Pastor – Coach – Reader – Cook
As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent a week with Penn State Berks students, many of whom could be classified as "nomads." David Kinnaman defines the nomads in his book You Lost Me: For these young adults, faith is nomadic, seasonal, or may appear to be an optional or peripheral part of life.…
Continue reading ➞ Young Adults Who Wander From Faith (You Lost Me 4)
The Public Research Institute recently released their study titled "A Generation in Transition: Religion, Values and Politics among College-Aged Millennials" It is filled with interesting findings for campus ministers, or anyone who is connected with, college students. *They are generally independent but lean towards the Democratic party. *There is a move towards no affiliation with…
Drew Dyck writes the following in his article "The Red Bull Gospel: Over the past year I've conducted dozens of interviews with 20-somethings who have walked away from their Christian faith. Among the most surprising findings was this: nearly all of these "leavers" reported having positive experiences in youth group. I recall my conversation with…
Continue reading ➞ Almost Christian 7 – Going Viral for Jesus
My Kindle is getting a workout as Junia sleeps a lot, like many newborns. I enjoy holding her in one arm, and reading the Kindle in my other. There are loads of free books available on the Kindle, old books that are now public domain. The Kindle is perfect to hold in one hand, while…
Two weeks ago my daughter, Junia Elizabeth, was born. Other parents know what the last two weeks have been like for Emily and I. In a word, CRAZY! By the way, I am typing this while holding Junia. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than holding your baby daughter in your arms! What…
I really appreciated these articles from the Internet Monk blog on "Demythologizing 'Radical' Christianity": part 1 and part 2. The two posts are actually comments on Skye Jethani's posts "Redefining Radical" (part 1 and part 2). Two especially good quotes, first from the second post on Internet Monk, quoting Lutheran Gene Edward Leith on vocation:…
One of the central questions the NSYR gives input on is what factors in a teenager's life put her on a path to being a committed religious adult? It would be tempting to read a book like Almost Christian looking for the "key" to making teenagers into lifelong people of faith. If that is what…
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting a guy who does campus ministry at the University of Delaware (Blue Hens for Christ). One thing we briefly talked about was how we do "membership" in our campus ministries. When does someone become a member of the Christian community on campus as opposed to just showing…
It seems the Amazon Kindle put Barnes & Noble and Borders on the ropes...and only Barnes & Noble has recovered. This would be sad, as I really like Borders. It seems they might end up just joining forces. This is just plain cool: the Internet in 2010! There are 152 million blogs, holy cow! I…
My friend Zach has started a fun website, check it out and contribute to the discussion: Life in Tandem. Too often pastors make the news for scandal, so it is refreshing to read the story of Francis Chan. Ironically, part of the reason he left the church was because he becoming a Christian celebrity, but…
David Hershey 