A mentor of mine once shared something with me that has shaped so much of my approach to ministry; “If anyone is going to follow you, they need to trust you…and in order for them to trust you, they need to know you.”

I’m convinced that the best way to get to know me is to be in my home and meet the best part about me…my wife and my kids.  I’m in a new season of ministry, in a new place, pursuing a whole new brood of college students.  And just as I’ve done in my time at the University of Illinois, I’m being intentional about inviting students into my home, here in Southern Indiana.  I want them to see what kind of husband I am…what kind of father I am.  I want them to know me.

The college experience is incredibly transformational…quite possibly the most pivotal season in one’s life.  It’s an exciting time of taking the reins of who you are, exploration, and even wandering.  Every worldview, every lifestyle is completely accessible, available, and vying for one’s allegiance, regardless of what campus you’re one.  College is often when one’s faith either becomes their own or falls to pieces.

I am passionate about this season of life because it matters so much.  My job is to disciple college students, to gather, to empower, to develop, to equip, to prepare, to send, to create and cultivate an environment for them to grow in their faith as it applies to their life.

I want to see students put their roots in the right dirt, grounded in scripture, in love with Jesus.

I want to raise up game changers…students whose gifts and passions are colliding for the kingdom.

I want to see students develop a faith that does not just survive college…I want to see them fall in love with Jesus in such a way that He changes the entire trajectory of their lives.

I want to see students do life together…to know each other, to lean on each other, to encourage each other and hold each other accountable.

I want to see students who make disciples as they go (Matthew 28), because they’ve been discipled themselves.

I want to see students focused on who they are becoming, more than what they want to be when they grow up.

I want to see the strong lead.

The broken made whole.

The lost be found.

The wandering come home.

This last Friday was our first official gathering.  It was beautiful to see so many of the students I’ve met (and even haven’t met) in the two months I’ve been at Northside in my home at one time.  Each room was packed with people and filled with conversations.  I’m excited to see how God is going to use them, grow them, change them, and send them and so humbled at the thought, the opportunity of being a part of their stories.

This is where we are.  This is where we start.  This is just a glimpse of what we are going after.  And this is only the beginning.