Bob Fuhs

Spring Break Accidental Road Trip, The Conclusion

Here it finally is! The long-awaited conclusion to the Spring Break Accidental Road Trip! Sorry to keep you waiting!

Back on the freeway, we were now closer than ever to our goal-Daytona Beach. We continued to talk about how unbelievable it was that our campus would leave without us. One of the things keeping us going was our desire to somehow retaliate, to let them have it for leaving like that.

Daytona Beach is on the east coast of Florida. To get there from Atlanta you drive a little over 400 miles. It was dark by the time we crossed the bridge into Daytona proper and traffic was moving slowly on Highway 1, or “The One” as it’s called. Sandy and I eventually pulled into the parking lot of the hotel where the conference was taking place that year. The marquee read, “Welcome Campus Crusaders” or something like that.

By now, the conference had already begun. As we entered the lobby to check in, there were college students everywhere but no sign of anyone from our campus. After getting the keys to our respective rooms, we got on the elevator.

In the elevator with us were two student girls. While it’s normally silent in an elevator, at a CCC conference where most people know each other, that norm is disregarded. We couldn’t believe it when one girl said to the other, “Did you hear about the student guy and staff girl that were left behind by their campus?” (I am not making this up!).

“Yes! We heard about them. And you know what else?” The other girl responded.

“What?” The first girl said as we listened in to their conversation, them not knowing we were the ones they were talking about.

“I heard they got married on the way down!”

Seriously, I am not making this up! Somehow a rumor got started that we were in love and decided to get married on the drive down! As the girl said that my eyes met Sandy’s, both of us trying to suppress our expressions of disbelief.

We kept silent, left the elevator, and eventually unloaded our things in our respective rooms. The elevator conversation tipped us off that people heard we were driving down so we figured our campus friends must have known we would show up sometime. Did they care? Were they even concerned about us?

I got cleaned up and made my way back to the lobby and somehow I must have heard that my friends were on the beach hanging out together. I walked out there and, seeing them, walked towards them and shouted, “Hey! I think you forgot something!”

Suddenly I was mobbed. Between shouts of, “You made it!” and “We are so sorry!” my friends whom I thought abandoned me treated me like a long, lost son. Had there been a fattened calf nearby I’m sure someone would have killed it and made a feast.

As we talked I began to piece together their side of the story. Not only did they not want to leave without us, they did almost everything in their power to stop the bus from driving off. Apparently the bus driver insisted that he needed to stay on schedule and, after our three hour delay, decided it was time to leave and that was that.

I learned my friends begged and pleaded for him to wait for us. Some cried. One CCC staff member even stood in front of the bus in an act of defiance. Nothing worked. We also learned that, in order to make up time, the bus driver refused to stop more than twice during the whole trip down. People said they were miserable most of the way there.

So that’s my story. And, while Sandy and I never married (or dated for that matter), we did form a lasting friendship. And even though our contact now mainly consists of Facebook wall posts now and then, we do share a bond. It’s a bond that taught me sometimes you miss one thing to gain another.

 

 

 

Roger Hershey on Building Movements

Roger Hershey, a campus ministry guru, recently addressed the Cru team leaders in the Pacific Southwest Region. Here are the MP3's of his 2 talks:

Download Roger Hershey Movement Building #1 P

 

Download Roger Hershey Movement Building #2 P

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Fall Retreat Sophomore Meeting Notes

A few people have asked for the notes to the other class meetings we would have at a Fall Retreat for Cru. I previously posted what we would do in a meeting with the Freshmen here.

I just found the notes for our time with the sophomores. With the juniors and seniors, the time varied. Sometimes we asked our speaker to address them, especially if the speaker was a CCC National or Regional Director. At other times, we talked about what it would look like for them to be preparing to be equipped for ministry after the graduate.

Here are the notes for the sophomore meeting. Feel free to download and use at will!

Download Fall retreat sophomore time

Humor In Speaking 101

Have you heard the one about the boring, humorless talk? Odds are, we all have.

When asked about using humor in teaching, I heard that Howard Hendricks (Prof at Dallas Seminary) once said, "I open their mouth to laugh with a joke, then I shove a point in." Sadly, too often, the only time a listener's mouth is opened during a message is when they've failed to stifle a yawn.

