5Q4 Me From Biscotti

Thanks to Erin of the Biscotti Brain blog for passing these questions on to me. I know it was a lot of hard work for her to do all this research. She told me that I must give a "music request"... what Erin should listen to while reading my answers, and why. So Erin, you should go plug in the CD player or the MP3 player and turn on some Third Day. They are my favorite group because I want to live a life of praise and worship, not just do it a couple of days per week. And Third Day is what I am listening to as I type this up.

1. Is flying a C-5 Galaxy as cool as it sounds? Can you describe the experience for those who've never been "behind the stick"?

Well, first off let me say that I'm not a Pilot, but a Navigator. I wasn't the one pushing and pulling on the yoke (similar to a car's steering wheel). But, I do have my pilot's license and used to fly a lot privately. The pilots tell me that the C-5 flies like a small Cessna airplane. There are so many flight computers on board that augment what the pilots do that the flying part isn't all that difficult. The C-5 is the world's largest aircraft and the hardest part was just keeping track of all the aircrew members. Navigators were used to fly Special Operations and airdrop missions, which included the largest amount of aircrew members. A normal C-5 aircrew could be as small as about 7 people. I went on a long trip to Australia that was so popular that we had 31 aircrew members. Imagine how much time it takes for each one of them to check in and respond to checklists before we start engines, taxi, and takeoff. It could be pretty embarrassing if you left one of them behind!

Navigating the C-5 and the C-130 was a lot of fun. On the C-130 we had limited navigation equipment and believe it or not up until about 1993 we still used the sextant, sun, and stars as our primary means of navigation when crossing the Pacific or Atlantic. The primary method of figuring out where you were when we were flying low level (300 feet) and airdrop was by looking our the window and comparing what you saw with what a map of the area looked like. They were good and detailed maps, but it took a lot of skill to navigate by map reading especially at night.

The C-5 was a much more technologically advanced aircraft and we didn't use the sextant in the C-5. It was much more comfortable to fly. My longest flight was a 19 and a half hour flight from North Carolina to Guam. We got off the aircraft and kissed the ground after that flight!

2. You've said "I just remember growing up loving Jesus from day one". How has that helped you in ministry to college students (and particularly cross-cultural students)? Has it posed any challenges?

I think it helps me minister cross culturally (I consider all collegiate ministry to be cross cultural ministry when you are my age) by understanding that not everyone comes to know Jesus the same way. McKendree is a unique college in that it is a Methodist school without much evangelistic push. They don't push religion on the students. I know lots of students that have graduated from McKendree without even knowing it was a church related school. In one sense that is tragic; in the sense that McKendree is missing some incredible opportunities. In another sense it is wonderful; in the sense that our ministry has great opportunities to proclaim the gospel to those who have never heard it before. Praise God that Sudarsun came to McKendree as a Hindu. If McKendree has pushed religion more openly maybe he would have gone to school somewhere else. He is now an incredible brother in the Lord.

So we get a great mixture of students that come to college with a Christian mindset and another group that have never heard of salvation before. Many of the college students I minister to grew up in the church and have known Jesus from a young age. On those students I concentrate my time on encouraging them to reach out and share their faith with others who don't know the Lord. We have had several students come to know the Lord this semester, and on them I am concentrating on laying a basic foundation of discipleship in learning the basics.

I guess I don't buy into the "You're not saved if you haven't experienced a life changing transformation when you gave your life to the Lord" quote so many Christians use. I don't ever remember not living for Jesus, but I also don't remember my conversion experience. I have loved the Lord from day 1 and don't discount my experience because I don't have a definitive conversion date. I believe that there are a few of us out there (one of my old Pastors, Chuck Smith from Calvary Chapel included) who have grown up "knowing the Lord" and feel that we have walked with Him from the beginning. I don't mean to sound egotistical about my walk with the Lord in any way because it hasn't always been deep, and I have rededicated my life several times, but I feel I have always been in the faith.

3. You obviously have the gift of teaching... they don't let just anyone teach others to fly zillion dollar aircraft! Not all teachers have the ability to step back and leave room for peers to teach each other. You've said that watching your students minister to each other has had a deep impact on you. Can you describe that impact?

My biggest reward in ministering to college students is to watch them grow through the use of their spiritual gifts. I believe I do have the gift of teaching, and I am comfortable using my spiritual gifts, but that is not my ministry is right now. My ministry is to proclaim the gospel to the unchurched and to develop today's students into tomorrow's Christian leaders. I believe both of these goals are best done through student to student ministry. A couple of friends tell me "what kind of a ministry is it where you aren't out front teaching most of the time", and I respond that being up front isn't what my job is right now. I teach a couple of times per semester, in fact I taught on Communion last week, but I think the students listen more intently and internalize the teaching more deeply if it is taught by one of their own. When I see the students ministering to each other I get the same feeling I got when my son first started to walk. They are growing up and becoming adult Christians before my eyes. I believe the college years are the most formative years of a persons life. Who you will marry, what you will do with yourself the rest of your life, your idea of who you are in the workforce, whether or not you will continue to serve the Lord are all decisions people normally make in their collegiate years. I feel priveleged to be a part of that process in the lives of these students.

4. You seem to have the ability to recognize areas of your life you'd like to explore, develop goals, plan to achieve those goals, and follow through. What are you currently recognizing as a need or area of your like you'd like to explore?

I am really trying to deal with the whole concept of God calling me to be a church planter. I am scared to death to act out on it. There are problems with my family not being best situated to do this, financial matters, logistics issues, time management problems, and ministry priorities. But the biggest issue is just having enough faith in God's calling to step out and do it. I want to, but it is always easier to talk about when it is months down the line. It is a little more difficult when you get into the weeds of doing it. I lay awake at night because it scares me, but I know it is what the Lord wants me to do, and it scares me even more to think about not doing it.

5. From you bio, I count at least 9 times in your life you've moved. What have you learned about Community and how it can be cultivated?

Great question! I have learned a lot about community over the last couple of years. My last move was on the 4th of July 2000 when the Air Force took me away from my family and moved me to SongTan, South Korea for a year. It was very difficult to be away from my family for the year. But, I did find that in Korea the brothers and sisters in Christ were so much more tightly knit than anything I had ever experienced at home. As hard as Korea was on my family I'll have to say that I grew more in my walk with the Lord during that year than at any other time in my life. When you are all away from home and have a common task that unites you it is hard to believe how close you can grow. I spent almost all my free time with Koreans rather than American GIs because I wanted to learn all I could about Korean culture. I attended a church that was half Korean and half American and traveled almost every weekend with my Korean friends. I still count two of my Korean sisters two of my best friends in the world. No matter where we are and no matter how different our backgrounds are we can be unified in Christ and that is the ultimate community.

I didn't think I would follow in Erin's footsteps because doing the research this 5Q4 trail requires is such hard work, but I enjoyed it and think I will do it afterall. So, if you have a blog and would like for me to pass on 5 Questions for you to answer please leave comments and I will pass the stick on to the first 5 who ask.