Next Generation

A Freshman’s Fresh Start

Finley Walker
3 Jul 2012
no comments

Your first year of college is an exciting season of life, teeming with changes and new beginnings. Your first semester of college life will be a pivotal transition period leading into the rest of your college career and even beyond. You will be met with not only new challenges and sometimes overwhelming demands, but also with numerous opportunities and tremendous potential for success. If there is one word to describe college, it is this: opportunity. It is the opportunity for a fresh start. It is the opportunity to start over and become whoever you want to be and do whatever […]

-Read More

Losing it in School

Keri Williams
one comments

It is not uncommon for Christian students to reject their faith while attending secular colleges and universities. Studies show that upwards of 60 percent of Christian students abandon their faith during those formative years. Unfortunately, the antidotal evidence of this often comes directly from our own families and church communities. This is a disturbing and real problem that concerns all Christian parents—especially those whose children are part of the upcoming freshman class. A 2007 study by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research expressed serious concerns about the overall climate on campuses for evangelical Christians after finding that faculty’s general […]

-Read More

College Do’s and Dont’s

Carmen Goodier
2 Jul 2012
no comments

Anxiety. Excitement. Happiness. Sadness. Dread. Fear. Expectation. Hope. The transition to college can be overwhelming, to say the least. It is that initial step out of the comfortable nest, the beginnings of adulthood, a taste of the real world beyond the previously-known smaller sphere. There are so many unknowns, so many possibilities. As you enter into this new season of life, here are a few bits of advice that can make the journey more meaningful and perhaps more manageable. Don’t overload your first semester schedule. Going off to college may be the most dramatic change you have been through up […]

-Read More

How to Pray Effectively

Cory Nickols
17 Feb 2012
no comments

Have you ever wondered why God was not answering your  prayers, or at least not as quickly as you would like or not in the way you expected? I have on many occasions. There are several things to consider when praying. 1.God answers prayers in ways we do not expect. God’s ways are not our ways. God sees the end from the beginning and knows what is best for us. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you […]

-Read More

Would You Reach Out to Me?

Marisa Zeppieri Caruana
12 Jan 2012
no comments

You may be familiar with the story of Ashley Billasano – the shocking headlines and details gripped readers of print and online papers worldwide and left them asking “Why?” Billasano – a striking 18 year old girl from Texas – took to her twitter page on November 7, 2011 and poured her heart out to her 500 followers regarding allegations of sexual abuse and forced prostitution. In a compilation of 144 tweets, she described how her life had been forever changed by not only the abuse, but also the struggle she was encountering to see justice prevail.  After spending six […]

-Read More

How to Have Great Relationships

Cory Nickols
2 Dec 2011
no comments

Relationships take work! The more significant the relationship is in a person’s life, the more effort and energy it takes to keep it moving forward in a healthy direction. For example, a person who is married would naturally invest a lot more time and energy with a spouse than he would in talking with his next door neighbor. And because he spends more time with his significant other, there are greater chances for misunderstanding to take place, offenses to form or for disagreements to arise. If these challenges and obstacles are not handled correctly, they can actually put a wedge […]

-Read More

Got Questions?

Cory Nickols
4 Nov 2011
no comments

Question – Is self sex okay? – Kevin, 25 Kevin, This is a great question and one that many godly Christian leaders have wrestled with and have differing opinions on. To be honest with you, there is not a clear answer in the Bible whether or not masturbation is right or wrong. However, we can take principles from the Bible to navigate “gray areas”, including self sex. According to Jonathan Daugherty, founder of Be Broken Ministries – a Life helping the sexually addicted, “Masturbation, if seen purely as a physical function, is not sin. It is simply an orgasmic release. […]

-Read More

Ready for a Season of Change?

Cory Nickols
3 Nov 2011
no comments

I live in Northeast Indiana where there are four distinct seasons. It is an exciting time of year because we are currently leaving summer behind and entering fall. The leaves on the trees are changing colors, the air is getting cooler and each day seems to get shorter and shorter. Eventually, fall will end and be ushered in by winter. Just like the different season changes in Indiana, God takes His children through season changes. I am reminded how Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness and then one day out of the blue God spoke to him in a […]

-Read More

Generation Why?

Robin Revier
no comments

What about this generation, typically referred to as Gen-Y, post baby boomers, the millennial generation, roughly born between the mid-70’s-90. Where do you stand? Oh I’m sure if you’re a boomer like me, your head has spun a few times at the sight of a Gen Y-er. I mean c’mon, what’s with the tattoos, nose rings, triple ear piercings and other unmentionable piercings? And then the electronic appendages, oh yes, it is a rare sighting to spot a Gen-Y subject that doesn’t have something hanging off his or her body to connect them to their flavor of the month. How […]

-Read More