Here is a cool video....
This video really captured my attention. I couldn't help but relate this to my life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the details or all of the chaos going on around me, that I miss something great. For me, that thing that I often miss is God. I know that I am a youth pastor and I should always be looking for God, right? But all too often I am simply just not paying attention to the right things or just not looking for Him. What about you?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Check out this website!!!
I came across this website the other day: www.iamsecond.com There are some powerful video testimonies of celebrities, athletes, musicians, etc. who have given their life over to Jesus and have put him first in their lives. Amazing!
Everybody's doing it???
At high school youth group last night we had a discussion about alcohol and drugs. I posed the question, "what percentage of kids at West Ottawa High School drink alcohol?" Some answers were: "50%, 70%, and 90%." It seemed a bit high, I thought. I asked if they really thought that only 4 out of 40 kids at our youth group didn't drink. Then they realized that their perception was probably a little off. I remembered a survey that was done at Hope College a few years ago. It was about the perception of alcohol use. It asked students what they thought the percentage of Hope students drink regularly. Then it asked each person how often they do drink. The survey showed that students thought that 80% of all Hope students drink regularly. In actuality, only 30% of students drank on a monthly basis and even fewer (10%) drank once or more per week. I found this interesting, but the more I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.
Our culture, media, churches, and other sources of influence make it seem like drinking is such a big issue, that everyone is doing it. We teach young kids that they need to be ready for high school and college because they are going to have to constantly say no to drinking and drugs because everyone is doing it. It makes you feel like you are in the minority if you don't drink. Isn't that what Satan wants us to think? Think that we are on the outside looking in. Think that we are weird for not giving in. I think that we need to share the message to young people that in reality more people than not chose to not drink. It is perfectly normal to not drink before 21 or to not do drugs, or to not have sex before marriage. It's the popular choice to be responsible and disciplined with your actions. It may not seem like it because the majority of the attention in the news goes to negative stories about youth or young adults. As a society, we have labeled the adolescent years as years of irresponsibility and drunkenness. We need more stories about good things kids are doing because that is the popular choice by teens. As the church we need more stories about teens serving others, raising money for community projects, and going on mission trips. We need to raise kids up and affirm them for making good choices, so that they don't feel like they are in the minority.
Our culture, media, churches, and other sources of influence make it seem like drinking is such a big issue, that everyone is doing it. We teach young kids that they need to be ready for high school and college because they are going to have to constantly say no to drinking and drugs because everyone is doing it. It makes you feel like you are in the minority if you don't drink. Isn't that what Satan wants us to think? Think that we are on the outside looking in. Think that we are weird for not giving in. I think that we need to share the message to young people that in reality more people than not chose to not drink. It is perfectly normal to not drink before 21 or to not do drugs, or to not have sex before marriage. It's the popular choice to be responsible and disciplined with your actions. It may not seem like it because the majority of the attention in the news goes to negative stories about youth or young adults. As a society, we have labeled the adolescent years as years of irresponsibility and drunkenness. We need more stories about good things kids are doing because that is the popular choice by teens. As the church we need more stories about teens serving others, raising money for community projects, and going on mission trips. We need to raise kids up and affirm them for making good choices, so that they don't feel like they are in the minority.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Evangelism: What does that mean?
At Fellowship we have bee talking a lot about Evangelism. We have been going through this Natural Church Development process, which looks at the strengths and weaknesses in seven vital categories. The lowest category for our church was "Need Oriented Evangelism". As some members of the congregation met to discuss the results of the NCD process and to discuss our lowest factor, the question got raised, "what is the definition of evangelism?"
I would say that a good majority of the people in the room saw evangelism as standing on a street corner and telling random strangers about Jesus. One man I talked to said, "I know that I am supposed to evangelize, but if evangelism mean to talk to random strangers, then I am very uncomfortable doing that." As Christ followers we know that we are instructed to, "love our neighbor" and "make disciples of every nation", but what does that actually look like?
Other people that I talked to had a different idea of evangelism. They thought that evangelism was to make friends with non-christian people and invite them to events at the church. One person said that his goal was to minister to his co-workers by getting them to come to church and keep them coming back.
