Growing in the Gospel!

This semester, as a campus we are studying the book of 1 Peter.  As we have begun this study, I have begun to recognize how the first chapter of this book seems to point out very prominent misconception of the Gospel in our culture; that misconception being the extreme disconnect we often create between what we believe and the way we live.  We have also been talking about this misconception in our Tuesday night meetings.  One thing that I have been seeing Peter distinguish and consequently we have been talking about at our Tuesday night meetings is that our actions and our beliefs are inseperably connected.  One specific point we have been making is that our actions are actually just an outward expression of inward truths.  Here is an excert from a sermon I read recently by John Piper.  In this sermon, Piper is talking about what we should fear in our walks with God and he specifies that we should fear living in a way that reflect that we don't cherish Christ above all things.  The sense of fear he is speaking about is the fear mentioned in 1 Peter 1:17 and Phil. 2:12-13. 

"Peter says, there is a very appropriate fear as we live our lives, namely, a fear of living as though our faith (our hope!) were not in God. Here's the link between verse 17 and verse 13, between living in hope and living in fear. What we are to fear, Peter means, is not hoping in God (cf. Romans 11:20).
When we are tempted to conduct ourselves in a way that would show that our hope is in money rather than God, we should fear. When we are tempted to act in a way that would show that our hope is in the pleasure of pornography instead of God, we should fear. When Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:18, "Flee fornication," he meant, "Fear what it would mean about where your hope is if you commit fornication." It was the same spirit that Jesus had when he said, "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better to enter life with one eye than with two to be cast into hell" (cf. Matthew 5 :29). Fear living in ways that betray your lack of satisfaction in God."

-John Piper

This thought has been one which has been very challenging to me and examining places in my own life where I live like Jesus is not most precious.  Pray that these truths would challenge students to examine themselves.  

Sharing Experiences from the Summer

This is a picture from project meal which is a weekly dinner we provide for the students on Tuesday night!!!


This is me and a guy named Daniel that I lead at school jousting on our homemade jousting plank. Its a ton of fun!!!

Well, I went to Starbucks this morning, as I do most mornings, to studying the word and get some personal time, not to drink coffee and I saw a man there that I have met before and had conversation with on other days. We saw each other and exchanged the polite hello but continued to do what we were doing. As I sat and studied, I felt the Lord relentlessly prompting me to strike up more conversation with this man. To catch you up a little on past encounters, I have met Ron twice and talked extensively with him once. In our only real conversation, he was very engaging and talked at length with me about some of his business (insurance) and also about some of his past and experience with the church. In a lot of ways, seeing his demeanor toward me today, it seemed that our first conversation was more of a sales pitch. But, I don’t want to assume too much here and under appreciate some of his honesty in our first conversation. So, in light of this, I was a little hesitant to start a conversation with him, wondering if he really cared to talk with me. Maybe I was just getting this feel because he saw I was studying and he did not want to disturb my time.
Anyway, I eventually started a conversation with him about his business and other aspects involved with it and found out that the man he works for and is a partial partner with does a lot of investing in random stuff like cow hides, granite and even hardwood floors. Anyway, the conversation got on the lines of investment and it was at this point he told me that I should invest some money and make some money. I felt prompted by the Lord at this point to share with him a little about what my investment portfolio looks like. I told him that what I consider to be valuable investments are influencing other people’s lives in an eternal way. I share just a thought or two on this when he gave a response to me that really spoke a lot about the way he views his “spiritual” life and how that relates to his “reality”. He said, “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be nice for a person to be praying to Jesus, knelt on a hardwood floor, in a nice kitchen with granite countertops and having all their material needs met.” (this is not an exact quote but as best as I remember and along the same line as what was said) He talked a little more about this idea and it became clear to me that his main concern was quality of life and how God could help in that. I told him that I definitely believe that God wants us to be happy but not at the cost of Him being second in our lives. I explained to him that God wants our happiness to be totally wrapped up in Him and if He gives us gifts, one, He wants those gifts to increase our love for Him and, two, He wants us to steward those gifts as if they were not our own but His.
I went on to talk a little more about the story of the rich young ruler and how Christ challenged the man to sell everything because He knew that money was sitting on throne of his heart where Christ needed and wanted to sit. So, salvation was not wrapped up in doing certain things but cherishing Christ above all. (just like our theme GAIN!)
Well, our conversation came to an end after a few more minutes and I am not sure how Ron is feeling about all that was said, but I would ask that you guys would join with me in praying that the Lord might give me another opportunity to talk with him again.
A few thoughts in closing I had about this were just seeing how much our culture revolves around using any means necessary, even religion, to gain what they value most. It seems that in so many ways, we at times believe that God exists to be at our beckon call and give us what we want. Some have turned the beauty of the cross into a means of a comfortable life with all the amenities. Christ did not come and die so that this life would be posh and become our home. The Son of Man was an alien and stranger in this world and so should we be. Christ came to give us life and life in abundance which is completely wrapped up in knowing God, as John 17:3 says. Yes, God wants to provide for our physical needs and does, but not all the time. He never gives us something that will contradict Himself being our highest treasure and that is a prayer we should pray for ourselves. Alright, just some thoughts to share and if you guys have any comments or questions to go along with this, feel free to post them on the blog. Thanks Ben

