Genesis and deer hunting

My brother made a patch for a wedding quilt my church put together for joanna and i that quoted Genesis 1:28 that states "And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves over the earth." Then he put a blaze orange patch symbolizing deer hunting. This weekend was opening weekend of deer hunting, and i subdued a good 10 point buck on Saturday. Bigger than last year's, but not quite as big as i thought it was when i shot.
I've been talking to a lot of people lately who are interested in how the Old Testament and New Testament go together ot how the OT is used in the NT. I'd like to highlight a bew commentary coming out by Carson and Beale on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but Mark Dever has good things to say, and that usually means it's good stuff. You can find it on the monergism website.

update

Well,
I just got back from a bunch of IV staff training in IL. One of my favorite parts was the long car ride, and it was a blessing to talk to Gus and Ben and Josh on the way. The training was good, we learned more about how to manage our time wisely and let our student leaders lead. I need to work on managing my time wisely. This week i am taking a few days off to hunt deer, and it will be good to get a bit of a break. I am realizing how easy it is to put in close to twice as much ministry time as campus staff are supposed to do. I have to work on not burning out and cherishing my time with the woman who will be my wife in two weeks.
I am thinking about the differences between accountability and discipleship, and hoping to encourage many of my students to be discipled. Any thoughts on the differences between true discipleship and just accountability would be greatly appreciated! I'll post again as soon as i get a chance!

#20

I checked my box of steel shot shells this morning to confirm my suspicions. Yup, 10 shells used since duck season began, and 10 ducks in the bag. That's not to say i haven't missed, i missed twice, but somehow got 2 bids with one shot on two separate occasions. That's a story of God's grace. Joanna and i have been able to eat enough duck and give a few away as well.
Thursday is my chosen day off, which sometimes means something and sometimes not. Today I am only filling out a few reports and doing some assigned reading. Also a few phone calls and emails, but not too much. This morning Ben and i were hanging out and we decided to make one more attempt at a musky. It was cold. Somehow a porky 38 inch musky mustered up enough energy to hit my big bait on a figure 8. My real was frozen and i couldn't release the spool for a bit, but we got it figured out eventually. Nice fish; rounded off the number to 20 on the year in the canoe.
I'm getting ready to leave tomorrow for another week, this time to Illinois for staff training. If you don't hear from me much the next month, don't worry. I'll be in Illinois, deer hunting, Thanksgiving, Madison, getting married, and i think a conference in St. Loius is in there somewhere as well. That's all coming up in the next month. I'm VERY thankful for Joanna's work on the wedding planning. It's true i don't have much time, but i'd also rather light myself on fire than do most of the stuff she's been doing.
I'll check in at some point soon to shoot out a quick update, but i hope to see many of you at the wedding December 1st!

Fall Conference

Fall Conference 2007 is over, leaving 600 students pumped to bring the gospel back their campuses and a handful of staff drained and needing sleep. I have to give some credit to my old boss David, who directed the entire event, and there was not a single visible glitch. It was also the smoothest check-in process we've ever had, mostly thanks to the hard work of my good friend Dave, our regional administrator.
To make some long stories short, when the dust settled at the conference center there were about 15 students who God had reconciled to himself. I helped lead a study on Luke, chapters 10-15, and the students there seemed to come away with a renewed passion for evangelism on their campuses and a new sense of why InterVarsity exists.
It is such a blessing to be able to watch God's Truth and Spirit change students so much in just a few days. He has done great things, and I am in feeling blessed to be able to watch it as a campus staff.

prayer

Sola Scriptura

Solus Christus

Sola Fide

Sola Gratia

Soli Deo Gloria

Happy Reformation Day y'all!

In the spirit of reformation, last week was a big week in changing student's perceptions of why InterVarsity exists on campus. We had a night for praying for the campus and our lost friends on Monday at large group. At one point, David, our chapter president, got up and asked the chapter what they thought IV was for. Many responded with things like "fellowship," or "spiritual nourishment," or "teaching from God's Word." It was horrifying, but i cannot say i was surprised. So David asked what the local church was for. "The same stuff" was the normal response. He asked why we are re-creating a church service on campus, and then challenged us with our specialized purpose, to be an evangelistic extension of the local church which engages the campus with the gospel. We are here to, by the power of God, seek and win the lost and build up The Church. It was an exciting time as i saw a few light bulbs go on in people's minds, but we have a long road ahead of us to change years of an inward-focused tradition.
Prayer is such an important thing. I've been blessed with many people who pray for me and with me, and it is the most encouraging thing in my ministry. I think God knows i have needed a lot of prayer recently. One great story pointing to this is of Caleb, the 2 year old son of my mentor Ben and his wife. For the past few weeks every night when his parents pray with him he wants to pray for me, and I've been thinking that this kid's perseverence in prayer puts me to shame. At any rate, I am leaving in a few hours to go to our Fall Conference, where all of the IV chapters from Wisconsin and the UP are coming together for a weekend of training. We are going to be talking a lot about prayer and an evangelistic vision with the Stevens Point students, and I am very excited for that. I'll write an update when i get back Sunday night or Monday morning. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!