Reading the book "Living Legacy"

Team Campbell and Friends....
Our STS team finished the year reading the book "Living Legacy"
Written by Jim Downing to celebrate the 75 year anniversary of the Navigators Ministry.
Here are a few points that people drew out as we read it and discussed it together.
If you have not had a chance to read it- I highly recommend it as it will give you each an idea of how the Navigators ministry started and what it took to get this tremendous work off the ground and running to where it is today....
The book is divided into 2 parts.
The first part covering Dawson Trotman- the founder of the Navigators
The second part covering Lorne Sanny- the leader who took over after Daws died

Part I

• The book presented Daws as Human- Lindsey Stone
• Daws recognized that it Was God who did all the work- Jake
• Daws was assured of the Promises of God- Mercy
• Jim had every reason to never come back to Daws and the ministry since he felt offended, but he DID return- Joe
  
• Daws prioritized laborers at the cost of casualties- Matthew
• Depending on how much we put into it is what God allows us to produce- Jake
• Simple Mission: Christ + maturity- Jake
• Daws made the mission simple- find one man, help him grow to where he can help another- Caleb
• Daws knew what God gave him and made no apologies for his weaknesses but was never satisfied with the state of things- Matthew
• The sovereignty of God is what started things and what continued things- Mercy
• Daws passion and Vision changed people's lives- Matthew

Part II

• The mentality that Daws created was that everyone was responsible for everything- Matthew
• Jim's perspective on the ministry: "The Navigators were on the front lines, waging spiritual warfare, releasing captives out of darkness, and equipping them and enlisting them in spiritual battle" - Jake
• Daws perfectionist attitude caused him to be a micro-manager, we need to be careful not to fall into this trap- Joe
• Having a 'protector' like Jim was for Lorne is key to our survival- Joe
• The community that they had, re-emphasizes for me what the environment can do for ministry- Andrew V
• Lorne modeled submission to God, He was an undershepherd to the Great Shepherd- Jake
• Quote from page 80 "Although the Navigator family was exceptionally close, there were some wounded souls who felt like they were outsiders and second-class citizens. They were only healed as they banded together and bonded in new spiritual battles, of which there was an abundance of opportunity" - Joe

John 14

Greetings Team Campbell and Friends....

Our STS team went over John 14 last night. I've posted a few of the thoughts from our discussion. I hope each of you guys are getting and taking opportunity to do some digging in the Word- especially these particular chapters alongside with us.

• Seeing Jesus IS seeing God.
• The miracles were to establish Christ's credibility- not to PROVE God- but they were show the people why they should listen to Christ. Victor P/Matthew C
• Obedience to God = Loving God
• Loving Christ = Obeying Christ's commands
• Jesus tells the 12D that He DOES intend to only reveal Himself to those who are willing to be obedient- not to everyone else.... vs.22-23
• This 'peace' promised to them is different from the OT version of peace
• Seems that Jesus is saying one of the main reasons I'm going to the Cross is not only to take care of the sin issue for us- but to show the world- I WILL AND AM OBEDIENT TO THE FATHER

Hope these thoughts will drive you each to look at the Word closer and investigate more and more who is Christ and what did He say and want....

John 13

Team Campbell and Friends...

Our STS team just went over John 13 and though we did go over the scheduled time- it made for outstanding discussion...

A few high points and questions that were drawn out:

• Experience is what drives teaching more than teaching driving the experience. –James Carter

• Consider verse 30: is that a spiritual or physical element? Is it really night time?
• ver 34-35 consider the different loves, and is this really a new commandment or really is it in the Leviticus 19:18? So what is new about this? It was the way that Jesus demonstrated it. Are they different “loves?” When do we give up our lives for others? Is that what we are encouraged to do in the New Testament verse the Old Testament? Or was there something that Jesus did for the 11-12 that he didn’t do with the masses?
• Jesus didn’t ask about the new command but asked about where he was going. They might have just been scared to be alone but he might be forcing them to actually having to do it. We will have victories and then we will fall. The most growth comes after a big fall. –Victor Pedilla
• “What do I need to do to extend God’s love more than just putting someone through a program" - William
• When Jesus says "A new command I give you..." why does He say its a NEW command?- Jonathan Bennett
  
• Possibly a failure in fellowship- none of the other disciples knew what Judas was thinking or about to do...
  - Joe E

Just a few thoughts from the chapter...
Feel free to respond to these or add your own thoughts as well...

”

John 13-17

Team Campbell....... and friends...

Our STS team is going over John 13-17 in our STS biblestudy.
We did the overview last night....

Feel free to post any thoughts or comments even if you have not had a chance to do the study yourself- I want to create an atmosphere to share and fellowship over these particular chapters even if you guys haven't had a chance to do the study yet.
These chapters are Chock full of good stuff....
Some thoughts from our STS team last night

• Jesus continues to show how to point us to His Father
• Jesus continue to show that He is living and manuevering to bring glory to God (visibility to God)
• From John 20:31- this is the reason why John wrote this all..... 'that we might believe in Christ and have life in His name'
• This chapter starts in the Room where they are eating the Passover and ends in the Garden of Gethsamane
• Interesting webpage talking about the Passover meal- for those interested in doing more research on this topic...... http://www.differentspirit.org/articles/passover_meal.php

Hope you guys are all able to chime in with a thought or two...
Happy digging...

SE Navigators Military conference

The following is a post that I sent for our Ft. Campbell Ministry contacts....

Team Campbell,

Great time this weekend at the SE Navigators Military Conference in Toccoa GA.

Toccoa… Currahhee!!! For some of you folks….

Ministries from Ft. Bragg, Benning, Campbell, Knox, Rucker, Stewart and Eglin Airforce base, Hurlburt AFB and a few other Airforce and even Navy ministries joined us.

About 201 total people….

A few high points of the conference…

Chuck Wood talked about several key points: We must grow in our Commitment, Competence, and Connectedness to Christ and our Brothers and sisters…

In the parable of the Talents (matt 25) … God’s idea of reward= more given responsibility

God gave talents according to their ability

Those who were faithful with what was given to them- God gave more…

We must be leveraging our assets (time, money, relationships… etc.) for the expansion and progression of the Kingdom of god

A few other blurbs from others at the conference:

“God will not be known casually” …. Bill Mason

“The community that we have here is outstanding and encouraging” … James Carter

“Jesus is fundamental in the Basics”… Ben Kayser

“Deliberate practice is what separates the world class athletes from the good athletes”… Joseph Peer

“The only way to get 7 years of experience, is to go through 7 years of experience”… Chuck Wood

“Vision is what gives purpose and motivation to the Basics of the Christian life”… Joe Ebuen

“I’m following Christ despite my shortcomings, insecurities, and what happened in my childhood”… Matthew Clark

"Do not attach your ego to the process"... Chuck Wood

One of the things that really encouraged me as well was to hear a couple of our younger single soldiers talk about how they wanted to take some serious time contemplating how and if they were truly faithful , available, and teachable to Christ. Guys were walking away challenged and considering how they might look to be more committed to Christ and what ways were they not allowing themselves to be fully committed to Jesus.

All in all... an outstanding time in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please feel free to post any thoughts or questions from the conference.

Even if you didn't go... please feel free to ask about it further and I will post some more thoughts from me and any of our other speakers.

The Sovereignty of God and My Response to it

One of the things that Cecil Bean and I talked about as we were down in Savannah GA visiting them was how a 'true-er' understanding of the Sovereignty of God is crucial in helping us continuing to grow and advance in our pursuit of Christ.
One of the major things that cuts down many of us as Christians is bitterness. In our particular ministry and the style of how we do ministry- we are attempting to do things as Christ did in 'picking' our 12 and our core 3 and even our 1 and focusing on them and training them. So.... what happens when I am not one of the 1 picked?? Or even one of the 3.... or even one of the 12 or 70 for that matter? As I see it- we have 2 choices. We can get angry and bitter.... Either at God or at the particular person who did not 'pick' us. But, if we believe that God is in control of everything- meaning that He is SOVEREIGN and that He is orchestrating everything- then I can't get angry with people- ultimately I MUST get angry with God. It doesn't make any sense to... but the 'correct' place to direct my anger and frustration is toward God- not toward people- because God is 'using' people to do a work in my life and to refine me as well. And the 'me not getting picked' experience may be an issue of refinement that God is insisting that I need to go through so that the pride in my heart and mind can begin to melt away. David has a great picture of understanding this...

2 Sam 16:9-10 Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head." But the king said, "What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, 'Curse David,' who can ask, 'Why do you do this?'"

As David and his entourage are fleeing the kingdom because of Absalom coming to possibly kill them all- Shimei comes out to curse David and pelt them with stones. David's right hand man, Abishai tells David- let me go over there and take care of this 'dead dog'.... But David says- He may be doing it because God is making him do it- so how can I get mad at the guy- when it may be God's doing?

So the question we need to be asking ourselves is.... "God, what are you trying to teach me through this incident with this person?" Rather than simply playing the highschool game of 'that person just doesn't like me that's why they are doing this or that'. It would make things alot easier on us to go with the latter- but God is expecting and demanding more of us- He is demanding maturity and we cannot mature if we continue to play highschool and excuse ourselves from allowing God to point out issues in our lives that need refining.

Chongs Road Trip 2010.. The Final Destination

Chongs Road Trip 2010
The Final Destination…

Below is an excerpt from my FB post about our final leg to move the Chongs household goods to Ft. Lewis, WA as they are now moving there to lead the Navigator Ministry at Ft. Lewis.

We arrived at the Stroud’s Home late last night…
Had a little vehicle trouble- we made it over and above a bunch of those things we call ‘mountains’.
The rental truck the Chongs had was also towing their Xterra. So… after going over all those mountains with a full truck and towing their SUV- it was about time that the truck was getting a bit tired. Engine overheating and some transmission fluid leak- so we stopped to let the engine cool. We dropped the Xterra and drove it to alleviate the tonnage that the truck was towing and things turned out better.
We prayed for continued overwatch and intervention by God to bring us there safely and we made it….

One of the things we discussed as we were traveling… I shared my QT thoughts with the guys.

I am currently reading NKJV this year:
But the verse that caught my attention:
2 Tim 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

The reason why this verse caught me was that I never really read this in light of verse 2…. We all KNOW verse 2….
And the things you have heard me say, in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

I never considered verse 3 in light of verse 2… but I guess I should- it puts it in context.
The operative word for me was THEREFORE in verse 3…. So it says… because of verse 2… I need to live like verse 3.
Since I am supposed to live and DO verse 2… make disciples- things are going to be tough, we are each doing this mission while still at war spiritually with Satan…….
Therefore I have to continue to press on with the mission of making disciples for Christ despite all the issues of warfare that will befall a soldier…
The things that will befall a soldier in battle- casualties, hardships, hunger, sleep deprivation, rank-ism… whatever… these things will happen to a soldier in war. Therefore- they must endure in order to accomplish the mission….
We are at war as well…. Spiritually speaking…. So we must endure too… because these things will happen as well to us- spiritually speaking…
So… we must each not allow the things that befall a soldier to prevent us from pressing on toward accomplishing the mission of making disciples for Christ- this is the pressing issue- because making disciples and bringing the Message of Christ to the maximum number of people- that is the pressing need for a hurt and hopeless world.

Despite the length of the trip and losing some sleep- it was actually an outstanding time…
A great time of fellowship- while simultaneously taking the opportunity to help a great friend and co-laborer as well.