Pictures From South Africa!!!

The Guys from the room I stayed in at The Joint Winter Conference.

This is at registration at the Joint Winter Conference when everyone is just arriving.

This is a senior named "X" who is planning on staying around next year to volunteer with the ministry at the University of Pretoria.

This is a guy named Tseqwee (Sequea') who is a sophomore and became a Christian through this ministry and is really giving his life away to guys in his res,which is his dorm.

This is Rob and Ron in South Africa sending a little message back to everyone in the States. (Rob and Ron are two guys I lead at PC.)

South Africa!!!

Hello to All! I am now back from South Africa and I just wanted to give you guys a short update on my time there. For general information, the reason I went was because we send a team of students down there every summer on a trip we call The Cross Cultural Project in which they partner with Campus Outreach Johannesburg in working on the college campuses there in South Africa. I went at a halfway point in the summer for them to kind of be an encouragement to the team there and serve them and also get some exposure to the movement there in South Africa and see first hand what the Lord is doing.
When I arrived, it was right before The Joint Winter Conference, which is a conference that the ministry does in South Africa on the students’ winter break. (For those of you like me who did not know, it is winter right now on that side of the world.) So, the majority of my time was spent at this conference with about 400 South African students and staff and our CCP teams. I stayed in a room with 2 of the students from our CCP as well as 7 students from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. It was an amazing experience to just jump right into getting to know these guys and play whatever role God would allow in their spiritual journeys. I was fortunate to have guys who were all over the place staying in my room, in the sense that some guys were at the conference to just learn more about the Gospel and see if this was something they wanted, while others were there to grow in their walks and learn how to minister to others.
The Lord was very gracious in allowing me to connect with guys in the room and build some pretty significant bonds in such a short amount of time. There are two guys in particular, Mc’D and Lungi, that I really got to share my life with. There are two guys who have become Christians within the past year and have really been growing in their walks and are very hungry. There were many opportunities that I got to open my life to them and share what God has done in me and others in which I got to speak into their lives and push them further in their walks. The day I left, when I was saying goodbye to Mc’D, was really encouraging. He told me that although it had only been a few days, I had significantly impacted his life and shown him a lot and that he was going to pray that I would continue to do the same with the guys I minister to back at my campus.
The whole experience was one in which the Lord just showed me a lot about how he works and I feel like I saw the real power of God at work in the hearts of young believers. It has really made me more hungry for the Lord to do more here in the states through me and our ministry here. A few things that you guys can be praying for:
Pics of me & Mc'D(on left) and Lungi (below).
These are two guys that are really seeking to minister to the guys around them.


