Life's Roller Coaster

Hey guys! Be checking back for my next newsletter and an update on Fall Getaway. I will post it soon. Until then, here is the talk I gave at the athletes Bible study tonight. 

I know some people like roller coasters. I however, am not one of those people. I’m always the one who gets talked into going on one and ends up shrieking the whole time while holding onto whoever I’m sitting next to with a death grip. While I don’t love riding roller coasters I do like watching YouTube videos of people freaking out on roller coasters. I have no idea how I stumbled upon this video but it strangely relates to what we’re talking about tonight so here it is. Enjoy!

Ok, it’s kind of sad. I do feel bad for the kid, but I also find it hilarious so I can’t help but laugh a little. It’s a funny video, but in all honesty some of you feel this way in your relationship with God. One minute you’re doing fine and the next minute you’re being catapulted every which way struggling to stay in your seat. The Christian walk seems more like a bunch of ups and downs than a steady go to you can put your complete trust in. And you look next to you and you see fellow Christians enjoying the ride, but not just the times of calm. They love all of it. The ups and downs. The stomach turning flips. Everything. And you might be thinking, “What am I missing? What are these other Christians understanding that I’m just not getting? How do I tolerate the ups and downs that come with following Jesus?” These are all valid questions because let’s face it: giving your life to Christ does not mean everything is going to be perfect. It usually means quite the opposite.

The past few weeks we’ve been looking at people who have interacted with Jesus. People who have answered the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Tonight we’re going to look at Simon Peter who actually directly answered that question Jesus asks in Matthew. Peter ended up doing great things for God, but his ride was a little bumpy. He rode the roller coaster of life with Christ and not all of it was pretty. We’ll be flipping around a bit tonight, but let’s start in Matthew 4:18-20.

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. ‘Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”

So here is the first time we see Peter enter the picture. Here is what we know about him: He was a common man. He was a fisherman which means he probably wasn’t very educated. His name was originally Simon until Jesus renames him Peter which we’ll talk more about later on. And finally, he had a brother named Andrew. I love his response when Jesus asks Peter to follow him. He immediately leaves his net and follows Jesus. Peter may not have known exactly what he was getting into, but he knew this man was worth following and he dropped everything to do it. Flip ahead a few chapters to Matthew 16:13-18.

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

I want to touch on a few things in this section. First, Peter understood who Jesus was. He was able to answer the question with confidence. He knew that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Because he knew this to be true he spent his life following Jesus. Second, Jesus renames him Peter which literally in Greek means, “rock.” Jesus tells Peter that he will build his church on him and not even the power of hell could shake it. If you read on in Acts you get to see what Jesus says about him come true, but before any of those things happen the roller coaster takes its toll.Turn to Matthew 26:69-75. Here is the famous passage in which Peter denies knowing Christ which Jesus predicts a few verses earlier.

“Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said. But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ He denied it again, with an oath, ‘I don’t know the man!’ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.’ Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately the rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

So here Peter is, after following Jesus and claiming that he is the Son of God, denying that he even knows him. He’s seen him do miracles, he’s heard his teachings, he’s committed his life to serving Jesus and he then denies even knowing him. And he doesn’t say it. He swears it with an oath and even calls down curses on himself. That’s pretty bad. I can’t imagine having one of my worst moments recorded in the Bible for millions of people to read throughout history. And to be honest it gets even worse because after this Jesus is crucified. There was no reconciliation, no chance to take it back, to say he was sorry. He didn’t get to make it right. The good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead and Jesus didn’t leave Peter to wallow in this horrible thing he had done. After Jesus rose from the grave he appeared to Peter. We see this interaction in John 21 the very last chapter of the very last gospel. Here’s the background. After Jesus rises from the dead he appears to Mary Magdelene, Thomas, and some of his disciples. The third time Jesus appears to his disciples is recorded in John 21 and this time Peter was in that group. They were fishing early in the morning and a man stood on shore. He asks them if they had caught any fish and they said no. The man then tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. They do and ending up hauling in a huge amount of fish, so large they couldn’t even pull the net in. The disciples end up recognizing Jesus and Peter takes off his cloak and jumps in the water to swim to shore. He was so eager to see Jesus he couldn’t wait for the boat to come in. Let’s pick it up in verse 15:

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’”

I find it interesting that Jesus ends the same way he started with Peter, asking him to follow. We get to see in Acts after Jesus ascends to heaven Peter really becoming the rock of the church. He builds them up, speaking boldly of Jesus Christ and the gospel. He even ends up imprisoned because of his message. And eventually ends up being martyred at an old age after a life spent serving Christ.

