Tag: vocation

Leadership Development

If You Can Only Do A Few Things Well, What Will You Do?

How do you deal with your own limitations?

How do you struggle with the notion that you are called to be “all things, to all people?”

How do you live in the tension of wanting to be measured, peaceful, and sane — when expectations (both internal and external) seem to dictate that you do more, be more, and give more?

I think one of the challenges of being a good leader in our noisy culture is the ability to sense what we are called to do and be — and then focus primarily (if not solely) on those things.

The Campus Minister

We Are NOT Professionals

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.

Leadership Development

7 Things I’ve Learned From Being on the Same Campus for 7 Years

You may have caught my post last week, reflecting on 15 Things I’ve Learned from 15 Years of College Ministry. If not, you should check it out!

Those 15 years have unfolded on four different campuses — but the last seven have been in the same place. And truth be told, I’m surprised that I’ve made it this long.

It’s not that I’m a bad employee — often at risk of getting fired. Nor is it that I dislike the place I work (or that I’ve previously worked) — all have been great! It has more to do with me — and my propensity for change.

In the past, I’ve enjoyed starting on a new campus, making new relationships, assessing what’s working — and what’s not, and then discerning how God wanted to use me in that place.

Leadership Development, Student Leaders

Failure is NOT Fatal; Perfection NOT a Requirement

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.

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.

Student Leaders

5 Keys to Your Student Leader’s Success

Strong ministry leadership is foundational to success.

Informed, well-trained, and intentionally supported student leadership is essential to magnifying the power of, and exponentially expanding the reach of, your ministry on campus.

Student leadership isn’t just important for your ministry, but it’s an incredible opportunity for students to develop their gifts, explore their passions, and serve Christ in their campus community.

But good student leaders, and good student leadership, don’t just happen.

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

MY NEW FAVORITE WAY TO FIND SEEKERS ON CAMPUS

A College Student, A Homeless Man, And A Rabbi Walk Into A Coffee Shop.

That may sound like the opening line of a bad joke, but it actually describes an experiment I started last semester at the University of Delaware.

A couple volunteers and I were discussing the example we have in Jesus and his disciples, who were intentional about sharing their faith with friends “friendship evangelism” and with strangers “initiative evangelism”. When we scrolled through our phone contacts to count how many friends we actually had who weren’t Christians, we realized something had to change.

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

Bread for the Journey: Books to Use for Students Who Want To Grow

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.

Big Ideas & 'Best Of'

JOIN THE MIRACLE OF FEEDING THE MULTITUDES!

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.

Spiritual Formation

Our Future-oriented Drift

“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.