Facebook Fan Page Launched
Posted by COM Blogger in Blog on March 11th, 2010
Become a fan and get all blog updates in your facebook home page.
http://www.facebook.com/cominneapolis
Why Read Books?
Posted by Jared Wass in Mobilization on March 10th, 2010
It may seem “more spiritual” to read only the Bible and not consult extra-Biblical sources in search of truth, but the Bible itself would not agree with this position. Of course, the Bible must have the first place, but faithful teaching is a God-ordained compliment to our reading the Bible personally for ourselves.
In Eph. 4:11 it says that, among other offices, God has provided His church with teachers. In Acts we are told an Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah. While he was reading it says,“…Phillip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’’ (Acts 8:30-31).
We read books because in them we are exposed to teachers and guides that can help us understand and apply the Scriptures.
In the next week or so we are going to highlight six different books that may prove helpful in your transition off the campus. They are little and do not require a large time commitment to read. You could pick away at a “one book a month” pace and by around September hold new convictions that I think you will find very helpful off the campus.
Watch the blog and happy reading.
U of M COW: Who Says Better Safe Than Sorry
Posted by COM Blogger in Resources on March 10th, 2010
Eric Lonergan spoke at the U of M COW meeting on the phrase “better safe than sorry.”
U of M COW: Who Says Everything is Going to be Ok
Posted by COM Blogger in Resources on March 9th, 2010
Matt Reagan continued the series on “Who Says” at the U of M COW meetings with this week’s message on who says everything is going to be ok
Ministering in Strengths
Posted by COM Blogger in Ministry Update on March 8th, 2010
I have been thinking a lot lately about ministering in my strengths. In our ministry, it could be easy for some staff and/or students to get the wrong idea of what ministry looks like (that you have to do it a certain way in certain contexts or else it is not really ministry). I don’t want to be misunderstood; The principles of ministry that our ministry models and teaches should be carried out in every context possible, but that doesn’t mean that ministry has to look a certain way.
To give you an example of what I am talking about I will tell you what I have been thinking about. I am not incredibly gifted with striking up conversations with people in informal settings and talking about their life and relationship with God or what they believe about the gospel. I am more gifted at engaging people in a one-on-one setting over lunch or time in the Word or something like that. One potential response to this would be for me to avoid informal contexts or just breeze through them and wait for God to drop a one-on-one context into my life. However, a better response would be for me to seek to use the informal contexts to fuel a context where I could interact with someone over lunch or time in the Word. So I am now making it a point to use game nights, playing sports with guys, hanging out in the dorms, or other contexts like these to hopefully set up one-on-one times with guys throughout the week.
So my encouragement to whoever is reading this would be to figure out a context that you are gifted in engaging people with the truths of the gospel, then think for how you can use every context you are in to help you maximize the time you have in the context in which you are most gifted.
Support/Bethel House
Posted by Reid Jilek in Ministry Update on March 1st, 2010
My name is Reid Jilek and I graduated this past May from Northwestern College and am now raising support to come on staff with Campus Outreach. My life was changed while I was in college when I met a staff guy who began to share his life with me and disciple me. I grew up going to church but always thought I was a pretty good person. On the outside I was (or so I thought) I didn’t drink or smoke or do the other things my high school buddies were doing. So in my head I was a good person and felt that I deserved Heaven… Then in college I realize Rom 3:23 was true for my life “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” For the first time in my life I realized I am sinful and in need of a savior. Jesus paid for all of my sin on the cross and there is nothing I can to do gain Heaven… It is all what Jesus has done for me. Seeing my life transformed has made me want to give my life to sharing the Gospel with other students.
With that as a backdrop I am now closing in on being at 100% support! I am also now living at the house right next to Bethel with three other Bethel students. I am excited to continue to get to know students, and help students grown in their relationship with God. The house where we are living has served to have Bethel events; like Bible studies, prayer meetings, and informal opportunties to meet students. This past weekend we had students over to watch the Olympics, and I was able to meet new students and begin to build relationships with students. I am getting more and more excited to be done raising support and I cannot wait to be able to labor full-time sharing Christ with student
Posted by COM Blogger in Uncategorized on March 1st, 2010
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, p. 121:
To love at all is to be vulnerable.
Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.
Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change.
It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
Discipleship at Work
Posted by Erin Martin in Ministry Update on February 25th, 2010
Over the past few days, I’ve felt an incredible amount of confirmation for why discipleship on the college campus is effective. I left a conversation with a freshman the other night thinking, “This is why I do my job.” It is amazing to see how God uses the weak and lowly things of this world (like me) to advance his kingdom.
Perhaps a little background information would be helpful. I became a Christian during my fourth year of college through the influence of one of my volleyball teammates. She began to disciple me and two years later I went on staff with Campus Outreach. I wanted to make the volleyball team one of my main targets for ministry. That year, I started meeting with a freshman on the 2007 team. As we met and studied the Bible together, she began to grow more and more in her faith. I began to share my vision for the team with her and we would pray for the Lord to work. The next year God brought two freshmen from the 2008 team into my life. I was leading a discipleship group with a sophomore from the team and meeting in a separate Bible study with the two freshmen. The only reason the two freshmen started hanging around was because the sophomore began talking to them and sharing about how God had been working in her life. Now this year I am leading a discipleship group with all three girls. Two of them live with other volleyball players and have been engaging them in spiritual conversations and bringing them to our weekly meetings. A freshmen from the 2009 team came to a retreat we hosted last weekend and then we met together for dinner this week. I was able to lay out the gospel for her and talk to her about what it means to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ with you whole heart. It was amazing. It is so sweet to think about how all of this happened through discipleship. It worked for Jesus, and it definitely works on the college campus. I’m praying that many students at the University of Minnesota will have deep relationships with Jesus because God chooses to use our staff team and student leaders to influence their lives.
Student Testimony – Brandon Ternes
Posted by COM Blogger in Testimony on February 24th, 2010
Brandon Ternes shares about how the Lord has used his involvement with Campus Outreach to impact his life
Student Testimony – Steph Lise
Posted by COM Blogger in Testimony on February 24th, 2010
Steph Lise, a student at U of M, shares what she has been learning in the Word lately.
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