Share a Near Death Experience!

Josh, Brandon and Anne, three dear friends and amazing students who are doing great things for God here were in a terrible crash this past Saturday as they drove to Three Trails Ranch. One and a half flips in the car and numerous collisions with obstacles could have been the end of any or all of their lives. Not one of them had a scratch, bruise or injury. Praise God!!! It is so easy to live life with a very natural perspective but at times like these an eternal perspective comes through vividly. Take a moment to pause and reflect on God's protection. Then read Psalm 91: 

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD , "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;  his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes  and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you make the Most High your dwelling- even the LORD , who is my refuge- 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD , "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Erin and I are reading Evangelism Is (so far it is GREAT) and Dave Wheeler mentions 4 times people are very open to the gospel - death (deaths of loved ones or near death experiences), divorce, disease and status changes (new jobs, cities, etc.). Make it a point to transition to the gospel from stories concerning these inflection points. Give it a shot, share a near death story with a friend or co-worker and then ask them theirs. Then transition to the gospel from there.

Finally, check out the MP3 below for more on living with an eternal perspective!

Fall Retreat!

50 + students, 8 staff and visitors dropping by throughout the weekend made this retreat unforgettable (accept getting destroyed playing paintball - I'm still trying to forget that, thanks a lot Nikki!). The retreat was amazing. This picture is a picture of Jake, Joseph and Ben leading us in an amazing time of praise (GREAT job this weekend guys). It was great getting to spend so much time with so many students and seeing God work in all of our lives. We're 6 weeks in to the new school year and the retreat couldn't have come at a better time. We had a ton of fun, developed amazing relationships, ate great food,  and grew in our walks with God. The theme of the retreat was "Eternal Perspective." Leah started it all out with a talk on "Eternal Citizens." She did a great job clarifying the 2 kingdoms and clearly shared the gospel. Check out her talk here: 

Erin (my beautiful wife) continued, discussing "Eternal Hope" in light of the pain and suffering around us. Get her notes here and listen to her amazing talk below.

I concluded the retreat talking about "Eternal Significance" and life purpose. Get my notes here and the MP3 below. 

Retreats are always amazing! Watch the video below for a little more on what they're all about and students, get ready for the next one - mark Nov. 4-6 on your calendars!

John is Dead

This is an unbelievably sad story but one that we can all learn a lot from. My dad, John Herbst, has been a bus driver for the city of Grand Junction for about a year now. He has always been a great example of evangelism to me. He was even put in jail, in Las Vegas, in the 70s for sharing the Good News and led our family for 13 years in full time ministry. He has been taking the initiative to share the gospel with different people he meets riding his bus and he'll often go to work early just to get some extra time to share the gospel with them (in fact he went to work early today to share with a homeless man that rides his bus). He had been sharing with a different homeless man, also named John, for quite a while. Last week he tried to give the man a Gospel of John but John said he wasn't ready for it yet. My dad said, "no problem," and spent a few extra minutes just going through the gospel with the man. Just yesterday my dad learned (from the homeless man he's witnessing to this morning) that John passed away during the night this past Sunday.

We never know how much longer we or those around us have and this story reminds me of the importance of making the most of every opportunity (Col.4:5). The reality of life and death should give us an eternal perspective that motivates all we do and say. Eternity is so real!

Dad, I am so proud of you for taking the initiative to share with John and even though he wasn't ready to trust Christ a week ago I hope he came to that place before he died Sunday night. If you're reading this today, please pray for the man my dad is sharing with right this moment; pray he would come to know Jesus as his Savior.

Before you go, check out these ideas for sharing your faith over the holidays and get even more ideas here - then apply them and tell us how it goes. I can't wait to hear the stories. Finally, for a Biblical perspective on the reality of Heaven and hell, check out this link or just watch the video below:

Heaven, Hell and Purgatory

(That picture is actually from last April - we forgot to get one this weekend). An eternal perspective based on scripture will radically effect how we live this life and how we reach the lost. Because of that, we spent our retreat this past weekend on the topics of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Of course, scripture doesn't talk about Purgatory, we just listed that as a theme because we were a couple of minutes from the Purgatory ski resort (and we wanted to clear up misconceptions people had about eternity). It was a great time. Watch the videos, listen to the MP3's and get the notes below. The talk on hell clears up a ton of misconceptions many of us have been hearing lately. The heaven talk will leave you so excited for heaven you'll hardly be able to wait (you'll probably find yourself with Paul's attitude in Phil.1:23). We challenged students that the reality of a heaven and hell should encourage us to live with an eternal perspective and concluded Sunday morning by watching "the Bema" (if you haven't seen it, order it here). Get a video of what retreats are like below and check out the talks and student stories below that.

What the Bible really says about Heaven - Erin summarizes Randy Alcorn's book (listen below or get the notes here):

What the Bible Really says about Hell (listen below or get the notes and video here):

Dakota's story:

Ashlie's Story: