Brook Hills College – Blog

  1. Top 5 Blog Posts of 2010

    December 31, 2010 by Britten Taylor

    Alright…the stats are in. The numbers have been tallied. The polls are closed.

    We finally have the Top 5 blog Posts of 2010 for the Brook Hills College Blog.

    I know…most are not even aware we have a blog, or they are aware and don’t care to read.  Either way, it made the counting especially easy!  Before we get to the actual posts let me share a few thoughts concerning our little blog.

    First, our blog being linked to the Brook Hills Website has boosted our numbers quite a bit this year. Our Pastor went off and wrote a little orange book that hit the NYT Best Seller List (still not quite sure how Rachel Ray’s Cook Book outsells Radical) and is currently selling a copy ever 1.25sec on Amazon.com.  Needless to say, there has been a slight bump in traffic this year, and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the content of our blog.

    Second, I am not quite sure how many of our college students are reading it regularly, but the numbers indicate that our global audience is up significantly from this time last year.  I am not sure who in Saudi Arabia is reading the goods, but hopefully they are being blessed by it. Did I mention the little orange book?

    Third, due to a mix up with Google Analytics, we only have the stats from September through December. Regardless, this will be fun.

    Fourth, in all seriousness, the goal of our blog is to keep students informed on what is taking place in the College Ministry at Brook Hills. Our hope is that it continues to grow into an effective means of communicating to students.  Since we only have a monthly gathering of college students, rather than a weekly one, our blog gives us an opportunity to encourage and speak into their lives on an ongoing basis.

    So, finally I give you the Top 10 Blog Posts of 2010…

    10. Collision…a blog post that spoke on the collision of urgent spiritual and physical need in the 10/40 Window. Heart-numbing statistics.

    9. A typical week of College Ministry!…a blog post written one Friday as a result of pondering all that God was doing in and through our college students at Brook Hills.

    8. Mid-Term Missions…Paul A, who serves on our global staff, wrote up a little something-something to plug mid-term missions. FYI, if you are interested in going mid-term next year you need to email him ASAP (PaulA@brookhills.org)

    7. Ready..set…CLICK!…a simple post that encouraged our students to sign up for Secret Church EARLY. Tragically, I recommended them register before  11:45am the day of. I thought that would have given them time before Secret Church sold out. What I should have said was register within 8 minutes.  That was all the time they had before the event sold out! Sorry about that.

    6. Bible: Error free or full of error?…one of my personal faves. I addressed the shoddy work of “Project Reason” that supposedly  put the final nail in the coffin for the Bible. All it did for me was inspire me to write a post to students encouraging them toward more intellectually honest resources.

    5. Don’t Forget – Haiti…it’s hard to imagine that almost a year ago the massive earthquake hit Haiti. This post was an effort to not allow the tragedy of people going without food, water, and medical aid to be forgotten.

    4. Romans 9 Aftershock…nothing like a good old sermon by Pastor on “Election” followed up by a blog post on same issue by College Minister to jolt your blog numbers. All you have to do is drop a few key words (ie, Election, Calvinism, Sovereignty) and you can visibly see the hits start coming your way.

    3. This is NOT Six Flags over Jesus!…I have no clue how this one got to be so popular. All I did was simply cut and paste two quotes, one from a preacher named Paul Washer followed by one from a pastor named David Platt…then added a few comments about the importance of the matter at hand.  I do have to say these are two stellar quotes and both address one of the most critical issues facing the Church in America- easy believism.

    2.  Immodesty and the Church… #1 rule for “How to get traffic on your College Ministry Blog”- Write a post urging Christ-following ladies to dress modestly out of love for God and for their brothers in Christ.  That will get some folks reading.  Some will be thrilled that the topic was addressed…others will be fuming mad. Hopefully it was handled in a Gospel-centered, Christ-honoring way.

    And now, the most viewed post in all of 2010….

    1. Radical Initiative – India…rule for “How to get MEGA traffic on your College Ministry Blog”- Cut and  copy the words of the Radical Initiative Global page into a blog post the same year your pastor writes a little orange book. Once you submit that post then every Tom, Dick, and Harry who googles “Radical”, “India”, “David Platt”, “Brook Hills in India” and a few other dozen phrases…will wonder onto your blog because it will be  featured at at the top of their google search!

    All kidding aside, I had no clue this post would create such large amounts of traffic. Absolutely NO clue.  I simply wanted to communicate to our students all that our church was doing in a country that is riddled with urgent physical and spiritual need. And the quickest and easiest way was to spotlight what was on our Radical Experiment website. Obviously, what ended up happening was a ton of people googled a key word that landed them onto the college blog. To give you an idea of how many views we had on this post this year…it amounts to at least 1/3 and sometimes as much as 1/2 the hits on our blog each month! The number was easily several hundred hits per month throughout the year. Regardless, I praise God for our church and the sacrificial giving that went toward addressing the spiritual and physical needs of India. He is worthy of our sacrifice.

