In the days leading up to the championship, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford (at left)and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow have shared their thoughts about Thursday’s game, but they also have talked about something else: Their faith in God.

Fans who want to see them share about their faith can visit www.BeyondTheUltimate.org. 

“The key things I’ve learned are patience, perseverance and trusting God,” Bradford said in a video interview on the Web site.

“Everything that God does He’s doing for a reason. He has a purpose and we need to trust Him and know that His plan is the right way.”

Tebow said: “I found true satisfaction, true happiness — and it is not by having your name in a newspaper, it is not by winning trophies, and it is not by winning championships. It is by having relationship with Jesus Christ.”  

 Other college football stars share their stories on the Web site, as well.

The site was originally developed in partnership with Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, as a platform for Super Bowl coaches Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and their players to share the important role that faith in Christ has played in their lives. BeyondTheUltimate.org has since expanded to reach fans of a variety of sports. 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor  

However, that was not the focus of researchers who reviewed the data from The Barna Group’s study mentioned in the story.

The study noted that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twenty-somethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years and often beyond that.   

Researchers indicated that churches could do a better job at discipling teens so that they don’t fall away from the faith when they are in their  twenties.

“Much of the ministry to teenagers in America needs an overhaul — not because churches fail to attract significant numbers of young people, but because so much of those efforts are not creating a sustainable faith beyond high school,” David Kinnaman, the director of research, wrote.

“There are certainly effective youth ministries across the country, but the levels of disengagement among twenty-somethings suggests that youth ministry fails too often at discipleship  and faith formation. A new standard for viable youth ministry should be — not the number of attenders, the sophistication of the vents, or the ‘cool’ factor of the youth group — but whether teens have the commitment, passion and resources to pursue Christ intentionally and whole-heartedly after they leave the youth ministry nest.”

In his report Kinnaman said the Barna research team is conducting more research into what leads to a sustainable faith, but they have already observed some critical enhancements that youth workers might consider.

“One of those is to be more personalized in ministry,” Kinnaman wrote. “Every teen has different needs, questions and doubts, so helping them to wrestle through those specific issues and to understand God’s unique purpose for their lives is significant. The most effective churches have set up leadership development tracks and mentoring processes to facilitate this type of personalization.”  

Here are more findings from the survey:

– Most twenty-somethings maintain outward allegiance to Christianity: 78 percent of twenty-somethings say they are Christians, compared with 83 percent of teenagers.

– Loyalty to congregations is one of the casualties of young adulthood: Twenty-somethings were nearly 70 percent more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.

– Much of the activity of young adults, such as it is, takes place outside congregations. Young adults were just as likely as older Americans to attend special worship events not sponsored by a local church, to participate in a spiritually oriented small group at work, to have a conversation with someone else who holds them accountable for living faith principles, and to attend a house church not associated with a conventional church. Interestingly, there was one area in which the spiritual activities of twenty-somethings outpaced their predecessors:  visiting faith-related Web sites.

What do you think? What would help young people continue to “keep the faith” from their teen years on into their young adulthood?

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

Crilly’s group participated in the Oklahoma Regatta Festival last week.

Now they’ve been invited to participate in a race in Houston, Texas.

For those unfamiliar with these young men from Hillsdale, they are lead by Crilly, who is a student program coordinator at the college, 3701 S. Interstate 35.

I did a story on Crilly back in March which chronicled his journey from a mean, streetwise brawler and Toughman champion to a born-again Christian passionate about winning souls for Christ.

This week Crilly is ecstatic about the way his group has taken to the sport of rowing. They can’t wait to get back out on the water again. 

For information about the Holy Rowers or to make donations for the upcoming trip to Houston, call Crilly at 924-0667. 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Popular worship duo Shane & Shane will perform at Oklahoma Baptist University’s annual “Saturday in the Park” Saturday at Woodland Park in downtown Shawnee.

The event is free and also features Oklahoma’s own, contemporary Christian recording artist Jami Smith.

“Saturday in the Park” is OBU’s “welcome back to school” celebration.

Dale Griffin, the university’s campus pastor, said students requested both Shane & Shane and Smith and the artists they wanted to headline the annual back-to-school bash.

Activities start at 1 p.m. A Battle of the Bands will begin about 1:30 p.m. Bands interested in battling it out should contact Rick Cordova at rick.cordova@okbu.edu. The winning band will be honored before the evening’s concert at 7 p.m.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor