Where is Jesus?

I just had a brilliant idea! Being pregnant and sitting in many waiting rooms, I was reminiscing about the good old days of “Where’s Waldo” books. It seemed like they were everywhere, especially dr.’s offices or anywhere that kids might get very very bored.
As I often like to do, I started thinking about how this idea could penetrate into the Christian Market place. And then there it was. My very clever idea.
Where is Jesus? A search book of different scenarios and demographics with a random Jesus hiding somewhere. GENIUS!!!!
Oh, but the moral dilemma’s that would arise. Where would Jesus really be found? Would he always be in or around the church? Would he be feeding the hungry in Africa? Maybe he would only be found in Israel. Or the bible belt of the southern USA. Where would the Zionists want Jesus placed? What about the over-the-top southern baptist movement? Would Jesus be protesting outside of Heath Ledgers funeral? Or what about the adamant religious character who will not waiver from the idea that Jesus is everywhere?
Hmmmm, maybe this fun little idea is a bit to complicated.

What do 11′s and 12′s need?

I remember youth group in grades 9-10. It was a riot! Everything we did we did at 125% and every devotion struck tears in the over emotional teen girls. We brought friends by the carloads and reminisced about the events for weeks after.

But something happened in grades 11-12. Im not sure what exactly it was. Some would say we were “to cool” for youth group, others would call it rebellion, But Im not convinced that its either of these. As I look at this same age group today I have come up with a theory:

As we grow and begin to question absolutely everything that happens in our involving world, we look for things more stimulating than repetitive games and temporary emotional decisions. We want things that are real and make us feel like we have a role in our maturing futures. We get involved in relationships that trigger curiosity and constant awareness to moral dilemmas. Most of us start taking part in activities that challange us to think beyond our comfort zone. Sure, we make bad decisions and sometimes our curiosity leads up into dangerous situations, but in the end we are just trying to figure out who we are and where we stand. The reason that we drift away from the youth group setting is not because they have done anything wrong, but because it just doesn’t have that spark anymore.

Many youth groups are so focused on the outreach opportunities ( I admit, I was that youth leader) that we forget about the constant growth and challenges that our maturing students need. There comes a point when beaning each other over the heads with rotten pumpkins might be fun, but there are far more pressing issues taking place in our lives and there is no one there to help us work through those. No one is demanding us to use out god given gifts to inspire others, or encouraging us to push ourselves to the limits regarding our faith.

More frequently than not I build a theory and refuse to find a solution, but this time it was different. I think God is with me on this one, so here it goes….

I no longer believe in one youth group. I no longer believe that grade 9-12 students have the same needs (besides salvation). I no longer believe the bigger the better. And I no longer believe that entertainment based activities challenge christian youth.

I believe that there are many different needs within youth aged kids, and meeting these needs is what tweaks their curiosity and brings them back. I believe that grade 9 kids may benefit greatly from a fear factor night, but I also believe that grade 12 kids would benefit immensely from a diploma exam study party. And I believe the moment we try to entertain both of these age groups we lose people.

I am not tabooing events that bring these ages together, because I do think there is a certain mentorship that naturally develops between early teens and mature teens, but I do think we need to consider separate focus groups that target the needs of each demographic.

Phewfff. Glad I got that off my chest.

A Church Video Game

As I sit down to update my blogs, my husband sits down to play a glorious game of Killzone on the PS3. Im not a gamer, the only part I actually enjoy is building characters and doing things like playing the guitar or singing bad karaoke. But I do not think video games are bad, I think they are amazing actually. Which brought me to this epiphany…

What if there was a “Church” Video game.

Think about it.

There are so many veins for this to run through. You could have the diligent, yet highly attractive secretary which the pastor must resist temptation. Or you could have challenges and tasks to raise money for a serving opportunity. Or…wait for it…Sword drills.

The Numbers

The Numbers

Unless your kid is really dumb I don’t see them staying in junior high and high school all the way to retirement.

BYO

Last Friday we had a BYO at youth. We wanted to give the group a chance to bring what they like to the group. Ah….who am I kidding, the creative juices just weren’t flowing.

But it didn’t matter, They had a blast. It was hel-random, but we played soccer, truth or dare, had a 3-on-3 tourney, cooked spaghetti, played catchphrase, curled boys hair, chewed copious amounts of jawbreakers, jammed on stage, played sequins, laughed, burped, and played the Eukaleili.

