What will stop us?

This last 8 months has been taken up with the fact of raising finances to continue the ministry at CMU. If we don't raise the funds there has been talk of "termination". While we have been underfunded for years, we have never missed a house payment or late on bills (only when I misplaced them). God has always provided. Now our national leaders need to see that God does provide.

If I don't raise the remaining $750 per month in the next 3 months the ax will fall. Will that stop us? I know that we will continue on wherever we land, but the work at CMU will suffer. The relationships that have been built, the house for ministry is in question, not to mention all the students who would be affected.

I have made calls and appointments, visited with alumni and pastors. The good news is that alumni are standing with us to keep this ministry going. Where are we going to get the rest of the finances? Only God knows. Keep praying and trusting. It is in His hands.

Why do Christians want more of God but never seem to want to be used for God?

What causes stepping out in faith to build our faith?

I like that picture that Jesus gives us about the promise of the Holy Spirit in John 7 as related to "streams of living water". Too often we try and dam up that stream and keep it for ourselves when the goal of the Holy Spirit is to "flow" through you.

We have been praying for some time about some friends from another group that is not generally favorable to Christians. While many of this group like Jesus they have been hurt and wounded by others who try and make them conform to God's word. Last night we had a great heart to heart with several of the leaders of this group. One in particular shared their story about the hurt that they went through. It helped me to understand why they did not seem to like us for the first year or so that we knew them.

Thankfully love breaks through. God desires to work through us and even though it may seem to take time He IS working.

The best way to see God's blessing in our lives, let Him flow through our lives. We need to do more than seek His hand, we need to be His hands.

A heart for God

Jer 24:7
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
NIV
This is my prayer for the students on campus. We don't need to know about God, we need to know Him and return to Him with all our heart! This is what the world needs to see, this is how the world will be changed. Not by rules but by our relationship with the living God. A deep strong union that affects every area of who we are!

Chi Alpha Summer

People often wonder what we do in Chi Alpha in the summer. Since students are gone from the university there is nothing for Chi Alpha pastors to do right? WRONG!!!

Lori and I have been very busy since the students have left campus last week. First we have started a summer session of Chi Alpha for those who are left in town. It is interesting that we had 8 men show up for the meeting and 1 woman. When we started Chi Alpha at CMU my prayer was for men to disciple. God has answered that prayer! It is a wonderful time to invest in these lives with smaller groups.

We also went to our district meeting for a couple of days and met with pastors from around the state, visited with some Japanese students (one who left), and prepared to meet new students from Japan who are coming in next week.

Plus our regular duties of being available for direction and help when the students need it. With email and cell phones we are never far away from any of our students. Sometimes going back home with all the changes can be difficult.

It is also a time for us to focus on some of our volunteer ministries. Jon is involved in a prison ministry that hold weekend retreats in prison that gives inmates a "short course on Christianity". It is a special time of sharing God's love with those that rarely see any compassion. It is great to see God break through in these lives and see the transformation.

We also like to go to motorcycle rallies. It is an interesting place for Christians to find themselves. But we like to think of it as campus ministry...same issues, just older people. During these times we wear our Christian Motorcycle Association vests and pray for opportunities to share Jesus.

Our plans are to be with students, love them, disciple them and to get a little rest this summer (that is important too). It is fun to visit with them where they live. It is also a good time for us to visit churches and friends that stand with us in this ministry. With out you we wouldn't be able to touch lives at CMU with God's love.
Thanks

Sharing the Love

One of the great things about working with Chi Alpha is the chance to get out and be with people that normally would not go to church. For what ever reason they will not come to us if we open our doors, so we take time and go to them.

Yesterday we took advantage of the nice weather and set up a table in the middle of campus to pray for people. During this time I took a young man with me who we have been working with to teach him about reaching out beyond the four walls. During the 2 hours that we sat there we had 10 significant conversations. Some were with people we already knew, but many were with new people. One of our prayers was that we would be able to pray with someone who was confused and we were able to do just that.

God opens doors when we pray. We need to remember the power of prayer. Things happen when we pray that don't happen when we don't pray. Pray!

An update: We have been praying for a friend of ours that works on campus who was told that she had cancer. We were able to pray with her, she had the operation but they could find no cancer!!! Even better, her relationship with God is deepening through all of this. Pray.

On the road

One final thought about the Mississippi trip. Not only is it one of the best vacations you can have (there is something about paying for the privilege to work to bless someone else) but it is also a great time to get to know people. Something about spending 20 hours together on the road causes barriers to come down.

As we were traveling through Tennessee one of the students brought out 3 bags of balloons and filled up the van with wall to wall balloons! Not only was it a great time to have fun but also a great time to invest in lives and bring them closer to Jesus. Continue to pray for the students that went so that God would continue to speak to them and through them to touch those around them.

Building in the mud

Here is one of the teams from our group in front of the house where they worked. This group was able to paint the whole house, caulk, put up trim, put in floors and move in the kitchen cabinets. They worked hard and the house should be ready in a couple of weeks for the owner to move in!

We were fortunate enough to see a house dedication while we were there. They finished a house and gave the keys to the owner at a little party. Kind of like extreme makeover off steroids. The houses that Samaritan's Purse was building were for people that lost their homes in the storm and can't afford to rebuild. Their goal is to have 9 houses done by the end of the month.

The best part was to be able to bless someone else. These houses are small, only 850 square feet. But compared to the trailers these people were living in they will feel huge! We are thankful for the role we were able to play.