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<strong>BRANCHES</strong><br />
THE SOILS OF THE<br />
COLLEGIATE HEART<br />
an RUF campus<br />
minister’s meditation<br />
on matthew 13:1-23<br />
five questions with<br />
matt terrell<br />
MAY <strong>2014</strong> | southwood.org<br />
ask the staff:<br />
what's up with the<br />
sanctuary temperature?
SOUTHWOOD<br />
contents<br />
ABOUT THIS ISSUE<br />
Senior Sunday is certainly a time to honor our graduating high school seniors,<br />
but it is also an apropos opportunity to look at the full spectrum of student<br />
ministries. From VBS to High-Life mission trips and everything in between,<br />
our commitment to students is clear, and your involvement is necessary!<br />
Children are brought up in our church family. Friends are invited along the<br />
way. Students come together for High-Life. All hear the gospel and form<br />
relationships that last for years.<br />
As our graduating seniors head off, many will find the freedom and challenge<br />
of college and independent living. Our continued connection with them is<br />
especially evident in Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), where campus<br />
ministers continue to challenge our students but also provide relational and<br />
spiritual support.<br />
This issue of <strong>BRANCHES</strong> highlights RUF and the ministry provided by it. A<br />
few of our local RUF campus ministers have provided some insight for us in<br />
this issue. While the ministry is targeted toward our college students, the<br />
gospel message delivered is one we can all learn from. Take a few minutes<br />
to see how our church family’s investment in students is applied and how you<br />
might participate further.<br />
2 about this issue<br />
3 pastor’s note<br />
REFLECT<br />
6 soils of the colligate heart<br />
A campus minister's insight on the<br />
parables<br />
RESPOND<br />
8 ask a pastor<br />
what's up with the sanctuary<br />
temperature?<br />
10 5 questions<br />
Matt Terrell discusses RUF and the<br />
joys of serving students<br />
RELATE<br />
4 by the numbers<br />
5 session update<br />
9 what does the volunteer say?<br />
Volunteers from last year's VBS share<br />
their heart<br />
11 all that is fair<br />
Coldplay's Hurts Like Heaven and<br />
youthfulness<br />
Jonathan Barnette, Editor<br />
<strong>BRANCHES</strong><br />
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jonathan Barnette<br />
DESIGNER Jacki Gil<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Will Spink<br />
Reid Jones<br />
Chad Townsley<br />
Matt Terrell<br />
James Parker<br />
PHOTOS<br />
Jonathan Barnette<br />
Jacki Gil<br />
Katie Cochran<br />
FEEDBACK!<br />
We want to hear from you! Please send<br />
your suggestions and comments to<br />
branches@southwood.org<br />
1000 CARL T. JONES DRIVE | HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA 35802<br />
(256) 882-3085 | WWW.SOUTHWOOD.ORG<br />
JEAN F. LARROUX, III Senior Pastor<br />
MELISSA PATTERSON Executive Assistant<br />
ADULT MINISTRIES<br />
SARAH NIEMITZ Director of Community Development/Assimilation<br />
JAMES PARKER Chief Musician<br />
WILL SPINK Associate Pastor/Shepherding<br />
STUDENT MINISTRIES<br />
KIM DELCHAMPS Administrative Assistant<br />
NIÑA BANTA Director of Children<br />
NANCY McCREIGHT Assistant Director /Children/Nursery<br />
CHAD TOWNSLEY Associate Pastor/High-Life<br />
WINNIE WINFORD Assistant Director/High-Life<br />
MINISTRY SUPPORT<br />
TERRI GOOD Accountant/Bookkeeper<br />
JONATHAN BARNETTE Director of Communication<br />
JACKI GIL Graphic Designer<br />
JANICE CROWSON Director of Facilities/Finance<br />
LYNDA CLAYDON Facilities<br />
MIKE MARREN Facilities<br />
ELIZABETH BUTZ Receptionist<br />
UPCOMING<br />
EVENTS<br />
Senior Banquet<br />
<strong>May</strong> 4th<br />
Mother's Day<br />
<strong>May</strong> 11<br />
Peru Mission Trip<br />
<strong>May</strong> 28<br />
VBS/CLIMB<br />
June 8-12<br />
2 MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG
PASTOR’S NOTE<br />
Uncommon Sense<br />
With Senior Sunday approaching I decided to<br />
write an advice column kind of pastor’s note for<br />
this issue of <strong>BRANCHES</strong>. I’ve boiled down that<br />
advice to 5 specific things for our graduating<br />
Seniors (and something for the rest of us to think<br />
about too!)<br />
Your parents were right. If you are asking,<br />
‘about what?’ then the answer is EVERYTHING.<br />
In the next 4 years the people to whom you had<br />
to explain Instagram will transform into very<br />
wise beings. They didn’t change. You did. When<br />
in doubt, trust your parent’s instincts. At some<br />
point in the future, use that cell phone they are<br />
paying for and call them to thank them. It won’t<br />
seem like much to you, but it will be huge to<br />
them. P.S. Parents aren’t infallible, you’ll learn<br />
that too. Parents need to be forgiven as much as<br />
they need to be respected.<br />
You tend to marry the people you date. This<br />
seems obvious, but follow the logic. You tend to<br />
marry the people you date. You tend to date the<br />
people you hang out with. You tend to hang out<br />
with people you live with, room with, study with,<br />
laugh with, eat with, etc. The people you choose<br />
to associate with is an important decision. You<br />
might think you are just "hanging out" with<br />
classmates, sorority sisters or lab partners, but<br />
you might actually be making decisions about<br />
bridesmaids, groomsmen or who you will raise<br />
your children with. It’s not "just lunch"— big life<br />
decisions are the culmination of hundreds of<br />
little ones.<br />
You are not your profile. Half of the reason we<br />
are so fearful that no one really knows us or likes<br />
us is that no one really knows us. If someone is<br />
filtered, cropped and edited before you see them<br />
then you only know the image being portrayed,<br />
not the real person. Be very careful about hiding<br />
behind well-edited versions of yourself AND<br />
be more careful of divulging your heart behind<br />
the apparent safety of a keyboard and a screen.<br />
Anyone who says they love you, like you or friend<br />
you, but who only knows the images, quotes and<br />
quips you’ve put on social media doesn’t really<br />
know you at all.<br />
Sex is not an extra-curricular activity. You<br />
have been raised in a world where personal<br />
gratification is a birthright and any attempt to find<br />
that gratification is deemed "right." That is an<br />
especially egregious lie as it pertains to sexuality.<br />
The only real "friends with benefits" are those who<br />
are willing to love you when you fall, call you out<br />
when you are wrong, laugh with you when you are<br />
happy and cry with you when you are sad. Sex was<br />
designed to be a picture of union and intimacy.<br />
Man and woman were designed by God to be<br />
husband and wife, naked and unashamed—not<br />
simply two people who are slaves to their biology<br />
choosing to use each other for self-gratification.<br />
Your faith matters. People will tell you that<br />
religion is for cowards and the close-minded,<br />
but you have not been raised to be religious, you<br />
have been raised to be restored! In Christ you<br />
have been restored to a Father you lost in the<br />
Garden, restored to your fellow man and restored<br />
to a right understanding of who you really are.<br />
World peace, social justice and standing up for<br />
lost causes are His ideas, not the inventions of a<br />
university. Remember His grace. You are going to<br />
fall, but when you fall, you do not fall out of His<br />
Grace, you fall into it. Distrust your sinful nature.<br />
Don’t ever believe that you can dabble with sin<br />
because you belong to Him. To presume upon<br />
the love of God is a declaration that you never<br />
understood it in the first place. Let your life be<br />
about what your church is about— experiencing<br />
and expressing grace.<br />
In conclusion, remember this: you can always come<br />
home. No matter what you’ve done; no matter<br />
where you’ve been; no matter what went wrong<br />
and regardless of whether it can be made right—<br />
you can come home. Home to Southwood? Yes,<br />
but "coming home" was His idea first. Whenever<br />
you need to hear the benediction His door and<br />
ours are always open—Zephaniah 3:17<br />
Jean F. Larroux, III<br />
Senior Pastor<br />
For more from Jean, check out<br />
his sermons at southwood.org<br />
jean.larroux@southwood.org<br />
@jflarrouxiii<br />
MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG 3
southwood by the numbers<br />
