Tag: Ministry

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A “Golden” Opportunity

Helping out our Cru Military ministry at the FamilyLife Conference in Anaheim

Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about marriage. In November, Jen and I attended a Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference hosted by FamilyLife. It was excellent. If you haven’t been to one, we highly recommend it.

In February, Jen and I helped out at a Weekend to Remember Conference in Anaheim. There were a number of military couples attending and our Cru Military ministry had a special booth and specific resources to help military families navigate the unique marital struggles they encounter.

In February, our church embarked on a 3 year plan that will lay the foundation for the next 45 years. One of the initiatives that is laid out as part of the “Dream Now” vision is strengthening families. A statistic that was shared is that 70% of all marriages in Orange County end in divorce.

We know all too well how the breakdown of the family has impacted the Young Adults of today. The landscape of families has encountered a seismic shift in the last 40-50 years.

An often quoted statistic about the spiritual influence men have with their family

When I was a kid, I didn’t know anyone whose parents were divorced. Today, divorce is so common that it’s almost strange to meet a Young Adult whose parents are still together.

All of this has created some unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to ministry.

Young Adults are less likely to have a strong extended family to rely on for support, whether it’s emotional or financial.

Because the nuclear family has been so fractured over the past 50 years, many Young Adults are longing for older adults who can provide mentoring and sage life advice that older family members have traditionally provided. I can’t tell you how often a Young Adult has mentioned to me or to Jen that they have nobody in their life who is older with whom they can discuss life issues.

For the last few years, I’ve been very involved in men’s ministry at our church (Jen is also very involved in the women’s ministry). I do some occasional teaching and I give leadership to a group of men who meet early on a weekly basis.

I’ve enjoyed applying all of the ministry training and experience I’ve accrued over the years to help older guys grow in their spiritual lives.

As I’ve connected with men over the years, I’ve realized that spiritually speaking, old guys have the same needs as young guys. Men want to make a difference and they want their lives to count. Men often want to take steps to grow spiritually but many times, they don’t know what to do beyond attending church, giving money and being involved in a small group.

Lately, we’ve been wondering if we can somehow “marry” our day job (Young Adults) with our part-time ministry to older adults.

Young Adults overwhelmingly indicate they want older people in their lives to function as mentors and even spiritual guides.

Older adults often communicate a strong desire to make an impact in others, particularly the younger generation.

Partnering with Cru Military at a Family Life Conference. Multiple ministries collaborating and intersecting.

What if we could help older Christians take steps to mentor and influence the young adults around them?

We’ve actually had this idea for a while but it’s been brought to the forefront more recently as God has provided numerous situations and personal examples that have made this need obvious and undeniable.

Our vision is not just to mentor Young Adults directly, though we are doing that. What we really want to do is to multiply our impact by equipping others, particularly older, wiser and more mature believers to take steps to pour into and impact Young adults. We believe that there is a golden opportunity for those who are entering their golden years!

Perhaps that sounds interesting. If so, let us know. We’d love to hear your thoughts and provide support and help for you to take meaningful steps that would enable you to make an impact in the lives of others!

Thank you for your continued prayers and partnership that enables us to minister to Young Adults…and Old Adults as well!

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A Divine “Coincidence”

A few months ago, I approached one of the pastors at my church about meeting to discuss a personal matter. We had met many times before over lunch and coffee to talk about men’s ministry, which he helps to oversee, but since this was a personal issue, I suggested we meet at the church office.

When I arrived at the office, he escorted me upstairs and into a conference room, which I had never been in.

I made a remark about how I liked the glass plates on the wall that functioned as dry erase boards and even the conference table had the same glass plates with notes and ideas from a previous meeting scrawled on its surface.

In response, my pastor shared how, just prior to our meeting, he had been in that conference room brainstorming with a Young Adult about men’s discipleship within the Young Adult ministry.

My antenna immediately perked up. Did he say “Young Adult ministry?”

If you’ve followed our ministry with Young Adults for the past 10 years, you probably know about the challenges we’ve experienced in ministering to this audience.

