The fearless website - www.thefearlessbook.com - gives a good description of the book:

"Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.

They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison of unlocked doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out?

Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, or doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, where you could trust more and fear less.

Can you imagine your life without fear?"

 Mr. Lucado is a fount of wonderful anecdotes that describe whatever is going on.  From the spiritual life of Woody Allen to the time he personally got to ride in a fighter jet, this book gives some great examples of common fears we all face every day.  Of course, you haven’t ridden in a fighter jet, but you have been in a situation where things seem like they’re going out of control, but in reality there is someone who knows exactly what’s going on leading the way.  Check out Matthew 14 where the disciples are on the boat and Jesus is sleeping.  

 One thing that I have noticed about the way that Mr. Lucado writes is that it is very easy to read, but it never seems to hit the same super deep spiritual notes that some other authors I’ve read have hit.  Not that this is bad – often times it’s the simple truths that change us the most.  And this book is packed full of them.  Each chapter gives some practical advice on how to deal with the different fears we may come across during our lives.  In times such as these, when the world is freaking out about everything, this book does a great job of giving some perspective on an otherwise chaotic world.

 Should you read it?  Sure.  It’s good.  My biggest gripe is the price, but that can be allayed in a multitude of ways.  More importantly, be sure to pay attention as you read it, as it would be a waste of good time to read something this good and not remember any of it, kind of like getting a t-bone steak at a McDonalds drive thru.  It’s just wouldn’t be right.

-K 

This morning, while checking out Twitter, a tweet by @CampusMinGuy caught my eye – "Characteristics of College Ministry,"  based on an article written by @bensonhines.  I clicked the link, and just finished reading through the article.  WOW, I wish I’d had a copy of this with me yesterday.  It does one heck of a job of explaining what I couldn’t get into words.  Here is an exerpt -

The practice of college ministry is far more like Missions than like Christian Education.

So ministering to a college campus is in many ways more like Missions in Mozambique than it is even like Youth Ministry.

The more I work with college students, the more I think this is true.  Go to http://bit.ly/JfPEY for the full article.  Or just track me down on campus, I’ll have a copy with me today, just in case….

 -Kevin

Last year, my college had a big
end-of-the-year party with a hypnotist, vendors, bands, food, and
games. One of the vendors was a Christian clothing company, and their
booth was set up right next to my Campus Crusade group’s table, so, at
some point during the day, a friend and I wandered over to their table.
The guy who owned the company was a young, seemingly cool guy with
tattoos and a backwards hat – the kind of guy who looks just alt rock
enough to be “Seeker friendly.”

So my friend and I started talking to the guy while we looked at some
of the tee shirts he was selling. We had been visiting with him for a
few minutes when my friend picked up one of the shirts, a black tee
with a screen print of a gas mask on the front and a logo on the back,
and asked the guy what the gas mask symbolized.

“I kind of had the idea of how, like, Jesus is like a gas mask that we
put on to filter out all of the crap that’s in the world,” he explained.

Personally, I was shocked. Not because Gas Mask guy is anyone special,
and certainly not because his view is unique or different. I was
shocked only because of the absolutely ordinary opinion he held. It’s
an opinion of Jesus that we all run into, and some of us hold, for
better or for worse.

I kind of feel sorry for the Gas Mask guy. For me, it seems as if his
Jesus is awfully small. It seems to me that if all Jesus is good for is
just to be our gas mask, then Jesus isn’t really worth very much.

And yet Gas Mask guy can probably back up his position with verses. And
let’s face it, Gas Mask guy isn’t all wrong, he’s just missing huge
chunks of the story. And, really, it seems to me like he’s really
missing out on what makes Jesus so great – The fact that, in
encountering the risen Christ, we begin a journey on a path of becoming
one with Jesus. It seems to me like he’s too busy worrying about heaven
and hell and the evil in the world to see the underlying beauty of the
whole thing – the fact that it’s really not about heaven or hell at
all; instead it’s about God coming into the world to reunite us to Him.

I guess I really feel sorry for Gas Mask guy because it seems to me
like he’s just trying to escape the world. Like Jesus is just there to
protect him from the world while he’s here and to be his ticket into
heaven when he needs to get there.