I think we can learn many things from Peter’s life but there are 3 main things that stuck out to me as I read.

ONE: The Christian life is full of ups and downs. So often we expect that following God means life will be easy, free from the bumps in the road. But we see from Peter that isn’t the case. Not only do bad things happen but there will be a lot of days I don’t FEEL like following Jesus. I know that has been true of me in the past and honestly it usually leads me to do dumb things like when Peter denied even knowing Christ. There may be times when we feel like we’re falling out of our seat like the chubby kid falling off the roller coaster. We know we’re strapped in, secure in the love of Christ, but we FEEL like we’re slipping. We panic because this ride didn’t go like we expected. It’s harder than we thought. It’s lonelier. It’s different. It’s fill in the blank… The point is so often we let the way we feel about our relationship with God dictate our actions. Do you keep hearing that word? FEEL? Our emotions often lie to us. My emotions tell me, “You can’t feel God near? He must far from you. You feel weary of doing the right thing? Just give up... just give in. You feel like a failure? God must think that’s true too.” When our emotions lie we must stand on truth. When Peter was fearful of crowds and claiming Jesus as his friend he should have remembered the truth: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” If that’s true he would have known there was nothing to fear. The first thing to remember from Peter’s life: don’t let the ups and downs dictate your relationship with God. He’s the safety belt that will always keep you from slipping… even if you FEEL like you’re falling.

      TWO: Following Jesus is a daily choice. Because our emotions lie to us, we will be tempted to worship other things. We will be tempted to serve other gods and give up following Jesus. It’s not by accident the very first and last thing Jesus says to Peter is “follow me.” It’s a choice we have to make every day. It’s like I keep saying: we must constantly answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?” Because when we answer that question we make a choice about who he is. And when we make a choice about who he is action follows. Either we drop everything and follow him or we choose to go our own way.

      THREE: You can always run to Jesus. Maybe some of you are thinking, “I’m in a low on this Christian life roller coaster because I’ve messed up bad. Like denying Jesus bad. I can’t come to Jesus because my sin is awful” Peter denied Christ three times and the very next time he saw him what did he do? He jumped out of a boat and swam to him because Peter knew that because of the cross and because of the resurrection his sin was washed away. His faults were not counted against him. He was completely loved, accepted, and valued by Jesus because his love alone and not the things he had done. Some of you guys need to jump out of the boat and swim to him. Your sin doesn’t have to separate you from God if you would just confess it (which he is faithful to forgive) and run to him.

So in the highs and lows there is hope. We know the Christian life won’t be easy and it certainly won’t be perfect but the good news is Jesus. He’s constant and his love is unconditional. Peter ended up getting it! Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:3-9. This is what he writes about our living hope:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Wow… that’s awesome. You have an inheritance than can never perish, spoil, or fade. Believing that with all your heart is going to allow you to be the lady in the video rather than the chubby kid tossed around by the ride: You’ll be laughing through the ups and downs of the Christian life because when you place your hope in Jesus Christ you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy even when you must suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Hello friends!

I can't believe it's already time for Fall Getaway! For those of you who don't know Fall Getaway is our first conference of the year. It's basically a relaxing, fun-filled weekend to connect with God and friends. Students  get away from the grind at Turkey Hill Ranch Bible Camp. There are large-group events with speakers and music, sports (sand volleyball, ultimate frisbee, football, etc.), hayrides, paddle boats, canoes, spectacular scenery to explore, a coffee house with snacks and games, and bonfires (with s’mores, of course). This weekend will be a great time for students who do know Jesus to reconnect with him far away from the distractions of school and homework. Students who don't know Jesus will hear the gospel and learn what it looks like to truly follow him. It's a weekend that definitely shapes the rest of the year for students because friendships are built and they will undoubtedly encounter Jesus during the talks and worship sessions. Because there is potential for amazing things to happen I'm recruiting prayer warriors. Please pray for this conference happening Friday through Sunday.

Here are some ways that you can pray:

• We have about 110 students signed up. Pray for 65 more to sign up by this Friday. Numbers aren't everything, but they represent individual people that can be changed by this weekend away.
• Pray for safe travels. Students from Missouri State, Mizzou, KU, and Kansas State will be driving on Friday afternoon.
• Pray for our speaker who will be challenging our students to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
• Pray for me and my roommates (Carrie, Tina, and Kelsey). We are each giving mini talks about areas females struggle in during a women's only session. 
• Pray that students who do know Jesus are challenged in their walk with God and inspired to live missionally. 
• Pray for students who don't know to Jesus to surrender their lives to him this weekend.
• Pray that students develop life changing friendships. 

