What's up ROC?

Off to Haiti

2011-12-01T10:36:00.006-05:00

Haiti team

Back row: Cathy, Mike, Zack, Anthony, Alex, Greg, David

Almost back row: Erika, Kira

Middle Row: Nicole, Ali, Courtney, Sarah, Adam, Zach

Sitting/kneeling: Carrie, Bryan, Emily, Regan, Nate, Jared

Please pray with us for Jared and the team of students heading to Haiti December 4, 2011. They will be serving with Team One.27 (name taken from James 1:27) by helping a couple of orphanages in Port-au-Prince Haiti. In addition to doing some manual labor jobs, the team will be helping with a Christmas party for an anticipated group of over 4,000 street kids and orphans.

Please pray with us: for travel safety, that all luggage gets transferred between planes and makes it to Haiti with the team, that no one gets sick during the 10 day trip so they can all focus on service, that God will do in and through the ROC team whatever He desires.

There is a team blog that they will be posting to during the trip. You may access the blog by clicking here.

Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

2011-11-29T11:41:00.001-05:00

A week or two ago I was looking at some pictures my daughter, Anna, took of my son, Isaac. There is one shot in particular that really touches me. I’m not sure if it’s the outstanding photography (in my opinion) or Isaac’s eyes or that I simply know and love both the photographer and the subject. Whatever it is, I am drawn into the photograph. Or maybe a better way of saying it is that I’m “grabbed” by the photo. When I look at that particular shot, I end up staring at it for several minutes mesmerized by the beauty and wonder of the picture, of life, and of the relationship that I have with my family.

Such wonder surrounds the season of Christmas as well, or at least it should. It is a wonder-ful thing to be brought back year after year to the unfolding story of light entering darkness as we remember again the miracle of the incarnation of God. This year as I have been contemplating this gracious condescension I am struck anew with the amazing love the infinite God has for us that He would surrender glory to take on flesh. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:5-7).

I imagine that there were times (and are times) that the Father looked upon Jesus and was just struck with His eyes and His manner of life and His obedience and just stared at him mesmerized by the wonder of His Son. Through the incarnation we too are invited to be caught up in this amazing relationship of Father and Son and the opening of the divine relationship that we too are embraced as children of God. Because of Christ’s incarnation those who receive Him are drawn into this relationship and we get to experience God’s loving gaze without fear, without shame.

In Colossians 2:9 Paul wrote, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” and this wonder we celebrate as we look toward His Advent again this Christmas season. In celebrating the incarnation, we are likewise called to embody the same great, gracious love that Christ demonstrated. This year I pray that we will all be so caught up in the wonder of God’s love in Christ that we will bless friend and acquaintance, family member and stranger with the kindness and compassion, love and joy given in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Merry Christmas!

Sacrilege thoughts

2011-10-06T17:23:00.001-04:00

You do something very important during your late teens and early twenties: you reconsider just about everything you think you know and what you hold dear. Some of us can hardly wait to leave home in order to become our “own” person though, whether we recognize it or not, we are always influenced by someone or the media or by a community. This is definitely true for the churched person.

Growing up in church may have given you the idea that being a Christian is about being nice and not doing “bad” things. You may have been taught not to ask certain questions lest you be thought a “heretic” (whatever that might mean for your given church culture). In his book Sacrilege: Finding Life in the Unorthodox Ways of Jesus, Hugh Halter encourages you to ask questions about what it means to be a follower of the One who came to blow the doors off the religious establishment and reveal the heart of God for the lost, the sinner, the poor and the oppressed.

I challenge you to rethink what it means to be a disciple of Jesus by reading this book. If you take up the challenge, you’ll find in Halter a mentor for living out a life shaped by apprenticeship to Jesus.

If you have written off the church but still think highly of Jesus, you will find a lot of encouragement and challenge from this book also. Halter is straightforward and doesn’t pull punches and that is the sort of prophetic word we all need to hear. He suggests that Jesus doesn’t want any more followers who look like each other. Instead Jesus called people to follow HIM. But sadly the church scene is one where, “followership, instead of true discipleship, has been the norm, and thus we Christians have produced a lot more people who are like us than people who are like Jesus.”

You can check out Sacrilege and customer reviews of it by clicking here. Get it. Read it. Then take up the challenge of living out the life to which Jesus calls you.

Blessing

2011-09-28T11:59:00.001-04:00

Have you ever been to a place that was unfamiliar? Maybe the food was different, the temperature wasn't what you were used to and you couldn't understand the language. Perhaps the pace of life was unusual and the way that people treated one another was strange. What would it mean to you to have someone come along side you and walk you through the strange cultural differences and help you learn the language?

Can you imagine moving thousands of miles away from home and living in a completely different culture where you don't know anyone and all of the strange things listed above are true? Thousands of international students do this every year. Last fall (2010) here at OU alone there were 1,483 international students representing 95 countries. All needed to adjust to the SE Ohio culture. While some didn't have a problem with the language, others really needed assistance from friends who welcomed them to the United States and to Athens in particular. These friends were conversation partners who volunteered an hour a week just to connect and chat.

I encourage you to consider volunteering as a conversation partner. Come along side another to help him or her navigate the customs and language here. In doing so, you will be a blessing. You can sign up to be a conversation partner by clicking here. It's very simple. You will meet a new friend and be able to help acquaint one of the many guests in the USA right here at Ohio University. Thanks!

Belonging

2011-09-23T12:11:00.000-04:00

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matt. 7:22-23)

Being precedes doing or, put another way, our doing flows out of our being. We can do all kinds of good things, righteous things, powerful and even apparently holy things but if our hearts are not right or our relationship with God is not one in which we are known by Christ, that doing is evil. That may seem rather harsh but that’s what Jesus says.

On the other hand, the one who is humble enough to come to God, admit her/his failures and request forgiveness is received with open arms as the Father received the prodigal and lavished his love, grace and welcome just because the son returned home (Luke 15:11ff).

It appears that the kingdom is too small for the prideful. However, the King has wide open arms and plenty of room for the humble. This open-armed welcome and belonging is the sort of hospitable expression we hope to express this fall and always.

As new students explore the campus and experience campus life and as you veteran, returning students show up for another year, we are delighted to be able to connect people in relationships with one another and with the Father who loves us so much that He is seeking us out. No one has to be perfect to be part of ROC. Actually, we’re a haven for sinners being transformed by God’s love and grace and the power of His Holy Spirit.

Our first value, “belonging—to God and each other,” expresses this goal of enfolding people in relationships with one another and with God. We believe that it is through the ongoing interaction with one another in God’s presence in community and service that we are formed into the image of Christ. This life on life experience is not unlike the discipleship that occurred with Jesus and His apostles (Mk 3:14). He brought them together first to be with Him and then to send them out to preach. The being with was necessary in order for them to do the preaching. Their doing flowed out of their being!

Banner Problem

2011-09-06T15:02:00.001-04:00

Apparently the ROC banner that is up at the College Gate has the wrong location for worship tomorrow night. Cross Walk will be held in the South Pole all year this year at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights. The banner says the ROC House.

Sorry for any confusion this brings folks. Time for a new banner!

ROC Pizza Party!

2011-08-24T14:29:00.001-04:00

Welcome to (or back to) Athens! As you navigate moving into your dorm and floor meetings, class schedules and dining hall hours, bookstores and laundry mats, here’s a chance to break the routine! You’re invited to ROC’s introductory pizza party on Labor Day, September 5th! It’ll be at 5:30pm, right after the conclusion of the involvement fair on college green. You can head over to the South Pole (under Nelson Dining Hall on South Green – see map below) to get some FREE PIZZA! You’ll also have a chance to meet the ROC staff and student leaders, learn more about ROC, get to know some other new students, and find out how you can get involved right now!

We hope you’ll come join us on Monday at 5:30pm at the South Pole!

South Pole Entrance (back of Nelson dining hall)

Preparing for the Harvest!

2011-07-19T18:11:00.002-04:00

This June e-update is from ROC Associate Campus Minister, Jared Ott.

What a wonderful time of year! It’s a joy to go to a local farmer’s market these days and see all the delightful fresh produce available. Even the local supermarket is noticeably stocked with much more healthy looking fruits and vegetables; you can actually find a tomato that looks and tastes like a tomato, instead of the styrofoam-like things you get at other times which Garrison Keillor jokes are “strip mined down in Texas.”

It is a wonderful blessing to be able to enjoy the fresh bounty of the harvest. Of course, we also recognize that those delicious fresh fruits and vegetables didn’t simply pop out of the ground of their own accord. It is a regular occurrence these days, when driving by local orchards or gardens, to see laborers hard at work harvesting the treats that will soon reach our tables. In recent months you may have been able to observe farmers planting the vast fields around the Midwest (when the rain quit long enough to allow them!); now it is easy to observe the work of harvest. A great deal of labor goes into the vast and diverse results that we get to enjoy at our tables.