Hope you guys will take some time to remember the Chongs in prayer as they take charge of leading the ministry at Ft. Lewis. May God add a hundred more couples like Mike and Liz to us at Campbell so that we can continue to train and develop them to send them out to lead and make disciples….

Spiritual Transformation

Spiritual Transformation involves the entire change of a person because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. Rather than simply cleaning up a person’s life- we are building up from the ground up- a person who is now a new creation because of Christ.
As we disciple men and women at Ft. Campbell- the foundation of what we do centers on Christ. We cannot expect to do anything to truly help someone unless they have Christ in their lives- unless they have committed to follow Him. If this is not in place- anything we do is ultimately not going to truly help the person- these things will simply be bandages that are attempting to hold back a wound that is much more serious than a simple superficial cut or scrape.
Because we realize this- one of the key questions that we as a ministry attempt to bring out is if the person we are attempting to help and disciple has ever made a commitment to follow Christ or prayed to receive Christ. If the person is uncertain about this- then we will talk with them more about the bridge illustration or the John 14:6 illustration and help them to see why they need to have a relationship with Christ and receive Him into their hearts. Once this is done- then we can begin building the basics of the Christian life into their own lives. Though many times we have also realized that as we help soldiers build the basics of the Christian life into their own lives- many have realized that they were NOT following Christ or were NOT really Christians in the first place- and then they step forward to make that commitment.
As we are building the basics of the Christian life into the lives of our new and young disciples- one of things we have begun emphasizing more is the idea of a new identity. One of the passages I love to share with our men about this idea is in 2 Cor 5.
2 Cor 5:15-20 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
I center on verse 17 to emphasize to our young believer that Christ has now made them into a new creation. They are no longer what they were before- that means whatever they used to be like, whatever they used to do, whatever they used to think about- that mindset is now going to change- because they are no longer that person that they were before because Christ has changed them. The question that I always get next is “What does that life look like?” My response to them is in verse 15 and 20. First I tell them that while they would live life to please themselves before- now verse 15 says we must live for God because Christ bought us by His blood. Then… we must live as ambassadors for Christ. We are being sent out into ‘foreign lands’ as envoys from God to connect and re-connect with people and tell them that our king not only wants to begin ‘diplomatic relationships’ with them- but He wants to know each of them personally- that is the new job description that we have undertaken along with our new identity.
As we have continued this work at Campbell- one of the things we have noticed more and more of is soldiers coming from broken families and a myriad of symptoms that have resulted in hampering our men because of these situations. One of the more common ones is that many of our young disciples feel they are simply too broken, too scarred, too messed up to be used by God to help another. I feel that God has empowered me to motivate and encourage these men by first communicating to them that they are loved and cared for. In Mark 4:38- the disciples were worried that they would drown. They woke up Christ not saying that they doubted if He had the power to save them- they doubted His DESIRE TO CARE for them. They said “Do you not care that we are perishing?” This is the conflict with many broken people- they don’t believe that someone cares for them. If they don’t believe that God truly cares for them- then they will be too afraid to do anything because they feel as if they are jumping out of an airplane without a reserve and the primary doesn’t look very good as well.
One of the things that I have been trying to emphasize with our men is that God DOES care for them and wants to intervene and be involved in their lives- even down to the minute by minute things that they do. He is not distant- He is not far away- He is not uninvolved. He is close, nearby, and engaged in what is happening with His people. I have made it a point to share my testimony with guys on how I’ve experienced similar feelings as they have- but I also share with them how I’ve pleaded with God for intervention and how He has delivered in bringing me help and grace. One of the verse I really enjoy sharing with our men is Proverbs 21:1 The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord- He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases. So God can and does intervene- I have to realize that He wants to and that He has good for me in mind.
As I continue to reinforce this in their minds- I also challenge them to take a step out there and ‘make a play’ for Christ on the field. In this case- in their units and in their barracks. As our young disciples are solidifying their understanding of being a new creation and living life as a new creation- on of the more powerful transformation things they experience as well is when they see God using them to affect the lives of other men at their units. As our men see this- the not only understand John 15:16 by Word- they understand it by experience. Once this begins to happen- the doors are now wide open for them to truly grasp and experience what living as a new creation can entail.

