Prayer

Over the last few months we have been thinking and talking a lot about prayer.  So, I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts:

1.) Do it!- I can think and talk a lot, but do I actually believe prayer works- the only way to show that is by actually going to our gracious Lord in prayer.

2.) Trust God for BIG things.  I have been continually amazed at what engages my heart the most in prayer, and that is praying for big things from our big God who loves to answer prayer and glorify His name.  When we ask Him for big things we are acknowledging his power and if he answers them, it could only have been from him.

3.) Be Patient.  We must trust that he is both sovereign and good and be patient, knowing that he knows what he is doing and how he will do it.  This helps us realize that sometimes the best answers are the ones that he leaves unanswered because he is all-wise and not only knows what is best for us, but accomplishes that for his glory and our good.

4.) Listen to as many people talk about prayer as possible, and read good books.  Stories of other people and their prayers are awesome, inspiring, convicting, and encouraging.  Here is one that I listened to from the Desiring God Pastors Conference on Prayer by Francis Chan- it's awesome.  Check it out here!

Update from Ball State

So, what is going on at Ball State while we are off campus raising support- lots!  Over a dozen students have placed faith in Jesus already this year- how exciting.  Here is a little update taken from an article that our Team Leader Corey Schumacher wrote for our church:

What’s your perspective?

This is a question that the CRU movement has been asking Ball State students over the past three weeks as a part of our fall outreach.  While the final week was the actual outreach, weeks one and two were spent in intercessory prayer on behalf of the campus, and training the movement to engage in outreach using a CRU-published evangelism tool called “perspective” cards (not unlike a deck of playing cards). The movement boldly initiated spiritual conversations with non-Christians in order to get their perspective on the nature of God, the meaning and purpose of life, and other related questions.  Then, after listening to their perspective, we kindly ask for an opportunity to share ours, which gives us the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Over the course of one week, hundreds of students were invited into a spiritual conversation, talking about life’s most important questions.

Sadly, most students give little to no thoughtful reflection on these questions. One student named Scott told me “I don’t really have a perspective.” Despite this reality, the Lord uses outreaches like these on a number of levels.  Consider how many students are thinking about spiritual realties this week as a direct result of those conversations.  Consider that more than 160 students received training to use this tool in order to initiate spiritual conversations with strangers, many of whom have never taken such bold steps to publicly identify themselves with the name of Jesus through this outreach.  What about all those people who in the future will come to know Christ as their savior as Cru students graduate from BSU with training and power to initiate gospel conversations around the world? And we can’t forget about Nicki, a Chinese international student who placed her trust in Christ after going through the “perspectives” cards with some of our students.

What’s even more amazing is that while weeks one and two were meant to be preparatory for our final stage of the outreach, the Lord decided to use those two weeks to do more in our midst than we could have ever imagined! Having just arrived home from our annual Fall Retreat, and beginning our prayer week, nearly half a dozen students placed their trust in Christ, all because of prayer! One of those freshman who placed his faith in Christ at Fall Retreat, attended a seminar on evangelism that same day and during prayer week already shared his new-found faith with two students on campus, all the while calling our men to step up to the plate and do the same! That same week, while a group of cru students were praying fervently for our campus, a Japanese international student interrupted the prayer meeting saying, “I want to know who this Jesus is.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Though 300 staff and students attended our fall retreat, more than a dozen students have received Christ, many others have altered their future career plans in order to serve the Lord in ministry, we simply cannot put a number on all that the Lord has done this fall. But one thing we do know, the Lord is working, and in surprising ways.

For more information on the ministry of Cru at Ball State click HERE.

ONE YEAR OLD!

Tyko turned 1 on November 17th! It was so exciting to get to celebrate with friends and family, watch Tyko open presents and eat cake. We are constantly in awe of God's grace that we get to participate in the expansion of His Kingdom, not only through our full-time job, but also through raising our son to know Jesus and make Him known! 

Party Time!

Yes..

Who are these people?

Just some friends!

Elephant!

Even our cat joined the festivities!

Center of the fun!

Kids toys are hard to put together!

INDY CC

God is greater than _____ in your life. This is the message that over 2,000 college students will hear this December at our annual winter conference. We are excited that we get to be a part of this life-changing event again this year. It will be great to connect with students and staff from Ball State and help students to experience the gospel and be transformed. God uses this conference every year to call students into relationship with himself, to call them to lifetime ministry, to call them to the ends of the earth, to call them to be a part of something greater. He did this in our lives and we trust He will do it again because our God is greater than!

Check out more at http://indycc.org/

God is Greater promo video from Indy CC on Vimeo.

Michindoh!

Us with our support coach Scott and some other New Staff!

"I love the job that God has called us to!" This was our response after we attended a conference last week in Michigan as a follow-up to our training this summer, specifically personal ministry fund development. It was a great reminder of our calling and our great love for Campus Crusade for Christ and the work God has given to us.  We were reminded of the need for prayer, the need to be engaged in the spiritual battle we are in, and the need for community.  We also got to take part in some financial stewardship training, which was a great blessing to us as new staff.  Ultimately we are more encouraged and excited then ever to see God provide as we invite people to be a part of what he is doing so that we can get back to campus to take the gospel of God's grace to lost and dying students.

Persistent Prayer

The all-powerful, all-knowing living God of the universe hears the prayers of his people and 

accomplishes his purposes in the world through those persistent prayers. King Hezekiah of Israel was 

a praying man. In the book of Isaiah, we have two miraculous chapters showing how God answered 

his prayers. The first is for deliverance from his enemies and the second is deliverance from death. 

Why would God answer his prayer? Better yet, why would he answer ours? After all, we're not the King 

of His people. We find the answer in Isa. 37:35, "For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake 

and for the sake of my servant David." God answers the prayers of His people for the sake of His glory 

and because of David?  Yes, God is faithful to the promise he made to David- which finds its fulfillment 

in Jesus. So if we are in Jesus, God will hear our prayers and respond because of Jesus' life and death 

on our behalf! What mercy and grace! I bring all this up, because when we are raising our financial 

support we find that God shows us how much we need the prayers of His people because that is how 

he delights to respond and act. So, attached is a card with the details of our prayer invitation. We are 

inviting you to intercede with us for the sake of God's glory at Ball State and beyond by raising our 

financial support quickly so we can return to campus and trumpet the good news of Jesus to lost and 

dying students. Please cut out the card and put it in a prominent location (in your bible, on your 

bathroom mirror, in your car, on your fridge, attached to your eyeglasses, anywhere really) and take 

just 5 minutes every day until the LORD raises our support to pray specifically and persistently for Him 

to provide. If we all do this as a team we could intercede for over 5000 minutes each week!! We thank 

you each so much for this and for your partnership in the LORD! 

Thoughts on the Book of Acts: Part 2 (Acts 2:14-41)

One of the characteristics of the book of Acts that I noticed in the overview is the Holy Spirit empowering ordinary people for extraordinary things. Now, what do I mean by extraordinary? Well, I think by looking at the very first sermon by Peter on the day of Pentecost just after the Spirit was given should give us a clue as to what I mean by extraordinary and how it can apply to us.
Now here as with any passage it is important for us to set the scene and not just look at these verses in isolation from the rest of the story. The scene for Peter's sermon is the day of Pentecost, which came 50 days after the Passover, when Jesus was crucified. The apostles appear to be celebrating this harvest festival in or near the temple grounds as over 3,000 people gather to hear Peter's sermon. So, who has gathered, well the text says that "devout men from every nation under heaven" were in Jerusalem, so we can assume that these people had traveled here for the festival along with the resident Jews of Jerusalem who would be celebrating the festival. Certainly many if not all of the Sanhedrin (the ruling council of the Jews) and those who persecuted and killed Jesus not two months previously are present. This I think shows the point of the Holy Spirit's empowerment more than anything. Why? How did Peter respond to these people the last time he was with them according to Scripture:
Luke 22:54-62
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him."
57 But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him."
58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not."
59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean."
60 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."
62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Fearful Peter denies Christ to save his life. But now:

Acts 2:14-41
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
25 For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.'
29 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.'
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Peter boldly proclaims Jesus as the Christ and even charges those present with his death. What a difference! The only answer is the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of Peter. So what is the difference between Peter- an ordinary man and Peter- a spirit-filled extraordinary witness? Before being filled with the Spirit Peter denies Christ out of fear, when filled with the Spirit he proclaims Jesus boldly, without regard to his life. Remember these same people cried "crucify him" not even two months previous to this one that Peter proclaims as "Lord and Christ" (vs. 36). Now, this is a unique event in one sense and a regular event in another. It is unique because Peter was a Christian without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when he denied Christ and after Pentecost experienced a radical change in his Christian life- the gift of the Holy Spirit. But, since Pentecost- the Holy Spirit is given upon conversion to Christ so their are no Christians that do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. But, I call this a regular event in another sense, because this is what the Spirit of God still does today, empowering ordinary people to become extraordinary witnesses to who Jesus is and what He has done. Be encouraged therefore, that you don't have to have all the answers, all the knowledge, all the skills in evangelism (though those are good things to pursue) but you must simply believe in Jesus, trust him alone for your salvation and you can know that you are empowered for ministry with this exact same Holy Spirit. He lives in you and I in the very same way and for the same purpose: empowering extraordinary witness to the grace of God in Jesus Christ for His Glory!


-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Touchdown Tyko

Touchdown Tyko from Josh Holowell on Vimeo.

-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Thoughts on the Book of Acts: Part 1

Acts: Overview Thoughts

It would be very easy to say that the book of Acts is about Paul, or Peter, or the early church, but that would be wrong. They may play a prominent role in what appears to be the spotlight, but they are really dropping to the background to let God take his rightful spot as the main character of the story. Acts is about the sovereign God who reigns using His people: the church, for His purposes: the expansion of His kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel, to His glory.
For New Testament Survey we read through the whole book, tracing the apostles steps and particularly Paul's movements, and meditating on the activity of the early Church.
Here are some initial thoughts and then I hope to write a few meditations on some passages that really struck me while reading.

1. The Holy Spirit empowers ordinary people for extraordinary things as the gospel stretches throughout the known world. The apostles and the early Christians are regenerated, empowered, led, controlled, and comforted by the Holy Spirit. They speak, act, think, move, go, stay, change course, all at His direction and leading. They play the background while he takes center stage to use them for the glory of God.

2. The gospel goes forth through suffering and persecution. Through the stoning of Stephen and the first persecution on the church, God sends his people into the nations to proclaim Jesus. And throughout the entire expansion of the early church in Acts there is suffering associated with the expansion of God's kingdom.

3. The radical nature of the gospel. Economies are overturned as people stop idol worship, people sell everything they own, the apostles suffer the loss of all things including their life, and every decision is made in regards to God's glory as the good news of Jesus expands. There just is not room for lukewarmness towards Jesus.

4. Missionary zeal. Paul and the apostles travel so much, so fast. They stay long enough to plant churches, get elders rooted in the gospel, entrust them with the local ministry and then move on. They see God's heart for all nations and desire to proclaim the gospel where it has not yet been heard.

5. This is the most important feature, I think, and the one that I alluded to earlier: the sovereignty of God, which makes Him the main character. When I think of passages that teach the sovereignty of God in planning, ordaining, and accomplishing all things in accordance with his will, I think of Romans 8 and 9, Ephesians 1, Proverbs 16, or the book of John. But, I think that the whole of the book of Acts creates one of the strongest biblical cases for it, and gives us an insight into why God has set it up this way: the expansion of his kingdom through the salvation of sinners by the grace of the gospel to his glory. We see throughout Acts the sovereignty of God in ordaining the cross (2:23, 3:18, 4:27-28), calling and appointing people to eternal life (2:39, 2:41, 2:47, 5:14, 11:24, 13:48), and in God granting faith and repentance to people (3:16, 5:31, 11:18, 15:8-9, 16:14, 18:27). It's also seen in the providence of God in things as simple as Paul's heritage and upbringing. A Jew and a Roman citizen, trained in the law as a Pharisee and able to engage with Greeks and Romans. The perfect heritage to be the apostle to the Gentiles and take the gospel to literally every major world leader. This is no accident but planned by God for His glory and the salvation of sinners.

