Author Archive: Craig

Jump Start Your Church Commitment

August 14, 2017 0 Comments

Jumping into life in your new University community can be exciting and intimidating. We’ve learned that when moving to a new place its tempting to leave our engagement in church community as a “I will get to it someday” kind of thought. But getting involved with a church on campus could be one of the best decisions of your life.

In the first few weeks of University getting involved in a church may seem like something that can wait. But I encourage you,  don’t wait. Your mind and time is soon going to be truly occupied with study, new friends, and incredible opportunities to grow. If you don’t put your engagement in a church community at the front of your agenda you may never get to it.

 

First the Benefits

Maybe you have never really had to think about the benefits of being part of spiritual community charged with following Jesus Christ and fulfilling His mission. When you were with friends and family, “gathering with the church” with just assumed. But now that you are on your own in University — nobody is there to bring you along; its your decision.

But think about it. What have been some of the benefits of being part of your church? Have you

1. Had a community that overflowed with a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ in worship and mission together?

2. Had a community that challenged you and showed you how to grow in your walk with Jesus?

3. Had a community that laid their lives before Jesus and courageously integrated His Word into all that they do?

4. Had a community that rejoiced in an created opportunities to use the gifts given by the Holy Spirit to men and women?

5. Had a community that cared for you and shared life with you even when things were not going well?

This is what church does. And as a follower of Jesus you are called to be a part of making all these things happen.

 

Choosing a Church

So how do you go about choosing a church? Maybe you have never done that before; it may have been done for you. Maybe you tagged along with friends or were “happily” compelled to go along with your family. But now its up to you. Here’s a few things to do:

  1. Pray. Ask God to help you get situated in a church family.
  2. Search online. Just google it: “churches on campus.” In our case, you can search out “UBC churches” and you will see what’s here.
  3. Make a plan to check out the gatherings — large group and small group.
  4. Settle in quickly. Our suggestion is to get settled in congregation within the first 5 weeks of the term.

 

Some questions to consider as you visit:

  1. Am I familiar with the tradition or network of churches this (new congregation I’m visiting) is a part of?
  2. What’s the environment like here for lifting up Jesus and elevating God’s Word in life?
  3. Are there opportunities for me to serve, get connected, and to grow?

 

A church is Jesus’ people. Its the very movement that Jesus started and He calls the church His. Jesus loves the church and will help you, even call you, to be a part of a church family during your university years. Jesus seems to reserve some lessons and some healing in our lives for what will happen in the fellowship of His people. For example, Jesus didn’t show Himself to Thomas, until Thomas had gathered with other disciples of Jesus (See John 20:24-39). So it is with our growth with Jesus. Some lessons on faith, life, love, and ministry will not be learned unless they are learned in relationship with other followers of Jesus. So I encourage you, plan now to find a church a make commitments there. The lessons you learn there and with that people can serve you for a lifetime of mission and discipleship.

 

If you went off to University and got involved in a church — how did you go about making the decision?

 

Filed under: UBC Churches, church on campus, Origin Church, UBC, Born for More

 

 

Change

, ,

Jump Start Your Spiritual Plan

August 8, 2017 0 Comments

 

Our good spiritual life habits are most vulnerable when we have a big change in our schedule and location.

Why is that?

Habits have triggers. Your good habits are always in danger of losing their triggers when you change your schedule and your space. Before you got to university you may have had the good fortune of a person who helped you get your spiritual disciplines going. But now you are going to move and they are not going to be right there checking in on you. In fact all the usual triggers that you may have depending on are probably going to be displaced. You are the most responsible person for your own relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Soon you will be arriving at UBC if you aren’t here already. So think about it. Let’s jump start your spiritual plan!

 

What’s going to be beside your bed? 

Bible  – a Bible with a cover and pages. I know… so old school!
Journal
Pen

 

Why not your computer and phone?

We have all given in to the competition for our attention! We are so distractible. Help yourself out; don’t include a screen in your initial move toward the spiritual disciplines.

 

Reset every night.

Before you go to bed, reset all the items required for your Morning Meet Up with God.

 

Get an alarm clock. 

I know the phone is convenient. But it comes with liabilities! It will mess with your sleep hygiene. And it will interrupt your most important conversation of the day: your conversation with God! You like tens of thousands of other people check messages, the news, and all the random pictures available — before you get the most important word into your life.

 

Have a plan so you are:

Ready to read a section of Scripture.
Ready to keep a record what is said.
Ready to lift up prayer requests to God.

 

Find a Partner.

So before you get to UBC for the Fall term, why don’t you reach out to fellow follower of Jesus and ask them to partner with you in this habit. Pray for each other specifically asking the Holy Spirit to meet you both and keep it fresh! Together make a plan to text or WeChat each other with a simple spiritual discipline “check in.”  After you have complete your Morning Meet UP with God check in with your friend. A simple, “I met up with God today” will do. If you are really ambitions, check in with each other once a week with a verse or prayer from your week.

Your life with Jesus is the most valuable relationship you are going to have in University. Its worth planning ahead.

 

So if you are already in University and have been keeping the habit of Meeting Up with Jesus daily, what has been helpful for you? And if you are just getting ready, What’s your plan?

