Extreme Measures

The picture to the right is of a man (yes, fully clothed) running through Death Valley.  

Extreme athletes will often go to extreme measures in their training in order to be most fully prepared for their upcoming event/s.  It's a part of what makes them great!  Their willingness to push themselves beyond their limits - and far beyond what most of us would be willing to do - is what distinguishes them from the rest of us.  We both admire them and believe them to be completely crazy.

We would love to be like them -- just without having to go through all of the hard work that it takes to become like them...

Ideas for June

Well, we've made it to June.

For many of us this means that students have been gone close to a month... so, how's your summer going?  If the answer is 'too quickly' than I can relate.

As much as I might like to spend each day of the summer months immersed in the scene to the right, making good use of our summer can be the difference between fumbling our way into the new school year or a GREAT start, between a strong, well-planned year or a chaotic, hap-hazard one.

Here are a few thoughts on how to make good use of the month of June :: please share your additional ideas, thoughts and comments in the comments section below!

• Take a vacation - there's nothing quite like getting away from campus, and work, for a while to renew our focus, passion and perspective.
• Attend a retreat or conference - I'm personally more of a 'retreat kind a guy,' but taking some time to intentionally grow - how ever that looks for you - can also go a long way in renewing focus, passion and perspective.
• Spend some extra time at home - consider working shorter hours (if you can) or 'summer hours' that allow you to come in earlier/later so that you can spend some extra time off campus and with family (if that's you).
• Assessment - if you haven't done any intentional assessment of your ministry efforts from the past year, since your school year concluded, now is the time.  Soon our attention will be fully on prep for the upcoming year... and if we want that time to be fruitful, and tracking in the right direction, assessment is a necessity.
• Soul Care - as a part of our assessment, it would probably serve us well to take our 'spiritual temperature' to see how we are doing in our own relationship with Jesus.  It can be easy, in the midst of walking alongside college students in need, to pay more attention to their spiritual lives than our own.  The summer months can provide some much needed space for renewing our pursuit of the One we believe called us to this important work.
• Connect with your team - if you've got other professional staff that you work with, find some intentional ways to connect now that students are away.  Consider a staff retreat, some extended casual (but intentional) one-on-ones for processing the previous year, staff lunches, a BBQ at someone's house where you can invite families, etc.  Continuing to build bonds with you team during 'slower months' can really serve you well during the fast-paced school year.
• Connect with other key ministry partners - June can be a great time to connect with other ministers who serve the students on your campus, whether they be faculty and/or staff on campus, pastors in local churches or fellow college ministers on campus.  Now is a great time to initiate or further invest in relationships with these important 'co-laborers' in Christ.
• Map out the rest of your summer - I usually like to operate pretty spontaneously, but in order to make sure we aren't scrambling at the end of the summer to get everything ready before students' return, it might be worth spending some time intentionally mapping out the rest of our summer months.  When do I start that new initiative?  When do I take that much needed vacation?  When do I start writing that series of talks or studies?  Can I take care of some of the details for the mission trip that might be close to a year away?

The summer months provide us some much needed space for rest and 'uninterrupted' work.  I believe that God calls us all to be good stewards of this 'off season' on campus.  What are your plans?

Grace and peace to you!

When You Pray...

One of the biggest pitfalls that those of us in ministry leadership face is getting too caught up in the 'doing' of ministry that we cease to simply 'be' with Jesus.


Prayer is meant to be the life-line between Jesus and His followers.  It's meant to be the means by which we bring our will into conformity with His.  It's meant to be a means through which He shapes us, prepares us, equips us and speaks to us - in every way - for everything.


Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me ~ Jesus (John 15.4).

Hocking Jesus

:: [Guest Post by Michael McCord] ::

NOTE:   As you read this I will be walking the streets of Nassau while introducing other campus ministers to the mission possibilities there. I wrote this blog post several months ago after returning from a mission trip with eleven students. It is mostly in response to a deep conversation we had about what will happen when the students leave college. See, they get it – they’re tired of churches that are more concerned with creating their own world rather than changing THE world for the sake of The Kingdom.

So as our students walk across their stages and receive their long expected degrees, will there be a church they can be part of? Will there be a movement of Jesus followers who actually pray as Jesus taught us… and believe it?

9 "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

I was recently walking through the straw market in Nassau, Bahamas. I’ve been there close to a dozen times on mission trips through our Wesley Foundation. It’s a familiar experience to me. What struck me during my most recent visit was the likeness that I found between the current church models and this collection of traders.

