I can't hold it in

I've hesitated from saying much publicly about something that is "political" in nature, because I know the risk I take in expressing my strong opinions on controversial topics. But you know what, I can't stand being silent anymore, and I hope no matter what you may think of the current health care discussion (yea, nay, don't care, other), you'll hear me out.

Let me go back to a couple of other moments and places in history. England was a society in which slavery was seen as an issue that divided the Church, and the mid-1800's in America, where the same issue ripped our country into a dividing war. There are different types of evil. One type is what you can call 'institutionalized', meaning that it has made its way into the systems of society. And unfortunately, the economy is the primary driving force behind most institutionalized evil. To be clear, slavery, both in England and America was institutionalized evil in both societies. But because of financial factors, it divided many well-meaning Christians. Sadly, many Christ-followers turned their heads to the evil of the basic human right of freedom.

I thank God that some people were willing to put their reputations on the line and stand up against something that was morally wrong and yet legally "right." These people didn't settle in and accept this evil as something we have to live with, they stood up for what was right, and usually at great expense.

Today, it frustrates me to no end to hear believers (and many I have great respect for) merely dismiss moral issues that are conveyed in our society to be political and therefore because of its association with politics and politicians have nothing to do with the issue. Worse yet, are believers that simply accept evil as something that will exist until they leave this world or the end of all things when God makes all things right. But wait...weren't we called to bring healing and the Kingdom of God to this world...not retreat or settle for injustice, especially for the 'least of these'? About a year and a half ago, I spoke to a nationally known ministry leader that was surprised that I had any hope that abortion would one day be overturned in the US. I could tell he thought I was naive to even think this way.

But overturning institutionalized evil isn't unprecedented, as we see from our two examples in America and England on the issue of slavery.

Thank God that in the past many brave men and women didn't settle for slavery being legally right and yet morally wrong. Yes, there are many believers engaged in the process on important issues today, but unfortunately they may not represent the best of us. (on both sides)

What happened yesterday with the passage of the health care bill was morally wrong, not necessarily because of it's supposed connection to a more 'socialistic' approach to the medical care, but because it is most likely may be the biggest proponent of expanded abortion on demand than anything since Roe Vs. Wade. (yes, when you know the details of the bill, that really is the truth)

From judging him on his record, our most pro-abortion executive in history has absolutely no intention of limiting the death of innocent babies. In fact, he is fulfilling his campaign promises to expand abortion rights to unprecedented levels.

No matter what you think of the health care debate, at least agree with me that this bill will contribute to our moral decline simply because of abortion issue and the lives it will destroy.

God give us the courage and clarity as followers of Jesus to stand up against the institutionalized evil of abortion, no matter what political party we may affiliate with.

speaking at Kentwood Community to MS students last night

Wow, how cool it was to be back on stage at our student center at KCC last night speaking to middle school students. They are such a blast, so much energy in the room I love it.

I was able to do what has become my 'regular' teaching on Nehemiah 1 and the comparison of the wall of Jerusalem to schools today. I love watching students wheels turning when they realize that for many of them they are so used to being surrounded by the brokenness of the environment of their school that they've become numb to it. I literally see the revelation of the Holy Spirit on their faces when we begin to discover that the biggest challenge to schools being healed isn't what we typically think of...drugs, gangs, violence, racism, etc.

I believe according to the principle from Scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that the BIGGEST CHALLENGE SCHOOLS FACE IS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WHO DO NOTHING. I'm asking God to raise up a generation of students who will repent for this attitude of blame towards those who are lost and need the Answer instead of realizing that THEY ARE THE SOLUTION!

What's amazing is that students from literally all over the country are responding to this message and hearing God's voice of challenge to do something, that something being prayer! From California to New England, north to south students are going for it.

Last night, when it came time for the commitment, once again the students came through. I asked them to commit to showing up 1x a week for prayer at their school and stand signifying that they would. When it came time for the decision, almost every student stood up. Now I realize some may have stood out of pressure, or out of emotion. But I have to tell you, most students stood without hesitation when it came time, which tells me many of them are serious about.

There was buzz afterwards with students and there has been on Facebook already since last night.

