The Naked Truth about Sex in College

The primary reason that college students leave their faith in college is their personal desire for sexual freedom and its incompatibility with religious morality.

Approximately 65% of all college students have had sex.

25% of college women’s first encounter with sex was unwanted or forced.

Less than 30% of college students have had a healthy conversation with their parents about the “birds and the bees”

GK Chesterton says, “The guy knocking on the brothel door is knocking for God”

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.

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…

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.

Question Everything

I’m excited to share with you a great resource that addresses one of the most significant issues facing the Church today — biblical illiteracy.

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Most of us have multiple copies on our bookshelf. We have audio Bibles on our iPods, and we can even read and listen to the Bible on our mobile phones for free.

Still, according to the Center for Bible Engagement, 66 percent of U.S. Christians rarely or never read their Bible.

Campus Minister, and author of Question Everything: A Fresh Way to Read the Best-Selling Book of All Time, Tyler Ellis has crafted this resource with intention of helping people — young and old — to explore the Bible, better understand the Bible, and more fully live out the truths of the Bible in their everyday living.

Overcoming the Curse of Our Age

It’s a new year, which means that a new season of ministry with students is upon us.

And as we’ve launched into 2013, I’ve generated a new reading list, and decided to start the year by re-reading a couple of classics.

One of my first re-reads of the year is Richard Foster’s, Celebration of Discipline.

I couldn’t venture a guess as to the number of times that I’ve worked through this book. The first time I read it I was in grad. school — and it changed my life! Since then I’ve re-read it several times on my own, and led numerous groups through it as a way of learning to work on the interior life.

The Top 12 Guest Posts of 2012

Merry Christmas — one and all!

As we move further in to the Christmas season, and nearer the end of 2012, it’s time to for some of my annual countdowns.

It seems fitting to start with one of the things I am most thankful for — because it’s what makes being a part of Faith ON Campus so enjoyable for me — and that’s YOU!

Some of you have gone so far as to offer guest posts at different seasons, that have helped to provide a unique perspective and/or insight that I myself could not offer — and the collective Faith ON Campus community has benefited from it — GREATLY!

So for my first countdown of 2012, I bring to you the Top 12 Guest Posts of the year!