Spirit Filled

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.  Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.  Galatians 5:24-25   (NLT)

As our team began meeting before the school year began, we sought the Lord for what He wanted us to be about: Experiencing the Spirit-Filled Life and Making Jesus Known!  We have been doing a lot of pondering and talking about what it means to live a life surrendered to the will of the Holy Spirit who lives in believers. What does it look like?  How do we do it?  

Tom is a new student with us this year.  He’s a grad student who has a relationship with Jesus and had been a part of a different campus ministry in his home state for his undergraduate years.  Although he is pretty shy, he joined one of our small group Bible studies right away.  Andrew is a part of that same small group, and had begun meeting with Tom one on one.  While meeting one day, they talked about what it is to live life directed by God’s Spirit.  “I am not living this way,” Tom earnestly confessed to Andrew. Tom was able to identify that he was not allowing or inviting the Holy Spirit to lead, but wanted to begin.  This led to a glorious moment of agreeing with what God was showing him and pursuing a life of walking with the Spirit.  

I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and giving.  This life change would not be possible without you. We must proclaim His truth and allow for His Spirit to do the rest in those who have ears to hear.  Praying and trusting for receptive ears to hear.

#Victorious

…overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.                                                  Romans 8:37b-38.

One area that God has called me to proclaim in conjunction with the Gospel is our identity in the Lord Jesus.  As Patrice and I minister to this new crop of students as well as staff, there is an overwhelming struggle for us to believe in the truth that God has made us to be in Christ Jesus.  While battling sin is admirable, even that can take us away from understanding how to live out the truth in Christ.  We need to know and believe that He has already won the battle so we can sprint on to the next work that He has for us to do.  There is a battle to believe that we have worth and value. Thank you for fighting alongside us to allow students, faculty and staff to believe in their true worth, which affects their career choices, relationship and family choices, and  what they will live their lives for.  

A New Season

One of the areas that I am so passionate about giving leadership to is spiritual formation. Spiritual formation in our context will be using any means possible to help staff and students focus on their deepening of faith and spiritual growth. Often times in ministry there can be an emphasis on ministering to others while finding yourself dry or going through the motions just because you can.   I am passionate about helping our staff team, volunteers, and students understand that they are more important than what they can produce or do for the Lord. 

I have met with young families and encouraged them to make sure that their first ministry is to their families.  Their calling in Cru ministry would come after their first calling. 

I have reminded staff that the number one priority in their job is to love the Lord.  Pursuing time with Him should fall into their working hours, as well as after work.     

I have mediated a dispute between team members.  Interpersonal conflict is the number one reason why staff leave the mission field. 

I have spoken words of grace and truth to some students and staff that needed to hear it.  There is more here than meets the eye.  The movement here at UW has a lot of moving pieces.  It has been so fun and life giving to be able to jump right in and be a blessing to the movement and the students. Based on feedback and affirmation from the Lord, so far I’ve been able to step right in and operate in a way that is a lift to the team, not just production wise, but life and spirit-wise--my main goal.

One thing that has been awesome is getting to see Patrice add quite a bit to the team.  She has blessed the young moms on the team who are chasing around little kiddos- a not too distant memory for us.  I also love seeing Patrice meet with some of the young staff and students.  She has a lot to offer these young women and more than that, by just spending time with them she is allowing them to see what it looks like to be an incredible woman of God.  I am so very proud of Patrice and these new opportunities that she finds herself in.  She is more open to them and God seems to be providing them too.   It’s a new season for us in so many ways.

Thankful to serve, thankful to love, thankful to you for enabling us to minister in these ways!  

Cru Conference

Unexpected Openness

It was “Jenna’s” lack of certainty in anything she believed that struck Deborah.

Deborah, a student at Highline Community College (just south of Seattle) had met Jenna during Rockwood Knocks – the Cru Conference 2014 Day of Faith.

Our group had moved from door to door, surveying the needs of the neighborhood for the Rockwood Community Development Corporation with everyone who would talk to us.

Jenna invited our group inside and out of the cold at once. She was warm and genuinely happy to talk with them. The last question in the survey asked if Jenna had attended a religious gathering in the last week.

“No,” she said, but a group of Jehovah Witnesses met in her home, even though she was not one of them. As she talked, Deborah began to realize how little the woman grasped of her own thoughts about the world and life.

As Jenna finished, I asked if anyone had ever explained to her what the core meaning of Christianity is.  She said, “No.” So then I asked if it would be okay to share what we believed. She agreed. Her interest surprised Deborah.

Another way to serve and bless the neighborhood was by picking up trash

“It shocked me how open she was to what we were talking about,” she said. “She was genuinely engaged. She wanted to know. I’ve never met anyone who was so willing to listen to what we believe.”

As we explained the purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross, she seemed to understand, for the first time, as she studied the diagram of the cross spanning the gulf between God and man. At the end of their conversation, she didn’t make a decision, but as they left her, they knew that she’d understood – the rest was up to God.

“Sometimes we assume that people don’t want to get into spiritual conversations – that they don’t want to talk about it,” Deborah said. “But just seeing how this lady, with everything she had going for her – she didn’t know what she was seeking. The Gospel needs to be presented clearly and in full, because even in her own beliefs, she was lost and didn't know what she believed.”

“One of the seminars had a lady talking about human trafficking and injustice which is what I want to invest my life in, I had no idea that Christianity could be involved in it and help so many people. I want to try and pursue Christianity and social justice as a career.” -student

Taking time to pray over our speaker

“I realized that God is the only one who can truly satisfy me and that I am loved no matter how I perform, because he does not base his approval on performance. Before the conference, I was doubting God a lot and was ready to walk away from God. Now I realize why I was doing that and am walking toward God instead of away from him.”- student

New Life

Daniel's dad was shot in the heart by a gang member as a part of his initiation.  Daniel's dad miraculously survived. This became the catalyst for him to begin a relationship with Jesus.  He thought that the only reason he was alive was that there must be a God who kept him from dying. 

Years later Daniel observes his dad and his relationship with Christ.  Even though he has had some reservations about religion or God on the whole, Daniel cannot deny the life change that he sees in his dad. 

So as Daniel goes off to college his father implores him to seek after God.  Daniel goes and keeps that in his mind as he has a good relationship with his father and wants to respect him.  

Daniel receives a card in the mail inviting him to check out Cru at UO.  He thinks, “Oh I should check this out in light of my request from my dad.” So he does and we meet and start to share life and experiences.

 
Daniel continues to come to meetings, Bible studies, for dinners and events.  And when asked about Jesus he states that he would like an undeniable experience like his dad’s.  After some reflection I invite Daniel to consider that maybe this year, with all its collective experiences, relationships, and happenstance God moments, could possibly be the experience that he has been seeking. 

Fast forward to this school year, just a few weeks ago, on a visit to Eugene. We reconnect over dinner.  After asking how he is doing spiritually, he describes a moment during Christmas Eve in which he has the strongest feeling he has ever had that Jesus is for him.  He said he wanted to call me, but he didn't because he thought he would be an inconvenience.   Then Daniel matter-of-factly stated that this strong feeling went away.  Daniel described having more feelings like that since then, but not as strong and that they would simply go away. 

I replied to Daniel, "You know Jesus won't force His way into your life, right?”  I quoted Revelation 3:16.  I said, "Daniel, I definitely believe that you are hearing God's voice, but you need to open the door of your heart and life to receive Him.  Jesus won't do that for you." 

After talking about the implications of trusting Christ and some residual objections to Him, I asked Daniel, "Would you like to receive Christ?"  Which Daniel nodded his head and said, "Yes." 

At 7:32p.m. on January 22nd at Tasty Thai in Eugene, Daniel accepted Jesus into his heart.