Retreat Weekend

Retreat was awesome!! 12 students came and each one shared the insights they had after meditating on a parable of Jesus for a week. I’ve noticed also that at both winter retreats Jason has us do some sort of encouragement exercise. This year we wrote notes to each other and put them in envelopes. On Saturday evening we took 20 minutes to read the notes followed by group sharing for the rest of the evening. This was one of the more powerful moments.

This weekend I saw God at work in 3 specific ways and 1 general way. First, Jamie, yearns for a knowledge of the Word and it just so happened that the van brake line broke just before we left so I had to drive my car and she rode with Amanda and I which gave us over 2 hours to simply talk about the story of the Bible. She soaks up every bit of it and I love to tell the story. :) Second, Ben came to us at the end of last year wanting to change his life. He was baptized over the summer and this weekend he let himself go in worship of God and the thoughts that he shared. He returned to Morgantown and invited 2 ladies to college church. He is on fire and excited. Third, one of our leaders is dating a great girl and they are growing so that they do more together than they ever could apart, which I believe is important in a marriage. This was evident in how much they are growing and willing to share the daily devotionals they are going through together. In general, this is accomplishing the primary task of laying a positive foundation as I encourage each one of them in their gifts, desires, and growth. And mostly watch and enjoy it with them.

I’ve also had two interesting things happen and both of them came from comments Amanda made on Sunday evening. (It is amazing how much insight she has. Sometimes it seems God is laying things on her heart so He can share them with me vocally and get through to me.) First, she joked that I dilly more than anyone she knows. I don’t feel like it but I have noticed that it seems my tendency is to say I don’t have time for this right now so I’ll do something else. I’m noticing that in campus ministry if I wait for a chunk of time to do the ‘rocks’ they never get completed and all I succeed in doing is playing with the sand. The second comment was that Amanda mentioned feeling beat down and frustrated. The financial problems with the church and negativeness surrounding that have taken their toll on the elder’s meetings, the congregation, and us. Now it seems to be seeping into the campus ministry. There are some great things going on and I need to, now more than ever, focus on the positive and be optimistic. It’s a tough game Satan is playing here.

Do you trust me?

Tuesday, I shared a little about the information overload, this past week I have begun to prepare for 5602 Reformation to 20th century history. Initially this felt like just adding to the overload. So I began to pray for God to reveal himself through the words of others as they encounter God and to encounter Him in their words. God was faithful in this. As I read some of Luther’s writings on the doctrine of justification by faith I found God asking me the question of faith. “Do you trust me?” I say yes because I followed You to WVU. But that doesn’t seem to be enough. I have to somehow give up this information overload somehow and trust that He will provide me with the answers. This can not mean do not read the material but somehow trust that He will guide my thoughts and give me the words to share through the Spirit. I don’t understand this yet but it is riding hard on my heart.

This weekend we have our Winter Retreat. I have worked hard to get all my school work accomplished so that I can focus on ministry this weekend. This was mostly successful.

Information Overload

I noticed Friday as I mentored with Drew that I need to pray more for people. Get into their lives and ask God to reveal Himself in powerful ways. I also need to spend more time with God, seeking His vision for my mentoring and actions. It seems like I am simply trying to tread water most of the time. It’s like being on an information overload that is drowning me. I am reading for HUGSR, Jmen, Locke mentoring, class prep, and mentoring prep. So much information is going in that I don’t have time to process it and it affects my ministry abilities as well. I struggle with focusing on the moment and my priorities and my thoughts drift instead of being engaged. I attribute this to all the information that is floating around in my head. So I began to pray before getting out of bed every morning; thanking God for the day and asking for the help of the Spirit in my activities and priorities. My hope is that I will focus on the priorities and realize that I don’t have to do everything and I don’t have to do it to perfection.

