I'm a little late on this post, as the Anthem team led worship for a conference in Kansas. I was gone Friday morning through Sunday night...
It was a little sad saying good-bye to a good friend and co-laborer, Mike Easton. He and his wife Emily left yesterday for East Asia. They'll be working to reach university students in a city with very little gospel witness.
Our Freshmen Group director, Stan Hayek, kicked off our series on "The Water's Edge," a study through the book of John.
Please pray that many students will trust Christ as we journey through the book of John this semester. I'll be preaching on John 2 tomorrow night.
Jesus turns water to wine.
Hmmm... how should I apply that to college students?
Thousands of the state's (and world's) best leaders converge on this town in the middle of these Iowa cornfields to study and pursue their dreams. Hundreds of them show up every Thursday night at Salt Company to seek God's dream for their lives.
Sometimes I feel like I'm being set up for some kind of cosmic punch line...
But there's a great stewardship that comes with this next generation of leaders. We have a vision to raise these students up to become leaders in the church- whether godly moms, elders, engineers, pastors, teachers, worship leaders...
So we've launched the Cornerstone School of Theology to equip those seeking to be trained for ministry.
Today was our first class: Church History with Professors Jeff Dodge and Tim Lubinus.
Stan (TSC Freshman Director) didn't fare so well on the first quiz (this wasn't for a grade since it was the first day of class)...
Stan turned to me after getting a whopping score of 3/14 and said, "I really need to take this class."
How many pastors, missionaries, worship leaders, youth pastors, and other full time ministry workers have already been birthed out of Cornerstone/TSC? I hope to see that number increased exponentially in the coming years.
people jammed into the Cornerstone box. You would've guessed there were over 1,000 people there by how packed it was. If you think, "A few years ago I thought we were running
800-what has happened?" Historically, we have done a great job of over-estimating numbers. It was as big as any TSC in the gym I can remember. The feeling in there was electric... thunderous clapping and singing, followed by Troy hitting the ball out of the park. He spoke on the history of TSC and God's desire to do more.
590...
people signed up for connection groups going into the night.
650...
signed up for connection groups by the end of the night.
412...
signed up to clean the stadium. Do you think the Hawkeyes coming to town has anything to do with it? We'll need it for the 70,000+ rowdy tailgaters who will be making big messes.
160...
Greeks (not the ethnic group, but those in fraternity/sororities...) that came to the kickoff BBQ.
35...
Greek girls that showed up for a discussion on relationships.
30...
Farm House guys who came to 6 A.M. Bible study. I guarantee that never would've happened in my house. Did those guys grow up on dairy farms getting up that early? Either way, 30 guys from one fraternity getting up to seek God is something special.
1...
guy I talked to that couldn't go on the freshmen group retreat because he has to go back for homecoming. Lame. I wonder what my life would've been like had I not gone on the freshmen group retreat back in the fall of '95. It became my connecting point to the ministry.
2...
socially awkward situations.
400+...
students I hope will join us on our fall retreat October 9-11.
2...
of my kids I brought with me to TSC (Ava and Beck). Beck slept through most of Troy's talk and the entire closing worship set. He asked me as we were mingling at the beginning, "Why do you have to always keep stopping to talk to people?" People are a nuisance in his mind.
It was another rockin' week of ministry, beginning at 7:00 A.M. for our second Monday morning prayer meeting of the semester. The room was packed with students seeking God for what He might be willing to do on our behalf.
I had the privilege of praying with this group of guys that live in Barton Hall. They have a connection group of anywhere between 8-12 guys from their dorm, and they are praying for their whole floor to come to Christ. They meet every night at 10 PM to read the word and prayer. College ministry... Yesterday we had a TSC tailgate before the Cyclones took on the mighty Bison of North Dakota State. New coach. New offense. We knew we'd be in for a nail biter. And it didn't disappoint (It was a little closer than the final score indicated). About 400 students came to tailgate.
After meeting about the 50th person while wandering around for 3 hours asking name-major-living area, my relational tank was full. I feel bad that I will only remember a hand full of names. But I did have some very fun conversations.
Like the guy I asked, "Materials engineering, huh? Well what is your dream job when you graduate?"