1) That Kaye and I would continue to work at our marriage and God would grow our love for Him and also for each other.
2) That the Lord would continue to bless the ministry there in South Africa and continue to raise up students who catch the vision of building laborers.
3) That the Lord would work in our students there on the CCP, transforming their vision for building laborers through discipleship.
4) That the Lord would continue shaping the students here at The Leadership Project and building in them a heart for the lost.
5) That the Lord would give us vision for the way that He would have us labor here on our campuses and specific direction for this next year.

The Leadership Project Retreat!

(The leadership Project is our summer group program we offer students.)
Hey guys, we had our retreat this weekend for our summer training program and I it really got everyone excited about the summer. Our theme this summer is one that gets me really excited and I think it is going to be a great focus for all of us. One of the guys I lead wrotes some of us an email about the weekend and so I will allow him to tell you about the theme.

"Anyway, just got back earlier today from Greenville for the Leadership Project retreat and I can't even begin to tell you guys how excited I am about the summer and the things that the Lord has in store for me and the others that are headed to the Project. The theme is "Gain," as in Philippians 3:7-8 ("But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ..."). I was really encouraged as Dave Baxter began to explain this theme and really how this idea could radically change my life and the lives of others at the project.One of the biggest ideas I took from the weekend was a point that Dave made on Friday, when he said that to lose everything for Jesus is not a life of sacrifice, but a life of gain. He then went on to say that we are not to just willingly or dutifully follow Christ, but to follow him joyfully. This perspective was so fresh for me and really put into words what I want for myself to develop this summer and for the rest of my life. I've seen glimpses of this type of life, but I want to honestly live the Christian life in the joy of following Christ not in the duty of being a Christian. For me, this summer, I believe this really will be one of greatest areas of growth, as I prepare to lead the other guys in my room. A quote and way that I'd like to see us all live by this summer and into next school year says, "Catch yourself on fire for the Lord and then let your people see it." I want my ministry this summer to be a ministry of overflow; one in which I have so much joy in learning I have to share it with those in my room."

One Year Update

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to give you a quick update on what has been going on with Kaye and I over the past few weeks. Just a week ago we celebrated our one year anniversary down in Panama City Beach. One of our supporters allowed us to use their condo and the trip was a great opportunity for us to get away and connect. We spent most of our days laying on the beach and taking naps. We are now back to the real world and back to the support raising trail. We have raised about $700-750 a month and have about $1050-1100 to go. We are continuing to fight our deficit which fluxuates each month with us already being below our goal. All your prayers and support have been a great blessing and we would ask you guys to continue to pray that over the next month God would bring in the rest of our support before the summer project. We will continue to keep you updated and enjoy the pictures! Ben and Kaye Creasman

If any of you want to contact Kaye and I to meet to hear more about what has gone on this past year just email us at bencreasman@gmail.com or kayecreasman@gmail.com . We would love to meet with as many of you as possible over the next month before June.

Fresh Water Lake on Shell Island!

Kaye chilling on the beach!

Prayers and Provision

It has been a very testing yet rewarding time raising support over the past few weeks. Kaye and I have been experiencing the common highs and lows of support raising: identity struggles, questions about our future, answered prayers, etc. We just wanted to share quickly with you all how the Lord has been working. Beginning about two and half weeks ago, Kaye and I had a support goal to reach of $1889.14 a month. the Lord has already begun to provide for that need by brining in $400 dollars a month from our current supporters. So, our goal has already reduced to $1489.14 a month. We have also had a number of one time gifts come in to help us with our support deficit. This is a great answer to our(as a team) prayers already.
Along with this praise, Kaye and I wanted to share with you all some of the prayers God has given us for this support raising season:

1) That God would reveal Himself as the eternal source. Psalm 145:16, Acts 17:24-25, Psalm 50:9-12. This is not just with bringing in our support but also with being satisfied in Him, despite our support position.

2) That this season would teach us that this is not our home and we are strangers and aliens in this world. Luke 9:58, Phil. 3:7-8

3) That this season would solidify our vision for ministry and how we serve in it. Eph. 6:19-20

We would love to invite you all to pray along with us these things as we move through this season as a team.