For those who might not know, about three months ago I took a job as the associate preaching minister at The Hills church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas.  So at the end of May we said many tear filled goodbyes to family, friends and our ministry at Pepperdine and we headed east.  Well, after a very difficult and literal “40 days in the desert” we decided to go back to Pepperdine and return as campus minister. “So what exactly happened?” you might be asking yourself.  Great question.  And although I can’t say with absolute certainty, here’s what I have come up with.       

For those who knew me, you knew that I absolutely loved my previous (now my current) job as the campus minister at Pepperdine. I was really torn up at the thought of accepting the position at the The Hills and moving on to something else. Yet, people continually told me what an amazing preacher I was and that they saw me as the pulpit minister of a “big church” one day. Combine that with the opportunity to go learn from/under a preacher I respect more than any other, Rick Atchley, and it just seemed to be the logical and best step for us.  Although we felt like we wanted to do campus ministry for several more years and had just begun several really cool new initiatives at Pepperdine, we felt this door was too good to not walk through and I was afraid it wouldn’t come around again (first mistake). Anyway, we prayed and talked it over, and although I never received an absolute clear, audible sign from God, we took the chance and moved to Texas.

But to be honest with you, things didn’t feel right from the first moment I stepped foot in that place. Nothing negative or bad ever happened, in fact quite the opposite. We absolutely loved the church and the people in that place (quilting ladies, you will always have a special place in my heart) and the church responded so favorably to my preaching.  But, no matter how hard I tried or prayed about it, my heart and passion for ministry and preaching began dwindling by the day and I realized very quickly that I was not in the right place. As I sat in my office at The Hills, I could not get excited about or pour myself into the ministry or people there, but instead only thought about our new “house groups” at Pepperdine, our incoming intern team, the new freshmen class that would be coming in the Fall, the guys I was personally mentoring, etc.  I longed to be back in that place and utilize/capitalize on the momentum, credibility and spirit that had begun to take shape there.  Although some of my angst was probably due to bring homesick and/or culture shock, I firmly believe it was a clear affirmation of my call to minister at Pepperdine.  I’m not sure someone can be “outside” the will of God, but in all honesty if felt as if I had stepped outside of God’s call on my life, and what I experienced felt eerily similar to what the psalmist describes as “the heavy hand of God”.  Some will ask why God didn’t make all of this clear before we left (or before we bought a house in Texas) and I honestly wish that I knew the answer to that question too.

Looking back, I feel like God did hint at it several times (two of my closest friends told me not to make the move to pulpit ministry yet) but I’m afraid my pride, selfish ambition and human “wisdom” blinded me to that (second mistake). I’m also beginning to see that God needed to teach me a lot about myself, ministry and calling; that he needed to purge me and purify me of certain things, and maybe he needed to use those 40 days and this entire process to do just that. 

Well, to make a short story a little longer, after about a month of feeling totally out of place and out of tune, I decided to reach out to University Church of Christ to see what they thought. What a blessing it was to hear that they wanted me back. They were getting close to finding/hiring my replacement, but felt like my talents (and my new found perspective) were a perfect match. It humbles and honors me to know they stood by me and fought for me.

As I have found out through all of this, sometimes following God and discerning his will isn’t so easy to do.  I expect there will be a very mixed reaction to my return.  Some will think that I am crazy and foolish, and they would be right. Some would say I did a poor job discerning God’s will and made a lot of mistakes, and they too would be right. But hopefully people will understand that walking by faith is, by definition, a risk, scary and uncertain. God allows us to make decisions and sometimes those decisions don’t work out too well (ask Adam, Abraham, David or Paul).

 I am learning that God wants me to know and trust him. Not work for him, not speak on his behalf, not define myself as a preacher or a minister, but to simply know and trust him. As a Christian I desperately want to know what his voice sounds like and what his face looks like, and although this has been incredibly stressful & embarrassing, I think I’m beginning to hear and see a little more clearly.

So back to those words.  Reckless. Wasteful. Irresponsible. Illogical. Absurd.  Yes, they describe me as I ripped my family away from a place they loved and moved across the country, only to do it all over again 40 days later.  But, I think those words pretty adequately describe grace as well.  Whether it’s the parable of the workers or the prodigal son or the pearl of great price, grace doesn’t make any sense at all.  It isn’t a neat equation or a logical thing.  God’s love and kindness and mercy towards us defies logic and dumbfounds the best of us.  People keep saying how “awkward” this is or what a “unique” thing Pepperdine is doing here.  But, as Christians, as those who serve a God who pursues us and waits for us and comes running to us, it really isn’t all that weird or awkward or unique.  When we stumble, God is there.  When we walk away, God is there.  When we close our eyes or turn our backs, God is there.  That is the story of all of Scripture – no matter what we do, or where we go, or how badly we mess up, God is there – ready, willing and anxious to take us back and shape us more into his image.

