GroshLink

The other day, I had an extended conversation with a pastor from a sister congregation which returned again and again to the theme of crossing the line of commitment to God and the people of God.  I shared my recent musings regarding college serving in some manner as a form of Rumspringa, for which the local assembly prepares youth and after which young adults make a decision regarding whether they will remain part of the people of God.  Local assemblies are committed to their youth in this process and if one chooses to become part of the community of faith, one embraces the shared pursuit of holiness and the creative cultivation/transformation of individuals/culture. 

So when I came across these thoughts by Miller on Why Evangelicals are Quitting Church, see Sunday Morning, Staying Home, I found them of interest and turned to prayer/reflection/action.  It is with great joy that I can testify to Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ being a place for quitters to be welcomed to the people of God. To God be the glory and may He continue to bestow His grace upon our local assembly.

More from Miller on depression

thinking of Second Corinthians, chapter one, and the fact that you are being prepared to help others going through similar times of depression...elisabeth elliott says that what helps her is to "do the next thing"...not to sit and stare, and wait until the mood is right, but to do, no matter how we feel, the next thing that needs to be done...the laundry, wash the car, call someone who needs a call, clean the house, whatever...

Note: Earlier post Depression among the thinkers

after the russians attempted to take over afghanistan (ten year slaughter), J. Christy Wilson, longtime missionary there, had to come home..."death of a dream"...he then taught missions at gordon/conwell...i invited him to spend several days here at westminster with our missions group...what a blessing he was to many students who met with him here at my home, individual meetings at student center, in classrooms, and i think he spoke in chapel too... he told me that early in life he made a major decision:  whether to get involved in "programmatic" ministry, developing and maintaining programs,  or pray that God would lead him to specific individuals that have great promise, and disciple them one-on-one...he did the latter...and that's also what has given me the most satisfaction...i often ask students who have a passion for Jesus how they got that way...i never heard them say, "oh, just by going to church"...they almost always mention one specific individual who stayed close beside them, and helped them... -- a note from our brother in Christ Miller.

Amen!  A special thank-you to Miller for regularly sharing ministry insights and encouragements, particularly the inquiries "how are you doing?" 

P.S.  For an Urbana 2000 tribute to J. Christy Wison, who served as the director of the first InterVarsity Missionary Convention, click here.  Also check out his Urbana 1973 presentation Self-Supporting Witness Overseas.

If you're a parent, children/youth minister, educator (K-higher education), take a moment to prayerfully consider the Books and Culture article And to Think It Is Happening on Mulberry Street: Preparing teenagers to cope with the "hookup culture" when they go away to college.

What brings this concern to mind, in addition to my years on campus ministry which spurs me to bring Soul Searching to InterVarsity's Staff Conferences, fall on my knees in prayer as first year students begin to flow onto campus, and causes me to regularly try to build bridges with youth ministers?

A basic trouble is that most Churches limit themselves unnecessarily by addressing their message almost exclusively to those who are open to religious impression through the intellect, whereas ... there are at least four other gateways -- the emotions, the imagination, the aesthetic feeling, and the will--through which they can be reached. -- A. J. Gossip (1873-1954)

Thank-you to my friend Tom who passed along the link for Bill Hull's Change Direction: Brokenness, How I got to this point.  I commend it to my friends in ministry (both professional and volunteer).  Hull's presentation resonates with me as I've shared a lot of the same material in personal conversations/team meetings over the course of my much shorter time in ministry.  May the people of God listen and submit themselves to the Way of God.  Here's an excerpt from the introduction page:

To choose the life is to commit to a way or pattern of life. Its basis is humility, and it is a life of self-denial and submission to others. We choose it because Christ chose it for himself. The essence of faith is to take up our cross daily and follow him.

The Journey begins with Bill talking about the brokenness that led him to a new realization of an old truth: that full churches are not necessarily full of disciples and that transformation is what matters. The purpose of the sessions is to identify those who are enthusiastic about the call to the life of discipleship. The messages are designed to introduce the issues that will enflame the heart.

Remember the Christianity Today article Unchained Faith: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and John Bunyan [click here for my post of an excerpt regarding Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)]. With Alexander Solzhenitsyn's (1918-2008) passing I am reminded of the article as I read Solzhenitsyn, Literary Giant Who Defied Soviets, Dies at 89 (NY Times), Editorial Observer:  Solzhenitsyn in Search of the Russia That Always Eluded Him (NY Times), and Albert Mohler's "One Word of Truth Will Outweigh the Whole World" -- The Death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Many times I'm asked what I do and why I do it, i.e. my work with  Emerging Scholars and Faculty as part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  The short answer is that I'm responding to the call of God, one which came to me as a student and continues with me to this day.  If you'd ask me to flesh it out a little further, I'd share something similar to Dick Staub's recent post The Intellectual & Spiritual Task at Hand & The Next Generation, (Note:  Don't miss his Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog, Beth Maynard Podcast).

Miller, who is thankful for the months he was able to be close to Francis and Edith Schaeffer at Swiss L'Abri and go with them on their Christmas vacation at the Matterhorn area, passed along the below quote from  Colin Duriez's Francis Schaeffer:  An Authentic Life.