Friday is usually one of my days on campus that I set aside for whatever. It’s like my agenda is liquid and I’m pouring it into the ever-evolving shape of Friday.

The weather is extremely fabulous today as well. That brings me to the front steps of the Edge House where I like to sit and watch the traffic and pedestrians.

The view is nothing that you would find on a postcard at the University bookstore, but it’s OUR view…from the steps…of our little place…on the Edge of campus.

From left to right it looks like this…

Especially at this time of day, (between 3-6pm) there’s a constant flow of traffic…and people walking up and down Clifton Avenue. Ocassionally I convince a random unsuspecting student to stop for a latte or shot of espresso. I think I’m getting a reputation for dealing Java here at three-double-0-seven Clifton Ave.

Some of our usuals are here…Kelli is on the porch with me sipping a iced white mocha. Paul and Andy just walked up with their laundry baskets (which probably saves them $5 or $7 compared to the dorm option).  The open grassy spot across the way beckons my inner frisbee self. It’s simply a beautiful day…in the Fall…it’s warm…and we’re all feeling a bit fuzzy about it.

There are many days when my barrel of blogging ideas and topics is pretty much empty. Those are obviously the days on which you won’t find an entry.

On most days I can generate enough reflection and focus to bring one event or thought to the surface.

Rarely are there days like today…I have about five different directions to go and the inability to filter or patiently tuck something away for tomorrow.

At her blog, Karen Spears Zacharias interacts with an emerging Christian and Donald Miller’s new book to provide some insights regarding holiness, hope, and transformation.  I especially liked this statement:

“Hope is a great thing,” I added. “But it’s like Pastor said this morning, the thing Christ offers us that we can’t find anywhere else is transformation.”

She goes on in one of the posted comments to share a good word of caution. Sometimes in our attempt to steer clear of fundamentalism, we may actually lose sight of  a few fundamentals of faith.

Another direction I was interested in taking the blog today has to do with my ministry among students at the University of Cincinnati. Although we are encountering a few challenges to this  ‘missionary’ adventure, some huge affirmation came my way as I was meeting with a couple of students today.

As goofy as it may sound, attempting to follow Jesus’ model of intentionally discipling a few people has not been an easy sell. Whether the ‘resistance’ comes from internal insecurity, ministry supervisors, pastoral or congregational expectations…I have to commit to the vision and strategy repeatedly.

During the lunch conversation with my discipleship group today, we read this powerful truth about Jesus:

“Jesus had enough vision to think small”

I love that statement. It is so counter intuitive. Especially in the church, at pastors’ gatherings, etc…the usual mantra is dream big, plan big, and succeed in those terms. Jesus succeeded by limiting the scope of his ministry in order to expand his impact. Being intentional with a few could lead to so much more lasting spiritual impact than we often experience in our discipling efforts.

Reminds me of some other great experiences and adventures I’ve had in ministry with just a few guys at a time (like a little campout with Witten & Scott–pictured). In all those experiences and relationships, there were a few common ingredients: intentionality, God’s Word, genuine friendship.

That’s what I call it… “Blog Splatter.”  It’s the mental shrapnel and overspray which seems to happen as I read over too many blogs in one day. I have recently switched over from bloglines to google reader to manage my RSS feeds and blogs of choice. Every other day or so I try to read through a sampling of blogs which range mostly from friends to political/current events to vocation & ministry specific blogs regarding campus ministry and ministry in general.

One of the blogs I have begun to enjoy and follow is by Skye Jethani.

His most recent post has to do with fundamentalist Atheist. This is interesting to me because at the Edge House, our campus ministry gathering place at the University of Cincinnati, we are beginning to reach a crowd of students who would claim to be atheists, deists, or agnostics. These students, however, would probably agree with this quote:

The problem isn’t religion, but the broken human beings who practice it–including Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.

I think this statement applies not only to these two militant atheists but to anyone who emphasizes religion over relationships.

The campus ministry post which caught my attention this time was a guest post over at Benson Hines’ blog.

This post refers to a point which was made by Shane Hipps at the Catalyst conference recently.

The method IS the message.

At first, I don’t want to believe that this statement is true. Seriously, can I even count the number of times I’ve heard someone emphasize that “the message never changes…but our method does!?”

