Tag: spiritual growth

The Campus Minister

A Story Among Stories

I am a pastor of college students on a university campus.

It’s what God has called me to be — and if you’re reading this — then you have likely experienced a similar call.

And as pastors within this specific context, we often see ourselves as participants in the stories of our students — maybe even shapers of their stories — in some small way.

But if you’re anything like me it can be all too easy, at times, to overlook the ways in which students (and the campus community at large) play a role in the unfolding of our own story.

Academics & Vocation

Helping Students to Identify a Call to Pastor

Do you remember when it was that you first realized God was calling you into ministry?

More specifically, do you remember when it was that God was calling you to be a pastor to college students?

My guess is that God started to plant that seed deep within us long before we ever realized it.

We likely experienced different things — events, conversations, moments of clarity or divine appointment — that seemed odd or out of place at the time… but were actually pointing us toward the very thing that we now find ourselves doing.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

Snubbing God

In a previous post I talked about why (most) students side with Rob Bell.

Near the end of that post I suggested that, if push came to shove, many students today would choose loyalty to their friends — over and above their loyalty to God.

The reason?

Because they cannot conceive of a God that would subject their non-believing friends to an eternity of pain, suffering and separation from God.

Many of today’s college students, much like Bell (and plenty of others), believe (or want to believe — or need to believe) that God will make a way for those people who do not confess Jesus as Lord during their time here on earth.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

Why (Most) Students Side With Rob Bell

I don’t know how many college students have taken the time to pick up Bell’s Love Wins, let alone read it, over the course of a busy spring term… but this summer, if they do, I think we’ll find that many of them will more or less fall into agreement with much of what Bell has to say.

And it makes perfect sense, really.

We’ve become a  global community — and few know this better than our students.