We are not professionals.
We’re not.
At least I’m not.
You see, I was reminded this past weekend — at an Ordination Service of all things — that those of us in full-time ministry positions are NOT professionals. We can’t be.
To be a “professional” is to imply a level of expertise — which is attainable in a number of fields — but not in ministry.
I started this blog — in it’s original form — three years ago.
On January 11, 2011 I wrote I post entitled Is Sex Before Marriage Really A Sin? for the 1st Annual Sex & the Soul Blogathon.
Since that post went live, it has far and away received the most traffic on my site — accounting for 13,000 views.
Daily — DAILY — I’ll get numerous visits to my blog from people who have used the following terms in search engine searches:
It’s one of the biggest messages are student leaders need to hear this year:
Failure is NOT fatal; Perfection NOT a requirement.
Because the truth is that — for fear of failure — many of our students will struggle to really give themselves fully to their leadership roles this year.
Of course, this sounds counter-intuitive at first — but when we give less than our best, less than 100%, we’ve then got an excuse for when things don’t go well.
You may already know the top issues for your incoming freshman, but Dr. Tim Clydesdale has actually asked them. And in a workshop at this year’s National Collegiate Summit he shared seven common themes uncovered by his interviews with college-bound high school grads.
The #1 theme? Navigating relationships (making friends, finding a boy/girlfriend, getting along with roommates) and managing gratifications (particularly sex and partying, hence connecting gratifications to relationships).
I’ve been asked to contribute a few suggestions for resources that can be used to equip those who do campus ministry so that we might do the job well, insightfully, profoundly.
I love that simple verse in 1 Chronicles 12:32 that names the reputation of the “sons of Issachar” who “understood the times and knew what God’s people should do.”
Reading widely can help us become Issacharian, helping us understand our context and how best to serve.
About 925,000 people go to bed hungry every night. Food insecurity plagues one in seven people on the planet. Around 25,000 people die every twenty-four hours from hunger or hunger related disease – more than those who succumb to malaria, TB and AIDS combined. Most of them are children – ten children die every minute.
What makes these statistics not only staggering but sinful are these two additional facts. There is enough food produced for each person on the planet to consume 4.3 pounds of food per day – that’s equivalent to seventeen quarter pounders. Even college students don’t eat that much food! And this: nearly 3 trillion pounds of food goes to waste every year.
“What are your plans now?” This question tortures most soon-to-be college graduates.
High School Seniors are barraged as well, “Where are you going to college?” They are asked over and over again.
I hear it when my friends ask, “When are you getting back into your Doctor of Ministry program?”
Even my seven-year old twins aren’t immune to our culture’s obsession with the future. “What grade will you be in next year?” What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Truly, middle class North Americans love planning for the future. Perhaps no sub-culture is more future-oriented than that of higher education. Faculty and staff are planning for their upcoming semester or their tenure applications, students are planning for the next week, for the rest of the semester, for next semester, for after graduation, etc.
“Luke just finished a 10 lb burrito!” exclaimed his friend Colin rushing back from one of our local Mexican restaurants.
Gluttony: to gulp down or swallow; a serious failure in self-discipline. Always the words you want to start the semester with.
I work with two campuses that have the same problem in opposite directions. Campus A is a denominational school that requires chapel twice a week, often bonus chapels, has only one strong Christian organization that many attend, and service opportunities around the school.
Campus B is…
Every four years, I wait with anticipation for the start of the Summer Olympic Games. This year, the world watches the Olympic triumphs of athletes around the world in London.
When I watch these athletes compete and win medals, I am reminded that their journey is a process, not only a solitary moment on the world stage.
These committed athletes train relentlessly with the assistance of coaches intentionally providing strategy, tips and pointers along the way.
As it is with the athletes preparing for their Olympic moment, so it should be with the intentional developing of college students and young adults for the rest of their lives!
Have you ever felt like the only tree in the forest that wasn’t like the others? Like all of the trees around you have roots that suck water through huge PVC pipe while your roots are trying to suck through a coffee stirrer?
At some point I am sure each of us have felt this way.
This awkwardness is felt by many when entering a discipleship group on a week night in the dorm.
You know what I mean–you are so envious when the person next to you starts spouting off quotes from last week’s reading. They eloquently recite half the book of James while you struggle to stay focused and wade through the material in order to participate.