Brian AskerI follow Jesus. Help others follow Jesus. Empower others to do the same.

Recently while staying at a friends house, I was playing with my daughter and their two daughters and I witnessed an interesting dichotomy. As I lay on the floor, tired from moving out of our house, the girls started running around me.  I reached out, pretending to grab one of them which began an hour long game.  As you might imagine, the game was simple, try to run past Brian without getting caught.  Every time they would run past, they would scream with delight. Read the rest of this entry »

The photo that sold our house

“You’re getting three offers on your house!” our realtor said over the phone.  We couldn’t believe it!

Four weeks ago we decided we would list our house and if it sold we would move to Duluth.  We listed the house Thursday.  On Monday we had three showings and all three made an offer.  Tuesday we compared offers and accepted an offer for more than our asking price!

Our realtor in Duluth said “that’s amazing – a friend of mine in Bemidji said the market is soft!” Read the rest of this entry »

I did it! I graduated from New Area Director Training.  It took me two years, but I have completed the training with friends from around the nation.  The training is designed to help me transition from campus work to my new role as a supervisor.

So what did I learn?  Much of what we learned related to how we can better supervise our staff.  I must have learned something, because my staff think I am the best area director.

At a recent staff team meeting, my staff team decided to honor my graduation by presenting me a very special award, “Best Area Director.”  They even made a mortar board hat for me (see picture).

After graduation, people often ask what’s next?  Hopefully more of the same.  I love my job!

Coming up: interviewing staff candidates, work with new staff at leadership camp and help staff plan out new student outreach for Fall 2010.

A few years the Bemidji State InterVarsity chapter was at the lowest point of involvement in about 20 years. We had a small leadership team and my wife and I were newly married. We decided that we would both lead two small groups and at the end of that year we had about forty students involved in the four small groups. Last year we had about 120 students with eight small groups and 37 conversions. God has been moving. Read the rest of this entry »

I was half way through college before I realized that not everybody had the same opportunities that I did.

I was working at a summer camp where the leader had us play a simulation.  The simulation was simple. Take a step forward if the statement applied to you.  Stay put if it doesn’t.

I remember the first statement. “Take a step forward if your family had multiple book shelves.”  I took a step forward.

Take a step forward if your family had a cabin.  My immediate family didn’t have a cabin, but my grandparents did and we went there almost every weekend during the summer.  Take a step forward if your father went to college.  My father went to North Dakota State University.  Take a step forward if you mother went to college.  My mom went to Moorehead State University.  Take a step forward if your family had a computer.  My family had a LOT of computers.

By the end of the experiment Read the rest of this entry »

A lot is made about Christians managing to survive college and for good reason, depending on which statistics you read, 60%-80% of Christian students in High School leave their faith in college.  That’s a lot!  What happens?  What are the problems that Christian students face when they head onto the college campus?  There are a lot of problems that I see Christian students face when they get to college.  I’m going to focus on two of the more common problems that I see.  Then I want to talk about how to thrive in college so you’re not just surviving.
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I recently thanked a donor for his increasing financial support.  His response told me he counted it a privilege to support us.  He went on to say that as long as he and his wife had a job that they would support us.  By they way he responded, I asked if he was expecting that to happen soon.  He told me about three scenarios for how the company may decide to make cuts if the current economic trend continues.  In two of the scenarios he would likely keep his job but in the third he could potentially lose his job.  Then he said, “It’s the Lord that provides the ability for me to work, and the Lord who provides what we need.”

As InterVarsity staff we are required to raise 100% of our salary, benefits and other ministry expenses.  This raises several questions that you must wrestle with early on.  One of the reoccurring questions I was asked early on in fund raising was, “why don’t you get a real job?” Read the rest of this entry »

I am not a real big fan of coffee.  In fact I don’t drink it and neither does my wife.  Coffee has a smell that is unmistakable.   It fills a room.  When you leave a coffee shop everyone you meet for the rest of the day will know where you have been.  Different coffee shops have different smells.  My wife can even tell me which coffee shop I have been working at depending on the smell on my cloths.  Folders had a whole series of commercials that finished with a little jingle.  Why do I go to coffee shops?  Primarily the wifi.  Secondarily the tea.  I love tea, but tea doesn’t have the same smell.  It doesn’t stick with you the rest of the day. Read the rest of this entry »

God is at work drawing people to himself.  I am excited!  Students are leaving their lives of sin and choosing to follow Jesus.  Over the past two and a half years at Bemidji State we have seen 57 students make decisions to follow Jesus and I expect that we will see more.  Nationally, InterVarsity is seeing one of the largest harvests in history.  We are living in exciting times.  What’s happening?  I believe God is using a generational issue to raise up followers to fulfill his mission.  The mission is to care about the world.  Students care about injustice.  The good news is that God does too!  What’s going on?

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When I was 5 years old, I was legally blind in my left eye. I remember one time when I walked up to side of our kitchen table. The table stretched out to my right. My mom was sitting at the head of the table eating breakfast.
When you are 5, you can barely see over the table. As I stood at the edge of the table with my mom sitting to my left, I announced, “Mom! I can’t see out of my left eye!”

My dad, who was standing in the hallway, came over to the table. Together they asked me to close my right eye and to count the number of fingers I saw.

“One, two three,” I counted.

Every time, no matter how many fingers they put up, I could count them.

Jesus talked a lot about hearing and seeing in the parable of the soils in Matthew 13.

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