theGodzwas.com

LEADing LEADers blogathon

Mike — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:21:21 +0000

Conversations–they can give us new perspective, help us solve a problem, and even begin life-change. Guy Chmieleski, University Minister @ Belmont University and campus ministry blogger has started some important conversations as a part of his LEADing LEADers blogathon. As Guy says It’s an opportunity for campus ministers to, “talk together about our call to be leaders, leaders among leaders, leaders of leaders and leaders who can identify, encourage and equip young leaders — as well as all of the challenges, joys, tensions and fruit we experience within this call.”

The blogathon is on for the next 3 days and it’s definitely worth a look. There are 4 posts up already from the likes of Tim Elmore, president of Growing Leaders, Barbara Miller, director of spiritual life @ Biola University and there’s even one from me. I’m humbled to be included in this group and I’m looking forward to being a part of the conversation that it facilitates. Take a look and be sure to add your voice.

Fall newsletter is out

Mike — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:29:50 +0000

The fall edition of the Collegiate Chronicles is hot off the press. If you’re one of our regular readers, it’s coming your way, but in case you missed it, or are just eager to hear what’s going on with the Godzwas, we’ve posted it here. Just click on the picture and our latest stories will be in your hands through the wonders of the interwebs. You’ll need Adobe Reader to view the calendar, but don’t worry, it’s free and downloaded in a couple of clicks. Here’s the site you need: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Americano…in Korean

Mike — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:11:30 +0000

I got drafted into a music video AUXA’s open mic night last night. I thought you might like to check it out, but be careful. It’s almost guaranteed to get stuck in your head.

AUXA has talent

Mike — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:27:53 +0000

We’ve got a group of amazingly talented students. I asked our student team to put together worship this week. It was unbelievable and they even included two freshmen (one rocked the lead guitar licks…on the trombone).

I asked Bethany, one of our small group leader to put together a “What is XA” video to kick off the year. She partnered up with Abby, our group secretary and amateur photographer and they came up with this:

Yeah, you could call that talent. Great job Bethany, Abby and all our featured XA leaders! I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

Affirmations

Mike — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 03:53:19 +0000

Over the last month, I’ve had lots of chances to preach. I’ve got a love hate relationship with speaking. There’s agony in the prep, but joy as I share and like all speakers, I often wonder how my message was received. Last week, all the NCC campus pastors were speaking, so I was in Georgetown. Overall, I felt it went ok, not my best, not my worst, but a few days later I was forwarded one of the best affirmations I had ever received. If you’ve ever wanted to thank a speaker for a message they shared, this is the way to do it!

Thanks Bernadine for the kind words. Such an honor to be used by God in your life. Your post made my day!

Worth Reading

Mike — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 03:33:41 +0000

With Welcome Weeks now over @ AU it’s time for a bit of reflection. Blane Young, our intern, wrote some thoughts on his blog that are worth reading. You can take a look @ the full content here.

Semester Kick-off Prayer Calendar

Mike — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:58:30 +0000

The hurricane has whipped me in to a blogging frenzy! Just sent out our DC Chi Alpha Team prayer calendar for our semester kick-off. Will you pray with us too? Download the file by clicking the pic to the left and thanks for helping us change the world through students. You’ll need Adobe Reader to view the calendar, but don’t worry, it’s free and downloaded in a couple of clicks. Here’s the site you need: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Here We Go!

Mike — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:12:28 +0000

110 ft above the Quad on a carnival slide @ an AU Welcome Week Party

AU Year number 13 for the Godzwas is off and running! Freshmen arrived on campus last Saturday and we’ve been there to welcome them morning, noon & night. This year we scheduled a huge slate of activities from move-in to glow-in-the-dark lawn games and they’ve been a huge hit. We’ve been in contact with a record number of freshmen and are hearing some great buzz around campus about Chi Alpha. In fact, this has probably been Chi Alpha’s best opening week yet. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. An all-in commitment. From staff to student leaders everyone has shown up. The majority of our small group leaders arrived before the freshmen to pray, plan, and prepare for the new year. When our events kicked off, they’ve been there to pull them off, but more importantly, they’ve been there to make connections with new students. AUXA leaders have been amazing!

2. Visibility. Our new t-shirts, designed by GMU XA staffer, Dan Choe incredibly cool! Our leaders snapped them up quick. Because we had an enormous inventory of old t-shirts (some dating back 6 years) we gave them a special offer, buy a new shirt, get a retro shirt for free. The result was XA shirts everywhere! I’ve overheard several conversations on campus about how Chi Alpha seems to be all over the place. Thanks to our new CMIT Blane Young, we’ve also ramped up our social media and web visibility. Check out and like our new AU Chi Alpha Facebook page and help us out!

3. Significant connections. In years past, many of the relationships that were started during our opening week seemed to fade when classes started. This year we focused on getting students in small groups and I think it’s going to make a huge difference. As we meet to discuss follow-up not only are most new students known, but they’ve also plugged into a small group. That will translate good welcome week events into a transformational semester through focused discipleship–awesome.

4. The Holy Spirit. Every morning our leadership team has gathered to worship and seek God on behalf of the students we’re trying to reach. His power has been evident in our focused mission, effectiveness in building relationship, and our joy while serving long hours.

To sum in all up, it’s been an amazing week! Please keep praying for us as we continue to reach out to the students God is passionately pursuing. I know He has some great things in store for them.

May Newsletter

Mike — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:44:22 +0000

Back by popular demand…the Collegiate Chronicles are ready for your reading, downloading, commenting and passing on pleasure! You can check it out by clicking the photo on the right. You can also find archived copies of the Collegiate Chronicles here. Happy reading!

To open the PDF file you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. To get Acrobat, go here.

Life lessons learned in Yucatán

Mike — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 03:28:36 +0000

I will always take students on short term mission trips. It’s amazing how the simplest truths become profound when you experience them in a different cultural context. This is exactly what happened on our spring break trip to Yucatán, Mexico.

I lead a group of AU Chi Alpha students to work with my brother Dave, who’s just beginning his second term as a missionary there. We partnered with Pastor Eucebio Pech in his outreach to 4 different communities in central Yucatan. It was a full week of ministry! We led or participated in 7 services and dug out the foundation for Pastor Eucebio’s mission in the town of Tunkás.

We were able to experience some amazing moments. On Sunday night, we saw God hold back the rain so we could lead the mission’s first ever open air outreach in Tunkás. On Monday, we participated in an outreach where dozens were fitted with a free pair of glasses–a daily reminder of the love of Jesus every time they put them on. The next day brought a surprise visit to the local cenote and we got a chance to go swimming in crystal clear water 80 feet below ground level. Wednesday gave us a chance to practice our balloon tying and help a clown share the gospel to all of the kids in San Antonio Chuc. On our last day of ministry, we experienced God’s presence as we prayed for the churches and visited members in 2 small communities. God held back the rain again that night and we were able to do one last open air service in the town square.

I mentioned simple truths becoming profound on mission trips. For us it was the power of pushing past discomfort to allow God to work through us. We slept in hammocks and shared one toilet for the entire team. It would have been more comfortable to stay in a hotel, but the location of the house helped us to maximize our work and opened a door for the owner to hear the gospel. It would have been easier to hide behind our limited Spanish and keep the Yucatecos at a distance, but when we pushed aside our embarrassment, relationships were formed and the love of Jesus was expressed. It would have been much more comfortable to use our lack of construction experience as an excuse to give a half-hearted effort, but when we pushed past inefficiency and sore muscles, were able to see a hole turn into the foundation of a church. It was a lesson learned in Mexico, but it wasn’t left there. Our team prayer is that God would help us to step into the uncomfortable places we avoid on campus so we can depend on His power to do what we can’t. Profound truth learned on the mission field, but meant to live by.