MSU students at Fall Getaway 2011.

Students get tons of opportunities to spend time with God in his creation.

So much fun! Plenty of time for games and sports.

Martha, Martha...

This is the talk I gave at the athlete's Bible study tonight. Hope you enjoy and the Lord speaks to you through it!

Throughout this semester we’re going to be talking about different people who interacted with Jesus. Doing some case studies and learning about who Jesus is from their interactions with him. I’m really excited about who I’m going to be talking about because I really relate to this woman. 

Ok so Martha… She’s the oldest child of 3 which is like my family. I’m not the oldest. I’m actually the baby of the family with two older brothers. Now I don’t know how much you read into birth orders, but oldest children have the tendency to be very strong personalities. Take my oldest brother Matt for example. I love him. He is his own person... definitely a typical oldest child. I brought a picture of him to show you guys which I did not get permission to show but I’m the baby sister and our goal in life is to embarrass the crap out of our older siblings. So here he is in all his chunky glory. 

My poor parents. I mean he was probably one of those babies you totally have to lie to the parents about. You’re supposed to say nice things about how handsome he is but you’re thinking he looks like an overweight alien. So you say, “Oh he’s so cuuuuute” and your eyes get big and your voice gets really high and awkward. That’s my brother and the good news is he’s gotten a lot better looking. But my favorite strong personality/ typical first born story about my brother is when he was about 7 years old. For some reason he got really mad at my parents. Not sure why they probably made him turn off the video games or something. So he goes in his room… packs up his stuff in one of those typical running away from home packs. You know the stick with the red bandanna. He wraps up his precious belongs, throws it over his shoulder and “runs away.” What that actually meant is he hid in the bushes 10 feet from our front door. At my house you walk out the front door and look to the left there is a row of bushes. Meanwhile my mom walks into the kitchen and stuck in the cutting board with a knife is a note and all it says is MOM. I think at that point my mom was at her wits end and was probably thinking how did this chubby baby turn into a rebellious little turd? So eventually he comes back in the house. My parents were so mad at him and he had so much explaining to do. So maybe not all first borns are strong and rebellious like that, but we’re going to look at Martha tonight who was definitely strong personality. Maybe not quite as rebellious, but definitely a typical oldest child.

Let’s jump in to God’s word. We’ll start in Luke 10 tonight verses 38-42. To give you some background Martha has two younger siblings. A sister named Mary who is different Mary than Mary Magdelene a disciple of Jesus and different that Mary the mother of Jesus. Apparently Mary is a super popular name.  Martha also has a brother named Lazarus who we’ll read about in our next section of text. That’s the background. Here’s the story:

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Right off the bat I notice a few things about Martha both good and bad. First she welcomes Jesus into her home. That’s great. Very hospitable, wants to serve Jesus, obviously loves God and wants to honor him. But she’s also way uptight. Rushing around constantly working on things and missing quality time with Jesus. And her baby sister is doing exactly opposite. She simply sits and spends time with Jesus. So not only does Martha lose out on time with Jesus she also tries to tattle on her sister. She tells Jesus, “Um do you see what Martha is doing? She isn’t helping me. She’s just sitting with you. Tell her to do her part.” And Jesus says to her, “My dear Martha, stop getting so wrapped up in the details. There is one thing worth being concerned about.” I wish Martha’s response was recorded here. I mean I wonder what she said to that. Or what she did. 

We don’t get to see it, but let’s jump ahead and see Martha’s next interaction with Jesus.

In John 11, Lazarus, Martha’s younger brother dies. And he doesn’t just die suddenly and unexpected. He was very sick and his sisters knew it so they sent for Jesus saying in verse 3, “Lord, you dear friend is very sick.” So then Jesus says to Mary and Martha, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So if I’m Mary and Martha I’m thinking, “Cool! Lazarus is going to be fine. I know Jesus performs miracles and heals the sick so it looks like we’re in the clear here.” And then Jesus decides to wait 2 days which is no big thing right because Jesus told them Lazarus isn’t going to die. So he waits 2 days before he starts traveling and then spends more days getting to the family. When he finally gets there Lazarus has already been dead for four days. And this is where we’ll pick up this story:

“When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.’ Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ‘Yes,’ Martha said, ‘he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.’ Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this Martha?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him. ‘I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.’ Then she returned to Mary.”

