{"id":301987,"date":"2010-02-26T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-26T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus\/"},"modified":"2010-02-26T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-26T17:00:00","slug":"growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Spiritually on the College Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The research is clear \u2013 a large percentage of students are spiritual drop outs once they get to college.  Will you be one of them?  Pastors Robert Lewis and John Bryson tell students how they can stay spiritually strong and still enjoy all college has to offer by joining other growing believers in a vibrant, active college ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The research is clear \u2013 a large percentage of students are spiritual drop outs once they get to college.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-02-26.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"24.94M","filesize_raw":"26154735","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2855],"tags":[4705],"podcast_series":[7709],"cwp_profile":[9190,3461],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301987","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teens","tag-college","podcast_series-college-ready","cwp_profile-john-bryson","cwp_profile-robert-lewis","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301987\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301987\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"QBVOG85cgS\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus\/\">Growing Spiritually on the College Campus<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-spiritually-on-the-college-campus\/embed\/#?secret=QBVOG85cgS\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Growing Spiritually on the College Campus&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"QBVOG85cgS\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The research is clear \u2013 a large percentage of students are spiritual drop outs once they get to college.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-02-26.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Friday, February 26. Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I am Bob Lepine.\u00a0 When you send a son or a daughter off to college, what do you hope for at the end of four years?\u00a0 Well you hope for a degree, a good education, but more than that you hope your son or daughter has a more vibrant faith, a more passionate love for Jesus than when he or she got started.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Female #1:<\/strong>\u00a0 The first couple of years of college I wasn't really in church and it was devastating looking back because of the decisions I made not being in church.\u00a0 So I learned I've got to find a good church and thankfully I was invited to this wonderful Bible-teaching church and I went and started to get really involved and that was just the pinnacle for me of my spiritual walk with the Lord.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Male #1:<\/strong>\u00a0 During the years I was in college my faith really did stay in neutral. The systems of accountability had been lifted.\u00a0 There was no one else really pushing to step into that place. I wasn't seeking it so I really felt like I began to regress spiritually\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Male #2:<\/strong>\u00a0 Spiritually in college I was numb. It was probably the darkest time in life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Female #2:<\/strong>\u00a0 I had grown up in youth group and had loved the Lord in high school. I recognized that I hadn't done a lot of Bible study on my own or really developed that relationship with Him on my own.\u00a0 I think that's one reason I prayed for friends that would encourage me and challenge me in that area because I recognized that was sort of the time to choose which way I would go with it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Male #3:<\/strong>\u00a0 I'm glad that the guy invited me to a campus organization I went.\u00a0 I'm glad when the invite was given to come to a Bible study and I went because that really helped me along the way of making my relationship, making my religion, my own and not just something I grew up in but understanding that commitment to Christ was something that I wanted to pursue.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us.\u00a0 You know when you listen to those voices it just confirms a lot of what we are hearing. Statistics say that, what is it?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSeventy Five percent of the kids who grow up in the youth group today are going to head to college and drop out of church. That's a scary number for moms and dads to hear as they think about launching a son or daughter onto the college campus.\u00a0 You hear that and you think \u201cWell they're not going to college if that's going to happen to them.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And only about a third will take an advantage of the church playing a significant role in their life after they leave home and so you wonder whose influence are they under? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe other evening I had dinner with a former chancellor of an historic Christian university.\u00a0 One that was founded upon Christian principles and even to this day would espouse that it's a Christian university.\u00a0 As I interacted with him I found out that after 10 years he was fired because he was purposefully going about hiring Christian professors. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow as I sat there and listened to that story I thought, what must parents think as they drop their children off at either Christian colleges or secular universities today and what they must expect is going to happen to their children spiritually?\u00a0 Because we all know that the college years are formative years in terms of either developing your faith or having a faith that dies. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, we have a couple of guys with us here who have developed a resource for moms and dads and youth groups.\u00a0 It's a series of videos called College Ready.