Movements Everywhere

Why is the Spirit-filled Life so Crucial?

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Last month I mentioned that I would like to explore with you some ways we can depend on God more completely. Let’s start that today.

I believe the foundational element of extreme dependency on God is the Spirit-filled life. Of course the topic is a familiar one to us. It is one of the first things we teach to new Christians.

So rather than dwelling on “how”, I would like to feature “why”. Why is the Spirit-filled life so crucial to our willingness to trust God more and more over time?

Because the Spirit gives us continuous power for living

I just read an email sent to Judy by a young woman whom I know had a very close walk with God a few years ago. She even taught a weekly Bible study with college women.

Here is what she said: “I’ve been going through a faith crisis that has brought me to a point of depression, a questioning of my beliefs and an extreme aggravation…my heart is no longer desiring God, and I find no peace in prayer…It really boils down to a discontentment (with my life).”

She goes on to elaborate on the lack of power she feels to deal with some of the tough circumstances she has been facing over the last year.

So what happened to her? She apparently stopped appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit to gain victory and peace in the middle of adversity. After a while her fresh base of experience convinced her that she couldn’t depend on God to help her.

In other words, as she stopped trusting God for a period of time, she found it harder and harder to trust Him thereafter. We tend to let our feelings play too big a role in our decision making. If we are experiencing defeat, we feel defeated and eventually lose hope. This is one reason it is important to breathe spiritually soon after recognizing a sin in our lives. If we go too long it erodes our willingness to trust God in the future.

Why else is the Spirit-filled life crucial to ongoing dependence on God?

Because the Spirit helps us know God

We tend to trust people more as we get to know them and experience firsthand that they are trustworthy. Sometimes I do “think-work” in a restaurant. If I need to take a brief break, I make sure my cell phone and checkbook are in my pocket. Why don’t I just ask the man sitting in the booth next to mine, “Would you mind keeping an eye on my valuables while I am away for five minutes?” I don’t know him and have no basis for trusting him.

On the other hand, one couple next door has a key to our house because we have lived next to them and learned to trust them for over 15 years.

So it is with God; the more we get to know Him the more we find Him trustworthy, and the more we are willing to depend on Him completely.

So who helps us understand and know God better? The Holy Spirit. Paul teaches us in

I Corinthians 2:10b, 11: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

The Holy Spirit reveals the heart , mind and trustworthiness of God to us. Over time we learn to trust God more because of what the Holy Spirit helps us learn and understand about Him.

One of the things which I have learned about God as I have walked in the Spirit is that I can depend on Him to bring needy people across my path. Just as I was writing this article at my house, the pest control person came to treat the inside of the house. In the course of the time he was treating the house we talked some about spiritual things. I learned he is a new Christian and I was able to give him a book and DVD to help him grow.

He said, “Could I ask you a question?” “Sure,” was my reply.

“My 11-year old daughter has a girlfriend who thinks she may be homosexual. I found out last night and told my daughter I didn’t want her to spend time with her girlfriend. My daughter wasn’t too happy with me. What would you recommend I do?”

That question led to a 30-minute conversation on how to build a better relationship with his daughter and how to begin to deal with the girlfriend’s sexuality.

I have found that being filled with the Spirit helps me trust God better for life and ministry.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments

A forest fire was rapidly working its way down the canyon toward our buildings—which included my home and office. It was late afternoon a few days before Thanksgiving in November of 1980. I was driving from San Diego, California, to our headquarters at Arrowhead Springs.

When my car crested the hill on Highway 91 in Riverside, I could see Arrowhead Springs across the valley, seemingly engulfed in flames. That was where I had left my wife and baby daughter that morning.

What was I supposed to do? One thing for sure—trust God! That circumstance compelled me to have an extreme dependence on God.

As it turns out there was a fire at Arrowhead, and Judy and Debbie and everyone else in the Campus Crusade for Christ family there got out in time.

We only lost a few smaller buildings. But our entrance bridge was destroyed, so we had no easy access to Arrowhead Springs.

The next day God did some remarkable things to get us “back in business,” including:

1.  He gave an idea to pair our offices in our downtown buildings (27th Street) with specific offices from Arrowhead Springs. By noon we had desks, phones and supplies available for the displaced offices from Arrowhead Springs.
2.  A retired colonel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was able to muster a team and equipment to build a “temporary” entrance bridge in just several hours. (That bridge lasted a year!)