Pray for these students at KCC.

What a privilege to be involved with this work of God from students at my church!

The latest

A lot has happened since we last met here. Life is coming so fast right now that it's hard to remember to sit down and post all that's going on.

On the CYC front...

There are actually too many things to list that have happened, but here are a few highlights.

See You At The Pole and CYC are talking, which is a real good thing. I connected with the national FCA office recently, and they are considering promoting CYC to their network, which would be huge.

Moms In Touch, an organization I connected with while I was in CA, recently promoted CYC to all their state coordinators, and someone passed on an email that went out to their network that promoted CYC. This isn't a small network, they have thousands and thousands of chapters just in the US alone.

I'm currently working on trying to connect CYC with a handful of music festivals this summer before we try and hit all 60 of them next summer of '11.

On the NTS Camp front...

We had our last face to face meeting before this summer in Chicago at our new 'north' site for NTS. There were 15 of us there and there was some serious energy in the room as we talked about this June.

We've added several new churches to the mix, which we are excited about.

Poetice is trying to swing bringing our friend Richmann from Zambia with an orphan choir that will help us in worship a few times each week to celebrate changed lives through Reach4Life.

We celebrate our 10 year anniversary this year of NTS, some cool stuff on tap for that too.

On the Never The Same (non profit) front...

We are working on several funding strategies...keep praying for this. Lots of ideas, not enough time and focus to do them all.

We continue to move forward in partnering with Grey Matter Group, a marketing firm that has a heart for what we are doing.

I'll post this again, but I am wanting to bring together a group of people, particularly passionate about CYC together for a 1x a month prayer time on Saturday nights for an hour of prayer.

Here are the dates:
march 20, april 24, may 15.

I'll remind you later. For those on Facebook, keep an eye open for an invite.


CURRENT PROJECTS:
-"21" 2011 tour/promotion for CYC
-2010 summer internships for CYC
-funding options
-camp planning
-possible west coast NTS Camp for 2011

HOW YOU CAN PRAY:
-funding, we are almost out
-continued partnership with See You At The Pole
-protection for the Eckart family, spiritually and physically

This weekend in NH

I spent the weekend in New Hampshire. (whenever I say the name of the state, I think of Bob Wiley saying "New Hampshire?". If you've seen "What About Bob?" you know what I'm talking about) I spoke at a weekend retreat at Monadnock Camp, right at the base of Monadnock mountain, the most climbed mountain in the United States, and 2nd in the world only to Fiji.

It was a powerful weekend, and God was at work. When speaking I could definitely sense His Spirit at work in an unusual way. I've head a lot of people say that in general New England is a tough place for the church to grow. It has a low church attendance percentage as well as low charitable giving rates in that part of the country. I didn't notice this in the response of the students, although it was a weekend retreat. In fact, about 20 students gave control of their lives to Christ for the very first time, and almost half of them (about 75) committed to show up at their school 1x a week and pray for their school. (the attached video if students praying in groups for their schools as we ended the weekend)

Kelsey wrote on my Facebook page today: "And also. thanks sooooooo much for such an amazing weekend. our youth group at crossway has changed so much for the better and its an amazing thing to see. and as connor said were all soo excited to start a claim your campus group at our school and are very excited. so thanks soooo much for all you done this weekend!"

I met the band SiLOam, a Partridge family type situation, where the parents manage the band made up of their four kids. Wow, their band was amazing, and I really connected with them. They love the idea of CYC, and will be partnering somehow with us to spread the CYC message in their travels. Check them out on MySpace. I'd definitely like to work with them in the future and hope to connect them w/ NTS Camp somehow.

I also met with Foad, the FCA regional director for New England, and we are connecting with the national office of FCA to talk about possibilities.

Hangin with me over the weekend was Rob Reynolds, a former colleague from Kentwood Community Church student ministries. It was great to hang with him. He is heading to New Zealand this August with his family to serve at Cession church. For those of you who know Rob, you'd be comforted to know we spent free time watching dumb videos online:)

A Prophecy about Jeff in 2007

I want to tell you about one of those moments I had that changed my life.