Grace is an underserved second chance (and third, fourth, fifth, etc.).  Grace is exactly what I received through all of this but more importantly, that is exactly what all of us have received through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. My deepest apologies to people like Rick, Neil, Karl, and Linda. Thanks to people like Eric, Rick, Rich, Ken and again, the quilting ladies. I hope and pray that somehow the master craftsman can use these crazy 40 days to make something beautiful.

We meet Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm in AMB 220 (the Ahmanson Music Building behind Smothers Theater).

The Scriptures teach us that each and every person who claims allegiance to Jesus Christ is a priest. So, welcome to the priesthood. No that might sound a little odd to a group of Protestants, but as a Christian it is your right and your responsibility to share and teach and communicate God’s Word and God’s love to others. As a Christian it is your right and your responsibility to carry out important spritual and religious duties. As a Christian it is your right and your responsibility to go before God on behalf of others, and to concern yourself with the spiritualk well being of the people around you. You are a priest. You are not a passive consummer who sits idly back and allows the “paid professionals” and “religious specialists” to carry the load or do all of the work. We are all responsible. We are all in leadership. We are all called to get to work.

Take a quick look at 1 Corinthians 12. In that text you will read that every single person (every single priest) has been given a special and unique measure of God’s Holy Spirit. God has specifically empowered and enabled each and every one of us to carry out our priestly duties in a specific/particular way. If you were with us at Collide recently, you were able to participate in a Spiritual Gifts Assessment. Although not perfect, the assessment does help us to begin thinking and talking about how we are each gifted and how we can use our gifts “for the common good”.

What gifts has God given to you? Does that surprise, scare, confuse you? What does that gift look like in your life and the lives of those around you? How have you been able to use your gift to strengthen the body? As a body, what gifts do we desperately need more of?

Whether you took the assessment or not; whether you feel like God has gifted you with an abundance of gifts or if you are still trying to figure out if you have any gifts, the key to all of this is prayer and discernment. Pray that God would reveal to you how He has manifested the Spirit within you, and then allow the community around you to affirm and challenge and reveal to you (help you to discern) what they see God doing in your life.

Again, welcome to the priesthood. Now let’s get to work – there is a lot to do!

Quick question – what if you were given a completely clean slate when it came to “doing church”?  What if you didn’t have to follow or abide by any traditions or rules or guidelines?  What if you were freed to recreate and shape the time/space where believers come together and seek to strengthen one another?  What would “new wine skins” look like (Mark 2:21-22)

And I’m not asking the question because I hate all things church and want to start a riot.  I’m asking because that is exactly the situation the first believers found themselves in.  Jesus lived, taught, exemplified, died, and was resurrected.   He then leaves a bunch of highly confused and rather unqualified folks to take his place and to continue his ministry.  No rules.  No traditions.  No real guidlines.  No order of worship.  No denominational idiosyncracies.  Just a devotion to and love for Jesus.

And what they decide to do is recorded for us in Acts 2 & Acts 4.  I highly encourage you to read those chapters.  What elements of those early church services stand out to you?  Would you have done the same things?  Which ones do we desperately need to recommit ourselves to?

So, if you had a clean slate, how would you “do church”?

(If you are intrigued by this idea, I highly suggest you check out the following links – http://www.brianmashburn.net/?p=295; & http://www.brianmashburn.net/?p=298)

When did Jesus struggle the most during?  It wasn’t during all of these events, it was earlier that night, in prayer, before any of these things had transpired.  In that time of prayer, we read that Jesus was heavily burdened, scared, and possibly even terrified of what was to come.  Sweat and tears and blood poured from his body that night.  

In response to this, Philip Yancey says the following: “For most of us, prayer serves as a resource to help in a time of testing or conflict.  For Jesus, it was the battle itself.  One the Gethsemane prayers had aligned him with the Father’s will, what happened next was merely the means to fulfill it.  In the words of Haddon Robinson, ‘Had I been there (in the garden with Jesus) I would have worried about the future. “If he is so broken up when all he is doing is praying, what will he do when he faces a real crisis?  Why can’t he approach this ordeal with the same calm confidence of his three sleeping friends?” Yet, when the test came, Jesus walked to the cross with courage, and his three friends fell apart and fell away.’

