Prayer for the Supreme Court

Today, I ask you to be in prayer for a Supreme Court decision. I received this from a higher up in the Nav office, so I'll just let them explain what's happening rather than summarize:

On April 19th, [that's today!] the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments to decide whether groups like The Navigators, InterVarsity, Campus Crusade and others can be removed from college campuses because they require their officers and voting members to share their core religious commitments. According to some universities these core religious beliefs violate their affirmative action policy.

Seventeen organizations and 13 state attorney generals are working together on this case. Pray for the justices to rule on the side of religious freedom. For more information on how to pray, go to http://www.intervarsity.org/news/campus-faith-freedom-alert. This case has far reaching implications for religious freedom in all areas.

Spring Break!

At 1 in the morning, 35 or so of us are hopping on a bus and heading to Lake Tahoe for some fun in the snow. Please pray that lives will be changed in this trip, as we have a few people coming who don't know Jesus.

I'll update later with how it went.

The First Stone

On Tuesday nights, we've started going out and sharing the gospel with people out on north campus (or the NC as they call it in da 'hood). It may not be the most effective way of evangelizing, nor is it my favorite way of doing it, but I know that God can use this to bring people closer to Him, so we do it. 

On the first night that we did it, Big Pat and I went out together. The first gentleman that we approached was a culinary student at SCC working at Sparky's Diner to pay the bills. He was from the Bible Belt, and grew up Christian. However he left the church when he came out to his parents as gay and they "made (his) life a living hell." In fact, it's why he and his boyfriend moved from Georgia to Phoenix; to get away. 

This made me sad. We didn't ask him what "a living hell" entailed, but I can imagine it was far short of loving him despite whatever flaws he may have. He said they're on good terms now and he doesn't hold any kind of grudge against them (which makes him a better man than myself), but I can't imagine a family pushing one of their own members away in the name of Jesus instead of showing him Christ's unfailing love regardless of the sin in his life. It seems to me anti-gospel to say "Change, or else."

Now, do I think that there should be some correction and uncomfortable confrontation if a Christian is seeking a homosexual lifestyle? Absolutely. But I feel like urging someone to go straight is far from the correct approach, because even straight people are not without sexual sin. On Sundays, our churches are filled with people who are into premarital sex, pornography addicts, divorcees (which Jesus said makes them adulterers), and a slew of other people who we like to extend grace to, and that's good. Why is it that when it comes to homosexuals, then, that we are quick to cast the first stone?

I'm really glad that Pat and I (mostly Pat) didn't focus at all on this guy's homosexuality. It's not our job to play the Holy Spirit and try convict someone of sin. We just presented the gospel as we would to anybody else. The rest is in God's hands.

It's been a long time...

It's such a shame that I've neglected this blog for so long considering all that's been happening with my ministry this semester. I should really be more disciplined in this. 

Anyway, what to update first is pretty easy. As you may know, last semester saw me spending a lot of time not doing ministry because I was fundraising. I was looking for a part-time job while I was doing that, which brought me back to the job that I had quit last summer to, ironically, fundraise. This semester, I'm still working at the theater for some supplemental income. This obviously causes a problem with one job being in San Diego and the other one in Tempe. Well, that problem was solved by moving one job over. 

So, at least for this semester, I've become staff for the ASU Navs. I'm reintegrating myself into this ministry after being absent for a semester, but the transition as seemed to go smoothly for the most part. My biggest problem is that coming in midway through the year, I've run into trouble finding some guys that I could invest in. I'm looking to get a Bible study for upperclassman men going, which I'm hoping can be beneficial for me and the students. 

I think that's enough for right now. I swear I'll update more often. I've just been having trouble with my computer, so my iPod Touch has been serving as my mini-laptop. There's plenty of stuff to write about, so stay tuned. 

Like Moses. If I could be like Moses.

A good friend of mine (and by that I mean we're Facebook friends and follow each other on Twitter) wrote about a disease that I am currently recovering from: Empty Prayer Promise, or EPP.

What I used to do is tell people I'll pray for them, and then forget. I meant it when I said it, but I'm so absent-minded that unless I write it down or pray for it right then, I most likely wasn't going to pray for it.

I've recently tried this outlandish idea of praying when I hear a prayer request. The internet has made that super easy since I can read someone's prayer request and just pray by myself ('cuz that can be slightly awkward to stop a conversation to pray). I can finish up my blog readings with a prayer, and I know that those requests were taken up to God at least once.