Let’s jump ahead a few verses when Jesus goes to raise Lazarus from the dead. Verse 39:

“’Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. But Martha the dead man’s sister, protested, ‘Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

Now I’m sorry but I’m with Martha on this one. I’m thinking a dead body after 4 days? I don’t even like opening the fridge when there’s rotten food in there. Like if I have to decide to wash out the Tupperware container with the 3 week old spaghetti in it (with the mold and juices all at the bottom) or avoiding the kitchen altogether I'm definitely going to choose avoiding the kitchen. The point is I’m not washing that thing out. It smells. I’ll just avoid opening the fridge until one of my roommates decides to take care of that. 3 week old refriderated spaghetti is one thing… a dead body that’s a whole different story.

But doesn’t phase Jesus. Verse 40:

“Jesus responded, ‘didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?’ so they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go.’”

So I read this about Martha and I can’t help but think I’m looking in a mirror. I grew up in church my entire life. I’ve learned about Jesus from the time I was very a little kid, but for some reason I’d missed him until my junior year of college. I didn’t really understand who he was. Just like Martha missed him at dinner. She spent her time working away to serve him, to gain his approval… but she missed the point of their time together: to just be with him. To believe that he was who he said he was. It’s evident Martha didn’t quite get it. She tells him in verse 27 of John 11: “I’ve always believed you were the son of God, the Messiah” but when it comes down it she doubts his power. She turns right around and protests opening the tomb. And before that she’s working her butt off in the kitchen rather than soaking up his presence. 

Like I said I grew up in church but I didn’t understand until just a few years ago that God’s love and acceptance of me was completely free. I couldn’t deserve it or earn it or work hard for it. As athletes we have the tendency to be doers. Our performance dictates how much playing time we get, what our coaches and teammates think of us, and our win/loss record. So I think it’s easy to have that mentality carry over into other parts of our lives.  So often I felt like a failure because I wasn’t doing enough for the Lord or I kept getting caught up in that one sin. I thought, "Let me get this area of my life straight before I sit at the feet of Jesus." I was working in the kitchen of my life trying to gain God’s approval because I failed to recognize that God is who he says he is. He is Messiah and Savior and because he loves me grace is free through Jesus Christ. I don’t have to work and work and work. I can simply sit at the fit of Jesus which he tells Martha is the “one thing worth being concerned about.” Some of you are saying, “Yep that’s me… I’m a doer, 100%.”

Some of you see that, but a lot of you may not recognize you do it. A question someone asked me my junior year at Bible study changed my thinking about God. The Bible study leader asked me, “What does God’s face look like when he thinks about you?” Honestly I would have answered: disappointed because in my head I probably was not the Christian I should have been. I wanted to follow Jesus but I still messed up a lot. I had a lot of pride issues when it came to my sport. I had the inability to control how much I drank. I didn’t do the things Christians were supposed to do on a regular basis like read my Bible or pray.  In my head I wasn’t worthy of Jesus’ love. I had a wrong view who he was and what grace really was. 

Ask yourself that same question: when God thinks of you, what is the expression on his face? If the answer is anything but complete love and acceptance you’re probably a doer. You probably live by the mantra “try harder do better.” And you probably have a wrong view of God’s character just like I did and just like Martha did. I want you to know that your worth is not dictated by your hard work. You are fully loved and accepted by God because of Jesus. And when God thinks of you there is complete joy on his face because he loves you. 

So what does that mean for us Marthas? It means that we’re free from guilt when we screw up. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us." Not when we cleaned ourselves up or were super lovable. While we were still sinners. It means we can work hard out of a heart of love for God not out of a sense of obligation or guilt. It means that the good things we do can be to honor God and bring him glory rather than a box we check off in attempt to buy his love or get his attention. It means that you are unconditionally loved and sin doesn’t have to drive you away from God. It means that you don’t have to have your crap together before you come to Jesus. He wants you just as you are. And his love is going to change you. We get it backwards. We try to fix things in our life before we come to him. And he just wants us to come to him so he can help us fix it.

Some of you are saying “Yes, I’m a Martha.” Or are starting to realize your tendency to be that way.  But some of you may not be in that camp. I think there are 2 realities that exist here. And they BOTH stem from a false view of who God is. One, you could be a doer like Martha… performance oriented failing to see grace in your life. Or two, that false view could lead you to apathy. If you don’t believe Jesus is who he says he is why follow him at all? If he isn’t God, if he didn’t live a perfect life, die the death you and I deserved, rise from the dead 3 days later, and make a way for you to have a relationship with the God of the universe why follow him at all? But what if he did? If that was all true that has major implications for your life. If you really believed that the God of the universe wanted to have a relationship with you wouldn’t your life look different? 

