Tag: big questions

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

How Might Technology Change the Face of Higher Education by 2020?

60% of college presidents surveyed said they believe we’re going to see major changes in Higher Education by the year 2020 — just seven short years from now.

What’s driving this shift? A major factor is most assuredly is the high price of education.

In fact, 75% of adults polled in a recent Pew Research study said that college is too expensive for most Americans to afford, and 57% of adults said that U.S. Higher Education system fails to provide students with a good value for their money.

So what’s the alternative to traditional Higher Ed.? What’s a more cost-effective way for young people to get further education beyond high school?

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

Why Your Voice (and Vote) Matter

It’s election day in America — and it’s both a right and privilege that we have to participate in this democratic process.

And there are some important decisions to be made that will undoubtedly shape the future direction of our country — and local government.

But I believe there is an even more important impact that today’s election can have on each one of us.

That we vote (not how we vote), affirms what we believe about our voice.

That it matters.

Or that it doesn’t.

Leadership Development, The Campus Minister

The Power and Peace of “No”

“No.”

How often to you use this word? Do you feel the freedom to use it — to tell people no, to turn down a request?

My guess is the answer to that question is “no.” Or at least, not very often.

We feel called by God — to serve others. To be available. To make a difference.

“No,” just feels so unhelpful — even unChristian.

But is it?

Leadership Development, The Campus Minister

Hiding Behind Busy

In the last year, I’ve gotten to a place where the hamster wheel that I feel like I’m on is spinning out of control. Because I’ve been on the hamster wheel for, oh, about 25 years (I perfected managing a schedule, balancing responsibilities, and not lying around at a very early age), I actually know better how to live busy than I do to live balanced. I’ve explained to friends and family for years… okay, decades, that “things are going to slow down soon,” or “I’m just hustling now and I will get a break in a couple of weeks.”

In the midst of the busyness of ministry, I’ve learned that perhaps busyness is masking a dirty little secret. In the last year as I’ve examined both the cause and the cost of my busyness, I’ve begun to wonder if sometimes my busyness is actually…

Leadership Development, The Campus Minister

A Rich but Often Overlooked Resource for Self Leadership

While we lead others, we must lead ourselves. I often say to students who are planning on going into ministry, “We lead with our lives.” Ministry is, in one big sense, witness. Not infallible witness (we are all flawed, so please don’t climb on the inadequacy bandwagon), but witness, nonetheless.

In the best ministry, we are transparent, vulnerable, even when we’re assertively taking charge and doing great things.

This is the paradox of spiritual leadership.

Leadership Development, The Campus Minister

Staff Meeting For One

As I walk into a familiar local deli, I am greeted by a hostess who smiles and says, “Staff Meeting for one?” I smile and nod to acknowledge that it is, in fact, Monday morning and time for my weekly staff meeting…with myself.

Over coffee and a danish, I call the meeting to order, seeing that all are present, and I begin the process of getting on the same page with myself for the week. For the next hour, I will spend time in prayer and Scripture reading, then look over my week and begin to chart out the happenings of the next seven days.

This meeting is critical to the overall outcome of my week. The days of going into the week blind, only addressing the issues as they come, are over. If I am going to lead others, I must first lead myself.

Leadership Development

Is Your Ministry Overwhelmed?!

Is your ministry overwhelmed?

It’s a fair question, but one I think we often feel guilty asking.

The picture above is of a Bradford pear tree — that has split in two.

This picture captures the beautiful blossoms that grace this particular kind of tree every spring — which is why so many people choose to put them in their yards.

If you’ve ever driven down a road, lined with Bradford pears in full bloom, then you know what I’m talking about. It’s like driving through a path of gigantic Q-Tips that have been cut in two and shoved into the ground.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

The Growing Population of “Nones”

A few days ago the Pew Forum Research Center released some new statistics on faith in America. And what it revealed was not good.

19.6% of Americans claim no religious affiliation. This includes those claiming to be both agnostic and atheist.

And this number has gone up nearly 5% in just the past 5 years.

Even worse, 33% of Americans under the age of 30 claim no religious affiliation.

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

The Cutting Edge of Some “Evagelism”

We had a visitor on campus last week — of the “street preacher” variety.

He stood at the edge of campus (where it’s legal for him to be), and shouted at students as the passed by, that they were going to hell — for a whole host of reasons.

Have you experienced this where you serve? I imagine some have.

It’s troubling on a number of levels.

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

How Big is the ‘Front Porch’ of your Ministry?

How big is the “front porch” of your ministry?

It’s another way of asking if your ministry creates space for students to belong — before they believe.

If the house, in this metaphor, represents the “inside” of your ministry — the place where believers go to be fed and nurtured spiritually — then the front porch represents an important place of gathering that is both inviting and inclusive.

And although we’d all like to believe that our ministries do, in fact, offer this… How do you know for sure?