Category: ministry

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It took me a while to see myself as a rebel. (Jacqueline’s Story)

(in addition to being the latest in new posts that are being brought from the old website, this is Jacqueline’s first post on the new blog.  Let’s hear it in the comments!)

I was playing softball with my three older siblings in the front yard.  It was a sunny day, and I rounded second, willing my 8 year-old legs to run faster.  My brother Josh waited at third, both for me and for the ball.  My dad, across the yard, was leaned over the engine compartment of his mint-green ’60s pickup truck, absorbed in his work.

The ball got there first.  When he tagged me out, I blurted “shit!” and looked up at dad, instinctively covering my mouth.  I was caught.  I idolized my older brothers, and they constantly exercised their vocabulary to one day make it as a sailor.  But even they wouldn’t drop the S-bomb in front of Dad.

As only my dad could do, he called me over to him at the truck and said, “If I ever,” pausing for effect, “hear you say a word like that again, or hear of you saying a word like that…” another agonizing pause… “I’ll tear you up.”

From that day on, I made it my goal to never rebel.  I was careful not to cuss, for fear of Dad finding out and making good on his promise.

I saw God as much the same way, ready to discipline for any act of rebellion.  Which led me to the straight and narrow path of keeping God happy.  My experience with church people told me that there was a list of things to do that were approved, and as long as I stayed on the list, I was good to go.  I had a relationship with God, but it was marked by strict observance of the rules.

It wasn’t until college that God brought to me the verse in Jeremiah that says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…”  Those words struck me as odd.  After all, I wasn’t a rebel.  I was a good little church girl.  But here God’s word was telling me I was deceitful and sick.  Worse than that, Jesus said that he only came for the sick.  But the more I thought about it, I began to realize that all my ‘good works’ were nothing more than an attempt to please people, and please God.  They often came from less than pure motives.  That realization continues even today, and the more I learn of my desperate need the more beautiful the cross becomes to me.

Since joining the staff of Campus Crusade in 2005, my walk with Christ has become changing my perspective from the ‘good church girl’ to seeing myself as the rebel in need of a savior.  The best news of all, that I get to share with the girls I meet on campus, is that Jesus came to save us from our deceitful hearts.  And no matter if I beat the ball to third or not, and no matter how I react to getting tagged out, I am safe in Him.

How about you?  Ever have a rebellious period? Or did you, like me, do your rebelling from a church pew?

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Sending Students Around the World, and Around the Block.

This past weekend, I got to spend some time at the annual missions conference at my old church in Murfreesboro, TN.  Nothing motivates me more to get to our assignment at the regional office than telling others about what God is doing.  Most of the time I just tell them with words, a few pictures, and maybe a video.  This time God brought a living, breathing example of what we are seeing God do on campus.  God brought Ginger to the missions conference.

In years past, the Friday night portion of the conference has been a showcase for one of the international missionaries.  But this year they took the time to honor some of the local ministries there in Murfreesboro that the church supports.  One such ministry is “Special Kids,” and outreach to local special needs children.  The representative there at the conference for special kids was Ginger, a product of the Campus Crusade ministry from MTSU.  Ginger was heavily involved with CCC in college, and even spent a year after school doing campus ministry with us in Sweden.  Now she’s working with the PR and marketing wing of the Special Kids ministry.

That’s why I am in ministry, and specifically college ministry.  No other group of people on the planet is as motivated, mobilizable, and ready to reach the world for Christ.  There’s often a misconception in ministry that we only want folks to come on staff with us.  That’s not our heart at all.  Of course, we’d love for students (or at least the ones we like) to join us and work alongside us, but the end goal is not more ministers.  It’s more worshipers.   And folks like Ginger are a true testament to God’s work in the movement at MTSU.

I was so glad to see Ginger using her gifts and talents to continue to reach folks for Christ.  She enables those sweet children to experience the best care and love they could, by her work in marketing for the organization.  As a parent who has spent some time in waiting rooms and surgical recovery rooms with my child, I was brought to the edge of tears during her presentation.

We’re not about having a club on campus.  We’re not about gathering some Christians together to pat each other on the back and compare how big our study Bibles are.  We’re about sending students around the world with the greatest message of hope ever uttered.  And sometimes, after they’ve been around the world with us, God calls them to other amazing ministries, or to the workplace to be a light and a witness there.

Ginger, thanks for reminding me why I do what I do.

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Building the Kindgom Using the Devil’s Tools?

Derek Webb’s album Ringing Bell has been ringing in my ears today.

I got an email through our ministry locator from a minister promoting an upcoming event.  It’s not a Campus Crusade affiliated event, as evidenced by the fact that I got alerted about it via our ministry locator.  The locator is a tool specifically designed to connect students, parents, and ministry partners with the ministry at specific schools.  It’s not a way to get in touch with staff to promote events.

So here’s how it goes:  excited minister wants to get the word out to as many people as possible about the upcoming event.  Knowing that Campus Crusade for Christ has thousands of campuses nationwide, and that we love Jesus, he decides to directly contact some staff through the ministry locator and let them know about the event.  Sounds reasonable, right?