The dude almost teared up as he said, "Polymers. There's just so many possibilities with polymers."
I was thinking: Poly-who? I didn't have the guts to ask what the heck he was talking about. So I moved on.
The only bummer of the night: we ran out of gas for the grill (thus, the long line).
This just might be one of the highlights of my year. Late into the night, the Janitors of God take over and clean Jack Trice stadium, after 50,000 people make a big mess. The award for the nastiest mess was a guy who reached down to pick up a napkin, and it was covering a pile of puke. Then, the popcorn bag next to it was filled to the top with puke.
This is where all of you alumni get a chance to comment on your stadium cleanup horror stories. I've got MANY up my sleeve.
And it's also your chance to be thankful you're not a student cleaning the stadium at 1 AM. Or me, a 32 year old cleaning the stadium at 1 AM.
Okay, this is cool. We had a student for every row from the upper deck to the first row by the field on BOTH SIDES! We had over 300 students cleaning, and the majority finished cleaning the stadium in an hour and a half.
That doesn't include blowers and trucks. They left around 1:30 or 2 AM.
All this is a reminder that this ministry is not about a bunch of hype on Thursday nights. May it never be! We are servants of Christ, willing to pick up puke for nothing in return.
May God bless the work of our (dirty) hands. We cherish your prayers for us- to that end.
This was an amazing week of college ministry. This is worth the read (As the author, I guess I'm slightly biased).
I wonder if I'll start every blog post that way.
Anyway, here are some images for you...
The week of ministry started with the Freshmen Group kickoff on Sunday night... about 600 students were served a free meal, followed by the gospel presentation by Stan Hayek, our freshmen director.
Below: Don't get this confused with the TSC kickoff (further below...). This is Monday morning prayer!!!! Well over 100 students gathered by the Campanile as the sun was coming up. Did you know Monday morning prayer is the only consistent "event" in the history of TSC.
Below: These girls were praying in the only sunny spot on campus- the steps of Beardshear. I thought it was symbolic of interceding in the presence of God for Him to shine His face on us.
And shine He did, as you're about to read.
I'll try not to get in the habit of this, but this part of the post is also found on my other blog (metropuritan.blogspot.com)
Before you read this, you might want to click here first for some background. I left off with the question, "What will God do?"
But here's the quick recap in case you failed to click there:
It's pouring rain all day yesterday, all night, and the forecast is not looking good- Rain all day.
I read John 6, with Jesus' words resonating in my soul, "Well, Mark, what are we going to do?"
Stan and I prayer walk the courtyard at 9:00 AM (in the rain) and Stan concurs that the rain is not a problem, but an opportunity for God to show up in a special way.
The rain is off and on all day, and it's spitting rain until 6:40, when Jesse starts the opening song of worship.
The rain totally stops.
Not a single drop for the rest of the night.
College students poured onto the lawn from all directions. My guess is that there were anywhere from 800-1,000 students packed onto the Old RCA Courtyard.
Here are some pics...
This was Jesse during rehearsal (6:10) getting rained on.
This is right after... Our student leaders, all 140 of them, went to town waving their white signs in the air in an attempt to get students to join their connection groups.
The mass of people was organized by having six huge signs with living areas, so students could sign up for connection groups near them. Here is Kevin posing by a couple of those signs.
Mark D doing his best to recruit to his connection group.
Gabe is competing nearby...
We have about 1,000 students that we're trying to get connected and about 100 groups, so doing the math, well, pray for our leaders... Steffi had over 30 girls wanting to get into her group in Linden!
This was about an hour after TSC ended. There were still a TON of people just hanging out talking.
This was almost 2 hours after ending, and still people were hanging out talking in the dark!
These are the true heroes of the night... the guys who got there at 1:00 to set up the stage and finished tearing down and unloading back at Cornerstone at 10 pm. Bless you, servants.
Moreover, the guy on the left is a transfer student who had just experienced his first TSC. He's off to a good start!
I wish I had more adequate words to describe how clearly and powerfully God showed up on our behalf.
In summary: I've never regretted putting myself in a position where my plans were doomed to failure if God didn't supernaturally show up.
Moreover, I wish I could go on and on about the students I personally interacted with. Maybe I just will...
