Feeling like a Scrooge? Read on...

I've been thinking a little about money lately. It's Black Friday. I usually focus on fund development for InterVarsity this time of year. A few organizations ask for year-end gifts. There are presents to buy. We have one friend who is miraculously going to close on a house soon, and another waiting for a job to start so he can pay his bills. And we'll be figuring out our taxes in January. Money's not the main thing on my mind, but it's there.

I just read this article, "Center Your Budget Around Buying Freedom Instead of Things," from Lifehacker. I think it argues for a much healthier view of money and stuff. In the Western world, we've viewed stuff as a means to security. But more stuff just means more stuff we need to keep secure. It's a never ending cycle. So choosing freedom over consumerism seems good at first glance.

Without God, though, freedom, especially "buying" freedom, gets just as twisted. Instead of accumulating things to fill up our need for safety, we bolster ourselves up with our freedom. Because when I can make any choice I want, I have power. And if I have power, I feel in control.

It comes down to protecting myself again, creating an illusion to comfort myself and feel good about going my own way. I think God has a better way. I just watched this a few days ago, and it's got me thinking.

Breaking the Power of Money - Dr. Lendol Calder from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Would you tear the bill in half? How about giving it away instead? This year, how will you worship God, instead of stuff or freedom or security or Mammon?

The You of A

I boarded the bus in Dallas. Some InterVarsity staff had been on the bus for 6 hours. Six more hours (don't feel sorry for us; we did some staff training, praying, and lots of playing - I laughed so hard on the bus I nearly cried) and all 50 of us staff and volunteers had arrived in Fayetteville! It may not be top of your list of places to visit, but the Red River Region staff team has been looking forward to this trip for nearly a year.

Andrea and Jason Thomas, our Regional Director and Associate Regional Director, took the jobs years ago in part to help us plant. Our region is Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, but when they came, we only had chapters in Texas. For a few years now, we've had a thriving chapter at the U of Oklahoma. But nothing in Arkansas.

Before our regional student retreat in February '13, the staff team met to talk about new directions in ministry, and we latched on to the idea of using our regional staff retreat at the end of the year to plant a chapter in Arkansas.

And by God's grace, it came together!

We stayed in 15 homes, traveled around on "people movers," and got some free Chick-fil-A for lunch one day. Two area churches gave us meeting space, and a Walmart exec VP exhorted us from the life of Moses to be courageous leaders.

Our day on campus was cold, rainy, and wonderful. We had 100's of conversations at our Faking It evangelism stations. We networked with ministry leaders and campus administrators. We met international students. We talked with atheists and agnostics who thought they'd join an IV chapter if it was like what they experienced with us. We even got a game of Spades going with some African American students in the dining hall. It seemed IV could make a big impact on campus. There's lots of great ministries already there, but I think IV brings something unique.

That night, I met 9 IV alum ready to support the new work on campus by giving, praying, and volunteering. Also that night we held a student meeting to cast vision to establish a witnessing community at U of A. Twelve students showed up. Years ago, Jesus called 12 men to follow him, and their decision changed the entire world. Think what God could do through these 12 students on campus and in the world!

Pray for good follow-up with the 105 students who filled out contact cards. Pray for the 22 who seemed like they could form a missional core. Pray for God to raise up a full-time staff worker (will YOU go to the You of A?). And pray for volunteer staff Joseph Pao-Wu who plans to gather students on December 5 after they return from Thanksgiving break. Praise God as these are some awesome students!

Discipleship Cycle Part Deux

I got back from my weekend trip to SFA last night. It's always good to see them!

Friday night, I did another training on discipleship. It was a bigger group, with a couple of newer leaders and a missional member, so I didn't want to focus our time on structures. Instead, I laid out the framework from Luke 10, where Jesus sends the 72 and leads the discipleship cycle you can see in the pretty picture below. We talked a little about why we need each piece and which structures do each well.

Then, I made them my guinea pigs. They wrote down a few words that describe God. In pairs, they discussed what might be missing from their idea of who God is. They came up with Scripture and actions they could take to help them experience God in that way. It was uncomfortable, and of course, I told them it wasn't going to be 100% accurate, but it generated discussion and showed a new way of thinking through someone's growth.

I shared with them the story of 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24, possibly leaving the movement because Jesus had just died. Jesus meets them but doesn't reveal himself, pinpoints their flawed idea of who the Savior is, and walks them through Scripture to help them understand better. He sits down to eat with them, they realize who he is, he disappears, and they walk 7 miles back to Jerusalem to tell everyone. That's some active response!

When we're choosing to disciple someone, we need to spend time with them, eating and hanging out and having fun. And we need to take and make opportunities to help them to know God better and be more like him. It can be tricky to figure out where to start, though.

Some questions to find out where someone may need to grow:

Who is God?
Who is Jesus? (often, those answers differ)
What is the gospel?
What has God been teaching you?
How did you come to faith?

Do you have questions you ask? What do you think of the cycle? Has anyone used it with you, openly or sneakily? Check out this IV article on the discipleship cycle.