Another view of evangelism come to us from Saint Francis of Assisi, who famously said, "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." He is basically saying, let your actions, your life, your daily interactions with people show the love and compassion of Jesus. So what does that look like? Well....it's not so clear. I think that is different for everyone based on their gifts and life situation. It can also depend on how one defines the gospel of Jesus. However, we do know that this means that we should act in Christ-like ways to those in which we have interactions with. We need to promote justice, forgive others, feed the poor, tell the truth, live humbly, love unconditionally, etc. What does that look like in your life? Maybe you are a high school or college student and you need to stand up for a friend or for the truth. Maybe you are middle aged and can help provide resources to those in need in your community. That might mean being a mentor or providing leadership for a non-profit. Whatever it might be, nearly anything that you do already, could be done in the name of Jesus in a way that bears witness to the gospel to which we have been called.
But what about those who believe differently than us? Check back later for more on evangelism!
I would say that a good majority of the people in the room saw evangelism as standing on a street corner and telling random strangers about Jesus. One man I talked to said, "I know that I am supposed to evangelize, but if evangelism mean to talk to random strangers, then I am very uncomfortable doing that." As Christ followers we know that we are instructed to, "love our neighbor" and "make disciples of every nation", but what does that actually look like?
Other people that I talked to had a different idea of evangelism. They thought that evangelism was to make friends with non-christian people and invite them to events at the church. One person said that his goal was to minister to his co-workers by getting them to come to church and keep them coming back.
Another view of evangelism come to us from Saint Francis of Assisi, who famously said, "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." He is basically saying, let your actions, your life, your daily interactions with people show the love and compassion of Jesus. So what does that look like? Well....it's not so clear. I think that is different for everyone based on their gifts and life situation. It can also depend on how one defines the gospel of Jesus. However, we do know that this means that we should act in Christ-like ways to those in which we have interactions with. We need to promote justice, forgive others, feed the poor, tell the truth, live humbly, love unconditionally, etc. What does that look like in your life? Maybe you are a high school or college student and you need to stand up for a friend or for the truth. Maybe you are middle aged and can help provide resources to those in need in your community. That might mean being a mentor or providing leadership for a non-profit. Whatever it might be, nearly anything that you do already, could be done in the name of Jesus in a way that bears witness to the gospel to which we have been called.
But what about those who believe differently than us? Check back later for more on evangelism!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Here's a stimulus package for you...
With all the talk of economic stimulus and corporate bailouts, it has gotten me thinking a lot about what Christians and the church as a whole can learn from our recent financial meltdown. Here is what I think: We rely way too much on the federal and state government's to provide people with the types of things that the church or other non-profit organizations should be able to provide. What is our government set-up to provide its citizens? The answer is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It seems more and more that we Americans have this sense of entitlement or have certain expectations for what the government should be doing for us. Why do we expect the government to provide us a job, a house, money for food, or medicine? Should the federal government really have to do all of this? I certainly don't think so! This should be and needs to be done by the church or other nonprofit organizations. Maybe the money that the government pours into programs to meet these social needs could be spent in other places and we could make our government smaller at the same time. I look at an organization like Young Life that provides mentoring to teenagers. In the Holland area alone, this organization reaches hundreds of students every year and has an annual budget of around $200,000. Would a federal sponsored program be able to reach those kids? Yes, but it would probably cost millions. (Note: I haven't done much research on this....it's just a hunch.) So, let's start thinking of ways that we can get back to a smaller government. Let's start being more grassroots about our politics. Let's start living into the principals that Jesus taught us to, "love your neighbor as yourself." If we have a need in our community, let's meet that need and find ways to get at the root of that problem. Let's teach people to fish and not just hand-out a fish or two. Let's not rely on the government to put a band-aide on our problems. It's time to speak up, act out, and do our part. This is not a time to sit back and wait for our government to fix our problems.
I am sure that I will have more later. I would love to hear your comments!
I am sure that I will have more later. I would love to hear your comments!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
New Name.....New Direction!
I have been struggling with what direction I wanted to go with this blog. After some serious time of thinking and serching for inspiration, I have decided that I wanted to focus my vision on what I will write about. I have decided that my posts will be my thoughts or insights as a youth/20something minister about following Jesus in a world where people are becoming evermore disconnected and disengaged with the church. I hope that you enjoy and participate in the conversations that will follow!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
