The Threads Blog

In honor of our nation’s birthday, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite 4th of July traditions and memories. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

As we pulled into the parking lot, I was more excited than she was because she didn’t yet know what we were going to get. I felt like I was the one getting a gift as we headed back to the bike area. Standing in front of a bike rack stocked fully to the ceiling with various sizes and colors of two wheeled vehicles, I asked Macie if there was anything that she would like as a special treat. Here’s what she said: “I would really love something to chunk on,” which is her way of asking for candy. Candy?

If you haven’t heard of singer/songwriter Lanae’ Hale, you’re missing out. She’s got a fresh, sweet sound that keeps replaying in the Collegiate team’s heads. Lanae’ is on tour this summer with Building 429, 33Miles, and Kimber Rising. She’s doing a mini tour called Moments of Worship with Jaime Jamgochian and Daniel Kirkley in August, and is confirmed for a Christmas-themed Bethlehem Skyline Tour in December. But if you aren’t able to catch a concert, read more about Lanae’s story in the Fall 2009 issue of Collegiate, available now for purchase.

We were thinking about running a promotional campaign similar to the one Willy Wonka did, but instead of inserting Golden Tickets, our printer decided to insert the July 12 lesson twice. While this was a thoughtful gesture on their part, a problem was created when they decided to leave out portions of the June 28 lesson. So, if you are one of the lucky ones to have received a “golden” book, then your prize is this wonderful free pdf replacement lesson. Seriously though, I do apologize for the inconvenience and if you have any other thoughts or problems, feel free to email me or post your thoughts on my blog. Enjoy your free download!

In order to justify the long hours I spent watching the U.S. Open this weekend, and Monday morning, I want to share a few things I learned. Please note this is not a theology paper but more of a story.

Do you know that you know that you know? Do you remember the day and the time you got saved? If you died tonight, do you know where you would go? Are you 100% sure?

What do all of these questions have in common? They used to scare me to death and they have been used at the end of youth services and camps to manipulate students into “making decisions” for years it seems. Growing up in the church, there was so much importance on this thing that happened at one point in time and if you couldn’t remember the details of that moment when you accepted Jesus—what the preacher was wearing, what the weather was like, what time it was—then maybe it wasn’t genuine. So flocks of youth would race down the aisle of salvation again and again, pray another prayer, and go forward every chance they got.

One of the buzz words finding its way through many Christian circles right now is “community.” Buzz words come and go like fads, disappearing as soon as other ones catch on. But community, in relation to our faith, is nothing new. It’s been around for quite a while. In fact, community is supposed to be a huge part of our faith journey. We all know we’re supposed to walk with other believers and help each other through life’s stuff. Hanging out with other believers is easy. The church is really good at this as well.

Ed Stetzer posted on his blog about the new video from Threads that discussed the research from Lost and Found. Click here to check it out!

Looking for an easier way to connect music to your Bible studies? Collegiate now has its very own iMix on iTunes. Just go to the iTunes Music store to view the Summer 2009 Collegiate playlist.

Usually I do all the talking on this blog, but this week I am going to do the listening. Now I know you are out there, and I know many of you read this blog. If you just read that sentence you have been recorded as a viewer f this blog so now you have to move from viewer to active participant. Here is the question for this week:

What does a life of encouragement look like?