Time to Decide Event

This post is mostly going to be about giving kudos to a group of young men in our church who decided that it was time to have a conversation about one of our biggest taboos: sexual immorality among men in the church. Over our LT program last summer, they were involved in a workshop that covered the topic and closely followed the book, Every Man's Battle.

About a month ago, I was approached by John, the student who would lead the effort, to see if I would like to be part of a Friday night event that would bring sexual immorality to light. I said I would love to. Thus began a crafting of what became "Time to Decide", an event that we pulled off last Friday.

Here is a description of the purpose we crafted:

"The Rock will be hosting an event specifically for guys to encourage open conversation on the issue of lust, to become more unified as a church against the issue, and to give us hope in our fight for purity. We want to bring the issue into the light and create an atmosphere of vulnerability and give people other men to talk to about the subject in the church."

As we crowded into the Fellowship Hall at a local church building and finished pizza, there was a feeling of nervousness yet a sense of comfort that I think was a testimony to the safe place for honesty that we try to push in The Rock. The topic of the night was on lust as it relates to pornography and masturbation. We had a series of brief presentations covering: God's standard of sexual purity, motivations for pursuing purity, personal testimonies and practical strategies for fleeing from sexual immorality. We had a time to break into smaller groups and share our personal battles for purity. Finally, I lead a group discussion on placing concrete safeguards to avoid vulnerable situations. I loved it.

Joining these four guys in an effort to begin this conversation in the church was something pretty special to be a part of. Please pray that it does not end there. Lust is the unspoken epidemic among men in the church and it has taken out so many. Pray that our guys would step up and put this sin to death. Pray that they would flee sexual immortality and pursue righteousness.

November Prayer Letter

Check it out if you haven't yet!

Behind the Scenes

The past three weeks, we have been doing a series at The Rock called "Behind the Scenes". Pastor Ed Courtney has lead the series which has gone through the core doctrines of Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. Deacon Garrett Naufel will finish our series while speaking on Adoption this Saturday.

Each week we've had our own little "Behind the Scenes" video, highlighting a certain aspect of The Rock. Thought I would share a couple with you.

Note: These are not to be taken seriously!

Rock Fall Retreat 2010

Did I mention we had our annual Fall Retreat a couple weeks ago? I'm pretty sure I threw that in the last prayer letter. This tradition continues to be one of my favorites that The Rock does. Each year, we venture out to Cedar Crest Camp in Mexico, Missouri for an overnight retreat. We prayed for 130 students to come this year - and they did. We had 134 total, setting a record in attendance. That was reason enough to be thankful!

On Friday, we began the retreat with a giant Thanksgiving-style meal hosted all in the same room. I got to sit and visit with students I didn't know very well, which I always love. After the meal, we have our first session of three in an old chapel that we fill to capacity. Our speaker, Dave Megill, was excellent, speaking right to the heart of our identity in Christ.

After that, we had Canvas Group competitions which included bobbing for apples, a scavenger hunt and a pumpkin carving contest. Oh, I almost forgot, there was also a speed-eating contest involving an entire head of lettuce. Fun stuff.

From there, we spent the rest of the night playing Ultimate Frisbee, sitting by the campfire and playing games.

Saturday involved breakfast, our second session and an hour of personal reflection. Here, students were encouraged to seek the Lord, journal, pray, and read His Word. After having lunch together, we finished the retreat with a third session and baptisms at the pond. Eight people were baptized on Saturday!

The retreat finishes off our Fall Push. From here, we staff help spear-head the shift into building the foundation in relationships that we have initiated thus far. Evangelism continues to be a priority but we are now encouraging our leaders to invest in students who have been coming around, as we start to initiate small groups and individual discipleship. Our canvas group has had over 30 different people join us on any given Thursday Night. We push now to develop unity and deepen the roots of community within these groups. Please be praying for that!

Here are some pictures from the retreat!

Praying with the students who were baptized

Our guest speaker, Dave Megill

Yes, an entire head of lettuce.

Seven to Wheneven

When I pitched this name to the equippers at our meeting, it was mostly a joke. In the past, when canvas groups have began a regular dorm hang-out night, called it "Eight to Late", but "wheneven" isn't even a real word. Maybe they were only humoring me (probably) but they went for it. And, since I write the emails, we have officially begun a weekly night in the dorms that we affectionately call, "Seven to Wheneven."

As my generic picture of MU students will show you, studying is an essential to college life. Something I've learned since I've been a campus missionary is that ministering to students does not equal just inviting them to church but that you have to meet them where they are. As Aimee and I began the year we knew that getting into the dorms on a regular basis had to be something that our group made a priority. In the past, our canvas group has struggled with dorm outreach, so in an effort to change this, we encouraged following up with freshmen who filled out an interest survey and initiated a regular time of getting in the dorms.

Seven to Wheneven is a new thing and thus is still developing an identity. It's a strange mix of a study night and a hang out night. Some nights have been almost stuffy as a dozen people stare at laptops and feel the pressure of the first round of tests. Other nights have been super relaxed as we turn on Monday Night Football, pass out some day-old pastries that Aimee took home from her coffee shop job and enjoy each other's company. We're learning and trying to find the balance of what the night will look like each week. Our purpose is for it to be a common gathering that meets the needs of the students we are reaching out to in the dorms: a regular time for study and fellowship. We'll get there.

So pray for us. Pray that when the unexpected hall meeting shows up we are okay with moving to another close-by study lounge. Pray that we aren't so involved with our laptops and notebooks that we forget to build relationships. Pray that we make it something inevitable. Pray that we continue to get out of our comfort zones as we do our best to reach out to these students. I know God will show us the fruit of our efforts but we must always labor in prayer together.

God bless,

Chris