The Voice of God

“God spoke to nothing and created something, He spoke to chaos and it became order, He spoke to darkness and it became a light.” AW Tozer. I look back at Biblical characters, theologians, and heroes of the faith and find they have...
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Gratitude

Today’s blizzard reminds me of wintery days at Cornell where the trek over the river and through the woods to class would require I bring two extra changes of clothes: one for if the temperature dropped and another for if...
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Lion’s Paw

I remember sitting in a room with my friend Scott when he recently moved from a hospital into hospice care. He had spent the past year battling cancer. His condition worsened and it was a hard pill for him to...
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Surfing

In September I had a simple dream: I saw a map of the United States, and a storm was brewing in the surrounding oceans. It produced two huge waves, one that rose over California, and another over New England. Like...
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The Beauty of Creation

C.S. Lewis’ writings are, for most Christians, the most significant influence in their spiritual lives (second only to the Bible). His intellect, his wit, and his imagination have captivated both readers and thinkers, atheists and Christians, college grads and high school...
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Incredibly Close

I was recently reminded of one of my favorite books, Jonathan Safran Foer’s soon-to-be-required-reading-for-students, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”  In it, 10-year old Oskar loses his father in the attack on 9-11, and is struggling to navigate life without his...
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Choosing Prayer

This week, I was able to participate in my church’s missions conference. While we hosted 15 guests from a variety of nations, our primary focus this year was on South Africa. Our church sent a young woman as a missionary to South...
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Increase Our Obedience

A Noble Request In an oft-quoted passage of scripture (Luke 17), Jesus’ disciples approach Him with a noble request:  “Show us how to increase our faith,” they say.  As far as requests from the disciples are concerned, this one’s pretty...
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Baylor at a Crossroads

Baylor, once relatively unheard of, is hurtling into becoming a household name.  The once small football program is now housed in a shiny new stadium, with fans desperate for tickets and expecting wins.  Robert Griffin III is championing a new...
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The “Small” Life

Jesus the Servant Jesus was a servant. This is a pretty straight forward fact shown to us throughout scripture. Jesus washed His disciples feet. Jesus humbled Himself and became a man. Jesus, most importantly, died on a cross in the...
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Lean In

There’s a phrase being bandied about the web in blogs and posts these days about leaning in. There are people who encourage this, people who disparage it, and people who are just confused, and that’s okay. But for me, a...
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Let’s Pray

I have been listening to sermons online, lately.  I heard one on Monday by Francis Chan about the power of prayer, and the ability of prayer to become a lifestyle– a way of walking in love with God.  He questioned...
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Mood Ring

Relient K Have you heard of Relient K? I don’t know if you grew up in the Church, but if you were a coming-of-age Christian in the early 2000s then the chances are you listened gleefully to many a Relient...
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Faith, Hope and Love

Other than getting married or becoming a parent, I cannot think of another thing that could bring so much transformation into a person’s life that getting into the ministry. To call me naive would be an understatement when I signed...
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Fast Forward

College students are hardly ever still.  Our lives are full of competing voices and activities.  We watch TV and we text and we drink a five dollar cup of coffee and we do homework.  There is hardly ever a moment...
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Prayer

Let’s be honest.  I am always learning about prayer and have a lot more to learn.  I have many mentors in my life who excel in their prayer life and I have an unhealthy way of comparing myself to them. ...
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Change

2 Peter 3:13 – “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” Shutting Down For as long as I can remember, I’ve hated change. It’s just...
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Fear

Fear. I have a lot of it. I’m afraid that I won’t get into grad school. I’m afraid I won’t find a job for the summer. I’m afraid I’ll be lonely when my friends graduate and leave Austin and I...
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Spiritual Rest

Obsessive Studying Spiritual rest is something that I’m really bad at. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with to do lists and getting things done and being productive. I’m sort of a freak when it comes...
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The Beauty Problem

A Question of Identity I’m not sure girls ever outgrow body image issues. I know I certainly haven’t yet. If you’ve ever been a girl, you’re probably familiar with feeling like there’s something wrong with your physical appearance. You’re too...
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Prophets Wanted

Who is a prophet? Is it someone who wanders in the wilderness and eats locusts? Is it someone who parts an ocean or sees visions of heaven? Sometimes. At the core, a prophet is someone who sees another reality –...
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On the Weight of Advent

Advent is the season leading up to, including, and following the Christmas holiday in which the church together anticipates and prepares for Christ’s return while remembering his birth. Way better than Black Friday and after Christmas sales. Advent and the...
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The Modern Day Prodigal Son

Here’s a beautiful article that popped up on my news feed one day: http://www.statepress.com/2012/09/27/from-atheism-to-catechism/ This article is about is a guy named Josh, who used to be the president of the secular society at Arizona State University, who converted to...
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True Intimacy

God is bigger than the Bible. However, I think sometimes we limit God to only the Bible. And by the way, just to avert any misunderstanding whatsoever, I am in no way undervaluing the Scriptures. By placing greater emphasis on...
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Trials and Testing

“Before God can use you greatly, He must test you deeply.” This is what caught my eye today amidst the many facebook status updates on my newsfeed. That’s the neat thing about being facebook friends with pastors and other people...
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Fearing God

A couple of months ago, my best friend Andre and I started up a bible study for the Christians in our missional community. It’s our way of making sure we have time to connect with one another on a deeper...
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God on Campus

The following is an excerpt from my book Campus Renewal – A Practical Plan to Unite Campus Ministries in Prayer and Evangelism. Trent Sheppard is part of a collegiate prayer movement called Campus America. Campus America is an initiative of 24/7...
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Praying Versus Doing

I’ve always been a doer. If it’s a choice between doing something tranquil and quiet versus running about planning, making phone calls, and talking to people, it’s pretty much a no-brainer which one I’d choose. I suppose that’s one of...
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Picking Student Leaders

Your campus will not be reached without a core group of empowered leaders taking bold steps of faith in unison. Building a core group of leaders presents many challenges since students often misunderstand their purpose and ministry leaders can use...
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Stand Still

This past Monday I found myself in our regular weekly prayer time with a couple of my interns. Amidst worship and just taking time out from work to pray and sing songs to God together, the subject of quiet time...
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The Ground For Revival

Last Friday, we had our first community night of the semester. It was really great meeting different people, who prayed at the CHOP and shared the same vision of seeing God transform this campus by fueling the 24/7 prayer movement....
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Get Specific

It’s survey week here at The University of Texas at Austin. For the past few days, 138 students and campus ministers from various ministries have been intentionally going to specific areas on and around campus asking people questions. These questions...
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I Want Revival

Will You Not Revive Us Again Psalm 85:6-7 says “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?  Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation.” When you look at our Nation and college...
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