I really like this really nice 31-minute video podcast because it echoes the problems I hear from young people who lost their faith after going off to college. This is definitely something that is on my mind and part of my life-plan – the troubles that college students face on campus when trying to live out authentic Christian lives.

Details:

In this episode, Dr. Darrell Bock, Matt Bennett and Tim Adhikari discuss cultural engagement on college campuses, focusing on the ministry of Christian Union and intellectual challenges facing Christian students at Princeton University.

00:13 The growth of Christian Union?s ministry at Princeton
05:13 The importance of Christian students connecting each other
07:22 Advice for parents and pastors preparing students to enter college
11:27 Introducing students to challenges before they arrive on campus
14:32 Key challenges: Sexual ethics, Historical Jesus and the Resurrection
15:52 What is the nature of the “Faith buster” course at Princeton?
21:56 Religious Pluralism and the New Atheism at Princeton
25:51 Personal autonomy and sexual pressures at Princeton

The key point is that students need to land in a Christian group at campus where they can work out the issues they will face. And the second point is for parents to ENSURE that the kids are prepared for the questions and pressures they will face in college. Probably one of the most important things to prepare a child with is a vision for their own marriage and how to get there. Not just “the Bible says” but a serious engagement with the research on the hook-up culture, divorce, fatherlessness, homosexuality and so on. It’s not just apologetics. It’s the whole worldview – including things like climate change, economics, and so on.