I've told some people about this story. I was reminded of it today as I met with a dear friend and prayer partner. He is always telling me "even a blind man could see that God is behind what you have been called to do." I thought I'd share it with you, to share part of my journey with those of you who have been interested in what God has been doing in my life leading up to now.

Let me set the stage, it was April 2007. Me, Arianna and the girls were with the high school students from Kentwood on a spring break trip in Dallas. Randomly through a mutual friend, we hooked up with a ministry, they gave a presentation about what they were about, and then they split up their team and prayed for our students. John and Tracy Eckert, (close spelling but no cigar) the leaders of the ministry, offered to pray for our family.

So...when this couple got done praying for us, Tracy said something like, "I felt as if God spoke to me two things about you when I was praying." One had to do with our daughter and an area of her giftedness that she felt God had revealed to her. What she mentioned about our daughter matched perfectly with something we've seen in her since she was very young. Keep in mind, she hadn't ever met us until about an hour before.

So that got my attention.

Also, backing up...during this time I was in conversation with another church about an opportunity to minister there, and was feeling a bit up in the air at the time. It was one of the few times in 10 years that I considered leaving KCC.

Then she shared the second thing she felt from God. This blew me away.

She said in effect that within two years God was going to do something through my life that would that would have greater impact than I could ever imagine. I remembered this daily for about a month, but then over time kind of forgot.

This was the first week of April, 2007.

On April 18th, I was invited through a friend to attend a meeting of national youth ministry leaders discussing the future of America as it pertained to youth. So about 10 days after Tracy had felt God was telling her this about me, I was sitting in this meeting in a room with leaders who were (and still are) way out of my leadership league talking about an entire generation of students changing our nation for God. It was during this meeting and afterwards that God began to expand my calling to see an entire generation call out to God for repentance for our nation for it's past sins and for His Hand of favor to bring about a movement of His Spirit across our nation.

Ironically, it was my child hood friend, Matt Lockett, who referred me to this ministry in Dallas, who snuck me in to the meeting in DC, and who helped me start up Claim Your Campus back in 2003. He lived in Denver at the time. Little did we know at the time what would become of this idea we talked about on the phone. Today Matt is the Grand Poobah of Bound4Life, which is changing the face of the pro life movement.

And then, two years later...it was 2009. This was the year God called me out in His timing to take the model of CYC to catalyze students praying across the nation.

Isn't God amaziing?

CYC 2010/2011

I met yesterday with Grey Matter Group, a marketing firm here in GR that has been walking alongside me in this journey and encouraging me. This is an incredible company that does some amazing work. They (like many people God has brought alongside me in the process of this calling) have been instrumental in helping me think through and process the vision and strategy of CYC.

Since coming back from CA, things are much clearer for the direction in rolling out the vision for how God will spread CYC to become what He wants it to become. In a nutshell, 2010 is the foundation year for the movement, and 2011 will be the year it will explosively take off. There is a lot of work to do this year to prepare for 2011.

God is aligning the people and resources in preparing the way. I keep thinking of what can happen when over 1 million students are regularly praying on their campus for their community and our nation. This can change everything.

CYC and CA/Reflections from my trip

I've already had a lot of people asking me, "How was the trip?" I've laid low a couple of days, mainly trying to get back on a different time zone schedule.

In the bigger scheme of things, this trip very well could be a turning point in the CYC movement. God allowed me to met with some pretty powerful and influential people, and it seems at just the right time. I sensed that God had gone ahead of me and prepared the way for these major connections to happen.

More than that, I sense a defining vision that is pretty specific for the movement. I cannot say much publicly that details this as of yet, but I can say that coming back home I know there is a particular direction that CYC is going to take to accomplish the mission of students praying on every campus every day in America. I do feel like I've come down from the mountain so to speak, with the tablets and an even more focused vision. (or maybe I've been paying too much attention to Steve Jobs and the iPad)

I want to thank those of you who have been praying for me, and for my family. We are going through a lot of transition still in our family and I definitely can sense the spiritual attacks of the enemy surrounding us. Please continue to pray for our protection in all aspects of our family. We appreciate this so much.

Wrapping up in CA

I had to post this picture from an art exhibit at Azusa Pacific Univ. Amazing.

Today I wrapped up all my connections w/ people concerning CYC. In the morning I met w/ Josh Griffin, high school pastor at Saddleback. What a great guy. He is pretty pumped about CYC and they'll be looking into implementing it. Josh is a Star Wars freak. I love SW, and am really into it, but Josh is sick. He started and owns TheForce.net, and has written over 30,000 articles about SW. That's right, you read it correctly, 30,000. Woah. (He's also met George Lucas. Jealous)

I met with the chair of the Practical Theology Dept (isn't all theology 'practical'?) at Azusa Pacific University. His name is Dick Pritchard, this guy is impressive. He told a story of faith about God's provision that I'll never forget. If you want to hear it, let me know if you see me. It would take too long to post here, but it's worth hearing. We came up with some pretty exciting ideas connecting Azusa and CYC. Hopefully more to come...

Then I met w/ Mike DeVito (probably no relation to Danny, he's too tall) who is the National Network of Youth Ministries south west regional coordinator. He oversees all of the youth workers in the NNYM's constituents in CA, AZ, HA, and NM. He's going to be taking CYC to all the leaders in these areas, and has a gathering in Las Vegas coming up where he'll promote CYC. He, like everyone else, loves the simplicity of the concept and how it engages churches/ministries/youth workers in local communities to work together for a common purpose.

Heading home tmrw, can't wait to see the ladies in my life.

Today was better than yesterday

I'm posting this late at night PT, so it's crazy late EST. (my time zone back home)

Today was extraordinary. I was able to meet with Fern Nichols, a mom who had a passion to pray for her own kids that has spread to 130 countries and countless thousands of moms who pray for their kids who are in school. Moms In Touch Intl. began through this woman of faith and is one of those ministries that touches soooo many people but you never hear a lot about it in a lot of circles. Thank God for her faith and the faith of moms who faithfully pray for their kids.

Fern was so excited about hearing of CYC that she literally came out of her chair a few times. She said one of the most encouraging things to me when she said "You sitting here today are an answer to our prayers to see a younger generation of intercessors rise up in our country." She prayed for me, and I again was reminded by God that this dream will become a reality.

Then later today I meet with Chuck Klein. This is a guy who's been with Campus Crusade since '69. Wow, that's a long time. Again, I admire his longevity and giving his life to students. He coordinates a coalition of around 50 ministries in what's called Campus Alliance. Campus Alliance is a coalition movement of ministries that seeks to reach every student in America.

The leading team of this coalition met toady and talked about CYC and then I was able to meet personally with Chuck afterwards to discuss a partnership between CYC and Campus Alliance. This is a perfect match and CYC will be heavily promoted as a strategy for student led prayer through the overall mission of Campus Alliance to reach every student in America.

They are updating their web site, and we will be featured on it. When it is updated, I will post it.

BTW, here is the post of Bruce Wilkinson's message from Sunday I was talking about. However, this is strange, the message posted on the web site is the first service, and is totally different from what he talked about 2nd service, the one I attended. What is peculiar about this is that he completely changed what he said for the service I attended. Hmmmmm.....sounds like the Holy Spirit to me.

What happened today with See You At The Pole

Today I went and met with the staff of National Network of Youth Ministry (NNYM) in San Diego. I drove along the coast and realized it was the first time I've seen the ocean the entire time I've been here...from the car. NNYM do a lot of things to connect youth workers all over the country, they also give leadership to See You At The Pole (SYATP).

Doug Clark, director of SYATP, has given direction to the movement since it started back in 1991. I became a full time youth pastor in '93, and have been a regular part of SYATP since. It was honor to meet Doug. I've never really known the people behind the scenes of the movement, but it felt rather historic to me to meet the man behind the curtain. So I felt like I met a hero today when I met Doug. There's something inside me that has great admiration to people who have given their lives for students. I met several of these veterans today around the offices of NNYM.

I had lunch with Doug and Alon Banks, who I've met previously (also on staff at NNYM), and they paid which was nice:) We discussed the history of the SYATP prayer movement and where it's going, as well as the connection between SYATP and CYC. I continued to marvel at the parallels of philosophy that both movements have, and the kindredness I felt with Doug's heart for students praying.

I get the sense that there's a lot more to explore with SYATP and CYC.

After that I was fortunate to be there on their staff meeting day, and had the chance to share the vision of CYC to their staff. There was a visual sense of their excitement and approval for the vision of students praying on every campus across America. I know many of you prayed for this meeting, and I could sense it and God's blessing on it all today. They did a video shoot with me about CYC, and I had coffee with Kevin Boer (also with NNYM), and then made the 2 hour drive back to Fullerton.

Doug had some things to say about CYC, check it out.

updated CA schedule

God has opened some more pretty cool doors for this trip and networking opportunities. My schedule is adjusting daily, but this is what is happening as of now:

Jan
31st
AM/ Fullerton EV Free
PM/ Saddleback service, youth pastor Jason Petty
Feb
1st National Network of Youth Ministry/See You At the Pole
Parkcrest Community Church Youth Staff/Long Beach
2nd
Moms In Touch, Pres Fern Nichols
Campus Alliance, Pres Chuck Klein
Skyline Wesleyan staff
3rd
Saddleback youth pastors Josh Griffin/Kurt Johnston
Azusa Pacific Univ staff
FEBC President/staff
Mike DeVito, South California youth ministry coordinator
EV Free Fullerton youth staff
4th fly home

Pray for these meetings that God will give me favor when it comes to people getting on board for CYC.

Hearing God and meeting Bruce Wilkinson

Today was an extraordinary day. I attended EV Free Church in Fullerton, CA. This was the former home of Chuck Swindoll. My friend and former student, Jeremiah Lauber, is a worship leader there, and is doing a great job. Bruce Wilkinson, made famous by the best selling book "The Prayer of Jabez" was a guest speaker today. I won't be able to describe to you the scene, but I can say that from the moment he took the stage I was spellbound and felt God was speaking directly to me. It was such a powerful experience that I believe it may have been God's primary reason for me being out here in CA.

If they post the message online, I will link it to my blog right away, because I want everyone to hear it. What Wilkinson had to say was anointed by God, that's the best way I know how to describe it. I was in tears the entire message because God was reminding me that what I am doing is His dream, and His timing. I think you would be moved if you hear it.

The path He has taken me on is impossible. I know it CANNOT be done without Him, and I'm reminded of that daily. Financially, we continue to be on the brink of making it week to week. On top of that, God has spoke to me and told me not to ask for money. While I still don't completely understand this, I am trusting God each day to show me what He wants me to do. And I'm trusting that He is going to provide for my family. This issue has been the biggest mountain of faith in my life up to this point.

On a side note, I met with a good friend today, Steve Carter, who used to be youth pastor at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids and is now at Rock Harbor. He asked me, "Do you have any regrets making this move in your life?" I haven't had a one, and I told him that this morning was a reminder that although this road and mission are the most arduous thing I've ever gone through, it is never caused any regret at any moment. I've always been totally convinced that I am directly in the center of what God wants.

As you may know, the mission of Claim Your Campus is for students to be praying every day on every high school and middle school campus in America by 2013. Doing the numbers, if 3 students met at a school to pray, and you factor in 5 days a week multiplied by 67,000 middle and high schools in the US, the grand total of students needed to accomplish the mission of CYC is...1,005,000, just over a million students. It is crystal clear in my mind that Jeff Eckart does not possess the leadership ability to engage ONE MILLION students.

But it's clear, God needs 1 MILLION STUDENTS TO MAKE HIS DREAM A REALITY.

After today, I was reminded that this is God's dream for our nation. It will happen with or without anyone. Deep in my soul I know this is what God wants. It's not my idea, it is His. I didn't ask for this mission, nor did I seek it, God called. Daily I feel the inadequacy of being able to figure this out. Please pray for me.

I talked to Bruce Wilkinson today after the service and briefly shared with him what God has called me to do with CYC. It was an honor to meet him, but way more importantly it was an honor to be on holy ground and hear from God today.