It’s easy to notice how much slower things are around Athens this time of year as well, as those of you who have lived here during this time can attest. All the hustle and bustle of the school year has subsided, and one can more peacefully navigate the streets of Athens. You can even find a parking spot uptown these days! But it won’t be long before another Fall is upon us, and the busyness of the school year resumes. During that time, it will be easy to see all the work that goes into the ministry at ROC. One can readily spot the labors of staff and students in the midst of retreats, Crosswalks, outreach, and service events. The work that yields the bountiful blessings of life together in this community are quite visible when classes are in session.

I am currently struck, however, by the vast amount of work that happens even when things appear more calm on the surface. In the case of that tomato or raspberry you may have recently enjoyed, there are so many important processes that must be accomplished during the late fall, winter, and early spring to allow that produce to grow to its full potential. There is watering, fertilizing, pruning, weeding, and many other processes that even happen out of our view; it is more difficult to always see the important things that happen outside of the more visible harvest season.

So it is with ministry. As we move through this season, there is so much to be done! There are lessons to be planned, new students to be contacted, curriculums to be tweaked or developed, etc, etc. etc… We recognize that although this seems like more of a fallow time for ROC, it is an extremely important time, and will make all the difference in the world to what ministry looks like this Fall. We thank you for the support you provide, whether in thought, prayer, or financially; although often unseen on the surface, your labors are vital to the harvest of discipleship that occurs yearly. Your support also enables us to faithfully prepare for that harvest, both “in season and out of season”—Thank You! May you also find yourself blessed as you continue to serve where you are, and in whatever season of life you find yourself. And please do me this favor...go find yourself a nice ripe tomato and enjoy it!

May e-update

2011-05-31T16:00:00.001-04:00

An old 80s Faberge commercial talked about telling two friends about the wonders of the shampoo and they told two friends and so on and so on. As the model spoke the “and so on” the pictures of her multiplied until the screen was filled with small pictures of her face. The multiplication factor of evangelizing for the shampoo was quite effective. (You can still find the commercial on youtube.)

Paul said it this way, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). This is Paul carrying on the commission that Jesus gave to the disciples recorded for us in Matthew 28, “As you go, make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I commanded you” (Rich’s rendition). The process of making disciples is an ongoing, as you go, journey. It happens formally in teaching times and small group Bible study times. It happens informally as we sit down for a meal together or hang out together in the ROC House or in coffee shop and talk about what Jesus is doing in us and what he is calling us to next. It happens when we are serving together at a prayer table offering prayer for others who do or do not know Jesus or sweating together as we do a service project for others.

Lately, we’ve been thinking about it in terms of rock climbing. When I first learned to climb, a friend showed us “the ropes” . . . literally. He talked with us about the basic knots we needed to know and the basic verbal commands we needed to learn and give. Our mentor challenged us to keep our eye on the big picture and not get overly distracted by the minute. After a rather brief “classroom” time we went climbing because the best way to learn how to climb is to climb.

I think this is where we might have made some mistakes as the church. Christian discipleship is about a life lived following Jesus in the ordinary day-to-day world. We all know this. But when we think about the practices that make up the “training” of a disciple too often they are primarily cerebral and passive. We are to live the Jesus life in the world; not compartmentalizing it to particular “religious” times during the week. The Spirit empowers us to live out God’s rule in the midst of daily existence. We are empowered to live holy lives in very unholy contexts actively engaging others with the grace of God and calling them to follow Jesus and to tell two friends who might tell two friends and so on and so on. Thanks for enabling the “and so on” here at OU!

April e-update

2011-05-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

Dad’s brother was in a nursing home at the time. Uncle Tiny had an infection that resulted in gangrene in his leg. He refused an amputation and was dying as the gangrene spread. My dad sent me to the nursing home with my saxophone to play a couple of songs for my uncle who, by this time, didn’t always know the people who came into his room. I was young and scared. I didn’t want to do it. I hadn’t played the saxophone for very long at the time and didn’t think that I would play well enough to be much of a blessing but Dad said that Tiny would enjoy it so I went; mostly out of obedience.

Dad’s family was a family of musicians. The tapes that I heard of my Uncle Tiny and his brothers playing saxophones together were incredible. They were technically flawless, superb instrumentalists. This is probably one reason I was so nervous. But I was sent to play.

When I arrived with my horn, music stand and music in hand, I was shaking. The room had a peculiar smell beyond the smell of urine that seemed to permeate the nursing home in general. I greeted my uncle and put my sax together got my music on the stand and began to play a couple of songs that I don’t remember now. I remember that my uncle was awake but I don’t remember that he acknowledged me or that we had any real conversation at all. I finished playing, put my horn away and left not knowing if my uncle was ever aware of my presence. I had been sent by my dad to bless.

Regardless of the results that’s exactly what we’re all called to be and to do. We are blessed and sent to be a blessing. Last month Jared wrote how he, Crystal and some students were sent to be a blessing in TN during spring break. This quarter as Jared and I have taught in Cross Walk, Jesus continues to send us to class mates, neighbors, friends, family and even strangers to be a blessing. One way that happened this month was through a “Who is Jesus?” table at the College Gate on Good Friday. The students made themselves available for conversations and gifted people with books and one with a Bible. Another way we (Teske family) sought to bless was by welcoming students into our home for the annual Teske Easter celebration (there were 17 of us all together).

Whether in groups, by two or three, or as individuals we are seeking to do our best to play the music of the gospel for others who may not even be aware of the import of the melody line. We trust the Holy Spirit will make these attempts a blessing to others. Thank you for enabling us to do this here at OU. God bless you as you are sent to play the gospel so that those around you are blessed.

March e-update

2011-04-08T11:28:00.001-04:00

This e-update was written by Jared Ott about the trip he and his wife, Crystal, went on with 9 undergraduate students.

As Spring finally arrives, many of you may notice the many birds who begin their migration back to newly thawed Northern locations. It may also be observed that many college students make an annual migration South about this time. For most of these students, the goal is a beach, some friends, and to have as much carefree (and often thought-free) fun as possible.

This Spring Break, Crystal and I also loaded up a car and two vans full of college students to head South. Yet, this trip had a much different goal than those of many of these student’s classmates. We were going to Johnson City, Tennessee to serve, to learn, and to fellowship.

The trip only lasted five days, two of which were primarily travel days. Yet, we still found ample opportunities to serve with local ministries. We went to a local “Coalition for Kids” organization, which provides after-school programs and care for children whose parents have to work long hours and can’t afford child care. We worked with a local Good Samaritan Ministry, which organizes and distributes aid to thousands of needy individuals over six counties in East Tennessee. We helped to prepare and serve a lunch and a breakfast meal to homeless, low income, or just plain hungry community members. We also got the chance to interact with a local “Interfaith Hospitality Network”, which provides shelter and skill counseling services for homeless families.

These many opportunities to serve were very different in many ways, and some of the students naturally fit into some more than others. We were stretched by some of the activities, and made to stop and ask questions about others. It was a chance to learn through doing, and match our faith with action.

We also had opportunities to learn in other contexts. We dropped by Emmanuel School of Religion and interacted with a few of the professors there. We also spent an evening with the Campus House at East Tennessee State University, which is a sister campus ministry to ROC. The students led devotionals along the way, and had the chance to reflect on some of their experiences. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of thinking that went on during our trip.

Finally, the students had the great opportunity to fellowship with many gracious and hospitable people during the trip. Host families from a local congregation welcomed the students into their homes for the trip. Several of the students commented on how the Campus House felt just like “ROC, only in Tennessee.” It was a wonderful demonstration of the breadth and depth of the body of Christ as we interacted with so many who were once perfect strangers, yet treated us as the dear friends that we are in Christ.

I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that a fair amount of barbeque was consumed (how could one go to Tennessee and not eat BBQ?). Indeed, we were lavished with wonderful food, fellowship, and care from our brothers and sisters in Johnson City. I think you are beginning to see this was quite a full trip!

While I am excited to be able to share these experiences with you, I am even more excited to see the effect they will have on the 9 students who joined us on this trip as they seek to live and serve here at OU. We thank you for your many prayers and gifts, that make such opportunities possible! May the coming warmth of Spring also bring new opportunities for you to learn and serve wherever you find yourself!

John Chrysostom said...

2011-01-26T14:54:00.004-05:00

John Chrysostom (ca. 349-407) was an early church preacher, a "Doctor of the Church" who was trained in rhetoric and who, it is said, had the entire Bible memorized. I found the following quote while reading the wikipedia article on him.

