A peek into the Poteats

If you’ve never had time around the Poteat family, you’re missing out.

Paul and Samm, along with their two daughters Maddux and Sophie, have shared their lives with countless students involved in Campus Outreach. They have truly been a blessing to all who know them.

So if you haven’t met the Poteats, I can at least give you a peek into the life of one member of the family:

So here is Paul Poteat!

I asked Paul a few questions about his new role in Campus Outreach and his vision for the ministry:

Disciples

If you've been keeping up with the blog, you can probably guess what this week is about. Two weeks ago featured Team Leaders, last week was Room Leaders, so this week must be….?

That’s right –

Disciples!

Let me start out with a reminder: We are ALL disciples. It doesn’t matter what the role is – Room Leader, Project Director, even staff – we are all called to BE disciples and to MAKE disciples. There will never be a time when we ‘graduate’ from discipleship.

Okay, now we can continue.

Room Leaders

Last week the blog featured Team Leaders. I talked to Ann (a past Team Leader) and Jess (a future Team Leader). Continuing with the theme of past and future, let’s turn our attention to Room Leaders.

Cassie Webber is a senior at Bethel University. She will be on the Lebanon team this summer and hopes to go on staff with Campus Outreach. Cassie was a Room Leader two summers ago, and it was helpful and encouraging to learn how the Lord worked in her life that summer.

Team Leaders

As most of you probably know, North Project and South Project are reuniting this year! So instead of three teams per Project, this year we have……drum roll, please…..

FIVE TEAMS!

This means there will be five men and five women in the role of Team Leader.

I have no clue what it's like to be a Team Leader, but I got some insights after talking to Ann Nelson and Jessica Pimpo. Ann is a former Team Leader and is currently the staff woman at St. Thomas. Jess is a senior at St. Thomas and will be co-leading a team this summer with Reed Schaaf.

So what exactly does a Team Leader do? Ann can certainly answer that question.

Happy, Thankful Creatures

John Piper recently gave a humble farewell to Bethlehem Baptist Church, and he began with a quote from G.K. Chesterton, an author with a penchant for poignant, pithy quotes:

“The only way to enjoy even a weed is to feel unworthy even of a weed.”

To put it another way, nothing can truly be enjoyed without humble gratitude.

Gratitude dies when humility dies, and for the human race, humility died a long time ago.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools...”(Romans 1:21-22)

STP Leaders Retreat

Last weekend, 85 students from Bethel, St. Thomas, Northwestern and the U of M packed their bags, loaded up into somewhat sketchy white vans, and headed out to the middle of nowhere.

Well, Camp Victory to be exact; a collection of log cabins in a serene woodland area located an hour and a half from the cities.

This mini road trip down to Camp Victory was for the STP Leaders Retreat. Staff, Project Directors, Team Leaders, Room Leaders, Servant Team members, and both CCP teams all gathered to meet, train, and pray for this coming summer.

Keys to Repentance

The first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses brings enough conviction in itself that it makes the other 94 seem superfluous: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said 'Repent,' he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.” The foundational practice of the my life is to be repentance.

Well, shoot. So much for easy and clean. So much for delusions of grandeur. Repentance is messy and hard. It’s the opposite of grand. But I know my Lord is wiser than I, and I know he cares for me, so I surrender. If repentance is His way for me, then repentance it is. So let’s begin. Ready....repent! Now! Okay, now! Uh oh...

Raising Support

It’s already April, and I’m overflowing with anticipation as Project draws closer. But in all honesty, the fact that I will be raising support for the next two months often slips my mind…

….Or maybe gets pushed out of my mind is more like it…

…because let’s be honest, raising support can be an overwhelming thought.

If you’ve been counting down the days for the support-raising party, just waiting for the hour when you can start calling your relatives and mailing letters to friends, then I’m excited for you. Your time has arrived!

If you haven’t been awaiting this day with as much enthusiasm, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

Turning our eyes to Jesus

Like most holidays, Easter has become extremely commercialized. Shelf after shelf is lined with eggs, bunnies and chocolates. We fight to remember the reason for the season; Jesus Christ died on the cross, was resurrected three days later, and forever bridged the gap of sin that keeps us from God. Through the hustle and bustle of the holiday, we want to remember that. But how much do we fight to cherish it? To wrap ourselves up in it and really truly love it?

This semester at St. Thomas, students have been reading through Mark as well as King’s Cross by Tim Keller, which dissects that book of the Bible. As we were approaching Easter, the groups were finishing both books, which end at the resurrection.

Reasons I Believe: The Undeniable Resurrection

When I was 13, I had something of an existential crisis. Having grown up a rabid moralist, I hadn’t actually stopped(in quite some time) to consider the Source of the morals. When my drive to be perfectly truthful had risen to the level of obsession and was clearly beginning to consume me(it had long since begun to annoy my friends and family), my dad asked me the wisest question possible: “Why do you care about lying?”

I felt a bit sheepish that I would even have to consider the answer for a moment, but I replied, “Because of God.” Then the battle started.

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