After that is done, I have this dream of tweaking our give site to be branded better and fit our giving situation better. All this is done with the intent of supplementing our face to face fundraising effort.

There’s still lots of questions if this is worthwhile or not but it can’t hurt right? Does anyone else have examples of how your ministries online presence has helped with fundraising?

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Does being online help spiritual growth?
2. Sunday Inspiration
3. Collaboration across the organization

Some days the task list can wait. Some days I just need to be around the energy of students who are trusting the Lord for something beyond themselves.

Since Tuesday is our movement coaching/launching day, I had the chance to make the trek up to Washington State University – Vancouver to visit with a few of our student leaders today. I hadn’t been up there since last term and I had no idea what to expect.  WSU-V is on the edge of our scope and I’ve been coaching them via email/phone and occasional visit. It’s all student run with limited interaction with us. We resource and do our best to put fuel on the fire.

I could have said no to this trip. I have a ton of other tasks, phone calls and emails I could have worked on…but I drove the 40 minutes in the pouring rain in I-5 traffic to get some face-time with these students.

I met up with some “Coug Cru” students at a promotional table and I immediately began to get a taste of the flavor of things by asking a new girl who was helping out how she got involved. She responded by saying, “I met Phil and they seemed to talk about outreach a lot and that’s something I care about so I got involved. Also, I love that they pray a lot!”

I think that’s a good sign.

After we’re done with the promo table I sit down with two student leaders and begin to ask questions. The responses are about as ideal as you can imagine in campus ministry. They want to see believers connected in community…a community that is involved in the mission of seeing their campus reached for Christ. They want their friends to know Jesus. They want to courageous with the gospel.

Woah, woah, woah…settle down people. We’re just starting another Christian club here.

I walked away from our brief time in the bone chilling rain reflecting on the fact that a year ago there was no one on campus with the intention of making Christ known and now the environment of the campus is changing because some students started praying. Praise the Lord.

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Does being online help spiritual growth?
2. Response to Anti 1-1 Discipleship post
3. How are we allocating our staff in Portland?

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Launching at Portland State University
2. Links of the Week!
3. How are we allocating our staff in Portland?

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. 4 pillars of City Ministry
2. Theology of Urban Ministry: (Cowtown to Urban Hipster #5)
3. How do I respond to the brokenness?

1. We must believe that people are on a spiritual search. Then they must see and hear what it looks like to follow Christ. This is not necessarily a one-time event or conversation.
2. We must show up in the world of those we’re ministering to.
3. Gut check on our passions. Our passions cannot be about growing organizations, rather about bringing the kingdom of God to earth. If you’re jealous of another organization, your vision for your city is to small.
4. Anchor our hope in the Jesus and the mission he’s called us to.

I loved these powerful thoughts on our perspective as we seek to transform cities. Any thoughts?

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. “That Great City” (Cowtown to Urban Hipster #2)
2. Theology of Urban Ministry: (Cowtown to Urban Hipster #5)
3. How do campus and justice ministry mesh?

This was taken over labor day weekend on the Oregon coast. The fog moved in in about 20 minutes after a beautiful day!

No related posts.

Showing up to campus, the computer or staff meeting expecting the God of the universe to work. Taking Him at his word that he is active and working in our lives and the students lives of this city.

I Samuel 14 caught my eye this morning in Dale Ralph Davis’ commentary.  It was the story of Jonathan boldly charging into the Philistine camp full of faith inspite of circumstances. His eyes fixed on Yahweh. The following is an excerpt from Davis…

Faith arises in such a situation because it looks not to circumstances but to God. Jonathan has clear conviction about God (“for nothing can keep Yahweh from saving”) producing great expectation of God (“perhaps Yahweh will act for us”) and recognizes God’s “normal” manner of working (“by many or by few,” i.e., through his servants).

Jonathan is not trusting his own daring scheme. He does not say, “Perhaps Yahweh will act for us, for we are rather clever.” If anything, his daring is an expression of his trust in Yahweh.

The beauty of Jonathan’s faith is its imagination (Come, let us go…perhaps Yahweh will act for us”); and the beauty of that imagination is its balance (“perhaps”). If is if Jonathan says, “God can do mighty works with very small resources, and God may be glad to do it in this case; and how can we know, dear armor-bearer, unless we place ourselves at his disposal?

How refreshing.

Perhaps God will show up for us!

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. "Faith-full" imagination
2. “No one here has shoes!”

• I deserve a day off
• I deserve a better job/ministry/summer assignment
• I’ve worked to hard to do THAT job
• I need (i.e. deserve) to have a day of television watching/alone time/golf/whatever
• I deserve the American dream house
• I’m not getting enough recognition for all my effort
• I’m entitled to peace and quiet
• I deserve a good night sleep every night

How do you battle entitlement creeping into your life?

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Double check before you hit enter
2. Do you need a Fed Ex day?
3. How are your margins?

Am I living off of reputation or character?

I’m at our National Staff Conference right now in Fort Collins. We heard from Francis Chan this morning and he hit it out of the park. I’ve never read any of his books, but I’ve seen a few online clips that were good. Having no expectations paid off as my heart was challenged in a good way.

He taught from this verse in Revelation 3.

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

Because I’m in formal ministry how often do I live on my reputation of being out there amongst the cutting edge, hardcore Christians,  while at the same time there are parts of my life that are dead or calloused to the Lord?

May I never become entitled, cynical or hard-hearted. I don’t want my life to make sense to the world. I want to be more in love with Jesus.

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Everyone wants to be a hero
2. Sunday Inspiration
3. On my bookshelf (summer edition)

We just returned from the Lake Tahoe Summer Project with more than 100 students and staff! It feels good to be home, but it was so fun to watch our students lives change right before our eyes!

Every wonder about the content we talk about  and train in while on summer project? Check out our resource page here for a glimpse!

In a few days we’ll head out to our national staff conference, where we’ll get the chance to hear Francis Chan speak and David Crowder bring it. We’ll also get the inside scoop on the new name of Campus Crusade for Christ. Lot’s of blog content coming down the pipeline!

Other LTI posts kinda like this one:

1. Living off of reputation?
2. On my bookshelf (summer edition)
3. Things and stuff of the week