Young Adults are the largest population group in America, and yet, they are the least churched. There are a number of reasons why Young Adults are not active in church, some of which I’ve outlined in previous blog posts. To learn more, check out some of our prior newsletters and blog posts:

Young Adults are leaving the church in droves and most churches simply do not minister well to this demographic.

For the past several years, I’ve talked to a number of pastors at our church, wondering where the Young adults are at and whether Saddleback church has a ministry dedicated to this specific audience.

The response was always the same. The pastor was unaware of any specific Young Adult ministry, but maybe if I talked to “so-and-so”, they might know.

I learned more than I wanted to about the history of Young Adult ministry at Saddleback – how it had once been a thriving ministry but was not currently active. 

So when my pastor friend casually mentioned that he had just had a meeting with a Young adult about the Young adult ministry, I was naturally curious.

Before diving into the issue which I wanted to discuss, I asked him some questions about the meeting he had. He knows that I work with Cru and that our ministry focus is Young Adults so I asked him if he would connect me with the young man with whom he had just met. 

He agreed to reach out to the person and see if they would be willing to connect with me. He sent a quick text before we moved on to talking about my personal issue.

When our time was ending, he noticed that the Young adult had already texted him back and said that he would definitely be interested in meeting. So I got his contact information and I sent him an email later that afternoon.

A few days later, Logan got back with me and we arranged to meet up for breakfast.

Logan and I at a local eatery!

When we met, I asked Logan a few questions to get to know him better. I learned that he grew up really close to me and he had recently graduated from Cal Baptist University. 

I was curious where Logan went to high school. It turns out, he went to the same high school as our boys.

I asked him what year he graduated and I learned that he graduated the same year my boys graduated.

I told him I had twin boys who went to his high school and I wondered if he knew them.

That’s when the light bulb went off.

He said, “Wait! Your last name is Lowe? I know your boys. We were in the same Life group together in high school. I didn’t make that connection when you reached out to me.”

Logan is on staff with Saddleback, serving at the Brea campus. But he also helps to lead the fledgling Young Adult ministry that started up last year.

As I shared with Logan our vision for Young Adults and the resources we provide, particularly in helping Young Adults grow and mature in their leadership and their ability to become multiplying disciples, I could see his eyes light up.

I’m constantly amazed at how God works to orchestrate opportunities and open doors. In all the times I initiated with various pastors at our church to inquire about Young Adult ministry, it went nowhere. Then when I initiated to talk about something completely unrelated to Young adult ministry, the door suddenly and unexpectedly opened to connect with a key Young adult leader.

I’m not sure where this might lead but we’re excited about the potential of mentoring and coaching these young leaders who are working to create a community where Young Adults can thrive spiritually and live with purpose.

Our vision is not just to coach and mentor Young Adults, but to coach and mentor others, whether Young Adults or older adults, who can help to lead and mentor Young adults in church communities everywhere.

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The Nashville Redemption

It was the spring of 2014 and Jen and I were just entering a new phase of ministry. After 25 years with college students as our primary focus, we made a pivot to reach Millennials, the largest age group in our culture, but the least churched.

Our first time in Nashville (2014) included the Q conference. We only got half of the first day in before Jen ended up in the hospital. A highlight of that session was an interview with Carrie Underwood and her husband, NHL Hockey player Mike Fisher.

We flew to Nashville to spend some time with about a dozen other Cru staff members who were also committed to reaching this underserved audience. On the heels of our staff time, we were slated to attend the Q conference (led by Gabe Lyons – now rebranded as ThinQ Media) and we were looking forward to meeting with one of our former students from our time at the University of Arizona who had transplanted his family to the Nashville area.

On the first day of that conference, Jen experienced some chest pains that ultimately landed her at Vanderbilt hospital. 

I wrote about that experience in our April 2014 newsletter, which you can access here (bit.ly/LWDN0414).

We left Nashville feeling grateful that we had dodged a bullet. When we arrived at the hospital we didn’t know what was going on. We were relieved when the doctors told us that they thought Jen had walking pneumonia and gave her antibiotics to help clear up any infection. 