This month all of our numbers are about RUF. To learn more about the<br />
RUF ministries around the country visit ruf.org.<br />
1976<br />
The approximate<br />
start date of RUF.<br />
A small meeting at<br />
The University of<br />
Southern Mississippi<br />
grew into what we<br />
now know as RUF.<br />
one<br />
hundred<br />
twenty<br />
Campus Ministers that<br />
have gone on to take<br />
churches in RUF's 40<br />
year history.<br />
2,000<br />
Students that attended last<br />
year's Summer Conference.<br />
53<br />
Students in the<br />
RUF intern class.<br />
There are new<br />
interns added<br />
each week, so that<br />
number won't be<br />
the same for long!<br />
125<br />
The number of<br />
RUF campuses<br />
nationwide. There<br />
will also be a few<br />
campuses opening<br />
in the fall.<br />
twenty-two<br />
Million dollars were donated last year to support RUF. Your<br />
support is necessary for the interns of RUF to continue<br />
their studies while in the RUF internship program.<br />
4 MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG
elate<br />
SOUTHWOOD<br />
SESSION UPDATE Will Spink<br />
As we thank God for a rich season of corporate worship and<br />
fellowship through Holy Week and Easter services, please also<br />
join us in praying for a full calendar of events as we look toward<br />
summer. In the next few weeks, we will have Senior Sunday to<br />
honor our graduates, missions trips, youth retreats, VBS and<br />
Climb programs, and much more. Pray that God will make us<br />
more than simply busy. Pray that He will use these activities as<br />
opportunities to deepen our experience and expression of his<br />
grace and to advance his kingdom in Huntsville and around<br />
the world.<br />
Please also join us for “Faith Matters” the first three Sundays<br />
in <strong>May</strong> (4th, 11th, and 18th) from 9:00-10:00am. This will be a<br />
particular opportunity to talk together about how the gospel and<br />
our faith impact all of life. Jean Larroux will be leading a class<br />
about making significant decisions in life and where God fits in<br />
with these difficult choices, while Will Spink will be leading a class<br />
on how our Christianity impacts our work, politics, and other issues<br />
we face every day. These two short (3-week) classes will help us<br />
apply the good news we hear every Sunday to life beyond the<br />
doors of the church, so take advantage of this unique chance for<br />
learning and discussion.<br />
Southwood Night<br />
at<br />
Monday, <strong>May</strong> 19th<br />
5:00 to 9:00 PM<br />
Join us at Rosie’s on South<br />
Parkway for dinner and 20%<br />
of your check total will be<br />
donated to help fund the<br />
Scripture Union Mission Trip to<br />
Peru, <strong>May</strong> 30th-June 9th.<br />
Cards will be available in the<br />
Guest Center as well as at the<br />
hostess desk at Rosies on the<br />
night of the event. You must<br />
present the card in order for the<br />
proceeds to be applied.<br />
MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG 5
A Campus Minister’s Meditation<br />
on Matthew 13:1-23<br />
by Reid Jones<br />
Our neighborhood was less than five years old when<br />
we bought our first house in Huntsville two years ago.<br />
Most of the trees were nearly that young too. Our cute<br />
little home came furnished with three cute little trees—<br />
all about as tall as me when we first moved in. When our<br />
first Alabama spring came around, I noticed that two out<br />
of the three trees began to bloom beautifully. But the<br />
third was… struggling. In fact, that little tree looked like<br />
it much preferred the fall to the spring —crisp, golden<br />
leaves and all.<br />
One day I was in the back yard when my neighbor Mike<br />
decided he had enough of my ignorance of what had<br />
really happened to my little always-autumn-never-spring<br />
tree. “Looks like your tree’s dead over there, Reid. Yep,<br />
it’s definitely a goner.” He was right. No longer three cute<br />
little trees. Just two.<br />
So I got out my one shovel and attempted to dig out the<br />
roots and pull up the dead tree. I loosened the foundation<br />
just enough to begin tugging on the little trunk. With my<br />
first hard pull the tree came out of the ground so fast that I<br />
almost fell to the ground. But it was the bottom of the tree<br />
that caught my attention. Apparently, when the builders<br />
planted our little trees they didn’t break up the ground<br />
enough around this particular one. The roots had grown in<br />
on themselves—and the tree had choked itself to death. It<br />
looked like a ball of snakes wrapped around the base of our<br />
tiny tree. The soil was too hard, the roots too entangled.<br />
And there I stood—with an upside noose in my hand—and<br />
a picture of what can happen in my own heart time and time<br />
again: when “the worries of this life… choke the word of<br />
God, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).<br />
6 MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG
In the “Parable of the Sower” Jesus tells a huge crowd of people<br />
about four types of soils. And one type of seed. The seed, Jesus<br />
tells us, is “the message about the Kingdom” (v.19). It’s God’s<br />
Word. It’s the Gospel. And the different soils are the various types<br />
of hearts of those who hear the Word of God—yet something<br />
different happens with the seed in each case. One seed, four soils.<br />
As a campus minister, I have the opportunity to see all four types<br />
of soil on a daily basis. In fact, I think that college can often be<br />
the time our soil is tested for the first time, and our hearts begin<br />
to be exposed.<br />
You may be a student now—headed to college soon, or perhaps<br />
already in the middle of your degree. Or maybe you’re a parent or<br />
grandparent of a college student. And you might be wondering:<br />
which soil am I? That’s a great question! Let’s consider:<br />
The Hard Soil<br />
First there’s the Hard Soil—the one that’s really just a path, where<br />
the ground is too firm, too impenetrable for the seed to ever take<br />
root. Instead, the seed lands on top of this firm soil and is eventually<br />
either blown away by the wind or eaten by the birds. The Hard Soil<br />
might be the student who grew up hearing of the Gospel (perhaps<br />
in his home and in his home church), but his heart is closed to the<br />
message. Jesus says that the evil one is at work here—snatching<br />
away the message before it takes root (v.19).<br />
The Rocky Soil<br />
Then Jesus talks about the Rocky Soil—the soil that’s characterized<br />
as “shallow” and “no root” and “not much.” Essentially the seed<br />
that falls into this soil remains only for a time, but in the end it’s<br />
scorched and dies out. The Rocky Soil can represent the student<br />
who had a strong “spiritual experience” in high school. Someone<br />
who is very excited to tell everyone about his most recent mission<br />
trip, or how many bible studies he’s been a part of, or how much<br />
He’s “done for Jesus.” But there’s very little understanding of<br />
how much Jesus has done for him. And when the time of testing<br />
comes, “they quickly fall away” (v.21).<br />
The college campus is full of the rocky soil. I’ve seen this in<br />
my own life as I was the Rocky Soil of my college. During my<br />
freshman year, I felt that everyone I met should hear how much<br />
I had accomplished for Jesus while in high school. There was<br />
very little room on my spiritual résumé for how much Jesus<br />
had accomplished for me. And when my faith was put to the<br />
test it proved to be shallow. There was no room for the seed<br />
to take root.<br />
The Thorny Soil<br />
The third soil is the Thorny Soil. This one is tricky. This soil is capable<br />
of production, but what’s competing with the seed in the thorny<br />
soil is why the seed just can’t take root. This is the soil that killed<br />
my tree. There was no room for growth because there’s too much<br />
fighting for life just underneath the ground. And the seed won’t<br />
last. All of us, to a degree, live in what appears to be thorny soil.<br />
Jesus says that this is the soil that is tangled in “the worries of life<br />
and the deceitfulness of wealth” (v.22).<br />
College students know something of these entangling thorns: The<br />
SOUTHWOOD<br />
worries of relationships. The deceitfulness of popularity. The anxiety<br />
of life after graduation. The deceitfulness of a perfect future. Our<br />
happiness in Christ is challenged by the thorny weeds all around us—<br />
competing for life in the soils of our hearts.<br />
The Good Soil<br />
