Parkside Mission

Okay - this is not something we are really supposed to do, rank the importance of certain Biblical passages over others. But what if you only had five weeks to teach college students about knowing Christ today? What passages would you choose? That was the motive behind this series. Thanks to comments and discussion with some of you, and how things have played out on campus for the past couple weeks, I have revised my rankings. Here they are: 1.             Revelation 22   – The end or final blue print of what Jesus is doing, recreation, the new heavens and the new earth…         2.               Matthew 28:18-20 - The Great Commission given by Christ after the resurrection. 3.                Luke 11 -   Jesus’ teaching on prayer and trusting the Holy Spirit 4.  ...

 Top 5 things students need to know about Jesus from the NT What if you had to choose the top 5 New Testament passages that a student needs to understand to become a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Which passages you choose? GT staff Greg Ashworth and students in Bosnia this summer. Here is my first pass at answering this question:           Revelation 22 – The end or final blue print of what Jesus is doing, recreation, the new heavens and the new earth…           Luke 1,2 – Jesus’ origins and OT roots, the miraculous birth, his God-man nature, His name           Romans 3:21-28 In our place condemned He stood, the Gospel, justification by faith, propitiation           Ephesians 4 – Life Together in Christ, the Church, Christ-centered community           Luke 11 or Matthew 6 Jesus’ teaching on prayer and trusting the...

Study Notes for John 7:37-39 Introduction This passage became a favorite of mine after reading Jack Miller’s book Outgrowing the Ingrown Church. The book tells his story of the Lord renewing his faith in Christ and the promises of God’s grace that were available to him by continual repentance and faith. I really needed to experience the same renewal in my own life and ministry. (and still do!)  So, I started committing the passage to memory. Since then I have often referred to this passage as I cast vision for our ministry to college students here in Atlanta and to unreached peoples throughout the world. Here is a compilation of some of my study notes on the passage that you can read as you reflect on this wonderful and potent passage from the Gospel of John. I.                     I. The   Passage 37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voic...

We have just completed a great year at Georgia Tech. As the school year has ended we want to share the opportunity for strategic giving with those who want to partner with our ministry at Georgia Tech. The need on campus: Twenty-thousand students on the brink of adult life….. Representing dozens of nations….. At a top-ten U.S. public university….. Most having no spiritual compass for their lives….. An estimated 90% will not darken the door of a church during their  time here……. Most will not have a Christian friend…… Hardly any will read the Bible….. How will they hear?  We are embedded in the Georgia Tech community.  We are engaged with students in a strategic mission. We are expectant of the Lord for immediate and lasting fruit. Our Current Funding Need: Campus Crusade for Christ's Campus Director, Trent McEntyre, is requesting mid-year donations to meet a current need of $25,000. Any donation is appreciated. You can give through our secure website at https://give.c...

Here is a list of books that I recommend to young adults:   The Pressure’s Off   by Larry Crab – a deeply personal and spiritual look at the how knowing Christ frees us from the old way of living to make life work. Twenty Someone by Craig Dunham and Doug Serven – a broad discussion of how to handle young adulthood from a Biblical and Gospel-driven perspective. Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper – a passionate plea to young adults to embrace a God-centered vision for your life.   Radical by David Platt – a challenge to American church mentality and invitation to live differently in light of the desperate needs of our world.   Strengths Finder by Tom Rath – a helpful tool to discover your personal and vocation strengths. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren - a clear helpful explanation of the basics of faith in Christ and how that applies to our lives. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller – Keller’s compelling message about idols of the heart and how the Gospe...

Here is a table I created as a worksheet for young adults to think through their lives. I am indebted to David English for his names and definitions for the phases of life. Years Years 17-22 Years 23-28 Years 29-32 Years 33-39 Years 40-45 Name of phase Defining Decisions Entering the adult world Minor life transitions Priority Decision Phase Major Life Transition Key features Establishing a value base. Deciding to grow up. Exploring life. Testing choices. Confusion about the future. Fear of the future. Choosing covenant relationships over vocal priorities Dealing with emotional wounds for future successful living Connections to  your dream, your covenant relationships, your mentors, and your vocation Where am/was I during this phase? Emotionally? Spiritually? Physically? Relationally? Vocationally? What did I or am I learning about God du...

When I began preparing for these talks I immediately thought of some the insights I heard from David English. Here is a background essay on the seasons of life we all go through.    I was in my early 40’s and something was happening to me emotionally. For twenty years I had been involved in Christian ministry and loved what I was doing. College students were a joy to me and I had worked with them in various positions of responsibility locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. I had a wonderful wife and four beautiful children. Outwardly everything seemed to be going great. But inwardly something was wrong. Something was missing. It was the same feeling that I had before I had become a Christian at age 19. Emotionally life was not making sense and I felt that it should because, after all, I had committed my life to Christ and I was serving Him with all my heart. There were two circumstances that I was faced with that added to my confusion. Campus Crusade was in the m...

Faith in Transition - 1 Thessalonians ChristChurch Young Adult Retreat – May 6, 7 2011 Trent McEntyre Campus Director for Crossroads at Georgia Tech and Pastor for College Ministry at ChristChurch Introduction Welcome to most turbulent phase of your life. Young adulthood is a season of transitions. The typical young Atlantan goes through more major transitions between the age of 18-35 than any other phase of life. For example the first major transition is from living with your parents to out on your own. How many major transition have you been through or could you foresee going through in this season of your life? Our Church is entering the young adult phase of its own journey. We were planted as a church to reach Atlanta’s leaders in the Buckhead area nearly 20 years ago. Today the church is maturing and growing as we embark on an exciting plan to expand our facilities in order to grow to a church of nearly 1,000 people. We will experience a number of exciting transitions in the pro...