He said, "It is not possible for one to be wealthy and just at the same time. Do you pay such honor to your excrements as to receive them into a silver chamber-pot when another man made in the image of God is perishing in the cold?"

We might say, "How can you spend so much money on your toilet when other people are starving?" BUT Chrysostom was bluntly stating much more than merely criticizing the amount of money you spend on your bed pan. He was stating that a wealthy person cannot be just.

What do you think?

spiritual disciplines

2011-01-06T11:21:00.000-05:00

Last night Jared began winter Cross Walk teaching times with an introduction to spiritual disciplines. We will be talking and practicing a number of disciplines this quarter. I look forward to learning with you all!

Jared mentioned that we should think of the disciplines (which he will enumerate in talks to come) as tools in our tool box that enable us to put ourselves before God--to grow in relationship with Him. I like that.

I've also always appreciated the image of God as a potter. There's a wonderful account in Jeremiah chapter 18 of God telling Jeremiah to go to the potter's house and watch him...here it is:

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

While this text is ultimately about judgment, the image of God being a potter stands. God is able to shape us, make us into whatever he desires. He is also able to reshape us when we become marred in His hands.

What has this got to do with spiritual disciplines? Think of the spiritual disciplines as ongoing practices that enable us to climb up on the potter's wheel so that the Master Potter might shape us into the vessel He desires us to be. Don't think of prayer as a way of getting what you want or becoming a better person. Rather think of it as a way of putting yourself in God's way, on the wheel, under His hands so that He might form you and shape you into a beautiful vessel of His choosing. God's greatest work is done on surrendered hearts. All the classic spiritual disciplines do this very same thing. They all put us on God's potter's wheel so that He can do His amazing work in us. Let's put ourselves on His wheel, in His path so that He can have free access to us to mold us into the image of His Son, Jesus.

I'm interested in what stories you have. How has God used the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible reading/study, fasting, service, worship, journaling, etc., in your life to mold you?

Restore

2010-10-27T12:30:00.000-04:00

The time is coming. Nov. 3, 7:00 p.m. in the South Pole (see map at right) we'll have our first Restore worship time together. This time of worship is designed to draw people from the undergraduate student, graduate student and faculty groups together for a time of worship and prayer. As we have been developing each community it has become apparent that we would all benefit from times together. This time is a ROC family time.

But it will also be unique in that it will be different from the worship times we already have in our Cross Walk or graduate student gatherings. This time of worship will include a time of communion and a unique time of prayer.

Since we are part of our culture, we are consumers. Over the years worship has become another thing for which we "shop." Perhaps you have heard people say things like, "I just didn't feel like I worshiped there" or "I didn't really like the songs that we sang" or "it just didn't do it for me." The focus in this sort of language is on me. However, worship is supposed to be about God not us. We are seeking to bless God. We are seeking to offer ourselves to Him; to allow Him to do in us and through us whatever He desires--which often stretches us beyond what we desire.

Worship is also something that invites us into the mission of God. As we present ourselves to God and offer all that we are to Him, He calls us to love those He loves, to care for those in need, to be Jesus in the world through words and actions. Therefore, our Restore worship times will be times in which we ask ourselves four questions: What is God doing in me? What is God doing through me? What is God doing in us? What is God doing through us?

These questions will focus our attention on what God is doing. We will breathe God in, if you will, only to breathed out in service and mission to our community. We will "consume" Jesus by partaking of the elements of communion in order to be consumed by God so that we are empowered to be Jesus' hands and feet here in Athens and beyond.

I hope that you'll join us for this special time of worshiping our Lord together. I hope that you utilize the Lectio that Jared prepared for us so that we all are meditating on the passage from Luke 10 as we prepare for Restore. I ask that you pray that God would Restore us to Himself and His mission as we open ourselves to Him in worship and prayer. I look forward to being with you in worship at Restore!

Retreat poem

2010-10-25T10:34:00.000-04:00

I ended my retreat talk about Ephesians 1:3-2:10 on Friday night with a video clip from a Veggie Tales video, A Snoodle's Tale. After the video segment I concluded with a poem following the Dr. Seuss-esque approach of the video. I was asked to share it here on the blog so here it is:

So ROCers of OU and not Gildamanjoo
Forgiven, Adopted and given hope too

Let's hold close the picture painted here by this Paul
That we might extend God's love, grace and mercy to all

To all those in Athens, this town and this county
This country and world to share God's goodness and bounty

We need not wallow in old dead religion
But soar with the angels the Spirit's our engine

Though our hearts may be heavy and sad and frightened
As we give ourselves to Him He can surely enlighten

Our packs stuffed with things that weigh us all down
Instead, oh ye saints, he has bestowed on us crowns

We are His so you see and His love it is real
The down payment received with His Spirit as seal

So don't turn away keep the picture close by
And you too will find the strength of being to try

Your being is being coming from His great goodness
His doing we do - not flowing from should-ness

But as His workmanship we are created
To reflect his life in the world consecrated

Till we all get home to see His loving dear face
We will live to the praise of His glorious grace

Cross Walk @ South Pole

2010-09-30T12:19:00.001-04:00

Beginning Wednesday October 13, Cross Walk will meet at the South Pole (under Nelson). The time is still 7:00 p.m. but the place has changed.

Don't forget the move and bring friends! See you there.

cookout and yard games!

2010-09-13T15:15:00.000-04:00

Saturday (9/18) join us for a cook out and vard games at the Howard Park site (Howard hall site--the corner of Union and College streets).

We'll be there at noon. Come ready to eat burgers and hotdogs, hang out, play some games and just relax!

We hope you can make it.

ROC intro Pizza Party!

2010-09-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

Come join us in the ROC House on Monday (9/6) at 5:30 for FREE PIZZA and hear about the ROC community. Meet new people, have some fun, eat some pizza!

August e-update: Listening

2010-08-31T13:49:00.001-04:00

This month ROC board member, Patrick Wersell, shares with us insights about listening to God:

I often have a hard time hearing God amidst the busyness of life. I was preparing a sermon for the nursing home a few weeks ago on Jude and my son, Eli, came down stairs. He asked me if I would play with him and I told him that I was busy doing something right now and could play with him when I was done. He said o.k. and went away. About five minutes later he was back, with a ball and said, “Dad watch me” as he bounced it on his hand. “Yes Eli,” I replied, “Good job, I’m busy.” Five minutes later he’s back again, flipping. “Good job, still busy.” “When are you going to be done Dad?” “In a while, why don’t you play with your cars for a while?” The cars were on the floor next to the couch I was sitting on. So he starts to play, and he begins to sing a song.

Now he’s not even paying attention to me, he’s playing with his cars and he’s just singing to himself. The song went like this, “Oh won’t you play with me, Oh why won’t you play with me?”; repeated over and over in a soft 5 year old voice. It took me a couple of minutes even to hear it. As I sit here typing and wiping my eyes, I don’t think that I’ll ever forget it.

Needless to say I did not preach on Jude. I taught on the importance of listening to God; of being able to hear His still, small voice, and realizing that Christianity is built on relationships, my relationship with Christ and my relationship with others. We often spend so much time doing the “really” important things, that we miss the things that are actually important to God.

The folks at the nursing home may not have received a heavily researched message on Jude, but they did receive a message from God, and more importantly I did. My sermons don’t mean much to Eli, he just wants me to spend time with him. And my intelligence isn’t especially impressive to the creator of the universe. No, he wants the same thing my 5 year old does, to be important enough to me that I will set aside what I’m busy doing and just spend time with him.

Your brother in Christ,
Patrick

Time with Jesus

2010-08-28T20:42:00.001-04:00

The circled window on the 2nd floor of the building on the
right nearest the tree is where I stayed.

I've just returned from a personal retreat. This was my sixth visit to Gethsemani (yes, they spell it that way) monastery West of Lexington, KY. God often grants me insight into myself and my service during these retreat times. This time I was fascinated by an invitation given by the “Guest Master,” Fr. Damien. He invited the retreatants to take part in an “Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.” He said that both Catholics and Protestants were welcome.

When he made the invitation, he stated that they didn't do anything but pray for an hour. He also stated, “If you want to get to know Jesus, you have to spend time with Him, you know?”

I went to the chapel and got there early (around 4:05 p.m.) though I thought I was arriving late. When I arrived, there were already people there. Sitting. In silence. I waited. I read Scripture. When Fr. Damien arrived, around 4:20, he put on a stole, unlocked and opened a box on the wall, and removed a small, lovely jar/bottle sort of thing. This ornate container he placed on the altar and then took a seat. He said nothing. There were about 15 of us there together. A few people read silently, some watched silently, others prayed silently. Everyone sat in silence. (It looked as if Fr. Damien may have fallen asleep a time or two—but if he did so, he did so in silence.)

At around 5:20 another of the monks came in and sat next to me. I thought that it was potentially going to be a bit embarrassing to break the silence in order to explain to him—older as he was with a hearing aid and cane—that he should go up past me when it came time to partake. Since I'm not Catholic, I would not be allowed to receive the Eucharist. Around 5:25 Fr. Damien got up, approached the altar, took the container, made the sign of a cross with the bottle and put it back in the lock box. The “exposition” was over.

I didn't have to explain anything to the old brother monk because no one partook of communion at that time. We just sat with Jesus—we watched and we prayed. I wondered how many of my Protestant brothers and sisters would sit in silence with one another for over an hour receiving nothing more than Jesus' presence. I recalled Jesus' own words in another Gethsemane, “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40) and I thought that three times a week there is a small band in a chapel at a monastery in Kentucky where people are doing just that; silently watching with Jesus for an hour.

July e-update: Haiti & the widow's mite

2010-07-30T14:04:00.000-04:00

This month, Jared shares insights about the Haiti trip with us.

"As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'I tell you the truth,' he said, 'this poor widow has put in more than all the others.'” --Luke 21:1-3

The story of the “widow’s mite” is likely a familiar one to us. It is found in the 21st chapter of Luke’s Gospel, and also in the 12th chapter of Mark. It is a touching illustration of how God is pleased with true sacrifice, regardless of the world’s standards. Great, but what does that have to do with Haiti?

I think this story ties in very appropriately with the trip two students (Joe Morris and Nate Luke) and I took to the devastated Caribbean nation this July. To begin with, we saw a great deal of poverty, and people in difficult situations. In a country with upwards of 80% unemployment, there is need everywhere you look. It is possible to see the widow’s faith in many of the Haitian nationals who gathered with us for worship on Sunday, and placed their meager offerings in the plate that was passed.

As richly blessed Americans who are rarely found in true need, the environment was eye-opening for those of us on the trip. It is simply overwhelming to see people living in tent cities with no immediate relief in sight. What could we possibly do to help? What could we possibly do of any value?

This is where this story of the widow intersects our story. In leading basketball camps for young neighborhood boys, throwing a birthday party for children at the orphanage where we served, or helping to paint a newly constructed building, we were simply offering up what we had. It didn’t seem like much to us, but God has the great ability to take our seemingly meager offerings and do big things with them!

So when we saw a young boy’s face light up in joy at accomplishments on the basketball court, or witnessed 16 boys come forward to accept Jesus after the devotional on the last day of camp, we knew that God was indeed at work. Though our offerings seemed small, having the faith to give simply of what we have is often all that is required to be a conduit of God’s love and grace in big ways.

I pray that in whatever circumstances you find yourself, you may also be able to see God at work through your offerings. We are thankful for the ways you sacrificially offer support to this ministry, and that we all get the joy of watching together the big things God continues to do on this campus!

Jared

Continuing to reimagine

2010-07-09T16:09:00.000-04:00

I have neglected to post for a while about our ongoing summer conversations. Sorry it's been a rather hectic time.

Two weeks ago Chip led a discussion re. Reimagining the Church Meeting in which Viola argues for a more open meetings (as in welcoming interruptions from members during worship times) of the church creating a dialogue with one another that enables and emphasizes the mutual encouragement/edification that the early church experienced as well as mutual expression of gifts.

Last week we discussed the chapter, Reimagining the Lord's Supper. Viola argues that the supper really ought to be true to the practice of the early church, which, he argues, was a full meal or "supper" and not a "cracker crumb" and "shot glass" of juice.

There are certainly things that could be addressed here for both of these chapters. However, since these have already been discussed in group, I sense the urgency to move on to the next chapter for a couple of comments about, Reimagining the Gathering Place.

In spite of his initial comments regarding his desire to be constructive, the tone of Viola's writing continues to disparage the church in its current form and practice.

Viola points to the common practice of home meetings of the early church (Acts 2:46; 20:20; Romans 16:3, 5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; etc). These home-based church meetings are "normative" (p. 94) in Viola's view though he does acknowledge that on "special occasions" they met in the temple and Solomon's porch. However, the Acts 2:46 text which he uses to support this assertion states that the church was meeting daily in the temple as well as in homes.

Viola argues that the home is primarily an informal, nurturing environment in which believers may feel at ease and open to mutual participation and thus edification. The lack of formality that is afforded in the home is seen to enhance the family atmosphere of the church and enable an "unthreatened and uninhibited gathering" where people can be themselves. Conversely, Viola argues that the formal setting of most church buildings is not conducive to mutual participation but rather promotes a clergy centrality and dependence as well as a spectator mentality.

This is certainly possible. The passive nature of many worship times in the contemporary church leads us to believe that being a Christian is about "observing" others do things rather than actively participating. This is a danger. However, it is also just as possible to be in someone's home and not contribute to the time together. It is possible to sit passively and not engage. The particular structure does not determine the atmosphere of the gathering of the church. The people's willingness to welcome and submit to the Spirit and their engagement with one another in community has much more to do with the atmosphere of intimacy and spiritual authenticity than does a building (home included).

It seems to me that the focus of the gathering place, rather than whether it means in someone's house, should be on how to enable God's family to be connected as family during the time they are together.

An important point that Viola does raise is the issue of building debt and upkeep. A closing question to this chapter reads, "Does it bother you at all that Christians spend $9 to $11 billion a year on church buildings, and that many of these buildings aren't owned in the clear, but instead, represent great debt? Explain." Yes, explain indeed. However, rather than an issue of gathering place, this is an issue of stewardship. And that, I'm afraid, is a discussion for another time.

What about you? Do you think that it is necessary for the church to meet in a home? In a church building? Thoughts?

June e-update: Reorienting

2010-07-02T13:00:00.001-04:00

In these days of hand held GPS (global positioning system) devices, there may not be many who are familiar with orienteering with map and compass. I’m no expert. In fact I could probably easily get lost even with a compass in hand but a friend taught me the basics years ago. Though the GPS is much more accurate there is something rather endearing to me about the “old fashioned” way of charting one’s course using compass and map.

There are times, however, when you do need to get reoriented. There are times when you thought you knew where you were but the land marks you see don’t match with what’s on the map. This is very disorienting!

There are also times in the life of the disciple when we need to reorient as well. In fact the initial decision to follow Jesus requires a huge reorientation away from self toward Jesus as Lord. We recognize that we are not God and not capable of fixing our brokenness. We need Christ to be the center of our lives and it is only with Him in control that a true orientation is achieved.

This sort of reorientation is an ongoing journey in the life of the Jesus follower. As we grow in relationship with Christ, the Holy Spirit speaks to us about the misdirected parts of our lives. Hopefully we respond to the Spirit’s prompting with obedience and gratitude and reorient ourselves afresh to Christ.

I have seen this in the lives of people over the years as they have recognized that the direction they were going just wasn’t right. One girl called and said, “I’ve been doing the bar scene and I need to turn back to Jesus and get connected with Christians, can I get involved in ROC?” She did. Another student confessed behavior from which he needed to repent. We prayed for God’s grace and healing.

You enable us to be present for these times of reorienting. Thank you for your partnership whether financial or in prayer. God continues to call people to Himself through ROC’s ministry and we are grateful, blessed and honored to be part of that.

In Christ’s peace,

Rich

PS Please pray for the Jared Ott (and Crystal while they are apart), Joe Morris and Nate Luke as they prepare to leave for a mission trip to Haiti July 5-15!

Witherington on Viola

2010-06-21T14:04:00.000-04:00

Jeremy emailed me with the following link. For those of you interested in other reviews of Viola's book, check out the extensive comments by Ben Witherington III, NT professor at Asbury Seminary http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2008/09/frank-violas-reimagining-church-part.html

Mark on Viola

2010-06-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to post a comment by Mark but there seems to be some difficulty...so I'm trying it as a post. Again this is from Mark:

Here is what I would say to Viola, via my (sometimes not sufficiently) humble opinion. Putting aside for the sake of charity his opening claim to have been motivated by boredom to pursue this reimagining of the church, and putting aside his claim, which seems incredibly arrogant, that people in the “institutional church” were not being spiritually transformed (a claim that, it seems, would have to entail extensive knowledge not only of the spiritual lives and pasts of all of those church members, but, infinitely more problematic, of how God is acting in the church), I believe that he is well-motivated. He ultimately seems to aim for the church to consider carefully its priorities and its character, to think long and hard about the ground of the church’s existence, which is its Lord, and the saving action of God through God the Son. So far I’m happy as can be.

