Just came across this video. Thoughts?

A common stigma for college-age people is that they’re “flakey.” I wanted to throw out a few quick thought’s on this:

(1) It’s true in some cases, but not all. In fact, over the years I’ve ran into more college age people that wouldn’t be characterized as flakey than those who are.

(2) I’ve found that they’re only flakey in things they don’t find valuable. So, if they’re flakey in our ministry we ought to be asking why they don’t find it valuable.

(3) If they are flakey, we shouldn’t be surprised. Inconsistency of life and thought is the reason college age people are considered to be late-adolescents (from a sociological perspective).

(4) If we get excited about the teachable moments of this rather than frustrated with inconsistency we can have very meaningful and great disciple-shaping conversations.

(5) Patience and a willingness to pay the price of time is what we need.

On Saturday we put on a free clinic for under-insured people. There were over 1000 people that showed up. Appointments started at 8am, but the line began way before that! When we opened the doors, the energy was amazing! So fun to be able to bring a hot cup of coffee to these people and just hear why they came. We had to completely transform a high school to make everything happen (picture of one of 3 dental rooms below), but by doing so we were able to offer:

• Medical examinations (including X-rays and free prescriptions)
• Dental Work (cleaning, extractions, fillings – also included X-rays)
• Vision Testing (including free eye glasses to anyone in need)
• Podiatry (foot care)
• Immunizations (gave out over 600 shots)
• Lunch (hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey sandwiches, pizza)

It really was amazing. Our social service fair and all-day childcare proved to be a huge success too. But it wasn’t just about the one day event. We followed up with every person at the clinic to take careful note of any of their ongoing needs. We met their urgent needs (Titus 3:14), but we knew there was much more. So, we took all of those needs and placed them on a brand new website we developed for this type of thing. Now there is a way for Christians to follow up and make more sustainable relational connections with the people that showed up to get served. If you want to check out this site, it’s: www.iampeople.org. We are in the very beginning stages of this and plan on continuing to develop the functionality and breadth of what we can do through this site. But you might want to consider using it for your community as well….it’s also free to use.

Continuing our series this week on lessons from Titus, today will be about verses 1:10-16. If you haven’t read yesterday’s blog, it was on leadership and you can read that here. Paul ends 1:9 with the idea that the leader must protect truth – both intellectually as well as in the lives of people that claim to know the truth – they are to make sure those who believe are actually living like they do. And this is where we pick up in verse 10. Here are two quick points in light of this passage:

1. Deceived people deceive people. In contrast to the elder who exemplifies the characteristics of the gospel, there are those who are insubordinate to the truth, empty talkers and deceivers (v. 10). He specifically mentions the Jewish people. They have been negatively influenced by their culture and the thoughts of their own religious traditions (v. 14) – and have therefore been deceived. Because they are deceived, they end up deceiving others (see verse 11 where they are upsetting whole families) and talking about ultimately empty things. How are you protecting yourself and those under your leadership from this snowball of deception?
2. Culture impacts more than we realize. The tricky part of deception is that it denies it’s own existence – just like pride does. Deceived people don’t know they’re deceived because, well, they’re deceived. Deception led these people to say they believed in God, but in their very actions they denied that belief (v. 16). But that doesn’t mean they saw this contradiction. In fact they likely did not (see Matthew 23 where Jesus calls the leaders “blind”). And in many of the same ways our culture has blinded us. One example could be the issue of independence. As an American we are taught to look out for our own best interest, but we just need to understand that this is in direct opposition to the gospel. Our cultures says that if we don’t look out for ourselves then nobody will look out for us. This feeds a self serving mindset that leads us rapidly toward a consumer mentality. This affects our connection in churches or relationships, and even toward the gospel message itself. Many have even accepted the “gospel” solely based on what they get out of it. However, compared with passages like 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 we see that this cultural influence can easily cause us to fall into the same trap of having our lives violate what we proclaim with our mouth. What ways has our cultural value system negatively affected your perspective of truth? (overcoming these begins with honestly recognizing them!)

I’ve been teaching through the book of Titus at Colossae. As a church we are learning a ton so I thought I’d share a few things we’ve been looking at and learning here this week. Today will be more of a personal reflection for you as a leader. Titus 1:5-9 lists out qualities/characteristics of leaders. These are requirements for elders, but are also something that every person (and especially leaders) ought to aspire to. Here are a few thoughts for you to consider regarding this passage:

