Moving to Orlando: Praises & Prayer Requests (October newsletter)

Yes, after 6 moves in 18 months of marriage, we’re moving again.

We move back to Orlando on December 1!

We’re almost done seeing God raise our financial support as a couple. We’re so grateful to the Lord for calling us to this adventure and providing a team to link arms with us.

What a thrill to be a part of helping Cosmin — read Cosmin’s story — and others experience life change!

Prayer Requests:

• Housing in Orlando. We’re looking for a short-term lease that will give us time to figure out a long-term housing plan in Orlando. So glad that God determines the times set for us and the exact places in which we should live (Acts 17:26).
• Transition with regard to moving: leaving family, friends, church
• Reengaging in Orlando: Angie returning to her role in the corporate communications office, Scott starting a new role on the IT/computer team (read more about our roles), reconnecting with friends, finding a church as a couple, and continuing to trust the Lord for strength and not leaning on our own understanding.

 

My Résumé or His? (September newsletter)

Résumé-writing professionals, I heard on the radio, now demand upwards of $350 for their services. That page-long document is often a make-or-break reflection of a person’s accomplishments and abilities. The tricky thing about a long list of paper applause is that, a good thing for your career life is a horrible thing for your spiritual life.

I was reminded of that last month as I sat in a green plastic arena chair.

Tim Keller, the morning Bible teacher at our recent Campus Crusade U.S. Staff Training in Colorado, spoke of a VPR—our Validating Performance Record, a spiritual résumé, of sorts.

It can look different for each of us since it’s about where we might find our significance. Where is my success depicted? How do I justify my existence?

• Job title
• The professional or personal project just completed
• House, car or bank accounts
• Children
• Ministry

“The world believes,” says Tim, “that if there’s a God, He must work the same way as the world does—seeing their [résumé].”

This was my story. Well, in part. I knew that my salvation was a gift—by faith alone. Yet a strange thing happened after my decision to follow Jesus. Slowly—like slime oozing down a wall—I started living the Christian life like it was up to me.

Tim gave a great analogy of this wrong thinking. It’s like you’ve been a prisoner. By grace of the judge you’ve been released and are free. But with no clothes, no friends, no job, you set out to prove yourself. Thank you God for taking my sin and setting me free. Now, I’m going to be so good. You’ll be proud. I’m going to read my Bible and I vow I’m going to be nice to that one coworker who drives me crazy. You just wait and see.

That was an exhausting way to attempt to live. Exhausting and it didn’t work. Just like how I couldn’t be good enough on my own to earn salvation, I can’t be good enough on my own to live out the Christian life.

I understood the forgiveness part of my new life in Christ but was oblivious to the new reality—a divine swap, of sorts. Justification. Jesus took my sin. I get His righteousness. (See Romans 3:20-24, 28.) He becomes my VPR, my spiritual résumé. Wow. When I understand this, gone is the striving. I don’t need to prove myself. Like Paul in Philippians 3, I can list my résumé and pronounce it like a garbage pile.

Marcus Lohn (sp?) says, “To speak of forgiveness is to say, ‘You may go, you’ve been let off of your penalty.’ But to speak of justification is to say, ‘You may come.’”

Come.

Come to the One who has laid down His life for me and has given me His very identity and His power to live the Christian life.

Sitting in Moby Arena as Marcus Lohn’s words were said, tears came. How much I needed to be reminded that the Christian life isn’t just one of being let off the hook; it’s one where the Father looks at me and says, “Angie, come. All I have is yours.”

Then, I looked at the 7,000 of us in that room—full-time Christian workers who, just like me, probably really needed to hear that.

Then, I thought about those who will hear about Jesus from those 7,000 pair of lips.

At the very least, my pair of lips speak a little differently since my time in Colorado, after being reminded of the invitation to put down my résumé and simply come.

by Guy Gerrard, used with permission

 

upgrading our white-walled bedroom

The white walls begged to be covered, albeit only for a few months. After asking friends for ideas, I headed out to Tuesday Morning and found a steal copper-colored satin panels and a curtain rod with a little personality.

With power drill in hand (thank you friends for the wedding gift) and borrowed dill bits from Dan, our new next door neighbor, Scott hung the no-window window covering.

The first morning I woke up and thought I was in a hotel room. For 2.3 seconds.

