I’m off to DRINK. No, I’m not thirsty (I just had an iced mocha at my favorite coffee shop). DRINK, in case you didn’t know, is the conference we at CollegeLeader put on for college-age ministry leaders. It starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend, so I will be giving updates/photos/etc. throughout the weekend. I wanted this conference to be about 30-40 leaders. We have over 85 leaders, which is more than double that number, and more than half of them are coming in from out of state. So, it’s still small and intimate – just more than I hoped for. We also have students attending…I’m very excited about this weekend.

You may ask, “why did you only want that small of a group?” Well, it’s because I really want this to be an intimate time with leaders where we can really dive into their ministry and help in anyway we can. I’m not thinking of this as an event, it’s more of a conversation. The main sessions, well, really aren’t “main” at all. That is a VERY small part of what this is about.

Anyway, I come back on Sunday morning, drive straight to church, have lunch with some people, then go home to do laundry before I go to a dinner meeting. After this, I will try to get some sleep because I leave for El Salvador 6:00 am Monday morning. I will update more on that as well.

In the meantime, stay tuned for updates about our conversations and discussion points/questions/debates this weekend at DRINK.

There are churches on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to Sunday school – those that couldn’t imagine life in their church without it, and those that couldn’t live if they had it. But, the question I’m interested in is does college-age Sunday School work?

I was recently teaching a seminar where people were asking me how they could go about getting more college-age people to attend. They had been struggling with this for a long time and could never seem to get people to come. Most of them knew of many college-age people in their church but were frustrated because they couldn’t get them to come to their Sunday school class.

I asked, “Why are you trying to get them to the Sunday School class?” There were no direct answers. It was as if they hadn’t thought about why it was that part was so important to them, beyond the fact that they had just always had it and Sunday School was one of the MAJOR elements to a Sunday morning in their church.

I was fairly bold with them and said, “If you have a hard time getting them to come, maybe that tells you something about them, or possibly you and/or the way you’re going about that time.” My heart wasn’t to bash them or this idea of Sunday School in ANY WAY! What I was trying to get at is the heart behind it. I had no doubt these people loved college-age people and desperately wanted to reach out to them. I had no doubt that they were seriously praying and thinking through how they could engage their minds. And, I could tell they really wanted to help.

But, if something’s not working…maybe there’s valid reasons. Maybe Sunday School class isn’t the best way to engage them. Maybe, just maybe, a Sunday morning breakfast at someone’s house at 11am is better. Or, maybe the things they were discussing in the class just wasn’t pertinent to the lives of these people…?

If you have trouble getting college-age people to come to your Sunday School – jump out of the box. Drop it, and try something else.

If you are engaging people during these times…let us have it! Clue us in to what’s working in your context! Let all of us learn from what you’re doing.

If you’re the type of person that couldn’t imagine even having a Sunday School class for college-age people, why is that?

This should be a fun discussion…

We all know that college-age ministry is a sort of “red-headed step child” of the church. This is rapidly changing in many contexts, but at the same time many (in fact most) churches have yet to embrace this age-stage ministry as vital in their church. I have yet to hear ANY valid reasons given and I talk to people all the time!

What are some reasons you have heard leaders give as to why their church doesn’t emphasize this ministry?

Ok, I have an extremely hard time finding good Christian music. I must admit that the Christian music scene is getting a lot better, but it’s rare that I hear something out of the Christian world and think, “I gotta buy that!”

I know a lot of this has to do with personal taste, but yesterday I found something. I heard a new cd, went to iTunes, and bought 5 of the songs within 15 minutes. Granted, I know these guys from a couple of conferences I’ve done – and that probably doesn’t hurt any. But, I can still judge whether or not music is good regardless of how well I know someone! This, in my opinion is good music. It’s a band called, Tenth Avenue North. If you go to the site there will automatically be a “jukebox” pops up – you can flip through the songs. Some of you may have heard of them, but others may not have. They are great guys and are talented (and NO, they didn’t pay me for this – nor do they know I’m writing this)…and I think have a nitch toward the college-age person. The new cd is really good. Anyway, here’s a video you may be interested in watching to get a feel.

Ok, I just saw this article on CNN.com that was amazing and well, frightening. It’s about a guy, “de Jesus” who claims to be both the antichrist and Jesus…huh!? It’s an interesting look at deception and how easily people can be swayed from truth. You can read the article here. This could be a great discussion to have at your next small group. Print off the article and take a look at it and ask some questions, like:

1. What do you think it is about this guy that makes people follow him?
2. What need or desire is he possibly meeting for people?
3. How would you go about talking to one of his followers?
4. If you could say one thing to this guy, what would you say? Why?

Just an idea…

I used to teach a class at Eternity Bible College on Youth Culture. I had the students do a number of projects, but one was having them watch a couple shows on tv that gave great insights into the life of youth. They wrote down observations they had and we talked through them in class. One of the shows is called, “The Hills.” This is a reality-drama about the college-age stage of life and is on Mtv.

I was just reading the newspaper and I saw there was a new season starting. Now, I’ll make it clear that I don’t particularly like the show. However, if you want to gain some insights into relational issues, career path struggles, etc. of the college-age stage of life, this is a good place to start. It’s contextual to some degree, but there are definitely things that are universal to the age stage. In fact, the article I was reading said this show was the most watched EVER on Mtv!! That is huge. And this particular article claimed that this show was the “most influential television show on youth culture today.” Amazing.