So whether you’ve been a Christian for 10 year or 2 years or maybe you’re not sure about all that yet the big question remains: Matthew 15:16. “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” is a question we have to constantly keep asking ourselves because honestly most of our sin and brokenness have at its source a false view of who God is. I worry about my future because I don’t believe that God will do what is best for me. I seek approval from others because I don’t believe that God loves me unconditionally. I work myself into the ground because I don’t believe that I’m fully accepted by God by grace alone. I have to keep asking myself, “Who do I say that he is? Does what I believe about God line up with the Bible and am I living my life like that is actually true?” My prayer is that we would have an accurate picture of who God is and that we would let it shape the way we think and act in every situation of our lives.   

September Newsletter

Fresh Bread

Part of the reason I love my job is because I get to share the gospel over and over again. And while I know it is  extremely important for the people I’m sharing with to hear the truth of the gospel I’m blessed to soak it up too. A verse I share every week is Romans 5:8 which says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It is easy for me to pass over verses I say and hear so often, but the Lord has been gracious to let that verse sink in fully these past two weeks.

While I was still a sinner Christ died for me. Not after I cleaned myself up or stopped doing that one sin or performed a ton of good deeds. Nope, while I was still a sinner! And the beautiful thing is that verse is true for me and for you and for all the students I sit down and share the gospel with. I’m thankful I serve the God that loved me at my worst and made a way for me to know Him. No matter how many years I spend on this earth I never want to become calloused to the truth of the  gospel: that I am more messed up and sinful than I could ever imagine but   because of Jesus I am more loved and accepted by God than I could ever dare hope.

My prayer for each of us (and the students I’m ministering to) is that Romans 5:8 sinks in and we praise God who loved us enough to die in our place… even when we were dead in our sins and completely unlovable. Praying that the gospel is just as amazing to us today as when we first believed.

Out to dinner with my lovely coworkers
Michelle (center) and Carrie (right).

From Campus

The first two weeks of school for us are always crazy, exhausting, and exhilarating! I met A TON of people these past few weeks. While exhausting, it was super encouraging to meet students that 1) desired to truly live out their relationship with God in college or 2) were open to talking about spiritual things. Doing follow up our staff team has seen 19 student indicate decisions to follow Christ. I had the privilege of being there for a few of those. One conversation particularly sticks out in my mind. Lauren, a freshman who rushed a sorority, grew up in church but when I asked her if her life was truly   surrendered to Christ she said no. We talked about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus and Lauren said she definitely wanted that. Praise God for this sweet girl who wants to follow Jesus! Our first weekly meeting was on August 23rd. We had over 300 people! Numbers aren’t everything, but they do represent individuals that God cares about deeply so it’s exciting to see that many students at our meeting. The second week of school our small groups started. I’m leading a pair of sister dorms named Hammons and Hutchens as well as the athletes. We had 52 athletes come to the first Bible study. That is well above any number we had last year!  School is in full swing and the Lord has already done some incredible things. I can’t wait to see God continue to work here at Missouri State.

Staff and student leaders preparing
to hand out surveys

Morgan, one of our student leaders, passing out
Andy's surveys at Freshman Convocation.

Ways You Can Pray

Praise God for:

· 1,400 students filled out contact cards at Freshman Convocation. We had the opportunity to have      spiritual conversations with many of those students.

· 19 students indicating decisions to trust Christ already this semester.

· Over 350 people at our first weekly meeting (we had to bring in chairs to the auditorium because we had so many students).

· 52 athletes at the first athlete small group Bible study.

· Lauren, a freshman in the dorm I’m ministering to, who surrendered her life to Christ.

Pray for:

· The students that surrendered their lives to Christ. Pray that they would live out that decision and get plugged in to Christ-centered community,

· The athlete Bible study, Pray for one member from each team to attend next week.

· Follow up that will be continuing this month . Pray that students will be open to hearing the gospel.

· Fellow staff members Danny and Nicole. Their baby boy is due in October.

· Fall Getaway: our first conference of the year. Pray that students have the desire to go because it is a life changing weekend!

Our students are so talented! Here is one of
the "chalkings" they did on campus to
advertise for the very first Cru meeting.