Reading and listening..

It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted, and in an ongoing effort for personal/leadership growth I’ve been reading a lot.  I have a hefty stack of books that I’m trying to work my way through.

Here is what I’ve just finished and what I’m currently working on:

 

Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer:

Compelled by Love by Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation

Working on these now:

Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putman

 

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

 

Listening to:

Not Guilty Anymore by Aaron Keyes

 

Catalyst Music Project by Various Artists

 

What are you reading/listening to?  And what have you been learning lately?

Fall Break…

I don’t remember getting a “Fall  Break”  when I was in college.  Usually we were lucky to get an extra day at Thanksgiving … BUT SEMO gets a Fall Break AND 3 days at Thanksgiving!

So, this past Wed. – Sun. was Fall Break and we took a group of students on Fall Break Mission Trip to Cornerstone Farms in St. Jacob, IL to help out my friends David and Cortland.  They are a great family who run a horse ranch just outside of St. Louis with a missional goal.  They look to be the hands and feet of Christ through their lives and through the avenues that are available to them through running the horse ranch, riding school and non-for-profit therapeutic riding club.  We were unable to do a few of the things we had originally planned on due to weather, but we had a great time on the farm and I feel like we were able to accomplish a good amount of work while we were there.

We were able to work with a group of special needs adults who come out to the farm on a work program and got to be part of a therapeutic ride with them one day, helped to prepare for a large horse show that was supposed to happen on Saturday (which didn’t because of weather) and then helped to winterize a barn after our original plans were thwarted due to poor weather!  It was a great time to develop community with the group that we had there, and I was very excited for our group to get to know David and Cortland and their family, to hear their story of faithfulness to the Lord in their lives, marriage and their experiences on the mission field in Russia, the Middle East and St. Jacob, IL!

Here are a few pictures from the trip…

Jennifer getting ready to lead Paul on a Therapeutic ride:

LeAnn, Michael and Matt working on winterizing one of the barns:

Our group picture on the farm … horse barns in the background (of course it would be sunny on the day we leave):

Working on Thanksgiving and Finals week events now, and before you know it Spring Break Mission Trip plans will have to be finalized!

… because of Christ …

-E

Lots …

Okay, so a lot has happened since my last post, and a lot is still happening … so here is a quick run-down:

Last week I was able to attend the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta with several other campus missionaries/BSU directors from Missouri.  It was a great conference with great presenters/speakers.  The most valuable part to me was probably the time I had to fellowship and talk with other men who are doing the same thing I am doing all over the state … learning from their experiences/advice.  It was great.  I’ve told a few people this, but each time I go to a conference like that it is like trying to take a sip from a fire hydrant!  So much information in such a short period of time.  There were some pretty profound things said at that meeting that I’m still processing … maybe more thoughts on that later!

I then left Atlanta and flew to Chicago to run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon with Team World Vision.  (you can click that link to see why I ran, and to continue to give to the cause that I ran for) I had been training for about 6 months for the marathon and was excited that the weekend was finally here … but no part of my training in warm-er weather could have prepared me for the start temperature of 30 degrees on Sunday morning!  It was so cold in the windy-city.  The run was tough, especially the last 5-6 miles, but I completed it in an official time of 4 hours 24 minutes and 22 seconds …. finishing 17,132nd out of 33,608 finishers!  LOL   I have been asked several times since Sunday if I’ll run another one … and my answer has been “never say never” … but for now, I’m fine having some time back in my life not running!

I got back into town late Sunday evening from Chicago, and today I’m leaving with a group of students from the university on our Fall Break Mission Trip.  We’re going on a service project trip to a horse ranch just outside of St. Louis that runs a non-profit ministry to handicapped and special needs children and adults.  We’ll be working on getting some things repaired and ready for some upcoming events that they have at the ranch.  I’m excited for our students to meet the owners, to hear their stories and the vision that they have for the ministry of their farm!

Like I said, it’s been busy, but it will slow down a little bit here soon … I even have a cruise coming up at the end of the month!  Great timing on that deal!

Be Blessed!

-E

Getaway!

Ha ha.  Seeing how it has been about 15 days since my last post, my “getting back into a regular schedule” didn’t work out too well!

This weekend our ministry is taking students to the Missouri Baptist Convention collegiate “Getaway” retreat.  Getaway has a special place in my heart.  I had  a lot of fun times with friends while I was a student involved in BSU attending Getaway:  the dance/skit with Angela Herring, the Princess and the Knave skit with Mark for the talent show, jumping in the lake (shhh), our BSU showing up with everyone in overalls … and my freshman year at Getaway was the first time I can look back and remember that God spoke directly to me through reading His Word.  There is something special about being able to  get-away from all the distractions in life, to get-away from the hustle and bustle of campus life, homework, etc., to sit back and relax, have fun, and most importantly to hear from the Lord.