But it’s the fourth soil in Jesus’ list—the Good Soil—that’s the one that<br />
we all want to be, right? This soil produces the right kind of crop. The<br />
good seed planted in the good soil yields a plentiful harvest. Jesus says<br />
that the good soil “produces a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times<br />
what was sown” (v.8).<br />
We all want to be the Good Soil. But how do we get there? We are left<br />
at the end of Jesus’ parable begging for a to-do list. If you’re the Hard<br />
Soil, you want to know what you have to do to break up the tough path<br />
you find yourself underneath. If you’re the Rocky Soil, you want to know<br />
what it will take to remove the rocks all around you so that you can be<br />
a better producer of good fruit. If you’re the Thorny Soil, you want to<br />
know what you can do to cut down the life-sucking thorny spikes—how<br />
you can unwrap the entangling roots that are competing for your heart.<br />
But Jesus doesn’t leave us with a to-do list. Instead He leaves us with a<br />
picture of a soil that can’t do anything to make itself more productive.<br />
My dead tree could not unwrap its suffocating roots. The rocky soil can’t<br />
lift a finger to fling its dangerous stones. The soil has no power.<br />
The Seed<br />
It is the Seed—the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that has<br />
all the power to explode the soils of our hearts—removing any and all<br />
obstacles that prevent the roots from going out. And it is the Sower—the<br />
One who has sown the Word in our hearts—who has all the power to take<br />
His message deep, causing real growth and producing lasting fruit.<br />
We are not given a to-do list. But we are given a loving, attentive and<br />
kind Sower who desires to cultivate the gardens of our hearts so that<br />
we’ll produce fruit that He loves, for His glory alone, both in college and<br />
beyond college for the rest of our lives.<br />
What then does the soil “do”? It receives the good Seed. And it receives<br />
good care from the good Sower. If you’re a student and you’re asking<br />
the question, “Which soil am I?,” allow me to encourage you to put<br />
yourself in a position to receive the Word while you’re in college. To<br />
be near the good Gardener who wants to produce good fruit in and<br />
through your life. Sit under God’s taught word in the local church. Find<br />
fellowship with other Christians your age—perhaps in a college ministry<br />
on your campus. Stay near the power-filled, life-giving Gospel of Jesus<br />
Christ. And watch him yield a crop in your life “a hundred, sixty or thirty<br />
times what was sown.”<br />
Reid Jones is the campus minister for<br />
Reformed University Fellowship at UAH. He is<br />
also a Teaching Elder in our local presbytery.<br />
This article is the adaptation of a message Reid<br />
shared this spring with a group of graduating<br />
seniors in our Sr. High-Life ministry. Reid and his<br />
wife Kelly and their two daughters have lived<br />
and ministered in Huntsville for three years.<br />
You can contact Reid via email at reid.jones@<br />
ruf.org.
SOUTHWOOD respond<br />
ASK A<br />
PASTOR<br />
Everyone's talking about<br />
it... so we asked the staff<br />
to help shed some light<br />
on the heat (or the cold).<br />
the<br />
staff<br />
What's up with the sanctuary temperature?<br />
Too hot? Too cold? Just right? I’m not talking about<br />
porridge, but the temperature in the Sanctuary! It can<br />
seem like no one’s paying attention to the thermostat,<br />
but that’s far from the truth. With a room as large and tall as the<br />
Sanctuary, it’s inherently problematic to keep the temperature<br />
static for several reasons. The system works on hot and cold<br />
water, turning valves open and closed to adjust the temperature<br />
of the air that is blowing. Based on the average reading of two<br />
sensors in the room, if it’s too hot, that output will be extra cold<br />
to adjust. If it’s too cold, the opposite happens. The system is<br />
constantly trying to maintain the “ideal” temperature—typically<br />
71.5 degrees. However, when exterior doors are opened, near<br />
the beginning of a service, outside air rushes in, changing the<br />
room dramatically. Additionally, as hundreds of warm-blooded<br />
bodies enter the room, the system must cool it to compensate.<br />
