Let's dream

UofL is a campus with potential. It is a place where God has been at work for years, and is primed and ready for something special. Let's dream about how we can be part of what He is doing in students lives. Let's plan for prayer and ways that we can involve others in prayer. Let's plan and dream of outreach and evangelism and think of ways that we can involve others.

What potential do you see there and how can you be a part of what God is doing?

What could God do if we just asked him?

Why Pray?

Why do we pray? God is in control and his will is going to happen, so what difference does prayer make?
Why did Jesus pray? He was God incarnate! Why would he need help!?

"Prayer is a war time walkie-talkie and we don't understand why it doesn't work when you use it as a domestic intercom to ring the maid for another pillow." - John Piper

Are we in a time of war or a time of peace? Do we really need to pray?

Humility

Martin Luther got saved on the toilet. Where were you when you came to faith?

15 Reasons

At the end of chapter 3, Dan Hayes suggests writing out at least fifteen reasons why you believe your campus needs spiritual awakening and why your ministry needs revival. So, here are "15 Reasons why UofL needs spiritual awakening and Cru needs revival":
1. Most of the UofL athletes I know are alcoholics
2. Homosexuality is becoming more and more common and socially acceptable at UofL, especially within athletics
3. Pornography is so easy to access now and is robbing Christians of spiritual power
a. “Lust, sex, and pornography have diluted and neutralized our spiritual power.”
4. Crime is high around Louisville
5. Creation is dismissed as a valid scientific theory for the beginning of the universe
6. We need more freshmen! They are the future of the movement
7. The Elohim Academy (Mother God) people are saturating the campus, misleading spiritual seekers and filling Christians with doubt about their salvation
8. Other false teachers preach outside the SAC, promote distorted views of the gospel, and harden hearts towards Christ
9. LGBT services just added the letter Q for questioning to its acronym
10. Mormons are constantly riding around campus seeking to convince people to accept a twisted version of the gospel
11. Jehovah’s witnesses are also around campus and Louisville
12. So many of us Christians have “chosen to stay oppressed and impoverished, lowered the trajectory of our prayers, acquiesced to life as it is, accepted our circumstances, bowed to determinism, and embraced and anemic version of Christianity”!
13. Many Christians have admitted to these problems at UofL, but so few have been gripped by the problems and propelled to action! No one seems as outraged as Jesus was in the temple with his whip.
14. The “life interrupted” college mindset is prolific at UofL
15. “We have not killed Him, but we have made Him boring.” Christ and Christianity are perceived as boring on our campus!

These are not in any particular order, just the order I thought of them in.

What are your reasons? What "makes you weep and pound the table?"

How Not to Kill a Spiritual Conversation: Avoiding communication pitfalls when telling others about God

I saw this posted on facebook from Campus Cruade's page and found it very eye-opening, so I thought I'd share it.
original page: http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth/training/conversation-killers.htm
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A Lesson From a Lieutenant Colonel

National Public Radio once aired a story about a standoff in Najaf, Iraq, between an angry mob of Shiites and a heavily armored patrol from the American 101st Airborne Division.

Fearing that the soldiers were preparing to desecrate their holy shrine, hundreds of unarmed civilians pressed in toward the soldiers, waving their hands and shouting defiantly.

The standoff would probably have been disastrous if not for the quick thinking of United States Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hughes.

Hughes, who was in command that day, picked up a loudspeaker and barked out 3 simple commands to his troops: First, he told them to "take a knee;" second, to point their weapons toward the ground; and finally, to look up and give everyone in the hostile crowd a friendly smile.

A few moments after they obeyed his order, the demeanor of the crowd changed. Hostility and defiance melted away. Smiles and friendly pats on the back replaced shaking fists and screaming voices.

Changing the Tone of a Conversation

This story has important implications for spiritual conversations in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to the traditional kinds of conversations Christians attempt to have.

Much like the Shiites with whom Lt. Col. Hughes dealt, many people we hope to reach for Jesus react defensively.

They anticipate, and are amply prepared for, any direct attack on the holy places and sacred shrines of their hearts.

So how do we keep from becoming entangled in these no-win, never-ending quagmires?

The Message version of Colossians 4:5-6 puts the answer this way: "Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out."

I've found that God usually wants to do something in us before He can do something through us. He wants us to be transformed into the very message we are trying to share with others.

Identifying and eliminating the spiritual conversation killers in your life is a pivotal part of each Christ follower's journey toward internalizing the truth of Colossians 4:5‑6.

Killer 1: An Unbelieving Heart

Do you really believe the people in your Monday‑through-Saturday world want to talk about spiritual things? If you don't, I urge you to stop reading right now and invite Christ to help you with your unbelieving heart.

Killer 2: Our Language, Not Theirs

When we lead with questions such as “Are you saved?" or "Have you been born again?" people feel like outsiders. When we speak "Christianese," we are unwittingly saying, "If you want to have a spiritual conversation with me, you'll have to do so on my terms."

Jesus modeled something quite different. He used the language of the day to speak of heavenly truths.

The Apostle Paul asked believers to pray that he would proclaim the message clearly (Colossians 4:4). When we use our language rather than theirs, we confuse people and often leave them feeling confused or stupid.