All of these things are very encouraging for ministry, challenging for my walk with Jesus, and beautiful displays of who God is and how he works.



I thought of a great deal of this after a day at Panera reading Acts and listening to the song "Background" by Lecrae on his album Rehab.
Here is the music video, enjoy:
Lecrae "Background" ft. C-Lite from Rive Video on Vimeo.

You can buy the full album on iTunes.


-In Christ alone,
Josh Holowell

New Testament Survey

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. - 2nd Timothy 2:15

Paul exhorts Timothy to be one who can rightly handle God's word because Paul knew very well that "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). It is through the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts and gives people faith. So rightly handling the word of truth is of utmost importance for ministers of the gospel. That is why, during our season of support raising, we are continuing our ministry training by taking a New Testament Survey Course. This course gives the background information, themes, authors, and a general overview for the New Testament. At the end we will be able to better navigate the scriptures and proclaim them boldly, knowing Christ and making Him known. We are so excited for the opportunity to continue learning about the world at the time our Lord walked the earth so that others can encounter Him through our witness. It has been a great time of confirming the Lord's call on our life to be heralds of the good news of Jesus. Thank you for making this essential time of training and preparation possible. Please pray that we would study diligently and be doers of the word ourselves and not blind guides.



-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Our Crazy Boy

Tyko loves the Kitty from Josh Holowell on Vimeo.



-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Psalm 143 and God is the Gospel

I just finished reading God is the Gospel by John Piper. It is a wonderful exposition on why God himself is the best and final gift of the gospel.
As I was reading the book I had a chance to meditate a little on Psalm 143, so here is the Psalm and some of my thoughts on how delighting in God as the final gift of the gospel and the events of the gospel relate.

Psalm 143:
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge!
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

David appeals to God's character for his deliverance, for his salvation. He does this because he knows he is not righteous before God "for no one living is righteous before you" (v. 2). So if God would act he must act out of his own free gracious character, his own faithfulness, his own righteousness. It must also be as David appeals "For your name's sake, O LORD." If God is to act on David's behalf, David knows it must be born in the character of God and not him, and ultimately for the glory of God and not him.

David knows this because God is his greatest delight, "my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (v. 6). But at the same time, David thirsts for God like this because he understands the depth of free grace in the character of God, and his purpose in acting- his glory.

There I think is the key to the relationship- they both feed each other. Meditating on gospel events (the free grace of God given in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus) fuels a passion for delighting in God himself. That passion for God then fuels a desire to dwell deeply in the gospel for it is "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2nd Cor. 4:6).

But this righteous and holy delight in God is only good news to an unrighteous sinner like me if it is freely given. And it is! It is only in His righteousness (Christ's) that we can come and thirst for God. So let us pray with David "Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." (v.8). The steadfast covenant love of God poured out on us through Jesus on the cross frees us to delight in God and His glory.

-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

The Encouragement of Conditional Promises

I have been meaning to write this post for a while but just haven't gotten around to it. This is mainly from a book I read earlier in the year A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge. The book is a collection of 13 sermons Bridge preached on Psalm 42:11 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." This particular sermon is a lifting up in the lack of assurance.
One of the things that Bridge brings up to lift up his people in the time of discouragement is the promises of God. But he as a good Puritan "physician of the soul" asks the objections that a person would have in banking on the promises of God for encouragement and assurance. One objection that he raises and then answers is that of conditional promises.

"Oh, you reply, but yet, when I go to the Scripture, I find that God's promise still runs upon some condition, and I cannot perform that condition. I do not find that condition in myself; and therefore I fear that I may not go to these promises and that I have no right to them."

He answers this question in several ways, but two are striking to me. The first is that the condition of some promises in Scripture is the promise of other promises. An example:

Repentance is the condition of the promise in 2 Chron. 6:36-40- "36 "If they sin against you-for there is no one who does not sin-and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near,
37 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,'
38 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,
39 then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place."

