They Did Come Up

From my previous post I shared my struggle with my family staying down the mountain and not staying with me up at our conference. After a Saturday morning of highly successful soccer games by both boys (Jonathan scored 1 goal and Benjamin scored 2), my family joined me up in Keystone. It was a great treat to have the afternoon walking around with them, playing, paddle boats and just laughing. It was refreshing to my soul (it needed some refreshment after the buffs got a beating from Miami.)

Isa experienced her first swing set ride. See attached.

It was a great weekend. My family was there for a short time and our students connected with the Lord and with each other.

I was most encouraged by our last night with students. I led a discussion about where we are as a ministry, what our leadership looked liked and how students can lead and own the movement. We opened up the floor for discussion about students leading students and it was awesome. They responded, rallied together and are taking the lead this coming week. Students are going to be meeting sometime this week to deal with the question, "How can we as Fuel better reach the campus with God's love?" I'm seeing the students grab it and get it. It's not just about fellowship but it is fellowship with God and others to be a light to the world.

We're back home, resting, playing, watching some football and hoping my fantasy teams do bit better. We'll I'm not sure the rest of the family cares about my teams.

Miracle Needed in California this year

This past week Christine and I were given the green light to attempt to start a summer mission project with CCC in Southern California. About 7 years ago God put it on my heart to start a beach mission project to Huntington Beach. With some effort and, to be honest, too little prayer that dream didn't get off the ground. My hope and prayer is that now, a few years later, a greater dependence on God and with new vision we will be able to start up a project to Seal/Sunset Beach California.

Why here? This area was home for me for about 23 years. This is the place that some of my childhood experiences were made. These are the places I first learned to body surf and boogie board. These are the places that I remember having late night bon fires. When I think about California I think about these places, the beach.

Now the miracle needed in the next couple of weeks is the job of securing housing for our summer project. 30 students and about 10 staff need housing in Southern California, on the beach, and oh yeah, did I mention economical housing. Come on, we are Christian missionaries.

I have been wrestling with the Lord these past few weeks, pleading with Him, begging Him that something will surface. Oct 3-6 I'm heading to California to see what God will surface. In my flesh and Steve centric world I'm fearful, skeptical and scared this won't work. Then in those moments of glory, I trust God and believe He will do something amazing.

That's where I am this morning. A miracle is needed and a miracle will happen. Housing: near the beach, economical, perfect and simple.

Why do a mission project? Something happens when you get college students together, on the beach with a purpose of meeting God and making Him known. Life change, a clearer picture of God, a deeper intimacy with Him and a vision for How God will use them in community in the Kingdom. That's our desire. Show these college students God's love and heart for the not-yet-Christians. We are praying that we'll be able to surface new spiritual movements at Long Beach State and partner with the church planting/house church movement in Long Beach. We desire to make a lasting impact in the community, not just with the message of the Gospel but also with the hands and feet of the body of believers. We're trusting that we can serve the community and show them the love of Christ. We want to show students what it means and is like to be Jesus to the world.

Yep, that's a huge dream. Yeah, we're trusting God within the next month that most of the early stages of this dream to be solidified. Oh yeah, then we're trusting God for the perfect team of staff and students. But I have to believe that the God I love and worship is all about Miracles.

Rocky Mountain Getaway Bachelor Style

This weekend is our Fall Colorado Campus Crusade Conference, Rocky Mountain Getaway (RMGA). We're up in Keystone, CO with about 600 college students from around the state of Colorado. This will mark my 11th RMGA. Last night and this morning I could see my bad attitude of the same old same old conference. This morning I was reminded and convicted that yes, even in this simple conference, God moves. One of the profound things about the RMGA is that is a quick, 2 night conference, but something amazing happens up here in the mountains in my life and in the lives of students. God meets us. He shows us our sin. He shows us His grace and love.

This weekend I'm up here with out the family. For some reason, good or bad, we decided that they kids and Stine should stay at home. It is a weird experience being alone and leaving her with the kids. I miss them already and have looked at my pictures of them two times. I'm praying that in this time of solitude (if that is possible with 600 college students) God will meet me in new ways. I'm also praying that in the quietness of our house (if that is possible), after the kids go to sleep, God will meet Stine in new ways.

It doesn't really matter if we're up in Keystone or we're at home in Superior, our expectation should always be seeing and experiencing God in new ways. Some worship God in on this mountain and others on that mountain. It doesn't really matter. Worship God!!

Feeling Nervous Again

This past weekend was our families first intramural tournament for our karate program we have been involved in since March. Jonathan, Benjamin and Christine and I are all involved in Tae Kwon Do here in the Boulder area. It is a ton of fun, a great work out and I have learned to defend myself from knife attacks. Very useful in the kitchen.

We drove down to Denver to perform our forms we have been learning in class. There were tons of kids and adults there. It was a neat family environment and super encouraging. Yes, we have entered into interesting sub culture of karate. Jonathan and Benjamin both competed in the form Chon Ji. Jonathan got a first place finish and Benjamin a finalist award.