I think that youth ministry sometimes co-exists with structured entertainment. We forget that we can just let these guys and gals hang out and they will have fun. We have labeled this the “Hang out Factor”. Not only is it cool to watch, but it initiates some leadership on their part as well.

Encourage your Pastor!

Ministry is tricky!
No matter how RAD we think we are, someone also thinks were pretty BAD. Just when we think we are being lead by complete obedience to God, someone out there thinks we are defying the very pleadings of the Gospel.
I guess that is where we found ourselves this past week. After months of confrontation and subtle gestures of disapproval, one of our youth helpers gave us the ultimatum of “My way or no way”. We had thought that we were able to resolve this issue between our youth leadership staff, but apparently we were unsuccessful. Ouch.
So, we called the Senior Pastor. I was anxious to say the least. What if he sided with this guy over us? What if we were wrong all along? What if…?
After a very fruitful conversation I realized two things: A) We have an amazing pastor who will back his staff even if it puts his own job on the line. He truely believes in us and what we stand for. That speaks heaps about him as a spiritual leader as well as a mentor.
B) There is no one way of ministry that is complete without the other forms complimenting it. Your form of ministry might be good, but it is not complete unless the other forms are working along side it.
So, I guess after dealing with this in the past weeks I have become very thankful to our pastor. I dont think we express this gratitude enough. I seached the internet to find some creative ways to help our pastor and show our appreciation for his Godly-ness, wisdom, willingness, and understanding. Here is what I came up with…

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/1999/sepoct/9r5035.html

(I like #3)

http://www.my-pastor.com/pastor-appreciation.html

http://www.victorious.org/blesspastor.htm (I really Like this!)

If you have any other ideas, let me know. Lets get creative!

Christians are to the World what Dwight is to the Office

Christians Are to the World As Dwight Is to The Office

You know what? Christians in the world are a little like Dwight!

What counts

Yesterday I was helping on of the teens from our youth group fill out a spiritual autobiography for a camp that she intends to work at this summer. One of the questions on the application asked her to give her opinion and experience with the following; homosexuality, drinking, smoking, living together before you are married, and premarital sex. As I read over the questions I knew that the easiest answer would be the “Sunday School” answer, but I knew she could give me more.

You see this particular girl is my inspiration. When we first met her she was the most popular girl in school. She had the hottest boyfriend and although she was only in Jr. High, she got to go to the best parties. She is athletic, pretty, smart…she looked like she had it all. And, as her story goes, she fell in love with God. Only 2 years later she has become a leader in our youth group, church and a brave servant for her saviour. Although she has a very supportive church family, she is the only christian in her immediate and extended family.

So when we began answeering these questions her response was ” Its so hard for me, because when these things happen in my family they are celebrated. Everyone was excited when my cousin and his girlfriend moved in together. But as a christian, even though I know they are wrong I still want to support them”

Wow.

As we continued she explained ” I know that I dont have as much experience as a lot of other people who have been christians all thier lives. Maybe I cant quote bible verses or explain things very well, but I think that I will be able to relate to these kids because I have experience with everything they are going through”.

Wow.

As I sat and listened to her explain her testimony I was inspired. I told her that what she had I hoped she never lost. Sometimes mature christians get so secluded in their “christian bubbles” that they can no longer relate to non-christians. They almost forget what it was like to be a “sinner” because they are engulfed by thier “perfect” world. What a waste! Dont they know its not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick?

16 year olds = Inspiration. Find one today.

Disciples…Like rig pigs

So my one of our youth kids (who also happens to be my younger brother) came home from a youth event at a friends church and said….

“Hey, I heard the greatest analogy at youth tonight. It puts it all into perspective! We were talking about Jesus and his disciples and the youth pastor said ‘ you know what the fisherman were, you know who they are like today. Its like Jesus had 12 rig pigs following him around and telling people about the miracles he was doing’”.

Bahahaha!

I love it! I mean I come from a family that thrives off of the oilfield, so I can laugh at it.

But just try to imagine these rig pigs going around and trying to tell people about miracles and love and mercy and grace and…..ahahahhaha. God is funny. Thats why I love him.

EPIC Fear Factor

Okay, we tried the “Fear Factor” night last week and it was freakin’ Fantastic. I think us leaders were more grossed out than the youth….dang. But this was my favorite event, Carmel Apples….no wait…ONIONS!