Tonight I met with the 4 guys listed in the last post.  We started by studying through Revelation 3:15-18.  Here Jesus is giving instruction to the Church at Laodicea.  He speaks of the church being neither hot nor cold water, and therefore he will spit them out of His mouth.  Hot water is good for cooking or for bathing in.  Cold water is good for drinking.  Lukewarm is just in the middle and serve no good purpose.  We talked about how it is easy to fall apathy and to be content with the status quo at Northwestern.  Is it easy to do this because you have good friends around you, lots of believers,  and a very comfortable safe atmosphere.  Satan loves when we are apathetic.  If we are content with where we are and so need to grow or no need to share the gospel he is happy.  Revelation 3 calls us to hot or cold, to live intentionally and pursue aggressively the gospel for ourselves and for others.  In verse 17 they think they have all they need but He says in verse 18 that He wants us to have so much.  God offers us so much joy for serving others and living our life selflessly.  It is really freeing to not be burdened by self-filled thought and actions.  I told these 4 guys that I want them to recieve the joy God offers and to be all in, not lukewarm.

We decided as a group they we want to share the gospel in some manner with every freshmen on the football team this year.  The gospel is the power of God for believers and non-believers.  We want to reach the non-believers and strengthen the believers.  Each guy made a list of 10-12 freshman that they are either currently connected to or would desire to build a frendship with.  It was an amazing answer to pray to see these men buy-in to this goal and to desire to see the gospel spread at Northwestern. Even if we only make it half-way on our goal that still means that about 20 freshmen would have been personally walked through the gospel.

We closed by praying that God would work through this goal of ours.  Not one of these conversations will happen without the grace of God being poured out on us and on these freshmen. Please continue to pray that:

1)  We would continue to believe the Gospel is the power of God to save souls (Rom. 1:16)

2)  These 4 men would grow together as a team wanting to reach these freshmen

3)  That freshmen guys will come to know Christ

4)  That they would have strength to endure failure and hardship, and that in this God would overwhelm them with grace and joy as they desire to give their lives to younger men!

Tomorrow I will be meeting with 4 upperclassmen football players that have been involved in our ministry.  We are sitting down to discuss and plan ways that we can reach the younger players on the football team this semester.  Please pray for these three things:

1)  For wisdom as we plan ways to reach younger football guys

2)  That we would love them and that Christ love would be our primary motive.

3)  That these 4 men (Mike, Josh, Sam, Jason)  would commit to giving their time and their lives to the gospel spreading at Northwestern on the football team.

Thanks!

Over lunch at New Years Conference I got into a conversation with a freshmen named Josh.  We started talking about sin and how deep its roots are even in a believer. Josh said that one thing he was learning during the conference was how sin pollutes even his good intensions and desires. Josh said that he was starting to realize how even helping other people can have selfish desires in it. Often times we help others to gain their acceptance or to even try to make up for a way we have wronged them. We also talked about how growing as a Christian can seem like negative process. As Josh became more aware of his sin he felt more sinful than he ever had before. But now that he sees more of his sin he is better able to fight it and this also makes him need Jesus Christ more in his life.  The diagram below is what I drew out for Josh.  As Christians we should grow in our knowledge of God’s Holiness and our knowledge of our own sin.  As those two things grow farther apart the cross needs to get bigger in our lives to cover the gap between these two.  We grow by seeing an increased need in our lives for Jesus Christ.  A great sinner needs a great savior. We all are great sinners, but Christ is a great savior. Josh is growing as the Lord convicts him of sin and helps him fight the selfish desires that he has.

Please Pray:

1)  That the Lord would continue to expose sin to Josh and that the Lord would sustain him as he fights.

2)  That Josh would continue to stay connected to our ministry this coming semester and that he would attend our Summer Training Project this year.

Each year we host an event called New Year’s Conference.  It is a 5-day conference that all takes place in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee, WI.  This year the conference had about 460 college students attending it from over 10 colleges in the Midwest.  New Year’s Conference is a great place for students to invest in their own growth over their winter break while spending time with several other students that have that same desire.  The theme of the conference this year was restless.  Many of the talks given focused on how we are restless trying to find comfort and satisfaction in a world that cannot satisfy us.  We were not made to live for money, or jobs, or sports that in the end will let us down.  We were created for so much more and for something lasting.  We were created to be in a relationship with God and we can have this through Jesus Christ.  He came to this earth to pay for our sin through His death.  He paid a debt that we could not pay so that we could receive that which we could not earn; eternal life with Him.  John 17:3 says that eternal life is to know God and Jesus who He has sent.  If we trust in Jesus’ offering for our sins we will be united with Him forever.  Then and only then, will we find rest.  No more burden of trying to please a Holy God hoping that our deeds are good enough, and that our sins are not too big.  We have peace and rest in Jesus because He has paid for our sins and lived the righteous life that we have not.  My prayer is that this simple yet very deep truth of the gospel would fall on students hearts allowing them to search for true peace and happiness in Jesus Christ, and to stop looking to things that can’t fully satisfy them.