\u00a0\u00a0 It's designed to equip graduating high school seniors to have a purpose and a vision for college\ue83ato have a spiritual mission.\u00a0 And today we are going to talk about how young men and women can grow spiritually on the college campus.\u00a0 Dr. Robert Lewis and John Bryson join us again on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 John, Robert, welcome back.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John and Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thanks, it's great to be back.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You both are pastors.\u00a0 You both have done extensive work with young people over your lifetimes.\u00a0 This subject of growing spiritually is really important and I have to ask both of you, did both of you enter the college campus as Christians ... growing spiritually?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 I came to Christ in my freshman year of college.\u00a0 I had two godly parents who modeled Christianity to me.\u00a0 I would have been in the youth group and the model student but it really took this dividing line which I think is what college is spiritually specifically that first semester to help me understand I didn't have a relationship with God. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI remember going on a Fellowship of Christian Athletes retreat, those same kind of parachurch ministries, and hearing that Christianity is a relationship.\u00a0 It's like the light bulbs go off and everything in my rearview mirror aligned all of a sudden and I really took off spiritually.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> So your upbringing really set the stage for you to make the spiritual commitment to Christ in college. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 It did.\u00a0 And we know that we cannot manufacture spirituality in our kids. We know God doesn't have any grandkids.\u00a0 As much as we all wish and hope that we can do that it really did help align things when God chose to kind of open up my heart, eyes, and ears that first couple of weeks of college.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Robert, what about you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I actually grew up in a home that was not very religious.\u00a0 We very rarely went to church and there was a lot of turmoil in my family.\u00a0 So when I went off to college I was actually glad to get out of my house.\u00a0 I wasn't really seeking Christ, but thankfully there were some guys who took the time to present Christ to me and it was a new adventure. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCollege actually ended up for me a very exciting spiritual adventure.\u00a0 I appreciate that because it ignited my faith.\u00a0 Where so many go to college and find that college dulls or ends their faith, mine was a great adventure there.\u00a0 So I am glad for the fact that the college campus can be an opportunity to find an authentic faith with Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Let me ask you, as a pastor, about the statistics that I just mentioned.\u00a0 You work hard overseeing a church where there's a youth department that is really working with students\ue83ahigh school, junior high students\ue83abuilding a spiritual foundation under their lives, getting them ready for that launch.\u00a0 To hear that a bunch of those kids are just going out and just washing out spiritually, what does that cause you to do and think as a pastor? What can we be doing to try to turn that around?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I think, Bob, that is a great question.\u00a0 I think it is one that every pastor needs to take a hard look at.\u00a0 It makes me question whether the parents are oftentimes living out what they profess and so the kids are getting a mixed message there.\u00a0 I think it also signals that in a number of churches we may not be really equipping our kids for real spiritual life. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe may be keeping them busy and that kind of thing but really grounding them in an authentic faith in their high school years.\u00a0 I think we may need to take a much harder look at that.\u00a0 But regardless, even if I have a faith when I go off to college, it's a totally different experience.\u00a0 I am out on my own for the first time.\u00a0 I have these new freedoms.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think most high school students are not prepared for the white water that can suddenly push them way down the stream bed.\u00a0 They wake up one day and spiritual life has totally dissipated.\u00a0 That little bit, or even the great bit that they took to college can be washed away in an instant.\u00a0 They don't understand how powerful that it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 The classes I recall as a college student were Philosophy and going in and hearing about all of these worldviews.\u00a0 I am glad that I took that course as a junior, not as a freshman.\u00a0 That was because I transferred from a junior college to the University of Arkansas, but I had the beginnings of the defense for my faith.\u00a0 As I listened to these professors wax eloquently about a worldview that left God out, I could easily see how a young person who didn't have a defense for the faith could be caught up in the white water as you described it, and be washed away.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I talked to a parent just the other day and they came to me and they are going to a \"Christian college.\"\u00a0 And their son, who grew up in our youth group is there and at the end of his freshman year said, \u201cThere is no God this is all a fantasy.\u201d\u00a0 It all came from the instruction of a professor that he admired who had a totally anti-Christian worldview.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 At a Christian college?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 At a Christian college?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 At a Christian college.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, let just think for a moment that a high school senior is still at a place where they are thinking, \"I want to maintain some kind of a spiritual emphasis in my life as I head off to college.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t hit the white water yet so their goal or their objective is to try to keep a spiritual balance in their life. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen they go through the College Ready series, which is six DVDs designed for use in a youth group or in a Christian school or in a home, one of the subjects, John that you address with the students is the subject of how they have a spiritual purpose over the next four years.\u00a0 What kind of things do you talk with them about?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> Yes, we definitely come right out of the chute because this is their opportunity to make their faith their own.\u00a0 At the end of the day as many well wishes as a pastor might have, as a parent is going to have, as a grandparent is are going to have, it is ultimately, \"Well we'll see if this is legit or not.\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo college is an opportunity for people to really own their faith and to grow in that faith and really ask that question \u201cAm I going to seek first the kingdom of God or am I not?\u201d Is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross sufficient for my salvation or isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Am I trusting in that or not?\u00a0 Does God have a plan for my life or not. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAlthough those are scary and hard questions, we would hope we could answer them for them and hope that our youth groups could prepare them for the right answers.\u00a0 The reality is until the rubber meets the road and they are in that white water themselves, we'll know the answer to that as they engage that in college.\u00a0 That freshman year kind of exposes what is and then you will know what you are dealing with.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 When we launched our kids to college, and our listeners have heard me quote this passage more than once on this broadcast.\u00a0 This became the standard charge right before we said goodbye.\u00a0 Philippians 2:12-16.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you are a parent of a junior or a senior in high school, write this verse down: Philippians 2:12-16. Because this provides a mandate for their spiritual lives for how they should go away to college.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\"Therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it's God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDo all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ your [Mom] and [I] may be proud that we did not run in vain nor labor in vain.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You inserted \"your Mom and I\" into the original language, didn't you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think that was intended by Paul. I really do because parents, here they are they have labored for 18 years, and they go drop their child off at this big, bad university that has got this system that seems to prey on them.\u00a0 It's like; you\u2019re not going to fix it all by reading a verse at the end.\u00a0 But you know what, those young people need to realize it's game time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Using this series to look at their son or daughter and say, \"I can't do it for you anymore.\u00a0 Either you do it for yourself or game over.\u00a0 That's good to hear because we are talking adult now and this is the transition to that adulthood.<br><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Even your example of the Philosophy class is to take the opportunity to equip your kid and tell them, \u201cYou are going to be sitting in a Philosophy class and you will have a professor, probably, articulate this godless plan for life and it might resonate and you might be scared to think, \u2018Man that might be a path.\u00a0 That might be the right path.\u2019\u201d It's the same thing you are equipping them for life, not trying to subculture them for as long as you are alive.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I remember doing the college visits with my kids.\u00a0 I remember being with one of my children at a college that is a very prestigious school if our son or daughter had gone to this school... well, it would have been nice on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9 at some point.\u00a0 I remember looking around as we were touring the dorms and going in the student union just looking for any indication. Posters on the wall that said, \"Bible study on Wednesday night,\" a church over here, anything. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI saw nothing.\u00a0 I thought, <em>There can\u2019t be nothing.<\/em>\u00a0 So I went to the website.\u00a0 Looked it up on the website: What does this have?\u00a0 Well, there was a chapter of a college ministry so I called the number and I got the student and I said, \u201cTell me about the ministry.\u201d\u00a0 She said, \"Well, there are only about three of us that meet.\"\u00a0 This is a big university.\u00a0 I said, \u201cAre there good churches in the area?\u201d\u00a0 She said, \"Well, my dad's a pastor in the town about 40 minutes away and so I go to his church.\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'm thinking, I don't care how good this college is. I don't care how good it is on the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 what should it profit a man if he gains a degree from a prestigious university and loses his faith in the process? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBy like token we went to another secular university and in this case I thought, Is this really a secular university?\u00a0 There were posters everywhere. BSFs meeting her and college ministry over here and Campus Crusade.\u00a0 There was plenty going on and that was the school that one of my kids wound up going to and I remember looking back thinking That's the most Christian public university I know of in America.\u00a0 It was a great spiritual environment and a great education.\u00a0 At the end of the day whether the degree comes from School A or School B is less significant that then spiritual condition of the student.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> And I would say, too, I went to a traditional Christian college.