And yet, repentance is the promise of Ezekiel 36:26 - "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

Faith and coming to Christ is the condition of the promise in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And in John 6:37 it is the thing promised: "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

Obedience is required in one promise: Isa. 1:19 "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land" and promised in Ezekiel 36:27 "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

So, the point of this is not that we should not repent or obey, or come to Christ in faith, but that we should see great encouragement in conditional promises because in Christ for God's people they are promised by God in His mercy and grace. So we can cleave to the promise of repentance and faith in Christ because God has done everything for our salvation and promised the very conditions of it! What grace upon grace! We can be assured and run to the promises.

The second striking thing he noted was that if we are in Christ, he has perfectly performed the condition for us and his covenant keeping obedience is credited to us! What could be better. We have not met the conditions, true, but Jesus has done it perfectly and we are in union with Him by faith. So, Christian, take hold of Christ and the promises of God, especially the conditional ones, for there we see that God's grace not only true but over-abundant and wonderful.


-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Same People, Same Passion

You may have seen in the news that we are entering the process of changing our name from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru. The decision was announced at our national staff conference and will go into effect in early 2012. We are very excited about this new change. But, because it is a change, and because some of the news coverage has been unfair with some unfounded claims, let me explain it here briefly. The only thing that is changing is the name of the US ministries. That's it. We are still the exact same people with the exact same passion for boldly presenting the gospel so that everyone in the world gets an opportunity to respond to Jesus. The name change in no way was done for the sake of political correctness or because of us being ashamed of the gospel, but was done for the sake of the name of Jesus being lifted high. This name allows us to be more effective (and has already been in use for many years on college campuses like Ball State as many of you know) because it removes people's preconceptions about who we are and allows us to engage in conversations about Jesus more easily, removing as many stumbling blocks to the gospel as we can. The leadership of our organization has done an exemplary job in leading us through this process and presented compelling research to show that we will be more effective in bearing witness to the gospel. So, really, we are the same people with the same passion, but a new name.




-In Christ alone,
The Holowell's (Josh, Whitney and Tyko)

Spiritual Multiplication

This is a pretty cool video on spiritual multiplication.
It's why we do what we do.

Kelvin: A Spiritual Multiplication Story from Rick James on Vimeo.




If Whitney and I each shared the gospel and saw 2 people come to faith each year for 32 years we would have 64 new brothers and sisters in Christ.
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
= 64

But if each one of us shared the gospel and saw 2 people come to faith and then disciples them to share the gospel and they each saw 2 people come to faith and disciples them to do the same and so on... Then....


2 ^ 32
= 4294967296



Beginning with only two persons and using this simple, continuous cycle of discipling, or spiritual multiplication, the entire world could be totally evangelized and saturated with the gospel in only thirty-two subsequent steps because two, multiplied by itself thirty-two times, equals the population of the world!
- Bill Bright

Amazing!

So the point is to say, share the gospel wide and far and then disciple those that come to faith to do likewise. Just as 2nd Timothy 2:2 commands us:

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Duties, Diapers, and Delights

The last 3 years have been full of major transitions for us. From single students, to married students, to married ministers of the gospel full-time, to now: married parents and ministers of the gospel full-time. It has not been without its challenges, joys, and sorrows, but the Lord has sustained us through all of these and let us maintain the joy of our salvation. We wanted to let all of you into our lives in this new reality for us of parenthood and what it has looked like for each of us.

Whitney: Motherhood is a full-time job. And transitioning from being on campus most of the day every day to being at home most of the day every day has been harder than I thought it would be. I had some naive notions before Tyko was born that I could just bring him along to everything and that it would be sort of normal. That has not been true. But, it has been great. I still get to spend several hours each day doing ministry in various forms, whether that is discipling girls, bible study, training, or staff functions, it is great to stay involved in the ministry here at Ball State. We have also developed through this a vision for our family that we want our children (yes, we want more) to be involved and grow up in this ministry learning from us and our students that life is about knowing Jesus and making Him known. So, Tyko comes on campus with me and to staff functions (which is not to bad- he is kind of a stud- so he is pretty well liked). It has been a good but hard transition full of great joy. I truly love my new role and where God has placed me.

