LeTourneau President

Missions Emphasis Week

     At the end of last week, we entertained 130 prospective students and their parents.  They came from across the U.S.A. because of their interest in programs offered by our School of Engineering and the School of Aeronautical Science.  To see so many come from such great distances was a tangible reminder of the reputation of these two schools.  Our faculty and their graduates have built well respected legacies of relevance and quality.

     If the visitors had been able to stay over the weekend, they would have been inspired with the start of Missions Emphasis Week that began today.  Do we take missions seriously at LeTourneau?  To know that this is our 43rd annual Missions Emphasis Week is to know much about our heart for God's Great Commission.

     Before the week is over, 33 Missions organizations will assemble on campus.  Thursday evening, students will choose from 30 different seminars on the tremendous work being doing around the globe.  Wycliffe Bible Translators, Mission Aviation Fellowship, English Language Institute/China, and Voice for Christ Ministries are some of the organizations on campus.

      Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania Ministries, was the kick off speaker today in day and evening chapels.  Regarding their spiritual growth, he encouraged students to continue to climb toward the summit and not settle for camping where they currently are.  In calling for a generation of culture-shapers, Ron made a great point:  All of us will choose to dream or we will become part of someone else's dream.  It's a timely message for LeTourneau as we ask God to inspire us with His vision for our university's future.  We must dare to dream.

Words Matter

     So much of the rich educational experience at LeTourneau happens outside the classroom.  Tonight I attended two events that enriched me.

     Chris Moore, founder of Alpha Relief Ministry spoke to students as part of our spring Christian Leadership Distinctives Symposium.  Alpha Relief is a unique organization focused on helping the underground persecuted church.  Chris shared many perspectives of what it takes for Americans to be successful in Asia both in ministry and business.  At the core of success is the patient building of relationships and learning the native language.  Chris would say there is no substitute for learning to speak in the native language because  it carries one far in building relationships and learning the specifics of a culture.

     LeTourneau University co-sponsors the Laws of Life essay contest and we hosted the awards ceremony tonight.  Twenty-six area high school students were honored and Dr. Martin Batts of LeTourneau was one of the contest judges.  These students have learned something very important:  words matter.

     In my lifetime, no one has been more effective in making words matter than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The Longview News-Journal recently honored Dr. King by publishing words from his writings including this:

     "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.  He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.  There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.  When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."  (Strength to Love, 1963)

     Dr. King's faith in Christ informed his thinking and is evident in his words.  This is foundational to Christian Higher Education:  that our faith in Christ informs our worldview and inspires our words and deeds.

All things are possible

     The University's formal 7 Days of Prayer ended yesterday.  Today, visioning discussions across our campus community will begin.  Our online prayer guide allows you to pray at anytime for the campus and you can find it at www.letu.edu/vision.

     Professor Renate Hood organized faculty-led prayer in our historic Speer Chapel.  It ended yesterday with an early morning group that prayed the model prayer together and the day's focus:  "...thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."  Then later in the day a much larger group of faculty and staff gathered for President's Coffee which allowed an opportunity to recognize the several ways God has blessed our community recently.  We also had the opportunity to acknowledge our faith that with our God all things are possible.

     Our prayer guide ends with Luke 1:37.  Mary has just been told the most improbable, impossible, irrational news that she could imagine.  God's messenger reminds her to look beyond her puzzlement and limited perspective to take refuge in an eternal truth:  that with God, nothing is impossible.

And so it is with us today.  Forgive us Father when we make you too small to do the impossible.

Deliver us from evil

     I am traveling back from the annual meeting of the NCAA today.  LeTourneau is a proud member of the NCAA Division III.  This group of universities honor the student-athlete and understand athletics as part of the academic mission of the university.

     Along with others, I am praying today that God will deliver us from evil.  Proverbs 3:7 warns us to not think too highly of our own wisdom but to seek God and turn away from evil.  Jesus teaches the same approach to avoiding the evil one:  Seek God and run from evil.  It's a wise approach to our decisions as a University:  Seek God first in all we do and avoid temptation in all its forms. 

Forgive and be forgiven

     On Days 4 and 5, we are asking for the power to forgive and the grace to be forgiven.  We are confessing our weakness and the danger of temptation in our lives.  This was the topic of Chaplain Carl's message in LeTourneau student chapel Friday.

     As a community of those who follow Jesus Christ, we understand the power of righteousness in the life choices we make.  We also understand our nature.  We are sinners in need of a Savior.  And as a community of Jesus followers we strive to "walk in the light" because there we have fellowship with God and also there we find fellowship with other believers. 

     This fellowship with others who believe is the essence of what LeTourneau University provides.  God has blessed our intentions to forgive and be forgiven by giving us a wonderful community of brothers and sisters all with the same intent.

     1 John 1:5-10:

     Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you:  God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.  If we say, "We have fellowship with Him,” and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.   But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

 

Praying that God will meet our needs

On this Day 3 of our 7 Days of Prayer, the LeTourneau Nation is praying:

"Give us this day our daily bread."

It is God who meets our needs.  David understood this (1 Chronicles 29).  After God's people generously provided all that was needed to construct the new temple, David prayed with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.  He noted four times that it was from the hand of God that the need had been met.

And Jesus teaches that our God wants to provide for us as a father wants to provide good gifts for his children (Matthew 7).

"But as for me, God's presence is my good.  I have made the Lord God my refuge, so I can tell about all You do."  (Psalm 73:28)

Thy Kingdom Come

Today, the LeTourneau University community has been praying:

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6:33 was a favorite of our founder, R.G. LeTourneau.  It underscored the primacy of God's Kingdom -- something we should seek first in life and then trust God to meet our needs.

Jesus compared God's Kingdom to a buried treasure (Matthew 13:44).  Once discovered, a man's perspective changes.  All the treasures he once valued are now disposable compared to God's Kingdom.

God's Kingdom connects heaven to earth.  Perhaps our part in God's Kingdom is to connect heaven to earth -- to illustrate that God's will is done not just in our "spiritual" life but in all our "earthly" pursuits as well. 

Join us in seeking God's vision for LeTourneau

One of the most popular Christmas gifts this year were GPS navigation systems.  These are the devices that give turn-by-turn directions once you input your desired destination.  I have one and find it helpful in navigating around Longview -- still a new town to me.

The turn-by-turn directions provided by these devices are only as useful as the destination input.  The same is true of the strategic plans utilized by most large, complex organizations.  The objectives, strategies, and goals of these plans are only practical once the organization knows where it wants to go.  That's the power of vision.  An organization's vision describes what the future looks like for an organization accomplishing its purpose.  The vision defines the destination.

Now is an appropriate time for visioning at LeTourneau.  What does our future look like if we achieve God's purposes for our university?  A compelling vision will tell us who we are, where we are going and what will guide our journey.   I believe we can know God's purposes for LeTourneau if we seek Him, listen to the wise counsel of those around us, and if we recognize what work God is already blessing at the university.

For an unapologetically Christ-centered community like LeTourneau, our vision is to know God's vision for the university.  We seek Him and with all humility ask Him to include us in His purposes.

We began the visioning process this morning in chapel on campus.  You can participate by joining us in 7 Days of Prayer.  Learn more at our website:  www.letu.edu/vision