\u00a0 In my mind, and this may be controversial, those terms don't mean anything now.\u00a0 Christian college or non-Christian college.\u00a0 To me there is a point bigger than that.\u00a0 I point them and pray and hope that they will fall in love with Jesus and pursue Jesus regardless of the tradition of the school or who's there or what's there.\u00a0 But your point is well made. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had the privilege of working with Tommy Nelson and watching 30 or 40 of these guys right out of college come to Denton.\u00a0 Watching their life, and the number one indicator of the guys I was most impressed with wasn't the size school, whether it was a Christian or non-Christian school, but that they were in a vibrant active college ministry that took them somewhere spiritually. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd that by far, I remember leaving that decade going, if I can do anything I'm going to find a vibrant campus ministry whether it's Campus Crusade for Christ or a church that has it and then the institution is almost secondary.\u00a0 That in my mind is the difference maker.\u00a0 That's the game changer.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, we are all talking about an interesting combination that Robert and I experienced when we went to the University of Arkansas.\u00a0 It's a Christian organization like Fellowship for Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ.\u00a0 For folks who want to find out where Campus Crusade is located, they can go to a website called everystudent.com and they could look it up under their state and find out where the campus ministry meets and who the leader is there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut what Robert and I experienced at the University of Arkansas was a combination between an incredibly strong student organization coupled with a relevant church.\u00a0 We went to a church called University Baptist. H.D. McCarty had all kinds of chalk talks after school for students.\u00a0 I'd go over there a of couple times a week and he'd have a whiteboard and he'd be drawing a worldview.\u00a0 I didn't realize that he was pouring all kinds of biblical truth into my life. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd one-fourth of the student body came to that church every year.\u00a0 It wasn't that big of church.\u00a0 My arms are longer I think today because I carried chairs that we set in the aisles.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 We packed it out, didn't we?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It's a combination, Robert.\u00a0 You're a pastor.\u00a0 It's both a relevant student ministry but also a church.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 That's exactly the story of Denton Bible Church.\u00a0 That's their history.\u00a0 North Texas is probably one of the most liberal universities you could have.\u00a0 I would send my daughter there to be involved with that church and that college ministry with the most pagan professors possible, and feel better than at some typical Christian colleges that don't have that vibrancy or don't that healthy church. Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 One of the things in this College Ready series on growing spiritually is you set this vision about making your faith your own.\u00a0 John does a great job of setting that as the vision.\u00a0 And then he begins to break down ways that you can connect spiritually starting with what you just said Dennis, checking out websites and things like that before you get to the campus.\u00a0 Then when you get go the campus, testing out these different campus organization and churches.\u00a0 Going and finding kids that you can form a small group with to begin growing deeper. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJohn has a great moment in there where he talks about finding mentors.\u00a0 He talks about that you can find a mentor.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to be somebody who initiates this, but going into these healthy environments\ue83awhether it is church or campus ministry, because that's where mentors usually hang out\ue83a and then you take the initiative to approach that mentor and say \"Would you help me with my spiritual life?\u00a0 Would you teach me to have a devotional life?\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then we even illustrate on the video the mentor that actually was the one who built into John a devotional life and discipleship.\u00a0 You get these practical tools that you load up this high school student with so that they have the right glasses on.\u00a0 When they go to college, they go, \u201cOkay if I'm going to make my faith my own, here are the key things the wise moves that I need to make to get there.\u201d\u00a0 That's what's so great about this College Ready series.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The six sessions that you do with students I think each one of them will be impactful and helpful for the student.\u00a0 At the end of it all, when that student walks away with his or her manual that they've been taking notes in, that they've been taking the material and personalizing it.\u00a0 That's really part of the genius of what I think you guys have done here. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou present the material but then immediately you call upon the student to apply it personally for their circumstances, their personality, who they are.\u00a0 <em>How are you going to respond to this?<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em>When they walk away with that they are going to pack that in the car to take to college with them and that's going to be a resource that they are going have to help them navigate the first semester of college. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong> That's right, and the thing I love about it is the same vision statement they have been recording in their notebook they can download in their computer.\u00a0 It begins to give them these wise moves in each of these five big win areas of empowering friends and dating right and excelling academically and having fun and growing spiritually.\u00a0 They have all of these wise moves that they\u2019ve researched and made their own and that becomes their compass for college. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd not only for their first semester in starting right, but these same wise moves keep applying all the way through college so they can finish and look back on college as this rich experience where they grew in all these different areas and set themselves up for a successful next season of life.\u00a0 That's what I love about this because they are the kinds of things that when you talk to adults like us, you would list the wise moves here.\u00a0 Everyone around the table here would say, \"I wish somebody would have told me that when I went to college.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> That's just what I was thinking, Robert.\u00a0 I was thinking maybe I didn't have the ears to hear at that moment, but I would have loved to have heard in all five of these areas.\u00a0 Because I look at most of the mistake I made early on in college were around those area. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFor instance one of them that we had talked about, growing spiritually.\u00a0 I had to stumble on to the idea of a mentor.\u00a0 I ended up with a mentor by the time I graduated from college but I wish someone would have told me, \u201cYou know what, young man you need to find a couple of older men who can build into your life and into your character and into you spiritual disciples, somebody who will stretch you and grow you so you can become a man of value.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI just want to say thanks to you, John and Robert, for your work on this.\u00a0 I think this is going to impact literally hundreds of thousands if not millions of young people over the next five to ten years as we equip them spiritually, academically, dating and all the other areas that we have talked about to be successful as college students and then adults. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThanks for your work on this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John and Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thanks.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, let me again point our listeners to our website which is FamilyLifeToday.com where you can get more information about the College Ready curriculum.\u00a0 You can order copies of the DVDs, get student guides or leader\u2019s guides to go along with it, and you can introduce this to your church, to a Christian school. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOr, just do it in your living room with other students and their parents.\u00a0 It's something you can do just on a regular basis over on a six-week basis or throughout the rest of the spring.\u00a0 Again, all of the details are available online at familylife.com.\u00a0 You can order from us online if you'd like. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhile you're on the website there's also information about a graduation gift you may\u00a0 want to consider giving to your high school senior.\u00a0 It's called <em>ConGRADulations to the Class of 2010<\/em>. It's a 20-song music CD with new songs by groups like Relient K and Skillet, Toby Mac, Lecrae, Owl City, Fly leaf, and others. There is also a companion media DVD that features video messages from speakers and authors and music artists. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere\u2019s a gift book that comes along with it and there's a companion CD for mom and dad where Dennis and Barbara Rainey talk about what we need to do as moms and dads is to make sure we've covered the bases with our children before we release them into college or into\u00a0 whatever is next for them in. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo find out more about the ConGRADulations 2010 music CD package and about the College Ready curriculum when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com or when you call 1-800-FL-TODAY 1-800-358-6329.\u00a0 Again that\u2019s 1-800, F as in \u201cfamily,\u201d L as in \u201clife,\u201d and then the word TODAY.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow before we wrap things up here this week, do you ever find yourself scratching your head and thinking I wish I could think of something fun for the family to do tonight and I'm just out of ideas.\u00a0 Something that would\u2019t cost a lot of money.\u00a0 Well, we have a solution for you. It's called <em>99 Ways to Entertain Your Family for Free<\/em> and we want to send it out to you for free, so that you've got some creative ideas on hand. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe're especially hoping to get this in the hands of new <em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>listeners, those of you who have been tuned in and maybe never contacted us or you don\u2019t know a lot about the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. We\u2019d love to introduce ourselves to you.\u00a0 The book is available upon your request. Just call 1-800-FL-TODAY.\u00a0 Say, \u201cI\u2019d like a copy of <em>99 Ways to Entertain Your Family for Free, <\/em>and we\u2019ll send it to you. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain our toll free number is 1800-FL-TODAY, 1-800-358-6329.\u00a0 This is just a thank-you gift for listening to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Glad to have you along and we do look forward to hearing from you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe hope you have great weekend.\u00a0 We hope you and your family are able to worship together this weekend and we hope you can join us back on Monday when we are going to hear a message, a great message for wives, about being God\u2019s woman in your marriage.\u00a0 We\u2019ll hear from Karen Loritts on Monday and I hope you can tune in for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Phil Krause, and our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back Monday for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/301987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301987"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=301987"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=301987"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=301987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}