1. This is a list describing who the leader ought to be, not how a leader ought to lead. This is a very important distinction – and probably convicting for many of us. We often focus more on what we’re doing than we do on who we’re becoming. When we do this we prioritize wrongly. How have you gotten off-track on this lately?
2. This is a list describing the qualities that exemplify the truth of the gospel. In 1:1 Paul talks about how a knowledge of truth “accords” or “leads to” godliness. This simply means that the truth of the gospel, when embraced, is lived out in our lives. We can say what we want, but our lives will prove what we really embrace as truth (see 1:16 for a negative example of this point). As the gospel was going forth at this time there was a need for leaders who exemplified the qualities of the gospel. Leaders will either further the mission and truth of Jesus or they will profane and shame the name of Jesus. If we lose site of our priority of being who we ought to be we are in danger of doing the latter. Are you exemplifying the qualities of the gospel?
3. This is a list describing a higher standard for leaders. The first thing Paul lists off is that the leader must be “above reproach.” This simply means that leaders are to live in such a way that there could be NO legitimate accusation brought up against them that would negatively reflect on Christ. What in your life might someone look at as a contradiction to Jesus and the truth of the gospel?
4. This is a list that ends with an important aspect of a leaders job description. The last requirement for the elder is to be able to give instruction in sound doctrine (the truth of God and Jesus). This isn’t limited to teaching from the pulpit however. It gets personal. He ends this with the phrase, “and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” This simply says that the elder must lovingly confront believers who are living in a way that contradicts the truth of the gospel. And they do this ought of a knowledge of truth. Or, in other words, they instruct people based on the scriptures and help them see how their life might be contradicting the truth. A key point in the book of Titus is that our lives ought to match the beliefs we proclaim with our mouth. Are you constantly growing in your knowledge of truth so that you can protect the gospel message – not just intellectually, but through the way the people you lead are living?

This week is a bit of a whirlwind already. I was just in San Diego for the Youth Specialties conference. YS has gone through some major changes recently so I was curious to see what this conference was like. I must say, this conference went very well. A good buzz there, the people really seemed to like it, and I heard a lot of great things from people I respect. That was nice.

Tomorrow I now take a two-city trip. I’ll be in Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference and then I’ll be in D.C. for a CollegeLeader Regional. I’m looking forward to this week of ministry. If you’re attending the Catalyst Conference and want to connect let me know. I don’t have a ton of time, but I do have some available. And, if you’re in the DC area and want to get some more training and connection with other college ministry leaders, registration is still open. These regionals are great times, I love them. They are more intimate settings that allow us to dive deep into ministry issues….fun stuff. For more on that, click here.

I’ll try to blog throughout the week, but no promises. If you’d like to keep up with the week the best way is to check in with Tweets.

Summer’s are filled with all kinds of possibilities. College age people can work at camps, get a job to make a bit more money, go on mission trips…on and on. All of these are great. Working at a camp gives ministry involvement and experience and they can even make a few bucks – although it’s typically not that much. Mission trips are great for exposure, perspective, and even gaining a sense of calling. Getting a job can allow them to save money for the school year.

Now, this might sound like a bit of a sales pitch, but I promise you I’m not getting paid a dime to post this. I’ve just found a resource you might want to let your students know about.

There’s an opportunity to have the best of all these worlds through Group WorkCamps. They can gain ministry/mission experience and probably make more than they would working a job “at home.” Here’s a few highlights:

1. Group WorkCamps only hire college students and grads for the summer.
2. They make approximately $3500 in 10-12 weeks.
3. All travel for mission trips is paid for (accept travel to Colorado at the beginning and end of the summer if the student lives out of state)
4. All lodging is paid for.

Pretty cool opportunity if you ask me. Click here to see a short video and to get more information. I’d encourage you to check it out and refer your students to this opportunity…

If you’re in the DC area, we’ll be coming your way. On October 8th we’ll be doing a regional training event downtown at Capitol Community Church’s Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse. Come and join us if you’re in the area! For more info on this event and future cities, click here.

I’ve noticed a huge change when it comes to evangelism. For the sake of space (and your time) I’m going to probably make this a little more simplistic than it actually might be by generalizing. But over the years people have generally viewed evangelism as:

1. Inviting people to church or a ministry.
2. Verbally presenting the gospel message and giving an invitation for the person to accept it.

Both of these are good and I’d suggest #2 is necessary. And I might add that we’ve probably over valued #1 to a certain degree (that’s probably a topic for another blog post though). But I have to say, I’ve noticed a change in what’s effective. This change doesn’t negate either of the above, but the approach to evangelism can be quite different.

Traditionally we have sought to convert someone AND THEN give them a sense of belonging in the Church (or ministry). But more often than not I’ve found it even more effective to flip this approach. We are seeing people come to faith by first giving them a sense of belonging in the Church (meaning relationships with multiple Christians and doing so off the church campus or outside of an event) and then people coming to saving faith after already having a sense of belonging in the Church.

In my church we have structured in such a way that provides environments for this approach. And it’s taken some time to work out – making sure we avoid “bait and switch” environments, keeping everyone focused outward, making sure we don’t lose a Christ-centered focus in anything we do, ….things of this nature. But one thing is certain: it’s pushing us to avoid being a part of the horrifying statistic that shows after 2 years Christians don’t have any more close relationships with non-Christians.

Have you noticed this change in what’s effective in evangelism? If so, how have you adjusted your ministry model to fit this? What kind of environments do you create for growing relational connections with non-Christians?