But there is such a subtle way in which this is true. And actually, it reinforces what I feel that our ministry is all about at the Edge House: hospitality and grace. I don’t want to compromise the gospel. I have no intention of watering down the truth about Christ and the Kingdom of God. But I’m not going to say it’s all about grace…and it’s all about loving God and loving others…and then create a ministry that isn’t hospitable or grace-filled in its approach to students.  I am going to position myself in such a way as to be transformed daily by God and His Word…and I’m going to be gracefully present in the lives of students, walking alongside as one who is also reconciling and being reconciled.

I woke up at a friend’s house this morning at 5:15 AM. A breakfast of some oatmeal and a whole-grain bagel with peanut butter provided my first fuel of the day. The first little snafu of the day was locking my keys in the car with the engine running as I was heating it up to combat the morning chill. Fortunately, I have a little trick for just that situation. 

After meandering dowtown and scoping out a good parking spot, I loaded my bag and started walking towards the Statehouse/Start Line. The Columbus marathon is a great scene as the runners and spectators gather and fill in a couple of blocks’ worth of Broad Street. The energy and excitement of the crowd seemed to raise the temperature a few degrees as many went through their stretching and warm-up routines.

My plan was to let the pack get through the start line and then work my way up to the pace group of choice. In retrospect, I’m not sure that turned out to be a good plan because the crowd of runners didn’t thin out much until the half-way point.

During the first 5-6 miles I was hitting a pace of about 8:45 and thought that I could trim that to an 8:30 pace by the half-way point. Unfortunately, the pain in my right hip which had become a familiar issue over the past few weeks alerted my brain that today’s run would be no different. By mile 7, I was already having to adjust my gait and stride in some subtle ways to deal with the discomfort. That was my first warning for just how tough the day’s run would be.

I took some 1-minute walk breaks at miles 6, 8, 12, 14, 18, 20, & 22. Early on, the walk breaks were just preventative…giving me a few opportunities for recovery. However, the last 3 walk breaks were out of necessity.

My splits were: 9:13; 8:40; 8:37; 8:29; 8:38; 8:43; 9:55; 9:04; 10:47; 9:15; 8:56; 9:00; 8:50; 8:45; 9:04; 10:49; 9:07; 9:06; 9:19; 9:21; 14:06; 8:04; 7:47; 9:20; 9:28; 11:47

It’s easy to recall from these times what happened to my plan!  The first six miles were run at a pretty decent pace…average around 8:40. During mile 7 was my first walk break. Mile 8 was okay but then I took a longer walk break (with water & gel) during mile 9. Miles 10-15 were fairly strong. Although I could feel the hip/bursitis/whatever in my right leg…it really wasn’t slowing me down. This 5-mile stretch had an average pace of about 9:00 or just under. After mile 15 was another gel/water/walk break which went on a bit too long. The next 4 miles were difficult and fatigue was beginning to set in. Unlike my run in Dayton a month earlier…cramps began to be an issue here, especially in my left calf. This led to an extended walk break during mile 21 in which I also decided to take off my jacket and underarmor cap. Trying to pack this gear into my spibelt pocket proved to be impossible so I decided to tie the jacket around my waste…but I lost about 3 minutes messing with the clothing.

After the long walk break, though, I decided it was time to pick up the pace and believed that I could still finish in under 4 hours. I knew it would take about an 8:30 pace for the duration however. That proved to be a more demanding request than my body could accommodate. As I look at my splits for miles 22 & 23 now, I realize that I tried pushing it a little too much there. Miles 24-25 required that I let up on the gas somewhat and then during the final mile I had a serious cramp attacking both calves. With about .70 to go the crowd began to get thicker and rowdier which always helps me push through at the end.

As I analyze what happened today, I can easily see the mistakes which added approximately 8 minutes onto my time. Beyond those mistakes I would say that there’s evidence of improper training between these last two marathons. Or perhaps 4 weeks between events is not a good idea for adequate recovery and preparation.

Regardless of the disappointing time and finish, I need to focus on the fact that there’s another 26.2 mile event under my belt. And today was my marathon birthday…or the anniversary, you might say, of my first marathon achievement. 1 year ago today I ran my first 26.2 in Columbus at a time of 4:59:51. Today’s time was 4:02:30. So overall, there was a great deal of improvement during this year of training. I am quite content with that. Of course, part of my contentment has to do with the vision which is already taking shape in my head for the 2010 marathon season. I believe I’ll be kicking that off in April with the Kentucky Derby Marathon.

