Public Speaking

    Last Monday, I had the opportunity for the very first time to give a message from up front.  In other words, preach.  I have been in many setting over the past few years where I have been able to speak to groups of people for the purpose of training, etc... but this was the first time to be in preaching-like setting.  

   My topic was selflessness, or humility, which some of you will no doubt find ironic considering how well you know me.  Anyways, it is actually something that I was asked to speak about by our project directors, as they knew it had been a large part of my own personal growth when I as a freshman student was on summer project.

   Preparing was an interesting process.  I decided to introduce myself with pictures from my summer project and transition with an excerpt from my journal about all that I was learning about selflessness there.  I used a format that started with the heart problem we all have (pride), talked about Jesus Christ as the revealer of pride, ultimate example, and the one who frees us to be humble.  I then moved into a few practical steps one could take to cultivate humility and closed with challenges to those who both don't know Christ and know Christ.  I ended with a Derek Webb song, I Boast No More, which talks about surrendering our pride before God.  I read a poem by Christina Rosetti called "Give Me the Lowest Place" which I had first heard at a Schola Cantorum concert.

   I prepared a manuscript with almost the exact words that I wanted to say, figuring I could move out from there.  Knowing how I think, I believe that is probably the best method for me.  I received a lot of great feedback and encouragement which I am grateful for.  Some things I believe I can grow in include preparing the manuscript (getting a feel for timing), maintaining as much eye contact with the whole room as possible, and avoiding saying "Um" as a space filler.

   Ultimately, I believe the Lord helped me to maintain an attitude of reliance on him throughout the process.  I am excited about all the opportunities I've had to grow in speaking on this project, and I look forward to growing even more in this area.  I have no confidence in the sound of my voice, but I do know that God's Word has power when spoken through me.

   To listen to my talk, you can download it at this link:

   http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=bb25a421e37efc34312dbd5f2bdc5062e04e75f6e8ebb871

   Let me know if you have problems getting it and I'll try to help you.

Theme Party

   This past week our students have been preparing for a Theme Party we held this weekend.  A Theme Party is simply a party that you can have with the intent of providing an opportunity to get to know coworkers and International students better so we can relationally share our faith with them.  The students chose a Luau as the theme for the party.  One of my friends from Arkansas, Austin, helped to organize the preparations for the it.  I think they did a great job, and learned a lot about how things don't come together easily at the last minute.  

   We had something called "contact cards" we used for the party.  Guests would fill out a card with their name and contact information, and respond to 2 questions about whether they wanted to be informed about future events, and whether they were interested in knowing how they could begin a personal relationship with God.  We actually use these cards back on our campuses at the beginning of the Fall when all the new freshmen come in, and they are a vital resource for us in terms of getting in touch with students.

   There was also a limbo and hula-hoop contest, and plenty of dancing.  And, somewhat randomly, four-square, which has become the automatic pasttime of choice on the project.

   I am speaking on Monday at our weekly meeting.  I have been pleased with all the opportunities I've gotten on this project to work on speaking in front of a big group.  Please pray for me as I prepare my talk.

Developing Leaders

One of the great things about a summer project is the opportunity students have to grow in their leadership ability.  We have all sorts of small and large groups - committees, action groups, groups that plan certain activities.... there is plenty of opportunity for many different students to step up and help to lead.

This past week our Outreach Committee, which I help as a staff to coach, put together a Saturday night outreach for our whole project.  Many things were delegated out, and though many of these things were done well, I think there were lots of things that students could learn from.  Responsibility, Teamwork, Communication, and Initiative are all great things that they get out of this.

Ultimately, we want students to be able to go back to their campuses and mobilize people to come with them in exercising spiritual leadership.

Also, quick outreach update:  the outreach they planned which we executed last night was great.  We used a tool called Soularium - a collection of 50 pictures that people can use to have conversations about their spiritual life - set up in 6 different downtown locations.  We also sent student musicians to these locations to attract people, which was a lot of fun.  Some of us also went to the beach area, as there was a fireworks show.  I ended up having a great conversation with a group of 10 high school students.  One in particular, Louis, was very interested in talking to me.  Although he doesn't buy the authority of the Bible or believe in the gospel, I believe our conversation made him realize that some of his most deeply held beliefs are very inconsistent and that, from a God perspective, he may not be as good of a person as he thinks he is.  Overall I just really enjoyed the opportunity to share the gospel and have good spiritual conversation.

Thanks for continuing to pray for our project. 

What's an Action Group?

  Hey everyone,

   Last night was my first Action Group meeting.  What is an Action Group?  Well, as a staff person on the project, I have 5 guys who I am sort of "responsible for" in the sense of investing in their spiritual growth and making sure they are getting the most out of the project.  I live with these guys as well, which is great.  I meet with each of these guys for 2 hours each week one on one to go through a training focus for that week, see how they are doing, and help them learn how to share their faith.

   Once each week on Wednesday evenings, this Action Group meets to discuss some material we are going through as a project.  It is Dwight Edwards' "Experiencing Christ Within" workbook.  It focuses on the relationship between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant and what that means for our spiritual life.  To put it simply, we are no longer under the Old Covenant of being required to perfectly obey all of God's laws to establish our personal goodness; we are under the New Covenant of God's grace through Jesus Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit, God's presence with us, to help make us like Christ and to help us minister to others.  It can be a turning point for many students, as many try to build their spiritual lives by trying to "do spiritual things" in order to "be spiritual".  This is backwards from the way God would like us to live.  We are free to live now without worrying about "being spiritual" because we have been "made spiritual" by Christ.  Instead, we "do spiritual things" and love God and others because of what Christ has done for us, and not to try to gain something for ourselves other than a better relationship with Christ.