    It has been an incredible year and look forward to all God will do in 2011!

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  2. Scrap it!

    December 30, 2010 by Britten Taylor

    Someone sent this quote to me from a devotional by Chris Tiegreen. I have no clue who he is or whether or not the rest of the devotional is worth the read…but these statements below are spot on!

    You may have a clear assumption of what a good Christian is. Scrap it.  That’s not necessarily the model Jesus puts before you.

    He puts Himself before us and says, “This is what you will be like if you continue with Me and allow Me to fully train you. You will be different and you will be good; you will be both loved and hated; and you will be both blessed and crucified.”

    Do not expect the Teacher to train you toward your own objectives; a comfortable life, exemption from pain, a just-above-average morality.

    Expect Him to train you for battle and for glory.  It’s His divine challenge.

    Are you up for it?

    As 2010 comes to a close, I am praying toward and anticipating another year of Christ conforming us into His image!

    Category: College Life, Uncategorized Comments (0)

  3. Get the word out on the streets…pt. 1

    December 28, 2010 by Britten Taylor

    One of the difficulties we face each semester is communicating to the hundreds of College Students at The Church at Brook Hills concerning all that is going on in College Ministry world.  We are stoked about what God is doing in and through students at Brook Hills and would love to see that repeated several hundred times over in college students’ lives.

    One step to see this happen in 2011 is to be more effective in communicating to the droves of students that are connected to our church.  The tricky part of this whole deal is that announcements concerning College Ministry during our Sunday Worship Gatherings (the place/time where most students are gathered) have not been, nor will they ever be, a regular. Worship Gatherings are for worship…not announcements.  Also, to add to the trickery, our communications budget for college ministry has hovered around $0 since the Radical Experiment began a year ago. And next year in the “New Normal” we are not going to see that number bump up…at all.

    The need is clearly seen in an Online Survey we have been conducting in recent weeks (fyi- if you haven’t filled it out already, please do so HERE). In the “Share Anything You Would Like” question we heard things like this…

    I feel as though the college ministry isn’t well advertised. I have heard lots of my friends say things like “I wish brook hills had a college ministry”.

    and…

    I love what we do, and the philosophy of ministry in the college ministry. My only concerns are for people who attend Brook Hills but often seem to say that they don’t know how or what to do to get involved more personally. We probably need to find new ways to reach people and tell them about what we do and why so that they will get involved with more than sunday services.

    So, in light of these concerns, we need college students to help us out in our communication efforts. Over the next few days I am going to send out several ways for you to help us communicate with more students.

    First up…Promote our College Ministry Facebook Page to your gargantuan FB friends list… The easiest, most cost effective way of communicating to the masses of College Students is- Facebook.  There are over 500 people already connected to our page, but we need to double up our efforts and “suggest to friends” the page. Our page is where we post our upcoming events, share the importance of small groups, talk about Global Mission options, and post Blog updates.  Therefore, we need all the college students we can get connected to that page.  We especially need to connect with the underclassmen (freshman/sophomore) that are just now beginning to get involved with Brook Hills.

    I hereby commission you to take part in our Communications Blitz…just follow these simple steps to “promote” our FB page.

    Ready…set…go!

    1. Go to our Brook Hills College Ministry Facebook Page.

    2. Simply hit “suggest to friends” below the BH:College logo on the left side of the page.

    3. Go buck wild on your mouse- clicking as fast and as feverishly as you possibly can on your college friends in Birmingham (especially target those who you know are connected to Brook Hills).

    4. As you click on them to suggest our FB page… add a little message encouraging each of them to repeat the process. Something to this effect will suffice- “You know, this is an awesome FB Page…you really should follow this page and suggest it to your friends list as well”.

    5. Sit down and rest a few minutes while congratulating yourself on a job well done.

    Thank you very much!…next up- Twitter.

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  4. Romans 9 Aftershock…

    December 16, 2010 by Britten Taylor

    Most of you are aware that our Pastor, David Platt, tackled  Romans 9 in his sermon this past Sunday. I might be a bit biased, but I think it was one of the clearest and most compelling sermons on that passage of Scripture that I have ever heard. It’s only the 2nd one I have heard from Romans 9, but still.

    I so appreciate our Pastor for not shying away from passages of Scripture that are not easy to preach or for the church to receive.  But, in his years as our Pastor, I have yet to see him shy away from something because it potentially could be unpopular. As I sat and listened to the Word preached Sunday I prayed for myself, my family, college students, and the Brook Hills faith family  that we all would continually be moved deeply by  ”the marvel of God’s mercy”!