At seasonal changes, the system can really show its limits and<br />
it can feel very hot one minute, and very cold just 10 minutes<br />
later! Know that no one is cranking down the thermostat—it’s<br />
all computer controlled and behind password, lock and key.<br />
It’s just trying to make the changes required to bring us back<br />
to the temperature requested, quickly. As you may have found<br />
when entering other large rooms (movie theatres, restaurants,<br />
coliseums) it’s often too extreme a difference in the opposite<br />
direction as outside. So many people remove their jackets in<br />
winter, and put on a sweater in the summer! And sometimes<br />
within the same hour!<br />
Your comfort is a concern, and those in charge of maintaining<br />
the system take it seriously. But the dynamics of a large room,<br />
large crowd, and inconsistent outside temperatures make it<br />
quite a challenge. Barring mechanical failure, typically if you<br />
feel especially hot or cold, just give it a few minutes. Things<br />
should even out. Throw blankets have been provided on many<br />
pews for those that need to make their own adjustment.<br />
8 MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG<br />
Mark Your<br />
Calendars!<br />
VBS/CLIMB<br />
June 8-12
elate<br />
SOUTHWOOD<br />
WHAT<br />
DOES THE<br />
VOLUNTEER<br />
SAY?<br />
Niña Banta<br />
Volunteering at VBS is one of<br />
the best serving opportunities<br />
at Southwood. Read what last<br />
year's volunteers had to say<br />
about their experience!<br />
Ashley Mitchell says....<br />
VBS is a fun-filled activity that kicks off the<br />
start to our summer. It is highly anticipated<br />
and amazing to experience a theme driven<br />
program which transforms our entire<br />
family at Southwood. I enjoy hearing<br />
spirit filled singing and seeing dancing<br />
from all ages. I always look forward to<br />
new smiling faces from people in our<br />
community and lots of excitement from<br />
those who return every year. I feel that<br />
God is smiling down when He sees little<br />
and big hearts rejoicing over His Son.<br />
Looking forward to seeing you this<br />
summer at VBS!<br />
Debbie Babin says....<br />
As a VBS crew leader with preschool age children, I enjoyed watching their excitement<br />
during the interactive Bible stories, music, and crafts. An experience that stands out to me<br />
was a little boy that I watched every day in Crafts, where they kids experience science type<br />
experiments. He never seemed to be totally focused on the task at hand and didn't say<br />
much. On the last day of VBS, the leaders were questioning the children about what they<br />
had learned during the week. This little boy spoke up and explained in much detail and<br />
in the most articulate way, what had been taught and what it meant. It just goes to show<br />
you that even when you don't think a child is taking in what you want them to hear, they<br />
can surprise you.<br />
Hayden <strong>May</strong>er says....<br />
I remember going to VBS at Southwood<br />
every year while growing up. It’s changed a<br />
lot over the years but I've always loved going.<br />
Now it’s really cool to serve as a youth crew<br />
leader and is a fun way to give back to my<br />
church. VBS is just fun! Everything about it is<br />
fun! I like helping other kids enjoy something<br />
that I really enjoyed doing as a kid. In fact,<br />
I had the most fun at recreation time. It was<br />
fun to interact with and build relationships<br />
with the kids while playing games. VBS is a<br />
great way to teach the younger kids about<br />
Jesus in a different way than just sitting there<br />
for an hour on a Sunday. After an entire week of VBS, kids really walk away with learning<br />
about Jesus’ love for them and how His love never fails and that He saved us.<br />
Patrick Harris says....<br />
I had the chance to serve as a crew<br />
leader for a great energy packed VBS!<br />
It was so neat to see how excited the<br />
kids were, even the crew leaders were<br />
excited... in fact, everybody was excited!<br />
Beautiful thing about the week of VBS is<br />
watching adults and kids bond over Jesus<br />
daily. The opportunity to serve and make<br />
memories with my son Taylor and the<br />
other kids on my crew were amazing and<br />
