Seminary, Part Two

I arrived in Colorado Springs two weeks ago and met a good friend's parents at the airport. Out of their amazing generosity, they were lending me one of their cars for two weeks, choosing to go with one car so that their daughter's friend could have one. They had also gotten me in touch with a man in the Springs who was alone with his dog in a really nice house on a hill overlooking the city. He had a basement with a bedroom, bathroom, and living space that I could stay in for free. He turned out to be an 88-year old retired Air Force Lt. Col who had flown in WW2 and taught aerospace engineering at the Academy. Since retiring, he had continued to work in the Lutheran school system and now continued his life philosophy of giving. He now invests heavily in hospital visitation.

Not meeting the basic requirements for the program, I am privileged to get to study with people who have decades of experience in global leadership. The oldest member of the class is 58 and he's spent nearly 30 years working in Afghanistan. Another class member is 53 and he's just started a second career as the construction manager for all of Africa for Wycliffe. We've also got a missionary in a 100% Muslim country, a church planter in the Amazon river basin, and a student ministry director in Romania. On the US side, we've got pastors from rural churches, inner-city churches, large churches, small churches, and even an online church and a Silicon Valley church.

While here, I got the opportunity to visit New Life Church, a megachurch that has been through losing a pastor to a homosexual affair and a Sunday morning shooting. I got to check out Garden of the Gods and drive up to 14,115 feet at the summit of Pike's Peak. Sitting on a rock on the edge of the summit, I met with God. I got to meet my girlfriend's cousin in Denver, and hang out with an old friend who goes to Denver Seminary. And, I did all this in the context of beautiful mountains and amazing Christian leaders that I built lasting friendships with.

Have you had times in your life when everything seemed to come together in remarkable ways to become a huge milestone blessing in your life?

Seminary, Part One

I've been in Colorado Springs for the last two weeks studying in person at Fuller Theological Seminary. I am here with my cohort of 22 leaders and we've just finished two weeks of intensive studying. I've been so blessed by the opportunity to be part of this group. I am the youngest one in the cohort, and the only unmarried guy.

The Master of Arts in Global Leadership program is an amazing online program through Fuller that enables me to study toward my Masters while remaining in my ministry context. Not only that, but it combines light theological training, practical ministry training, and leadership training with a heavy emphasis on character and lifelong development as a disciple of Christ. I will finish probably either in December 2013 or March 2014.

This trip has been absolutely incredible, and I'll be describing it over the next few posts. It struck me as I was in the Denver airport waiting to head down to the Springs that I was flying into a city where I knew nearly nobody to borrow a car from people I'd never met so that I could stay at a house of a guy I'd never met and go to school with people I'd only exchanged e-mails with online. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and take a risk. In my next post I'll let you know how it turned out...but first, I'm sure each of you have similar experiences. How did they turn out?

Ethal

Thought this story was worth sharing...it's how my mom came to get her dog!

Hi my name is Elise and i work for Operation Kindness, I wanted to e-mail you and let you know that i am very happy that u adopted Ethel and that i rescued her.. She was hit by a car right in front of me, i didn't see it but i heard it and i could hear her crying from the street. So when i figured out were she was, I picked her up and moved her to the sidewalk, i wasn't sure what to do because she wasn't bleeding or anything, she was in shock, she couldn't get up, she was really stiff and wouldn't stop crying.so i wrapped her up in a towel and put her in the car with me.. And this is all happening around eleven p.m. so i knew we were closed at operation kindness so i couldn't take her there. I figured that she wasn't gonna make it because she wouldn't stop screaming and she was breathing so hard. I couldn't leave her there to just die, so i called animal control and told them What happened and they told me that it could take any were from one hour to twenty four hours before they could get there, and there was no way i was going to leave this poor little poodle to die alone.. so i thought that at least if she was not going to make it that i could get her some were so she can be put to sleep, and not suffer anymore. So i took her to Dallas Animal Services on Westmoreland, because they have a night drop box and you can leave the dog in there and someone will get her out on the other side of the door. so i filled the information on the card out, and then when i put her in there she stands up and looks at me and starts walking around. I'm feeling bad about even bringing her there but i shut the door, And i go home that night after all this, and i cant sleep i keep thinking about this poor little dog, and so the next morning i call up there and she if she made it threw the night and she did! I was so happy. So i told my boss the whole story and asked her if i could bring her to Operation Kindness, And she gave me the ok, And we do surgery on animals if they have broken limbs, or hips so i figured she would be a good dog to bring into the shelter for that reason. So i had to wait 72 hours before i could pick her up, because she was a stray so the owner had 72 hours to find her. I knew no one would be looking for this dog, from the matted fur, to the long nails, and dirty ears. So after 72 hours i got to go pick her up and when i saw her laying in the cage, she got up and came to the door like nothing was wrong with her. i asked them do they know her problems and the hadn't done x-rays so the were unsure. So we leave and i get her to OK and they do x-rays and its a broken pelvis. and she stayed there until you came and adopted her! And i want to thank you for giving her a good home! And i thank your both lucky to have one another. It makes me so happy when one of my personal rescues gets a forever loving home. thank you!

Psalm 103

Such meaningful words to me, from a folded up photocopy of two pages of a book I've never read:

"The heart's fierce effort is to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.

Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, 'Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself and cease to care what men think.'"

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Week 2

I have been so inspired by reading Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. I’ve found myself reading and rereading sections, underlining, making notes, and even getting up from the book to put certain principles in action immediately. I have been primarily inspired by seeing the image of a devoted leader who will stop at nothing to accomplish his or her calling. The description of self-imposed discipline is encouraging me to take many personal steps, particularly as my life is extremely busy right now. The leader described by this book works very hard and is very productive with all of his time, which is an excellent goal. However, I have been feeling concerned by the message here – while describing my recent life to a friend, she quickly reminded me to take my day of rest, something I’ve been unable to do in weeks. I am reminded of leaders I have known and read about who sacrificed their personal lives, particularly their friends and families, in the pursuit of working nonstop. Finding balance in my life is extremely important, and I am still struggling to find that when between two jobs, school, and other obligations it seems like all but a few hours of each week are spoken for when the week begins. Hopefully the discipline described in this book will help me to find that balance without taking to extreme the principles of hard work described in this book.

Week 1

I am fascinated by the journey that God is bringing me on as I enter the MAGL program. When I graduated with a business degree in 2007, I didn’t have any clue what direction I wanted to go with my life. I tried to enter the nonprofit world doing world relief and development, but didn’t get any calls back, so after falling into a youth ministry job at my home church I started a Masters in International Development online at Tulane University. After two semesters I realized that another secular degree was not what God was calling me to, and that such broad-based work was very important but not for me. So I dropped out of that program and took some time off to focus on my new job in inner-city church planting and community development. I then began to enter a Masters of Social and Civic Entrepreneurship program at Bakke Graduate University, but before beginning classes the Lord convicted me that He hadn’t intended me to get another business degree. I immediately applied to Fuller and was accepted! My story since graduation has been 100% by the hand of God. I always tell people that I graduated with no job during a recession and God gave me two jobs that I didn’t apply for and helped me to start a 501(c)(3). Not only that, but despite having yet to even approach the concept of making $20,000 a year, the Lord has sustained me, even with schooling! I am truly blessed.

Things I've Been Learning

Seems to me like the past couple of months have been a pretty remarkable time of learning for me. While it's a lot of things that I pretty much already knew, getting them reinforced is great.

• Knowing yourself is the most important thing
• You can talk yourself into a new mood
• There's 3 parts of your psyche: parent, adult, and child. Not only does each part relate to different parts of different people, but you relate to yourself. The parent is either critical or nurturing, and the child is either adaptive or rebellious. In this mindset, how you relate to yourself has a lot to do with your psychological health, and how you relate to others has a lot to do with your relationships.
• If you're a people-pleaser, people don't end up liking you, they end up using you
• You've gotta be open to anything relationship-wise...those whom you discount might become your closest friends, and if you open your eyes there are lots of ladies around worth getting to know a lot better
• Take the things that you're good at in life and apply them to yourself...for example, if you're good at making a goal and building a plan to get there, do the same thing with your life
• You don't have to wait until you think you're going to marry someone to date them
• Values, passions, and interests all change. Consider people to date based on the things that don't easily change: character and personality.
  
• You don't have to marry someone who has all the same qualities as you, you only have to date someone who has the ability and potential to value, understand, be inspired by, and encourage them
• It's not about finding the right person to marry, it's about being the right person to marry
• In a relationship, you bring a lot to the table, the other person brings a lot to the relationship, and the combination creates a certain type of situation. The person you always have a beer and watch the game with won't likely become the person you have a great conversation with or the person you do ministry with. Therefore, in looking for someone to date, consider what kind of combination you want to have in your relationship.
  
• There is a lot to be considered about the relationship between how you see yourself and how you present yourself
• Focusing on other people is not only the most fulfilling thing you can do with your time, it also the most productive and valuable
  
• God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, so humble beginnings are usually a good sign
  
• When you don't know what to do, do something
• There is no substitute for a good beer and good music
• Listening is far more important than speaking, and getting other people to talk about themselves and open up is far more important than talking about yourself
• Your place in life is where your strengths and your passions align with what the world needs
• Being intentional about building relationships with friends of friends and other acquaintances is fulfilling, exciting, and valuable