A month ago I really felt like I needed to jump on an opportunity. I waited, was patient, and thought through it. I came to a point last week where I had a real sense of urgency and moved forward, bringing some other people into the loop. I asked them to process through it for a couple days and get back to me. We did.

This morning we decided we needed to move. I called, and someone else moved this morning, beating us to the punch.

Do you ever question God’s prompting? Do you listen to His whisper? Do you doubt your own ability to know what it is He wants you to do?

It’s my belief that God knew I would move too slow. But, I also believe there’s always lessons to learn as we go. Today I learned that if I’m walking in the Spirit I need to trust His prompting.

That to say, if you feel like you should go in a direction for your ministry and you’re walking with the Spirit…just go, don’t hesitate. Trust that He’s speaking and letting you know which way to move.

I have been thinking about the different terms we use for our ministries for a very long time (about 9 years or so). So, I wanted to throw out some of the different terms and thoughts behind them and see where you land in the mix. Here are some different terms used to describe our ministries:

College Ministry

• Pro’s: hits the age stage we’re trying to reach, provides a natural progression after high school, is universal enough to include community college or university students
• Con’s: limits the ministry to students – possibly alienating those not attending school, makes it tough for those who graduate college and still find themselves in a limbo/late adolescent stage of life to feel comfortable

University Ministry

• Pro’s: same pro’s as above, but also makes it more comfortable for those 5th and 6th year seniors to feel comfortable in the ministry. It also allows graduate students to feel more comfortable coming.
• Con’s: limits it to students, often leaving non-students wondering if it’s appropriate for them to come

Emerging Adults

• Pro’s: avoids limiting ministry to students, newer terminology, helps articulate the stage of life being one of people that are entering adulthood – but aren’t there yet
• Con’s: ambiguous, can be linked with the “emergent” movement (this could be negative or positive depending on your focus), doesn’t give any age range of appropriateness which can alienate graduating high school students

Young Adults

• Pro’s: gives the impression of including all phases of life after high school and before married life, can take on any personality and reputation
• Con’s: is very ambiguous, suggests that an 18 year old is an adult – which can make it difficult for them to feel comfortable transitioning right after high school, will likely focus more either on recent high school grads or those older twenty somethings

College-Career

• Pro’s: allows for the most amount of people to feel comfortable
• Con’s: recent high school grads need specific attention – very different from college grads pursuing a career – so consequently it will tend to focus on one end of the spectrum and neglect to other, some high school grads can be intimidated

Post High

• Pro’s: easy transition for recent high school grads, focuses on age range
• Con’s: seems “young” so tends to alienate those 21 and older

Many of these are good, but I’ve chosen not to use any of them. The one I choose to use is “College-age Ministry” because it doesn’t limit it to students, it provides natural progression for high school grads, allows the church to define what this age range is, and pretty much says everything most of the above does without alienating anyone. I personally don’t see any con’s other than it’s longer. But, feel free to chime in!

Which one do you use, and why?

I’ve been processing something the last few days: the line between compromising my faith and becoming “all things to all men.” The line seems very clear sometimes, while fuzzy in others. On one hand I know the gospel never changes and what it commands of my life never does either. At the same time articulating that to others, through words and life, can and often should differ from person to person.

The other balance is making sure “all things to all men” doesn’t become a fear of man! Many times, I think, this is where we begin to compromise. We can often rationalize a fear of man (not wanting them to think of us differently, fear of taking a stand, etc.) as trying to be all things to all men.

I know people have talked about articulating the gospel message to different cultures for hundreds of years. Missionaries have processed through this for centuries. But, it’s one thing if you’re thinking about it on a cultural level…but, what about on a personal level with people whom you’re closest? Sometimes the toughest thing to do is clearly articulate the gospel (in word or life) to those closest to us, with those we have the most to lose.

Another tough balance is giving into people’s desires and wishes. As leaders we can often try to attract people by meeting their desires. But, this is such a fine line at a heart level. Are we really trying to be all things to all men, or are we simply afraid of failure, fearful of what man thinks…is any of this making sense?

The more I think of this at a heart level, the more I realize my personal motivations get mixed at times. There have certainly been times where I’ve rationalized something as being “all things to all men,” when in fact I was simply afraid of man. If you can relate in anyway, do what I just did, share it with someone you’re discipling. Letting college-age people into your heart struggles is one of the most effective things we can ever do with them!

I went to Lake Arrowhead today with my friend, Rich. We got a mocha and were sitting by the lake, reading our Bible’s, and talking through a few passages (actually the one I’ll be teaching through this Sunday). It was more me talking about it than anything, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is we met someone. A very special lady that made our day!

We briefly said hello to her and before we knew it we had been talking to her for a half an hour. I realized at this point I didn’t even know her name, so I asked. She replied, “Old Lady Dorothy.” We spent over an hour talking to her! It was a great time of encouragement for all of us. Dorothy is 88 years old, has been a believer for over 45 years, lives alone, serves in her church, and walks 4 MILES A DAY! Unbelievable.

I asked her some questions: If you could do anything different in your life, what would it be? If you could tell me anything as a 33 year old pastor, what would you tell me? How do you hear God’s voice? What is your favorite passage of Scripture and why?

I wonder if you have some people in your church like her? You probably do. Here’s what I would say to you: connect your college-age people with the “old lady Dorothy’s” in your church! Everyone will be encouraged.