by Ben Reed Truth: "Hey preacher man, good sermon!" is nice…but come on, we can do better than that, right? We can do better than the shoulder squeeze with the solemn look in the eye. We can do better than the slow head nod of approval—especially when we remember that our pastors spend hours each week pouring out their hearts on stage, ministering to and in our communities, and shepherding hard-heads like us. The work of a pastor is often lonely, difficult work. We need your encouragement. And encouragement isn't that … [Read more...]
College Ministry: A Long-Term Career?
by Guy Chmieleski A couple of years ago I started polling my readers so I could: •Better understand who you are •Gain some statistical data •Test out some theories I have •Attempt to provide some posts that are meaningful and relevant to the work we are doing One of the first questions I ever posted was: How long have you been serving in college ministry? Nearly 70% of those who took the poll reported having served in college ministry for 6 years or more (6-10 years 31%; 11-20 years 31%; and 20+ years 6%). I, myself, am just … [Read more...]
Some Things I’ve Learned
by Melissa Deal My husband, B.J., and I had been married for two years when we found out we were having a little boy. We were so excited—and to be honest, terrified. There was so much to think about, so much to plan for. And what if we did it wrong? But the moment my child was placed in my arms, none of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was cherishing every single minute of this new life. That's why I started keeping a journal for him. Just a little something filled with letters, poems, words of life, and hopefully a … [Read more...]
Theology Thursday: The Gospel Reversal
Next week, we at Threads will release the second volume of Matt Carter's and Halim Suh's study of Genesis called Creation Restored. It's relevant, challenging, and gospel-saturated. Trust me, you'll want to get a copy. Here's a quick promo video to get you going: Matt and Halim do a great job connecting the story(ies) of Genesis with the good news of Jesus Christ. One example comes from a specific chapter in this new study, called "The Gospel Reversal," which explores a crazy, disturbing "aside" in the story of Joseph involving … [Read more...]
“Rise of the Religious Nones” among Young Adults
Dr. Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources and author of the book Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation, recently blogged about “The Rise of the Religious ‘Nones.’ ” Rainer notes that “Millennials [those born between 1980 and 2000] represent the first generation in history where a majority had no religious or church background.” His thoughts greatly impact the church’s efforts to minister to this generation. Here are his thoughts: Much of the literature … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Life … for Singles
by Renee Fisher If you've seen any chick flicks recently, you might get the impression that singleness is a sickness to be hastily cured. It's easy to go with the cultural flow by buying into the frustration of waiting around, hoping to meet someone, and wondering why you're alone. But despite popular opinion, there's nothing wrong with being single nor with the desire to share life with a significant other. Singleness is more than a waiting room to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right, so how can you make the most of this unique season of life? … [Read more...]
Mentoring College Students
by Ryan Vanderland Mentoring is one of the hot-button words floating around college ministries right now. More and more people are realizing that one-on-one relationships are vital for the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of students. Within a college ministry context, Chuck Bomar has written extensively on the necessity of mentoring relationships. In his book, College Ministry from Scratch, Bomar outlines only two measures of effectiveness within college ministries as we help studnets "move toward Christlikeness." The first … [Read more...]
Creation Restored--NEW from Threads!
Creation Restored: The Gospel According to Genesis, the newest short-term study from Threads, releases April 1 but you can pre-order it TODAY on Lifeway.com. Join authors Matt Carter and Halim Suh as they examine Genesis 12-50 and explore how the early portions of the Bible foreshadow the gospel of Jesus Christ — the good news of salvation and redemption that we find only in relationship with Him. When we read about Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph—the family of promise—we read about salvation by faith. We begin to understand that God … [Read more...]
Theology Thursday: Knowing Jesus
Never trade Jesus for the idea of Jesus. Those words dropped like a gospel sledgehammer during a chapel service yesterday here at Lifeway Christian Resources in Nashville. Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Texas, said that provocative phrase in the sermon he preached from Philippians 3. I'd like you to take a minute to let that phrase sink in: Never trade Jesus for the idea of Jesus. Read it and re-read it. Don't let its sting distract you from its desire to unearth the truth in your heart. All too often Christians … [Read more...]
Ten-Minute Takeaways
by Jim Whaley I examine a ton of discipleship material each semester as we prepare for our collegiate church/campus ministry small groups. And I’m a huge Threads proponent. I do my very best to be exclusive with Threads material. Sometimes it’s hard, but for a large majority of our small groups, we do use Threads. When I first saw Holy Vocabulary though, something clicked. Even though it’s laid out like a “typical” small group resource, having each “word” stand alone gave me a whole new … [Read more...]
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