Thanks, Kimba, for your great blog and the kick-in-the-pants I needed with your DIY day challenge.

 

Planting Seeds in Greece

John enrolled in a Gardening 101 class this summer similar to Angie’s.

Yet so different. His class just happened to be held in Athens, Greece.

The “class” goes by another name—the Greece Summer Project. Thirty-eight Campus Crusade college students and staff members embarked upon a five-week mission trip to Athens. There they found a people very similar to those Paul met, almost 2,000 years ago.

“In our time there we didn’t see anyone come to faith and only a handful of students seemed to be interested to hear what we had to say,” says the Texas State student (back row, second from right). “And the long-term staff members have been there for two years and haven’t seen a single person [say yes to Jesus]. This gave us a deeper understanding of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. If someone wanted an accurate description of the Greeks we met, all they would have to do is open up to chapter 17 of Acts and see. Their mentality back then matches what it is now.”

Greece was the first European country to be evangelized (Acts 16:10), but Christianity is now more cultural than spiritual, with only 2% of the population in any kind of church on an average Sunday. Only 15,000 (0.04%) have a vital relationship with Christ in Greece today.

The need is great.

John continues, “The time in Greece was one of the greatest experiences of my life. We abided in Christ because of our absolute need for Him.”

“Since coming back to the States,” says John, “all I’ve wanted is to be back in Greece, crammed into a tiny room with six other [summer project] guys, walking up to campus three days a week and having cigarette smoke blown in my face while trying to engage students in spiritual conversations.”

Thank you for your prayers and financial investments which enable us to support missionaries (full-time as well as summer students like John) with our behind-the-scenes roles. We love freeing up men and women to plant seeds for others to know Jesus—in Athens and everywhere else, leaving the results to God.

 

Of Weeds & Charred Cookies

I was excited to surprise Scott with cookies after he’d been on the phone setting appointments last night.

This isn’t quite what I was hoping for. (Sondra, I’m so sorry I’ve annihilated your wonderful cookie recipe. I simply don’t know what happened.)

I pulled them out of the oven and laughed out loud. They were as flattened as soldiers crawling on their bellies through underbrush. Then, I got the spatula and cracked up even more as slivered pieces flew through the air.

“I mean, seriously? What in the world?” I heckled myself.

Scott was gracious. He said they tasted fine. I’m sure he must have been delusional or is still unsure how to react to his new bride’s kitchen skills.

Fast forward to today. Walking home from a doctor’s appointment I spotted flowers I’d never seen. Like a little girl, sans pigtails, I waded through the wet grass banks and picked some.

Lately, I’ve been buying a single flower (Gerber daisy or rose–whatever is on sale) for a vase in our bathroom. Fresh flowers make me extremely happy, I realized. Well, today the Lord surprised me with a bouquet.

As I walked along, with the little creations of pink and yellow and white in hand, I suddenly wondered, what if what I think are flowers are really weeds? Then I laughed at the lesson before me: the weeds of God are more amazing than my burned cookies! Even if they are wildflowers (feel free to let me know in the comments), they’re scattered with no plan and aren’t tended by anyone. Yet, with my best skills, a college degree, and focused attention, look how my dessert turned out.

Then God brought to mind:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. –1 Corinthians 1:25

 

Gardening 101 (May newsletter)

I’m not a gardener. (I know you’re shocked; I see you eyeing those grape-and-crimson-colored flowers above. But honestly, Wal*Mart handed them over to me just like that.)

When I say I’m not a gardener it’s 1) because my history has been one of killing plants instead of helping them live and, 2) I’m impatient. Enough already of the watering and sun and all; gimme more than dirt. Lemme see growth.

I feel a bit like a forth-grader who is sent home with a Dixie cup, dirt and a seed to teach her valuable lessons on agriculture with a side of patience. And that little 9-year-old goes home with cup in hand, plops down on the front porch step and sobs because she has no superpowers to make it grow at microwave-speed.

Yet as transformation and life percolates under the surface in the flower box on the front porch, my eyes are left unprivy. This wonder occurs in other places, too. In a cocoon during a month-long wait. In the womb over 40 weeks. In the tomb during a dark three days.

In my heart during this season.

And so I’m learning a few things, in Gardening 101.