Christine also, who is super good and performs real well got a first place finish too. She performed Kama 1, which is a weapon form. Pretty cool stick deal with a sickle looking blade on it. She is kick butt and watch out or she'll scissor kick you in the head.

The funniest part of the day for me was that I felt super nervous to compete against 5 other men. What we have to do is in our ring, walk up, bow, and say a little presentation to start our form, kama 1. I walked up, felt pretty good and then my brain went to mush. I was so nervous. It was like I don't ever public speak in front of 100's of students each week.

I did my form, did it okay and fortunately I had more nervous guys in my group. So by default I won first place. But in all the experiences of the day, it felt good again to be a bit uncomfortable, nervous, and beside myself. I'm sure as I lead our ministry, family and interact with those that don't know Jesus yet this is where God wants me. Not feeling confident in myself, nervous and a bit queasy. It was a reminder to trust in God in all I do.

The Common Thread

This past week I preached on Spiritual Friendships, some interesting things I have been learning about Community and Fellowship from Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY. One of the things I shared Tim Keller shared was that Spiritual Friendships are discovered, God brings them into your path when you're focused on Him, about His things, and falling in love with Him. I began to think about a guy I meet with weekly for lunch; for the past year. He is a 5th year senior at CU and one of the brightest kids I have ever met. He is well read (he also reads everything I give him) and well thought.

I really like our conversations and began to think why do I, a 34 year old, father of 3, not a student, and campus minister like hanging out with this kid? What do we have in common? What is it about our friendship. Then I realized, our common thread is Jesus. He openly admits that he doesn't know Jesus or even needs to but we find ourselves talking about His life every week. I find it stimulating, challenging and encouraging. I can be open about my desire to see him come to know Jesus. I share that I pray for him. I can encourage him, etc.

The amazing thing is that we haven't done anything outside this lunch conversation. All we do is eat lunch and talk. It is one of my most enjoyable times of the week. I have a spiritual friendship with a guy who doesn't even know Jesus yet, but our common bond is Jesus. Interesting. We'll see where this goes. I'm trusting in the truth of Christ to rise to the top and hopefully I don't get in the way.

Looking forward to Reading

One of the books that really began to challenge my perspective on spiritual growth personally and within the context of groups or church was Cultivating a Life for God. The thing I appreciated about it was the emphasis on simplicity in spiritual growth. I have been in ministry for over 10 years and find myself making the process to know Jesus and pass that onto others more and more complex; go to this training, read this book, say it this way, study with these techniques, yada yada yada...

Neil Cole in his observations in planting churches in So. Cal. and around the world has found that if you simplify the growth and multiplication process you'll find that people will quickly pass on what they know and learn. Spiritual multiplication happens naturally. I took this almost as a challenge to see if it would work and change me as well. I shared it with some friends who I meet with regularly. We talked about reading high volumes of scripture, sharing what we learn, holding each other accountable and praying for each other. There was a desire to give it a try. My desires is Jesus and I want more of Him than a program or system for getting him. We're still in that process of figuring out why we meet and what we do.

Just recently I learned that Neil wrote another book: Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens. I'm looking forward to learning, being challenged and growing from what Neil has learned. You can also read a small interview on some of Neil's thoughts and perspectives in regards to church and spiritual growth at a blog by Eric Swanson: Movements everywhere and Church Multiplication.
Categories: Books

Soccer has started

I'm not sure why I jump into the responsibility of coaching the boys soccer teams. I only played 2 years and I was 9 and 10 years old. I guess that makes me an expert. :) It is a ton of fun to see the boys interact with their friends, learn the game and just have a ton of fun. Jonathan is in his 3 year playing and Benjamin in his 2nd. The blessing is that Benjamin's league doesn't have practice so I can manage coaching his team and Jonathan's. I really enjoy being around the boys and making them laugh.

I guess there are two reasons to keep coaching these teams. 1. I'm around the boys when I normally wouldn't be. It gives me more connect time and time to work with their character, their work ethic and how they deal with loss. 2. I love the community of parents in soccer. Jonathan's team is mostly returning players which means we have gotten to know the parents fairly well. They are great people, encouraging, and loving towards me and the kids. I have coached soccer and basketball, basketball being a love of mine. Basketball on the other hand doesn't foster a good community of parents and kids. It is indoors, no food and drink allowed, and noisy. But there is something about soccer. Saturday mornings, the fall, warm weather (mostly), oranges, snacks, drinks and playing at the playset afterward all provide a cool environment for connecting with each other.

We had our first set of games this past weekend. Jonathan's team had a double header and they won 6-0 and 3-1. Benjamin's team, unfortunately, lost 2-3. His team is pretty funny. You can probably envision the blob of kids in one circle kicking the ball with no order or plan. Jonathan's team is growing and getting positions, centering the ball and breakaways.

I'm looking forward to more connections with the parents and kids and even more so the end of year party that we will hopefully host in good weather.

