What is Chi Alpha…the video

Every fall we try to kick off our first service with a look @ what Chi Alpha is all about.  For the last few years we’ve had students create videos to share our story.  One of our sophomore leaders, Bethany Turley put together this year’s video and it’s exceptional.  I uploaded it on our ministry site.  Hit the link to take a look.

 

Life after college…any thoughts?

I was asked to do an informal poll to help design a tool to better serve Chi Alpha students who anticipating graduation. I’d love your input.  Select one or more of the answers in the poll below or add another suggestion by leaving a comment.  Thanks!

 

Did you see our last newsletter? If not you can check out our latest print news by clicking the photo on the right.  You can also find archived copies of the Collegiate Chronicles here.  Happy reading!

 

Building a Culture of Discipleship

I presented this for the Potomac District Assemblies of God ministers @ District Council this week.  Due to the nature of the content I thought it would be good to provide an opportunity to give it a second hearing.  You can read the entire content below.  Be sure to leave a comment–I’d love to get your feedback.

Most of you know I’m a Chi Alpha guy. One of the things that attracted me to Chi Alpha was the way they approached discipleship.  It was so simple, but @ the same time it was revolutionary. “How did Jesus do it? He lived life with his disciples, poured truth into them, released them into life-changing ministry, and encouraged them to do the same for others.” As Chi Alpha intern, I saw that lived out on the university campus and my view of the kingdom was transformed! Even though I had been involved in a great A/G youth group and graduated from one of our Bible schools, @ that moment I felt like I had never been discipled before. On one hand, I was thrilled to be a part of this movement reconciling students to Christ. On the other, I was disappointed that it took being a believer for 9 years before I was exposed to it.

Fast forward to 2008. I took a my 3rd Chi Alpha spring break team to work with my twin brother in the Yucatan. The one thing my students kept talking about was how often people went to church. To say the Yucatecos were always in church was not an exaggeration. There were church services every night except for Thursdays and on Thursday they practiced for the weekend services. As I was trying to explain to my students some of the rationale behind this, I came to a realization–this was their culture of discipleship. The other thing I realized was that this was the culture of discipleship that I was raised in too.

I don’t remember anyone ever teaching me how to pray, but on Sunday nights around the altars and in a gym kitchen before Wednesday night youth group, I learned to pray by watching and doing. I can’t recall anyone ever teaching me how to study the Bible, but in Sunday School, the stories came alive and hearing others quote Scripture in conversations after service made me want to hide the Word in my heart. I never attended a seminar on being baptized with the Spirit, but as I saw my friends operate in His power I found myself wanting whatever they had and I was filled. By connecting with the community of God in Sunday School, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening, Wednesday night and many times in between I was discipled and I grew to be more like Jesus.

Part of me wants to reproduce that culture of discipleship for the students I minister to. Part of me longs to see every church restart Sunday night services so we could spend that extended time @ the altar again, but in many places it’s difficult if not impossible to do. Our church members lives have become so crowded they show up late on Sunday morning, catch up on texts and emails during the service and hurry out the door @ the final amen. It’s hard for the way of Jesus to be caught in just 65 minutes on a weekend.

You’ve heard this already this week, but I think we need to recapture the intentionality of relationship in our discipleship culture.

Because of the class schedule @ AU there is never a time when I can get all of our group members in the same place @ the same time, but as I’m intentional in relationship I can meet with them in small groups and one-on-one. And it’s in those small meetings where the kingdom life starts to take hold in their lives.

Several years ago Shawn Galyen, who’s now a Students for Christ missionary to Spain and I, tried to boil down discipleship into it’s basic elements. We came across Dallas Willard’s Golden Triangle of Spiritual Growth and this, in a slightly modified form, became the structure for my conversations with students. I want them to process life in the kingdom in three categories.

The first is Encounter. The call to discipleship is initiated by the Holy Spirit. As we facilitate opportunities for disciples to hear His voice and experience his presence through things like worship, listening prayer, and seeking after the spiritual gifts, God’s glory becomes evident. Standing in awe of a God who calls our name inspires obedience.

The second is Life Experience. We all agree that God works all things together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, but because of the pace of life most of us can’t remember the things we’ve been through, much less try to figure out how God’s using them for our good. Part of my time together with students is helping them process what’s going on in their lives. It’s amazing how talking through a disagreement with a roommate can open someone’s mind to how compelling the way of Jesus really is.

The third element is Holy Exercise or the spiritual disciplines. These are simply tools for our training in Christlikeness. They’re exercises I can do now that open the door for the Spirit to bring about transformation. There are some core disciplines like prayer, worship, and studying the Word, but as we coach disciples we can use other exercises to bring freedom from specific sin. Someone struggling with pride can practice the discipline of confession or secret service. Someone dealing with lust can put effort into fasting. A gossip can try the discipline of silence and as they continue to use these holy exercises their spiritual muscles grow. Little by little they begin to walk after Jesus in ways they never thought possible.

I know I talked about these as separate elements, but they don’t operate independently. The exercises can facilitate an encounter with God. Processing life experiences can show us which exercises we need to practice.

Another thing is also true: intentional relationship is required. We all need individual attention to understand or facilitate our Encounters with God, to process our Life Experience, and to train with Holy Exercise. As we prioritize relationship and teach others to do the same I believe we will see Christ formed in the members of our congregations and our communities changed for his glory.

 

Digging out.

I found something to write about!  20 inches of snow is definitely blog-worthy.  What you’re looking @ is a series of shots I took with my phone over an hour and a half of shoveling–exercise is done for today!  The Volvo is all set for tomorrow’s snow storm.  Another 10 inches are on the way!

 

This American Life on a college kick

I was out running through the DC snowpocalypse aftermath this morning with another TAL podcast streaming through my headphones.  This past week’s episode, “#1 Party School.” It’s an eye-opening look @ student drinking @ Penn State–ranked the #1 party school by the Princeton Review. In the last act Ira Glass quotes the statistic, “every year 1700 college students across the country die of alcohol related injuries.”  It’s a sobering reality and one that brings the importance of university ministry in clearer focus.  If you have a chance, give it a listen and post a comment.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

On the calendar

All the details have yet to come together, but Dr Fazale Rana, biochemist and scholar with Reasons to Believe will be speaking @ AU in January.  More details to come…stay tuned!

 

A must-listen…

So I’m out on my regular mid-morning run listening to one of my favorite podcast, This American Life. This episode was called “Bait and Switch.”  I laughed at the story of the hotel room service that disguised itself as a pizza chain, I became concerned about police tactics that caught 2 do-gooders, but the third story almost stopped me dead in my tracks.

It was a 13 minute piece on evangelism tactics.  At first I was annoyed.  They led with a disillusioned evangelical describing the kind of methods he used as a part of his Christian college group, but then the story took a remarkable turn.  They interviewed Jim Peterson.  You may know him as the author of books like, Living Proof, and Lifestyle Discipleship.  Ira Glass asked him probing questions on why Christians do what they do and his alternative to the bait and switch.  It was amazing.  Definitely worth the cost of a download or CD.  For a limited time you can check it the full episode but I also found the just this segment entitled: Act 2. Raw Sex. Don’t worry, there’s nothing inappropriate here.  I guess it’s This American Life’s own little bait and switch.

 

Cute kids, Christmas decorations, and snow!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. We even got an early snowfall over the weekend to add to the spirit. Here are a couple of pictures from last week to give you an idea.

 

Get the news before it’s published!

The latest edition of the Collegiate Chronicles is about to hit the press, but with the beauty of modern technology, you can read it now!  Take a look at what’s happening in our ministry to university students in Washington, DC by clicking here, and feel free to leave a comment.  In case you don’t have Adobe Reader (which you’ll need to open the file) yet, you can download it free here.