The Fall 2014 semester is in full swing, and students are knee-deep into their studies. We all know that also means hours spent procrastinating on Facebook and other social media sites like BuzzFeed (ugh, help me).
Now with a new blog we are launching called "Labor to Rest", you can take a weekly study (or work!) break to digest some thoughtful substance from Matt Reagan, the downtown area director for Campus Outreach Minneapolis. Matt plans to share his thoughts on life, culture and Christianity twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. So, while you're here, bookmark this page and check back weekly for new posts. Maybe he'll even write one on online procrastination!
To get us better acquainted, here is a little bit about Matt:
Q: For readers who don’t already know you, who are you?
A: I am the Downtown Area Director for COM, meaning I oversee the ministries at the University of Minnesota and St. Thomas. I have been working with CO since 2002, so while I may be young relative to the general working world, I am ancient in college minister years. I started on staff at Furman University(my alma mater) and then made my way up to Minneapolis in 2004. I ministered at Northwestern College, Bethel University, and the U of M over the last decade, and I have watched the Lord do some powerful work in the lives of students.
I grew up in South Carolina, but I married a Minnesota girl. Lisa and I were married in 2006 and have spent our marriage giving ourselves to students and staff. We have three delightfully maniacal children: Annie(b. 2008), Lucy(b. 2010), and Eli(b. 2013).
Q: What is an interesting fact about you, or anecdote about your life?
A: Since I have two daughters with my hyperactive genes but some clear feminine mystique, we have always alternated our fun daddy-daughter times between wrestling and dancing. More recently, we morphed them into a little thing we call "dance-wrestle." We put on a jam and aggressively attack each other in a graceful, semi-choreographed way. It's a true art form.
Q: What are topics you plan to cover on Labor to Rest?
A: Being something of an absent-minded professor, I will most certainly be all over the map. But I plan to tackle a number of topics related to the life and ministry of a college student, some reasons I believe in Jesus, some current events, lots of Bible and gospel, and hopefully some humor.
Q: Why are you writing this? Why is this worthwhile to read?
A: The easiest answer for why I'm writing this is that my mind is exploding with thoughts and emotions, and it seems much more helpful to have a focused venue to express them for the benefit of others. It's kind of like Cyclops, the X-Men character. His power is that he shoots fire from his eyes, but it has to be controlled by a visor or the fire goes everywhere. I think the Lord has given me a fire that is shooting every which way, and the blog gives me a medium to hone in and hopefully see the Lord bless others with the fire He has given me.
A less abstract answer would be that since we now live in a social media age where information can be disseminated instantly to anyone anywhere (with certain virtual limitations, of course--spoiled American here), and since the Lord seems to have confirmed communication as part of the gift-mix he has given me for the sake of His body, I figured this a fitting means to the end of lifting up the name of Christ in order to build laborers for His kingdom.
Q: What is your hope for the blog and/or your readers?
A: I have three big goals here:
- To help people wake up from the mental malaise of their daily lives, where a schedule often comes and goes with little thought of what/who is real and how the world points to that ultimate Reality.
- To see people take those worshipful thoughts and use them in personal relationships with fellow believers. Reading a blog is not the ideal medium here. Time with people is.
- To see those newly motivated believers, now wakened to worship, take the glories of Christ to a sleeping world. A man can dream, can't he?
We think this will be worth your time. Stay posted ;) later this week for Matt's first post on the meaning behind the title "Labor to Rest".