NWC students who attended the Conference.

The following few posts will be stories of how God has used this conference in students lives.

Tonight I ate dinner with a sophomore named Luke.  We spent part of the evening talking through 1 Thes. 3:11-13.  These verses say that Paul desires that the Thessalonians will abound in love to one another and to all.  What is interesting is the reason Paul wants them to do this.  In verse 13 Paul says he wants them to love so that the Lord  may establish their hearts blameless in Holiness.  So Paul is saying that by loving others they will be sanctified by God and will ultimately grow in Christ-likeness.  So Paul wanted them to give so they would personally grow!  Often I see giving to others as a sacrifice or a “loss” because I am giving of myself.  These verses say that giving of yourself for others is a means of gain, not only for those you have helped, but also yourself.  Luke desires to influence younger students and I want him to also; not merely because younger students will benefit from his influence in their lives, but also because God will grow Luke in Holiness as he gives his life to them.

This past weekend we had our 3rd annual Men’s Retreat.  About half of the 45 students who attended were freshmen.  This was exciting to see because one of our hopes is that this retreat will help older students to further build relationships with younger students.  This retreat personally was very refreshing for because I have not had a lot of time around students because I am still in the support raising process.  It helped remind me why I want to minister to college students and that seeing even one guy grow deeper in his relationship with Christ is worth me giving my life to.

One guy I was able to get time around this weekend is a freshmen football player named Ryan.  We studied the bible together Saturday morning and talked about things we put our hope in besides Christ.  We realized that things we often put our hope in are good things that we either make ultimate or we make them something they were not meant to be.  Ryan said that football can sometimes be this for him.  We think that being a starter on a football team or having a great game will satisfy us and make us happy.  This satisfaction pales in comparison to the joy we have through the grace God has given those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ.  Football was created by God to be enjoyed but it will always fail us.  An undefeated season won’t make us happy.  Only God can fullfil our longing to be satisfied.  We can not hope in football because it will not last and will not fulfill us, but Jesus will.  Jesus satisfies our ultimate need to be reconciled to God.  Now because we have eternal hope in Christ, I need not hope in anything else and can enjoy football for what it is; not a false hope that won’t satisfy, but a means to enjoy God and further be satisfied by Him.

Last night we had our 2nd bible study and continued to work throught the story of the prodigal son.  This week the focus was on the father and His compassion for His son.  Students were able to see how God shows compassion to those underserving of it.  Often when we are compassionate, it is because we feel the person was wronged and doesn’t deserve the situation they are in.  In these cases we are judging whether they are worthy of our compassion and our love.  This means our love for others is often conditional while the father showed love to His son even though he was the least deserving of it.  All of us are the younger son who has rebelled and run away from God.  Yet, God has been compassionate to us and we are able to recieve mercy through the death of Jesus.  We do not deserve God’s compassion and love, but because of Jesus Christ’s life and death we can recieve it.

This past Wednesday was the first meeting of our football bible study.  There were 17 players that attended with 9 being freshmen.  I lead them through Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).  We focused on the fact that neither the older or the younger son knew what it meant to be a son.  They thought that what they did determined if the father would treat them as a son or not.  In both conversations the father has with his sons he responds by calling them son and showing them that all he has is theirs.  It was helpful for students to see that their salvation can not be earned by what they do. It is by grace alone and is a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9). We will meet again this coming Wednesday and will continue to work through the parables of Jesus.

Please pray that I would be able to build relationships with these guys despite my limited availibility on campus while I continue to raise support.

Upon going on staff with Campus Outreach, I have decided to create a blog to keep my supporters and friends updated with more current information about my ministry to college students. This will allow you to learn more about how ministry has been going on the campus, what I have been learning, and ways you can pray for the campus. Thank you for your interest and support of me as I strive to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to college students in Minnesota!