Tag: struggle

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'

4 Ways to Build a Culture of Inclusivity Within Your Ministry

In a post last week I talked about students who are struggling this time of year because, as social scenes are beginning to solidify, they are finding themselves unexpectedly on the outside looking in.

I suggested that, as ministers and ministries, we have a unique and important opportunity here. We need to create a hospitable place where these students — ALL students, really — can belong and be known.

But this kind of culture doesn’t just magically happen within our ministry contexts. It takes intention. It takes work.

So here are four ways I think we can help to create a culture of inclusivity within our ministries:

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.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

In Christ Alone

This is a guest post I did for one of my new blogger friends, JR Forasteros. He’s a pastor in Dayton, OH and this post is a part of his ‘After Happily Ever After’ series. His blog is a great resource on faith and pop culture. Check out his blog and follow him on Twitter!

In the mid 1990s, the movie Jerry McGuire romanticized the notion of a soul mate — that one person that exists to “complete” us. Maybe you remember these infamous words that still conjure up feelings of desire, destiny, and fulfillment:

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

How Will You Talk Faith & Politics With Students this Election Year?

Two months from today, most of our students will have their very first chance to vote in a Presidential election.

This is one of many “firsts” that they’ll have the chance to experience while on campus — away from home, and away from those who have been their most trusted voices and advisers for much of their lives.

With such a big decision looming, who will step in and offer some assistance in the decision-making process?

Leadership Development

Announcing The Art of Self Leadership Blogathon [Oct. 23-25]

Preparation for the next Blogathon are now underway!

The Art of Self Leadership Blogathon will be a chance for us to talk together about our need to lead self — while faithfully living out our call to lead others. As leaders, we often put our own needs aside in order to focus on those around us. But in order for us to be the effective, healthy, and durable leaders we desire to be, we need to be wise, intentional, and strategic with regard to how we manage our time, establish and protect different boundaries, approach our work, and faithfully live out our call to serve others.

This time will be a chance to explore new ideas and best practices as it relates to our service as faithful leaders, as well as to engage in online conversation about some of the challenges or struggles we face in this area of Self Leadership.

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

5 Reasons Why the ‘Sex Before Marriage’ Conversation Is Such A Big Deal

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:

Student Culture, Trends & Issues

Prescription Drug Abuse and The Good Grade Pill

You may already know this, but prescription drug abuse on campus is on the rise.

It’s hard to get an accurate read on just how rampant the problem is, but some reports suggest as high as 40% of students misuse prescription drugs just to aid in their studies.

And that doesn’t account for students who are misusing drugs for the sake of getting high or “taking the edge off” in order to have less anxiety in different social settings.

With a generation of students that were more heavily (and quickly) medicated as youth, now arriving on campus, the amount of prescription drugs on campus shouldn’t surprise us.

Student Leaders

5 Lies (Student) Leaders Believe

Yesterday was our day of campus-wide leadership training.

It’s a time when we bring together all of the students leaders of varying student groups across campus for some shared training and team building.

For the day, we set aside the planning and preparation for our specific areas to recognize that we — as leaders — are not alone on campus. There are others who aspire to similar heights, and face many of the same challenges that we do.

From year to year it’s never quite the same — and I think this year might have been one of our best efforts!

Personally, I had the chance to co-present to our student leadership population of 350+ about the lies many leaders believe. Many of these lies were identified by different student leaders who have seen them — in some shape or fashion — played on within the student leadership culture on our campus.