Cru Embark staff enjoying good BBQ in downtown Nashville

It turned out though that that diagnosis was wrong, and this was just the first phase of a medical journey we entered, and are still in. 

Thankfully, we know a lot more about Jen’s condition, vasculitis, which is currently in remission.

This last fall, I had the opportunity to return to Nashville for the first time since that ordeal. Jen was not able to make this trip due to a conflict with her class schedule.

Once again, a fledgling group of Cru staff met to discuss and dream about reaching the under-served audience that is Young Adults.

It was great being back in Nashville and experiencing a bit of the culture, including good BBQ and some great music from talented artists.

We were treated to a small intimate, unplugged acoustic set from American Idol season 8 winner, Kris Allen
Me with Kris Allen – American Idol Season 8 winner

We were surprised by one of our Cru staff who lives and ministers in Nashville and happens to live just around the corner from Kris Allen (of American Idol Fame) who did an acoustic set for us on our colleague’s back porch! That feels very Nashville-y!

Meeting up with my friend Mark, a former student from way back during our University of Arizona days. This meet-up was 10 years overdue!

As much as I enjoyed connecting with our staff and revisiting and renewing my vision for Young Adults, the highlight of my trip was my time after the conference. 

I decided to delay my return so that I might meet with my friend Mark, the former student we had to cancel on 10 years earlier.

In addition, another friend from our church in South Orange County had moved his family to Nashville 4 years ago and my trip provided an opportunity to connect with him as well.

I was able to connect with a friend (Rob) from our church in SoCal who moved his family to the Nashville area a few years ago

It was great to pray together and have extended time to connect on a deeper level and hear how God is moving and working in the lives of these two families. 

As I reflected back on my time in Nashville, I realized that the number of Cru staff who are reaching Young Adults is still rather small.

What really stood out to me though is that the make-up of the staff in attendance was different. I was the only person at these recent meetings who had been at the Nashville meeting 10 years ago. That is often the nature of ministry. People often come and go and move on to other opportunities and other callings. For us, at this time, Young Adults remains our calling.

We are grateful for your investment and commitment to us!

 

To read the pdf version of our newsletter, click here.

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I Know a Guy

Have you ever asked for a recommendation for something, like an electrician, a mechanic, an accountant or something else, only to get a response from a friend who says, “I know a guy.” Perhaps you’re the one who knows a guy and have recommended someone’s services to someone else.

Recently, I was meeting with my friend Vince, a Young Professional who shared a funny story. 

Vince is a Young Professional who is pursuing his passion to help teenagers succeed academically via his own tutoring business (vincecanhelp@outlook.com).

Vince was manning an informational table at church with another Young Adult named Wyat, whom he didn’t know. They started talking about the challenges they were facing in this post-college, single phase of life.

“It seems as if most churches are geared more towards families”, one of them said.

“True. Young Adults like us are often overlooked and under-served”, the other remarked.

“There is this one guy I know though, who seems to care about Young adults and has really helped me out.”

“Wait. You know a guy? I know a guy too. Who’s your guy? My guy is named Dave Lowe.”

“Dude…that’s my guy too! How do you know Dave?”

Scene from Ocean’s 11: “You know a guy?”

 

I love this story for many reasons. 

First, it confirms the unique challenges Young Professionals experience as they seek to find spiritual resources and mentors to help them navigate the unique challenges they face. 

Secondly, it shows the amazing power of networking, as I met both Vince and Wyat through a common connection they both had, though they didn’t actually know each other.

Third, it’s fun being thought of as “the guy” who cares about and ministers to the unique challenges of Young Adults. Actually, that is what we’re hoping for and trusting God to develop in our ministry.

Wyat is a recent graduate of UC Irvine, working as a Phlebotomist while he contemplates going to Medical School.

I was introduced to Vince last year through a mutual connection. When we met, I learned that Vince is from New York and received an appointment to West Point but opted instead to attend the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he received a degree in engineering. After working a few years for a big engineering firm, Vince decided to step out in faith to pursue his real passion, helping high schoolers succeed academically.