When you are new to the scene, you instantly become overwhelmed by the shear size of the venue and the number of traders packed into the space. At times, you may be pressed against the musky cigar trader who’s covered in sweat and whispering, “green, mon, want some green” (note: green is marijuana, for those who don’t know) while a little old lady from one of the cruise ships elbows her way through the crowd. That’s just another typical day in the straw market. What one realizes once they have been to the market several times is that most of the merchants are all selling the same thing. In fact, they actually work for the same boss.

Got Milk?

:: [Guest post by Bob Henry] :: 

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving to pick up my kids from school, I came across an unusual scene.  

Well, not that unusual - most of us have done it at one time or another.  Somewhat lost in my thoughts, enjoying the tunes playing on the radio, I caught something out of the corner of my eye.  There, about four lanes of traffic away, and waiting on the adjacent light to turn green, was a man in a car.  That may not seem that interesting, but what caught my attention was the gallon of milk on his roof.   My instinct was to laugh and say, “What an idiot.”  Then I noticed something happening. 

People in cars on all four sides of the intersection were trying to get this guy’s attention.  Motioning with their hands, rolling down windows and yelling – you name it, they were doing it.  I still just chuckled to myself.  Then I realized I was in the man’s view and may be able to get his attention.  I began motioning by pointing at my roof.  He saw me and began looking.   I pointed up and he looked up.  He wasn’t getting it.  Finally, at the last minute, the man in the car behind him, jumped out of his car, grabbed the gallon of milk and handed it through the window to the unaware man. 

Oh, we all felt good.  People drove through that light with smiles on their faces, as if we had solved a major crisis.  The rest of the drive to pick up my kids had me thinking about what I just experienced.  

How many of us have “milk cartons” on the roofs of our lives? 

Is Graduation Really the End?

They're done, but not gone.  


They're college graduates - prepared and equipped to go out and make a difference in the world - but they don't seem quite ready to step across that threshold from collegiate life to post-grad participation in the 'real' world.

So what are we to do?  Especially if they look to us for answers... or for space to 'hide-out' while they try to figure some things out.

Do we give them a firm, but gentle, nudge out of the proverbial 'nest;' OR do we allow them to hang around for a while?

An Army Behind You

Prayer is our lifeline with God.  It has been of particular significance this past week for me...

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer.

Last weekend it started to rain and flood here in Nashville and we've been praying in so many ways ever since.

Last Friday I posted some thoughts on our need as pastors and ministers to college students to be engaged in the consistent practice of spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting, before attending the Pray40 prayer event hosted by the great folks of College Union, in preparation for the 40 Days of Prayer that will kick-off the 2010-2011 academic year in mid-August.

There was so much good stuff that came out of our day of prayer together last week, you can check out some of the teaching times here, but there was a specific idea that has stuck with me and I'm feeling compelled to act on.

The Greatest Resource [Wasted?]

Do you pray?  Are you engaged in the practice of other spiritual disciplines?  Are they central to your ministry and efforts?  Or are they something you turn to when no other option remains?

These questions are not meant to be condemning or an attempt to sound like a spiritual elitist.  I know I'm guilty of not praying, fasting, etc., as much as I could (or should).  I think it has something to do with the kind of schedules we keep - often quite busy, yet consistently inconsistent.

College ministers, like most other kinds of ministers, can easily fall into the trap of living lives filled with the 'doing' of ministry, while neglecting to 'be' an intentional Christ-follower.

Again, strong words - I know, but what I mean is that we can get so wrapped up in doing all of the things that we are called to do as pastors and servants of college students - really good stuff like:

• leading worship services
• leading Bible studies
• counseling students
• sharing Christ
• facilitating service and mission opportunities
• investing in student leaders
• investing in professional staff
• watching the budget
• caring for facilities
• preparation - for ALL of the above
• and the list could go on and on and on...

that we then allow ourselves to schedule over the time that we should be focused on tending to OUR own relationship with Jesus (the 'being' a Christ-follower).  

Slow Down!

The margins in my life have been pretty thin this year. 

Our family moved into a new house back at the end of August - yes, just as the new school year was beginning - not the ideal time to move... but we were so thankful to have the chance in the economy that we're living in.


Between this big adjustment at home, and the crazy pace of life that seems to define most school years, my margins have been thin... and one of the things that has regularly been pushed off of my daily page has been exercise.  I hate that.  And I've missed it (another post for another time).


Well, this morning I was able to get out for a run.  It's not the first time since we've been in this new house, but it was the first time I took this particular route.  I've driven this direction numerous times - it's one of the two ways out of our neighborhood - so it's a route I'm very familiar with... or so I thought.

