The Month of May

May was an incredibly busy month here in Colorado, with lots of activities and teachings to balance. In SOMD, we learned about a variety of topics from teachers with very different lives, ministries to oversee, and ways to look at what leadership looks like for Christians who are called by God.

We had a week on Stewardship by a businessman from Australia with a knack for making plans to see dreams become realities; a week on Spiritual Leadership by a local minister with vision for the community in Golden, CO; and a week's worth of teachings on Bible Study (ie-how to do it well and its importance) by a member of YWAM Denver's staff.

Rather than bore readers with a ton of info, I will try to pick 2 big points that were highlighted last month.

1. The first big teaching point I want to mention is about stewardship. One of my classmates defined stewardship in the following terms -

being diligent with what you have been given, irrelevant of the amount.

Basically, he was referring to taking care of what possessions, gifts, talents, and relationships you currently have. This is what it means to steward well - to appreciate what you have and to use resources wisely.

I think we can all agree that there are many things we could sit around wishing to have. No matter how much money we have, there could always be more. No matter how many relationships we have, we could always wish for something bigger, better, or different.

But consistently looking for something else or something more results in an attitude of malcontent. If we always look at what we lack, we never truly appreciate what we have. Learning to manage what we have well, be it little or much, will carry into every future season of our lives.

Why wish for more before we can truly say we are managing what we have to the best of our abilities?

2. The second point is this: To lead effectively and to make a lasting impact, we need to have biblically-informed and Bible-centered leadership. This of course means that we need to be studying scripture on our own more than ever.

As a man or woman reads the Word more and more, s/he will not only be immersed in godly principles and values, s/he will also apply such principles in daily life. The fact remains that people follow the lifestyle of a person more than the words reproduced on paper, online, or in speech.

Leadership as a way of life makes more of an impact than anything else you could do or say.

Thus, it becomes apparent that allowing the Word of God to transform you individually is the first and best thing to do in this lifetime. Joshua 1:8 puts it this way:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Choosing to immerse ourselves in God's Book of Law helps transform our values so they match His values. This is how we will most change the spheres we are given the opportunity to impact.

As for getting off-base and applying various principles, last month I was given opportunities to work with homeless ministry through both street evangelism and volunteering with the Denver Rescue Mission. It may feel like giving one meal to those in need does not do much, but at least we were able to help in some small way for that one encounter. 

We also looked for opportunities to pray with those that needed/wanted it and looked for ways to represent the Light to the best of our abilities. Some pictures are below.

As for socializing, we went mini-golfing as a school and had a costume contest at the same time. My small group went as scarecrows and had lots of fun just hanging out for the evening.

Thank you for reading and, as always, God bless!