As you enjoy your spring break this year, we thought this would be a good time to review some of the things that took place at last year’s iGo Conference. The iGo Conference is a weekend in the fall that we set aside to go deeper into the Word as we help students live on mission. Back in November we focused our conference on the idea of Align. Knowing and doing the will of God is always on the minds of students, therefore, we wanted to dig down and see what the Bible has to say about finding God’s will.

Ky Martin closed out the conference on Saturday evening with a message focused on the specifics of discerning God’s will. He gave us a Biblical picture of how we make decisions in accordance with God’s will, especially when we don’t have a clear “word from the Lord.”

He started the message with a look at the story of Gideon from the book of Judges. Ky explained that Gideon’s lack of faith, cowardice, wanting multiple signs from God, and his overall hesitation provide a negative example when it comes to discerning God’s will. Gideon had plenty of green lights to trust and follow God’s will, but he continually doubted and wanted more signs. And too many times, we act just like him.

Instead, we should look closely at the way the apostles and disciples discerned God’s will in the New Testament, especially the book of Acts. One of the phrases that you see them use is, “It seemed good to us.” As they sought to follow God on mission in their world, they moved in directions that seemed good to them. So when you come to a decision sometimes the way to go is the way that seems good to you. If there is nothing against it in God’s word and you don’t get push back from His church, then do what seems good to you.

This is a general principle for all those decisions that so easily paralyze us. Should I go to this college or that one? Should I marry this girl or not? Should I major in this or that? Should I work here or there? As long as your decision doesn’t go against something spelled out in the Bible, and as long as God’s people don’t object, then go to college where it seems good to you. Take the job you want to take. Choose a career path that brings you joy and fulfillment.

The focus of this approach is for you to be primarily concerned about becoming the man or woman of God that He desires. When you are walking in God’s revealed will and pursuing Him with your whole heart, the details of where and how and with whom will fall into place.

In the end, the will of God is not mysterious. The will of God is not revealed as you wait for a special sign from Him. The will of God is found as you ask God for wisdom to move in directions that seem good to you. Instead of sitting and waiting, the challenge is to just do something.

There is so much more to this message than I can include in this summary. Go to our podcast on iTunes and get the entire message by Ky here.

What are some ways that this message frees you up as you pursue God’s will?

As you enjoy your spring break this year, we thought this would be a good time to review some of the things that took place at last year’s iGo Conference. The iGo Conference is a weekend in the fall that we set aside to go deeper into the Word as we help students live on mission. Back in November we focused our conference on the idea of Align. Knowing and doing the will of God is always on the minds of students, therefore, we wanted to dig down and see what the Bible has to say about finding God’s will.

In the second session of the iGoCon Brad Cardwell brought a message called Faithful in Small Things. Focusing on the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30, Brad showed us that faithfulness to God is doing as much as you can with what you have been given.

This is what the first two guys in the parable did. One was given five talents, the other two. Instead of complaining about the meager amounts they were given. Instead of comparing their talents, they simply set out to do as much as they could with what they were given. And when the master returned, he was thrilled with their efforts. He commended and rewarded them. They had been faithful.

Not so with the last guy. He did nothing. He was afraid of the master. He was afraid for his reputation. He was most likely pretty disappointed in only getting one talent. In his heart he said, “I can’t do anything with this.” And so he didn’t. He buried it in the back yard just to keep it safe. No faithfulness, no trust, no hard work, no initiative. And no reward either. The master was unhappy to say the least. He took his one talent away and gave it to the guy who now had ten.

You could say that the last guy in the story struggled with entitlement. He thought he deserved so much more. And we all struggle with entitlement, but today’s generation of students has actually been labeled by economists as the Entitlement Generation. The temptation to think you deserve so much more surrounds you. Jesus, however, reminds us that his kingdom is backwards. His ministry plan called for no rise to prominence. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He simply calls us to serve others, being faithful with what is right in front of us.

No one is telling you to stop dreaming big dreams for God. But we do need to stop ignoring the small things He has placed right in front of us. We gravitate towards the big, loud, and epic. God is calling us to the quiet, steady, and faithful. The world needs to see a generation of students who will be quiet, steady, and faithful over the long haul.