But here is where the difficulties begin. He starts and bases his whole project on a, to put it delicately, highly contestable assumption, sort of along the lines of Adolf Von Harnack’s late 19th century argument: you have the pristine, ideal church and Gospel in the first century, and then you have everything else. The latter being purely human creations, additions, modifications, and so forth, beginning in the second century. You’ve got the Bible, and then you have Greek culture (among others), which is not only a later addition to and co-opting of the Bible and early Christian faith, but is also neatly detachable from the two (being motivated to do this sort of surgery precisely because of the claim that such cultural “additions” are human creations and harmful distortions of the text).

I would say this is a vast and deep misreading of the history and of the Bible itself (that same Greek culture was in place and at work long before any of the books of the New Testament were written. And early Christian writers, including New Testament writers like Paul, Luke, and John, made plain their awareness of their intellectual surroundings, and wisely deployed a variety of those philosophical tools and concepts to their own evangelical advantage. This wasn’t the Hellenization of Christianity, but a thoughtful Christianization of certain aspects of Hellenism). But, for argument’s sake, let’s give him all of this anyway.

The real, fundamental problem that results from his approach, so it seems to me, is that ultimately he loses the very thing that he wishes to place at the heart of his program: the Bible. I would point out to him that first century Christians did not have the Bible as we have it. The canon of Scripture was not formed until a couple of centuries later, and it was formed (though I may be sitting by myself at the next Church of Christ potluck for saying this) it was formed in conjunction with the early creeds and the apostolic faith that was passed down to those church leaders. They were explicit about this. They had 3-4 criteria for figuring out which of the myriad texts should be seen as falling within the “measuring rod” and which should not: the use of these particular texts in worship and catechesis, their commonality among the churches, and their fit with the apostolic faith (a criterion which emerges from what came to be the New Testament itself, in the book of Acts: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings.”) Finally, some also saw antiquity as a fourth criterion for the legitimacy of these texts. And when these early church fathers elaborate on this set of conversations involving legitimate and healthy teaching, they also point to those summary statements or creeds, which were not meant to supplant or “add” to the text, but to articulate it in a healthy way. After all, even when the basic canon was as established as it would get, prior to the Reformation, the church leaders could not simply say, “all we need to do to avoid heresy and remain of one mind, is read the Bible.” This is because (a) not everyone had or could read the Bible, and (perhaps more importantly) if they did (b) those on both sides of the various debates were still coming away from their reading of the text with heretical doctrines (Arius, for example, wasn’t advocating that the church stop reading the Gospels. He thought that the best way to read the New Testament in conjunction with the Old Testament portrayal of God was to say that Jesus was a mere creature). The church’s response had to include a description of how rightly and healthily to read that Gospel. This was what motivated the early baptismal and liturgical creeds, and this was what motivated the early church councils. The church was threatened by division and heresy, and the church leaders had to say something. So they ask themselves, what is the best, the healthiest way to read these texts?

All this to say not only that they were not adding to or standing over the text, but were precisely placing these texts, which witnessed to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, at the heart of their speech about this revelation in Christ (how one could come away from reading any of the church fathers and assume that they were arrogantly and ignorantly giving in to the pressures of Hellenistic philosophy, I must say I do not know). Moreover, by my dim lights, it seems clear that we have to say that if we trust that the Holy Spirit was working through and using these same figures to make choices about the boundaries of the canon, i.e., from within that same cultural milieu out of which we gain the creeds and the statements of the councils concerning the nature of Jesus and the nature of the Trinity, and so on—which I think we rightly do (and which Viola seems himself to do from time to time)—and if we are to look to these texts, i.e. the Bible, first, as we have been taught by those same ancestors in the faith, we cannot simply discard the other things they said and did. (I apologize for that unending sentence). They made these decisions, with the guidance of the Spirit, by looking to their experience in worship and in the church community, the very stuff that Viola seems simply to discard whole-cloth.

Conversely, if we simply throw out everything from the first century onwards, not only are we failing to see that we have only come to our present position, and to these texts, through God’s preservation of His church down through the ages (i.e., we have come to these texts because we trust God and our parents in the faith who have told us about God), but also that, if we were simply to discard all of this, we would also have to discard the precise collection of texts that was gained through the work of Holy Spirit in that same cultural and historical framework. Of course, this is not to say that we must uncritically agree with everything we’re told, or keep in place every aspect of the church’s historical teaching or ordering of the church (this would, after all, be impossible, as there have been so many disagreements about so many things), or put what we’ve been told on a par with the reading of Scripture. On the other hand, I think Brian Leftow puts it well when he says something along the lines of the following: “Historic Christian orthodoxy represents the best efforts of nearly 2,000 years of Christian minds to plumb the depths of God’s nature. It is possible that they were all mistaken, even fundamentally so. But it would be hubris for a 21st century thinker to conclude this before any orthodox approach has been exhausted.”

I would go on to disagree with Viola’s claims about all hierarchy being an intrinsic evil, and the way that he uses metaphors and specific texts, but others have done so elsewhere, as has Rich, so, as I’m sure the reader is grateful, I won’t bother with all that.

Organic Church

2010-06-18T12:56:00.000-04:00

Here we go. It's a challenge to know how much of Viola to quote because some of you have the book and are reading it, others are just reading bits here. Therefore, I'll experiment a little and hopefully we'll be able to come to some standard in a while.

In chapter 1 Viola is arguing for the restoration of the church to its "organic" nature as opposed to the institution it has become.

The church we read about in the New Testament was "organic." By that I mean it was born from and sustined by spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions, controlled by human hierarchy, shaped by lifeless rituals, and held together by religious programs.

To put it in a sentence, organic church life is not a theater with a script; it's a gathered community that lives by divine life. By contrast, the modern institutional church operates on the same organizational principles that run corporate America. (both quotes from p. 32)

You can see that when he uses the term "institutional" he is talking about a form of church "a way of doing church," as he puts it in the introduction. He is arguing that the institution has overwhelmed the natural DNA of the church which lives by the divine life reflecting the trinitarian nature of God which is the paradigm for the church's native expression.

Look again at the triune God. And notice what's absent. There's an absence of command-style leadership. There's an absence of hierarchical structures. There's an absence of passive spectatorship. There's an absence of one-upmanship. And there's an absence of religious rituals and programs. (p. 36)

Part of me wants to argue that things may have changed in the church since 1988 (the last time he was in what he terms an institutional church). Later he suggests that there are certain identifiable features produced by the church's natural DNA:

Some of them are the experience of authentic community, a familial love and devotion of its members to one another, the centrality of Jesus Christ, the native instinct to gather together without static ritual, the innate desire to form deep-seated relationships that are centered on Christ, the internal drive for open-participatory gatherings, and the loving impulse to display Jesus to a fallen world. (45-46)

In this chapter he also suggests four paradigms for church restoration: Biblical Blueprintism, Cultural Adaptability, Postchurch Christianity, and Organic Expression. I can't go into detail here re. all of these. He obviously is arguing for the last one.

In his discussion about cultural adaptability, he makes a point that becomes a very important question for consideration. "The critical question then becomes which practices of the New Testament church are solely descriptive and which are normative? Or to put it another way, which are tied to the culture of the first century and which are reflections of the unchanging nature and identity of the church?" (39)

I think that's a great question to ask whether or not you're reading the book. What do you think?

Summer conversations

2010-06-14T16:41:00.000-04:00

This summer we will be hosting a series of conversations together. As a springboard for our chats, we'll be reading & discussing the book Reimagining Church by Frank Viola. To say that this book may provoke more than mere chats may be an understatement.

The first sentence of his Preface reads, "After thirteen years of attending scores of churches and parachurch organizations, I took the daring step of leaving the institutional church" (p. 11). Reasons? He was painfully bored with Sunday-morning services and he saw no spiritual transformation in the lives of people in those services.

The purpose of his book is, "to articulate a biblical, spiritual, theological, and practical answer to the question, Is there a viable way of doing church outside the institutional church experience, and if so, what does it look like?" (p. 12) He qualifies his goal by stating that since the church is actually "the people of God, the very bride of Jesus Christ," he's actually concerned with reimagining the "present practices" of the church not the church itself.

I'm hoping to open our Monday night conversations up to others via this blog. If you are willing, please comment on these posts, ask questions, answer questions, raise issues, etc.

So what is church? What is your experience of church? Let's "chat."

May e-update: Anniversaries!

2010-06-14T16:10:00.001-04:00

It was a Friday night, May 25, 1984, I walked down the aisle on my hands. The preacher of the church there thought I was nuts (at least that was the expression on his face). He probably thought I was going to break something—in the church or myself. I made it all the way down without falling. It was my wedding rehearsal and I determined that it was going to be fun. Connie, my dear bride, was feeling under the weather. She was downright sick actually. She was sipping on 7-up trying to keep her stomach calm while we walked through the ceremony. She made it without breaking anything also.

