In an article by Gabe Lyons at www.fermiproject.com, he states the following after an overview of Christianity’s 2000-year history of fulfilling the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28…

It’s easy to see that when forced to convey the most dramatic parts of the Christian story in a short period of time, parts of the story are easily overlooked. In the process, Christianity was losing its profound and life-giving answers to central questions no longer representing an entire life-system and worldview. It had become relegated to a personal, spiritual decision about where you would spend the afterlife.

This is a theme and over arching question which is driving many Christians to re-think what the “Gospel” is all about.

The title of the article is INFLUENCING CULTURE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CHURCH.

Gabe makes a correlation between the personalization of the Gospel and the influence of Christianity on the broader culture. As the former increases the latter decreases.

He goes on to say,

When Christians dismiss the cultural mandate as an insignificant part of the Christian life, separatism and piety increases and cultural influence fades, But, if Christians learn and embrace the full story gospel and partner with God in restoring and redeeming his creation, their cultural influence will follow and the Good News will spread.

Later he challenges those of us in the church by saying “This vision demands that leaders in the church wrestle with the complexity of embodying the Gospel in culture. As the church rediscovers its unique role in culture, and supports the calling of their cultural influencers, it will be a force for good in our communities, cities and the country.”

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.

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.

As a campus minister with the CCO and Church of the Nazarene here at the University of Cincinnati, one of my hopes is to see students plug into a healthy church during their collegiate pursuits. In my own college experience, a small group of 18 to 20-something’s and a vibrant church played a major part in my spiritual journey and subsequent calling to give God every square inch of my life.

One of the churches I’ll be encouraging students to plug into is University Christian Church on the southwest corner of campus. The church is located on the corner of Rohs Street and McMillan and is within walking distance of any spot on campus.

This morning was my first opportunity to attend a worship gathering there and I was glad to connect with a couple of students. In my opinion, the display of genuine hospitality, no-frills style of worship,  and solid teaching makes UCC an attractive spiritual community for students as well as families and individuals in the surrounding area.

Pastor Troy Jackson shared the introductory message on the book of Colossians today and used a great illustration from the world of mac-nology. One of the ideas which Apple has recently branded into our consumer psyches is that there’s an “app” for everything. Abbreviated from the word ‘application’ but also a play on words from ‘Apple’…there are now thousands of ‘apps’ which iphone users (especially) can dowload to do anything from finding nearby restaurants to leveling a piece of art on the wall.

In similar fashion, we often treat Jesus as one of many ‘apps’ which can be useful at particular times in our lives. When encountering a true crisis (death, loss, exam, etc) we pull out the prayer ‘app.’ If a conversation leads in a certain direction, we may dowload the evangelism ‘app’ and take advantage of Jesus for a particular moment in time.  But Jesus is more than ‘app’ for our lives…though his blood on the cross, Jesus in reconciling ALL THINGS to himself and is the supreme organizing principle (operating system) for our lives.

The message was a great challenge to recognize God’s desire for our lives to be completely reconciled in Christ…not just occasionally supplemented by the download-him-when-you-need-him Jesus ‘app!’

This was actually a response to a friend which prompted a good bit of personal reflection. Maybe it’s worth sharing here…

Whenever I think about my own story/journey (which is unfortunately about as often as I receive questions about it)…I begin to imagine how strange my ministry/life journey may look from the outside. Ha! Let me start by backing up a bit.

In the midst of my initial academic pursuit of chemistry/physics and a career choice of chemical engineering, I discerned some type of ‘calling’ which motivated me to change my major to religion (because I hadn’t read Os Guinness’ book yet entitled Calling) and transfer to Mount Vernon. From early on, I’d say that I had an awareness of wanting to be in the university/college setting but felt like youth ministry was probably the best place to start. Before I had even graduated from MVNC, I had mentally charted a course of youth ministry for a few years…then an advanced degree…then more youth ministry…catapulting myself from a “successful” youth ministry position at one of our larger Naz churches into a teaching role (CE, youth ministry, NT, Greek, whatever) at one of our Naz colleges or something similar. Sounds humanly contrived and manipulative, eh?

About 3/4 of the way into that plan…I began to have some real struggles with ecclesiology and calling (among other things…but especially in these areas). I began to see that most youth ministries were completely based on an attractional and quite ineffective model of ministry, which was not really producing long-term disciples and Kingdom-minded Jesus people. My nagging need to raise so many questions about the way we “do” church began to make it more and more difficult for me to peacefully exist within and support the ministries where I was serving.

That’s not to say that the churches where I served were bad churches, ineffective, or unhealthy. On the contrary, I really believe that I was privileged to serve in some of our best Nazarene churches with teams of really bright, loving, and passionate Christ followers.

Anyway, this struggle and ecclesiological unrest led to a new temporary career with Starbucks which simultaneously supported my final 18 months of full-time theological education at Ashland Seminary. Once I earned an M.Div and then tried to settle into a management track at Starbucks, the demons of discontent began nibbling at my heels once again. At that point I tried to realign our situation with the aforementioned goals and attempted one last youth ministry assignment which I mistakenly thought would allow me to incorporate a more missional and relational approach (please excuse the buzz words) to student ministry.

As I look back, it’s pretty clear now that God was preparing me to transition into campus/college ministry at that point. Instead, I took matters into my own hands and added another three years to my desert wandering and career-vocation transition. So back to Starbucks I went and then into an overly convenient staff position at a newly planted church on the eastside of Cincinnati where we still attend.

Six months ago, during a lunch conversation with our district superintendent, the idea of campus ministry seemed to jump out like this giant “Eureka”-type moment. For 3 to 5 years I had been struggling with a depressing sense of disconnect and wondering if I just did not “fit” the context of typical church-staff style (or even Nazarene) ministry. Suddenly, the fog began to clear and my ministerial despair almost instantly turned into overwhelmingly hopeful potential to develop a new ministry within the challenging context of the University. The district sent me on a quest to Nebraska to meet with Wes and Judy Meisner who were launching a new ministry to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and that conversation brought even more affirmation to this new direction.

Another big piece of this journey for me was a place called 1801 Mills. To put it simply, God gave me a place during this whole process to kind of fall apart and process my own story with an amazing bunch of grace-bearers. Larry, the director of 1801 Mills & The Espresso Guild has become a mentor and soul-friend and one who recognized my unique giftings that are as suited for campus ministry as perhaps anything. Along with Larry were many others who shared wisdom, grace, insight, and even miraculous provision along the way. Without that significant place and group of people, my journey towards soul repair would have been much longer if not impossible.

Along with Larry’s friendship and mentorship…he introduced me to a campus ministry organization called the CCO which has now become a key partner in my ministry to students at UC. The CCO (www.ccojubilee.org) creates partnerships with churches, coffeehouses, and other organizations in order to transform college students who will, in turn, transform the world. So we developed a proposal for the district advisory board here and launched this new ministry at UC that is a partnership between the district church and the CCO. The district basically supports 40% of our salary and we are attempting to raise the other 60%. Although this is an awkwardly new approach to gaining financial support, we are learning a great deal about faith and God’s ability to provide.