So, if you think about it, pray for our ministry and the students that will be traveling with me this weekend, that they would encounter the Lord in a new way, that we would bond and connect on a deeper level as a ministry, and that we would have safe travels to and from Tan-Tar-A.

Hope everyone is doing well!

-E

you’ve been waiting I’m sure ….

Well, maybe the handful of you that read this thing haven’t been clinging to the edge of your seats over the last month waiting for me to post something again (well, maybe you Hayward … ) But, lots has happened, especially over the last 2 weeks, so I thought I would post a new update and let those of you who read this, and don’t already know, in on what’s going on in my life right now.

I posted this on my facebook last week:

Let the ambiguity cease… I know that I’ve been pretty un-clear with some of you about what is next for me, and I’ve been keeping to myself a little bit trying to not be presumptuous or get too excited until I had a more certain answer, BUT ….

I received a call today from the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baptist Student Union at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau offering me the position of Campus Missionary/BSU Director, and I said yes. This was an opportunity that first came to my attention this summer, and through lots of prayer, discussions, and an interview process … the decision has been made. I’ll be officially starting in September.

I’m very excited for the opportunity, I feel like this is something that the Lord has been preparing me for. In addition to being excited I’m also a little overwhelmed at the task in front of me. It is a great responsibility to reach college students, disciple them, and to impact a campus for Christ, but I know that God is faithful, and He will continue to lead as I surrender to follow!

I can’t thank you enough for your prayers … some of you were able to pray specifically, and some had to pray more generically because I didn’t give up any details, but I’m thankful for all of them! I am blessed to have friends like you all who love and show such great support. And, trust me, I’ll be keeping in touch and asking that you continue to pray as I do take the next steps into leading this ministry at SEMO.

The time line looks like this for me… I’ll travel to Cape next week to look for and secure a place to live. While I’m there, I’ll attend the first weekly service/meeting of the BSU for the semester and be introduced as the new campus missionary/BSU director. Then, I’ll travel to St. Joseph for a conference on Friday and Saturday, and then back to Springfield on Sunday to continue to pack and get ready to move, which will hopefully take place early that week. It is going to be a crazy couple of weeks, but like I said before, I’m excited.

So, thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray that I listen intently to God as He continues to lead in this, and that the transition period over the next couple weeks goes smoothly!

Well, I’ve been in Cape Girardeau for a few days this week trying to find a place to live, and looked at SEVERAL today, and hopefully have found one that I can get into. I’ll hopefully hear back from the leasing agent tomorrow. In the meantime, there are opening week activities every night sponsored by the BSU this week. I was able to hang out with them last night at their game night and will be with them again this evening for their “sports night” with sand volleyball, frisbee, football, etc. It has been good to get to meet and begin getting to know some of the students, and meeting the student leadership that is already in place. Tomorrow night is our first worship service for the semester and I’ll be addressing the students for the first time. I’m excited, and nervous at the same time. I’m pretty sure I’m landing on the passage about the woman at the well and the end of 2 Cor. 5.

One thing that I’ve been encouraged to do lately is to put together a personal prayer support team. I know that many of you who read this already are praying for me, and I am SO thankful for that, but in the near future I’ll likely be putting together a team who I can count on to pray specifically for me as I move forward in my personal life and in my new leadership position with the BSU.

For now, I need to get going. I’m so thankful for the way God has been working in and through my life over these last few months, and blessed to have friends and family like you to walk with me through all of this!

More updates soon I hope!

-E

mentors of faith

I’m meeting a lot of people this summer who are quickly becoming mentors in the faith. Our team is getting the incredible opportunity to sit with and visit with some really great guys who are working in ministry in different areas of the Missouri Baptist Convention. So far I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with 3 guys that work in collegiate ministry in different parts of the state Gene Austin who works on the campus of Truman State, Randy Dudik who works at Missouri S & T in Rolla and Bill Victor is a regional collegiate ministry coordinator. All are men that I worked on a team with during our two weeks of Super summer, they are great men, and I’ve learned a great deal from them.
Also throughout the summer we’ll be spending days in the office with men who will come talk/teach about different things (the above men included). This week Gene came and talked with us about strengths, gifts, and leadership. It was great. It’s always crazy to me to take those sort of tests that consist of like 20 questions and then get a 25 page report back that explains me and my personality to a “T”!