God answered prayer in 10 min

The beginning of the Believe Tour has been phenomenal. Just on the first night we received a LOT of student interest. I stood at the display, and talked to probably 200 students and leaders about CYC.

One particular student's name was Courtney who's in 8th grade. She attends Ladera Ranch Middle. I asked her (as I did many other students) what the biggest issue her school faced. Her answer, MONEY and DRUGS. (keep in mind, she attends a middle school) She said students are so rich at her school that no one cares about anything. I told her about Abraham in Genesis when he asked God if 5 righteous people were in the city, would he spare it, and God said yes.

Then I asked, could you find 5 classmates that cared enough about her school to pray for God to change it. She said she didn't think there were 5 students who cared enough to pray. I doubted her, and asked her to begin to pray about this issue to start with. I could tell she was taking this seriously, and I felt something unique about this conversation.

A few minutes later, she ran up to me with 2 other students and said "these guys go to my school, and they are Christians!" By the end of the night, she had found others as well that went to her school. I challenged the ones I met, and I felt a specific burden to pray for Ladera Ranch. This well off, comfortable student body will be rocked by the power of God at their school if Courtney and these students begin to pray.

I'm hoping to post a video of her today so you can meet her.

The Believe staff are great people. We made a late night run to In N Out Burger, and although I didn't order, I loved hanging out with their team. Johnny Scott, the Believe Director, introduced me to the staff and welcomed CYC. Things are off to a great start!

Update from CA

Arrived today, what a climate adjustment. In Detroit they had to de-ice the plane 2x before we left, and I arrive to sunny CA to see a guy in the lobby of the airport with a fleece hat and coat on. It made me feel at home, but it was hard to understand what this guy was thinking when we dressed himself.

Tmrw the Believe Tour begins, and I'm thrilled to see the response of students and adult volunteers to the CYC concept. Christ In Youth direct this event, and they are a first class ministry. Their team, led by Johnny Scott, are tremendous people and are very strategic in their planning and follow up after their events. It's an honor to work with these guys.

I'm staying with Jeremiah and Brandy Lauber. Jeremiah was a former student in my youth group in Plymouth, IN. He is leading worship at EV Free Fullerton Church. He is a gifted leader and truly a prophet. It was fun catching up today with him. I'm always challenged to hear what he is thinking and learning.

I'll keep you posted tmrw about what is happening on the Believe Tour.

NEEDING YOUR PRAYER

PRAY FOR ME, PRAY FOR THE MOVEMENT OF CYC!

I'll be in CA from Jan 28th -Feb 3rd. God has opened some huge doors for Claim Your Campus.

Beginning this weekend, CYC is being promoted on the Christ In Youth Believe tour . 20,000 jr high students from across the country will be challenged to start a CYC prayer group on their campus, and adult leaders will be encouraged to follow up with them once the event is over.

Check out the dates on the link.

Fri 29th Believe Tour
Sat 30th Believe Tour
Sun 31st
AM: EV Free Fullerton Church (Chuck Swindoll's former church)
PM: Saddleback church service
Feb 1st Azusa Pacific chapel service
National Network of Youth Ministry Director/See You At The Pole National Coordinator
Feb 2nd Moms In Touch President, Campus Alliance President, Skyline Wesleyan
Feb 3rd Southern California Regional Youth Ministry coordinator
Feb 4th back home

God has blessed me with a former student who is allowing me to stay in his house and use his car for the trip. Money is real tight so this is a huge blessing.

Here's how to pray for me:

-for jr hi students and adult volunteers to catch the vision of CYC at the Believe Tour
-for God's strategy with Campus Alliance and See You At The Pole organizations
-for God's favor for all those I meet with to talk about CYC

What is going on lately

CLAIM YOUR CAMPUS
-CYC prayer groups are in over 20 states now! We were represented at 4 events over Christmas break at the Love Mercy Youth Conventions
-CYC is being promoted on the largest jr hi tour/event in the country, Believe. Over 20,000 students will be challenged to leave this event and start CYC groups at their school. Adults are being trained at each event as well. This starts this weekend!
-CYC is in final talks with Campus Alliance, which has a 4 pronged strategy (one is prayer) to reach every campus in America. They are promoting and partnering with CYC and we will be linked to their 40+ affiliate organizations and ministries.
-CYC is strategizing with SEE YOU AT THE POLE to cross-promote one another leading up the the annual prayer gatherings across the country in September.