This year we celebrate 26 years of marriage. The Lord has blessed us with many good memories (in addition to the memories we have of our beginning) and three incredible children. This July 1, we also celebrate 18 years of serving with Reach Out on Campus. Two of our children were born during our service in Athens and all three are Appalachian born and raised (Abby was born in Elizabethton, TN).

Anniversaries give us the opportunity to reflect on past years together. If we are open to seeing it, we see the hand of God involved in the writing of our stories individually, as a couple, as a family and as a community of faith. We reflect on the years that God used parents and friends to bring each of us to Himself. We see Him carefully bringing us together through different circumstances and avenues but molding our hearts in such a way that we were attracted to one another and interested in serving our Lord together. We are amazed at the way in which God so faithfully formed us (and continues to do so) and made our home a place where children are nurtured to walk with Jesus. We are blessed to see the way in which our service with ROC has also formed our family in such a way that we relish the many tongues, tribes and nations that will be present in God’s fulfilled kingdom. We are grateful and honored to be called upon to love people ever closer to Jesus and are so thankful for your partnership that sustains us in this service. Thanks for these many years together!

South Pole comments

2010-04-30T13:45:00.002-04:00

We performed a bit of an experiment. For three weeks we held Cross Walk at the South Pole (under Nelson). The anecdotal evidence suggests that this was a good thing--great room, nice temperature, good size, great time! But I'd like to hear from those of you who were there. Please leave some comments for me here. Thanks!!!

April e-update: Run With It!

2010-04-30T13:43:00.001-04:00

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

--Hebrews 12:1

Running takes a lot of endurance. This quarter has been full of activity and we’re only at the half-way point, but the students of Reach Out on Campus are running with perseverance and seeking Jesus all the while.

Our spring retreat went well exploring the theme “Out of the Box.” This theme coincided with our Spring quarter theme, “Run With It!” The students desire to take all that they’ve been learning as a community this year and “run with it” on campus, in relationships and in their own lives.

Consequently, we’ve been on campus for Cross Walk for three weeks in the South Pole (under Nelson dining hall on South Green) and upcoming we’ll have a couple more weeks in the amphitheater of Scripps (outside). In other attempts to “run with it” and be more visible on campus, we had a “ROC” table in Baker Center early in the quarter and a “Who is Jesus?” table at the college gate just last week. The students have also been helping two of their fellow ROC’ers raise funds to go to Haiti this summer by selling grilled cheese and fluffernutter sandwiches on Court Street. Our worship team has also led a time of worship with the Middleport Church of Christ youth after the youth completed a 30 hour famine. They’ll be going down again to lead in a time of worship before the national day of prayer.

One of the undergrad students has also invited a friend into a GIG (God Investigation Group). Jared is meeting with the two of them to talk about the Scriptures and Jesus. Please pray as they continue to meet that all hearts are drawn close to our Savior.

Relationally the students continue to invest in one another as well. They have spent a lot of time socializing and building their community through fun activities that draw them closer to one another. Several of the undergrads will be going to WV on a camping trip together at Eric and Kim Thomasons’ home.

As we all continue to run this quarter, we are blessed that you are part of the great cloud cheering us on. Thanks for your partnership!

Show & Tell

2010-04-08T14:09:00.001-04:00

The scene is a first grade classroom. It’s your turn to get up in front of the entire class and talk about the rock you picked out of the headwaters of the Mississippi River during your family’s summer vacation. Ready? Go!

“Um…this is a rock. I got it this summer…on vacation. It’s from the Mississippi.”

You sit down thinking, “Phew! Sure glad that’s over.” So is the class. Where was the zeal, the zest? Where was the gusto? You sat in the very beginning of the great river that goes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. With one step you spanned the river that continues to host huge coal barges between her great banks. Why didn’t you say something about that? Scared? Afraid someone would laugh? No confidence? Didn’t think about it? I know. Me too.

Show and tell was something my first grade teacher had us do. It wasn’t always fun…but sometimes kids would bring in things that they were really passionate about and we’d all get excited by the story that they told. People love stories. Stories that are told with passion and excitement tend to draw other people into them. Interest is born by the amount of passion with which the story is told.

ROC exists to glorify Jesus through developing dynamic communities that show and tell his gospel at Ohio University. However, if we say something like, “Uhhh….hi….I’m a … I…uhh…I like to go to this….uhhh….Jesus is….well….I guess….” See what I mean?

Some people say that they witness by being nice to other people. That’s great! But really, how will people know you’re a committed Christian who loves Jesus only by your actions? Without some words people might think that you’re simply a Girl Scout or Boy Scout. Showing IS vital! So is telling.

Showing involves being the kind of person that Jesus is. Love, grace, forgiveness, holiness, purity, self-sacrifice, joy, and any other Jesus quality ought to ooze out of our pores and go all over the people around each of us. There ought to be warmth and welcome expressed in Cross Walk and our Bible studies that can only be explained by Jesus’ presence with us. When observed by others wouldn’t it be cool if people said of us what was said of the Apostles, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13)? Ordinary people. That’s what we are. Blessed with more education than Peter and John had but needing the power and courage they possessed in abundance. They had been with Jesus. That’s where the courage comes from. We need to conduct our life as a group together in such a way that it is obvious to each of us that Jesus is here.

But go look up Acts 4 and check out how the rulers, elders, teachers of the law and high priest knew that these guys had been with Jesus. These boys made a little speech. In their response to a question put to them by the rulers, they laid it on the line. There was no stuttering. There was no waffling. They spoke, full of the Holy Spirit, with great passion. The result was that there could be no denying it. Peter and John had been with Jesus.

As an organization and as individuals our purpose for existence is to bring glory to Jesus by showing and telling his story. If we feel unprepared, we need to prepare. If we feel afraid of the response, we need to spend some time with Jesus in prayer and remember that this great work of evangelism is ultimately in His hands. Obedient mouthpieces for the story—that’s what we are. We show and we tell what we know; what we’ve experienced. The Holy Spirit takes it from there. It’s a great adventure. It’s a great calling. It’s our purpose as a group. Let’s do it with great passion and power.

There and Back Again--a ROC tale

2010-04-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…” With these words Tolkien's story of Bilbo Baggins’s great adventure begins. The beginning of another great adventure started in the middle of spring break.

March 24-28 ten of us journeyed from Athens to Joppa, MD then to Sterling, VA and back again to listen, learn and labor. Our time of listening and learning began Wednesday night in homes of host families of Mountain Christian Church. Thursday morning we learned about the passion the Mountain staff has for Jesus’ mission in Maryland and around the world. We learned that their mission, “making disciples—more and better disciples,” drives everything they do. We also learned from the staff of Restore Community Church in VA the importance of living out the values of relationships, serving and generosity. The importance of encouragement and leadership was made tangible through a time of rock climbing in the Great Falls National Park.

But we also labored. We sorted and marked clothes and did various other duties at a food shelf/thrift store called Tabitha’s House and a homeless day shelter both in MD. In VA we helped Restore rake gravel at the Good Shepherd thrift store and helped pack and deliver food to children who don’t have access to food during their spring break.

Those are the details. But the learning continues. On his adventure Bilbo left his hole in the ground and found that the world was much larger than he ever imagined. He found it was a wondrous world and that he had place in it. In fact both he and his nephew, Frodo, discovered that even a person small of stature could change things for the better.

At some point in the story Bilbo states, "The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.”

We hope that ROC students will catch the passion for Christ’s mission in the world expressed by the folks at Mountain and Restore and that they will leave their “holes” and pursue with similar passion the great adventure of being missionaries here at OU. We trust that the Spirit will empower them and use them to change the world as they trust in the One who leads them on this great quest of being Jesus in the world.

Please pray with us that He will do so. Thanks!

ATTENTION KROGER SHOPPERS!

2010-03-18T16:00:00.001-04:00

If you are currently enrolled in Kroger Community Rewards, you will need to re-enroll after April 1, 2010 in order for ROC to continue receiving credit for your purchases. This is an annual program and participants must re-enroll each year. Go to http://www.krogercommunityrewards.com/ and sign in to renew your membership.

If you would like to begin supporting ROC this way, you may go to http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/reach/ways2give.html and follow the step by step instructions found under number 4 on that page. You may also go directly to http://www.krogercommunityrewards.com/ and click on "Ohio" to sign up. Make sure to enter NPO number 83914 or Reach Out on Campus, select organization from list and click on “save changes.”

ROC will receive credit for your purchases, and it will not affect your fuel perks in any way.

Thank you!

Diversity Fair

2010-03-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

Today (Thursday, 3/4) from noon to 3:00 p.m. we have a table display in Baker Center on the fourth floor outside the Ballroom. If you're in Baker, stop by, say hi and hang out for a while.