For me, when Jesus says in John’s gospel that he is the Way, he doesn’t
mean that he’s our ticket into heaven. For me, he’s saying that he is
so much more than just a gas mask to put on. He’s so much more than
just a bridge to walk over on my way to heaven. He’s so much more than
just a means to health and wealth. Jesus is the Way. His teachings and
his life create a Way, a path in which to walk, and a guiding companion
for that path. But even more than that, Jesus is God. Jesus is the God
who was willing to come down into a broken mess in order to restore
that mess back to the way God intended.

And so I think that’s really the problem with Gas Mask guy’s idea of
Jesus. He’s got Jesus, but it’s Jesus by the numbers. And that’s one
thing that God always has tried to keep us away from. I feel like God’s
real message for us, the message of the Gospel, is that religious pills
don’t work. That God wants something other than right theology or
religious practices or sacrifices or being moral. God wants to love us,
and for us to love him back. God wants to reunite creation with
Himself, and, ultimately, I think that’s what Gas Mask Guy is really
missing out on – God’s mission of reunifying everything to Him.

The last day at Glorieta is always a sad one.  People start petering out early and heading home, and Glorieta just feels smaller.  I’ll have my last coke tonight, the last one for fifty-one weeks until I return.  We go back to life and work and preparation and meetings and bills and mortgages and leases and everything, and we hope that we can bring some of what we experienced here back with us.

That’s one of the reasons I took so many pictures (you can see them here, hopefully), with many more to come as I collect from everyone. These are memory triggers for those that attend, which helps us to remember.

Bobcat Bite’s is amazing.  The green chili cheeseburger is like nothing else I’ve ever eaten.  It’s as close to magic as I’ve ever encountered, but like the amazing Coca-cola here, it too must wait another 51 or so weeks before I can enjoy it again. 

In reflection, this year was odd.  All of the wives stayed at home (at least from our group).  Bobby Pruett wasn’t there to make everyone smile.  Joe Ricks wasn’t there.  Neither was Max Barnett, due to his recovery from surgery.  And again, it rained in Glorieta on Cerena Melazzo’s birthday – thanks Cerena. 

I hope I can bring back what I’ve learned and apply it to the new events that we’re starting up this semester.  I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information I received and need to use.   God willing, I can at least put a portion of it to use, and I hope that the students that attended this year can do the same.  If we do even just a small bit of what we learned, there is no way that Mesa State College, or Grand Junction, or even the World as we know it could be the same.  I hope and pray that we can start to make more of an impact, that we can increase our volume and velocity enough that we can see the wheels of change turn in our community.  I hope….

David Platt – Day 6 – The Four Facets of Jesus’ Unique Compassion (that we should learn) 

1. See their sighs

1. The crowds and multitudes were harassed and helpless
2. Many of them rejected Him

For more information check out David Platt’s website – www.brookhills.org.

Today was a good day.  Michael Kelley spoke on Jesus and Lazarus.  We lost in the 3-on-3 basketball tourniment, but not due to the lack of trying of any of our players.  We tried to make a trip to Bobcat Bite’s, but it was incredibly busy, so we had to reschedule until tomorrow.

I attended a seminar on Social Justice in the church… I learned a lot of good stuff, but I have to hold off until I can post it all at the right time. 

David Platt – How will we respond when disaster strikes? – Luke 13

1. Natural disasters remind us death is unpredictable

1. Death will probably be sudden
2. Death is surprising
3. Death is sure

1. Life is fleeting, and people are perishing. – Romans 5

Day 4 was a trip into Santa Fe – we ate at La Fonda’s all you can eat Mexican buffet, then went wandering town.  We took a great look around the Five and Dime, as well as the famous Chuck Jones Museum, which were both great.  There are photos on my facebook page. 

 Next we went to the St. Francis Bascilica, one of the largest catholic church cathedrals in the southwest USA.  St. Francis of Assisi was a pretty cool guy.  Aside from being a great monk, he wrote a lot of things, one of which is one of my favorite quotes: "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."  A pretty great guy, and a really cool church.

That evening, we attended David Platt’s Secret Church.  There we had a long, intense time of teaching, much the way that the underground church in China has to train it’s pastors, secretly, in hiding.  Check out www.SecretChurch.org for more information, along with a ton of downloadable stuff, including all of the teachings in mp3 format.

Day 0 

I really don’t like being a passenger.  It’s hard for me to let someone else drive the car, especially over winding, dangerous mountain passes.  Lucky for me, Katie Cupp was an awesome driver.  We made it quickly and safely, with a minor adventure (we watched a hit and run driver get caught by the police.)  We arrived early and easily, and promptly found that no one else was there, so we went to the chuck wagon for some amazing Glorieta coke.  Then dinner, then we had the first evening meeting, where we first saw the awesome band Pearl Merchant and heard Michael Kelley.

Michael is a great speaker, and really challenged us with a great opening night talk, all of which I can’t remember right now, but I will update when I can borrow someone’s notes to copy down.

Day 1

I cooked some amazing pancakes for breakfast, then we were all off to hear Pearl Merchant again and listen to Michael speak.  (Notes coming forthwith)

I had the opportunity to visit a seminar entitled "Soul Work and Sabbath Rhythms" that was all about how important it is to take a day to not work.  The Sabbath isn’t about us being bored all day, or about going to church and not watching football, it’s about God giving us a gift that we can use to recharge.  It was good, and I will upload some scans of the notes soon.

David Platt – Four Pictures of Jesus (Luke 9:51-62)

1. Jesus is the Savior of our souls.  (Luke 9:51)

1. Jesus sets off toward Jerusalem to die for our sins.

1. Jesus is the goal, not everything else
2. Do you want Christ?

1. Not stuff from Christ!
2. "All stuff is rubbish."  ~Paul (my  translation)

1. Christianity is a radical transfer of loyalty

1. Your plans are nothing, compared to proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
2. When you are changed by Jesus, you no longer get to choose your path in life.

1. It is He that we desire and love more than any others.

I’m a day and a half late, and much longer than that since we have updated the website, but I am here and just put together two and two to think, "This place has Wi-Fi in every room.  Almost all of the people attending has a laptop."  SO… I’m going to try to keep a running set of posts as I buzz around, flitting among the Chuckwagon Cafe and various seminars, and I’m going to do my best to encourage others from MSC to do the same.  I hope anyone who may catch this will enjoy it – and to those who read this later, may it serve as a training tool and reminder of the amazing ways that God works here at student week.

 
-Kevin 

Facebook.  It really is an amazing thing.  I’m really not that into it, and yet I check it every day.  I don’t have that many friends on there (like 40 or so) but I love to see what they’re up to, what applications they’ve added, what events they’re attending, and what’s going up on their walls.  I can download music, and I can watch videos there.

 
But Facebook has much more possibility than this, especially within the context of Christian Challenge.  We have a Christian Challenge MSC group, and that’s a good start.  However, we have 7 members, and I know for sure we have 15 or so regulars to attend on Thursday nights, plus everyone else we have contact with during the week.  Even if we have a 15% luddite (non-technology, like Z) percentage, that’s still 20 people or so who know how to use a computer. 

Now, imagine if we all used this online application and were all friends.  It’d be an instant infusion into community.  We’d know each other’s birthdays (and if we forget, Facebook tells you), favorite things, and hometowns, as well as be able to keep in contact with each other via messages and walls.  We could give each other silly gifts for no reason at all.  It’d be a great community.

In reality, Facebook is a high-tech band-aid for a deeper problem college students have.  Since they can’t find community elsewhere, they find it online.  Even within our own group. we find difficulty in creating that community that draws people.  I know for a fact that Jesus didn’t have Facebook to help him.  But He
knew his friends, and they knew Him.  His followers lavished Him with
gift.  He lived in community.  

If Facebook is the tool we need to develop a community at ChallengeMSC, I say use it.  If anyone has a better idea that will work, I say use it. 

 I know there are some tea afficianados that read this, so here is the cream of the crop tea in the world – Monkey Picked Tea.  Hand picked by trained monkeys in a small village in a remote mountainous area of China, this tea is supposed to be some of the best (and most expensive) in the world.

 When I read this, I thought about Genesis 1:28-31 (click to read it).  God said for man to rule over the animals, and gave the plants to the animals.  So what do these people do?  Train the animals (which they have dominion over) to collect plants (which the animals have dominion over) and drink the results!  Shoot-dang! I love it when people around the world figure out what God gave us to do so long ago. 

It’s almost as cool as the Kopi Luwak coffee, though not as, um…. craptastic.