Recap

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us this week!
Monday night turned out quite well.

At 6:30pm we had a Albanian style dinner with missionary Mark Orfila with some of our Chi Alpha group. Mark shared some stories from his time on the field, and we prayed for him and his family. more pictures

At 8:00pm we welcomed the Tulane community to our counterpoint to Ann Coulter. Typical to Tulane, the response was small. However, Mark's talk, and the subsequent Q & A time was definitely beneficial to our students, and the handful of guests.

The Good News about Jesus was shared, and Mark presented a coherent Christian response to religious hatred, and the trend of tolerance. I hope we can build on this, as our students gain boldness to speak up for the love and truth of God, and as we search out creative ways to share the Good News to wider audiences.

Also, last night I was a part of a panel discussion hosted by the GLBT Caucus of the Tulane College Democrats. I'm not sure why they chose to invite Jen and/or I to represent the Christian Perspective on homesexuality and gay rights in America, but I, with a bit of fear and trembling, accepted the invitation. All in all, the discussion went pretty well. Two of the other panelists (a Reformed Jewish rabbi, and a young Philosophy & Ethics professor) were not particularly happy with my answers to questions about the morality of homosexual behavior, but otherwise the students asked me several questions, and gave my dissenting opinion a fair hearing. I only hope my demeanor, and the bits of God's Truth I was able to share were a small glimmer of light.

Finally, our last monthly Gathering of the Fall semester is next week. Please continue to pray for us and our students!

Ann Coulter Visits Tulane, and Chi Alpha Responds

Follow the News regarding ultra-conservative political pundit, Ann Coulter's recent visit (this past Monday, the 22nd) to Tulane:

Tulane Hullabaloo 12 Oct 07

Tulane Hullabaloo 19 Oct 07

Letter to Hullabaloo Editor 19 Oct 07 #1

Letter to Hullabaloo Editor 19 Oct 07 #2

Tulane New Wave 24 Oct 07

I was present at the event with some of Tulane's Student Affairs faculty and staff to attempt some level of crowd control. I tried to keep my area somewhat subdued, but the whole event really turned into a circus as Coulter's loaded arguments continually received jeers, rude gestures, and more from a mostly antagonistic audience.

I left the event heavy-hearted as so many students I have been called to share the love and message of Jesus with left with angry, bitter hearts, hardened in their preconceptions about Christians, God, etc... as Coulter regularly identifies herself as a Christian, and the majority of America's evangelicals are heavily associated with political conservatism.

However, I believe God has set us up for a great opportunity of response, and our Tulane students agree. Before we knew of this visit by Ann Coulter, and it's association with what is called Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week we had invited missionary Mark Orfila to come visit our students to share about his experiences ministering among Islamic Albanians in the Balkans on the 29th of October. Mark has an amazing heart of love for Muslims to the point of literally turning the other cheek when he was beaten for his work sharing the message of Jesus!

Mark has agreed to change our planned prayer time into an outreach for dialogue at Tulane. Please pray for us!

As part of the publicity for this event (not much time to get the word out), I have submitted the following letter to the editor of the Tulane Hullabaloo (student newspaper) this afternoon:

One of the most difficult statements Jesus of Nazareth ever made was, “Love your enemies.” Many people throughout history, and around the globe today have made a practice of self-identifying with Jesus as a Christian while routinely neglecting his more difficult teachings. Ms. Ann Coulter is one of those millions. While I cannot speak for the reality of her religious persuasion and faith, I am confident in the assertion that her recent visit and talk at Tulane completely failed to reflect the ethic of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers…Blessed are the meek…Turn the other cheek…Walk an extra mile…” Even as all people fall short of the ultimate expression of Jesus’ teachings, I think it very unfortunate if anyone at Tulane were to take Coulter’s attitudes and beliefs as generally representative of Tulane’s Christian population. Ms. Coulter refuses to give a legitimate hearing to those she disagrees with, and makes her money by belittling opposing people and views. Despite the rather juvenile response of the crowd this past Monday at McAlister Auditorium, I believe we can all be bigger than that. As a leader of one of the Christian communities here are Tulane, I would like to invite the Tulane community to an honest dialogue regarding such difficult issues as cultural and economic imperialism, terrorism and religiously motivated violence in general, tolerance and hatred, and Christian evangelistic work. These are not easy topics, but if we are to be the best people we can be, we must address difficult issues with more than a jeer, a prejudgment, or an apathetic wave of the hand. I also hope Tulane Christians can have the opportunity to graciously present their beliefs, and the ethic they embrace as followers of Jesus of Nazareth. As one step in that direction, I invite the Tulane community to join us this coming Monday, the 29th, in the 1834 Room/Faculty-Staff Dining room in the LBC (#215) at 8pm for a talk and dialogue with a Christian worker who has lived with the Islamic Albanian people in the Balkans for the past decade: When Cultures Clash: Hatred vs. Tolerance… or is there another Way – a counterpoint to Ann Coulter. For the sake of space and real dialogue, only the first 60 guests will be admitted.

news from the Ivy Jungle

Tuition Inflation: Most of us feel like we already pay a lot at the gas pump, but if the cost of gas had increased at the same rate as college tuition over the last 25 years, it would now cost $9.15 a gallon. By the same comparison, a gallon of milk would cost more than $15. (AP October 14, 2007)

Nano-riffic

So, I've gotten myself an iPod... I've wanted one for all kinds of silly and vain reasons for quite some time, but I finally put together some good reasons, and so I got one. I got the new Nano, which has video capabilities. However, I primarily got it because I can plug in this little device to the Nano, and another device to my Nike running shoes, and it tells me how far I've gone, how fast I'm going... all kinds of cool stuff! And the nifty part is, I actually run faster when I use it :)

Also, I get to listen to good stuff while I'm running. I've been listening to lots of sermons so far, as I do not yet have an mp3 version of the Bible (can we say Christmas list). I've listened to several messages from Mars Hill Bible Church in my home town of Grand Rapids, MI, a few from Dr. Earl Creps, and now a few from East Coast Chi Alpha: 1 from Mike Godzwa, and a couple by Shawn Galyen - soon to be missionary to Spain.

One thing Shawn said, has struck me, and really rung true: People who seek to follow Jesus will suffer on their career path, absolutely.

Those who put Christ first in their work will live and work with different priorities, and different character than the world around them: sometimes that may give them reward and respect, other times it may give them ridicule, or set them back in the line for promotions, or even make enemies for them.

In America today, we do not face bodily harm for our life of faith, but persecutions will come. The New Testament makes that a guarantee. (Mark 10:30; 2 Timothy 3:12)

Fall Breakaway

This weekend, we are taking more than 30 New Orleans students to Louisiana Chi Alpha's annual Fall Breakaway. This weekend retreat is something we look forward to every fall, as God does such amazing things there: building life-long friendships, drawing students into salvation life, filling students with the power of the Holy Spirit...

Please keep us in prayer this weekend: safe travel, and God's will.

This group is twice the size of any group we've brought in the past!

a great resource

One of our students has been reading the book Metamorpha by Kyle Strobel. The subtitle is Jesus as a Way of Life. I was curious in the book, as I had just recently finished another book by one of my favorite authors, Eugene Peterson, called The Jesus Way. And, I am very interested in what is often called spiritual theology, spiritual formation, and looking at the Christian life as a journey rather than a destination.

Well, the book is pretty good. If you really want to just read a book in this line, I recommend Eugene Peterson, and the spiritual theology series he is working on: Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eat this Book, and The Jesus Way, with two more on the way.

However, Metamorpha has become an online hub of resources for spiritual formation: www.metamorpha.com and there is an excellent guide for discussion to be used in 1:1 mentoring or in small group settings at the book's website www.jesusasawayoflife.com and it is tied in with the resources at the other site.



If you are interested in growing in Christ, and/or helping others do the same, and are ready to do more than simply teach information, take a look at this book and the websites. It's a great, so far, entry-level spiritual theology/spiritual formation book.