“Dad when I get bigger and bigger I am going to drink coffee too.”

One the funniest things about being a dad is the way that my kids try to copy me, repeat what I say, and really aspire to be like me.

It is fun, makes me feel loved, and also gives me a huge dose of humility as I realize what I show them is really important.

Everything I do, especially the things I do every day, are showing my son what it means to be a man.

He wants to drink coffee because his dad drinks coffee…every day.

This hilarious and sobering fact makes me immediately think about two things:

1. That I want to show him I read my bible and pray every day, not just drink coffee!
2. That young leaders who follow me also look at what I do regularly as a sign to what they should be doing too.

I have never told my son that he should drink coffee when he gets bigger. He just sees me doing it and infers that when you are a “big guy” you drink coffee.

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photo courtesy of @ The News Tribune

By Beau Crosetto

I know this sounds ludicrous that I would mention the two names in the same sentence, but there is one main thing here that I want to draw our attention to.

If you know me I bleed blue and green and just absolutely love the Seahawks and now Pete Carroll. People close to me know he is probably the #1 guy I want to meet in this world because I am fascinated with the way he goes about building a culture and team. He is dogmatic in his approach to building a program. And one clear-cut part of that approach is what catches my eye!

Some of you can’t stand Pete Carroll but don’t write this article off because of that!

He and Jesus have a one thing in common.

*I don’t know anything about Pete’s spiritual beliefs. I am simply using him as a leadership example and not in any way saying he is a Christian leader.*

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By Beau Crosetto

A lot of time we, as leaders, don’t do what we need to do because we don’t like doing it.

I think this is a growing trend today especially with all the “focus on your strengths” material that is circulating our country.

But my father-in-law (Steve) and I had a great discussion today about doing things that you don’t want to do so you can go to the next level in your leadership and organization.

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This is a guest post by Kate Vosburg. She has been on IV staff for almost 15 years, on 6 different campuses.  She loves serving alongside her husband, Dave, who is a professor on the campus where she serves.  With him as a faculty, on the inside of campus, there have been some amazing opportunities to share the gospel.  Kate is an evangelist who loves to be on the front-lines with her students, finding ways into unreached communities and sharing the Gospel.  Dave and Kate have 3 kids (Nate 6, Isabella 4, Diego 4) who keep Kate on her toes and laughing at their creative, crazy antics.

So, is reaching LGBTQ (Lesibian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Queer) people worth it?  Many evangelical Christians seem to say no.  Not explicitly, of course.  But when we don’t actively reach out to people in the LGBTQ community and proactively address homosexuality in all its complexity, we basically opt out of LGBTQ ministry.  There are very few LGBTQ people who will enter a Christian space that has not made it clear that they’re welcome.  And I don’t blame them; everyone “knows” how Christians treat gay people (a stereotype that is grounded in many years of countless experiences).

The Deep Need

However, there is a deep spiritual hunger in the LGBTQ community, as far as I’ve found.  There are many gay people with Christian backgrounds, but they feel they were ostracized from Christian community once they came out.  There are many other gay folks who are spiritually curious and hungry, but they discount Christ because they have heard that his followers don’t want them unless they’re straight.  (And of course, there are also many of us Christians in Christian communities who have LGBTQ sexual desires and don’t know how to work deal with these desires, fearing to ask our Christian communities for help.)

Who will reach this lost group of people?  These people whom Christ loves and has come to rescue?  Who will help our Christian brothers and sisters who struggle alone?

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By Beau Crosetto

When some of us were at Urbana we got together for our first ever A.P.E gathering and we had a great time sharing, praying and encouraging each other about all things apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic.

[Make sure to subscribe to our A.P.E. Newsletter so you don’t miss the next one! Here is the last letter I sent out with some apprentice resources not found on the blog.]

One of the things that was prayed out was an image of a fan spinning but the light was out.

The interpretation on this image was that the temptation for us as catalytic leaders is to lead and be busy, essentially spinning around, but not be fueled by the constant light of Jesus.

We appear active and “on” but there is no light!

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By Jon Hietbrink

“When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

It wasn’t their first interaction, but it was the definitive one. In the course of an afternoon, Simon went from a fisherman hanging around the fringes of Jesus’ ministry to a fisher of men following his Lord, and this exchange became the fulcrum on which Peter’s life pivoted.  Jesus’ command was simple but ludicrous; Peter’s response was hedged but obedient; the result was abundant but terrifying. Invited into this encounter by Luke, we see far more than an isolated event, but a paradigmatic experience of what it means to follow Jesus: He often asks us to step into deeper water than we are comfortable with, and He does it to show us more of Himself.

Isn’t this “deep water” experience the regular testimony of Jesus’ disciples in the gospels? Consistently engulfed by the destitute, increasingly combatted by the elite, inexplicably commanded to feed thousands, prematurely (it would seem!) sent to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom, and ultimately entrusted with God’s message of salvation to the ends of the earth, the disciples’ journey of following Jesus was regularly akin to jumping into the deep end of the pool and learning to swim. Being “over their heads” wasn’t an exceptional circumstance, it was relentlessly normal.

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I wanted to write this post and highlight a new feature that has been up for a few months

Blog Series!

You can find the tab on the very top of the blog and inside the page is organized content according to different series we are doing.

One of the great benefits of a blog that has many writers is the opportunity to do series like this and organize thoughts and posts around certain topics.

Let me highlight a couple of my favorites for you.

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It has been an amazing time at Urbana! Over 16,000 delegates have gathered and God has been inspiring us to reach this world! Here are two of my favorite things that have happened so far!

David Platt Brings Conviction

This was one of the best talks I have heard in a long time. One that I want to go back to and listen to again. It was so convicting and it really helped me re-callibrate with Jesus. He preaches out of an often avoided text in Luke and he really called the American Church out for its low risk, high comfortability ways. (Platt starts at 53:50)

[tentblogger-youtube FJDQhsF8sS4]

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