Archive for the 'Faith' Category

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Tips for College Students

Published on September 12, 2011 by Chris Bean in Campus Ministry, Church, discipleship, Faith and Prayer.

I stumbled across this list of tips as I was reading up on college ministry stuff. The original article is here.

1.  Location, Location, Location…Serious about getting work done? Find a good location. Use the libraries, study rooms, or empty classrooms. (Or perhaps the Edge Houseif you’re in Cincinnati!)2.  Make It a Habit: Do Coursework Every DayCramming is not conducive to understanding and retaining large amounts of information. Time on your courses each day is the best way to learn. Use the time between classes to stay on top of readings.

3. Help Exists! Seek It Out and Improve Your Grades

Whether you’re an ‘A’ student or a ‘D’ student, you can strengthen your skills. Get to know your professors and tutorial assistants. Use study guides and help centres. If you’re struggling academically, ask your professor what resources might be available from campus/student services.

4.   Write It Down

Use a day planner or wall calendar. Plan time for coursework. Plan ahead for assignments and exam periods.

5.  Get Energized – Eat, Exercise, Sleep

Fatigue and stress weaken memory and comprehension. Eat properly, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep.

You can find the rest of the list here.

Of course, as a campus minister/pastor/missionary…I’m interested in students being more than just academically successful. So here are my top 5 tips for being “spiritually” (in a wholistic, not dualistic sense) successful as a college student.

1. Be With other Followers

Whether this happens in a formal campus ministry environment or simply by seeking out some Christian brothers/sisters, you need to spend some quantity AND quality time with a few others who are also on the journey to be Formed by Christ.

2. Be With a Congregation

Many college/university students overlook this piece but it can be critical as well. The local church has and always will be God’s chosen vehicle for cultivating Gospel community. Being part of a church body provides a place to worship, serve, grow, encourage, and learn. (not to mention the other 40+ “one another” commands in scripture that cannot be fulfilled apart from a faith community).

3. Be With a Mentor-Discipler

Paul had his Barnabas. Timothy had his Paul. We all need someone mentoring and challenging us during significant seasons of life. This could be a pastor, a campus minister, or nearly any mature Christ follower…but it must be someone you respect, seek out, and listen to.

4.  Be With Those In Need

According to Jesus, it’s impossible to love God while not loving others.  (Matthew 22 & Mark 12) These are the two greatest commandments. Without engaging regularly in service and compassion, our faith can become ingrown and self-serving. Since the very first covenant God made with Abraham, the blessings we receive from God are to be poured out on those around us.

5.  Be With Jesus

This may be the most important “Be With” tip so I am wrapping up with this one. Spending time with God…in prayer, reading scripture, meditating, worship, etc is not to be some daily checklist of Christian performance. However, these and many other Christian practices (spiritual disciplines) are the ways in which we position ourselves to be transformed by God. I love the illustration of sailing when it comes to spiritual formation. When we engage in spiritual disciplines, we are simply raising the sail into which then God will breathe and direct our lives by His Spirit.

 

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Radical Review

Published on September 9, 2011 by Chris Bean in Campus Ministry, discipleship, Faith and Gospel.

Just finished this easy-to-chew but hard-to-swallow book by David Platt. Check out this video for a brief overview of his message in the book.

 

First of all, he looks like he could be in one of my campus bible studies, right?! But that’s pretty exciting when you think about God’s ability to use anyone who is completely committed to the Gospel and pointing directly to the Glory of God.

There’s so many great things to extract from Platt’s challenge but I want to focus on one particular topic or issue within the context of campus ministry.

In Chapter 7 as he is discussing faith as a matter of truth rather than taste, Platt asserts “I think that each of us tends toward either intellectual or practical universalism.”

What does he mean by this?

If we are intellectual universalists, then we don’t really believe the truth claims of Christianity to the extent that they apply to all humankind. Therefore, someone’s faith is more about their own upbringing, culture, personal preferences, etc. The American notion of the equality of individuals has been applied in such a way that we treat truth claims equally as well. So perhaps the greatest enemy of the Gospel within our current context (in this country but especially on the university campus) is pluralism and religious tolerance.

(Photo: This is the image that pops up on Wikipedia when you search/explore Christian Universalism. I call it super-friendly Jesus)

The practical universalist may believe that the truth claims of Christ in Scripture are true…that Christ is indeed necessary for salvation, but live life on a daily basis as if that were not true. Instead of following Christ’s mandate to make disciples and take His message to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the word” a posture and lifestyle of silence is assumed, never proclaiming the urgent Good News about Christ.

I am still processing some particular bits of theology, doctrine, and mission from Platt’s writing but the way in which he peels back some of the cultural veneer and varnish which we have added to the Gospel and Christianity is compelling. He ends the book with an invitation to conduction a one-year “Radical Experiment” and I am considering what that will look like for me, my family, as well as for some college students at the University of Cincinnati.

We shall see.

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College Students (and every other human) Need Balance

Published on August 25, 2011 by Chris Bean in Campus Ministry, discipleship, Faith and worldview.

Living well demands balance. (I prefer the image of the gyroscope over other static images because life involves motion…spinning…usually in multiple directions simultaneously).

For many college students, this is already their first or second week of classes. The University of Cincinnati perseveres with the quarter system for another year, so we have a few more weeks before the campus is fully inhabited and functional again.

My own collegiate years are not so far behind that I don’t still remember the excitement, hope, and anticipation I felt at the end of each summer. Of course, the first year of college was the most intense experience of freedom and apprehension. The following years it was more about the hope and determination to spread out the work load, keep up with the syllabus, generate enough income to survive, and take my “social game” to the next level.

Managing any season of life demands a balanced approach but the college student certainly has some unique challenges.

More and more, I see my role as a campus minister covering much more territory than just recruiting students for bible studies. Although I certainly want to get students into the Scriptures and charting a course for spiritual success, coaching them towards a fully integrated and holistic life of faith requires the ability to balance the many demands and expectations they live with daily.

Perhaps one of the best outcomes of my summer has been to recognize some of the imbalances in my own life and establish practices which keep me rooted and restored spiritually. When that rhythm is syncing up the moments of my day, all the other demands and expectations fall more cooperatively into place: relationship with my kids, ministry/work agenda, my own emotional wellness, financial stewardship/decisions, etc.

Apparently, Matthew 6:33 is as true as I’ve hoped it was all these years. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (ESV)

That verse/passage insists on an adjustment to my definition of “balance” however. And this is perhaps what separates the nominal Christian from one who passionately lives out of a Kingdom worldview. The “balance” I’m speaking of doesn’t mean that one distributes time equally between various compartmentalized segments of your day and time. Rather, seek the Kingdom of God so passionately and ruthlessly that even the combination of all other engagements and distractions fail to destabilize your “spiritual” core. With a strong core, it’s amazing how life becomes more blessing, opportunity, and adventure than curse, obstacle, and/or routine.

 

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