    (You can watch the video of the sermon HERE)

    In light of our Pastor exposing the truths of Romans 9 this past Sunday, I want to put forth a few cautions/encouragements for our college students…

    Be Biblical…let your understanding of Who God is be shaped by Him (ie, His Word) and not yourself (ie, your feelings).  I can’t tell you how many times I have been in conversation with someone concerning a difficult attribute of God, such as His absolute sovereignty in salvation, and hear the person respond with, “I would never believe in a God like that!”  Now, I completely understand the difficulty of embracing certain doctrines. The sovereignty of God, the eternal scope of hell, the condemnation of certain lifestyles, and many more can be stumbling blocks for many. But I urge you to not let your subjective feelings trump God’s objective Word. The Bible is our final authority, and everything should be brought into subjection to it.

    Be Humble…there is nothing more annoying than an arrogant Calvinist. Seriously, there is something seriously wrong with a person who says that which is true of the Gospel but does not communicate it in the spirit of the Gospel.  In the past I have heard from Christian brothers and sisters who are completely turned off to the truths of election and God’s sovereignty because of the manner in which they were conveyed to them. Our Pastor set a great example this Sunday of how to talk about these truths in a humble, God-glorifying way.  Oddly enough, those who arrogantly speak of the undeserved mercy of God are walking oxymorons. So don’t be that person. Whatever you do, don’t be that person.

    Be Understanding…there are those who are in the Body of Christ who do not necessarily agree on this issue. I would go so far as to say that there are those in our own faith family who have a different perspective on the sovereignty of God.  The most important question is not “Are you reformed” or  ”Are you calvinist”.  But, instead, the most important questions include,  ”What do you believe about God?”, “Man?, “Sin?, “Jesus Christ?, “Grace?, and ”The necessity of faith?”-  Don’t let the main thing cease to be the main thing. One of my favorite quotes that is so appropriate in this area is from Augustine, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

    Be accurate…make sure when discussing the doctrinal truths of election and others like it that you are clear on the terminology. I mention this because I am confident that there will be conversations on campuses among college students regarding whether or not The Church at Brook Hills is “Calvinist”.  The Calvinism-Arminian debate in many cases is most prevalent among college aged individuals. So, if someone asks you if Brook Hills is Calvinist, Reformed, Crazy, Biblical, or anything else for that matter…just make sure you ask them to define the term….and then answer their question in light of their definition.  Believe it or not, there are some very different understandings of the term “Calvinism”, “Reformed Theology”, even “election”.  To some these terms are simply the best way to describe how the mystery of God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility are compatible. Others see it as code language for the belief that God predestined people to heaven/hell and we should stop evangelizing the lost because it has already been predetermined. I think I could confidently say that Brook Hills believes the former, but would reject wholeheartedly the latter.  In light of the vast differences do you see how it might be good to clarify what the person means by the terms they are inquiring about?

    Be Compassionate…your theology should lead you toward deep compassion for all people! Or let me say it this way, don’t embrace Romans 9:6-33 and leave behind Romans 9:1-5!  In his book, The God Who is There, Francis Schaeffer said, “Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.”  My fear for some college students is that they can master the right theological system, but not be mastered by it!  Francis Schaeffer went on to say, “Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship – and not as ends in themselves.“

    Category: Gospel, Uncategorized Comments (3)

  5. In Need of Holiness?

    December 8, 2010 by Britten Taylor

    From Holiness by J.C. Ryle

    Would you be holy: Would you be partakers of the Divine nature? Then go to Christ. Wait for nothing: wait for nobody: linger not. Think not to make you yourself ready: go, and say to Him, in the words of that beautiful hymn—

    “Nothing in my hand I bring,
    Simply to Thy cross I cling;
    Naked, flee to Thee for dress;
    Helpless, look to Thee for grace.”

    There is not a brick nor a stone laid in the work of our sanctification till we go to Christ. Holiness is His special gift to His believing people; holiness is the work He carries on in their hearts, by the Spirit whom He puts within them. He is appointed a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance as well as remission of sins: to as many as receive Him He gives power to become sons of God.

    Holiness comes not of blood,—parents cannot give it to their children; nor yet of the will of the flesh,—man cannot produce it in himself; nor yet of the will of man, —ministers cannot give it you by baptism.

    Holiness comes from Christ. It is the result of vital union with Him: it is the fruit of being a living branch of the true vine. Go then to Christ, and say, “Lord, not only save me from the guilt of sin, but send the Spirit, whom Thou didst promise, and save me from its power. Make me holy. Teach me to do Thy will.”

    Can I get an “amen”?

    Category: College Life, Uncategorized Comments (0)