4 Things

The beginning of every school year gets me pumped to meet new people and, more importantly, see what fresh things God wants to do in a new season for our city and our church. Here's the top 4 things our leadership is absolutely stoked about in the coming year (in no particular order):

1. Worship

There is absolutely nothing like coming together as God's church and proclaiming His name. This is where inspiration, healing and life change happen because, as Psalm 22:3 states, "God resides in the praises of His people."

Where God is, crazy, incredible things happen, and we don't want to settle for anything less than His presence.

2. Including more young adults

Last year, the 120 was formed when the high school and young adult groups came together to form one ministry. This year, something similar is happening in that we are preparing to provide child care some time this fall so that more young families and single parents can come and worship. This will meet a great need in our church!

3. Obsession

We have never been believers in changing for the sake of change. We're not looking to provide an emotional and social experience that can't sustain us. Instead, at the 120 we are passionate about being a people that are obsessed with Jesus and His finished work. Emotions, great music and a fun atmosphere cannot move people — only Jesus can do that, and hearts that are obsessed with Him will see a culture be saved.

4. Salvation

Since the 120 was formed we have become a ministry that wants to see young people come to know Jesus (what a thought!), and this year will be no different. We will not hold a single service without giving people the opportunity to come to know God personally, while experiencing "real" life for the first time.

This is our goal and our passion — to fall in love with Jesus and see other people do the same. Nothing else could fuel our fire more!


Thank you for being a part of the 120. Whether you're a part of the food team, leading worship, a part of a small group or just attending, you are a vital part of this ministry, and we couldn't be more excited to do ministry with you.

Ben and Chad

A New Beginning

It seems like this is the most difficult time for student ministries every year.

I've been leading the young adults (now high schoolers, as well) for over five years now, and every time August and early September roll around I find it harder to be motivated.

It's easy to blame the lack of zeal on the fact that the majority of the Oregon Tech students are out of town; any and all of the plans that are being made with regards to ministry are for "later" — after we kick off our fall schedule and things return to normalcy; and we run much smaller crowds in the summer.

I have come to realize that these special circumstances shouldn't have any authority over my passion for Jesus. Don't get me wrong, I would be lying if I said that I'm not excited to see the new school year starting, which includes new faces and more salvations.

But, Jesus said, "Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! For they are already ripe for harvest." - John 4:35. The fields are always there and always ripe (I pray that I always remember that). The key part of the verse spoken by Jesus is "LOOK". Pay attention, open your eyes, stop staring at your own feet and LOOK!

So, this last Thursday, I finally made the decision to actually look at the harvest and allow God to come through in worship. The result was a sweet, long-lasting taste of Jesus as we poured out our hearts and filled the room with praise. Suddenly, I wasn't performing my job or trying harder to "make" people worship. As we poured ourselves out, God returned the favor and drowned us in the ocean of his grace and love.

God was there. God was real.

Now, my vision is to worry less about having the correct "spiritual equipment" and think more about LOOKING, because there have been too many times that I have wanted to put my head down and push, instead of looking up to be engaged by the waiting mission field.

Real Encouragement

It's easy for me to think of ministry as something that consists of preaching and music. Much of the time that I spend in the church every week is taken up by preparing sermons and worship setlists.

Both of these things are important to the life of the church and I have a passion for preaching and worship. Great worship sessions and messages can change lives forever because of the Holy Spirit and the awesome power of God, but I am contending in this blog that neither one of these common Christian mediums can overshadow the ridiculous, incredible, potent, piercing, life-changing power of real encouragement.

The interesting thing about bringing real encouragement to other people's lives is that it's both the easiest thing you could ever do, and it's one of the most difficult.

— It's Easy —

Why is encouragement easy? Well, for one thing, it's easy because of technology.

With multiple social networks and hundreds of contacts on your cell phone it has never been easier to send encouragement to those who need it. You can literally change someone's life by texting (!), liking someone's status, telling someone that they're loved and accepted despite any circumstance. People need YOU!

— It's Difficult —

Why is encouragement difficult? Pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, frustration in our own lives or just plain silliness.

I'll be honest with you and tell you that I often find it very difficult to encourage people. Sometimes it's because I feel like they've never encouraged me, they upset me before, I think they're getting encouraged by enough people already (wouldn't want them to get a big head, right?), I think they're too far gone, they're not Christians, they're annoying, they smell, whatever (insert your reason here).

But the real reason I find it hard to encourage is because I don't see myself in them, and it's convenient and self-satisfying for me to stay on top of the people who are "below" me and to try to drag down the people who are doing "better" than me.

Paul said:

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1:15 KJV).

Paul was so successful in his ministry because he was able to see himself as "chief of sinners." When I think of myself as "another sinner", that allows me to compare myself with others and find a spot that I'm satisfied with on the sin totem pole.

A realization like the one that Paul had leads me to see that the sin I have in me isn't different from the sin that I find in the most successful business person, the drug addict on the street, the confused high schooler, the man having an affair and the incredible pastor.

If I'm not so different from anyone else, and I know that God can save anyone just like he saved me, then why would I withhold the encouragement that I desperately need?