Next Meeting! Plus: Update!

Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

Saints, beloved of God,

I hope you are well. May God be growing each of us, and continuing to teach our hearts of His supreme worth.

Our Next Meeting is this Monday evening (9/28), and will be the beginning of a short series.

Here are the details....

Location: Library 3rd floor

Time: 6-8pm

Topic: "Journey in the Gospel" plus "Justification: Doctrine, Apologetics, and Life-Application"

During this series, part of our time will be spent enjoying some of the study "Journey in the Gospel" by Paul Washer. We'll also be taking a closer look at the wonderful truth of "justification" and it's impact on our doctrine, sharing of the Gospel, and the entirety of our lives.

Charles Spurgeon writes, “In these days I feel bound to go over and overagain the elementary truths of the gospel. In peaceful times we may feelfree to make excursions into interesting districts of truth which lie farafield; but now we must stay at home, and guard the hearts and homes ofthe church by defending the first principles of the faith. In this age therehave risen up in the church itself men who speak perverse things. Therebe many that trouble us with their philosophies and novel interpretations,whereby they deny the doctrines they profess to teach, and underminethe faith they are pledged to maintain. It is well that some of us, whoknow what we believe, and have no secret meanings for our words,should just put our foot down and maintain our standing, holding forththe word of life, and plainly declaring the foundation truths of the gospelof Jesus Christ” (The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol.32, p.385).

CHANGE Collegian Network UPDATE:

From the Field: This new section of the blog will post short summaries from CCN members about their experience sharing the Gospel on campus. It will be an encouragment to each other in being proactive with this Good News, and offer the "Lesson" learned by the evangelizing student. Our campus is so big, and it's so hard for us to always know what's going on with each other, so I thought seeing the actual evanglizing work God is doing on campus would be a blessing. The story of what God has done will be an encouragement for the group, so for God's glory any CCN member can email a "From the Field" segment to me at anytime, which will be put on the blog! ccn@iupui.edu). The first "From the Field" piece is below!

"Origin" into Schools: In November, we will be teaming up with Living Waters Ministries and the Good Messengers to bring FREE Copies of "Origin of Species" to students at IUPUI! The catch? The book is printed by Living Waters with a clear debunking of Evolution and a Gospel message in the introduction! We plan to reserve tables throughout campus as rally points for the distribution, and anyone able to help out is appreciated! What a creative way to get the Gospel in people's hands, and start conversations at IUPUI. The above video explains more!

The Blog: More and more updates and resources will be posted to the blog in the days to come!

Prayer Requests from CCN IUPUI: Please pray God will bring revival among our group and ultimately to IUPUI. Pray that we might see our own sin and how much we've been forgiven, that we might have much love towards our God, each other, and the lost. That we might be humbly taking up our crosses, with the joy of the Lord as our strength, and we might boldly speak as we ought for Christ, proclaiming His unadulterated Good News to all. That the unity of God's Spirit would be among us through Christ, growing us in purity, and powerfully sanctifying us, for His Name's sake among the lost.

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FROM THE FIELD:

Location: Campus Center

This last week, I found myself in the Campus Center with about 3o minutes until my next commitment. I saw a young man sitting by himself on the first floor, and by God's grace alone, was moved to go share the News with him. From start to finish, the work was of God! I gave him a tract to begin the conversation and he warmly received it. I told him what it was and asked him if he had a minute to talk. To my surprise he offered me the seat across from him. From there, we talked for about 20 minutes about the Gospel. He said he used to go to church and different youth groups pretty consistently, but over time just "got away from it." At first, he said that thought he was an "okay" person, but definitely "not perfect." It seemed God had already been showing him his sin before we met, and he listened intently during our whole conversation. Thanks to God's Spirit moving, with His Word (primarily His law), I helped him see that by God's standard, he's not "okay," but is actually at enmity with God, and as far as I could tell, God was convincing this boy of his desperate state. All he could keep saying was that he "never heard any of this before."

Praise God, his mouth really was stopped (Romans 3:19) from justifying himself, and I asked if He knew what God did for him. He couldn't really say! I was able to lay out the Good News before him and, in a sense, blow the sand off of the lines that exist between his current belief system and God's Word. Again, the whole conversation he kept saying how he "never heard this before" or "never had anyone explain this." We spoke much about justice, and how his biggest problem is that God is is good and can "by no means clear the guilty." (Exodus 34:7). Then we talked about the substitutionary death of Jesus in his place and the implications of His resurrection from the dead. Then we talked about Christ's return and His call to repent and believe. He seeme genuinely convicted of his sin, and followed the patterns of thought very clearly when he heard the Gospel. Shortly after, he had to leave, so we ended on that note, and I refered him to the tract and website if he had any questions. He thanked me for taking the time to talk with him, and gladly gave me his email.

All in all, it was a beautiful and blessed encounter. It is a wonderful and fearful thing to see the Spirit of God moving, and it's so clear that God is the One who seeks people and brings them to life through His News! He also gets the credit for moving this oftentimes hesitant evangelist. I won't be surprised if I see this young man again, and hope to follow up via email. Please pray for Zach.