God’s not nearly in the hurry that I am for growth. I see a fertilized rectangle of uniform brown and, daily, I’m begging it to sprout. The days drag on without a hint of green. I start to wonder if I’ve over watered. Or under watered. Or put seeds too close together and they’re duking it out underground, with some now unconscious.

But God isn’t worried. He’s ordained for each of His seeds, and for His children, just the right conditions—sun, rain, and sometimes manure—that will grow us into His likeness.

God knows more and, therefore, I need to seek His direction. Somehow I forget my lack of knowledge and often just jump into the dirt. Sure, I don’t know what I’m doing, but fevered activity counts, right? But I end up looking like Pigpen on Peanuts, with a swirl of mess and stink swirling around me. Instead, what if I paused and asked God what He’d like me to do today? Shall I water? Or pull weeds? Or plant more seeds? Or go help someone else with their garden? Or…simply rest?

God makes it grow. I’m disillusioned to believe otherwise. Yet I’m called His fellow worker. “[Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers” (I Corinthians 3: 6-9).

The more I play gardener, the more I am humbled as I see how nothing I do produces growth. Yet, the more I play gardener, the more excited I get to play a role, to have a stake in the life God creates. And my life gets involved; I’m no longer an innocent bystander.

But, ultimately, I think God might be making me a gardener because, as I play in the dirt, I look a bit more like my Father, the true Gardener.

 

Easter Matters (April newsletter)

Kelly was the cool girl at my (Angie) junior high school in Lincoln, Nebraska. The popular crowd seemed to revolved around her, as did the athletic and GQ-looking boys. Oh, and she was on the dance squad. (How envious we closet-dancers were of her.)

When I thought of her I assumed she had the world at her 14-year-old fingertips.

Fast forward 20 years to last week when I saw her on Facebook, an online networking community. My interest peaked, anxious to catch a glimpse of grown-up Kelly’s life. After a few moments of scanning family photos and reading of her interests and work, my eyes fell on her response to the category, religious views.

“Does it matter?” she wrote.

Serving as a missionary, I’ve heard a lot of responses to questions such as this, but for whatever reason, I was especially struck by what her word choice. And saddened that she’s preaching that belief, whether she realizes it or not, to her little one at home.

Granted, I don’t know the tone behind those words—it could be hurt or a true skepticism, but I wager it’s not.

My guess is that her pseudo-yawned response is due to the fact that she has never heard that there’s a Life beyond what she knows. The religion she’s seen hasn’t done any stirring of her soul besides to apathy. I can’t help but wonder if she’s ever met anyone who truly follows Jesus.

This Easter weekend I’m reminded all the more that God put skin on to walk with us, to take on our sin for the purpose that we could have relationship with Him. That we would have abundant Life. Life to the fullest.

Oh, Kelly. It matters. More than you realize.

Josh McDowell

Continuing in the Bentley-newsletter series introducing parts of the Campus Crusade for Christ family, this month we highlight Josh McDowell.

This ministry is personal to us. Back in 1999, Scott lived in Salt Lake City and wanted to see if the Bible was true amidst being such an old book. He bought Josh’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict from Barnes & Noble. He was shocked to learn about the prophesies Christ fulfilled and the reliability of the Bible versus other religious texts. It was a stepping stone on the path of choosing to follow Jesus in 2003.

Josh was a skeptic until he set out to disprove Christianity…and ended up being won over himself. Now, 44 years into full-time ministry, his team’s desire is “To serve others until the whole world hears that Jesus is God, the Bible is true, God is passionate about a relationship with each person and that the Christian faith is relevant, reliable and relational.”

Prayer Requests

• For God to open spiritual eyes of people like Kelly (first story) and Scott (above) this season of Easter. That they’d ask questions and find themselves open to conversations with believer friends or books (like Josh’s newest one above, Evidence for the Resurrection).
• For us as we celebrate one year of marriage on April 19. What a year! Please pray that we’d continue to grow in the Lord both together and individually. May our marriage point people to Jesus.

 

Serving Missionaries From Behind a Desk (March Newsletter)

No, it’s not “Where’s Waldo?” You won’t find Scott. Yet. It’s a picture of Scott’s team, Desktop Services, celebrating Christmas together (and bemoaning that Scott’s missing, we’re sure. ) The entire IT department at the world headquarters for Campus Crusade for Christ (of which Desktop Services is a part) numbers more than 70 people.

—————————–

Over the past few months, Angie and I (Scott) have been focusing on some of the many ministries within Campus Crusade for Christ. This month we decided to touch on the team I’ll be serving with at our world headquarters, ITG (Information Technology Group).

The vision statement for ITG is, “Connecting people together to fully live out their calling…everyone, everything, every place.”

We have several departments within ITG – mine is called Desktop Services. I had the unique opportunity to work on the team and try it out last year when I moved to Orlando to be closer to Angie. I met Cheryl and Jim (below) during that time.

“Ugh…ever since daylight savings occurred, the calendar on my phone has been off by an hour. I’ve tried fixing it on my own, but it still doesn’t work. I’ve come close to missing several appointments because of this. What do I do?”

That’s what Cheryl – one of the 1,000 staff members at Campus Crusade’s world headquarters – was thinking when she came to my (Scott) desk. She was at her wit’s end.

It took a little time, but we were able to get her calendar and phone to sync up together, so she wouldn’t miss any important meetings.

“My laptop is so slow. It happened after I opened an email from a friend of mine. Can you fix this for me?”

This was Jim’s problem when he stopped by our help desk. Our team quickly diagnosed the issue and successfully cleaned out the virus on his laptop. We are also able to serve our missionaries who are assigned overseas.

My team has the ability to connect remotely into our staff members’ computers via the internet. Once we’re logged in, we have the capability to fix their computer issues for them. (Angie thinks it’s magic, but I tell her we’re just highly-trained professionals.)

Our goal is, in part, to free up our missionaries to do what God’s called them to do, without frustration when computer hassles come their way – so that more people have an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Letters to Scott’s Team (ITG)

“Friends, your work does not go unnoticed. The Lord is mindful of your every deed. Your ministry is appreciated by so many; we can only live in Russia due to your diligent work. Thank you for embracing God’s call, and sacrificing for our sake. The students of Russia hear the gospel because of your faithfulness.” —Kara

“To all you who help make my life run, I hate details. I hate planning things. I hate trying to figure out answers to the questions that you all deal with daily. Because of all this, I am thankful that you guys do it all. Because of what you are doing back there, it enables me to be here in Rome, Italy. So thanks for partnering to reach the world for Christ.” I may make a little impact here in Rome but you guys make it for all parts of the world. Thanks.” —Chris

Prayer Requests

• An obvious target for Satan to thwart our mission is to attack our computer systems and those who manage them. In the past few months, an unusually high number of people serving in ITG have been afflicted with very serious illnesses. Please pray for perseverance for these men and women and for them to experience a closer relationship with our Father during this time.

• We are in the testing phase for some new software that has many benefits, including videoconferencing. Our missionaries in the field will be able to use the internet to connect to headquarters for weekly, interactive-training sessions. These sessions will touch on many computer-related tasks staff members require for their work. In addition, the software will also free up Campus Crusade’s leadership to not need to travel as often, saving them time and saving the ministry money.

 

Lilies that don’t labor or spin

Thank you, JF! Wow, can I say I was blown away when the doorbell rang? The lilies are beautiful and a perfect reminder of Matthew 6:25-34 you wrote down.

Thanks for letting God love me through you today.

 

What’s Really “Amazing”

Scott perused over a document he’d just synced to his phone while I was driving us home from Lincoln. We’d enjoyed a fun appointment with a new friend and now, driving home, Scott had been making calls.

It was getting late, so the calls stopped and his never ending fascination with his phone resumed.

Keys clicked on the Blackjack phone. Tires crunched on the snow-packed roads.

“It’s amazing,” I said with a singsong-newlywed tone, “how we’re together almost 24/7 these days.” (Referring to our working-together jobs.)

“What’s amazing,” he said seconds later, “is that I can read a 33 megabyte file from my phone.”

Silence.

“Wow, I can’t believe you just said that,” I said shocked but not shocked. “You missed a potentially very romantic moment there, Honey.”

I couldn’t play mad; it was too funny.

“Scott, we have to write these down for future generations–things like this and the Halloween candy story.”

I have a feeling that many of our marriage communication foibles like this will involve conversations in moving vehicles.

What funny male v. female stories about communication do you have? We want to hear!