Stick Your Neck Out Faith

Take a risk, stick your neck out...your friend is waiting.

Take a risk, stick your neck out…your friend is waiting.

By Beau Crosetto

Think about a time when you really stuck your neck out on the line. When was that time you believed in something so much that you did all you could to recruit to the cause?

It could be that weekend trip that you are trying feverously to get your buddies to skip work for. It could be that beautiful gal or cute boy that you want to go on a date with you. It could be a cause to save millions of lives and you just need people to donate money. When we really want something, we will stick our neck out and do what it takes.

But what does this look like in the Christian faith? What does, “stick your neck out” faith look like when it comes to Jesus?

Continue Reading

Are You Using Supernatural Ministry?

JSheadshotThis is a guest post by Jordan Seng. He is the senior pastor of Bluewater Mission, and has been engaged in teaching, healing and prophetic ministry, worship, small groups, missions and church planting for the last twenty years. Before helping to begin Bluewater Mission, he served for four years in the Presbyterian church and about 16 in the Vineyard association of churches. He holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Chicago, with a Ph.D. in Political Theory. He is the author of Miracle Work:  A Down-to-Earth Guide for Supernatural Ministries (InterVarsity Press).  He and his wife Sonya have two children.

A self-proclaimed atheist came with a friend to a recent spiritual encounter retreat hosted by a young man in our church.  She was just curious to see what it was like.  The host politely asked the non-believing visitor if he could include her as he prayed for attendees to be filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  She obliged, and soon felt a surge of power as the Holy Spirit filled her and she burst out speaking in tongues.  She was totally shocked.  The next day she returned to the retreat and accepted Jesus as Lord.

Another non-believing young woman was brought to our church because of bizarre, uncontrolled outbursts she’d been having.  While one of our leaders prayed over her in our office, she lost control of herself physically and cried out in a fashion we recognize as demonic.  The young leader cast out the demon, and began a healing friendship with the woman.  Today she’s in control and following Jesus like a trooper.

These stories are a little weird, and also very biblical.  They reflect, for example, the descriptions of the deliverances and healings Philip used to evangelize Samaria (Acts 8), or the way the Spirit fell upon the gathering of seekers in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10), or Paul’s assertion that tongues are a sign for nonbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:22).  The New Testament is filled with accounts of how healings, deliverances, prophecies, and manifest outpourings of the Spirit helped fuel the evangelism and growth of the early Church.

But I find that very few churches today make the effort to use supernatural ministries evangelistically.  Why is that?

Continue Reading

Planting is Like Learning To Swim

IMG_7588

I have been having a great time watching my son Noah become a swimmer. When we took him to his first lesson in June he was scared of the water and wouldn’t put his face in if his life depended on it. He was really scared.

Just last week as he was kicking up and down the pool with flippers on, turning onto his back, and then onto his face every three seconds. A mom turned to me and said, “how old is your son? He is really good!” I told her he was three and she gasped in disappointment and said, “Gosh, I don’t know if my son can ever be that good.”

I assured her it is possible, just keep coming. A few months ago my boy was kicking and screaming, and now…he is kicking his way through the pool.

Continue Reading

Who Says You Can’t Be Awesome at Sharing Your Faith?

By Linson Daniel

picture 1

I had an awesome time last week on campus. Within the span of 60 minutes, I had the chance to talk about life, faith, and Jesus with an atheist, a Hindu, and an international student from Kenya. What a rush! None of them made a significant decision to follow Jesus, but I felt that the Kingdom had come nearer to them. That was pretty exciting.

You may believe that you could never be awesome at sharing your faith. Trust me, I was right there with you. In fact, I still doubt whether I really know what I am doing! However, I keep trying. Along the way, I’ve noticed 10 steps that have helped me become increasingly better at sharing my faith with others.

I believe you can be awesome at sharing your faith with these 10 simple steps:

Continue Reading

The Genius of The “And”: Plant & Build

file8281278162138

How we see our plot of ground makes all the difference

traportrait2Tracey Gee is going to start blogging with us every month and I am really excited about that. She is becoming an expert at building chapters and training. She is part of the National Chapter Building Initiative with InterVarsity and helps train and lead staff and students into more growth and reach of students on campus. But she is also leading a planting effort in Los Angeles as well now. She is a great example of both a planter and builder!

In John 4, Jesus tells his disciples to lift up their eyes to see a field ripe for harvest.  For years, I have preached that word to students and encouraged them to see their friends and their whole campus as ripe for harvest.  I want them to believe that God is bigger than their limits and to widen their perspective.  “Don’t miss the bigger picture of what God wants to do” is what I have said.  Little did I know that I was more like the disciples than I thought and Jesus wanted to speak to me about that.

Continue Reading

Who Am I?

who-am-i-today

Who am I?

Mom. Dad. Sister. Friend.

I could go on and on, but, I’m sure if you are old enough to be reading this, you’ve asked the question, “Who am I?” at some point in your life.

I think one of the biggest issues facing the American church today is that our church attendees do not have an understanding of who they are, and if they do, they have not been given full freedom to truly live it out. If that is you, let me tell you, as a child of God, you are a missionary, meaning “sent one.”

Continue Reading

What Are The Fruits & Vegetables Of The Soul?

file641340001417

[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

 “What can I do to try and stay healthy?” I asked my doctor during my annual physical check-up. His reply, “ Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercise, get adequate sleep, and keep an eye on your cholesterol, weight, and blood pressure.”

This is standard advice that is easy to remember though sometimes harder to follow.

What can an apostle, prophet, or evangelist do to stay vital and connected to God? Or put another way, what are the fruits and vegetables for the soul? Here is advice from three respected soul doctors:

Continue Reading

Vote For The APE: Top Blog

TopBlogsYouRecommend660x440

We were nominated as a top blog on Verge, a blog dedicated to accelerating movements of the gospel. It’s pretty cool that someone put us up there and now we can vote!

If our blog makes it into the top five, then anyone who voted gets a free digital pass to their conference.

So there are two reasons you should vote:

1) You can get a digital pass to the conference

2) You can help others find our blog by getting it towards the top (The only reason I knew we had been nominated is that I was getting a ton of incoming links from Verge…people were checking us out)

From Verge:

*The list will close on September 4th at 11:59PM. At that time, the Top 5 websites will be tallied. Whoever nominated the Top 5 sites will receive a Verge 2013 Digital Access Pass worth $129! 

VOTE HERE

6 ESSENTIAL LESSONS LEARNED WHILE LEADING A MOVEMENT

The science of leading a movement can be reproduced anywhere, but the experience of leading a movement is unique.  It leaves a lasting impression on you as you reflect upon it.  I have learned more about myself and God in the past 4 years than ever before in my life.  I want to share 6 lessons I learned about myself and God while leading a movement to reach South Asian-American college students in Texas and Oklahoma.

UT-Austin OneWay InterVarsity Founders in 2001

UT-Austin OneWay InterVarsity Founders in 2001

Continue Reading