Lesson: There really are hearts whom God is calling to Himself on campus, and there are children of God at IUPUI who have yet to hear the Gospel of their salvation! Not everyone you approach with the intention of sharing the Good News is going to laugh at you or tell you to get lost. May we trust God! He wants to save, even more than we are willing to be used of Him in the process. May we find joy in bringing the news to those who reject it and those who receive it, because the ultimate purpose is God's glory and seeing the Name of Christ be lifted up!

Also, don't forget where you came from! Remember the terrible state of knowing you are guilty, but not knowing you are forgiven in Christ, and consider that there are people out there whom God is awakening, but who need the Good News! You might be the first one to verbally share the true Gospel with someone whom God is causing to thirst for righteousness! - JB

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I hope to see you all soon.

Grace to you in Him,

John

Next Meeting!

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" Galatians 1:8

Hi saints,

Grace to you through God's Son, who sits at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. (Hebrews 10:13)

I'm excited to tell you about our NEXT LESSON.........

"What News do YOU Bring?"

(God's Gospel vs The man-centered "Gospel")

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I consider this one of the most important lessons we cover in CCN, and for those who can make it, I encourage you to come. We will explore how that which is preached today and labeled "the Gospel" is often more than simply tamed, toned-down, or sugar-coated.....it's heretical! Can this be the reason so many false converts fill our churches today, why so many evangelistic endeavors yield no lasting results, and why unbelievers scoff at a message powerless to change them? Souls are converted when hearing and believing God's Good News, and in evangelism, the NEWS we bring is crucial to that process.

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Have you been affected by HUMANISM?

You might be surprised.

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I trust God will use this grace-centered, biblically-based lesson to:

• teach us to glory in, and proclaim, the true Gospel of God which really is His power to salvation (Romans 1:16)
• correct and direct our motives for evangelism and godly living (Revelation 5:12)
• stear us clear of unknowingly preaching news that is not God's, and is not good, (something which is dangerous for our hearers and for us). (1 Timothy 4:16, James 3:1, Galatians 1:8)
• expose the Humanism that plagues professed Christianity, and the "Seeker Senstive Movement" and why neither of these can coexist with Biblical Christianity
• train us in Biblical evangelism

Please take a minute to watch the short video above, called "What new's do YOU bring?", which will give you a taste of the lesson.

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This lesson will be on Monday (9/21) at 6pm. Plus, a Location Change: This week we will be meeting in the Library on the 3rd floor, not the Campus Center. We will move into the large meeting room. (If you plan on coming, please RSVP through phone or email (ccn@iupui.edu)

Next Meeting!

"It is not our business to make the message acceptable, but to make it available. We are not to see that they like it, but that they get it." Dr. Vance Havner

Hi saints!

Grace and peace to you from the only Living God. Here's a question I ask myself and you....

"If you died....today....would you have any regrets?" Anything? Isn't better to ask yourself now than when it's too late?

Through His Word, God calls us to a life of true...unreserved.... God-given holiness, purity, faith, and love. I think that this is a life of no regrets. Just a thought.

NEXT CCN MEETING!

This week's topic will be very practical for those who are hoping to grow in their zeal and understanding when it comes to sharing the Biblical Gospel. The meeting will be held in the Campus Center at 6pm as usual, but this time, we will be leaving after the first hour to arrive at the monthly Good Messengers meeting (about 5 minutes from campus). This is a fellowship for anyone in the Indianapolis Area dedicated to the living God and actively sharing His true Gospel. Rides will be provided for anyone who needs one!

This Weeks Topic- "Answering the 10 Most Common Questions and Objections when Sharing the Gospel."

Hope to see you there!

Next week's topic preview: God's Gospel vs. the Man-Centered 'gospel'

Also, please check out the post below if you have not yet seen it!

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." Proverbs 11:30

Hi everyone,

When you are unable to have a conversation with someone, there is still a great way to reach out to people with God's Gospel. I encourage you to explore these sites if you don't know them, and be creative in getting the Good News to people for God's glory. You can include a link to these sites on Facebook and Myspace, or in a personal email, text, or letter. Like Gospel tracts, these don't replace our being a witness, but they are simple and biblical presentations of the Gospel that we can share with people.

-NeedGod.com: http://needGod.com/

-The Good Person Test: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/goodperson.shtml

-The Good Test: http://www.livingwaters.com/good/

-What if I'm Pretending: http://www.whatifimpretending.com/

Until next time, I look forward to seeing you around campus. I'm grateful for all of you. Keep your eye on Christ, our Prize.

John

Now I saw, upon a time, when the Pilgrim was walking in the fields, that he was reading in his book, and greatly distressed in his mind; and as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, “What shall I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30,31.

I saw also that he looked this way, and that way, as if he would run; yet he stood still because (as I perceived) he could not tell which way to go. I looked then, and saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, and he asked, “Wherefore dost thou cry?”

He answered, “Sir, I perceive, by the book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment, Heb. 9:27; and I find that I am not willing to do the first, Job 10: 21,22, nor able to do the second.” Ezek. 22:14.

Then said Evangelist, “Why not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils?” The man answered, “Because, I fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Hell. Isa. 30:33. And Sir, if I be not fit to go to prison, I am not fit to go to judgment, and from thence to execution; and the thoughts of these things make me cry.”

Then said Evangelist, “If this be thy condition, why standest thou still?” He answered, “Because I know not whither to go.” Then he gave him a parchment roll, and there was written within, “Fly from the wrath to come.” Matt. 3:7.

-Taken from Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan