As we press into the daily grind of 2019, set aside time to join me in checking / resetting our compass by prayerfully considering:
- Who is this Jesus I / we follow?
- Is Jesus my / our first love — receiving primary allegiance?
- Do I / we “trust and obey” — placing hope (short / long term) in Jesus?
- How do I / we share the love of Jesus with others in our messy context?
To provide resources for your reflection (personal and with friends), I encourage you to begin with Who is This Jesus? (2 min, 50 sec) and René Breuel’s exposition of Revelation 1:1-20 (24 min, 12 sec) from the Urbana Student Missions Conference. Note: If you were at Urbana 18, take the opportunity to invite others to process / reflect this experience with you.
As time permits over the course the next several days / weeks, explore the Urbana Student Missions Conference 2018 General Session Videos. When you do such, do not miss the thread of the exposition of the Book of Revelation and John Inazu’s challenge to Compassionate Confidence.
For more from Urbana 18 . . .
- don’t miss ESN News: A Leadership Transition and the summary of Equipping Christian Scholars at Urbana 18: The ESN Urbana Fellows Program, and
- stay tuned for the summary / audio of the 2018 Urbana The Secular Academy as a Mission Field: Panel Discussion.
To God be the glory!
Note: A little more on John Inazu . . . He is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion, Washington University. For Christianity Today, he wrote with Tim Keller a web piece: How Christians Can Bear Gospel Witness in an Anxious Age (6/20/2016). Furthermore, Inazu is the author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016). In 2015 he served on ESN’s Urbana Seminar Panel Discussion (summary, audio).
Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!
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