The last couple of days we’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with Rick Hedger who is the Partnership Missions Specialist for the MBC. I LOVE hearing his heart! I was so challenged by him in just the short amounts of time that we were able to spend with him. The way that I pray for missions will change after our time with him this morning. Another thing that I took away from today was that Rick calls the places we serve as missionaries, “appointments,” . . . “what’s your appointment?” We blur the line a lot of times by having people say that they are “called into full time missions” . . . we are ALL called to live a misisonal life. Sure, some people are called to do mission work full time in other parts of the world, but some are called to be missionaries in our public schools, some in their offices or factories, or in their classes, etc. Another thing that stuck out to me today was Rick said, “you are either a missionary, or a mission field.”

This weekend we’ll be traveling to the St. Louis area to spend some time with another convention worker and his family for the 4th of July. I’m really excited to be getting to learn from all of these men. The crazy part is that (in the words of Jeff Carson) most of what I’m learning is being “caught” rather than “taught.” You see I’m learning a lot, and being challenged and convicted more by just watching their lives than I am by hearing them teach. Sure, they are great teachers, but just seeing them live out their faith has been incredible

Anyway, had part of the afternoon off from the office and just finished up some reading, so I thought I’d jump on here and leave a post while I had the chance! Hope you are all doing great!

-E

… another quote from this summer “a ‘radical Christian’ is likely someone who just loves Jesus a little more than you”
things that make you go hmmmm.

Super Summer …

Well, thought it was about time to bring a brief update for the summer since I’ve been away from internet most of the last week, and have a few days off now, I thought I should bring you up to date and give you some visuals from Super Summer.

The last two weeks one of my main responsibilities was as a small group leader for the students attending Super Summer that just graduated high school and are moving into college, work, service, etc. We were the SILVER team … each age group is assigned a color to identify themselves as… we got silver, I wondered if they just thought that was the most appropriate color to signify those that were getting older … okay it was a lame joke, but I laughed when I thought about it.

I had great small groups for both weeks of Super Summer, there are always brief moments when it is hard leading a small group and it always takes a little while to “get comfortable” with each other, but both of my groups ended up being really great, and I think that God is really at work in some of those young men’s lives. It is exciting to see. Our “curriculum/teaching” was based on the ideas of movements, and joining the movement. I really just wanted to walk through the week with my groups and help them process what God was doing in their lives and encourage them along the way. It was also a goal to help them to see that God wants them to “join the movement” right where they are. They are in the positions in life that they currently find themselves for a reason, and God wants to use them right there! So, I’m really praying for them, and for God to continue to work in their lives to break strongholds, and to show them which steps to take for Him.

It’s really been a privilege to work with some of the sharpest young people in the state of Missouri the last few weeks as fellow small group leaders. There were probably close to 30 small group leaders each week, and these young men and women continually poured their lives into the lives of youth, counseled them, prayed with/for them, and had such great servant’s hearts. I was encouraged to see a generation of college students surrendering their lives for a week, two weeks, or the whole summer to serve the Lord in that capacity. Great job guys! Lives were changed for eternity, and God chose to use you in that!

This weekend, we have the weekend off, and I was home in Springfield to relax, participate in a team long run with my training team for the marathon, and to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. Happy Birthday Tomorrow, one of the interns that I’m working with for the summer is leading worship for a church in the area with his band, so I’m going to go show my support, and then head up to Green Ridge to visit my dad for a few hours on Father’s Day before heading back to Jefferson City tomorrow evening for our church worship service.

A brief update, hopefully I’ll get to do that a little more often the next few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Super Summer:

-E

Mufa Puffa (Obstacle Course during Rec. one day … they did it all carrying a can of soda and then had to chug it at the end):

Worship/band:

Silver team:

life in community …

Well, it’s becoming increasingly evident that I’m not going to have a lot of “down time” this summer. I expected as much, but have come to learn it as reality over the last few days.
Our time this week has been spent primarily in the Student Ministry Offices of the Missouri Baptist Convention preparing for Super Summer, last minute details like getting room assignments squared away for all of the participants, putting together their packets of information, making phone calls to churches and youth pastors to follow up on different things. It’s been busy, but actually quite enjoyable.
The evenings are great! They look a little different, and I’m sure a lot of people would think that we were crazy to live like this, but it’s going to be an amazing summer. I’m living in a house with 11 people. Myself and three other male, college aged interns or employees of the MBC. 5 female interns or MBC employees. And our gracious hosts for the summer Matt and Julie. Each evening we sit down as a family for a home cooked meal around the dinner table, enjoy a walk in the neighborhood or a little down time before meeting together for a devotional or a discussion on a book, the Master Plan of Evangelism(I’ve read it before, its definitely worth the time), that we’re walking through together this summer. The only way to describe what we’re doing is just to say that we’re “doing life together.” We all have the common goal of growing closer to, and serving God this summer, and as we do that, we’ll work together, eat together, live together, laugh together, cry together, and be there for one another. What an awesome opportunity to get to share my life with these young men. I often feel like I don’t have a lot to offer in the way of wisdom or advice or anything, but I know that God has me here for a reason, and I hope that there is something that I can contribute that will be of value to these people that I am sharing my life with for the summer.
God is working in me in big ways, I know He is. We were challenged today to write down our expectations of the summer, and the first thing that came out on my piece of paper was: “I expect my life to change drastically”
I think it is.
I’m excited for that, scared for that, but looking with anticipation for what God is doing and will continue to do this summer.

I’m not sure how often my schedule will permit me to write large updates, especially when we start our weeks of camp on Monday, but I’ll try to at least give brief posts as I’m able. I covet your prayers this summer for me and my team.
E

thoughts, discipleship, Jesus…

I’ve been reading in the Gospel of John during my quiet times this week. I love going back through the gospels and picking up on things that I’ve seemingly looked over previously.
The other day as I was reading I caught this little bit of info:
John 1:35-42
First off … John the Baptist was chillin’ with some of his disciples when he said “Look, the Lamb of God!” When his (John’s) disciples heard those words they up and followed Jesus … just at the announcement of who He was.
Man! Sometimes I wish it was like that for me. Instead, I stop and think “is this REALLY God?” I’ll analyze and re-analyze and OVER-analyze a situation. These disciples didn’t ask questions, they just followed.
Verse 39 says they spent the day with him, it was about the 10th hour. I’m not a Bible scholar, so I’m not sure exactly HOW LONG they had been with Him, but less than 24 hours I’m guessing. Then in verse 40-42 it says that the FIRST THING Andrew did was to find his brother, tell him they had found the Messiah, and BROUGHT HIM TO JESUS!
Gosh, this really spoke to and convicted me. What a great picture of evangelism. Andrew saw the Lord, was convinced about who He was, and immediately went to his brother with the intention of taking him to Christ. Now, I realize that only through the drawing of the Holy Spirit do people come to Christ, but am I doing my part by bringing them to Him? Have I lost the zeal/passion/excitement that I once had about who He is, and what He has done for my life?
Just thinking about this and trying to see the way Jesus started His ministry with the disciples … I’m noticing that Jesus asked his disciples to follow him … He didn’t ask them to learn about Him or anything, the knowledge of Jesus wasn’t communicated through lessons, or laws, or religious dogma … it was communicated through the living personality of One who walked with them.
I wonder if sometimes I focus to much on the “teaching/learning/knowledge” aspect of discipleship instead of just walking as Christ did and letting all of that other stuff come…?

Just thoughts I was having this afternoon…

Weekend… Live Love

Had a great weekend with my NLQ family. We led a retreat for the First Baptist Church of Sedalia youth group at a retreat center on the Lake of the Ozarks. It was a fun group of students, and we had a good time talking with them about Love and challenging them to “Live Love.”
Yesterday afternoon we headed from the retreat down to my friend Jared’s church in Tiff City, MO. They were having an annual FCA Day (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). There were a ton of students there. It seemed like a really neat event. They had been competing in a tournament all day with all sorts of events: softball, volleyball, tug-of-war, dodge ball, etc. We were leading worship for the service to cap off the evening. Worship went great, led a great new song with my good friend Bobbie. I love singing and leading with her … it’s hard to sound bad when you sing with someone as good as her! Then my friend Jared, who is the Pastor of Buffalo Creek Baptist Church there, did a GREAT job communicating a message to challenge and encourage us all from 1 Corinthians 9. Using a sports analogy to connect with the students Jared clearly communicated our opportunity and responsibility to run the race that God has put before us.

I’ve really been personally challenged lately with some things in my life. God seems to be doing something … calling me to some changes, etc. I guess this is where the rubber meets the road. Just like I talked with the students about this weekend, I need to start showing my love/respect for God by doing what He is calling me to. 1 John 5:3 “This is love for God: to obey his commands…” Easy to read, but somehow I find it is often difficult to make the changes in my life. I get so used to doing things the way I always have, etc. But, change is good … and obedience is even better. Time to stop saying the I love God and start living it.