Doane Leaders are Asking the Right Questions

Student President Kristin Hasenkamp invited Terah and I to attend their leadership team meeting today at Doane, and we found a group of leaders asking each other some very good questions. As we entered the conference room, the smell of smoke from a burned-out leadership team met our nostrils. Finals week had just come to a close, and it was impressive to see these leaders still pushing forward with ministry despite the fatigue that typically accompanies final exams.

As they dialogued about the past semester, and the one yet to come, I found myself very excited about the questions that they were asking one another:

Kristin led the way by asking, "Why don't we just move the three different groups together?" A great question indeed- the past semester CCC had four different focuses: service team, small group, events, and weekly meeting. After some conversation the conclusion was reached that all three (except small groups) will be combined into one bi-monthly gathering for next semester.

This should allow CCC to still have the most effective activities while eliminating the less effective. Also, fewer meetings means higher quality. The expectation to plan and prepare a weekly meeting will be replaced by the responsibility to figure out the best two gatherings for that month...brilliant.

Wes followed this conversation by casting the long-term vision for multiple small groups around campus when Charissa asked one of the best questions of the day: "where are these people (for small groups) going to come from?". That, my friends, is a great question and one which I will address in my next blog entry. From there Ashlee helped shape the things to come at Doane by discussing the need to be intentional in relationships.

My "nutshell" of the meeting was this: reorganize to spend about 60% of resources creating a safe, seeker friendly environment where students can encounter Christ and spend about 40% of resources intentionally praying for, caring for, and bringing Christ to the seekers.

Way to go guys!

Miscelaneous: Doane is taking a great group of students to Christmas conference, which should help to propel these new ideas. The leaders are already making plans to revisit New Orleans to aid in the disaster relief effort.

-Ethan Wiekamp

DNA

Neil Cole makes an interesting claim in ‘Organic Church’:

“Every aspect of the Body of Christ should consist of: Divine Truth, Nurturing relationships, and Apostolic Mission. The key is not in having a separate ministry committee or program to handle each area. DNA must be whole, intact, and in every cell. In other words, every meeting, every ministry, every disciple must have all three components at the same time.”

I have grown up my whole life in “the Church”, and yet I had never heard this claim until reading Cole’s book. More than anything, I guess the simplicity and “Duh” factor of his statement really jumped out at me. I found myself thinking, “Of course...how could I have missed this?”

I suppose you could call me a willing victim of the norm, or a product of the system, but I have regularly separated the three parts of the DNA as such:
Divine truth: church sermons or reading the Bible on my own
Nurturing relationships: small group Bible study where authenticity is a high value
Apostolic mission: either an outreach program or going out sharing my faith

In my experience, the first thing to go is the apostolic mission. We tend to juxtapose apostolic, which literally means “sent as a representative with a message” (Organic Church), into meaning “get others to come to us”. (See previous blog entry: the Wrong Questions) It is a very simple yet profound concept to think that every part of our faith, and every person with faith, should not unravel the DNA, but rather, live out all three aspects simultaneously.

The more that I have processed Cole’s insights the more I am convinced that he’s on to something. The DNA is a basic description of Christianity- to remove any one part of the equation is to take away a fundamental element of our faith. And just like DNA, when you remove one strand you end up with something entirely different than what you started with. When I have Small group that isn’t centered on Divine truth in God’s word I've missed it. If that same group isn’t living out an Apostolic mission I've missed it too.

Oops.

-Ethan Wiekamp

Movements Ignite at Hastings College

Last night I was in Hastings and saw how God is moving in amazing ways on the campus of Hastings College. Over two years ago the leaders of three Christian organizations on campus came together and began to strategize how the could work together to impact their campus. The problem at Hastings College was that students were too busy to have time to reach their campus. The week was filled with a Monday Night large group Bible study, Tuesday was the Campus Crusade weekly meeting, Chase met on Wednesday, and FCA on Thursday.

After two years of casting vision and prayer the leaders of the three organizations merged into one that they called Ignite. The results this Fall have been powerful. The weekly meeting of Ignite draws 80-120 students, and lives are being impacted. There is a sense of momentum and excitement from having a critical mass of students working together who are seeing students around them make decisions for Christ. Today the organization is building multiple movements of Bible studies with a goal of starting a Bible study in every dorm, and a vision of having a Bible study on every floor of every dorm to put the gospel within arms-reach of every student on campus.

-Craig Johring

Are you Toad or Frog?

the following is taken from Neil Cole's book, "Organic Church":
Growth
In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus tells us: “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows- how, he does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

In the children’s book Frog and Toad Together, the garden tells the story of Toad’s adventure of planting seeds to grow a garden. Things begin when Toad appreciates his friend Grog’s fine garden. “Well, yes,” replies Frog, “bit is was hard work.” “I wish I had a garden,” responds Toad. So Grog gives Toad a package of seeds and tells him that if he plants the seeds soon he too can grow a beautiful garden. Toad asks, “How soon?” “Quite soon” is the reply.