irreplaceable.<br />
Amy Williams says....<br />
VBS is a great experience which I have been<br />
able to be a part of for many years now. It<br />
always amazes me just how much goes into<br />
Bible school! The lessons, skits, props,<br />
music, food, and enthusiasm are just<br />
fabulous. The kids show up and can feel<br />
the love of all the leaders and can feel the<br />
enthusiasm that everyone has for Jesus!<br />
That is the best part about it—everyone<br />
singing and praising Jesus! It is a time<br />
for the kids and adults just to act silly<br />
and loud and have fun together.<br />
MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG 9
SOUTHWOOD<br />
relate<br />
Why should the everyday<br />
congregation member care and<br />
be invested in the work of RUF?<br />
The everyday congregation member should be invested in<br />
RUF because RUF exists to serve the churches to which these<br />
members belong! We don't exist to perpetuate<br />
ourselves, but to serve the church by bringing<br />
the grace and truth of the gospel to the<br />
next generation. In other words, we<br />
are trying to take the long view. Our<br />
"success" isn't measured by how<br />
many students show up to our<br />
Bible studies, but by how those<br />
students are serving Jesus and<br />
his church 10, 20, and 30 years<br />
after they graduate.<br />
What can the<br />
congregation of<br />
Southwood do to<br />
support the work<br />
that RUF is doing at<br />
Samford and across<br />
the country?<br />
Pray and give! Pray for our families,<br />
our students, and our ministries. Pray that<br />
our marriages and families would be full of<br />
forgiveness, repentance, and grace. Pray that<br />
our students would encounter Jesus through<br />
the teaching of his word and fellowship with his<br />
people. Pray that God would make RUF a place<br />
where non-Christians come to faith in Jesus,<br />
where discouraged Christians are strengthened<br />
and built up, and where long-time Christians grow<br />
in maturity. Pray that God would bring generous<br />
givers to RUF to keep our ministries financially<br />
stable and, as God makes you able, please<br />
consider giving to RUF yourself! (Visit givetoruf.<br />
org if that's something you would like to do.)<br />
RUF Campus Minister answers<br />
questions about college ministry<br />
What is the purpose and<br />
mission of RUF?<br />
RUF's purpose is to reach students for Christ and equip<br />
them to serve. We want to build communities on campus<br />
where students of all walks of life can hear and wrestle with<br />
the truths of Christianity, as well as be equipped<br />
to follow and serve Jesus, his church, and<br />
his kingdom.<br />
What about the<br />
current generation<br />
of college students<br />
most excites you?<br />
The students I interact with,<br />
whether Christian or not,<br />
have a strong desire to be<br />
connected to something<br />
bigger than themselves.<br />
They want to serve and<br />
love their neighbors, their<br />
communities, and their<br />
world. I get the privilege<br />
of telling them how Jesus<br />
makes sense out of that<br />
desire and how he rightly<br />
directs and empowers their<br />
serving by his grace.<br />
Why did you choose<br />
RUF/college ministry?<br />
College is such a crucial time in the life of a student.<br />
Most of them are asking great questions about who<br />
they are and who they want to become. My wife<br />
and I both wanted to do college ministry because<br />
we love pouring into students as they sort through these<br />
questions and bringing the light of God's word to them<br />
as they search for answers.<br />
10 MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG<br />
Southwood's<br />
Senior Sunday<br />
<strong>May</strong> 4, <strong>2014</strong><br />
Matt Terrell Preaching<br />
at 10:30am worship<br />
WHO IS MATT TERRELL AND WHY ASK HIM?<br />
Matt Terrell is the campus<br />
minister for Reformed University<br />
Fellowship at Samford University.<br />
Matt will be our featured speaker<br />
for Southwood’s Senior Sunday<br />
on <strong>May</strong> 4th during worship,<br />
where we will recognize and<br />
celebrate our graduating seniors<br />
in high school. Matt and his wife<br />
Megan have two children and<br />
have ministered in Birmingham for over two years.
