The Bradner Clan- Summer 2012

Check out this family picture that one of our summer interns (Derrick Woods-Morrow) took.  

A one-question quiz on Fall Campus Ministry.

What do the following things have in common? Raffle giveaways, Pancake-eating contests, freshman move-in, tailgating, ice-cream socials, dodgeball, intramural sports and cookouts?  Answer:  They are all activities that our campus ministries leverage in order to meet as many people as possible for the ultimate purpose of telling them about the love of God in Christ Jesus.    The start of a new school year is just days away! Would you please take a moment and pray for our staff and students? Please pray that "God may open to us a door for the word" and "that we may make it clear". (Colossians 4:3-4) I look forward to sharing about how God answers these prayers!

If I could talk for 45 minutes about anything...

It would be the GOD OF YES.

It is a sad reality that many of us live and think as though God’s favorite word is NO. As a result, the Bible becomes for us a big book of rules and growing as a Christian is all about increasing our list of what we DON’T do. There is one small problem with this mind set…It’s wrong! From beginning to end, the Bible reveals a God of YES. The implications of this are none other than life changing. We will look into how our view of God, of sin, and of growing as Christian are all radically altered when we see God as the Bible reveals Him: The God of YES.

Listen to it here: http://conationalconference.com/2012/01/matt-bradner-the-god-of-yes/

Our mission... captured in a picture.

We have found a mission and a calling that has captivated our heart.

"Glorifying God by building laborers on the campus for the lost world."

 We are so passionate about saying YES to this mission that the things we are saying NO to in order to accomplish it are losing their sting. 

If our mission was captured in an image...this one might be it:  Take a look and then I'll explain why.

*This is a picture of Courtney Liddle, one of our Virginia Tech student leaders. She came to know the Lord at Virginia Tech and has been growing as a servant leader (Psalm 78:70-72) ever since.

In a sentence, here is why I love this picture:

A young Christian passionately leveraging her platform for the glory of God.

A young Christian:  Relatively speaking, she is a baby in Christ.  Yet she is already sharing her faith and leading a Bible study on her softball team!  Like the disciples, she heard the call to be a "fisher of men" (Matt. 4:19) from the very beginning and has embraced that privilege. 

passionately: As Jonathan Edwards wrote in his classic work Religious Affections: "In religion, no half-hearted exercise will suffice.  In nothing is the state of our heart so crucial...and lukewarmness so odious."

leveraging her platform: We believe that every single college student has a platform.  The question is whether they are learning how to use their specific talents and abilities to make a lasting impact within it.

for the glory of God: We were made for something bigger than home runs, A+ papers and parties on the weekend.  We were made to live for the glory of God.

This is our mission.  We have been swept up into the amazing privilege of seeing young men and women come to Christ and learn to passionately leverage their platform for the glory of God!

Meet Derrick.

Derrick is the one behind me who makes me look like a Hobbit.  He is obviously a giant man!                      

This summer Derrick is attending our nine-week long Leadership Project in Myrtle Beach, SC.  I am praying (and would love for you to as well!) that the growth in his "inner man" (Ephesians 3:16) would be as massive as his outward appearance.

From the time I first met Derrick, I saw great spiritual leadership potential in him.  As a result, I pursued him (unsuccessfully) for a year.  

As I stepped towards him, he seemed to step away.

Then one night last August while chatting on Facebook, Derrick decided to take a step towards me.  Here a glimpse of that interaction:  

Derrick: Matty B... we should sit down and talk Christ sometimes
Me: would love to man. i would consider that a privilege
Derrick: thank you. Ahsan Julius Cam are really lucky to have a role model like u
Me: thanks man. those guys have been one of my (and my families) greatest joys this past year. we are the lucky ones!
Derrick: both of u guys are lucky

I am proud of Derrick because when God started tugging at his heart...he listened and took a step. As you can imagine, it didn't take long for me to respond!                                                                        

From that point on, Derrick has been connected  with our ministry at his campus (Randolph College)...and now he finds himself on what I believe will be a life-altering nine-week summer Leadership Project (LP).   Please pray for Derrick Woods-Morrow!

*And you can follow along with what happens at the LP by clicking on the CO Lynchburg blog above.