Lost

2010-02-25T14:00:00.002-05:00

1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:1-7

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It was an accident. He was right there with us. I assumed that he hopped into the car in which he had been riding to winter retreat. The folks in that car thought he was in one of the other cars. Ten minutes down the road my cell phone rang.

“Is Freddie in your car?”

“Uhhh, no. Isn’t he in your car?”

He wasn’t in anyone’s car. Somehow after the revelry just outside Arby’s, jumping in snow banks, etc., Freddie hadn’t seen the car he was riding in so went around to the other side of the building when we all left.

After I had been called, I called his cell and, because he had run out of minutes, I got a recording about it being temporarily unavailable. What to do?

Thankfully Freddie didn’t panic. He was found about twenty minutes later after his car turned around and picked him up.

This sort of thing does happen from time to time when you have groups of people and multiple cars. Sometimes you go searching and can’t find where you’re supposed to be. At other times the group can’t find you.

You may be assured that on the way home, everyone made sure Freddie was with us. No one was left behind because we were all diligent about ensuring that we were together.

As I walk around campus or look out the window of the ROC House, I wonder how many of the people walking around are actually lost. How many of them are living lives disconnected from Jesus? I wonder what it takes to find them.

We’re giving away cocoa at the gate on Friday (2/26). It’s one of the things we do to express Jesus’ love and His desire to find his sheep. He’s willing to leave all the others of us “found” folks in the open field to find one of his strayed sheep. There are other things that we do in order to be part of this seeking Lord’s mission. We’re grateful that we get to partner with Him in His work.

We’re also very thankful to those of you who continue to support this ministry of students and faculty here at OU. Our financial support team has lost a few folks due to lost jobs and reconfigured giving. The current economic climate is difficult for everyone. Please pray for the many families who are without work. Encourage them and help them as you are able. Please also pray for ROC as we continue to seek after Jesus’ sheep.

Thank you!
Rich

Beginnings

2010-01-31T20:48:00.000-05:00

Lots of things begin in January; a new year, a new budget, a new small group and new leadership training, a new quarter (winter), and ROC’s new Assistant Campus Minister, Jared Ott to name a few. Let me share a few things about a couple of these.

This quarter we have a couple of new small groups beginning. First, we have a couple of our students leading “The Truth Project.” This is a world view study put together by the folks of Focus on the Family. A couple of our student leaders were trained last spring to take others through this material and they’re very excited to begin this time together.

Two “Vessel Groups” (module 1 of our new student leadership training) have also begun this quarter with eight students being equipped to serve the ROC community next year potentially as either a small group or administrative leader, leading Bible studies or planning community events and service. This is a great group of students with whom we are honored to be able to serve and grow. Please pray for these students: Adam, Aaron, Hannah, Greg B., Greg G., Bryan, Jennifer, and Mike. Pray also for Jared and me as we lead these students through the materials.

Jared Ott has stepped into his role as Assistant Campus Ministry with ROC and has gotten off to a great start. As he and Crystal continue to settle back in to Athens, Jared is teaching each Wednesday night at Cross Walk, facilitating the student leaders’ meetings, helping to lead the Vessel Groups and finishing up his thesis. Both Jared and Crystal are former ROCers (and former ROC student leaders). We’re pleased they have returned to serve the ROC community. Please pray for them as they continue to build relationships and develop community with the students.

We’re blessed with several new beginnings this month. But new things are usually built on that which came before. 2010 follows 2009. This new winter quarter has followed the fall building upon what was already learned. Our new Vessel Group members have already been involved in ROC and have shown some commitment to the community. Jared and Crystal were involved with us in ROC’s ministry as undergraduate students and now return “home” to serve with us. This new budget year has arrived because of faithful ministry partners, like you, who enabled this ministry into its 35th year.

Thank you for your part in this ministry. We are grateful for you!

Good Search and Shop

2009-12-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you've heard the buzz about Good Search. If not, check out this video from Fox News (there are others from ABC and CBS as well). It's a simple way of giving to non-profits by simply searching the web or shopping online.

If you haven't yet, you can do your Christmas shopping online through Good Shop and a portion of your purchase will be donated to a charity of your choice. In the section under the question: "Who do you support?" simply type "Reach Out on Campus (Athens, OH)" and shop at one or more of the variety of retailers including: Saks, Nike, Target, Walmart, Apple Store, Ebay, FTD, JC Penny, LL Bean, Best Buy and many others.

There is no additional charge to you for shopping online through Good Search. Some of the stores have even agreed to increase their giving to your charity of choice during this Christmas season. Something to consider as an optional way of giving this season.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas letter

2009-12-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

A homeless man came by one day. He looked me over. Imagine that, he looked me over. I’d heard about him from some of the other folks in town. They say that he’s the product of promiscuity. His mother wasn’t married when he was conceived. That didn’t really bother me though. People have said a lot worse about me.

His dress wasn’t much to speak of. The clothes were plain and rather dirty with a couple of holes here and there. I’ve thrown out clothes better than what he was wearing. Rather strange that there was such a hoopla about this guy. He had been teaching in the area and was beginning to gain some notoriety. What happened next took me by surprise.

“Follow me.” It was a simple phrase but rather shocking. I had a house, nice clothes, a rather lucrative job and he was asking me to leave it all and follow him; this homeless teacher. I know it may sound ridiculous to you but I did it. I followed him. Since then my life has been completely changed. People have a hard time believing that a traitorous tax collector could change. But Jesus has completely remade me. Let me share with you some of the words from the beginning of the book I wrote:

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:18-25)

This is a fantastic story. Many do not believe it. I’m sure you know people who live right next door to you who do not believe that this is in any way possible. But I assure you that it is. God truly is with us. He came to be with us in the person of Jesus and even though Jesus died on a cruel Roman cross He still lives. As a result we all have a life option. There is hope both now and always. There is nothing to fear and it is completely possible to change. I know. Jesus asked me to follow Him. He has asked you too.

Jesus’ call is constant. Even when we feel defeated, frightened and concerned about the future of our world, Jesus calls us to Himself and shines light into darkness and hope into hopelessness. Jesus will save his people from their sins. What a glorious story to tell to all. I trust you will keep the story going even as Jesus trusted us to start it after He ascended to heaven.

Blessings,
Matthew

Thanks for indulging my imagination a bit. This is a great time of the year for us all to express the truth of Jesus with all our friends, family and strangers. Thank you for your partnership with us in spreading the Good News here in Athens and around the world.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Reach Out on Campus!

Glorifying Jesus

2009-11-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

November 2009 E-update

“Thank you Lord for the incredible, life-changing experiences we have had as a community this quarter. Continue to work through us next quarter as we seek to live for you and glorify Jesus.” This is my paraphrase of a ROC student leader’s prayer during our study break celebration on Monday 11/16/09. It has indeed been an incredible quarter filled with service, outreach, community building and worship.

Several ROC students began the quarter by helping other students move in to residence halls. They continued their service through helping raise money for Habitat for Humanity through the annual “Cardboard City” event. Weekly several students also helped with the Athens Church of Christ Community Meals program and this past month our undergraduate students also provided a meal for the Good Works Friday Night Supper. One response from a student who helped with the Good Works meal was, “I loved the time eating with the folks at Friday Night Supper. Though I thought I would be really uncomfortable, it was a really great time. I want to know if I can just go there anytime.”

Weekly students have also met for worship at Cross Walk as well as spent time together reading, engaging and seeking to apply the scriptures through small groups. Graduate students and faculty have also met weekly and grown in relationships and service. One of the faculty fellowship members, Richard Klabunde, spoke at our fall retreat and has been leading worship times with our graduate students on Monday nights.

Students have stepped outside their comfort zones time and again through these times of service or in reaching out to others through a hot dog give away and holding a Cross Walk on campus rather than in the comfort of the ROC House. This group of students has formed a dynamic solid community that is loving and caring. They have taken strides in their relationships with each other and with Jesus. It has indeed been a wonderful thing to watch, encourage and of which to be part.

Thank you for your prayers for us this quarter as we have sought to be Jesus’ followers together here at OU. Thank you also for your faithful financial support without which we could not continue to dedicate ourselves to these fine people who are together extending Christ’s grace and love to those around them.

Connecting Dots & One Anothering

2009-11-28T17:39:00.000-05:00

October 2009 E-update

I enjoyed “connect the dots” books when I was a kid. I liked to see what the picture would become. Sometimes it was obvious—that’s a dog. Sometimes not. If you could draw lines and count, you could connect the dots and discover the “hidden” picture.

This fall’s Cross Walk teaching theme is “Connect the Dots.” According to Wikipedia, the phrase can refer to the picture game or the ability (or inability) to associate one idea with another.