elate<br />
SOUTHWOOD<br />
ALL THAT<br />
IS FAIR<br />
HURTS LIKE<br />
HEAVEN<br />
James Parker<br />
The most wonderful and tragic thing about being young<br />
is that you have such explosive energy and passion. It’s<br />
wonderful because you feel invincible and your joy seems<br />
unshakable. And yet it’s tragic because you don’t know<br />
what to do with all of it. You have the power you need<br />
but you don’t have the benefit of a<br />
lifetime of wisdom. When you’re<br />
becoming an adult you struggle<br />
with your identity, your place in<br />
the world. The catch-22 is that in<br />
order to find your place you have<br />
to spend all that insane energy<br />
in the process. So by the time<br />
you get wisdom, you’re too tired<br />
to care! There are probably very<br />
few people who get to the end of<br />
their life without wishing they had<br />
done things differently.<br />
From my own experience I can say<br />
this is true. I so often think to myself,<br />
“If only I’d known back then what I<br />
know now.” It’s a common nag that<br />
lingers in the souls of most people.<br />
And it’s something we can’t actually have. It’s imagined.<br />
How lovely it would be if it were possible to go back in time,<br />
but it’s not. Willie Nelson said it this way, “I could cry for the<br />
time I’ve wasted, but that’s a waste of time and tears, and I<br />
know just what I’d change, if I went back in time somehow,<br />
but there’s nothin I can do about it now.”<br />
Is there anything in this world that can help us walk through<br />
the blank canvas of our youth without painting too much<br />
regret for ourselves? Is there anything that we can spend<br />
ourselves for that wouldn’t feel like a waste of time later<br />
on? I think there is.<br />
Hurts Like Heaven is a Coldplay song from their 5th album,<br />
Mylo Xyloto. It explodes off the speakers and catches your<br />
attention from the first 5 seconds, sort of like the fire of<br />
adolescence. The lines ask the same questions. “do you ever<br />
get the feelin’ that you’re missin’ the mark?” and “I struggle<br />
with the feelin’ that my life isn’t mine.” But the chorus gives<br />
us an answer: “when you use your heart as a weapon, It hurts like<br />
heaven.” What a beautiful picture. and what an interesting way to<br />
say “love.” Love is the binding agent that holds together who we<br />
were with who we are becoming. The love that we have from God<br />
and for God, the love that we have for our neighbor, and the<br />
love we have for ourselves. Any pursuit that starts from a heart of<br />
love will “hurt like heaven,” or in other words, it will be worth the<br />
energy we spent on it and it will make our lives mean something.<br />
The bottom line of this song is be who God made you to be and<br />
love with abandon and without fear.<br />
If we can do this we might actually bypass regret and in some<br />
small way, decrease the tragedy of our youth by spending it on the<br />
comedy of our future! If I could send these words in a letter to my<br />
high school self I would. I probably wouldn’t listen to myself but it<br />
would be worth a shot!<br />
Written in graffiti on a bridge in a park<br />
'Do you ever get the feeling<br />
that you're missing the mark?'<br />
It's so cold, it's so cold<br />
It's so cold, it's so cold<br />
Written up in marker on a factory sign<br />
'I struggle with the feeling<br />
that my life isn't mine'<br />
It's so cold, it's so cold<br />
It's so cold, it's so cold<br />
See the arrow that they shot,<br />
trying to tear us apart<br />
to Take the fire from my belly and the<br />
beat from my heart<br />
Still I won't let go, Still I won't let go<br />
Oh you use your heart as a weapon<br />
And it hurts like heaven<br />
On every street every car<br />
every surface a name<br />
Tonight the streets are ours<br />
And we’re writing and saying<br />
Don't let them take control<br />
No we won't let them take control<br />
Yes, I feel a little bit nervous,<br />
Yes, I feel nervous and I cannot relax,<br />
How come they're out to get us?<br />
How come they're out<br />
when they don't know the facts?<br />
So on concrete canvas<br />
under cover of dark<br />
On concrete canvas,<br />
I'll go making my mark<br />
Armed with a spray can soul<br />
I'll be armed with a spray can soul<br />
It's true, When you<br />
Use your heart as a weapon<br />
It hurts like heaven<br />
MAY <strong>2014</strong> | SOUTHWOOD.ORG 11
<strong>May</strong> 4, 11, 18 • 9-10am<br />
Faith and god's will<br />
How do I know God's will for<br />
my life? What if I've missed<br />
it? Is there only one soulmate<br />
out there for me? Am I in<br />
the wrong career? How can<br />
I stop being paralyzed by<br />
indecision?<br />
Faith and daily life<br />
What does Sunday have to do<br />
with Monday through Friday?<br />
Does God care whether I work<br />
or stay home with kids? Is<br />
my job valuable for anything<br />
besides putting food on the<br />
table? Can church and state<br />
really be separate?