Toad plants the seeds and then tells them to start growing, while he stands there waiting for them to appear. When he sees no response, he tells the seeds to start growing, a little louder. Then he shouts at the seeds, commanding them to start growing. Hearing the loud noise, Frog looks over the fence and asks what all the commotion is about. Toad replies, “My seeds won’t grow.”

Frog says, “You’re shouting too much. These poor seeds are afraid to grow!” Toad remarks, “My seeds are afraid to grow?” “Leave them alone for a few days,” answers Frog. “Let the sun shine on them. Let the rain fall on them. Soon your seeds will start to grow.”

Late that night, Toad looks out over his garden and see that nothing has changed. “Drat, my seeds haven’t started to grow. They must be afraid of the dark. I will read the seeds a story, and then they won’t be afraid.”

Over the next couple of days, we see Toad reading the seeds stories, singing songs to them, dancing in the rain for them, and playing tunes for them on the violin, all in a fruitless effort to coax the seeds to grow on his timetable. One night, in a fit of exhaustion, Toad remarks, “Oh what shall I do? These seeds must be the most frightened seeds in the whole world.” He collapses in sleep from the fatigue of trying to entertain the seeds nonstop for several days.

He is awakened the next day by a jubilant Frog saying, “Toad, Toad, wake up! Look at your garden.”
“Oh at last my seeds have stopped being afraid to grow.”
“And now,” replies Frog, “you’ll have a nice garden, too.”
“Yes, but you were right, Frog,” remarks Toad, wiping the sweat from his brow. “it was very hard work.”

Many of us are like Toad. We are spending our lives singing, dancing, and telling stories to dirt, trying to make the seeds grow. In the end, we conclude that making seeds grow is hard work.

Jesus described the works as casting out seed, going to bed at night, and rising in the day. The soil produces the growth “all by itself.”

As I read this parable, I recognize two things that need to be addressed. First, we are all qualified to do the work, and the work is not really so hard. Second, we frequently expend our energy and resources in the wrong phase of ministry life.

I Corinthians 3:6-7 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.”

-Ethan Wiekamp

Application vs. Obedience

“It doesn’t really apply to me”. Do you remember saying those words? I do. In the emerging culture of the Baby-Buster/ Mosaic generations a high premium has been placed on things that are applicable and relevant to our everyday lives. More so than any other generation in the history of America we are willing to look beyond convention and norms to find what we deem valuable. Look around: satellite radio, internet, 250 TV channels. We have taken the templates of the Baby Boomers and we have customized and tweaked them until they fit our own needs.

Unfortunately we have done the same with the words of God. The Bible has become one voice amongst a myriad of cultural influences that all seek to shape how we spend our time and what we do with our lives. What would happen if we began to read God’s words with a fervent expectation that God is already moving, and through obedience we can join Him?

Let’s start with the premise that God’s word is always true and it always applies to every life. With this assumption in place, suddenly we no longer need to wonder if a particular passage applies to our lives, but rather, we start to ask God how we can obey Him. Instead of sifting through scripture to find what we can apply, we begin to simply obey God.

“Surrender is the proof of conviction.” -Barna

When God says, “Take care of widows and orphans” we no longer say “Well, I don’t really know any widows or orphans, so I guess this passage doesn’t apply”, but rather, we go find widows and orphans so that we can obey God by taking care of them. When God says, “Share with My people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” we obey God by finding out who has needs rather than saying, “I don’t really know any of God’s people who are in need, so I guess this passage doesn’t apply.” When you simply seek to obey, you don't have room for questioning application.

“You devote yourself to doing what you believe is the highest priority if life. Sometimes you may protest that you’re a victim of circumstances or others’ expectations, but your choices reflect what you believe to be most important.” -Barna

-Ethan Wiekamp

Are you a Revolutionary?

The following is taken from George Barna's latest book Revolution:

“Revolutionaries have no use for churches that play religious games whether those games are worship services that drone on without the presence of God or ministry programs that bear no spiritual fruit. Revolutionaries eschew ministries that compromise or soft sell our sinful nature to expand organizational turf. They refuse to follow people in ministry leadership positions who cast a personal vision rather than God’s, who seek popularity rather than the proclamation of truth in their public statements, or who are more concerned about their own legacy than that of Jesus Christ. They refuse to donate one more dollar to man-made monuments that mark their own achievements and guarantee their place in history. They are unimpressed by accredited degrees and endowed chairs in Christian colleges and seminaries that produce young people incapable of defending the Bible or unwilling to devote their lives to serving others. And Revolutionaries are embarrassed by language that promises Christian love and holiness but turns out to be all sizzle and no substance.”

Seven Passions of Revolutionaries (these are taken from Acts and the early Church, which Barna believes God designed to be our model):

Intimate Worship
“NOT a worship service, but a commitment to feel the awe of God’s magnificence, to express gratitude for His love and authority, to acknowledge His control and power, to follow Him with dedication and to enjoy the miracle of His relationship with us”

Faith-Based Conversations
“The evangelistic efforts of the first believers were carried out through preaching, low-key/high-impact conversations about truth and purpose, prayer...(etc.)...and the joy-filled perspective they had toward God and life that created interest in their lives.”

Intentional Spiritual Growth
“(early Church) Believers exhibited a remarkable attitude toward life and people and acknowledged the presence of the supernatural in their everyday adventures.”

Servanthood
“Servanthood also shows the transformation that their faith has wrought within them.”

Resource Investment
“...they shared ‘everything’ (Acts 2-42-47) with those in need, and they used the variety of resources at their disposal- money, food, clothing, housing, relationships, influence, skills, time...”

Spiritual Friendships
“The friendships they (early Church) formed (with each other) provided not only encouragement but also loving accountability for spiritual integrity.”

Family Faith
“In a very real sense, the home was the early Church- supplemented by larger gatherings in the Temple and elsewhere, but never replaced by what took place in the home of believers.”

-Ethan Wiekamp

The Wrong Questions

Ever notice how a person’s follow-up question can gauge their comprehension of what you just said? As I dialogue with various Christian leaders around Nebraska I am struck by how many people are asking the wrong questions. “How many people are coming to ___.” You fill in the blank. It could be: weekly meeting, prayer meeting, Bible study, outreach activities...whatever.

God comes to rescue the Israelites time and time again when they couldn’t save themselves. God comes to earth in the form of Jesus to save us when we had no hope of salvation. Jesus leaves his body (the Church) with the simple admonition to ‘go’. The overriding principle of God in the world is that of pursuit, yet we’ve somehow twisted pursuit to mean that we convince people to come to us.

God has demonstrated His pursuit of the lost and Jesus consistently taught that His followers should “go”, yet the overwhelming majority of Christian leaders today are asking “How can we get more people to come”.

We spend time and effort designing our large meetings of Christians as “seeker friendly” while neglecting to spend the same time and effort in being friends with the seeker.

“What Would Jesus Do?” What would happen if we began to ask ourselves the question, “What Did Jesus Do?” Be careful... you’re in danger of asking the right questions.

The Right Questions
Can you imagine a group of believers who would come together asking the right questions? They would open their Bibles hoping to discover “What did the person of Jesus Christ did with his time on this planet?”, and “What would the person of Jesus Christ do with my time on this planet if I fully followed Him?”

So...What Did Jesus Do? (from George Barna’s book, Revolution)
Jesus the Revolutionary:
“As you study the Gospels for lessons and clues, notice Jesus ignored customs, expectations, and even laws in order to be all that God intended.”

“The consistency of His words and behavior transformed every place and every person He encountered. He generally shunned the spotlight and avoided situations that would bring notoriety and acclaim. He consistently exhorted people to demonstrate humility and to realize that their stature is determined by God, not by what they or others say. He lived as a servant seeking to be used by God.”

“The picture He painted for fellow Revolutionaries was appallingly unattractive- and it reflected His acute awareness of His place on earth.”

“Jesus wasn’t a Revolutionary because he proposed a different philosophy. He was a Revolutionary because He lived differently.”

Jesus went to the sick...the healthy didn’t need a physician. If you wanted to find Jesus, chances are you would start looking in some of the more unsavory places in town.

So... what would Jesus do with me?
The right questions are: where was Jesus’ body (during His ministry)? And where is the body of Christ (the Church) now?

I imagine that a follower of Christ wouldn’t necessarily need to plow through drifts of snow to get to the destination...they could simply place their feet in the footsteps left by Jesus. So where are those footsteps? At times I wonder if we don’t ask the right questions simply because we know what the answer will require of us.

“I don’t know if God is happy or not, but we sure made Him a nice prison.”
-Homer Simpson (Courtesy of Dan @ CSC)

-Ethan Wiekamp

Movements at Midland Lutheran College

I'm pumped. This past week was on the campus of Midland Lutheran College to spend time with our Campus Crusade for Christ leaders. Before school started Paul Krause and Sarah Clements from Midland attended The CORE, our training retreat for student leadership teams.

At The CORE, Sarah and Paul evaluated decided that on their campus they could be more effective in reaching their campus by forming small groups (multiple movements). The Leadership Team started the semester by pouring their efforts into building small groups, and stopped holding a weekly meeting. Instead they hold a monthly Campus Crusade for Christ meeting where they gather students together who are in small groups, and invite others to attend.

The results are awesome. Students are growing, relationships are being built, and leaders are being raised up. The great part is to see the leaders not overwhelmed with trying to pull off a weekly meeting, and being excited about impacting their campus through small groups.

Great job Midland Leaders in decoding your campus and coming up with a great plan for putting the gospel within arms-reach of students through building multiple movments.

-Craig Johring