever God wants to do.  Often college-age people think if they leave they will be faithful – or in other words they NEED to leave in order to be faithful.  This is dangerous.  If they’re not being faithful here first, there’s deeper discipleship issues we need to tackle before they leave!
3. Are there any circumstances here that aren’t working out the way you would like?  The reality is too many college-age people have tweaked theology when it comes to this.  Often people feel like if everything isn’t going just right it must mean that God wants to move them somewhere else.  Imagine Christ saying this in the garden before he went to the cross?  The counsel of circumstances is powerful…and dangerous.  College-age people often run from problems by spiritualizing why they’re leaving.  Digging into this area is vital!  Thankfully, in this situation, there’s nothing she’s running from or hoping to run to by leaving.
4. Would you be up for allowing me to help you find a place to go?  Having her respond positively to this was BIG.  If a person is really wanting to hear God’s voice submission in this area with their spiritual leader(s) will be there.  As her pastor I want to make sure she’s cared for.  I’ve had many students leave and go places that did not care for their spiritual lives.  Instead they got used.  This is why many college-age people want to go, but without strong and caring pastoral care there on the ground they can and will die spiritually.  Unfortunately I know this all too well.  I still have people in places they should’ve never gone.  Her willingness to submit to me in this again shows health on her end.  I really do want to make sure she’s cared for and I will do everything in my power to make sure she’s in a place where she can serve and give herself tirelessly, but also be in a place where she will be nurtured by a spiritual leader.

We have another city of our CollegeLeader regional training tour set up now.  Pittsburgh, PA will be on Friday July 17th at Robert Morris University.  There will be two seminars and lunch served in between.  For more topic and registration info click here.  We also have a tentative date for Atlanta, GA – April 28th (exact location TBD).

This little boy must be mimicking my preaching and the flow of our service.  I particularly enjoy him sitting down in his seat in the middle of preaching and then requesting a song.  Then, later, he requests people to clap.  He must have been in our service this past weekend…

There’s an article I came across in USAToday called, “Credit cards go after college students.”  This article describes how credit card companies are getting much more intentional about targeting college students.  

This is no real surprise.  I think college students have always been a target.  The new found freedoms they have alongside the lack of financial discipline makes them a great target.  According to this article 76% of college students have been directly marketed to with free give-aways.  These range from free t-shirts, to pizza dinners and even iPod’s.  Anything to get their attention and money.

Some companies have even partnered with Alumni groups and on campus organizations.  Banks view it as a long term deal, hoping they will get those student’s business down the road if/when they purchase a home.

Regardless, many students are falling victim to their own lack of responsibility and discipline when it comes to money.  If you haven’t taught on finances with your college students yet you must do that!  This is a major issue, and one that can greatly hinder future ministry for them!

Two things.  I recently wrote an article that gave some thoughts on the subject of finances.  You can read that here. Secondly, if you’d like a general handout (that can serve as a template) walking someone through developing a personal budget, you can find that here.  We have to walk our college-age friends through this subject.  If they develop the discipline now, it can save a lot of heartache and truly be a part of furthering the gospel…