Tag: discipleship

Blogathons, Student Culture, Trends & Issues

The Future Consequences of Present Actions

As a pastor of students, and father of five small children, I am deeply troubled by the statistics describing the sexual practices of today’s young people.

Sometimes I wish I had the ability to sit down with students and allow them to look 5 years, 10 years, or maybe even 15 years into the future — so they could see how their present actions will have a direct impact on their future.

I honestly believe that if more students knew how their choices today would impact their lives in the years to come, they’d make changes in their lives.

At least I hope they would.

Blogathons, Student Culture, Trends & Issues

The THIRST

Jesus told the Samaritan Woman that ‘whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.’ (John 4:13 emphasis mine)

Never before has this Scripture come screaming at me as it does when I watch some of the interactions of students on the college campus. The phenomenon of dating is evolving, and the church isn’t keeping up. The idea of a more traditional mindset of dating where the guy talks with the family…especially the father…about courting his daughter is nothing more than a manuscript of a 1950’s sitcom that airs reruns on TVLand.

Gone are the ideals of respect, trust, love and commitment.

Uncategorized

The Objectification of Women

For the past 10 years, I have been privileged to be the pastor, counselor, mentor, “Dad,” spiritual guide, and friend to hundreds upon hundreds of students at Florida State University.

We’ve discussed everything from theology to dating to vocations and callings. We’ve laughed together, and we’ve cried. Some talks have brightened my days, and some have broken my heart.

Among the heartbreakers, a persistent, nagging theme has recently emerged via three different, but related, issues…

Blogathons, Student Culture, Trends & Issues

How Far Is Too Far?

“If God was looking down on you, would it look any different to Him?”

I was in college and struggling with setting physical boundaries with my current boyfriend. I knew that God intended sex for within the confines of marriage and believed there were consequences if I disobeyed, but I wasn’t sure where the line was. How far is too far? I knew I felt shame and guilt for some of the behavior I had engaged in, but was it really wrong or was I over re-acting?

I shared these thoughts with my friend and mentor, Jenn.

Blogathons, Student Culture, Trends & Issues

Sex Does Affect Their Souls

I’m not sure I’m in the best position to make a contribution to this blogathon, given its topic, Sex and the Soul. I have grown long in the tooth and I find myself sounding like my parents.

But, I must be honest: I think the topic looms huge, the veritable 500-pound gorilla always there in the corner of the room.

Maybe a story from my own college experience will help to frame my concern.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

The Problem of Future

The problem of future is simple — it’s not now.

And today’s student has a hard time grasping much that is “yet to come.” It’s not that they’re dumb — in fact we know that quite the opposite is true of them. But with so much going on in this very moment, it’s hard to think much beyond it.

They understand the here and the now — because they’ve grown up in an “instant” culture.

About a year ago I wrote a post entitled: Overcoming a Culture of Instant Gratification. In it I talk about needing to introduce students the discipline of slow. Why slow? Because in slow — and only in the slow of life — can some things truly grow and take shape in the ways that they need to.

Blogathons, Student Culture, Trends & Issues

Announcing the 3rd Annual Sex & the Soul Blogathon | Feb. 26-28

Preparation for the next blogathon is now underway!

As you very well know, today’s college students are more wounded than ever. They’ve been exposed to, or personally experienced, a lot of pain and hurt in relation to sex, issues of sexuality, and their intersection with the Christian faith.

And what they need most are women and men who are willing to “get dirty” with them in order to understand the depths of their hurts.

They need someone like you and like me to come alongside them — suspending judgment — and journey with them towards healing, reconciliation, and redemption.

The 3rd Annual Sex & the Soul Blogathon…

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

The Voices They Hear

Parents play a powerful role in the development of their children.

Seems obvious to say, yet I think we can tend to forget this truth when we work with students on college campuses — primarily because we don’t see parents, just students.

Sure, from time to time our students might bring their parents up in conversation. But it can be all to easy to forget that the ways in which our students think, believe, and live are without doubt a product of the ways and environments in which they were raised.

It’s true for all of our students — those who are thriving and those who are not.