This past weekend at the CollegeLeader conference I did a seminar called, “One-on-one’s: what to do and questions to ask.”  I talked thru some general things we need to make sure we are doing during times of sitting down with college-age people and we talked through 8 questions that are good to ask.  The seminar went about an hour and then we had another hour (unplanned) of discussion.  It was phenomenal.

So, I thought I’d give you one of the questions I talked about and a bit about why I think it’s good to ask college age people.  In college ministry, asking good questions is vital.  So, the first question I discussed was:

“What commitments do you want to shape your life?”

This question is good to ask for a number of reasons.  It’s good to ask anyone, I think, but for college age people it forces a few processes that are helpful.  First, it helps them think through commitment.  As I discuss in College Ministry 101, there are 5 stages of identity college-age people walk through.  And each of them have commitment aspects in them.  Some never commit, some over commit, while others commit without realizing what the implications of that commitment are.  So, asking this questions gets the idea of commitment on the front of their mind and hopefully forces them to move from one stage to the next.

Secondly, a key part of the question is the “want.”  College-age people are trying to figure out what they want.  This can be a dangerous process – being focused on our own desires – but nevertheless it’s where they are in their thinking.  This question is helping them figure out what they want to be committed to.  Notice I didn’t say what they ARE committed to.  This is getting them to the heart of their own desires.  Once they figure out what they want to be committed to we can then help them differentiate that with what they ARE committed to presently.  At this point, discipleship really begins.

Our desire is to get them to the point where they WANT their commitment to God to shape their life.  Getting to that point could take 6-12 months of conversations.  But the time is worth it.

Spend any amount of time on a college campus and you will see/hear and possibly join in all kinds of debates.  Philosophy classes thrive on debate over morals, ethics…the seemingly “gray” areas of life.  Many campus-based clubs push certain agenda’s and professors certainly push theirs in the classrooms.  College is a time of expression, exploration, standing up for and landing on beliefs.

For the last 11 years or so I’ve counseled through countless “gray” areas of life, and walked with people who are struggling through one of these complex issues.  That’s a major part of what it means to lead a college ministry.   But in my experience there is no issue that is as complex in college ministry as that of homosexuality.  College is when this is usually explored and expressed.  And now it’s being debated from a doctrinal perspective more and more.

I personally can’t see any way we could affirm this behavior from a scriptural perspective.  But some are fighting for another perspective and boldly standing up for it no matter the cost.  Watch this video for an example…

Again, theologically, I can’t agree with this. But what about the college student who knows it’s not right or natural, but they don’t remember a time when they chose it either.  I’m interested in that person that has cried out to God thousands of times for Him to take it away and He hasn’t.  The college student who’s left wondering what happened, why them, and if there’s any hope of freedom.  They battle the internal confusion every minute of every day and there are a million tensions they’re trying to process through – and unfortunately doing so alone.

I wonder what will happen if the church doesn’t come out soon and boldly walk with these people I just described. What I’ve seen happen is they gravitate away from scripture just because there’s an avenue (like the video represents) where they feel like they don’t have to reject God if they embrace this issue in their life.

An encouragement to you: pay the price of time with these people – I think it’s worth it.

With the CollegeLeader Conference coming up tomorrow and the amount of conferences happening this time of year, I thought I’d issue some tips for attending them.  I’ve been around ministry-type conferences for about 15 years – attending and speaking.  So these tips come from both sides of that fence.  Here are 4 quick tips if you’re heading to a conference:

1. Keep it simple. Usually when you’re at a conference you’ll hear a theme.  The theme might not be the theme of the conference –  it’s often not.  Typically you’ll hear the theme from seminar to seminar or conversation to conversation.  All other seminars might not even mention the theme, but it’s clear in the one’s you attend.  The theme is God working on you.  Stick to that theme, keep it simple, push everything else aside, and go home and implement the theme God’s given you.  Not sticking to the theme leaves you with a binder of notes you’ll never implement.
2. Develop a filter. Every speaker is there for  a reason.  Most have thought a ton about the subject their teaching on and have experience (hopefully) in that particular area.  But, they don’t know your context, the people you work with, or the traditions you live in/with.  Therefore, you have to develop a filter that would sift out the things that wouldn’t apply in your context – no matter how epic the thought might be.  God’s called you to the context you’re in and you’re at the conference to be more effective in that context.  So, the filter is necessary.
3. Stay humble.  Every speaker has something to offer you and your ministry.  Sometimes we can get frustrated because the seminar didn’t hit what we thought was important.  We might even think we could do it better.  This attitude shuts off our ears and inflates our mind.  Ultimately we tune out what God was trying to teach us.  As simple or basic as a seminar could be the truth is there is always something we can take away from it.  Find that one thing and embrace it humbly.
4. Purchase carefully. Sometimes we go to a conference because we just need some time away, but usually we attend conferences because we’re hungry for some direction, training, and resources.  And, oh man, we go into the resource center and everything looks good.  We have the budget, so we just go crazy.  Getting resources, by the way, isn’t a bad thing.  If there are resources you think will be useful in ministry by all means buy them.  But, just be careful to buy those that will actually be used.  Far too many budgets are spent on resources still in the wrapper 12 months later.