Mentoring and advice

Mentoring with Locke this week focused on teaching classes and general advice. Getting people to talk in class is one of my goals and priorities. Locke offered that the initial activity is the key. Poll the class on a question and then inquire why. Other possibilities is small group work that answers questions and then comes back and reports. In order to keep people engaged after the initial activity try PowerPoint and handouts. I have already incorporated handouts in some of my classes but PowerPoint is an idea for the auditorium class. Mostly I will see if I have time to create something.

Second was general advice. Locke offered 4 ideas on our future work in full-time ministry.
1) Arrive early for things. I already do this for the most part but having a kid adds another element that I am working with.
2) Consult with elders and staff about vacations before setting times and buying plane tickets. Even get it in writing via email. This came up in our situation when there was some miscommunication and all three ministers were gone for a Wednesday. Each one thought we had told enough people but none of us had it in writing.
3) I have a tendency to not finish things because I get overwhelmed with trying to do to many good things. Focus on what I believe God has led me to do and make sure I am spending time with my family. Learn to say no and don't promise anything unless I set a deadline and then report back to whoever on it.
4) This goes along with point 3, Don't speak up or get involved unless I'm able and willing to be the lead person. Provide guidance when asked but don't lead or take over the situation. This is difficult because of my dominant personality. Locke suggested if I focus on campus ministry and display and share that excitement it will be easier to avoid taking on too many things. I can say I have too much going on in campus ministry right now to accomplish this task and then proceed to share one or two of the great things I am working on. I like this focus and will try to incorporate it immediately.

Locke is a great mentor and I am thankful that he invests in training me.

For ministry I will have mentoring with Drew today and will meet with Brandon & Amanda on Sunday to set up a Bible study with them. It's an exciting time.

A fast start

Sunday I continued my 1 Cor class. It is a different venue for me, the auditorium, and was difficult to draw them into the discussion. Sunday night we had our first college church of the year and had 3 visitors. Two were boyfriends and the third was a young lady that transferred here. I met the young lady that morning at services and introduced her to some of our students. She seems to have connected well and quickly.

Monday was a stretch for my wife. We did our first PRT evangelism of the year. It consisted of simply handing out a thought about Martin Luther praying more the busier he got and suggesting each person to try it for a week and see what God did. We also had 2 staff meetings.

I am also setting up the Engineering prayer group. I have talked to all 3 people and will get a date firmed up later this week. I have high hopes for how this will open doors for our students to share their faith and encourage other students.

It is a quick start to the week and the semester and there is a lot of promise.

Preparation

This week has been a week of preparation. Locke made an observation that sometimes I don't follow through with things because I get too much on my plate. This is true. So to help with that I have built a schedule and the times I will be working on each goal. That way I will not get sidetracked as easily and will be more able to say no to the other good things that come up.

I have also completed the update of the directory and one of my goals. Yippee!

2008 Spring Semester WVU Goals

Below are my goals for this semester:

Ministry “LAY A POSITIVE FOUNDATION!!”
*Teaching
-Teach Sunday morning auditorium 1 Cor. Class
(1hr prep/1hr teach)
-Teach Wednesday night Bible 101 class for adults & college
(3hr prep/1hr teach)
-Mentor Drew Dishman (1hr)
*Social
-Social night 1 night every other week ~4hrs (2hr)
-Bible study with Brandon Davis & girlfriend Amanda (1hr)
*Advance the Kingdom/Encouragement/Evangelism
-Christian Engineers (1hr)
coalition building by empowering students to see big picture & their role in evangelism
(invite people to a monthly prayer group on campus, encourages sharing faith)
Student leaders must be on board & need VISION
-PRT flier handout M 10-1 (3hr)
*Extras
-Attend activities with a focus on engaging deeper in relationships & lives
*Keep notes on things to pray for each student and insights (3hr)
-Website Updated (1hr)
-Meetings & Bulletin Articles (2hr)
-Plan Spring Break Mission Trip! (1hr)
-Update phone list (Amanda connect w/ everyone every week)

Personal
-Greek & 5602 & Ministry practicum classes from HUGSR
-Joshua's men leadership group

Plan for Reporting
Blog 2x’s/week