This is an important week for CYC as the Believe Tour begins, as well as meetings with National Network of Youth Ministry, Campus Alliance, Moms In Touch, and Saddleback church. (home of Rick Warren)

NTS CAMPS
-NTS Camp will celebrate it's 10th anniversary this summer!
-We open our second location this summer in Kankakee, IL at Olivet Nazarene University. 1 week will be at Olivet beginning June 28, and 2 weeks at Houghton on July 12 and 19th.
-many new churches are on board (including Battle Creek First, Joy Lutheran and others) and we expect record attendance
-we are in the process of working with Poetice to bring the Zambian orphan teen choir to help lead worship at our camps this summer
-our camp theme and special guests will be announced on our updated web site very soon, look for a follow up email

NEVER THE SAME
-we achieved official 501c3 status
-we launched our non-profit web site
-supporters can now give easily and securely online at this link

HOW YOU CAN PRAY

-pray for the financial means to make the vision of Never The Same possible
-for jr hi students and adult volunteers to catch the vision of CYC at the Believe Tour
-for God's strategy with Campus Alliance and See You At The Pole organizations

WHERE YOU CAN CONNECT

www.neverthesame.org
email: jeff@neverthesame.org

My Bible Learning Blog

This is the intro to my Bible learning blog.

One of my seminary profs said that one of his profs knew the Bible well enough that if someone mentioned a chapter, he could tell you what is was about. I've always remembered that, and it became my goal. I've wondered of a method to help me achieve this, and I came up with an idea.
There are a lot of 'read through the Bible' type plans, but I couldn't find any to help me achieve this particular goal. So here's what I came up with:
+read the Bible in chronological order
+read 4 chapters a day/5 days a week (20 chapters a week)
+summarize each chapter when reading it
+review (or catch up if needed) on days 6/7
+it will probably take about 30 minutes a day to do this
+read primarily the sections of the Bible that connect historically (basically, everything except most Wisdom LIterature)

With these parameters in mind, I figured I would read 5 days a week, 4 chapters a day 50 out of 52 weeks in 2010. Doing the math, this figures to be 1,000 chapters. For you Bible scholars, there are 1,189 chapters in the Old and New Testament. If you subtract Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Solomon it comes out at exactly 1,000 chapters.

So this is what I've decided to do in 2010 as somewhat of a new year's resolution. Forgive me, I'm still an optimist at heart and believe in new year's resolutions. (last year I went without soda for a year along with 2 of my daughters, so I know they work) I've found for me, and I think for most people, the key to keeping a commitment is a supportive/accountable community of people doing the same thing.

So, this is why I've started this blog. It will be simple, and it will be a method of accountability for me and hopefully for you too. Therefore I encourage you to not only consider doing this for yourself but also asking others you know to join you on the journey.

I'll be posting the reading schedule in the next few days. Easy enough, you can get started right at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1 starting Monday, January 4th.

Feel free to post your ideas and comments along the way.

Welcome

It's been a long time coming. I've needed to set up something for people interested to be able to track what is going on in my life, as well as the mission I've been given. Well this is it. I hope you decide to follow this blog (subscribe to the right) and stay up to date on what's happening.

So much is going on, with things changing and developing almost every day. I'll keep you up to date on what God is doing.

In a nutshell, I want to make sure people are hearing what God is doing regarding two movements: Claim Your Campus (CYC) and NTS Camp.

CYC a student movement of prayer that is sweeping across the nation. As of right now, CYC prayer groups are in 20 states and moving quickly.

This week, CYC is on tour with Believe, a jr hi student event that is touring across the US. Check out the link that has the dates and locations.

NTS Camp branches out this summer for an additional week and location. Our theme will be unveiled this upcoming week on our web site.

Thanks for reading, and most of all, praying!

Please leave comments so I know people are reading and knowing what's happening.