My point is simply that when we put our total trust in God, He provided.  That example was big. But we need to depend on God with small matters as well. For example, a few years after I joined staff I noticed the need for more business suits in light of my job. I had a limited budget, but I did buy a few suits. Finally, though, I wondered what would happen if I just prayed about it rather than hurry to buy a gray suit I thought I needed.

A few days later a friend and staff member, John Lowe, burst into my office with two suits in his arms. One was gray. The other one was too small for me, but the gray one fit me perfectly.

John did not know I had prayed for a suit. But when a clothing store went out of business in northern Illinois, John’s friend (the owner) sent John some suits to give away to Campus Crusade staff members. John thought of me and was the instrument God used to personally deliver my new gray suit.

Sometimes we need to depend on God for protection more than provision. I was just reading the account of a number of Ethiopian students connected with our ministry were beaten and jailed due to their witness for Christ.

I imagine they found themselves praying like King David:

“Deliver me from my enemies O God; protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from evil doers…” (Psalm 59:1, 2a)

In those kinds of situations, extreme dependence on God dramatically influences even how we think and feel:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

I think God eagerly waits for us to trust Him completely. Normally, He requires us to plan and work toward His assignments for us. Sometimes He provides above and beyond what we would expect.

But in all circumstances He is pleased when we:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Over the next few months I would like to explore with you some ways we can depend on God more completely. In a previous communication I mentioned “extreme dependence on God” as a crucial element of the change we need to seek in the months and years to come. I am committed to being on this journey with you.

I look forward to learning more about how we can trust God with all of our hearts.

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Two months ago I wrote you about four areas where the leaders of the ministry determined we needed to see some change. Change is always a bit daunting and uncomfortable, but our conclusion was that if we didn’t change certain things, Campus Crusade for Christ would enter into a time of decreased effectiveness and overall decline.

One of the very important areas of change is to have a greater sense of urgency. Why greater urgency? Let me give you two very compelling reasons:

1. To redeem current opportunities

We need to redeem the current abundance of God-given opportunities. God is moving today in so many places and ways.

For example, in Awassa, Ethiopia last August our ministry sponsored a conference for 7,300 students. (Incidentally, people from the local churches there had the students stay in their homes.) The students were challenged to go, at least short-term, to help reach other African countries. Approximately 5,000 said “yes” to the challenge.

Since last summer those students have launched new movements on 127 high school and college campuses. They have also gone in missions teams to 79 towns which were considered “closed” or difficult.

As another example, the Magdalena: Released from Shame version of the JESUS film is remarkably effective. In one Central Asian country, 60 percent of the inmates in a women’s prison indicated receiving Christ after watching Magdalena.

And our Internet ministries are growing in size and effectiveness. Global Media Outreach is seeing three times as many indicated decisions per month as they were one year ago. Their on-line missionaries receive over 6,000 e-mails per day.

Through EveryStudent.com, of the college students indicating decisions and signing up for follow-up, 48 percent have connected with a Christian group on campus and/or a nearby church.

There is no doubt that God is moving today in many places and in extraordinary ways. The Bible is clear that our responsibility regarding His opportunities is to redeem them (“making the most of every opportunity” Ephesians 5:16).

2. Because there are forces seeking to close the door

It is very easy to assume that good things will continue to happen indefinitely. As a result, there is no urgency to act now. That assumption is very dangerous. There are powerful forces at work which could greatly limit our freedom and effectiveness in sharing Christ. Two of them are:

a. Islam

When radical Muslims take control of governments in countries, they usually establish laws to prohibit conversion from Islam to anything else. Often offenders are killed. Those who share Christ with people are often killed as well.

Through the years many JESUS film workers have been martyred by radical Muslims. Recently, hundreds of Christians were murdered by Muslims in Jos, Nigeria.

Islam is growing rapidly in Europe so that before too many years pass, many doors which are open today could close.

b. Materialism

In Deuteronomy 6:10-12, God leads Moses to warn the children of Israel that when He would bring them into the Promised Land, overflowing with good material things, they must not become satisfied and forget Him.

I believe that “forgetting” has occurred in the United States over recent decades. I fear it may also happen in other countries where there has been rapid growth of material success.

