It’s August!
And that can only mean one thing — the return of students is now imminent.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the pace has started to quicken around campus, as we begin to make final preparations for the incoming class of students — and all their returning peers.
It’s an exciting time of year for sure — are you ready?
Now, here are the Top 10 most viewed posts at FaithONCampus.com for the month of July!
A special word of thanks to those who contributed guest posts during my time away this month — the writing on my 2nd book this summer has not come as quickly as it did for the first — but I’m continuing to make as much progress on it as I can before the return of students.
There are some great posts here — so be sure to read any you happened to have missed!
10.Three Practices for Campus Ministers Courtesy of the Rolling Stones — Part II | Stephen Boutry
At the heart of Christian theology lies the idea that God is one. And if God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), then the implications are astounding, with, perhaps, the largest being (to borrow a phrase from Richard Rohr) that “everything belongs”.
Many of us live with a bifurcated (or muti-furcated…just made up a word) world. College students are bombarded with this constantly. Whether it be sacred vs. secular, personal vs. public, on-line vs real-life, dualism abounds. (Keep reading…)
9. You Need Doctrine, Not More Kindness | Riley Adam Voth
Dwayne was a fairly simple man. His kids were grown up, and he lived in the middle of Kansas in a mid-size town where he ran a flower shop with his wife. He loved Jesus, valued scripture as supreme authority, and he prayed for college students. He cared. We also didn’t agree on a lot…
I got the text while sitting on LifeWay’s patio in Nashville, TN, with my wife, and two younger men who were going to be coming on to our ministry staff. We were there for a collegiate conference when a man from a separate collegiate ministry in our town texted me. Shortly after he had met with Dwayne that morning, Dwayne had suddenly passed away from a heart attack. He thought I should know since many of my guys met with and really respected Dwayne. (Keep reading…)
Do you know about Prezi.com?
It’s not brand new, I think I’ve been using it for about a year now — and for some reason it just dawned on me that I should share about it here, in case YOU haven’t ever experienced it.
Why?
Because it has totally revolutionized the way I do presentations (sorry if this sounds like an infomercial — I just like sharing cool stuff with cool people).
What is it? (Keep reading…)
7. Model T and Openness to the Future | Steve Lutz
“You can have any color you want, as long as it’s black.”–Henry Ford
Henry Ford changed the world with the Model T. His innovations in engineering, development, and distribution revolutionized how people live. He was a legend in his own time. But he became so obsessed with his invention that it nearly ruined his company. He really did say that quote about having any color you want, as long as it was black.
Ford was fiercely tenacious about clinging to his ideas. On one occasion, his engineers completely updated the Model T into a low-slung, shiny red model while he was on vacation. When he returned, they proudly showed it to him. Without saying a word, Ford ripped it apart, piece by piece, and utterly destroyed it—with his bare hands. The message was clear: “There will be no innovation. We will always do things this way.” (Keep reading…)
6. Be Still and Know: Helping the Freedom Seeking Freshman Slow Down and Experience the Lord | Kimberly Moynahan
Artist David Arms uses the image of a hummingbird to symbolize humans, and I would dare to say that a freshman in college is like a hummingbird drinking a five-hour energy drink.
Arms says we are like hummingbirds because we are in perpetual motion.
We never slow down!
To an eighteen-year old, we add that perpetual motion to the thrill of freedom in a whole new world, and suddenly the hummingbird is chugging that five-hour energy in order to put motion in hyper drive. (Keep reading…)
5. [ INFOGRAPHIC ] Teens and Porn: Ten Stats You Need to Know
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I’ve got a second book in the works…
The first book is geared towards Mentors — really anyone who might speak into the lives of college students (including, but not limited to: parents, pastors, professors, coaches, directors, et al). I hope it will serve as a guide for having important and timely conversations with students during their formative college years.
The second book will be geared towards college students and will examine some of the things that are literally “killing their souls.” (Keep reading…)
4. Top 10 Issues College Students Face
There’s so much that makes up the college experience… so many opportunities, so many potential pitfalls.
How well do we assist students in navigating the waters of the college years?
Maybe before we can accurately answer this question we must first ask:
“What are the big issues that our students are dealing with?”
If we’ve not taken the time to answer this question than we must ask ourselves, “how relevant is our ministry?” (Keep reading…)
3. Three Practices for Campus Ministers Courtesy of the Rolling Stones — Part I | Stephen Boutry
Friendship is a diminishing of distance between people. from Life p. 312
In my work with students, the two refrains I hear again and again go like this:
1) I want more friends
2) Community is hard
Who doesn’t want more friends? Certainly a major reason students attend school is to find connection, meet new people, and develop long-lasting friendships.
But, community is hard. Most of the students I work with attend Boston University, which presents a unique environment. The school is embedded into Boston, stretching across two miles of the city, while running parallel to the Charles River. (Keep reading…)
2.Why the Local Church Needs College Students
In a previous post I shared some thoughts on why I think college students need the local church. This post sparked some good comments and conversations…
This leads me to believe that I’m not the only one thinking about this.
And that’s good!
Today I want to explore some thoughts on why I think the local church needs college students.
There are three primary reasons (although I’m sure we can identify more) why I think every local church NEEDS to have college students involved in their faith community. (Keep reading…)
1. Is Sex Before Marriage Really a Sin?
Does that sound like a loaded question to you?
Loaded or not, this is a question that more and more young believers are asking — and in all seriousness.
There seems to be a growing belief among some Christians that sex BEFORE marriage is NOT a sin.
They can quote to you all of the biblical passages that talk about adultery, and give their rational for why they believe those passages only apply to married and divorced individuals. (Keep reading…)
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Well, there you have it — another month of great content, conversation and guest posts!!
Have a great start to the new year!