I’ve been challenging students to consider how the ideas expressed in ROC’s purpose and values statement connect with our individual lives and our life as an organization. We have been considering how to live out these ideas in such a way as to bring Jesus glory.

One tangible expression of our attempt to “connect the dots” this quarter was our fall retreat. Through the theme “One Another One Another,” Chris MacNeal, Richard Klabunde and I encouraged the students to be a community that loves one another, is devoted to one another and serves one another. As the students continue to implement these thoughts relationships are growing. Please pray with us that the students will grow in their ability to nurture and challenge one another to grow in relationship with Jesus and each other.

On Wednesday, October 21, we held Cross Walk in Baker Center. I was interested in seeing how that would work logistically but also how students would react to the change. The particular room that we used was less than ideal for what we normally do at Cross Walk. During our prayer time we break down into smaller groups and usually disperse around the ROC House for prayer. Because we didn’t have the extra space students went outside of the room and prayed in various parts of Baker Center. The reactions of our students were mixed. Several students did not feel comfortable outside the ROC House—some due to the small room others because we weren’t in the ROC House. Others were excited to be able to be more “in public” with their faith and are excited about the possibility of growing beyond the ROC House. Please pray as we continue to seek to glorify Jesus wherever we find ourselves in the OU community.

Thanks so much for your part in enabling us to serve with these fine young people and faculty members here in Athens. God is on the move and we’re excited to be part of that here at OU!

Selfless Service in September!

2009-11-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

September 2009 E-update

It started with 3 very full days of moving people into the residence halls Sept. 3-5. We gave away 1,300 baggies of cookies to students as they passed by our table (THANK YOU to all those who made cookies) and we moved in many, many students. Parents and others were surprised to find out that we were volunteering our time to help them move in to the “front four” residence halls on South Green.

“Why would you do that?” “Thank you so much!” “Who would volunteer for this?” These were among the comments I heard as students, staff and volunteers committed over 200 hours to moving people into residence halls. We freely explained that we were serving as an expression of our love for Jesus and to say welcome to Ohio University. It was an honor and a privilege to help.

Throughout this month the students have also been very active in helping with the Athens Church of Christ Community Meals program. They serve, eat with the community folks who come for the meal and they clean up. ROC students have been wonderful examples of service.

Most recently that has been demonstrated as they worked together to construct a cardboard house for the Habitat for Humanity fundraising project, “Cardboard City.”

Unknown to our students, Habitat supplied large pieces of thick cardboard (which our students did use as roofing) and many groups constructed highly decorated houses, castles and other exciting edifices. Not one, however, was made of simple cardboard boxes gathered from area businesses, made to keep the rain out and stay standing all night long. The ROC students, however, constructed such a fortress. Having gathered cardboard boxes from Court St. and other businesses, they spent hours configuring the corrugated containers into a large cabin that housed four of the courageous contractors for the night. Some of the houses built by others toppled but the ROC condo stood firm.

As usual for the beginning of the school year, the approximately 50 undergraduate students that have been getting together for ROC activities this fall have been spending time getting to know each other in Cross Walk, Bible studies, and social activities. But this group of students is also keen to serve others. They have a heart for service and I am encouraged and excited to see them grow in their service. I can’t wait to see what God has planned for October!

You are Welcome Here!

2009-11-28T17:27:00.000-05:00

August 2009 E-update

I had gotten away from the group and was off on my own for a little while exploring the ruins of Castle Karak, a crusader castle in the country of Jordan. I was amazed at its size; it is huge. As I rounded a corner I came face to face with a Jordanian soldier also exploring the castle ruins. Though in his uniform, he was obviously off duty. We politely greeted one another and then he said, “You are American.” I told him that I was and he said something to me I will always remember. “You are welcome here.” I thanked him and we both went on exploring the castle.

I know it seems like a simple phrase but I was far from home in strange surroundings and there were many other things that he could have said. The welcome came as a bit of a surprise. It was a pleasant surprise; really a blessing.

On Thursday (9/3) new students will begin arriving here in Athens. Moms and Dads will leave their sons and daughters in Athens. For some of these new students it will be their first experience away from home for any significant amount of time. Some will exalt that they are now on their own away from the folks’ watchful eye. They will rejoice to make decisions their own way reflecting who they want to be here at university. Others will immediately be homesick. While they may continue contact with friends through Facebook and texting, it’s not quite the same when they’re eating alone in the cafeteria.

For all of the students at OU, new and returning, the ROC community hopes to be a group of people that says, “You are welcome here.” Whether by helping students move in to their residence halls Thursday through Saturday, or giving away cookies at the water station, welcoming students to OU at the ROC table during the student activities resource fair on Labor Day, or providing free pizza at the ROC intro meeting later that night, we will express welcome in Jesus’ name and invite them into community with us.

During the quarter, we will continue to extend welcome to students and faculty at our Wednesday night Cross Walk meetings, our Monday night small groups and our Wednesday afternoon faculty fellowship lunches. A simple expression can make a significant impact on those far from home in strange surroundings. It is an attempt to bless.

Thank you for what you do to make these various expressions of welcome possible. You are a blessing to us!

Summer Things

2009-11-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

July 2009 E-update

The summer is a time to enjoy sun, family, friends, hopefully take a vacation, and get refreshed by the change in schedule. Yet, as I begin this e-update near the end of July, I am struck with the fact that transfer student orientation is past (7/23) and new student orientation began on Monday (7/27). Fall is apparently right around the corner. Yikes!

At the end of spring quarter the undergraduate student leaders got together and planned the fall calendar. That’s done. But the logistical work of getting those planned events actually executed continues. We will once again be helping with fall move-in. The OU department of Residential Housing (new named formed when Residence Life and Housing were joined) has invited us to help move students into their residence halls Sept. 3-5 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day. We’ve been collecting information from students and others interested in helping with that service to the university community. Interested in helping? Email me (tesker@ohio.edu) soon as the director needs to know very soon how many people will be helping from our group.

Along with the move-in will be cookie give-away. Letters will be sent soon requesting cookies. If you would like to help provide cookies for us to give away to the new students as an expression of welcome, please let me know. We need the cookies by Sept. 1.

In the midst of the preparations for fall, however, summer ministry continues. Graduate students still get together weekly at my home for our time of study, fellowship and prayer. We are using a study guide examining self-control. The study addresses various areas of life in which we need to practice this fruit of the Spirit. In addition to this weekly group, I have been involved in 1on1 conversations and prayer with students and faculty.

Aug. 1-5 one of our undergraduate student leaders and I will go to the University of Southern Indiana where the National Association of Christian Campus Ministries will hold the national student conference. This conference has always proven to be a time of challenge, encouragement and refreshment. We trust it will once again.

Thank you once again for your prayers for this ministry especially as we look toward fall ministry and carry out the ministry of summer as well. God bless you for your partnership in prayer and financial support!

Transitioning

2009-11-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

June 2009 E-update

“The thing that amazes me is that there will not even be a gap in our health insurance. Kim’s ends on June 30 and mine begins on July 1. God has amazed us with his provision.” In this portion of an email exchange with Eric, he described to me God’s gracious care for Kim and him as they settle back into West Virginia and Eric begins his new job with the Farm Bureau.

When Eric told me last August that he and Kim had decided to move back home, one of the things that he said was that he believed God had brought them to this point and that God was at least o.k. with this decision. Eric wanted to finish well and hoped that God would take care of things. God has indeed taken care of things. Eric completed his service with ROC June 12, Eric and Kim sold their house during spring quarter, just as they were packing this month Eric was offered a new job with the Farm Bureau, he started that job on Tuesday (June 23) and now he has learned that even their medical coverage won’t lapse. God is good and gracious.

At a potluck celebrating Eric and Kim’s time in Athens, many stories were shared of the love and care the Thomasons shared with students and many others. The words were expressed verbally through stories, in writing via a book of letters and through pictures as a framed collage of several pictures was also signed by those in attendance. Eric’s hope to finish well was accomplished. But it doesn’t end there.

The ROC board and I have been working on the staff transition for some time. Mid-way through June, Jared Ott accepted the position of Assistant Campus Minister with Reach Out on Campus. Jared and his wife, Crystal, were both ROC student leaders when they attended OU as undergrads. In an email Jared stated, “We are excited about this next phase of our lives in ministry, and look forward to ‘coming home’ in many ways.” Jared will join ROC staff in January at 3/4 time as he completes his Master of Divinity degree during the 2009-2010 school year (he will have class work in TN during fall 2009).

God is faithful. He led Eric and Kim to this decision and has consistently provided each step of the way. He has enabled Eric to finish the year well and has provided a new staff member for ROC. What a blessing to serve a God who is such a gracious provider. Thank you for being part of His provision to us!