The will of God for your life is to be faithful with what He has already put in front of you. Be faithful with the friends he has given you. Be faithful to honor your parents. Be faithful with whatever financial resources you have. Be faithful with your church. Be faithful with your job. Be faithful with your school work. And stop hiding it in the ground.

Brad’s entire message is worth your time. Download it and listen to it right here.

What has God put in front of you? What are some ways that you can be faithful in small things this week?

As you enjoy your spring break this year, we thought this would be a good time to review some of the things that took place at last year’s iGo Conference. The iGo Conference is a weekend in the fall that we set aside to go deeper into the Word as we help students live on mission. Back in November we focused our conference on the idea of Align. Knowing and doing the will of God is always on the minds of students, therefore, we wanted to dig down and see what the Bible has to say about finding God’s will.

The conference kicked off on Friday night as I (Shu) brought a message on Aligning with the Bottom Line. The main idea of this message was that we need to make sure that our life purpose lines up with God’s ultimate purpose. His purpose is to spread His glory to every nation, tribe, and tongue. Therefore, the easiest way to do God’s will for your life is to make sure that no matter what you do, you live to make Him famous.

Ignoring the big picture to focus on the specifics tends to make the will of God quest man-centered instead of God-centered. The true pursuit of God’s will for your life begins and ends with the truth of the bottom line. Life, even my life, is all about God and making Him known.

In this session, we looked closely at Matthew 6: 25-34. These are the main points from the passage:

1. Stop worrying about the future. Our obsession with knowing the specific will of God for our lives communicates a lack of trust. We worry, stress, and obsess about every decision hoping to know what God wants us to do, but deep down we are not sure that God can be trusted with our lives. We want to know exactly what we are supposed to do and how it will work out. Jesus says our worry is a result of a lack of faith, so our worry about our life is sin. Jesus tells us to stop.

2. Trust Him. Instead of worrying about our lives and the future, Jesus calls us to trust Him. Our trust in Him comes when we remember the gospel. The good news of what Jesus did for us leads us to a deep-rooted trust in Him no matter what we face in the future. Jesus rescued us from our hopeless condition where we had no future or purpose. He did that while we were His enemies. As a result, we now have hope, purpose, future, security, etc. in Him. As we remember His great love demonstrated to us on the cross, we will find it easier and easier to trust Him with our future.

3. Seek His Kingdom First. Instead of stressing about your life, give yourself to God and His kingdom. This is what we call the bottom line at iGo. Jesus says seek His kingdom first. Give your life to advancing God’s kingdom to every nation, tribe, and tongue. Align your life with the ultimate purpose of God. And when you do, Jesus says all the other things will be added to you. He will take care of all the details of your life because He cares for you. You focus on the big picture - making Him famous, and the other stuff will fall into place.

So this is where we started our conference talking about knowing and doing God’s will. What thoughts do you have? How does that help you? We would love to hear your thoughts.

Also, the full podcast of this message is available on iTunes on our iGo Global podcast. You can check that out for your spring break road trip right here.

Election news got you down? Feeling way too blue? I’ve got just the thing to pick you up. The conference is now only 2 days away! See? I knew that would do it.

And today we want to give you the rundown on another one of our breakout sessions. Unless you have been hiding out this week storing water and non-perishable food items, you know our conference theme is Align. How do we know God’s will and align our lives to it? Our main sessions will focus on this idea exclusively, as well some of our breakouts.

However, at the heart of iGo we are still a mission organization. With that in mind it is our pleasure to tell you that we have a special breakout this year called Reaching Out to Muslims. My new friend, Rani Espanioly has agreed to come and lead this breakout. Rani was born and raised in Nazareth. Yes, that Nazareth. He currently serves on staff at Hunters Glen Baptist Church on the missions team. Rani’s passion is reaching out to Muslims that live in the DFW area, and he has agreed to come and help us do the same.

Many iGo teams serve in areas with high Muslim concentration. And you don’t have to look too hard to find people of this background here on our university campuses and in our communities. I want to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know and learn from Rani. You definitely do not want to miss this breakout. It is sure to be: Just. Real. Nice.