A must read - Liquid Church

I just finished the book Liquid Church by Pete Ward. It is a challenging and insightful book on worship, mission, and community of the church. He encourages us to look at the church as being liquid, not solid. "Liquid Church is not a program or mission project; it is a community rooted in the fellowship of the Holy Trinity. The intimate dance of God can be experienced only by those who accept the invitation" (p.98).

One of the most encouraging and insightful chapters to me is Chapter 9: Regulating the flow, Part Two: The Spirit and Grace. I love his insights from Moltman, Kuyper and Edwards. This chapter is worth the $9.

Another aspect of the book is as we try to engage people who don't know God often we just try to tell them that they need God. You need church, God, salvation, the Bible, etc. On the other hand, as we begin to understand what people are looking for, experiencing and searching for we may change our approach and just attempt to raise their awareness of their desire of God. It is a bit messier and not as clean and controlled but as people learn their desires are for God we must trust that this new kind of church is the answer. The liquid church is a bit ambiguous and chaotic. But it is also engaged into the culture, immersed in it, loving it, changing it, interacting with it, and showing the love of God to it.

Enjoy the read.
Categories: Books

Leading Leaders

We are already two weeks into the fall semester at CU. Ministry is going well and I am enjoying leading some of the best staff and students in the world. Last year we made a change in our emphasis on how we will gather and grow students. We believe that in order to reach all the students on the CU campus we must go after the students, getting into their worlds and not just ask them to come to us. We have gone away from pushing our attractional (come to us) weekly meeting and are planting little mini communities all over campus. Our desire is that every type of student will have a Christ centered community within their immediate reach to see the person of Jesus in the lives of other students.

What I need to do then is lead leaders so that they will in turn lead other leaders, specifically students. Ministry for us at CU has changed from a ministry focused on me or the rest of the staff to a ministry built on students reaching students. These past two weeks have been hard but the encouraging elements are when we see our vision of students reaching students happening. It is fairly humbling when ministry isn't about me, my efforts on campus with students but I have taken a different role; helping staff and students do the work of Christ centered communities in their worlds.

Through the whole process I'm learning to inspire others, train them, coach them, resource them and help them experience God in great community. Can't wait to see what this all looks like in 2 years.

She loves football!

Having a little girl is an exciting adventure. Let me share with you what has been happening.

If you didn't know, this past week was the opening week of NCAA football. I look forward to this time of year. I love the weather in Colorado, I love the beginning of the fall semester on campus and the experience of going to a Div I football game at Folsom Field is WOW!!! Yesterday was no different but now I have a little girl to join me.

Saturdays are always started with making the kids (really the boys) pancakes. Then I looked over and Isabela was ready for the CU vs. CSU game. She was wearing a cute little pink Colorado Buffalo shirt. She too was excited for opening day. She joined me for our tailgate party and cheered loudly. Unfortunately she didn't get to go to the game but when I pulled into the driveway afterward there she was hanging out in the front yard (still wearing her shirt, she had dirtied it yet), CU flag flowing from the porch and then with open arms and a huge smiled jumped up and down for me. That has to be one of the greatest experiences. CU wins with a 40+ field goal with 9 seconds to go and then I come home to my beautiful princess waiting for me.

The rest of the night I played Mr. Mom as Christine hung out with her dad. The boys were playing Bionicles, cards and cars and this is where the playtime dynamic changed. Before we could place Isabela on the carpet, leave and 30 minutes later she hadn't moved and inch. Oh well, that's over. Now the chaos begins. She learned to crawl and we're all in for a treat; Bionicles ripped apart, cards thrown all over the room and knick knacks knocked down. She has found new freedom and is loving it. Her brothers are now at least amused but I'm not sure how long that will last. Having these three kids at home, playing, loving each other, laughing, even fighting is life. They bring so much to a home and we are so grateful.

The day ended and Isa even watched some football on TV with me. She continues to grab my heart and fully knows that I am wrapped around her little finger. You know I'm already thinking about going to get her a little CU cheerleader outfit.

12 Years and Counting

Today is my 12th anniversary. Wow! We have made it this far. I sit here this morning and am so thankful for the past years. I was talking to Christine a couple of nights ago and we were so excited for the next 12 years. It has been a great journey filled with hard work, great challenges, growing love and an amazing family. We can't imagine what growth, adventures, joy, struggles and fun the next will be. Although the next 12 can have all sorts of experiences (good and bad) attached to it, we look forward to moving ahead together.

One thing we have been noticing the past few years is our growing desire and practice to show the other much more grace and forgiveness than the previous 9 years combined. It has been refreshing to know that the one I love, know the best and have been married to loves me, accepts me, and forgives me. In this openess and vulnerability of our weaknesses and fear we have found a great freedom to be who God has made us; with all our mistakes and issues. And at this point we have found our love for each other grow.

It is super fun and refreshing to just be Steve. She loves me, inspires me and encourages me to be a better husband and father. I am super grateful to God for the women he placed in my life 13 years ago.