Crossroads: How much do I focus on Evangelism?

I am at a crossroads. Where do I put my focus as a campus minister? Do I focus on evangelism? Do I focus on building up the body? Do I focus on salvations? Do I focus on leaders? Do I spend my time answering emails in my office? Do I spend more time on campus trying to connect with my students? Do I spend enough time sharing Christ on campus?

These questions flooded my mind this morning in ways that have never made me stop and think like this before. Let’s start with evangelism.

e·van·ge·lism/iˈvanjəˌlizəm/
Noun:

  1. The spreading of the Christian gospel by preaching or personal witness.
  2. Zealous advocacy of a cause.

Is my responsibility as a campus minister to get on campus and be zealous about Christ and spread the Christian Gospel? Is my goal to see more souls saved? Am I supposed to get the word out about Romans 10:9-10 as much as possible?

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Should I be trying to get college students saved by praying a prayer and telling them “Now you will be in heaven with me! Woohoo!?” Should I be trying to get students to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” so they can experience God? Sometimes I don’t even feel like that, in fact sometimes I doubt myself being in the presence of God BECAUSE I DON’T FEEL LIKE THAT.

I want to explore these questions I have and hopefully get some feedback. Next time we will bring up discipleship.

Where are you in all of this…whether you are in ministry or not?

2012
01/24
CATEGORY
College Ministry
God or Gas?
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How to be full of light and joy

Light Bulb

Picture from Creationswap.com

Proverbs 13:9: The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

I took a semester break from this blog because of how crazy my fall semester was. Now, hopefully, I’m back (we’ll see how long it lasts ha!).

This verse caught me off guard this morning. What is light and joy? To me, it is a radiance, a spring in your step, an attraction, a peace that most people don’t have. Most people just try and make it through the day. Their “light” is snuffed out even if they are a follower of Christ because their blinders only allow them to look forward. So, there is no light radiating. What’s really interesting is that light and joy eventually impact others without even trying. Think about a light bulb it shines light to everything near. The bulb doesn’t have to try and cast light, it just turns on and off. The results just happen.

You never know the impact you are going to make. So, live a godly life by getting in the Word daily and then allowing the joy and light of your life to shine to those around you. Who knows…one day someone might walk up to you and say thanks for helping me out of my darkness.

We used this video to explain how you never know the impact you are going to make. I highly recommend showing it to your ministry.

2012
01/13
CATEGORY
College Ministry
God or Gas?
TAGS



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Love of God will keep you from stumbling

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Well, now that insanity week is over I can blog more regularly.

Psalm 21:7 – For the king trusts in the LORD. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.

This verse hit me hard today. When we get tired/stressed we can stumble in many forms: lust, anger, reliance upon ourselves, trust in knowledge, etc. However, if we truly love the LORD, He will keep us from stumbling. How does that work?

We need to daily renew our trust and love in Jesus Christ. We are human: we forget, move on, get tired, give up. But, no action can keep us from stumbling, only love for our savior can. Is the LORD more lovely to you than your sin? If not, then you WILL stumble and fall. Today, look for ways to show your love for the LORD.
2011
08/30
CATEGORY
God or Gas?
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When we find happiness in a person

Recently, I was talking with someone about how hurt they felt by a person. Many times, as followers of Christ, we end up finding our joy through people. We will never be satisfied when this happens. Check out what my response was and hopefully it will help you see clearly how to remedy this issue.

Sounds like you are hurting pretty bad. But I know the reason you are hurting bad. When you put so much reliance/happiness on a person you will always be failed. Humans will always fail you. Not because we are inherently evil but because we are selfish.

My suggestion would be to put your focus back on God. Through that you will depend on only Him and He will always comfort you. 1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Also if you go to http://www.usfbcm.com/refuel/?page_id=69 there are some prayers based upon Scripture that will help you focus on God more than yourself. But this can only happen if you trust God. So read your Bible daily to renew your mind on Him (Romans 12:1-2).

What would you say? Would you add anything?

2011
06/22
CATEGORY
God or Gas?
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Who are you inviting?