Two girls who wandered in
One freshman guy who wandered in and this was the first fellowship he's had since arriving
A sorority girl who showed up because she was invited by a friend
Two Chinese guys who gladly told me they were not Christians, but were studying the Bible to learn how to know Jesus.
A freshman I had prayed for this summer who showed up out of nowhere
A prodigal sophomore who just decided to start living for Jesus again. He desperately wants out of the partying scene but doesn't know how to get out of his living situation
Five guys from the same frat who are eager to see God bring their house to Christ
Another guy who wants to start living an authentic life, "Mark, I want to walk with God, can we meet weekly?"
Two female athletes
A guy who just became a Christian last year and is weeping over his lost dad.
A sophomore who prayed for his roommate for the entire last year and he came for the first time tonight (not grudgingly)
A couple who just got engaged
A guy who just got a date (you think junior high is full of drama...just wait 'til marriage and your life destiny is on the line!)
I made it through the night with only 2 blunders....
1. I announced to the crowd that I took my 4 year old for a leak behind a nearby bush during worship (c'mon...it was his pants or the bush. I opted for fertilizing the bush)
2. I ended my talk by saying, "Can I get an 'Amen!'" GASP...I could've shot myself. Where did that cheezy "I'm a southern preacher wannabe" hype come from? Just a simple "Amen!" is fine, but I don't think I've ever said that phrase in its entirety before. Unless mocking someone. What was I thinking? I still can't believe it.
Oh well.
Forget the fact that God held off the rain and brought 1,000 college students to worship, hear about Jesus and get connected with His people...
He even showed up in the midst of my trite rhetoric.
We had our leadership retreat on Monday and Tuesday with over 100 of the 140+ TSC leaders.
Gasp... (at the thought of mentoring that many college students)
Here are some rockstar leaders (Above: Mary, Carley, Lydia. Below: Kent and Aidan)
The retreat was rockin'. Our best to date. Here were some highlights:
1. Our goal: simple and helpful.
That was totally accomplished as we often repeated the theme and focus of our year, "Just Care." We also consolidated everything a leader needs onto one sheet, entitled, "The One Sheet You Actually Need." We have a long history of overwhelming leaders with tons of information.
Was that tradition started under Jeff Dodge? Probably. And Paul Sabino was glad to carry it on.
Someone's got to get us back to the good old days of life under Troy's leadership.
Actually, I hear his leadership style was pretty hardcore- most akin to Hitler.
I hope none of those guys read this blog. I could be in trouble.
2. Confession time
If there's one thing that has marked this ministry over the years, it has been ruthless authenticity. That begins with confession, which requires a safe environment where people, even leaders, are allowed to struggle with sin. It also must be a place where grace abounds.
I felt strongly that we needed an extended time of confession. Monday morning started with a sobering challenge by Pastor Tom (Nesbitt) in our staff meeting. He referred to a story of a long time Christian who was stuck in sin, refusing to come clean. He challenged us not to keep secrets, but to gladly expose our sin by bringing it in the light. It's impossible to be "free in the dark."
We encouraged students to share in private with a trusted brother or sister. One student I talked to told me he almost didn't come on the retreat because he was overwhelmed by guilt about something he had done a week before the leadership retreat. I assured him if only the righteous showed up to the retreat, no one would've come.
3. Michael Jackson dances
We're always looking for competitive, yet non-athletic games to loosen students up while helping them build relationships. This was perfect. We gave 11 groups each 90 second clips of Michael Jackson songs. They had to come up with a group dance and perform in front of everyone.
4. The food
I don't think we had this kind of food at the Y camp or at Hantesa. I guess some good did come out of Paul Sabino's leadership (i.e. moving it to Hidden Acres).
5. Connection group practice
We did a mock connection group sign up to get the leaders in the mentality of going after people at the kickoff. The staff did some role playing. I was the guy who picked one guy to be in my group, while neglecting everyone else I met. My one guy was Andrew...
Here are some non-highlights. There's really only one.
1. The drinking fountain outside the chapel.
lame.
Nobody enjoys hitting the bar and realizing they'll have to put their lips on the spout and start sucking to get hydrated.
When I resort to complaining about the water fountain, that's a good sign I'm due for another trip overseas.
