Reflections
First, I write this as a personal reflection of the past eight years of my life. During this time, I have been involved in the college ministry at Hillcrest, and it has had a large role in the decisons I have made for the direction of different areas of my life.
Second, it is to encourage any student or reader to be aware of college ministry or perhaps just the church and the role it can have on an anxious college student about to take on the world.
I grew up a church kid. My father is a minister so I know a little about the church and how it works. However, it was not until I was fifteen that it clicked: God drew me to Himself and I would say that salvation became a very real thing for me at that time.
In the fall of ’03 I started at DBU. I considered starting to look for a new church and did visit a couple of churches my freshman year. I did not find anything wrong with them but felt led to stay at the church that I had known since high school.
Thoughts on Men & Women
We went to Marshall, TX for the college retreat that year, Dr. Steve Smith and his wife, Ashley, spoke on the topic of marriage, a subject that had never applied to me until then. He talked seriously about dating and the approach to take as believers.
Steve said one thing that weekend that has stuck in my mind even now, two years being married. In reference to Ephesians 5 and the role of a man and woman in marriage and translating it into a dating relationship, “…we do it this way because the gospel is at stake.” I had never heard that said. It took me a minute to chew on that one. He proceeded to explain how we work, speak, think, and act in a way obedient to God “because the gospel is at stake.” He was talking about relationships that weekend but that way of thinking applied to every single facet in our lives. This got the wheels turning.
He also talked about guys being guys and doing guy things which God had wired in us. That proceeded to Caleb Wright, Logan Rucker, and I having a pull-up contest prior to leaving for the weekend (with all the girls watching or so we thought). We were just 18 and proving it. However, I still remember I lost and Caleb outdid us that day.
B. Wooten
Wooten was the college minister at that time while Aaron spoke frequently during mid-week bible study (The Well). A couple years into that Aaron took more of leadership role as the college minister and Wooten would just teach on Sunday mornings.
You don’t currently have the time to sit and read what I could share about what I learned from Wooten. But, here is a drive-by.
I would consider him (and Daniel Cole) one of the most transparent and honest people I have ever known. Wooten was very humble in his teaching and leadership. He pointed every good thing done within the ministry back to the glory of Christ.
He met with Zac Rodgers and me on a regular basis for encouragement, discipleship, and accountability. He loved us, shared deep personal things with us, and at times got in our face when we were pathetically living as professed Christians.
When Wooten taught, you better have your Bible out and pen ready, because he backed up every statement he said with about twelve references each. I would run PowerPoint on the screens and one time, no joke, he had 49 slides of Scripture for the morning.
I learned a lot from Wooten, from him stepping down from a leadership role so he could spend more time loving and leading his family, to him leaving for SE Asia to make the gospel known to an unreached people group. Every time I see him I give him a big hug and bury my face in his chest, but that’s only because he is about eight foot seven, that seems right.
A. Clayton
It has been a good experience for me to see Aaron grow as a leader in the church. While he has grown in leadership qualities and has improved as a speaker, there are other things I have seen that are more valuable than just mentioned.
When Aaron speaks it is as if he is having a conversation with you. It is like you are sitting, having a cup of coffee with him, and he is just pouring his heart into you. Every minister/leader has different ways of teaching, so some will “preach” at you, but college students desire a real, authentic person more than they desire a qualified, morally superior pastor. That is something I have always appreciated about Aaron.
One other thing about Aaron is that when you are talking to him or in a group he listens, and he will ask questions about what you are saying. Most college students do not want/need to be the center of attention but they do want to be heard periodically. College students are working through new ways of thinking and acting and need someone there to hear them voice their thoughts.
J. Gandy
Justin Gandy is not your typical Sunday morning teacher. He likes to make you uncomfortable on Sundays. There are so many traditions we have in church, even in an hour of “Sunday School.” While traditions are not bad in and of themselves, they tend to dictate and limit our worship and allowance of the Spirit to lead us toward the Father. Every time Gandy is about to teach, be ready to stop and think.
Other things worth mentioning
In the past years I have been able to be a part of things that have shaped me and cause me to reflect upon them frequently, coming directly from my role in the college ministry.
Summer of ’04 I went to the Middle East with the church and some girls from the ministry: Cindy, Denae, Marissa, and Tabi. Summer of ’05 I spent a month in Japan with red EJ. Summer of ’06 I spent three and a half months back in the Middle East. Summer camps, D-Nows, VBS’s, local mission trips were done a few times over the years too. I was able to teach high school Sunday School for a year. I led a home group with a pretty girl for five years. Married that one pretty girl by the name of Megyn in July of ’09.
These are not accolades but a direct result of God pouring Himself through a college student trying to be faithful to Christ’s bride, the church.
Things I’ve learned since HS
Here are a last few bullets of things that I would claim I have learned since high school.
- God is most passionate for Himself. Him loving us more than Himself would be considered idolatry. He does unconditionally love us and Jesus did die for our sins, but ultimately Jesus puts His glory before all.
- Many times we teach salvation and stop. We tend to hope that the new believer will just grow up on their own. Christ lived and taught intimate, messy discipleship. And when a follower of Christ grows and matures in their faith this glorifies God because the individual is glorifying God. Discipleship is years of growing in Christ.
- We are to live by grace. We never earned salvation or our inheritance as believers, so our actions do not determine our standing with God. Now, this does not teach an easy, cheap form of grace, but a costly one that will result in maturing as disciples and obedience to the Spirit.
- We must approach relationships seriously, not casually. This applies to friendship and dating relationships. Why? Because the gospel is at stake.
- Not valuing Scripture and Jesus says nothing about the importance of Scripture and Jesus. It does, however, say everything about you. A bag of gold is more valuable than a bag of fruity Mentos; if you think the opposite then you a fool. (One of Aaron’s analogies which you will hear a few times over eight years)
- Biblical community is the best way to grow and live as a believer. The college ministry structured that in the form of home groups. I am going to say this because I just do not care if I offend anyone: if you came to Hillcrest as a college student but were not involved in home groups, then quite honestly I would say you were not a part of our church. I do not say that as an elitist but as seeing growth and Biblical church happening when groups of believers regularly met and prayed, discussed Scripture, ate, and just spent time together. I have grown so much as a result of home groups, and I have seen dozens do the same.
- Love for the local church is something you sadly do not see in many college students. They claim to love Jesus but not the church. We must continue to teach and explain that these cannot be separate ideas in any believer’s life. Yes, Christ died for the individual, but the individual is a part of the church. Missions, accountability, discipleship, maturity, discipline, and authority all happen within the church. It is very difficult to do those things off on an island alone. Community and devotion to the church, I believe, are one in the same. We just need to do a better job at melding the two together.
Looking back and looking forward
The last two years my wife and I have been able to be on the leadership team in the college ministry. Plurality in leadership works. It not only shares the load as Jethro told Moses a few years back, but it keeps accountability within the ministry rather than just one person making all the decisions.
I have been at Hillcrest for the past eleven years, and eight of those have been in this college ministry. It will be sad and tough to move on, however, I am excited to be involved in planting Remedy Church in Waxahachie. One of the most reassuring things about it is that Megyn and I are doing it with people we love and trust.
Books of note
I am not an avid reader like some but here are a few books that have made an impact on me these past few years:
Don’t Waste Your Life -John Piper
George Muller of Bristol -A.T. Pierson
Holy Ambition -Chip Ingram
Jesus for President -Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw
Stop Dating the Church -Joshua Harris
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