Fact: There are places around our world that have no access to clean water, therefore thousands of children die every week because of disease caused by unclean drinking water. Fact: There are more slaves today than at any point in human history. Fact: Sex trafficking has become a multi-billion dollar industry around the world and endangers the lives of countless young women, young men, and children. Those are the facts. No doubt, some troubling issues are at hand in our world. Millennials are asking, "What are we going to do … [Read more...]
Why Young Adults Desire Spiritual Depth
The conversation about the absence of Millennials in churches has been front and center recently. The largest generation to ever be alive in our country is not connecting to our churches the way previous generations have. The question remains…why not? In a previous post, I started the conversation concerning four markers that are important to young adults and college students (read that post HERE). For young adult ministry leaders, these are components we must consider if we genuinely desire to connect with the young adults in our … [Read more...]
4 Things to Consider When Seeking a Church
Usually by freshman year of college, church attendance is at a slow decline; especially when you don’t live at home. It's easy to prioritize your weekends around home games and the need to sleep in after a late Saturday night. It's even easier to skip church when you don’t have a parent standing beside your bed telling you to get up and shower, or you’ll be late for church. In this newfound freedom called young adulthood, we sometimes find ourselves outside a community of believers. Even when we do, we don’t always have a clear … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Endure Life’s Desert Seasons
Ever watched the show Man vs. Wild? It's an ingenious reality show that attempts to show you how to survive in any number of hostile environments—from the Costa Rican rainforest to the Alaskan frontier to a wide array of desert locations. The host is an aptly-named British gentleman, Bear Grylls, who parachutes into these remote locations, and spends a great deal of time running from, yes, bears, lions, and elephants. In fact, there is only one thing he spends more time doing—and that is looking for water. In one episode (at … [Read more...]
The Local Church: Do I Need It?
With multiple thriving college and young adult ministries to be a part of, often young adults don't settle into a local church. Even if they do attend church on Sundays, it's tempting to just show up for the hour or so of corporate worship. But local church involvement is so much more. CHOOSE List the traits you're looking for in a church body, visit a few, then choose a place to plug in. Keep in mind, every church has its flaws, but the most important thing is to find a church where you can grow spiritually, serve your community, … [Read more...]
What To Do When You Hit a Bad Light Cycle
I love it when I hit every green light on my way to my destination. Smooth sailing all the way. The truth is, it feels so right that many times I don't really pay attention to the ease of the trip. Everything is as it should be. But I also know how it feels to hit every red light along the way, especially when I'm in a hurry. Can't seem to catch a break and the timing is off – at every intersection. Nothing is as it should be. Sometimes life is like that, too. Some seasons seem like everything is running as smoothly as a … [Read more...]
Easter is About Justice
But wait—Easter is about us, right? It’s about our hope? It’s about our security? It’s about our salvation? Yes, and no. The whole Easter thing, in a bigger sense, is about justice. It’s about God. It’s about God re-affirming His commitment to justice and confirming His perfect nature again. Coming into the very first Good Friday, the perfection of God was in doubt. See if God is perfect, then all His attributes must be the perfect expression of that attribute. Take His love for example. We tend to think of love as we think … [Read more...]
Why Does the Holy Spirit Give Us Gifts?
My kids love getting gifts. (I guess that whole “blessed is the giver” thing hasn’t caught on yet.) My son likes Legos®, light sabers, and baseball bats. He could care less about getting clothes. In a big stack of presents, he’ll open a package of socks, nod politely, and then quickly throw them aside in search of a new action figure. But my little girl? Well, clothes are an entirely different story with her. She’ll open her socks and squeal with glee. She doesn’t see clothes as a necessary evil that has to be dealt with every … [Read more...]
Are You a Faith Snob?
One of my greatest desires is to be humble. When people hear the word humble, I want them to immediately think of me. I want to become the national spokesman for an organization that’s about humility. In fact, I’m hoping to get a large statue of myself erected in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., with a huge plaque naming me “a model of humility for the ages.” At the end of the day, I’m striving to become the most celebrated humble person in the world. OK, OK. What you just read about “humility” is made-up. But unfortunately, a noticeable … [Read more...]
3 Steps to a Healthy Prayer Life
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: You decide it’s time to pray, so you close your eyes. Fifteen seconds in, out of nowhere, tomorrow’s to-do list pops up and your thoughts are off on a tangent. Before long, you realize what’s happening, and by sheer force of the will, you get back to business. Before you know it, it has happened again. Now you’re definitely not praying, but doing a confused mix of worrying and problem solving. Most of us can identify with this scenario because we struggle with effective prayer. Two main … [Read more...]
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