But let’s change the scenario a bit.  Imagine instead of a ministry, it’s a taco business. Excited business owner wants to get the word out to as many people as possible about the upcoming event.  Knowing that Taco Bell has a way to directly contact franchises around the world, he sets about telling them about the event.

Sounds a little different if you paint it with a different brush.  See, whether you spiritualize it or not, using our ministry locator tool to promote events is spam.  Unsolicited email.  Illegal.

Now, I’m not going to report the guy and have him fined or penalized, because I’m relatively certain he didn’t mean to spam us, and unlike the taco example, we are not competing businesses.  We’re on the same team, looking to reach people with the gospel.  We’re about God’s kingdom advancing.

The question is whether or not you can advance the kingdom using non-kingdom resources.  Since spam is illegal, it therefore is not a tool God is likely going to favor in the building of his kingdom.

How you get the people to your event is just as important as how many people you get to your event.  Shortcuts, fudging numbers, and emotional manipulation might produce a throng of people who look very Christian at your event.  But it won’t honor God.  As Christians, we must go the extra mile to not just avoid guilt in these types of things, but because others have abused people, we have to avoid even the appearance of that abuse.

Since some online lines are still legally blurry, let’s make a commitment to stay well on the legal side of the blur.

That’s what’s got Derek’s song ringing in my ears.  His song “A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear” has a line in it that speaks to “building the kingdom using the devil’s tools.”  We have to watch out for the American lie that ends justify means.  Biblically speaking, questionable means condemn their ends, regardless of how “good” they appear.

What do you think?  Did I overreact?  What are some other ways we can strive to be full of integrity?  Comment Below.

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Tips for Online Ministry.

One of the reasons I am joining Campus Crusade’s regional team is to help staff and students in our region who have a felt need to be effective in online ministry, but lack the tools to do so.  I’m by no means an expert, but one of my goals is to become just that over the next few years.

From time to time, I’ll post about some tips that I have picked up and found useful.

By far the most powerful aspect of the internet is immediacy.  It all happens in (to use a buzzword) real-time.  That can be a huge help to online ministry (5 minutes until the start of the weekly meeting!  See you there!) or a huge problem (the Campus Crusade freshmen are rappelling off of the science building drinking beer! here’s a YouTube video I uploaded from my phone!).

One of the best things you can do is to always be aware of what is being said about you, online.  Twitter, for example, is tremendously searchable.  I have a constant running search for anytime someone says my name, the name of my ministry, or one of a few other topics in which I am interested.  It allows me to see as they are saying it what they are saying.  And it takes zero effort after initial setup.  I use Tweetdeck and have a column set up for each search.  (I spend maybe 3 minutes a day scanning the searches.)

The other thing that I’ve found indispensable is the use of Google Alerts.  Google might not own the internet, but they’re the sheriff with the biggest gun.  The ability they have over at Google to know what is being said online would make most of us wear tin-foil hats if we thought about it for very long.  I’ve chosen instead to harness that power.  A Google Alert is a once-a-day email (you can set them to whatever interval you’d like) that tells you any time someone says certain words or phrases online.  The power here is that the searches are magnificently customizable. For example, my friend Jeff Hardy might want to search to see what is being said about him online.  But he happens to share the name of a famous wrestler.  Google Alerts would allow him to exclude instances of Jeff Hardy that also contain “wrestler” on the same page.

In ministry, it always seems that half the battle is misconception.  Students think we have an agenda, or that we are insincere, or that we are ignorant and uninformed.  One of the ways the internet can help is by being able to speak directly to those who are spreading those malicious rumors and falsehoods.  You can put out the fire before it becomes too big.  Imagine spending the majority of our ministry energy on things like evangelism, discipleship, and training, instead of dealing with problems that could have been dealt with early and swiftly!

Have you found other ways to hear what is being said about you online?  Comment below.

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Ministry Partner Development.

We don’t like to call it fund raising.  Not because we want to trick people or call it something that fools people out of their money, but because at the most foundational level, it’s not fund raising (though funds are a great byproduct).

At the most foundational level, when I call someone to set up an appointment with them to share about how God is at work and how they can join with Him in that work, I am developing partners.  It’s not just corporate-speak or sleight of tongue.  I want your money, but only if it is coming from a heart of partnership.  I’ll say that in reverse and in boldface, for emphasis: I don’t want your money if it is not coming from a heart of partnership. If you think you are paying me off (or worse, paying God off) by giving, keep it.

The word development is key, as well.  I am not “Ministry Partner Fishing” or “Finding.”  We aren’t just looking for a one-time thing, here.  Our desire is to cultivate a real relationship, over time.  I am thrilled to say that, in spite of my spotty efforts, God has raised up some folks on our team that are real partners.  We have people that have been on our team since 2002.  What a testimony to God’s work.  When I started this blog about two years ago, my goal was that it would be another place to really give our ministry partners access to our lives.

Yeah, at times I call them “supporters” and refer to what we do as “support raising,” but make no mistake, when I challenge people to give, I am challenging them to partnership.

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