RE-Think Blogference

The posts from this year’s The Blogference authors have begun to arrive, and I could not be more excited! If you have participated in any of the previous online conferences–THANK YOU!

Rick James has served on the field and as an author with Campus Crusade for Christ for many years. His most recent book A Million Ways to Die explores the power that comes from dying to ourselves and allowing Christ to work through us.

As you know, innovation has been a hallmark for Campus Crusade from the very beginning. Bill Bright’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to begin on the college campus at UCLA. In the 1950s, few ministries or churches were focusing on students. It was a new and strategic idea.

Back in the 1960s there was no simple booklet that people could use as an “audio visual tool” to help them present the gospel personally. God used Bill Bright to distill what he was saying to students into what became the “Four Laws.” In the late 1970s there was no widely translated, very biblical, feature-length film on the life of Christ.

Is there a “right” way to share the gospel with someone?  Or is there a “best” way to share the gospel?

Certainly if you are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ like I am, then you have personally witnessed the Four Spiritual Laws, or its newer cousin, the Knowing God Personally (KGP) booklet, bear much fruit.  Perhaps you are even willing to say yes to those two questions after thinking of the 4-Laws/KGP.

We must train students effectively to live missionally. We talk about evangelism quite a bit. Through Bible studies, discipleship groups, and talks at the weekly meeting, we aim to cultivate students’ hearts for the lost.

The RE-Think Blogference exists to start ministry conversations and connect ministry starters.

Listen first, talk second.

Think about the people that you love to be around. Think about the people you respect, the people that you know care about you. What’s the common denominator? They listen.

Too often our evangelistic approach looks more like a firework display than a simmering fire.

Campus Crusade National’s Leadership have asked every campus team to come up with an Evangelism Plan for this year. As we talked through this at UC Davis it became clear that we needed to think critically about the evangelistic culture we are trying to build. We need to have tactics for the year that flow from our overall vision of reaching the campus. Through this important and lively discussion, a few disturbing trends about our approach to ministry emerged.

A great conversation happened on Twitter regarding evangelism and the first few weeks of school. Here’s a sample of the conversation:

The main goal of the RE-Think Blogference is to facilitate discussion on ministry philosophy to sharpen your ministry skills and connect you to other like-minded missional leaders.

We are launching a podcast to expand the amount of content and connections we can bring to your door via the internet!