It turns out Vince is highly skilled at teaching young people just about any STEM subject you can imagine. He not only helps high schoolers improve in the classroom, but Vince is also proficient in helping teens boost their standardized test scores and navigate University Admissions processes.

Starting your own tutoring business can be extremely rewarding emotionally, but difficult financially. This is especially true for Vince, who not only supports himself, but is the sole provider for his mother.

Like any startup, increasing your client base and getting the word out is always a challenge.

Saul Goodman (from Breaking Bad): “Let’s just say I know a guy who knows a guy…..who knows another guy.”

 

Not long ago, I saw someone post on Nextdoor that they needed a recommendation for a tutor for their daughter, who was struggling in her Physics course. I was able to respond, “I know a guy”…and I shared Vince’s information.

When I met Vince, after sharing his humorous story about his interaction with Wyat, he thanked me for connecting me with the person from Nextdoor. He’s been tutoring this young woman and her understanding and test results have improved dramatically.

So if you find someone who needs help academically, you can say, “I know a guy” (vincecanhelp@outlook.com), or as Saul Goodman from the show Breaking Bad famously said, “I know a guy who knows a guy…”

And if you know a Young Adult who needs coaching or spiritual mentoring, you definitely “know a guy….and a gal.”

Please pray for Vince as he trusts the Lord to provide for his needs by growing his business, and pray for us as we seek to continue to serve the needs of Young Professionals in Orange County and beyond. 

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Helping New Believers Via Digital Discipleship

Last fall, I shared about how Cru is reaching people all over the world through our evangelistic websites EveryStudent.com and EveryPerson.com.

In August, over 5.3 million people visited one of our sites and well over 100,000 people made a decision to become followers of Jesus. If you do the math, that’s over 3300 people EACH DAY making a decision to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior!

Every month, we receive hundreds of messages from people all around the world whose lives have been impacted. 

Lalit, from India, emailed us to say, “I now know that Jesus has sacrificed for us and he covered us by his blood, so our sins could be washed away. And I am really so happy because my life will be changed now by God. I tell many about God who is like this.” 

After accepting Christ, Hadijah from Uganda shared, ”I’m so glad that I accepted Jesus in my life. I love this change. I’ve been through tough times, but I’m feeling some change ever since I accepted Christ.”

Hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world are coming to Christ each month by reading evangelistic articles on the Cru websites at EveryStudent.com and EveryPerson.com.

Many of those accepting Christ are coming from the most challenging countries in the world (Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Atheistic Nations). The websites allow them to come privately, safely, and at their moment of interest/questioning.

But what happens to people once they’ve made a commitment to accept Christ into their lives?

Did you know that Cru also has a website aimed at discipling new believers as they begin their journey with Christ?

StartingwithGod.com is a Cru website that helps new believers build a strong spiritual foundation by introducing them to foundational principles of walking with Christ.

Those who indicate a new decision for Christ are invited to go to the site and sign up for the Spiritual Starter Kit, which initiates a series of emails that link to articles that explain important concepts for spiritual growth.

One of the articles, The Nature of Faith, helps new believers understand what it means to trust God in every day life. I wrote this article years ago as an adaptation of a talk I gave to Cru students.

Signing up for the spiritual starter kit at StartingwithGod.com allows new believers an easy way to take a next step in their new relationship with God.

Earlier this year, I learned about the impact the article is having in the lives of people around the world. 

Last year alone (2021), the article was read by over 10,000 new believers in English, Spanish and Portuguese  in addition to countless more who read the article in languages such as Albanian, Armenian, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian and many others.

If you’re looking for a simple way to introduce others to Jesus with little effort and no pressure, consider inviting your friends to visit EveryPerson.com where they can explore their spirituality and address their questions with complete freedom and anonymity.

An easy way to help others build a foundation for their faith is to encourage them to go to StartingwithGod.com and sign up for the Spiritual Starter Kit or one of the other email discipleship opportunities.

Please join us in praying for the continued impact of these sites to those around the world who are spiritually thirsty and seeking answers to life’s challenges. 

Thank you for your partnership, which enables us to minister to Young Professionals personally as well as people around the world digitally!