Digging in...

The Tennessee campus is once again abuzz with students and spring semester is underway! For the seniors, this is the beginning of the end (and I certainly remember that feeling only a year ago). Post-grad plans are starting to be finalized, all amidst the desire to make the most of the final semester. For the freshmen, it's sort of a second beginning. The first semester was a whirlwind of academic and relational confusion, but now they are returning to campus a little wiser and many with a solidifying group of friends. For many in between, it's just one more semester. The excitement of freshman year is well past, exhaustion has set in, and graduation seems all to far away.

For the 1st-year RUF intern (yours truly), it's a semester for digging in. There are still and always will be new people to meet, but most of the introductions are over. The time has come to build on those relationships that were started in the fall. The campus is no longer an overwhelming, intimidating labyrinth, but it's feeling a little more comfortable, manageable, a full of places to connect with students in the rhythm of their daily lives. Volunteer Orange is no longer a strange and obnoxious color...well, we won't go that far. Maybe next semester...

(I kid. I own plenty of orange paraphernalia. Including a visor [see top-left picture])

I might also add that it's already been a semester of digging out...there has been an unseasonable abundance of snow in the South this year, and East Tennessee has been no exception. Okay, digging out might be an exaggeration. We had 4 inches one day...keep in mind, I'm from Florida, where we turn our sprinklers on when it gets below freezing so we can lick icicles and gleefully

crunch the frozen grass.

I would also like to thank you all for your very generous support at year's end. Pending the final official report for December (which should be this week), my calculations place me at 100% of my budget for the 2010-11 school year. Both your gifts and your prayers have been such a blessing in this regard. God has indeed provided.

So what's going on this semester with RUF @ Tennessee? I'm glad you asked...

LARGE GROUP: This semester's sermon series is on the

Ten Commandments, not to be confused with the Charlton Heston film. There is so much confusion in the Church today regarding the Law and it's relationship to grace. Is the Old Testament still relevant? Should we study it? Are we still bound by it's rules? If so...which ones? Too often, in an effort to avoid lmoralism and works-righteousness, we throw out the Law, completely forgetting our call to pursue holiness. Christians today tend to fall either in the legalism or license camp. It's either all about the Law, or it's all about Grace. Both are present in Scripture...how do we reconcile them? That's what our campus minister, Brent Harriman, will be covering in his Large Group sermon series, using the Ten Commandments as a basis and framework for exploring the Law's relevance and applicability to us today. It's such an important, foundational, and transformational concept to the Christian life. Pray that God will be at work in the hearts of students as they hear these messages. Pray also that these important lessons will not just be confined to our Large Group, but that we, as a staff, as well as the students will be able to live these truths out in such a way that it resonates across the whole campus.

SMALL GROUPS: This semester, I will once again be co-leading the Freshman Guys' Bible Study with Brent, our campus minister. We'll be continuing to go through the Sermon on the Mount. I have been very encouraged to see how dedicated the guys have been to attending and participating, and also their commitment to each other. It's been wonderful to see friendships grow and develop amongst them that are sure to last them the next 3 and a half years and even longer. Pray that God will continue to speak into the lives of these guys through the radical teachings of Christ from his Sermon on the Mount, and that He will be present as they develop community and build strong friendships. Pray for new guys that will be joining the study, that they will feel included, accepted, and loved.

ONE-ON-ONES: The bulk of my job will continue to be meeting with students, predominantly freshmen guys, one on one. I'm excited to have the opportunity to continue building these relationships, and Lord willing, there will a number of opportunities for more formal discipleship. Pray for my interactions with these guys, that I will point them to their Redeemer and not to myself.

EVENTS, ACTIVITIES, AND CONFERENCES: In addition to our Large Group, Small Groups, and 1-on-1's, we got plenty of other stuff going on this semester as well!

• Food Court Mondays: We interns will be hanging out in the University Center Food Court on Mondays from 11:30 to 12:30 to eat lunch with students. This should be a great opportunity for fellowship amongst the group, as well as a way for us to meet new students and build new friendships.
• RUF Winter Conference: February 18-20, we'll be joining all the other RUF groups from AL, TN, and KY at Fall Creek Falls State Park and Conference Center for our annual Winter Conference. UT usually brings a big group, and it's a great time for students to get to know each other better and for freshmen and other new students to get plugged in to the larger group. There's plenty of hiking, worship led by Belmont campus minister Kevin Twit (of Indelible Grace), seminars led by other campus ministers, and a speaker, Marshall Brown (former Alabama campus minister and current associate pastor of a church in Los Angeles). I went to this conference all four years with Samford, and I'm excited to be returning as an intern with UT!
• Spring Break Mission Trip: March 14-18 we'll be going to Chicago with Sunshine Gospel Ministries to participate in their Bridge Builders week. In addition to participating in service opportunities around the city, we will get to witness many different ministries in action around Chicago and learn from the Sunshine staff. The goal is to learn, through instruction and practice, a biblical view and perspective on the poor. I've heard great things about this trip, and many other RUF groups have participated (there will be 3 others there with us the same week). I'd ask special prayer for this trip, as I will likely be the only UT RUF staff member going!
• RUF Summer Conference: May 16-21 we'll be joining other RUF groups from all over the country for RUF Summer Conference at Laguna Beach Retreat Center in my home sweet home of Panama City Beach. Plenty of seminars taught by other campus ministers, worship, a speaker, and plenty of beach time. It's a wonderful week of fellowship, learning, and worship...the biggest event we as RUF participate in. It's always an awesome experience.

Please pray for these activities, events, and conferences, that God will use them to strengthen the friendships already in place amongst students, that new ones will be formed, that new or fringe students will be able to plug in to the larger group and find community, and that God will be at work in the hearts of all the students through the worship, teaching, and service opportunities.

Thank you again for all of your encouragement, prayers, and support! I'm really looking forward to this upcoming semester, and never fear...I will keep you informed!

Resting in His Promises,

Stephen

Old Friends, New Year...

(photo credit to shannon d.)

Okay, so "old friends" might be stretching it. It's been less than a year since I was seeing these people everyday.

A group of us Samford-ites gathered together for New Years' at our friend Erin's new home in Nashville. It was so good to see everyone and catch up. After being together in Birmingham for four years, we're now spread out over 8 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas).

Amongst us we have RUF interns, nurses, grad students, teachers, church communications/graphics person, etc., and so there was plenty to catch up on after a semester apart. It's so encouraging to hear how God is at work in each of our lives as we head in different directions, and yet we're still able to come back together and enjoy fellowship as if it had only been a week rather than months since we'd seen each other.

As another semester of the RUF internship quickly approaches, it was wonderful refreshment to see God's faithfulness to our friends and be encouraged by them as well.

I also had the opportunity to meet up for one evening with a group of RUF interns in Birmingham the night before N.Y.E. Again, it's always encouraging (and FUN) spending time with other interns. Like co-workers swapping industry jargon at the water-cooler, put a few lonely RUF interns together and it's magic. It's times like that when you realize that God really did create us for community.

As I have now returned to Knoxville and anticipate the return of the students on January 12th, I'm very thankful for the time spent with "old" college friends and fellow RUF interns. It was just what the Doctor ordered.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!