“Forgetting” and failing to rely on God, shuts doors to future effectiveness in ministry.

Jesus Himself said that we should work while it is yet day for night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4). The strong lesson to us is to redeem God’s current abundant opportunities now, before night comes. As a ministry we are committed to working with others to see as much progress as possible toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the next ten years.

We believe we are in a position to be helpful to the rest of the Body of Christ in finishing the task of the Great Commission. We are just a part of God’s plan for this time. But we have been given an outstanding opportunity from Him to do what we can to help get the job done.

Worldwide Day of Prayer

Monday, April 19th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Dear fellow staff member,

Our theme for the April 27^th Worldwide Day of Prayer (WDOP) is “Extreme Dependence on God.” If those words sound familiar, you may ask next, “Wasn’t ‘Dependence on God’ the theme of last October’s WDOP? Why extreme?

As we go about launching movements of evangelism and discipleship, we must learn to rely more and more on His power rather than our own. For us the norm needs to be taking faith risks and asking God in faith, “What do You want us to believe You for now?” The alternative is simply go after whatever we imagine we can accomplish in our own efforts.

Several years ago I met with some of our U.S. leadership in Philadelphia. They gathered around and asked how best to pray as I prepared to assume my new role as president. I asked them to pray that I would always lead in line with what God wants. A few days ago I was studying Proverbs 16 and considered afresh verses 1 and 9:

To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. . . . In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

My point is this: When we gather for a WDOP—humbly acknowledging His sovereignty—we are in line with God’s heart. As one family around the world, we express our dependence on Him in united prayer. Only then are we ready to take the next step and examine our fruitfulness. Then we can ask, “Lord is there something we need to do better?”

God is calling us to a renewed posture of extreme dependence on Him and His Word. I have started to fast one meal a day to begin to prepare my own heart for all that might mean. It may mean going where we have not gone before—rediscovering that God supernaturally empowers those whose hearts are completely His.

As you prepare for the 27^th, look again at Proverbs 16 and meditate on our theme verse for this WDOP, Matthew 19:26 (NLT) “ . . . with God everything is possible.” Ask God what He is saying to you.

Yours in Christ,

Steve Douglass

P.S. In a few days new lists of prayer points will begin to be posted by area at

www.GlobalPrayerMovement.org and updated until April 27. At any time throughout the year your team can submit praise items and requests by e-mail to global.prayer@ccci.org.

Thursday, April 8th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

In the mid 1970s, I attended an international leadership meeting I’ll never forget. We were discussing how to accelerate our ministries on the campus and in the community. We talked about ways to improve what we were doing. But Bill Bright was not satisfied. He sensed we needed to go way beyond what we had been doing. For years he had sensed an impression from the Lord that there needed to be a new film on the life of Christ, which could spread the gospel into more places faster.

During the meeting we actually watched some of the old films about Christ, including one silent movie. Most of us thought we were wasting our time. But within a few years the JESUS film was produced, and God gave us what has been one of the most widely adopted and used tools for evangelism and church planting in the history of missions.

Why did Bill lead us to develop a very different strategy?  It was because there was a compelling, guiding principle, which God used to drive him toward a new and better way.

Bill knew that God had called us to help accomplish the full scope of the Great Commission. What we were doing, by itself, would not get us there. So he encouraged us to be open to something better.

Profound principles can deeply influence individuals and even whole organizations. That is why we have sought to determine a handful of profound principles which God can use to shape our thinking, decision-making and even our organizational culture.  We will not make our best contribution toward movements everywhere if we don’t change some things.

Five elements of our desired culture have been featured in recent communications.  They do not replace initiative evangelism, spiritual multiplication, the Spirit-filled life and other crucial elements of who we are. The five we are talking about mainly seek to improve how we function organizationally. They are consistent with the other principles, which have been so useful through the years.

You can read more about these five key organizational cultural elements by visiting www.shapingourfuture.me. But, in case you haven’t had a chance yet to read and think about them, let me highlight a few concepts from the document.

Value-Driven

1.  Faith — To go where we have not gone before requires risk-taking faith.

2.  Growth — We want to be on fire for Christ, growing in our dependence on Him and in conformity to His will, honorable vessels available for His use.

3.  Fruitfulness — We desire to bear much fruit. We want to offer the gospel to people in culturally relevant ways. We want to use simple, transferable methods of equipping.