 

 

Filed Under: Jump Start, Spiritual Plan, UBC, Origin Church, Born for More, Discipleship

Discipleship

, , , , , ,

Eric Liddell’s Questions for a Disciple

July 15, 2017 0 Comments

Recently I read Duncan Hamilton’s excellent biography, For the Glory: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Eric Liddell, Hero of Chariots of Fire. For all of you who only saw the movie, this is a wonderful account of what happened in Eric’s life before and after the 1924 Paris Olympics. I was challenged and inspired by his persistent faith in the Lord Jesus even under the pressure of a Japanese prison camp in China.

Eric Liddell had a several published works. Since reading Hamilton’s biography I have read through Liddell’s Disciplines of the Christian Life. Liddell used this book as a manual for growth and  refreshment forfaith. He encouraged the men and women he was discipling to read it slowly, look up the Scripture, and mediate on these thoughts over the course of year. It was also his habit to do so as he meet the Lord daily for an hour each morning before his tasks and adventures.

For Liddell, discipleship is about knowing God and seeing Jesus produce obedience, righteousness, and humility in our lives. I have found these questions for a disciple useful in my own life:

A disciple is one who knows God personally, and who learns from Jesus Christ, who most perfectly revealed God. One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having his peace and assurance in your heart; it is obedience. Obedience to God’s will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to do (obey) God’s will that brings enlightenment and certainty regarding spiritual truth. ‘If any man will do [obey] his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself’ (John 7.17). Here are some questions to ask yourself. If I know something to be true, am I prepared to follow it even though it is contrary to what I want, to what I have previously said or held to be true? Will I follow it even if it means loss of face, owning that I was wrong? Will I follow if it means being laughed at by friend or foe, if it means personal financial loss or some kind of hardship? Following truth leads to God, for truth is of God.

 

Obedience is the secret of being conscious that God guides you personally, If in the quiet of your heart you feel something should be done, stop and consider whether it is in line with the character and teaching of Jesus. If so, obey that impulse to do it, and in doing so you will find it was God guiding you.

Disciplines of the Christian Life, Eric Liddell.

 

 

 

 

 

Discipleship

, , ,

Get out of the boat… Jesus is calling.

June 8, 2017 0 Comments

I’ve been leading our summer term crowd at Origin Church through a series on Peter. More specifically we have been considering how Jesus moves, disciples, and shepherds Peter. In my mind the series is all about “How the Carpenter Shepherds the Fisherman.” We are discovering clues into how Jesus will disciple us!

Last week I serendipitously rediscovered John Ortberg’s book, If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got  to Get Out of the Boat. He has wonderful observations about our view on failure and the negative take we often have on Peter. Here’s what Ortberg writes:

Did Peter fail?

Well, I suppose in a way he did. His faith wasn’t strong enough. His doubts were stronger. “He saw the wind.” He took his eyes off of where they should have been He sank. He failed.

But here is hawt I think. I think there were elven bigger failures sitting in the boat. They failed quietly. They failed privately. Their failure went unnoticed, unobserved, uncriticized. Only Peter knew the shame of public failure.

 

But only Peter knew two other things as well. Only Peter knew the glory of walking on the water. He alone knew what it was to attempt to do what he was not capable of doing on his own, then feeling the euphoria of being empowered by God to actually do it. Once you walk on the water, you never forget it–not for the rest of your life. I thin Peter carried that joyous moment with him to his grave.

 

And only Peter knew the glory of being lifted up by Jesus in a moment of desperate need. Peter knew, in a way the others could not, that when he sank, Jesus would be wholly adequate to save him. He had a shared moment, a shared connection, a shared trust in Jesus that none of the others had.

 

They couldn’t, because they didn’t even get out of the boat. The worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat.

 

Hey, get out of the boat! Jesus shows up in our storms and our struggles. When we get a glimpse of Him in them and want to be with Him and in on what He is doing in the world, call out to Him. If He says, “Come on,” then get out of the boat and follow Him! Peter’s heart, his affection for Jesus, drew Him to pursue Jesus in spite of the storm and the waves. When Peter’s head caught up he had to engage faith in Jesus on a new level — and as we will see Jesus faithfully showed up!

 

It seems that more growth with Jesus happens “outside” the proverbial boat — that circle of comfort — that circle of anonymity — that circle of familiar people and practices —  than in it!

Change, Discipleship

, , , , ,

Jesus leads the way to doing good

May 12, 2017 0 Comments

In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. This posture toward Jesus fortifies us for all kinds of trouble. Peter knew the difference upholding Jesus as Lord in the heart can make. Peter knew the moments when things didn’t go well for him by his own failure; he knew those moments when his heart had lost courage. But he also knows now the power of Christ risen from the dead in his life.

 

So it is with complete confidence that he calls out to the followers of Jesus to not give into the pressure to comprise the life-giving press against the death and decay of the world. Who can really harm you in your life is in Christ? Who can really harm if your soul is secure in Him? Jesus has conquered death! He is at the right hand of His Father in heaven in which all powers are in submission to Him.

 

Setting apart Christ as Lord.

To trust in Him we must see His glory outweighing all we fear to bear. To not trust is do with fear. To be controlled by fear is to not be secure in the love of Christ. So take the time, carve out the space in your day, even now to “set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts.” Lay your affections, dreams, ambitions, and fears before Him. He will fortify your soul!
1 Peter 3:13-22; NIV

13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”

15But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

 

Discipleship

, ,