I just read the following article by Jane Kendricks called, “If God had wanted me to be accepting of gays, he would have given me the warmth and compassion to do so.”

What do you think of this…?  Think she’s really anti-gay or communicating something else…?  Here it is:

I don’t question God. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall put none above Him. Which is why I know that if it were part of God’s plan for me to stop viciously condemning others based solely on their sexual preference, He would have seen fit—in His infinite wisdom and all—to have given me the tiniest bit of human empathy necessary to do so.

It’s a simple matter of logic, really. God made me who I am, and who I am is a cold, anti-gay zealot. Thus, I abhor gay people because God made me that way. Why is that so hard to understand?

Here, let’s start with the basic facts: I hate and fear gay people. The way they feel is different from how I feel, and that causes me a lot of confusion and anger. Everyone knows God is all-powerful. He could easily have given me the capacity to investigate what’s behind those feelings rather than tell strangers in the park they’re going to hell for holding hands. But God clearly has another path for me. And who am I to question His divine will?

Compassion, tolerance, understanding, basic decency, the ability to put myself in another person’s position: God could have endowed me with any of those traits and yet—here is the crucial part—He didn’t. Why? Because the Creator of the Universe wants me to demonize homosexuals in an effort to strip them of their fundamental human rights.

I’m sorry, but you can’t possibly ask me to explain everything God does. He works in [...]

Continue Reading “Anti-gay Zealot or…?”

Well, now is the time where many campus ministries and Christian college’s are putting together their fall retreat plans.  I’m speaking at one this fall for George Fox University and I always enjoy these times.  There’s a freshness in the ministry, excitement in the students, and a ton of potential in the people just getting involved.  Those just plugging in could be freshmen, or junior transfer students…and hopefully some new believers.  But these are key times for ministries to set the course for the rest of the year.

Note to church-based leaders: we can learn from campus ministries in this area (among a bunch of others).  Instead of doing a winter trip, think about the possibility of doing a fall retreat while there is still a freshness in your ministry.  Or, maybe do both.  But sometimes, certainly not all, waiting until after the first of the year before something like this can cause a lack of “momentum” in your ministry.  Having something in the fall can really help bond those in your ministry in the beginning of the year, helping focus the ministry for the remainder.

Note to campus ministry leaders: consider inviting a church-based ministry (or four) to join your trip.  This could have some impact on the focus of the weekend, but connecting with a church-based ministry that you are in unity with can really be beneficial.  In fact, I believe it’s beneficial for everyone involved.  But the top benefit I see is two different ministries coming together for one purpose – reaching a campus.  When campus and church ministry come together it can be very powerful.

If you’re a campus ministry leader, have you included church-based ministries in your fall retreat?  Was it beneficial?  What were some hindrances to your trip by doing so, and are there tweaks you made to improve in future years?

If you’re a church-based leader, have you tried a fall retreat before?  Do you have a relationship with a campus leader that you could approach with the idea of joining forces for a fall retreat?

Today is going to be spent putting together final details for the CollegeLeader Conference coming up next week.  I can’t believe it’s already here.  Crazy.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can see all the info on workshops, etc. here.  Also, if you don’t know, we do have a One-Day Pass for Friday.  You can see the info on the schedule here.  Here’s a short video of my heart for this time as well.  Hope to see you there.

CollegeLeader Conference from Kristen Giesenschlag on Vimeo.

This is something you don’t say in your own church, but we all feel it. Pretty funny.

This here, my friends, is the perfect example of what it takes to lead people – especially college-age people.

I recently read a blog post by Sean McDowell titled, “Ten Questions to Ask Your Biology Professor About Intelligent Design.”  It’s written to college students.  I’d recommend reading it, possibly even using it as small group discussion at some level.  It would take some work to put something together, for sure, but could be worthwhile.  I’m not a “science person” at all, so for someone like me you’d need to boil it down and simplify the importance of these a bit.  Sean is obviously much smarter than me.  But if you have students in your ministry who are really engaging in the science field you might want to pass it along to them.  Sean explains the importance of each of these questions in the blog post, but here are some of the questions:

• If nature, or some aspect of it, is intelligently designed, how could we tell?
• Should biologists be encouraged to look for signs of intelligence in biological systems? Why or why not?
• Who determines the rules of science? Are these rules written in stone? Is it mandatory that scientific explanations only appeal to matter and energy operating by unbroken natural laws (a principle known as methodological naturalism)?
• How do we account for the complex information-rich patterns in biological systems? What is the source of that information?
• Do any structures in the cell resemble machines designed by humans? How do we account for such structures?
• What are irreducibly complex systems? Do such systems exist in biology? If so, are those systems evidence for design? If not, why not?
• The Earth seems ideally positioned in our galaxy for complex life to exist and for scientific discovery to advance. Does this privileged status of Earth indicate intelligent design? Why or why not?

Anyway, just thought I’d pass along the resource…