The World is Watching

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5

When we launched our ministry website (CruPressGreen.com) in July 2010, our goal was to provide free ministry resources to staff and students in Cru’s US Campus Ministry. As word spread and we developed more content, our scope grew significantly. We quickly became an equipping site for Cru staff in many other countries. This fall, we expanded our efforts beyond Cru, making our content available to any church or parachurch who needs it. So now, many churches use our Bible Studies and training material for ministry.

But in the last couple of months, we’ve noticed an exciting trend. People outside the realm of evangelical Christianity are paying attention to CruPressGreen, resulting in some very positive interactions. Here are a few:

· A professor from Louisiana (John) contacted me about citing our training articles in his academic research. John, who teaches Theatre History, is writing a book comparing evangelism techniques. Through email, John and I had a very encouraging conversation about his own spiritual journey, the essence of the gospel, the purpose of evangelism, and the nature of civil discourse in America. Over the course of a few days of correspondence, John and I developed a level of mutual respect and understanding, and he now considers Cru a leading innovator in developing diverse, relational approaches to spiritual dialogue.

· A member of the LGBT community at a campus in the Pacific Southwest used one of our articles to outline Cru’s “anti-gay stance.” When this was brought to our attention, the local Cru campus director met with this student and had a positive conversation, remaining true to the Scriptures but treating the person with dignity and respect. We’re praying that this leads to more spiritual conversations between Cru and LGBT students.

· Last week, in a blog entry written by a Jewish PhD, The Huffington Post quoted an article from CruPressGreen. Known as the most influential liberal political blog in the world, Huff Po used two paragraphs from our article to explain how evangelicals are concerned with both evangelism and serving the poor. (Read the post here: http://huff.to/WvGyXD)


These interactions serve as a great reminder for us – as followers of Jesus and ambassadors of the gospel – to be wise in what we say and do… because the world is watching.

Praises

• For the amazing growth of CruPressGreen.com
• For the wide range of people we’re reaching
• For the positive interactions we’ve had with non-believers

Please Pray

• That we would be wise in our interactions with all people
• For continued opportunities to influence our culture with the Gospel
• That the website would continue to help make disciples
• For our family to diligently read God’s Word (we’re trying to memorize scripture together)

Partnering with you,

Neil and Jenny