This Week in RUF
A Very Special RUF
Why "special?" Well, first, it was special because for a rare evening, Les was rendered speechless by his most recent bout with flu. Yep, Les opened his mouth and nothing came out of it for a change. But it was also special because we had a chance to hear from the RUF Campus Minister at The University of Memphis (Les' first job, btw) Rev. Samuel Husband. Sammy was kind enough to pinch hit for Les during his time of need.Sammy did a great job at RUF and we are so appreciative of him. If you want to check out Samuel's message from Psalm 1: Seeing Jesus In The Psalms, click here to download the audio of his message.
Thanks Sammy! You're welcome here anytime!
Romans: Confronting Commonplace Christianity
Well, we have officially kicked off our first RUF of the semester and we had a chance to introduce our study this Spring through the book of Romans. There are few more obvious centerpieces to the theology of the New Testament than the book of Romans. It is written by the most prolific (at least as far as writings go) of the Apostles, Paul, to a group of people he had never met in Rome. For this reason, he distills in one book the foundational teaching of the entire Scripture.
For our purposes at Ole Miss, we'll be asking the simple question, "Why does Christianity fail to move us anymore?" Sure, there was a time when I was younger when that sort of thing used to mean something to me, but can we really hold onto that archanity now that we know what we know from our professors? And even we still hold to it, why does it rest so lightly on the soul? Hopefully, a return to "first things" will assist us in addressing this struggle in our own souls.
If you're interested in checking out our study through Romans and can't be there in person, remember that we make all of our messages available through multiple means. You can check us out on the "Listen In" page of our site. OR you can simply load us up onto your iPod through iTunes (link opens in iTunes). Either way, we hope it's as much fun to walk through as it was to put the study together!
RUF Spring Conference 2010
RUF loves conferences! We have at least 3 of them every year. But truthfully, these conferences often end up being only about US. What WE learned, what WE got out of the speaker, or who WE met while we are there. And that has its place for certain. But many years ago, we decided that we spend a conference in the Spring trying to give back to others.
Hence, our Spring Conference. Every year for the last few years, a group of Ole Miss students has headed to Birmingham, Alabama for Friday night and all day Saturday to serve with Daniel Cason Ministries, an inner city mission just a stones throw from downtown Birmingham.
The schedule is simple: we'll all leave together on Friday afternoon and head to Birmingham. Dinner is on your own with whomever you wish. (C'mon people, meet someone new for a change!) We'll all convene at Red Mountain Church in downtown Birmingham to hear from the pastor there, Rev. Tom Cannon. Tom is going to speak to us about why we are there and what's important about serving others.
Afterward, we'll all retire to the Hampton Inn at The Colonnades on the south side of town. After a good nights rest (ahem) and a free "continental" breakfast (ahem, ahem), we'll all reconvene at about 10am back at Red Mountain where we'll hear from Tom a second time (trust me, it's worth it). Lunch is going to be a special surprise this year but it's being provided for you by some friends of this ministry. We'll pack those lunches and head to the work site.
After an afternoon of helping Daniel with, well, whatever, we'll all climb in our cars and head home. That's it. And you're home by 10p that evening ready to cover whatever homework you had left over. Sound like fun? Click on the link here to go to the Spring Conference 2010 page for more details including how to sign up and pay online!
So come join us this year for a GREAT time and a chance to serve as well!