Josh: So, this year has been a lot harder and a lot more joyful than I thought it would be. Being a dad is awesome. Being a dad is hard. Being a full-time minister of the gospel is awesome. Being a full-time minister of the gospel is hard. I have learned that to glorify God with my life and my time is going to take a great deal of discipline and grace. I need to spend time with Jesus, serve my wife and son, lead and disciple the greek men, and fulfill my staff duties. In that I have been tempted to pity myself and my workload, but by God’s grace alone, I have joyfully accepted it and pursued it fully. I am most excited to disciple my son (and future kids) to know Jesus and make Him known. Its a cool thought. So, what does my day look like. Well, I do staff/planning things in the morning, ministry on campus during the day, dinner time with Whitney and Tyko, and some nights with bible studies or meetings on campus. It looks like a day full of duties, diapers, and delights, Jesus, his glory, and his grace. Its different each day, crazy most days, and tons of fun. I can truly say that I am excited for where God has us and where He is taking us. We love our job, and our family. Thank you so much for making all of this possible through your prayers and support- it truly makes our lives possible! We thank God for you often!

Operation World by Jason Mandryk

This book is awesome! Every Christian should own this book to learn how to pray for the world. This book lists every country of the world, identifying specific prayer requests, unreached people groups and prayers that God has answered. It has helped us so much in learning how to pray that we would “Declare his glory among all the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:3). Would you take up the banner of prayer for the nations and intercede with us that all people groups would come to know Jesus and worship Him rightly?

Unity

Is Christian unity possible or just a dream? Can different denominations and organizations that claim to follow Christ get along and work together? Can we have an effective witness to the campus and to the world without it?

These are the questions that we will seek to sort through this year at the unity service at Ball State. Every year all the Christian organizations on campus get together to plan a worship service for Ball State christians to come together as one body to worship the Lord. I (Josh) get the humbling privilege to speak this year at the Unity service. My message is going to really focus on one thing- unity is a means to an end. By that I mean that unity is not the end goal and that unity for the sake of unity is nothing, because it is ultimately about us and our glory showing the world what we can do. We have seen that before (Gen. 11) in the tower of Babel and that didn’t go so well. God judged that unity. But, unity is a good thing when it is a means for something greater: God’s glory displayed in the person and work of Jesus. When unity is about worshiping Jesus, then we have something. When its about showing our campus that we have something that is worth laying aside our differences for, that is worth worshiping, that is worth sacrifices, that is worth our unity, then we have something that will cause someone to take notice. (I’m still working on my message- so I might be slipping into writing my sermon manuscript right here!) When we get this right, that unity is ultimately not about unity but about Jesus, then God can use that for incredible things. Please pray with us that God would use this service and my message to challenge the Christians (and draw non-christians to Himself) to not pursue unity to make themselves look great, but to display how great Jesus truly is in Himself!

Coker Creek, TN

33 men in the woods together is either a recipe for disaster or intense community and fellowship. This spring break I (Josh) got the opportunity to spend the week with two other staff guys and 30 students from our movement at a small Christian camp in Coker Creek, Tennessee. It was an awesome trip that accomplished everything we were praying for it to accomplish. We were able to spend quality time together discussing what biblical manhood is and how to love Jesus as men. We studied the word and read theology together and individually, we did manly things outside together, and we came back as a unified community ready to know Jesus and make Him known here at Ball State. There were several men on the trip that were involved with CRU but didn’t really feel a part of the community until this trip. I was able to witness guys love on them well and pursue them with Jesus and see real community develop. It is hard to tangibly measure the fruit of a trip like this, but I pray that it will create at least 33 men who love Jesus for a lifetime and become godly men, husbands, and fathers.

So far...

This is a list of the books we have recommended in our prayer letters. This list is partially because I keep forgetting what we have written about and so I wanted a place to reference. Enjoy:

1.Living the Cross Centered Life by CJ Mahaney
2.Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
3.The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington
4.God's Big Picture by Vaughn Roberts
5.How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Fee and Stuart
6.The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall
7.Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
8.What is the Gospel by Greg Gilbert
9.Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
10.Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll
11.The ESV Study Bible
12.The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer

The book recommendations will continue, so please enjoy the Triune Living God through these resources!


In Christ alone,

Josh Holowell