We’re experiencing an epidemic of “What now?” — 20-somethings who reach the end of their college careers without any idea who they are, what they like, and where to head next. College isn’t just about making it through; college is about making it matter. So how do you do college right? How do you increase your chances that all the time and money you’re investing will be paid back in full? Here are seven ways to make your college experience worth the cost. Get Uncomfortable: Too many students treat college like that big college … [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...]
Free Friday: Gray Areas Small Group Kit
In a complicated world, certainty is a commodity of high value. For some questions, there just don’t seem to be right or wrong answers. Worse, in other situations, there seem to be several right answers. Good people disagree on big issues. You can probably name a few hot topics off the top of your head, right? In Gray Areas Bible study, Mike Glenn takles the sometimes hard to navigate topics like addiction, dating, divorce, sexual identity. Take a look at Mike's approach to the study. We’re giving away a Gray Areas small … [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...]
3 Practical Ideas for Reaching Young Adults
One of the most popular questions we hear from church leaders is: What outreach ideas do you have for reaching young adults? Let's cut right to the ideas, but keep in mind that a healthy and balanced young adult ministry plan should have one or more of Threads’ four markers of ministry—Community, Depth, Responsibility, and Connection—at its core. Hold a community sports event. Since it’s March Madness time, we feel obliged to start with the idea of creating a basketball tournament in your community. It’s a great way to impact our … [Read more...]
Asking Better Questions: Young Adults and Depression
March 1st is Self-injury Awareness Day (SIAD), to be honest. Two Write Love On Her Arms is at the forefront of offering hope and help in the arena of depression and self harm. Founder Jamie Tworkowski recently spoke at TEDxMalibu on the subject of depression and young adults. He shared a few facts: 20 million struggle with depression. Untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death. Two out of three who struggle with depression don't seek help or treatment for … [Read more...]
The Internet: Gift or Curse?
(Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP) Every now and then a news story catches our attention, and we want to discuss (and by discuss I mean, we want to know what you think). Earlier this year, Pope Francis called the Internet a gift—a gift from God to be exact. Perhaps the gift is in its reach. The Internet makes communication a piece of cake, and that's part of the Pope's point. Last month in this article from the Associated Press, The Pope acknowledged the potential and a problematic aspect of the World Wide Web: Francis said the … [Read more...]
Intentionality is Not By Accident
Recently I sat at dinner with four other collegiate ministers and realized that there was over 100 years of combined ministry with college students and young adults represented around the table. Over 100 years of conversations about relationships. Over 100 years of mission trips and serving together. Over 100 years of investing in college students for future leadership in the church. As collegiate and young adult ministers we have a unique seat in the lives of young adults. Often times they come to our … [Read more...]
Super Bowl Shenanigans: Three Winning Ideas for Your Party
The Super Bowl. It has become an adjective all of its own. Such as, “This is the Super Bowl of baking.” “It’s like the Super Bowl of business”. It is no wonder why we use the word “Super Bowl” to define every other major event. The Super Bowl is the most watched media event on television, and they are expecting this year’s game to break the current record of 111.3 million viewers. Nine out of 10 viewers are going to be at home — either their own house or someone else’s. I’m not too good at math, but that is a lot of Super Bowl … [Read more...]
You May Be Too Busy to Read this Post
I am a big fan of Google Calendar. It sort of looks like a rainbow when I open it up and I look at all the meetings, trips, practices and responsibilities that I have in my life today. We all have the tendency to lean toward a life of being busy – every moment of our day scheduled to the minute. As I’ve started a new year, I am trying to get out of the habit of saying that “I’m busy.” Busy just sounds so bland. Busy sounds like it was a lot of stuff with no purpose. Thinking about the opportunity we have to influence … [Read more...]