Anytime you are speaking or teaching, I think it's always a good idea to make use of humor. It lightens the mood, it helps people relate to the teacher, and it helps people remember what you're saying.

But how? Here's my tip for today: Use situational humor.

As you prepare your message or talk, there's going to be some point where you talk about a particular situation. If it's appropriate, this can be a great time to spice it up with a humorous look at that situation. For example, I just gave a talk from Ephesians 4. One of the verses I covered is verse 25 which says, "Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body." As I let that verse roll around in my mind, I asked, "Now, what form did that falsehood take in those days?" I was trying to discover the historical context, but thinking like this led me to some funny possibilities.

I wondered if maybe it looked like one of these scenarios...

You have a bumper sticker that says, "My other chariot is a Lexus."

You meet the neighbor's new baby and you say, "Azer-al-hash-baz is a wonderful name!"

Your wife asks your opinion and you say, "No honey, that toga doesn't make your butt look big."

After I opened their mouths with a bit of a laugh, I was able to go on to explain what I really think the falsehood looked like in that day and what it probably looks like for us today.

Another quick tip: Comedy comes in threes. I'm not sure why, but it just does. If I had added a fourth scenario to the one above, it would not have been as funny. If you are going to be giving some sort of funny list, do it in three-no more, no less.

I also think it's a good idea to try out your humor on someone with a good ear for that sort of thing. It's much better to not use humor at all than to tell a joke that just isn't funny.

Spring Break Accidental Roadtrip, Part 2

We knew that some of the local CCC staff had opted to stay in town that week, so we asked the fellas in the neighboring apartment if we could use their phone to call them.  Turns out, they hadn’t heard anything from our friends on the bus. They didn’t know anything about what  was happening.

Here we were, me, a senior in college and she, a Campus Crusade staff person, left behind by our campus for Spring Break. Now we were mad. What were they thinking leaving without us? How could they do that? I’m a student leader! She’s on staff! How could this happen? It’s not like Daytona Beach was right across town and we could get there easily. It was a 24-hour trip that was supposed to be taken in a motorcoach!

Trying to control our anger and disbelief, we needed to make a decision. What to do? For me, I had nothing to go back to in Eau Claire. The dorms are locked up over Spring Break so I had no place to go for the week. Sandy could have decided to just take the week off and go back to her apartment. But she didn’t. We talked about our options. We decided to go to the airport in Madison to see if there might be any last-minute flight deals down to Daytona Beach. Seriously, that’s what we did.

Maybe we had heard one too many outlandish stories of God’s incredible provision, but when we saw that flights were way too expensive, we began to paint a scenario in our minds. In that scenario, quite out of the blue someone walks up to us and hands us two plane tickets saying, “I’m not sure why, but God told me to give you these plane tickets.” So, we waited. Really, we did.  We waited for that person to realize that God was telling them to give us plane tickets so we could be on our way.  Apparently, that person refused to listen to the still-small voice of God that day, because we were back to square one, stranded in Madison.

Walking back to the Sentra, Sandy said, “Well, I’m up for driving if you are.” I definitely was, so we decided to go for it.

Now, I would be lying if I told you that my only reason for wanting to get to Daytona was to be a part of the conference and see my friends. That’s was certainly true, but by this time I was really mad at my friends for leaving me. I knew just how it had gone…”Do you think we should have waited for Bob and Sandy?” one of them would have said. “Nah,” was the reply, “we gave them five minutes. They should know not to be late. Let’s get going. Besides, it will be more comfortable with two less seats filled.”

Suddenly that map of the US freeways came in very handy. Heading out of town, we made a quick stop at a gas station to fill up the tank. Since we were still unsure of the reliability of the windshield wipers, we also bought a product that you smear on your windshield that magically repels rain. We also picked up some snacks for the road. It was dark by this time, probably around 9p.m. as we circled the on-ramp for Interstate 90 headed toward the Atlantic Ocean.

I remember getting tired somewhere in Indiana. Sandy was at the wheel, and it had rained on and off most of the trip so far. Making sure she would be okay if I tried to sleep, the next thing I knew we were pulling into a McDonald’s just outside of Nashville for breakfast.

Inside, the smell of hotcakes and coffee revived my senses. At the counter I noticed a copy of the local newspaper. The headline read, “Tornadoes in Indiana kill 7 people.”

Showing it to Sandy I said, “Uh, did you notice anything bad weather-wise last night?”

“You know, there were a couple of clouds that looked like funnel clouds, now that you mention it.”

Maybe it was good that I slept through it. I told her though, “Next time, if that happens, wake me up, okay?”

Before leaving Nashville, I found a pay phone and called my dad who was at that time living in a suburb of Atlanta.  I explained what had happened and why I was making an unexpected trip through town and we made plans for Sandy and me to stop by for lunch before continuing on to Florida.

Satisfied Booklet Presentation

Since the beginning, Campus Crusade has emphasized the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, most staff are ill equipped to talk about The Spirit's work in our lives using the Satisfied booklet. (For my non-CCC readers, the Satisfied booklet is a sort of companion piece to the 4 Spiritual Laws booklet. It was designed to be a transferable way to help people understand how to be filled with the Spirit).

Yesterday I finally took time to write out what I say when I go over the Satisfied booklet with a staff or student. If you'd like to get some help with your presentation, you can download it by clicking on the link below.

Download Satisfied Booklet Presentation

You can order copies of the Satisfied booklet to use in your ministry by going to:

http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/discipleship/satisfied

Handout On Boldness and Clarity In Evangelism

This morning at our training time in Ocean City, Scott talked about the only places in the Bible where we are told what "ought" to be true in sharing our faith. Those passages emphasize Boldness (Ephesians 6:19-20) and Clarity (Colossians 4:3-4). Here is his handout that explains the principle.

Spring Break Accidental Roadtrip, Part 1

(This summer, one of the things I want to work on is my writing skills. I figured one of the best ways to do that is to do some writing. So, I've decided to chronicle some of the notable events of my life and post them on the blog. if you have thoughts on how to improve my writing, please post a comment. Thanks!)

My junior year in college I planned to go to Campus Crusade’s Spring break conference which was in Daytona Beach at that time. The plan was for students from my campus in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to drive 3 hours south to meet up with students from UW Madison to hop on a couple buses to get to Florida.

I was with my friend Jon packing up to leave the Friday of Spring Break when the phone rang. It was Sandy, one of the staff from our campus. She explained to me that there was a Chinese student who signed up to come on the trip at the last minute, and because he signed up so late we did not have room on our bus for him so he needed to be driven to meet up with the group in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to get on their bus.

Sandy was asking if I would go along with her to drop the student off in LaCrosse, then we would meet up with our group in Madison. She just didn’t want to go alone with some guy she did not know. Trying to hide my reluctance on the phone, I told her that I’d be happy to drive with her. Once I hung up, I explained to Jon what was going on.

To be honest, Sandy kind of wierded me out and I felt uncomfortable being with her for such a long time. I asked Jon to pray for me that the time would be fun and that things wouldn’t be too akward during the trip. I also asked Jon to take my suitcase to Madison with him so I didn’t have to bother with it.

Sandy picked me up outside my dorm in her red Nissan Sentra. Once I got in, Sandy informed me that she wasn’t exactly sure where to pick this guy up. She had a hard time understanding him on the phone because of his thick accent. “It’s something like Roosevelt…or Rubberbelt…or Pattymelt…I’m not really sure,” she told me. She thought there might be a map of the city in her glove compartment, but all I found there was a large-scale map of the major freeways of the USA. Little did I know how handy that would be…

As this was the days before cell phones, we couldn’t just call someone for directions, so we stopped back at her apartment to call the student as well as some other staff to find out where to pick the guy up. Eventually, after some time and effort, we found him. He got in the backseat and we were on our way, a little behind schedule but not too far off.

LaCrosse is about 100 miles directly to the south of Eau Claire. Most of the trip is on 2-lane highway and not interstate. In these pre-Google map times, I’m not really sure what we used for directions. I imagine Sandy had talked with one of the CCC staff in LaCrosse to find out how to get there and where to meet the group. I definitely remember getting lost more than once on this leg of the trip and having to stop and ask for directions.

It also started to pour. Not a little, but sheets of rain fell from the sky as our little Nissan made its way southward. Our new Chinese friend slept soundly in the backseat as Sandy drove and I did my best to make conversation. Actually things were going better than I thought with Sandy. Perhaps God was answering Jon’s prayers. As we talked, the only other sound besides the rain was the “thump, thump” of the windshield wipers. Then, suddenly, the “thump, thump” stopped. Rain continued to pelt the windshield, but the wipers had suddenly stopped mid thump.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about car repair. For all I knew at this point, the car was totaled. Sandy was on it, thankfully. We pulled over, and she went into action. She popped the hood, got out, did something and got back in soaking wet. “I know how to repair one thing on this car, and that was it!” She said wiping her face. Wipers fixed, we continued on, thumping resumed.

It wasn’t long, though, before the wipers stopped mid-wipe once again.  Actually it was only the driver’s side wiper that stopped this time. By now, we were really falling behind schedule. We did not have time to stop and try and fix the problem. Our solution was simple: Since I could see, I would work the steering wheel from the passenger side and she would work the pedals. So we forged on through the rain, me steering and her working the gas and brake pedals.

Once we got there, our turnaround time in LaCrosse was as fast as we could make it. We still had to get to Madison to catch up with our group.  Waving goodbye to the Chinese student, we were off. By this time the rain had stopped so Sandy regained total control of her car. I was back to just trying to navigate and make conversation.

The trip from LaCrosse to Madison is about 2.5 hours, mostly on interstate, so this part of the trip went smoothly. At this point, we were running about 2 or 3 hours behind schedule, but without cell phones we had no way to contact our group to let them know we were on our way nonetheless.

Our rendezvous point in Madison was an apartment complex just south of the actual city limits. Driving in, we saw our friends’ cars so we knew we were at the right place. Like I said, we were pretty late at this point, but as we drove in we did not see the buses, so apparently they were running late as well. Good news for us, we thought.

Excited to reconnect with my friends, I ran up to the apartment where we would be meeting them. A little yellow Post-it greeted me stuck to the door. On it was written, “Dear Bob and Sandy. We are so sorry, but if you are reading this, we have already left.” Assuming it was a practical joke, I knocked in the door. No answer. So I knocked louder. Still silence on the other side. Behind me, the door to another apartment opened. A guy poked his head out and said, “You looking for the people in there? They left a couple hours ago.”As if to mock us in our tardiness, in the background their TV was showing Mtv live from Daytona Beach. 

LOST, Backstory, Theories, & Jimmy Kimmel

I started watching Lost a few episodes into the series.  My gateway drug was the episode about Hurley called “The Numbers.”  My wife had stumbled upon it as a rerun one day, was drawn in, and invited me to watch it later. Even though it was a few years until I heard JJ Abrams talk about the concept of a “mystery box” at TED, I knew immediately there was something special about this box called Lost and I wanted to know what was inside.

So, here are some of my initial thoughts on the series, the finale and the significance to the greater Story of our lives….

--I believe that the “Flash Sideways,” was more like a flash “forward and sideways.”  This place, “LA X” is more of a spiritual plane, not existing in time or space as we know it. The Island had many of the same properties…sort of a fuzzy relationship to time and space. I do believe, though, that what happened on the Island was, in a sense, more related to actual time and space.

In this ALT reality, the Losties had to have a “spiritual awakening” to remember who they really are and where they really came from.  This ALT reality probably occurred long after they had all died. Based on the exchange between Hurley and Ben just outside the church, I imagine that many years had passed on the Island with Hurley and Ben as the protectors (perhaps thousands even?).

For some reason they were not able yet to “let go” and pass into the next life.  In the first scene of the ALT where Rose says to Jack (who was gripping his armrest) just as the turbulence subsides, “You can let go now…”  was also metaphorical.  Whether she knew it or not, that’s what Jack had to do to move on, he had to “Let go.” But “let go” of what? His need to control? His hold on the past? His bitterness?