After spending the last few minutes catching up with other blogs and articles within this field of campus ministry, the challenge of finding and focusing on ‘my place’ in this missional effort is staring me down.

As the preparations were being made this summer for my ministry to begin at the University of Cincinnati, I realized there would be two specific demographics vying for my attention this Fall.

Group 1: The students in this group have some knowledge, affinity, or experience with Christianity already. Many of them have been raised in the church and are transitioning from some level of participation in church (youth group, Sunday school, worship services, mission trips, etc) to campus life. The students I’ve encountered so far in this category have a couple of different approaches. One student is looking to stamp out the heresy of any who don’t agree with her particular brand of evangelical Christianity. Another kind of student is attempting to plug into so many different campus ministries and bible studies, that there’s no time or opportunity to get sucked into the evil past-times of their university peers. Then there’s the sort of student who, I think, has a pretty healthy approach. A genuine desire for discipleship exists in order to have a Kingdom impact while being engaged with the campus community.

Group 2: In this second category of students I find those who are a little more jaded about Christianity and even antagonistic towards Group 1 (many for good reasons!). Also found here are the students who have significant questions and struggles with matters of faith but find no safe or relevant context for dealing with such. Unwilling to lay aside reason and embrace a simplistic and anti-intellectual version of any faith, these students welcome the opportunity to connect with someone who would allow them to doubt, wrestle, question, and even withhold assent.

The students in group 2 are certainly more challenging from an intellectual standpoint. I enjoy that sort of challenge and opportunity for dialogue. Apparently I also just like being around these students…they are raw, authentic, funny, and engaging. (They also tend to be more fond of coffee than group 1) 

But I do not really have the option to ignore group 1…nor do I really want to. However, I’m not going to play their little ministry-hopping game of insular Christianity. My challenge to this student will be significant. Let’s dig into God’s Word together and see what your life would really look like in light of Galatians 2:20 (being crucified with Christ).

My challenge for group 2 students will be modeled after the Messiah himself, “Come and see!”

In Matthew 11:18-19, Jesus’ reputation is being dicussed…and judged.

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon,’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners,”‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

As I sat in an aesthetically monotone room with no windows, this summer, being inculcated with the core values of this campus ministry organization called the CCO…my eyes were opened to a few wonderful things in the Gospel (as well as in the ‘gospels’).

One of those great moments, which I can only describe as an emotional “Yeah, baby!” came as we listened to Dan Dupee.

Dan is the president/CEO of the CCO and is one of the most articulate and personable guys I’ve ever met. As he shared about our value of “Celebrating Life” he brought up this passage of scripture and asked, “Is there enough evidence to convict us of following Christ by the way that we party?”

Is that not a great question?

We are following someone who had a reputation of being a drunkard and a glutton. What is our reputation? Do we trust God enough to stop what we’re doing and celebrate? Do we realize the sun will come up tomorrow whether we’re on duty or not?

In the college/university setting, students often have a reputation for over-celebrating, right? Could it be that we’ve not allowed enough appropriate celebration? If God wants to reconcile all things to himself (and use us in the process according to Colossians & Corinthians), then we need to do a better job of celebrating as an expression of faith. My hope is that the Edge House, and its inhabitants, will get a reputation for celebration, party, exuberant behavior and the like!

Who’s with me?

Due to my affinity for brewing coffee and sharing lattes, capps, macchiatos, etc…I end up seeing a counter full of dirty cups quite often.

I can’t imagine sharing a skillfully prepared espresso beverage for someone in a dirty cup. That would just be disgusting, right?!

In Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus chastises the religious leaders:  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

It is certainly easy for us to get this spiritual truth turned around.

I was reminded and encouraged by someone in our worship gathering yesterday morning that the primary “work” of salvation is an eternal and internal transformation. This work was finished by what Christ did on the cross and becomes internally transformational as we cooperate with God’s grace and submit to His lordship in our lives.

Typically, this gets lived out with a high level of excitement and spiritual energy as a new believer appears to be “on fire” for Christ. Those who have recently passed from death to life in Christ tend to be bold in sharing Christ with their friends, family, co-workers etc although they may still have some external, “sinful”, behavior issues to work out in their daily lives.