These words and insights hit me like a ton of bricks. For my entire adult life, and throughout the last 8 years of ministry, I have approaced prayer as preparation for the battle that is to come.  Prayer is that which will give me the strength and wisdom to go out and fight the darkness.  And yet, it appears, that the real battle is fought in prayer.  If I see prayer simply as the pep-talk before the big game, then when I speak or teach or “fight the good fight” as I have understood it, I am simply walking out onto a field, fully prepared to fight, only to see that the battle has been over for quite some time.

Could my life and my ministry lack power and authority, could renewal and passion and a longing for God be missing from the students I work with because I have “fallen asleep the night before” and not devoted myself to the real battle taking place in & through prayer?

Jesus shows us that what we seek to accomplish and bring about in/through our ministries and our Christian lives happens first and foremost (and maybe only) through the discipline and avenue and battle that is prayer.

When I first heard this principle, it was rather liberating.  At times, believers (especially new/young believers) can feel as if studying or pursuing anything that doesn’t have the label “Christian” on it or doesn’t directly connect with or point to Christ, is somehow secondary to those things that do.  I used to think and say to myself, “Learning more about mathematics is good, but knowing the gospels is better!”  To me, it seemed like there was truth with a capital “T”, and then all other truths.  I’m not sure if others can relate, but I felt like all lower case “t” truth was a waste of my time. So hearing that all truth is God’s truth, opened my eyes to the fact that big “T” truth is everywhere (not just in the bible).  God’s power and presence and glory are found in everything from the bible, to calculus equations, to the study of the solar system.  Jesus said, “I am THE TRUTH”, so I have come to believe that when you encounter truth, you encounter Jesus (period).

But, as I have recently come to believe, that isn’t entirely true. Listen to the words of John Piper on this particular issue - 

Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.

“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.

Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and merely knowing a truth to be God’s truth does not glorify him any more than the devil does.

Wow – causes you to rethink the solgan a little bit.  Is all truth God’s truth?  Well, all truth does in fact point to God and find its basis and meaning in God, whether that is 2+2 or an understanding of how to build a computer, but the Scriptures make it clear that truth is designed for and grounded in the glory of God and its primary purpose is to cause us to grow in our love for Him.  So if we simply allow truth just to be truth and not allow it to draw us or compel us to have a greater love for God, then it is not God’s truth.  So, marvel in the precision of the universe, delight in how God has made everything, seek to discover more and more about God through his creation, or the laws of physics, or whatever.  But don’t just stop there. Allow that truth to result in an even greater love for the God who is behind and in it all. 

All truth is God’s truth (well, sort of).

Many people believe that by drastically controlling and altering the way we consume food, they can somehow obtain the body and the results they so desperately desire.  as was the case with porn and sexual sin, seeking to satisfy our desires in that way only leads to immense pain, anguish, and frustration.   But, victory and release are available to you and the pain you are experiencing can be overcome (Philippians 4:13).

What is an Eating Disorder?

An eating disorder occurs when a person’s life revolves around weight and food.

• Some people eat too little. This is called restrictive eating.
• Some people eat too much at one time. This is called binge eating.
• Some people purge. They vomit, use laxatives, fast or excessively exercise to get rid of the food they eat.
• Some people exercise to excess (more than an hour a day). They are compulsive about exercise and feel significant distress if they are unable to exercise, even for one day.

For detailed information regarding each type of eating disorder, click on the links below:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Binge Eating Disorder
• ED-NOS

Excerpt from “Life Inside the ‘Thin’ Cage” by Constance Rhodes:

“I’m Not Hurting Anyone…”

For many years there wasn’t much anyone could say to veer me away from my tried and true technique of chronic dieting. In my mind, gaining weight was simply not acceptable, and so the means by which I remained so incredibly thin seemed a small price to pay for my perceived success.

It wasn’t until the day I nearly passed out while trying to mow my tiny front lawn that I finally got frustrated with what I had become. I talk about this more in my book, but it was that event that finally got me mad, which was actually an important step toward getting help.

For some reason, it took me 12 years to realize that my eating habits had indeed been destructive to my body. Up to this point, I had convinced myself that I was not hurting anything, or anyone, but as I began to step back a little, I started to understand that there had been several “hidden costs” along the way.

Things like skipping social events, out of fear that I would eat something “off limits”. Or missing out on building friendships, as my obsession seemed to consume my time and cause others to keep their distance. As I started taking a closer look at my life, I saw hundreds of price tags, both small and great, that had been stacking up along the way.

And so I realized that there were actually some pretty compelling reasons to give up my unhealthy obsession with thinness.

If you think you might struggle in this area, please seek out the advice of someone you trust.

One of the best websites we have found that can provide you with the resources and strategies you need to overcome this struggle is findingbalance.com. This site is a trusted Christian resource that specializes in this area and is invaluable if you are looking for help.

Don’t ever hesitate to e-mail, call or come by our office so we can partner with you in finding freedom and liberation.

*As seen on Baylor University’s Counseling Website http://www.baylor.edu/counseling_center/baretruth

Here are a few sobering statistics on how drinking too much, too often can put a serious damper on your dreams of achieving academic glory–or even your dreams of just graduating:

• According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking practices, 300,000 of today’s college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes such as drunk driving accidents
• 159,000 of today’s first- year college students will drop out of school next year for alcohol- or other drug-related reasons. The average student spends about $900 on alcohol each year. Do you want to know how much cash the average student drops on his or her books? About $450.
• Almost one-third of college students admit to having missed at least one class because of their alcohol or drug use, and nearly one-quarter of students report bombing a test or project because of the aftereffects of drinking or doing drugs.
• One night of heavy drinking can impair your ability to think abstractly for up to 30 days, limiting your ability to relate textbook reading to what your professor says, or to think through a volleyball play.

Although these statistics might be true, they still don’t do much to curb our habits or motivate us to stop drinking.  But, what will? 

When it comes to Christians and alcohol in particular, most of us are accustomed to hearing the same thing: drinking is from the devil (combined with a judmental look and a finger pointed at your face)!  And although we believe alcoholism and the misuse of alcohol by those in college is incredibly destructive, more needs to be said on the topic than simply “Drink and you’ll find yourself in Hell!”

In I Corinthians 10, we read the following – “‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”  In these two verses we are presented with one of the strongest reasons for severly limiting, if not altogether putting an end to your drinking.  Although it is not a sin (against the will of God) to have a drink (Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding) the question becomes how beneficial and constructive is this behavior?  As the verse above points out, and as the gospel makes clear, as a Christian you no longer live for yourself.  You were bought by Christ to be used for Christ.  And a common theme throughout Scripture is that while drinking is not always viewed as wrong, its dangers and harmfulness were such as to call forth numerous warnings.  In some cases (priestly service, Nazirite vow, Timothy’s apostolic efforts) abstinence was seen as commendable and appropriate.

Proverbs 23 – “Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.” This verse, along with numerous studies points out that drinking causes you to not operate at 100% of your intellectual ability, it tends to weaken your capacity to make split second decisions, and greatly impacts your moral restraint.  Someone who is seeking to be used by God at all times, who is to “always be prepared to give an answer”, whose conversation is to ”always be full of grace and seasoned with salt” , cannot seek to live out these commands and be under the influence of alcohol at the same time.  Not drinking is a sacrifice that many of us are called to make, not merely for our own benefit and well being, but equally importantly for the benefit of the world around us – for “the good of others”.  Life is about so much more than simply having a good time, relaxing with, and getting your mind of things for a while.  It is about always being in tune with God.  Always seeking to do His Will.  So whether you are  the designated driver, the person who is able to stop others from making dumb mistakes, the only one who fully present in any given situation, or one of the few who is willing to make a statement about the negative effects of drinking, the use (and abuse) of alcohol is something that Christians need to take much more seriously. 

Where to Go For Help

• Enlist the help of family, friends, professors or your Resident Director.  Letting someone else know about your struggle and your desire to change is a huge first step.  When they hear that you want to try to curb your drinking, we are sure that they will be happy to do whatever they can to help and encourage you.
• Call or e-mail the campus ministry office or the counseling center right away (www.services.pepperdine.edu/counselingcenter)   We are here to assist and walk with you as you seek to break free from your dependance and addiction to alcohol or drugs.
• Learn about all of the different resources that are available to you right here around campus.  Whether it be peer support groups, accounatiblity partners, etc. you will probably be surprised to learn how many people and organizations there are that can help.  One of the best online Christian based resources that we have found is www.celebraterecovery.com.