Jesus used language that built bridges and opened doors. We can do the same by learning to translate spiritual truth into the everyday vernacular of the people with whom we converse.

Killer 3: Combativeness

It's exhilarating to watch two good tennis players volley back and forth. Each tries to cause the other to get out of position in order to hit a decisive shot -- a winner -- and score a point. Unfortunately, I used to view spiritual conversations in the same way. I viewed the person I was talking with as my opponent who must be won to my Christian point of view.

Even if my opponent was up for it, most of the time these worldview challenges led to heated debates, and heated debates eventually gave way to arguments.

In the end, I never argued anyone into the kingdom of God.

As I once heard professor and author Dallas Willard say, "It's very difficult to be right about something without hurting someone with it."

We need to remember that not-yet‑Christians are not the enemy; they're victims of the enemy. We're called to move into culture with compassion.

Begin Again

Just one of these conversation killers can close down your opportunities for spiritual conversation. The good news is that failure is usually never fatal or final; it's just an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Lt. Col. Hughes saved the day when he acted wisely toward people whose values were different from his. Let's follow his example. Let's "take a knee" (a position of humility, from which we approach conversations as listeners and learners); let's point our guns to the ground (back away from confrontational attempts to overpower people), let's look up and smile (communicate that we are respectful, warm, friendly and caring people).

I urge you to take these ideas seriously and to prayerfully consider how to implement them.

©2009 Doug Pollock. Adapted with permission from God Space: Where Spiritual Conversations Happen Naturally, by Doug Pollock. Visit godsgps.com to learn more or download the first 2 chapters of the book free.

Life Interrupted

"Even if it's never articulated, college students live with a pervasive sense or mindset that college is 'life interrupted' - a time to have fun, a period of preparation for life, a time to acquire the tools to make a mark, just not the time to leave one."

I confess that I have held this mindset and have wasted a lot of time waiting until I was "old enough" or "experienced enough." How do we combat this mindset? How do we convince ourselves and others that we have the power and ability to make an impact on this campus? What will convince us that WE are the ones who need to act?

God give us boldness and use us in our weakness. Use us in ways that will point to your power and not ours!

Chapter 1

"On most campuses our heads don't rise above sea level to be recognized as anything more than another club or subculture." How true is this of Cru at Louisville, and Christians on campus in general? We need more than a name and a meeting to really live out the great commission. We need the Spirit and the gospel and the love of God present in our lives and words. "When there is a lack of spiritual vitality, joy and zeal, Christianity drifts towards legalism; adherents define themselves by what they don't do rather than by what they do and what they are--Christ followers." If we want to be recognized as more than some club and radically different, it can't occur through creating a sterile Christian bubble of an environment that blocks out all the evils of the world. We need to act as Christians-literally "little Christs"-and do as Jesus would. He ate among sinners and came for the spiritually sick, and we should do the same. Creating a community built on and filled with legalism only begets judgement for the lost and pushes them away. Instead, we are called to love and leave the judging to the Father. How much of a different would it make if such a transformation happened in Cru?

Good Ideas

Sorry, This isn't exactly about Fireseeds.

I know we've talked about most of this before but I think this provides a concise refresher of some great ways to reach our university for Christ. 7 Ways to be Missional in College

1st thoughts

This book is great stuff. Thanks Scott for bringing it to our attention. Just finished forward, intro, and chapter 1. "Lust, sex, and pornography have diluted and neutralized our spiritual power" (page 3). Brothers, flee these things. Put them to death. Be who you are. Sons of the living God.

Foreward and Intro - Vision!

“Fireseeds is a book of stories – stories of how God has worked in and through generations past. All over the globe and for thousands of years, God has been at work in His people of every tongue, tribe and nation for his glory. Many of those inspiring stories are recounted here. But Fireseeds is more than stories, as powerful as they are. Within this book you will find a compelling vision for how God can transform your life, your campus, and your world.”

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” – Habakkuk 3:2

What is your vision?

What do you long to see happen on UofL’s campus?

What stories do you want to be able to tell?

Reading Schedule

Hey,

I have all the books at my house. Come by and pick one up whenever you can, just let me know you are coming.

Here is the rough schedule we laid out at the meeting last Tuesday:

May 1 - 16..................................Forward and Intro

May 17 - 23..................................Chapter 1

May 24 - 30.................................Chapter 2

May 31 – Jun 6............................Chapter 3

Jun 7 - 13.....................................Chapter 4

Jun 14 - 20..................................Chapter 5

Jun 21 - 27...................................Chapter 6

Jun 28 – Jul 4.............................Chapter 7

Jul 5 - 11.......................................Chapter 8

Jul 12 - 18....................................Chapter 9

July 19 - ? ....................................Afterward

You can read ahead if you want but I figured it would be easy to discuss if we were all on the same chapter.

If you ever have an interesting thought or question about what you read, post it on the Blog! We want this Blog to always be active so that we can be processing the text and bouncing ideas off each other.

New Bloggggg

Hello! In order to post on the blog, everyone must accept the invite that I send out via email to be an 'author'. Just go up to the top of the page and click New Post. Then have a good time. Any questions let me know, i may be able to answer them? Peace out.