But the problem is…at some point it becomes easier for a Christian to manage the external things (legalism, moralism, behavior modification, do’s and don’ts) and neglect the internal matters (spiritual intimacy, fruit of the spirit, motivations, progressive sanctification, etc).

So even as we experience worship, community, biblical teaching, etc…it’s like pouring a delicious fresh latte into a dirty old cup which may have looked clean on the outside but was full of disgusting, dried, caked-on filth on the inside. And keep in mind, taking care of the inside of the cup is not something we do by working hard and self-scrubbing. It is positioning ourselves to be cleansed…spending time with God…inviting the Cleanser to do His thing.

In some form or fashion…

…just about every day of the week…

I get a question like this:

“What does the campus ministry look like?”   or   “What are you hoping to do with college students at UC?”   or  “What are you trying to accomplish on campus?”

Once I am able to communicate the overall gist of my approach to campus ministry (using words like “relationships, espresso, conversations, study center, hospitality, faith & doubt dialogues, third place,” etc) I share my primary long-term goal…whether it’s 5, 10, or 15 years of ministry at UC…at some point in the future I want to have lots of names and lots of stories to talk about. Stories of lives that have been forever altered, redirected, and transformed because of intentional relationships and a focus on Christ and His word.

One of the reasons I was so pleased to partner with the CCO in this campus ministry effort is because of their similar emphasis. The CCO is an organization committed to transforming college students to transform the world. We accomplish this by partnering with churches, colleges and organizations [like the Southwestern Ohio Church of the Nazarene...in my case] to develop men and women who live out their  Christian faith in every area of life.

Here’s a great quote from someone who points back to the impact which a CCO staff person and the CCO ministry had on his life…

This is my new terminology for the way in which I have allowed several dozen podcasts accumulate in itunes which I have yet to play.

But alas…the lengthy drive that I have to and from campus is giving me the opportunity to remedy this situation.

The typical line up of podcast preachers, prophets, and personalities I attempt to track with weekly (or monthly) would include:

Greg Boyd, Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN
Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA
Rick McKinley, Imago Dei in Portland, OR
Erwin McManus, Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, CA
Rob Bell, Mars Hill Church near Grand Rapids, MI
Francis Chan, Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA
The Village Church (Highland Village, TX…I’m experimenting with this one)
The Passion Podcast (Louie Giglio in Alpharetta, GA)
etc, etc

As you can see, it’s certainly more than I really have time to listen to or absorb…but I find these to be interesting, inspiring, challenging, frustrating, or some combination of these and more emotions.

Perhaps the personality above who I most struggle with and enjoy disagreeing with is Mark Driscoll. Although I often find Driscoll to be a provocative and effective communicator of Biblical truth and Kingdom principles, there are certainly times when I take issue with his teaching. For instance, in a recent podcast as he introducing a new series through which he’ll be leading his church for the next three years or so, he gives the impression that the gospels (and the Scriptures in general) can be read as biographical and historical works which are verifiable. The implication is made that Christianity can be proven with archaelogical evidence and by cross-referencing historical accounts which corroborate scripture. My response to this basic approach is one of caution. The scriptures, the life of Jesus, the life faith, and spiritual truths in general will not be empirically verifiable. To give anyone this impression is probably setting them up for a great disappointment. Although many people, places, and accounts in the Biblical narrative can be substantiated by digging up a few critical artifacts and serious research, there will ultimately always be a crisis of faith which is required to fully engage oneself in a covenant relationship with God through the cross of Christ.

Now I will admit that one of the things attracting me to Dricoll’s teaching is that he represents what some would call a “New Calvinism” and an attempt to re-frame Reformed theology for the modern (or actually post-modern) person. Coming from a theological background of Wesleyan-Arminian persuasion, I am enjoying this and other efforts to wrestle with and understand Reformed theology and the teaching of Calvin. In the context of a holiness denomination like the Church of the Nazarene I also find it very enlightening to hear various perspectives on sanctification, holy living, and the role of the Holy Spirit within the life of the believer. I believe that there’s actually much more common ground than contested when we take time to respectfully study the perspectives of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Yet Christians seem to focus so much more on the contested issues rather than the commonalities.