Today is Election Day in the USA, and you know what that means. It means we are another day closer to the start of the 2012 iGo Conference this Friday! It also is a good reminder to this President of IGosia to be thankful that iGosia is not a democracy. No need to campaign and make crazy promises. I got here first and I have all the power, therefore I do what I want. #salute

But this isn’t the time to make this all about me. There will be plenty of time for that later. This is about the conference. We want you to have some basic info about the breakouts in order to get you on the road towards being fired up, as well as help you think about which one to attend. We have four different breakouts scheduled, but you will only be able to choose two of those, so vote…I mean choose wisely.

As you know by now, our conference theme is Align. We will be talking about the need to align our lives with God’s will, which is confusing to some, stressful to others, and mysterious to many. If we are going to align our lives to God’s will, then we obviously have to know His will. So how do we do that?

iGo Global staff members Ky Martin and Sarah Arnett will lead a breakout called Aligning in Plurality. This session will focus on the role of community in knowing and following the will of God. So many times people end up trying to figure out God’s will for their lives without anyone speaking into the process. This is not God’s design. You need the church and you need people walking with you as you follow. Ky and Sarah will share from the Scripture and also from their personal experience what that looks like. This session will also give you the ins and outs of the LTG model (Life Transformation Groups) which can be a great tool for you and your friends.

This is a breakout you definitely do not want to miss. No doubt it will be: Just. Real. Nice.

The Conference is Coming! The Conference is Coming! In just a few days, we will all be together at FBC Wylie. What? You won’t be there? It actually isn’t too late. It’s close, but not yet. You can still get the $45 rate if you register today. So go do that.

In our last update we talked about the focus for this year’s conference — Align. We are going to spend our main worship sessions looking at knowing God’s will and aligning our lives to it. But that isn’t all the teaching you can expect. We will also have some amazing breakout sessions that will help you go deeper.

One of those breakout sessions is called Align Your Work. iGo Global has invited Jeff Willingham to come and lead this session. Jeff is a local business owner in Hunt County, Texas. Well, that isn’t a totally accurate statement. Jeff actually owns multiple businesses. And because he doesn’t have much else going on, he is one of the lead deacons at Cross Point Fellowship in Greenville. Jeff’s understanding of the Gospel and his worship of God permeate and affect everything he does as a business owner, and the results of that are obvious.

In his session, Jeff will unpack a theology of work. Fast fact: Did you know that work was created BEFORE sin entered the world? We tend to think of work as a result of the Fall, but that thinking is dead wrong. Jeff will help us understand the value God places on work, the danger of seeing a secular/sacred split, and the reality of how your work aligns with God’s will. This is a breakout you definitely do not want to miss. No doubt it will be Just. Real. Nice.

Stay tuned all week for more conference countdown updates. We have plenty more to share.

The 3rd Annual iGo Conference is just over a week away. Have you registered yet? The deadline for registration is this Sunday so get over to the iGo Conference webpage and get yourself registered now. Why are you still here? I mean it. Go. Now.

Great. Don’t you feel better? You should, because the iGo Conference is going to be an amazing time for us to go deeper into the Word and challenge each other. The first year we held a conference we focused on the importance of the local church. Last year we talked about Jesus’ command to make disciples. This year, we are going to tackle another subject that needs to be addressed in today’s generation: God’s Will.

Specifically, we want to tackle the issues of knowing God’s will and living that out. How do you discern God’s will, especially when the choices in front of you are both good? How do you know what to do when the Bible is pretty much silent on subjects like where you should live, who should you marry, and what your major should be in college? We all want our lives to be aligned with the will of God, but it seems that the practical how-to’s on that get pretty muddy at times.

So if you are already signed up, get fired up. We have Michael Bleecker from The Village Church leading us in worship. We have three main sessions to help us know God’s will, do God’s will, and ALIGN our lives accordingly.

In the words of your friends, it’s going to be Epic. In the words of my 7th grade son, it’s going to be Beast mode. Either way, I think that means it’s going to be Just Real Nice. See you there next Friday.