All the InterVarsity Greek Staff
I like going to conferences and being around people, especially when they are helpful. But lets be honest, we have all been to bad meetings, conferences and retreats.
A couple of weeks ago I went to Greek Staff Conference (where all the InterVarsity staff that work with fraternity & sorority students gather) and it reminded me how much I love these meetings.
So it made me think, as an apostolic evangelist, why do I love them so much?
Is our gospel big enough to break down dividing walls between people groups?
[This is part of the series “Multi-Ethnicity in the Missional Church”. Read the other posts here]
By Eric Rafferty
With this series we’ve tried to highlight how multiethnicity can be so much more than another value on the long list of things that we should care about as Christians. Multiethnicity is APE! Multiethnicity is apostolic, rooted in a vision of reaching every people group in our cities or campuses. Multiethnicity is prophetic; it reveals an alternate reality, a living picture of the Kingdom of God. And today we want to highlight that building communities of reconciliation bears witness to the power of the gospel.
Will you willingly give God your best bull this year?
I want you to think about getting into some trouble this week and more importantly this year!
What if we actively put ourselves into trouble for God, fully aware of our need for Him to rescue us?
What if we did that instead of calculating how much we could really handle and would we really be able to get ourselves out if in fact we did wind up in trouble?
This last week at our Greek Staff Conference with Intervarsity, we had some excellent training by Rich Lamb. One of the things he encouraged us with is the idea of “Leader as Patient”. Not patient as in waiting, but patient as in a sick person needing healing.
Racist Party at Penn State…Chi Omega (courtesy of the Huffington Post)
I’m not really into dressing up in costumes. Not my thing. Halloween does nothing for me.
I’m just not one of those guys who will go out of his way to do it.
So then I really don’t get why these things are so popular on college campuses:
Racist theme parties.
Here is a great post from Doug Bursch on visionary leadership and how the prophetic fits in. I think it is a great read to at least stir the juices a bit!
There have been many words written about vision. From vision casting, to vision statements, to visionaries, the world is full of vision. On many different occasions I’ve been asked to describe my vision or the vision for the church I pastor. My first response is usually an issue of clarification. “What do you mean by vision?”
From a Biblical perspective the word “vision” is usually used with the idea of prophetic insight and utterance. In other words, the Bible uses “vision” to describe an actual vision that has come from God or is ascribed to God. In an Old Testament context, prophets were set apart to see God’s vision and to communicate God’s visions to the people.
It is important to distinguish this prophetic vision from the modern corporate culture use of vision. Vision is not a nice idea, a good plan, or a strategic next step. It’s not long term goals or objectives. Rather vision in the Bible is synonymous with vision from God. God shows the prophet a vision of what is or what will be. The prophet writes down the vision and proclaims the vision to the people.
By Eric Rafferty
[This is part of the series “Multi-Ethnicity in the Missional Church”. Read the other posts here]
In 1972 an intentionally multiethnic community of college students made a choice to prophetically reveal the Kingdom of God in their love for one another.
They crossed ethnic lines, broke rules, and cared for each other so sacrificially that the Kingdom of God was undeniably on display for their whole country to see. Just like the great prophets of scripture, their counter-cultural and prophetic example pointed many back to the heart of God, but it cost most of them their lives.
The six weeks leading up to Easter are observed all over the world as a season of preparation and repentance, known as Lent. If observed at all in evangelical circles, often Lent is a time to try and give up sweets, coffee, or TV. Instead of a holier version of New Year’s Resolutions, Lent has the potential to reach deeper into our lives and hearts and, in the words of the wise Christine Sine,
“sweep out the corners in which sin has accumulated”
I believe it is a season to cultivate the prophetic in each of us individually, and in our communities of faith as well.
While this post is not technically in the John the Baptist series, his prophetic ministry worked a lot like Lent. He was preparing the way for the Messiah Jesus in the ancient Jewish community by calling for a baptism of repentance, helping people change the way they lived so they could make way for Jesus. Lent is the season that makes space in our life for Jesus to come into it more fully. As we prepare, sometimes by getting rid of things that block our ability to connect with God, sometimes by diving into things more deeply that bring us closer to him, we make space.
Here is the first free book giveaway for 2013!
This week we are giving away
“Making All Things New: God’s Dream for Global Justice” by York Moore
This book really helps us think about “God’s Dream” for the world and how He is on mission to make all things new. York helps us take a deeper look at brokenness, injustice and God’s redemption all in light of the end time reality that Jesus will come back and reign as King.
I know York personally and he has a a huge heart for both justice and seeing things made right, but also evangelism and seeing people come to know Jesus Christ and start personal relationships with Him. He is really onto something here with his writing and his book as he brings the two together so we can better see and understand the full story of God!
An apostolic vision of multi ethnicity is about reaching every corner of a campus or city.
[This is part of the series “Multi-Ethnicity in the Missional Church”. Read the other posts here]
By Eric Rafferty
When multiethnic ministry is an expression of our apostolic calling it becomes something more than another value to care about. It is the benchmark of mission; the people of God sent to every culture. Apostolic multiethnicity is more than getting different colored people in a room together; it’s a diverse community of disciples being sent to every corner.
This is a guest post by R. York Moore. He works for InterVarsity on a national level, and has been training Christians in personal evangelism through his seminar,“Tell the Story!”for over 10 years and has been an evangelistic speaker for over 15 years. After coming to Christ as an Atheist at the University of Michigan where he honored in philosophy, R. York Moore has led thousands of college students to Christ throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.
As an abolitionist, over the past ten years I’ve brought together leaders in business, academia, medicine, entertainment, law, government, with non-profit leaders to engage the growing problem of human trafficking. Through large city-sized campaigns to small events on liberal arts colleges I have been surprised to see how easy it is to build coalitions around the ‘common good.’
Challenges to justice are the single greatest unifying force between Kingdom-minded Christians and this emerging generation of globally conscious non-Christians. This unifying force provides a firm foundation to build not only movements but importantly the kinds of working relationships that can lead to real transformation.
The challenge often comes with the lack of theological understanding and vision on the part of Christians, both of which are needed to help us move from a place of mere activism to what I call ‘world building.’