    Anyways, I enjoyed our Action Group discussion, and it seems like the guys are really understanding these important biblical principles.

First Outreach

Tonight was our first official "Project Outreach" time.  I am one of four staff that provide leadership to the student team that puts together our project outreach.  What we mean by the term "outreach" is, in a nutshell, bringing the whole gospel message to the people of Santa Cruz.  

We wanted to start simple, so tonight we split into small groups of 2-3 and went out downtown or to the wharf area simply to start spiritual conversations and listen to where people are coming from, looking for an opportunity to also share what we believed.  

I went with 2 of the students in my Action Group, and we had several conversatons:

Ben and Michael:  both were taking a break from the restaurant they worked at.  Michael was definitely a little crazy and out there, but Ben had some religious background.  He still thought that living a good life was what being a Christian was all about, so I tried to explain as best I could that it was only faith and trust in Christ and living for him that gives us real life, but with Michael providing some crazy interruptions I'm not sure how effective it was.  Gave them both a gospel booklet and left it in God's hands.

Jeremiah:  Worked at another restaurant on the wharf.  Was taking a break.  Raised orthodox Catholic, but currently attends Twin Lakes baptist from time to time.  Said he believed the Bible was mainly about faith and love and a friendship with God, but didn't have much to say when I asked how one started that friendship.  Pretty quickly hurried off back to work.

We talked with another group of people about our age on the way back.  After asking what they thought about God, they each gave me a small opinion except for one guy.  Then they walked off, but the one guy hung back and began questioning where I was coming from.  He was certainly an atheist, and an intellectual.  He began asking me why I believed what I believed, and questioned the authority of the Bible over life and asked a few difficult questions about abortion, fundamentalism, etc....ultimately he gave up on the conversation pretty quickly.

Afterwards I heard many other stories, and it was encouraging to see so many stepping out for the first time from their comfort zone to share the message of Christ with people who might otherwise never hear about Him or may have an incorrect understanding of Him.  I encouraged them with the truth that each one of them had a successful evening simply because they acted in faith to take the initiative.  The results and effects of that are up to God.

Thanks to all of you who are praying for our project and the people of Santa Cruz!

Disaster Averted

   Ah, the title caught your attention?  In a moment....

   The students have been here since Monday.  I've enjoyed getting to know many of them, especially the 5 guys in my smaller "Action Group" which will be like a Bible study group for the summer.  To speed up the "getting to know you" process, we had an activity we did all morning yesterday called "Soul to Soul", which is basically a time for each member of the Action Group to have 30 minutes to share about their life story and their history, heritage, heroes, hardships, and high points.  I was overwhelmed at times by the grace that is obviously evident in each of their lives - seeing how God has taken them from a place of treating Him as external or just non-existent in their lives to today when His word is dwelling richly in them, and their personal relationship and trust in Him is vibrant.  I was incredibly humbled by their perspective and faith, and their wisdom in seeing how God has purposed the events of their lives.  To hear how he has reached out and rescued some of them as recently as last summer or between the semesters is amazing.  It is a kind of sharing that is extremely difficult to replicate outside of the summer project environment, even though I would wish to in my own groups back home.

    Yesterday afternoon we had a fun afternoon planned for them after all the sharing, involving a series of team competitions.  The first competition was a team name and cheer competition.  One group, calling themselves the Lost Boys, did their cheer and ended it with pointing to seemingly the distant sky and saying something about, "look, it's Peter Pan!".  At this point everyone's heads turn in the courtyard to the opposite roof, and a guy in my Action Group comes running over the roof.  The problem is that he was not slowing down on the downward slope because of his momentum, and as we all watched in horror he luckily took his feet out from under him and proceeded to fall off the roof, a good 12 foot uncontrolled drop.  Luckily he was just dazed and had no serious injuries.  But it is a moment I'll never forget from the project just from the sheer "I can't believe this is happening" sense of the moment.  Afterwards the staff were all looking around at each other in disbelief, and finally Jon Foltz stands up and said, "Ok, no one else on the roof for the rest of the time."  They had previously been on the roof that day trying to dump water on unsuspecting people.  Anyway, crisis averted.

Vintage Faith

   There are several evangelical churches in Santa Cruz, and this summer the staff team of our project will be splitting up with our groups of students to go to a few different ones.  I was chosen to attend a church called Vintage Faith.  It is a nondenominational church that is pastored by a man named Dan Kimball.  Some of you may recognize this name as Dan has actually written a few books that are prominent nationally in the "emerging church" movement.  Long story short, the church is very modern and contemporary.  The concern with this type of church and the wider emerging church movement in general is that the core messages of the gospel are sometimes lost in the desire and attempt to "connect" with the culture.  I could write much more, but to avoid being boring I'll just say that I had my critical ears on during the service yesterday.

  So far it seems like Dan Kimball is one of the more conservative leaders of the emerging movement in terms of holding to and teaching mostly sound Biblical doctrine.  The band was very talented in leading musical worship, Scripture was read creatively for reflection.  My only concern with the service yesterday was the speaker (who was not Kimball) seemed to focus more on a self-improvement "how to communicate better in relationships" type of talk that was not expressed solidly in Biblical or gospel-terms.  In other words, if I was not a Christian and came to that service,  I might be impressed with the psychology and communication principles, but might leave not realizing that it is actually the power of the gospel and of Jesus Christ working in me that lets me communicate in a way that honors God and loves others.  I might leave not knowing that I am unable to communicate in this way apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ.  

  I am mostly withholding judgment, though, until I hear Dan Kimball speak next week.  At the very least, my church experience here will be an educational one.  The people who attend the church are very "Santa Cruz" if you know what I mean.

You can check out the church yourself at www.vintagechurch.org