a letter to our freshmen

Dear freshmen,

Now that the school year is underway, I'm sure you're enjoying your newfound freedom and independence as an official college student [for those of you who are going to school]!  Those really were the good ol' days, when you could schedule your classes to sleep in and wake up naturally and alarm-clock-less, when you could stop by the cafeteria and there would always be a nice hot meal waiting for you, and when you could go straight to class without shaving, brushing your teeth, or combing your hair and still be in your pajamas and it's not a big deal... yes, those were the good ol' days.  Carpe Diem dear freshmen.  Suck every ounce of life out of your college experience while it is still called today. 

Anyways, as you embark on this exciting and potentially life-changing season of your life, let me give you three small nuggets of advice –

proverbs 31:28

Usually this blog will be about the college ministry of GVBC, but today, in honor of my 5 year anniversary with Michelle [which was actually 7 months ago in February, and sad to say, we didn't do anything because Ella was just a wee baby] I decided that I want to make a post that honors my wife.

I can't get this song out of my head.

Chris

dodgeball & jesus

You ever have one of those days when you just feel out of it and even though there’s nothing in particular that’s bothering you, it’s just a little bit of everything that grinds away at you to the point that you just want the day to be over?  Well, today was one of those days for me.

I had a lot going on in my heart and in my mind, and even in college group tonight, there was just something that was distracting me from being fully engaged in the message and in worship [I know, I know... I'm the pastor but hear me out].  I found that at many moments throughout the day, I just had to keep giving to God whatever it was that arose to the surface of my heart and mind and it was just a constant thing, you know?

what is EPIC?

People who visit EPIC, or even those who’ve been coming to EPIC for a long time, often ask the question, “What is EPIC?  What does the name of our college ministry mean?” 

Let me answer that question by telling you about one of my favorite childhood video games “Pitfall!”. 

this blog is dedicated to YOU

I just finished a book by Chuck Bomar called, College Ministry From Scratch, and in it he talks about the perception of a successful college ministry most often being numerical growth and the recognition from people who think it’s great to see “this many college-age people connected to our church”.  I understand what he’s saying on a personal level.  People in the church and even students in the college group [and myself included on occasion], oftentimes equate numbers, or lack thereof, with success or failure in ministry. 

Chuck goes on to say that even though he was doing well in the numbers department, the students in his ministry were not really connected to the church at all.  They were connected to the ministry as the college group became almost like “a parachurch organization that happened to meet on a church campus”.  So would this still be considered a successful college ministry?