It's amazing what you notice when you slow down.  

On my run today I noticed houses that sit back off the road just enough that I've never seen them before.  I noticed, for the first time, a creek that cuts back and forth under this street in several different spots.  I noticed the hills... OH, how I noticed this hills - so beautiful to look at, but something totally different when you encounter them on an early morning run.


All of this got me to thinking about our routines on campus.


If you're anything like me, your days are probably pretty full of meetings - with students, colleagues, administrators, etc. - and those times in between meetings can often easily be consumed with checking email, returning email, planning and prepping for what is next on you calendar... even the walks between meetings can be filled with checking in on our 'smartphones'... and there's something that doesn't seem quite right about it all.


I wonder how different our days might be if we created more space in our schedules... If we chose to intentionally slow down, make ourselves more mentally, emotionally and physically available.  I wonder how different our walks through campus might be if we chose to leave our phones in our pockets and attempted to greet students as we passed them (I recognize that about 99% of them will be on their phones, but... that's a whole other post as well).


We need to challenge ourselves to slow down.  To take in all that makes up the unique place that God has called us to... if we don't, how will we ever see Him at work, or know how to come alongside what He's already doing in that place?


So what do you think?


How thin are the margins in your life?


What are some of the things you might see differently in your ministry context if you chose to intentionally slow down?


Do you know what God is up to on your campus?


I'd love to hear about your experiences!


Grace and peace to you.

In Search of Rest

As some of you have noticed, I've added a "poll" section to my blog page.  I added it last week for a couple of different reasons:

1. I wanted to get a better idea for who you are [as a reader of this blog], and
2. I wanted to get a better feel for some of the things that you are dealing with as you serve on into the spring semester/trimester.

Most of my posts are related to the things I'm currently thinking about, or wrestling with, but desiring to be a resource to others in the field I felt it important to create a way for you [the reader] to guide some of the content of this blog.

So, last week's poll was:

What do you find yourself most in need of right now as a minister?  The overwhelming response: REST.

A Life of Prayer

Today's guest post comes from Rev. Ashlee Alley

We like cats on the campus where I work in campus ministry. The pet kind. Calicos, tabby cats, but especially black cats. Yep…the ones that are supposed to bring you bad luck. For us, they are actually good luck. You see—it has to do with our mascot (stay with me, here…it’s a little confusing). Our nickname at Southwestern is the Moundbuilders, but our mascot is The Jinx—you got it, a black cat! So…while you may have a Wildcat or Panther, or even a Bobcat, we have The Jinx. The Jinx came about through a fun and (mostly true) story about how we beat a rival football team on Halloween one year in the early 1900’s. So says tradition: our players put a tombstone on the goal line with a black cat and the other team’s name on it. After we won, our guys carried it around, only to get it out again the next year. And the next. And the next! After 14 years of victory on our part, the rivals thought that we had really put a jinx on them! And so…The Jinx was born! Anyway, that’s much easier to visually represent than a Moundbuilder, anyway!

Cone of Learning :: Part IV :: Getting More from 'Less'

I've spent the past few days thinking about Edgar Dale's 'Cone of Learning' and what it might have to say to us about how we minister to college students.

In my second post on 'the Cone' I focused on the high, or active, end of the cone and explored how short-term mission endeavors might be some of the most formative - albeit infrequent - experiences we provide students - based on Dale's model.

In yesterday's post I then suggested that some of our 'less formative efforts' - based on Dale's model - might be made more formative with the introduction of some more active elements added to them - like discussion.

Today I'd like to end this thread of thought by suggesting that some of those 'experiences' that fall low on Dale's 'Cone' might actually be those of the things that eventually provide some of the greatest opportunities for powerful, consistent and long-term growth!

Learning to do the simple, the mundane, the ordinary things of life... like reading, listening and looking - with an openness to, and an awareness of, God in our midst... is a way of understanding spiritual growth that does not fit easily into Dale's 'Cone.'

When we consider some of the spiritual disciplines that Jesus modeled for us in the stories of scripture we see average become divine!

• Reading becomes meditation on, and study of, God's Word
• Listening becomes prayer
• Looking becomes seeing the world with the eyes of God

Learning to experience God in the ordinary of life does not come naturally, nor is it as 'exciting' as the mountain-top or extra-ordinary experiences that come every now and then... but the kind of consistent, hearty fruit that hangs on the trees of the spiritually grounded, growing and strong!

Yes, there are definitely some things that we should take away from the 'Cone of Learning,' but we can never presume how, where, or through what God will choose to work!