Discontent

The Idea of Discontent that I shared at our last rally and at Rio Grande University in OH seems to be creating a buzz.....
In not too many ways...
The Idea of discontent is very similar to the idea of 'hunger'
If you are 'hungry' for something- you will do something to satisfy that hunger- whether its spiritual hunger or physical...
In the physical context you might go grab a cookie...
In the spiritual context it might move you to start reading your bible or to seek a spiritual mentor

I've attached some notes on the topic from the recent rally and Rio Grande talk
Hope it continues to stir up good movement and progress in maturing in you walk with Christ.

Notes from Last months Rally and Rio Grande Talk concerning the idea of Discontent

Discontent- longing for something more or better than the present
1. Paul talks about being content in all situations in Philippians- not the same idea- we are combating the attitude of complacency
2. If you are satisfied with how things are- satisfied with how the world is, satisfied with how you life is, satisfied with what your current walk with God looks like- then you won’t do anything
3. But if you are DIS-satisfied with how things are- you will do something about it- you will do something to change how things currently are…
4. If you are discontent with your walk with God or lack of- you will seek out God- whether its going back to church for the first time in a long time, whether its committing to reading the bible everyday, whether its seeking someone to help you- you will do what it takes if you are uncomfortable enough- if you are dissatisfied enough
5. Matt 4:19-20 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
a. Why are these men so willing to give up their jobs to follow Jesus?
b. 21st century- fishing is a pastime- not so back then
c. They are looking for something more…..
6. Unless you arrive at the point where you are dissatisfied with how things are right now in your own walk with God- you won’t respond to bring about change- and you will continue living out a mundane life…
7. Something to consider…..
a. Praying that God would make you and I dissatisfied with how our current walk with God looks like- so that it would spur on change and growth
b. Praying that God would make our friends and family dissatisfied with their current walk with God or lack thereof- so that it would spur on change and growth

Selection

We just began going through the book, The MasterPlan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman.
In it… Coleman outlines Jesus’ plan to reach the World for God. His plan- train a few … invest in them in such a way that they will be driven to do the same. Coleman breaks down Jesus’ strategy in find these men and discipling them to become disciplemakers.

The first step that Coleman talks about in Chapter 1 is Selection.

The following are thoughts that came from our STS biblestudy group as we discussed chapter 1.

• Selection- the choosing of men to train and invest in who will be capable of leading and training others for the cause of Christ
• Is it worth doing?" "Is it getting the job done?" –questions that Coleman challenges us to ask in our churches and ministries in order to see if the activities we are doing and involved with- are actually meeting Christ’s goal of making disciples who are actively pursuing Christ, walking with God, and attempting to disciple others around them
• What are the criteria that Jesus used to ‘choose’ His men?
  They were willing to learn…
  They were willing to give up everything to follow Christ- Matt 4:20 … at once they left their nets and followed Him…
  They were looking for more…
  They were frustrated with the current model of what it mean to ‘follow God’
• The helping of a few ensures that we are ‘multiplying’ the people who will be able to lead others- therefore investing in a few allows us to help a larger number of people because we train others to be leaders who can help others…
• It seems like the bottom line of what Coleman was trying to illustrate is how each of us can do a similar practice is investing in a few men rather than attempting to help everyone at once- invest in a few and train them effectively, affect them deeply, and then send them out to reach others in their own spheres

What are your thoughts on Coleman’s idea of ‘selection?’

How have you seen Jesus using this principle as He was beginning His ministry?

What are your thoughts on attempting to apply this principle yourself?

Do you have questions about trying to apply this principle in your ministry context?