MM: Mack Multiplying

This past week I have been gone for most of the week at a campus director's conference. It was a great time of connecting with some friends, dreaming, praying and hearing about multiple movements. Speaking of multiple movements; the food wasn't that great.

On Thursday I was back in town and had a great chance to meet with Mack Brown again, the freshman redshirt QB at CU. My prayer all week had been that Mack would be experiencing God and sensing God's call for him to reach others. I headed back to Dal Ward athletic center for lunch with Mack. We jumped in line and I was introduced to Devon, a fellow redshirt freshman Tight End. We asked Devon to join us for lunch at our table.

Mack and my plan was to eat lunch and talk about what we learned in the One year bible. God had other plans. We started talking to Devon about spirituality and a relationship with God. During the conversation I would ask Mack what he thought, his experiences with knowing God. You got to know that Mack has only been a Christian for 8 days at this point. But why not start teaching him what it really means to be a Christian; we talk to others about Christ.

Mack was definitely used by God. He shared what it really meant to know God, what God valued in coming to salvation and what he thought before coming to know God. Devon was searching. Devon expressed a desire to know God through Christ. Mack and I left him a Gospel track to read and I told him to talk to Mack about this stuff; for Mack is an expert on knowing God at this point. Devon left and thanked us and told us he wanted to talk again.

Mack and I then turned to the one year bible reading. He told me he started in January therefore he read Gen 12:1-4 or so. We turned there and read it again and I asked him what God promised to Abram and commanded him to do. I asked Mack why God would bless Abram or us. Mack responded, "to bless others." We talked about the story line of the Bible, how Gen. 12 is the starting point of God drawing mankind all back to himself, our role in being God's witness to bless others. I tried to paint a picture that Mack too could be a spiritual father, like Abram, to all the other athletes. He was getting multiplication and the Great Commission and he has only been a Christian for 8 days. Very cool.

I asked him about his roommate Paul, another redshirt freshman. "Is he spiritually interested?" Mack wasn't sure so I proposed that we pray for him for 7 days; that God will draw Paul to a relationship with Himself. Mack responded, "I'll talk to him too."

The Spirit is alive. God is already moving in Mack. He is already sensing a vision and call in his life to be a blessing to others. I really do believe that God is doing something special here. I believe and trust God that many, not just a few, but many players will come to know Jesus. It starts with a not-yet-Christian coming to know God and the spirit taking off to impact others.

Continued.......

St. Malos

I'm up in St. Malos retreat center outside of Estes Park, CO for the CCC Great Plains Int'l region's director's conference. More than any new knowledge learned is the great camaraderie of leaders and followers of Christ that are brought together. It's the late night discussions about the power of God in our lives, arguing and dreaming about what is church and what is effective ministry and just having fun. Yesterday we golfed in Estes Park. It was awesome, yes in late October it was sunny and beautiful. On the course we were blessed to see over 300 elk roaming around the course. It was good for my soul to herd elk with our golf cart. It felt like a modern version of City Slickers. I also have to confess I hit an elk with a golf ball, going about 100 miles/hour about 75 yards out right on the neck. No, I don't have a freezer full of elk meat because she just looked at me and went back to eating grass. Hmm.

Today we had Jaeson Ma (Campus Church Networks) stir our hearts and minds about the work of Christ around the world as he and others see Church Planting Movements transform lives and cities. I have been reading about Jaeson's ministry and am excited he will be basing his work and ministry out of Long Beach, CA, home of our new Long Beach summer project next summer. His passion to see God move like we have seen in Acts in contagious. I too want to believe that God can and will move supernaturally, exponentially, wildly in our country, on our campuses and in our lives. I'm super excited to be partnering with him and Brad Fieldhouse next summer in planting new church/communities of faith in Long Beach. I have to believe there are 1,000's of not-yet-Christians who are waiting to meet the person of Jesus and see that take over their lives, relationships, families and neighborhoods. I believe this can and will happen in Long Beach, in my own neighborhood in Superior, CO and on our campus (CU Boulder.)

Today was a reminder to me of the power of the movement of God through His Spirit, His desire to transform hearts and minds through Jesus Christ and the spontaneous expansion of the Church. I'm ready to see something new. I'm ready to lead my staff and students to experience something we have never experienced before in our lifetime or on our campus. I'm ready to see God really touch and transform lives, quickly, powerfully, and deeply.

