The Threads Blog

The Rising is an urban retreat for the emerging generation that combines the best parts of a teaching conference with unique “hands-on” opportunities to experience and serve the city of Memphis.

There are two god-given institutions in our lives: the family and the church. That’s it. These two institutions are essential elements in the lives of Christ-followers, and I would argue they are under stronger attack now than ever before. Most sitcoms—at least the funny ones—have turned the family into a joke and we all laugh along.

Collegiate Staffer Heather Manning road tripped down to Panama City Beach last March to experience the round-the-clock fun that is BeachReach. She captured the people, places, and pancakes in hopes of inspiring you, our faithful readers, to follow in her footsteps and get down there for Spring Break 2010.

I recently checked my Facebook account to see what was going on in the lives of my friends. There was the usual song lyric post, quote from a thoughtful person, Farmville update, Olympic update and what book a person is currently reading, and then there was something new. A friend was updating me on the newest diet fad that actually worked. It had to do with the Acai berry and it looked like my friend was legitimately telling me about it.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of behind the scenes pictures from the Spring 2010 Collegiate magazine cover shoot.

My name is Lauren Farmer, and I’m the newest addition to the Threads team. As an event coordinator, my primary role will be dreaming-up, planning, and making Threads events happen. We’re already working on several new events for 2010 and 2011 that I’m thrilled to be a part of.

A while ago, I canceled the internet at our house. I know what you’re thinking, “How do you survive without the internet?” Well, I’ve got my laptop so I can get a signal most of the time and I’m online all day at work, so I manage to get by. But recently my wife has decided to go back to school to get her Master’s in Childhood Education and some of her work will need to be done online. So, I guess I’ll be getting the internet hooked up again pretty soon. When I do, I’m not sure my older desk top is going to survive. I can’t even imagine how many updates have happened since we turned the internet off.

Paul was the man in his day. I imagine him being a mix between Steve Jobs and Brad Pitt. In any circle of society, he could trump the others in the room. When others pulled out their tired flip phone, he would’ve certainly had an iPhone. When ladies entered the picture, his Pittness would’ve made the other guys look like Bill Gates. No matter where he was, he was better than the people around him, part by birth and part because he wanted to be head of the class. And Paul was very successful in doing so.

When searching for the perfect name for a band, why not start with one of the most beloved stories of all time? That’s what the guys in After Edmund did, and their first album got a Grammy nod, so maybe they’re onto something. The group found inspiration for their name from one of the characters in C.S. Lewis’ much beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Congratulations to Threads authors Ed Stetzer and Jason Hayes, whose book Lost and Found: The younger unchurched and the churches that reach them received a 2009 Golden Canon award from Leadership Journal. Golden Canon awards are given out annually to the 10 books that are considered most valuable for church leaders. Lost and Found was one of the five winners in the category, “The Leader’s Outer Life.”