What are your experiences with learning to experience God in the midst of the 'ordinary'?

When Your Ministry Doesn't Grow Fast Enough

In an age of instant this, and instant that, waiting has become a serious discipline... especially when it's your only option!

There are many things in life that we can "speed up" if we're willing to cut corners, side-step certain scenarios, or even make do with a sub-standard finished product.

When it comes to spiritual growth, the growth of your ministry, or anything else that can only be grown through the working of God... then patience becomes more than just a virtue... it becomes an absolute necessity.. to your sanity and longevity as a minister.

I like the way Paul talks about this when writing to the church in Corinth about the source of true growth:

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow" (1 Cor. 3:6).

We're in a season of watering right now in a lot of our ministry efforts here...

The students who helped us plant the seeds of a number of ministry efforts have graduated and moved on... and while we think we might some some sprouts starting to poke through the dirt of our campus, there's no clear sign of much happening.

We are waiting, in faith, and believing that God is at work beneath the surface of our prayerful efforts!

It's the watering season...

And while that's hard enough for the staff - that has a long-term vision and buy-in to our ministry efforts on campus - it's much harder, I believe, on student leaders who want so badly to see God move in mighty ways right now - especially on the heals of big prayers, creative efforts, new ideas and a strong belief that something "more" should be happening.

In an instant society, waiting can often feel more like death or dying...

But learning to listen for the leading of God - above all of the noise, distraction and promptings from those who struggle to be patient to try something new - must become a well-practiced spiritual discipline.

That and waiting!

How do you deal with the "watering seasons?" How do you help students through times like this?

re-creation

Saturday's posts will be about recreation...

Re-creating ourself - away from the office...

Workaholism is a terrible disease that plagues our country, our families, our health, and yes, even our ministers.

In my first year of ministry i received two of the best pieces of advice regarding my work, and longevity, as a minister...

1. You should NEVER work more than 2 0f the 3 time periods of the day.  If you know you're going to be out in the evening, than arrange to come in late... or be out in the afternoon.  Plan your calendar accordingly!
   
2. There is ALWAYS more ministry to be done... if you plan to stay "at the office" until it's all done then you'll never end up going home.

As ministers we NEED to have a life outside of the work that we do on campus!  

• We need to spend time with family and/or friends.
• We need to engage in the delight of a hobby.
• We need to take care of non-work related tasks that often get pushed to the side when we're in the midst of "doing ministry."
• We need to be with people who fill us up... as most of our work on campus involves us pouring ourselves out into the lives of others.

At the end of a week packed full of ministry, we NEED to be willing to spend some time caring for ourselves... so that when "Monday" rolls around (I recognize that "Mondays" and "weekends" happen at different times of the week depending on where and how we do ministry) we'll be ready for a new week of investing in the lives of students!

So how do you re-create?

What are the life-giving, non-ministry related, activities that you spend time doing on the weekends?

Do you struggle to disconnect yourself from campus?  If so, why?

I love what I do on campus, just like you... but over the course of time I have come to realize that without the proper attention to certain areas of my life as a minister... like intentionally stepping away from campus on Saturdays to care for myself in some significant ways, the recipe for burnout and/or moral failure is much less likely to present itself.

We have to remember that God won't leave campus just because we do... 

In fact, He's a lot more likely to use us if we are refreshed and ready after we've joined Him in re-creating ourselves!

creating space

although i've only been blogging since mid-march of this year... i've really taken to it.

it's almost become a spiritual discipline of sorts.

i find it a great space for me to reflect on what's happening in my life and what i think i see God doing in my midst...

although i have a personal blog i was challenged yesterday to consider a new venue...

one that would explore (hopefully with others) campus ministry and the lives of those who are called into this unique field.

the catalyst?

a great coffee conversation with Benson Hines - a HUGE advocate for campus ministry - and i was convinced that i needed to join with him in seeing the field that we are both so committed to, and passionate about, continue to further in its development.

neither one of us are quite sure what we have to offer... but we're both willing to do whatever we can...

in 12 years i've served on 4 different campuses, representing 3 different denominations, and have had the pleasure of working with a host of great people while seeing ministry done in a number of different ways.

i hope this blog will be more than just a space for me to reflect on what i've learned and am learning...

i hope it will become a space that campus ministers around the globe will choose to visit, find encouragement from, share their wisdom through, and grow in our interconnectedness to one another as we serve the mission of Christ in the unique environment that is the university campus.

may this space be a place where God speaks to and through all who might choose to visit!

thanks in advance to all who will add to this space and the work of God all around the world.