Come Thou Fount

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

How many times these words have struck a chord within my soul? And yet, often it's easy to relate to the man who penned these words (Robert Robinson), who one day as he was riding in a stagecoach a lady asked him what he thought of the hymn she was humming. He responded, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

May I never leave my First Love.

Say a little prayer for me...

Heading out to our annual regional staff conference this weekend. I always have mixed emotions about the conference. It's a fun time of connecting with staff from around the region, but it's also easy to feel somewhat lost in the mix. Everyone seems to know everyone and has all these close friends to be around, except for you. Walking into the meal times is like walking into the cafeteria as a sixth grader all over again.

But my real concern as we head into the conference is that this retreat usually marks the end of the semester. After we get back, it's Thanksgiving break...then one or two more weeks with students, then they get lost in the mix of their finals. So essentially we only have 2 weeks left with students before the Christmas break...and with the planning of the Epic Conference still very much unsettled, and the number of students that might come is very unknown, I'm very VERY overwhelmed as the conference direcctor.

It's hard to capture how overwhelmed I am, but to give you a taste...the epic conference is less than 2 months away, and I've yet to secure a speaker. SO, please pray for me when you remember. I can't do this on my own.

A Simple Prayer

The prayer of one of our students during our core team meeting tonight..."God, I'm tired of being just like any other student going through a normal routine. I want to be used by You. Help me to be effective in reaching my friends and making an impact for You."

God, thank you for how you are working in the lives of students. I pray that you would hear his prayers...use him to reach his friends. May this be the start of a multiplying movement of students who will change the landscape of the students at UT.

A Quickie...part deux

quick update before I hit the sack...San Antonio was awesome yesterday. Originally, I was thinking Brandon and I would just be meeting up with David. We'd maybe talk about plans for the end of the semester and how we could really jump start things for next semester to really see Epic take off at UTSA. But when David showed up at 2 o'clock, he wasn't alone. He walked up with this girl, then another one showed up, and then another guy...and another guy. Next thing I realized, I was sitting down with 6 freshmen all fired up and on board with seeing epic take off at UTSA. I shared the vision and heart of epic with them and they were excited to start planning and meeting on a weekly basis to pray towards reaching their campus with the gospel. I never imagined that by this point in the semester, there would be at least 6 freshmen ready and willing to lead an epic movement at UTSA. Can't wait to see what God's got next!!!

A quickie...

It's been way too long since my last post...and there's nothing impressive about this one. Just a quick note for any who happen to stumble across this. Please pray for Brandon and me as we head down to San Antonio Tuesday to continue our Epic launch at UTSA. Pray for a good appointment with our key student (David). And pray that we would have opportunities to share our faith and possibly surface more leaders.

What a good day looks like

sunny and clear skies, uppers 70s, low 80s with a cool breeze

Longhorns 45, Sooners 12








Astros 7, Braves 3




Couldn't have asked for a better day!!!

except that maybe I wish I'd actually be sleeping and not wide awake at 4 in the morning.

This is your life

Switchfoot had it right when they asked "are you who you want to be?" Our staff team has been going through this book together ("Renovation of the Heart"). It's been really challenging my thinking. I've been a believer for 20 years...how much have I really changed? Am I really being formed into more Christ-likeness at the core of who I am? or am I just getting better at restraining from things I don't want to do? Am I just learning how to be patient or am I really becoming a patient person...Am I just learning how to do loving things or am I really becoming a loving person? It's not about what we do (career, ministry, deeds, etc) that matter, but who we are becoming.

Another question...when we talk about God and share our faith, what exactly are we offering people?

Am I a peddler?

There were some moments today and yesterday I felt like I was some random street peddler trying to sell something to college students (freshmen). As I approached students with a flyer, several of them would try with all their might not to make eye contact with me...as if that would somehow make me believe that they really didn't hear me talking to them.

Yesterday was the freshmen organizational fair. We had our epic table out there along with all the other groups vying for the attention of freshmen. What struck me most was that freshmen are searching. They are searching for a place to belong, a community. They are searching for significance through relationships or a career (as they madly signed up at every table that had any relation to what they were studying). And whether they knew it or not, their souls were thirsty to be satisfied by "something."

Am I a peddler? Yes I am, but I'm not peddling something that'll just collect dust on someone's shelf. I'm peddling a message of hope, freedom, and satisfaction that only Christ can give.

"Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Past couple of days, we passed out about 1250 flyers for an ice cream bash tonight. When they come, they will receive a Bible, a copy of Blue Like Jazz, a CD, and some free music downloads. Tomorrow night, we will have our freshmen Bible study. We are trusting that students will come out to both to find the goods that we're peddling.

Death By Turbo

A big juicy ribeye, a platter of sashimi and sushi rolls, a big plate of number five no flour on rice (if you've never been to santong snacks, you haven't fully lived), and of course, texas bbq. When things get crazy in life, these are the constants that can always keep you coming back for more. Let's get back to bbq...Bert's BBQ. A local joint in Austin that has some decent bbq...nothing compared to Rudy's or the Salt Lick...but hey it's Texas bbq. One thing Bert's has that no place else has is the Turbo. A big helping of brisket, sausage, chopped beef, and baked beans smothered in sauce and served over fritos...instant heart stopper. When it comes to food, there are some that are good purely rated on how incredibly bad they are for you...the hawaiian local favorite loco moco - crazy good. Bert's Turbo - insanely good, but only safe to eat maybe once a year. Problem is though...I failed to prepare my body for the Turbo. I've been eating pretty healthy these days so the Turbo proved to be a shock to the system. It's now 4 in the morning and I can still feel the sodium and fat coursing through my veins as I lie awake watching infomercials waiting for the sun to come up.

Idolatry

Training started on Monday. BUT, before we got into leadership principles, the whole first day was spent on getting our hearts connected with the Savior. I really appreciated the attention the trainers gave to this - stressing that as leaders, our main concern was to be Christ-centered leaders.

During one of our sessions of personal contemplative times, I was reading an article entitled "Whom or What Do We Serve, Fear, Trust or Desire?" The artice focused mainly on the idea of idolatry. We often think of idolatry as something made out of wood or stone and fashioned into an idol. OR something that we've made as a replacement to God.

I really liked the article's definition - An idol is anything we believe we need apart from Jesus to make us happy, satisfied or fulfilled. An idol arises when we desire something moe than we desire Jesus; when we fear things rather than God; when we worship ourselves rather than Christ; when we put our trust in anything other than God, when we serve any other thing rather than Jesus.

We serve, love, desire, trust, fear, worship other things apart from God to give us love, joy, peace, freedom, status, identity, control, happiness, security, fulfillment, health, pleasure, significance, acceptance and respect. Sometimes our idols are obviously wrong. However, the things we desire are often good in themselves, but even good things become idols when they start to rule in our lives.

Talk about a gut check...how many times in a day do I commit idolatry?

Almost There

One more week till I head off to Colorado for the summer. I don't know what to expect really. Directors' training...what all will it involve? I'm sure it will be a great learning summer for me - ministry, relationally, and personal growth in the Lord. Well, at least, that's what I'm praying for.