Easter is this Sunday. Who are you inviting? I was listening to Perry Noble today during one of his Unleash talks. He said,

If you are making disciples that don’t make disciples then you aren’t making disciples.

So who have you invited to church? Then when they said no, did you invite them again? and again? and again? Don’t give up, many people today would not be followers of Christ if others had given up. I am praying for hundreds of thousands of people to get saved this Sunday. Below are some resources of church services in the Tampa area. If you are not in the Tampa area and are looking for a church please contact me asap and I’ll help you find a place to go.

Tampa Area:

Good Friday Services:
2011
04/21
CATEGORY
God or Gas?
TAGS


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How to disciple someone

Continuing with the topics from my Ministry Training LifeGroup…

The next topic was how to disciple someone. This topic was a follow up to the message I gave at Challenge the night before. Basically I talked about the specifics of discipling a person or a group of people. The ultimate goal is to make more disciples as Christ commanded us. What do you use to disciple someone intentionally?

Handouts:

2011
04/20
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Sunday’s Coming…

This was sent to me by a friend of mine, Chris Lowery.

So what happened 1,978 years ago this week?

Well, Jesus has already presented himself to the nation as the Messiah by triumphantly entering Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna.” (Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19). He cursed the fig-tree (Mark 11:12-14) and he also cleansed the Temple from corrupt money-changers (Matthew 21:10-19, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-48).

The following happened on Tuesday of Passion Week:

  • The cursed fig-tree is found withered (Mark 11:20-26)
  • Jesus personally confronts the authorities and defends His claims to be the Messiah. The Sanhedrin challenges Jesus and He answeres in parables. (Matthew 21:23-22:14, Mark 11:27-12:12, Luke 20:1-19).
  • Jesus answers question about Caesar and taxes (Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26).
  • The Sadducees question Jesus about the Resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27, Luke 20:27-40).
  • The Pharisees ask Jesus which commandment is the most important of all (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34).
  • Jesus recognizes the widow’s gift (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4).
  • On the return to Bethany, the disciples continued to ask questions. Jesus stops at the Mount of Olives across from the temple complex and provides detailed prophecy about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple due to the rejection of Him as Messiah by the Jewish authorities (Matthew 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1-37, Luke 21:5-36).
  • Judas Iscariot contracts with the chief priests (Matthew 26:24-26, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6).

“It’s Tuesday, but Sunday is coming!”

2011
04/19
CATEGORY
God or Gas?
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How to prepare a talk/sermon

Andy StanleyContinuing with the topics from my Ministry Training LifeGroup…

The next topic was how to prepare a talk/sermon. I walked the group how I prepare when communicating to a group. This can be for a service, seminar, or even sales pitch. I pretty much used my love of the book Communicating for a change by Andy Stanley. An amazing book for those who really want to enhance their speaking and prep skills.

Handouts:

2011
04/18
CATEGORY
Leadership
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How to lead a small group/Bible study

The Bible

Image via Wikipedia

Continuing with the topics from my Ministry Training LifeGroup…

The next topic was how to lead a small group. What’s cool is how this topic also lead into how to study the Bible. Below are the handouts and notes I used. I hope this helps someone out! Remember, the goal of a LifeGroup (or any small group) is not just knowledge but to multiply to see more disciples made.

Handouts:

Books:
2011
04/15
CATEGORY
Leadership
TAGS


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Overkill is growing…

Overkill LAN Party

If you’ve been to my blog you have ready many times about my affection for Catalyst. The conferences and speakers have truly enhanced the ministry God has charged me with. To my surpise, last night I find that there is a blog post written about a ministry we do here at the USF BCM called Overkill. I pray that somehow God uses it because Overkill has been absolutely incredible. The post talks about how this ministry came from a vision from God to not just me but other individuals as well. Something we really subscribe to here at the USF BCM is based up on Craig Groeschel’s quote:

In order to reach people that no one is reaching, you have to do things that no one else is doing

Check out the post here

2011
04/13
CATEGORY
Ideas
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