I believe that Eloise Hawking did not want to move on, neither did Ben. They wanted to stay in that place for some reason, even knowing about the ability to move on. Eloise wanted to enjoy life with Daniel, and Ben most likely wanted to continue his relationship with his daughter.

I also loved Kate’s reaction when Hurley told her that the man in the coffin was named “Christian Shepherd.” I mean, we’ve all been thinking it, right? There is no such thing as a meaningless name on the series (Jacob, John Locke, Hume to name a few) and now we see the significance of Christian Shepherd. He really was the one to “Shepherd” them into the next life.

So, if one of the main themes was science vs. faith, which won out? I believe faith won out. There is more than we think there is to this life.  There is a greater purpose. There is redemption. And, aren’t we much happier because of that? What if Locke had been wrong all along? Wouldn’t that have made for a disappointing ending? I believe the resounding answer is, yes.

Points of learning for me:

--We all have a destiny.  All of us has meaning and purpose to life.  All of us need a point in our life when we see our house in the mirror of the Lighthouse (so to speak) telling us that we were made for so much more. 

--We really do live together, and die alone. We were made for relationship.  A friend of mine once said, “We are marked by those who love us.” So true.  We find our meaning a purpose in those relationships. No one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time at the office.  I loved that they all sort of died together. They wanted to find each other and move on together.

--We all want redemption.  Jacob was right: we are very good.  We are capable of incredible kindness and mercy.  But, the MIB was right too, we are corrupted and corruptible.  We kill, we fight, we destroy. The cork in the bottle has been popped and some of that evil is in all of us, just as it was in Sayid and Claire at the end.  Sayid redeemed himself by his sacrifice, Claire chose to be the mom she was meant to be.  There is no redemption without sacrifice. 

I feel the need to close by commenting on something Jimmy Kimmel said during his show following the Lost finale. Talking to Matthew Fox about his character Jack, Jimmy said something like, “Many religions, like Christianity, see this life as a test. You do good things and you go to heaven, you do bad things and you don’t.”  For what it’s worth, that’s what most people think Christianity is all about, but it’s really not. 

Just as Jacob invited the Losties to be candidates (i.e. to know their purpose), God invites us into a relationship with Him.  He creates us for a purpose…mainly to be in relationship with Him and other people.  But, because we are corrupted, we need redemption. God Himself, in Jesus, has sacrificed Himself to redeem us, to bring us back into a right relationship with God.  He has sacrificed Himself to replace the plug in our soul, to borrow an image from Lost.

So, it has nothing to do with us being tested, or having to earn God’s favor. He loves us and wants us to know Him. He offers His favor be offering us Christ. Our Christian Shepherd. All he asks is for us to follow Him.  All he asks is for us to “let go.” Want to know more or do some research? Check out http://www.everystudent.com

 

Thank you JJ, Damon and Carlton.  Thank you for creating one of the best stories ever and giving me so much to look forward to once a week. May this not be the last we hear from you.

"Jesus Without Religion" Author Rick James Speaks on 4 Campuses

We just had Rick James, CCC staff and author of the book Jesus Without Religion (buy it by clicking here), speak on 4 campuses in LA and Orange County on Wednesday and Thursday. His presentation centers around the story of Jesus sleeping in the boat while the disciples question his care for them. From there, Rick is able to discuss Jesus' deity, the reliability of the Bible, the problem of evil, and the need for a Savior. And he does it in about 45 minutes!

Last night at UCI, the student leaders of Cru did an incredible job of promoting the event. The Cru group there is about 50 students, but they almost filled a 400 seat auditorium! The crowd included at least 50 members of the Muslim Student Association, one of the largest student groups on campus. As soon as Rick was done speaking, a crowd of mostly Muslim students gathered around him to continue asking questions. Check out this video of that:

Thanks to all who prayed and gave to support these events. God worked in a powerful way in students' lives. Please continue to pray for the follow up conversations that our staff and students will be having in the weeks ahead. 

Also, if you'd like to contribute financially to the follow-up efforts, we could use the help! Your gift would go to help students on these campuses hold more events like this, purchase small group material and help students attend follow up retreats and conferences. Give on-line at CCC's secure site by following this link: Click here to give to help reach students in LA and Orange County.