This has been awesome, and I enjoy praying for other people's needs. However, there's a certain part of the world that isn't getting enough prayer from me: San Diego State University. It really doesn't make sense that I'm not praying for the campus that I was assigned to and want to be at. I can explain it, but it doesn't make sense.

See, I want to be like Joshua. In the latter half of Exodus 17, Amalek is fighting against God's people. Joshua was off on the front lines, in the middle of the action, leading the army to fight for the Lord. I want to be on campus, in the midst of the battle, fighting alongside my team, but I'm more than 300 miles away. Since I can't physically be a part of the battle, I want to retreat.

But Joshua and the army weren't fighting alone. Moses was at the top of the hill, crying out to God. The incredible part about it is that this was more important in their victory than the actual fighting. When Moses' arms were raised, the Israelites were winning. When they would fall, the Israelites started losing. I've pretty much wasted time wishing I could be Joshua that I missed the opportunity to be Moses, an integral part of the battle.

I can't change the past. I can look back and consider what a horrible person I am for not praying. Or I can lift my hands daily to God for SDSU, still striving to be a Joshua, but being content with being a Moses for right now.

As I am weak, I pray that you would be Aaron and Hur, helping Moses when he lost his strength. Ask me about how I'm praying. Facebook me about it. Tweet me about it. Text me about it. Pray for me about it. Now would be a good time for that.

Why a ministry blog?

So, I was very hesitant to start a ministry blog because I figure whatever is happening in my ministry is happening to me, so I might as well keep it on my regular life blog.

The main reason I started this one is because I thought that my other blog was way too cluttered with stuff that I wanted to include. So, I caved and this is the result. I hope you enjoy reading about what God is doing in and through me as I continue on EDGE Corps!

Easy as 1-2-3

There it was. The moment I had been waiting for. The moment when I would step foot on the campus of San Diego State University, my mission field. The moment when I would go and impact the Aztecs for Christ.

The First 3 Weeks
It was so exciting being there my first day. I was helping students move in and trying to get acquainted with the campus and the surrounding area. After that move-in day, we had several days scheduled for recruiting, i.e. surveys and tabling, as well as a beach day and a barbecue. Week 2 came around and that meant more tabling and some follow up and our first Nav Nite! After that, we did more tabling and follow up, as well as a staff retreat. This is obviously not an exhaustive list of everything that happened in my first 3 weeks at SDSU, but a rough outline of what they looked like. I was glad to be there, as everything I had been working on was leading up to going to campus and trying to reach the students.

The Return
Week 4, however, has started, and I am no longer in SD. I had to come back to Phoenix to continue fundraising. It's slightly ironic because I was very sad to leave AZ initially, but now, three weeks later, I am bummed to be back. Not that I don't love my friends here, but it's hard to pack up and leave for a new journey only to turn around and come back while the journey continues on without me.

With all this comes a lot of questions, from me and from others. Are you sure this is what you want to do? Are you sure this is what God wants you to do? If so, why are you back? Wouldn't He have funded you? Do you really think you can get up to 100%?

All these questions lay heavy on me, and I start to think, "What if they're right? Maybe I should have just kept my job at the theater and stuck around here. I didn't want to leave and go out there in the first place. Wouldn't it be easier to just quit right now?"

Easy Doesn't Do It
The answer to that last question is most likely yes. It would be easy. But I'm not looking for easy. I was never promised easy. I never expected easy, and I won't accept easy. Easy means stagnation. Easy means, if I'm being honest with myself, that I am not following Christ. I look over to my right and I see a statuette of Jesus carrying a cross and am reminded of Luke 9:23. "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" What Jesus said is far from easy. It means looking at the things that I want and think are good for me, but telling God that I want His will over mine.

Is Anything Too Hard?
These questions also make me examine what I believe about God. If I believe that my God created the earth and everything in it in 6 days, do I not believe that He can get me funded? If I believe that my God can raise people even from something as final as death, do I not believe that He can provide the $27,000 that I need to go back? God said in Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?" I have to remind myself that I serve a limitless God who has me where I am for a reason. I have to do all that I can to get funded and trust that God will get me there.


I didn't intend for this to become a sermonette, but while I was writing, God was reminding me of things that I had forgotten and I wanted to pass that on to you. I thank you for reading and ask that you pray for me during my time away from campus, that I would raise the support to get back, but also get some fellowship and encouragement out here instead of being a hermit waiting to go back.