Category: Advice

Trusting Others

February 11, 2013

In my work with college-aged students, I frequently get asked the question, “How can I trust people more?” And, while I’m no expert, I have learned some thoughts and suggestions over the years myself that I typically offer to them as a means of encouragement. Not long ago, however, a student asked me a much harder question – one that I had difficulty answering initially. This student asked me, “Why trust people?”

The student was not interested in learning about how to trust people until having a decent reason why we should trust people in the first place. The longer I spoke with the student, I realized the importance of the question (and the inadequacy of my answers). After the conversation, I was left with some questions of my own. I felt convinced that we ought to trust other people, but I had a hard time articulating why.

So, after a few days of processing and doing some quick research, these are three basic principles that I realized. Hopefully they can be helpful as we each seek to answer this question for ourselves.

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First and Ten

December 28, 2012

I wish there was a better way to preserve the way we feel on certain days. There are some feelings, certain experiences, special moments in life that I wish we could just bottle up and keep stored away – able to feel them afresh anytime we like. I vaguely remember what was going on in my heart and in my head 10 years ago as I awoke on the day of my wedding. I remember being eager, nervous, exhausted, impatient, grateful, hopeful, and full of disbelief that this remarkable woman wanted to be married to me. I remember feeling so many different emotions that day. In my memory it feels like a blur now, like the hazy remembrance of a dream from the night before that is fading away. Only, every morning since, I’ve awoken to that dream come true.

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Discipleship 101 – The Biggest Obstacle

September 13, 2010

As my sixth class of 25 Forge students arrived this past week, I couldn’t help but notice what I consider to be one of the most difficult obstacles in making disciples.  As the students lugged their belongings into the apartments and began to get to know one another, I kept thinking about all that was involved in getting them here:  a lengthy application process, an interview, then an acceptance commitment, then several packets of information, lots of phone calls, scheduled arrival times, and, finally, a welcome dinner for the students and their families (just to name a few).

That’s when it hit me:

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Top 10 Excuses for not Making Disciples

August 27, 2010

When I was in college I was fortunate enough to have a man not only impart the Gospel to me, but also his very life as well (1 Thes. 2:8).  I would not be the minister I am today without his investment in my life.  In fact, being his disciple for two years has had more impact on the way I do ministry today than my seminary education did.

Unfortunately, I find my story to be a rare one.  Whether in the lives of the college students I work with on a regular basis, my peers, or even other believers who are older than me, few have been discipled.  Too few.  Alarmingly few.

How can this be?  It is one of the most fundamental elements of being a follower of Jesus – and yet there are few who are being obedient.  How are we okay with this?  Simple.  We’ve come up with some really good excuses.  Actually, they’re really lame – but we seem to think they justify our obstinance.  Here are 10 that I hear all too frequently:

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