Local Ownership

The key to fulfilling the mission is people at the grass-roots level, who love Christ first and who align themselves to this purpose “to seek and to save the lost.” What is the problem? Often we are. With the best of intentions, we often take on too much personal responsibility for the ministry. We can lose sight of the objective of fostering involvement by others.

Kingdom Perspective

Only together can we fulfill the Great Commission. Our calling should involve us in equipping and sending millions of lifetime laborers. To do that, we cannot limit our partnering efforts by asking other Christian organizations to join only our agenda. Paul McKaughan, former director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Missions Agencies, put it this way, “Partnership means we are willing to listen and support the dreams and aspirations God has given to others.”

Learning Environment

Breakthroughs in missions have always come from people who were willing to look at the Great Commission from a different angle. Our own movement was born out of a different way of looking at the Great Commission. Bill and Vonette Bright chose to go to the university, an innovation in itself. Staff members came to staff training and reported what they had tried that was working. The ministry grew as best practices became common practices and spread throughout the ministry. To fulfill our mission, we must continue to foster this kind of learning that has been a part of our history.

Shared Leadership

The Great Commission will only be fulfilled when there are enough true followers of Jesus in every corner of the earth who own the fulfillment of the Great Commission, who establish movements of spiritual multiplication and who spread the gospel to everyone within their reach. It is a simple plan; but at the center of it are groups of highly committed leaders, who internalize the vision and are prepared to sacrifice to achieve it.

I hope this helps you begin to understand and apply these key, profound principles. There will be much more on this in the months to come.

It is a joy for Judy and me to serve the Lord together with you.

Change

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I assume you have heard that there are some changes in the wind for our ministry. It’s true, and I would like to invest this month’s article in sharing some with you about it.

Let me start from the beginning. Our ministry received a special calling from God to help fulfill the Great Commission. As Bill Bright elaborated on our part in that massive task, he clarified that our emphasis was spiritual multiplication – winning, building, and sending in the power of the Holy Spirit. Second Timothy 2:2 was our theme verse in that regard.

So our calling and mission are basically fulfilled at the local level. Whether on campus, in the executive board room or in a home in the inner city, we encourage teams of like-hearted, Christ-centered, multiplying disciples to “reach their worlds” for Christ.

In 2002 God gave the vision for movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus. That just reconfirmed that our most critical point of success is “local.”

The reason I am reviewing these familiar facts is to say that our main reason for any changes is simply to do those even better.

Over a period of many years, we have begun to suffer from what happens to most Christian organizations:

• • Some drifting of direction
  • Slowing of growth
  • Decreasing flexibility to respond to changes in the marketplace

There are a number of places in Campus Crusade for Christ where this isn’t true. But on the average these trends are present.

Now, we could ignore that we need to sharpen what we do and eventually decline severely. Or we can deal squarely with the issues and fully redeem the opportunities I believe God has prepared beforehand for us.

To the leaders of the ministry the choice was clear: Let’s prayerfully plan and take action to do even better. You have and will continue to hear more from your ministry’s leaders, but let me summarize a few broad strokes of what we sense God has led us to do:

• 1. Call us to renewed, extreme dependence on God. I have started to fast one meal a day to begin to prepare my own heart for what that might mean. If Bill Bright were here, I feel certain he would call us to be sure our hearts are filled with our “first love” for God.
  2. Make certain we have an organizational culture in our ministry that features our values (faith, growth and fruitfulness), ownership of movement building at the local level and a learning environment (to help us keep creating improved or new strategies, training and materials as the marketplace shifts). There are a few other culture change elements as well.  (For more information see the Call for Culture Change article at www.shapingourfuture.me/callforculturechange.)
  3. Plan with boldness to take full advantage of the way God is providing opportunities today. We want to make the most of the next 10 years, in cooperation with others in the Body of Christ who are sensing that same urgency.
  4. Change our structure as needed to maximize our focus on local success and to support these points above. We have always had that in mind, but we are working with area and country leadership to find ways to do that better.

As I mentioned earlier, from the beginning our desire was to motivate, train and support people around the world to help fulfill the Great Commission. We must develop more models of how to do that well. Those models will give vision and provide training for others. Our dream is self-sustaining, viral multiplication.  (For more on the rationale for these changes and on the details of the structural change watch the video at www.mygcx.org/OrganizationalChange.)

What I have just shared with you is an overview. It was the result of many months of praying, seeking input and discussing. But, no doubt, more time will be needed to move in that direction.

So what can you do in light of all this? Pray. Pray for wisdom as ministry leaders work out how this applies in their situations. Pray that God will give supernatural wisdom. Pray that God will also give peace. Change is uncomfortable for most of us. There is therefore a normal process of adjustment.

Finally, pray for yourself and the team with which you work. Ask God to show you things in your own walk with him which need to improve. Ask Him if there is anything in your personal ministry that could benefit from the culture change we are seeking. For example, could your disciples “own” more of the ministry in their spheres of influence?

Pray for God to infuse in you and those around you even more faith and creativity, to take advantage of the unusual opportunities God is giving around the world today.

Know this: We are not seeking to change anything which does not need to change. However, we do think there are things we can do to greatly accelerate the accomplishment of what God has called us to do.

Merry Christmas from the Douglass Family!

Thursday, December 24th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Always Learning

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

After the U.S. Staff Conference, our whole family vacationed together in the mountains of Colorado. It was a wonderful experience. We did so many things together. I’m sure there will be memories for years to come.

What else will be in my memories are some of the things I observed along the way:

God’s Majesty

When we took the gondola ride from the Vail Valley to the top of one of the ski runs, we were overwhelmed with the view. We got off at the top and walked to the scenic view platform, only to be even more impressed with the majesty of the mountain range before us.

The next day we drove more than 10 miles by dirt road to see Piney Lake. It was gorgeous, with pine trees covering the mountainside right down to the lake. We hiked a little way up onto an expansive meadow, green from the recent rains. I thought, these are just small pieces of earth which is a tiny part of God’s universe. Even so, these scenes give ample evidence of the majesty of the God who created them. In Romans 1:20, Paul states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…”

The Response of God’s Creation

In Psalm 98 we read, “Sing to the Lord a new song for He has done marvelous things…Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth; burst into jubilant song with music… Let the rivers clap their hands….” One morning we went whitewater rafting on the Colorado River. I don’t think it was very dangerous, although when a wave of water in the rapids drenched us, we weren’t totally sure. At the beginning of the article, you saw a picture of us in the thick of that. Later I thought of the connection between Psalm 98 and our experience. The river was “clapping its hands”. God’s creation was seemingly responding to the splendor of his creation. He had indeed “done marvelous things” and deserved a thunderous applause.

People’s Need for Christ

One day we went to a farmer’s market, walked around and sat for awhile to eat lunch. By us went a wide variety of people. Some were speaking languages besides English. Some wore jewelry and T-shirts suggesting eastern or humanistic worldviews. Many couples wheeling their babies in strollers were apparently unmarried.

The next day we went to Glenwood Springs and in the afternoon stopped by the “largest spring-fed pool in the world.” I had the opportunity to talk to a gentleman and his wife who were there. He was a “self-made success story.” He talked about his business enthusiastically.

As we conversed, he discovered that my educational background would have prepared me for a business career. Yet I obviously passed that by to pursue a career in ministry. He was very adverse to religion but seemed interested in my story. He said he didn’t like it when people tried to “convert” people. I responded that my purpose was simply to share with others something so good that I have spent the last 40 years talking about it.

We ran out of time as the kids were through swimming, but he and his wife gladly accepted a copy of the book Enjoying your Walk with God to fill in the details on what I had experienced with God. The satisfaction of his business career couldn’t touch the satisfaction of knowing God personally.

The Willingness of People to Take Risks

One night we sat in the stands of the Eagle County Rodeo. The announcer told us that the reward for winning an event was $100. Then I watched what people were willing to do for that $100. Some rode bucking broncos bareback. Several were thrown from the horses. Others rode bulls that seemed very angry. Most of them were thrown off, and a few were almost gored or trampled.

It occurred to me that if these people were willing to risk serious injury for a small reward, how much more should we, as Christians, be willing to risk for an infinitely more important reward. Is the dedication of our time and the risk of rejection too much of a price to pay to minister to others?

As you can see, while enjoying a fun-filled time with family, I was being schooled by the Lord. He is so majestic that even His creation responds. People desperately need the Lord, even if they think they don’t. People take risks for lesser causes; why shouldn’t we for the ultimate cause!