A great new resource

I came across Steve Addison's blog. Excellent thoughts on movements and church planting.

You've got to check it out:
http://www.steveaddison.net/

Going to Long Beach

You guessed it and as you expected, if you prayed, God is bringing us to Long Beach, CA next summer. This past week the director of the Beach Plaza Hotel (corner of Ocean Ave and Cherry) called and agreed to a great price for us staying at his hotel next summer. So, yes, the Long Beach Campus Crusade Project is official. We are so excited for all that God has done to orchestrate the events and vision to this point. We are excited for what God will do in the lives of the staff and students we are taking there but even more excited for the work that will happen in trusting God to plant organic spiritual movements all over Long Beach. Continue to pray that God will go before us, show us where and who we should spend our time with and that we will listen.

The amazing thing about talking with the director, Woody, is that I asked him if our price included taxes and he said no. I mentioned I will have to raise some additional finances to make the budget happen and immediately he cut us a $1,000 discount off his already low price. His next question was if our students had already found jobs for the summer. I told him we didn't even have student applied yet. He asked "when they do, could they work for some of our companies in Long Beach?" Isn't that amazing. The two things I have been trusting God for (housing and jobs) are being taken care of immediately.

I look forward to the relationship that will be built with woody, his staff and I pray that we will be a blessing to their hotel. Thanks for your prayers. If you live in CA, we look forward to hanging with you and building God's kingdom in your backyard.

Mack Brown at CU

Mack Brown. Now if you're a football fan and follow college sports you'll know that name as the head coach of University of Texas, Austin. Yes, sadly, Mack Brown led his longhorns to victory over the CU Buffaloes this past week. That's okay because we have a Mack Brown as well at CU. Mack Brown is a redshirt freshman QB at CU.

I have been praying and asking God to raise up a spiritual movement within the athletic department for sometime and I give some resources, encouragement and coaching to the athletic bible study run by one of the coaches, Greg. But I also wanted to see God move in the hearts and minds of those who are not-yet-Christians.

So what I have been doing is just showing up at their dining hall to eat once or twice a week and see what God has in store. To be honest it is better food than the other dining halls on campus.

Three weeks ago I prayed God would give me someone to talk to, meet and encourage. I went into the hall with no plan except to see God move. I was eating my fajita tortilla wrap, very yummy, and munching on my fries all while sitting next to a quiet guy. I prayed silently and struck up a conversation with Mack, yes Mack Brown is his name. We talked about being a frosh, being a redshirt, being away from home and then eventually we started talking spirituality and Jesus. He was lonely, looking for relationships and really looking for the Lord. I shared about how he could know God through Jesus and he expressed an interest to doing that.

Then the cook, Marvin a strong Christian, and his aide, Kyle, came up and starting talking. It was sort of an interruption but I wanted to take things in stride and that God has orchestrated that. But in the midst of that Mack had to go to class. I gave him my number and something to read. He left. It was God's way of saying, "Steve this isn't about you. This is about me drawing Mack to myself." I told some other Christian players and coaches to talk to him and see if he wanted to talk more about God. I emailed Mack but got no response the following week.

So I continued on my plan of eating alone in the dining hall. This past week I walked in and out walked Mack. He apologized for not calling back but then expressed he wanted to talk more. We scheduled a lunch for the following day, this past Wednesday. I showed up early, talked to a few Christian players and coaches and ask them to pray for Mack who I was to be meeting in a few minutes. The lunch and hour spent with Mack this past Wednesday was all about God orchestrating the events and conversation. We spent our time talking about Jesus, God, salvation all in the midst of another player, Jason, a linebacker who is a Christian. Jason shared his testimony and perspective of walking with Jesus. Right there Mack prayed to ask Jesus into his heart, forgive his sins and begin a relationship with God.

Within 15 minutes following his becoming a Christian God brought in other Christian players and coaches into Mack's life to encourage and give high fives. He expressed in faith in Christ and now was known to be a Christian to his peers and coaches. One other player, a receiver Dusty, even expressed a desire to meet with Mack and me to read the bible and talk about it weekly. Mack wants to be part of that.

What are we going to do from here? We're going to trust that Mack gets Jesus, shares Christ with others and grows in his new found relationship with God. Why should we expect anything else than immediate life change and impact on his sphere of relationships? God supernaturally did all he could to draw Mack to himself why wouldn't he supernaturally use Mack now to impact others?

It's real life change. It's real miracles. It's because God is real!