Just saw this on Yahoo and thought it was pretty good. Why does always seem to be that the best tantrums are in the minor leagues?
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
BIG and small
I read a blog post yesterday from Pete Wilson. He writes the blog Without Wax is a pastor at Cross Point Church in the Nashville area and the author of the book Plan B. What he had posted the other day was something that really stood out to me. He quoted from a blog that Kevin DeYoung had written on Ligonier Ministries Blog about those people that "plod" along in the church. It really stuck with me too and I have been thinking about his words off and on for the last couple of days, processing them and mulling them over a bit.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Anthem
Ever felt like, been called or just know that you're a dork? Yeah, gotta say that it happens to pretty much all of us at some time in our life.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
5 Reasons Teens Are Avoiding Church
A pastor friend of mine shared this link this morning on Twitter. It's been posted by both Roni and myself. It's got some good stuff in it and I wanted to share it here as well.
5 Reasons Teens Are Avoiding Church
Here are a few of my thoughts on this:
1) The point that no one is ever too busy for church is right on. That is the classic excuse of people in my age group; those with young children. We hear about how they just don't have time with everything else they have going on, often placing the blame on the activities they have placed their children in. As the author says, time doesn't discriminate, we all get the same 24 hour span. It's about how we use and prioritize those hours.
2) It is easy to get caught up in trying to create the next "big event" or "draw". There have been times in my ministry where parents will look at what other churches are doing and then relay that to me with the "subtle" hint that maybe we should be doing that as well. I hope that I have tried more often to give substance over flash.
3) Teens don't make church a priority because their parents don't make it a priority is something that we have seen for years. I'm so glad it was addressed here. When the parents don't make it a habit or a lifestyle to be in worship and active in the church body, the kids aren't either. After all, there isn't going to be any kind of blow back from the parents. Too often parents don't want to offend their kids when it comes to "making them" go to church. The same can't be said for practices, school or even interaction with friends.
4) It's true that kids don't need the church to connect with their peers anymore really. They spend time in school and practices with them almost every day. They are connected to them through Facebook, myspace, Twitter and texting. But my issue with this one is that these methods still allow kids to maintain distance from each other and don't necessarily lead to that kind of deep social interaction that we need. As the church one of our goals should be in striving to create that kind of interaction within community.
5) Until we as leaders are able to really model that change the kids will rarely model true change. We need to give them that example of how following Jesus and living out his example is world changing.
6) Great point about being real as opposed to trying to be "cool". Cool comes and goes, and if we are chasing that then we will never find rest. When we know who we are and what we are called to and allow ourselves to be real around these kids, that is where the difference is made. This is something that can take years to learn. It is that realness that will speak to the youth today (and in the future) more than our attempts to be like them. To take from a friend of mine, if the kids want a cool youth minister, they are the ones that make them cool.
That's it. I thought it was a great article and had some good points in it.
Grace, Peace and Love y'all.
5 Reasons Teens Are Avoiding Church
Here are a few of my thoughts on this:
1) The point that no one is ever too busy for church is right on. That is the classic excuse of people in my age group; those with young children. We hear about how they just don't have time with everything else they have going on, often placing the blame on the activities they have placed their children in. As the author says, time doesn't discriminate, we all get the same 24 hour span. It's about how we use and prioritize those hours.
2) It is easy to get caught up in trying to create the next "big event" or "draw". There have been times in my ministry where parents will look at what other churches are doing and then relay that to me with the "subtle" hint that maybe we should be doing that as well. I hope that I have tried more often to give substance over flash.
3) Teens don't make church a priority because their parents don't make it a priority is something that we have seen for years. I'm so glad it was addressed here. When the parents don't make it a habit or a lifestyle to be in worship and active in the church body, the kids aren't either. After all, there isn't going to be any kind of blow back from the parents. Too often parents don't want to offend their kids when it comes to "making them" go to church. The same can't be said for practices, school or even interaction with friends.
4) It's true that kids don't need the church to connect with their peers anymore really. They spend time in school and practices with them almost every day. They are connected to them through Facebook, myspace, Twitter and texting. But my issue with this one is that these methods still allow kids to maintain distance from each other and don't necessarily lead to that kind of deep social interaction that we need. As the church one of our goals should be in striving to create that kind of interaction within community.
5) Until we as leaders are able to really model that change the kids will rarely model true change. We need to give them that example of how following Jesus and living out his example is world changing.
6) Great point about being real as opposed to trying to be "cool". Cool comes and goes, and if we are chasing that then we will never find rest. When we know who we are and what we are called to and allow ourselves to be real around these kids, that is where the difference is made. This is something that can take years to learn. It is that realness that will speak to the youth today (and in the future) more than our attempts to be like them. To take from a friend of mine, if the kids want a cool youth minister, they are the ones that make them cool.
That's it. I thought it was a great article and had some good points in it.
Grace, Peace and Love y'all.
Sleep Walking
The Boy is sleeping right now, which is good since it is after midnight and he is two. But that wasn't the case about 10 minutes ago. As I sat here looking at some things and texting a friend, I heard the sounds of The Boy starting to cry out. I knew that he was about to be awake and therefore hard to get back to sleep. So I started down the dark hallway that I could hear him coming down. Part way down I flipped on the light, picked him up and headed back to his bed to lay beside him as he went back to sleep. It is a feeling that I enjoy a great deal, having my children fall asleep pressed against me.
So that was the case, I heard a cry in the dark, I headed toward it, turned on the light and I took my son in my arms and them laid with him until he was out once again, And that is when I realized what I wanted to write about. Because the parallels seem lovely really.
The Boy woke up, found himself to be in the dark and it scared him a bit. So he did what he knows to do: He cried out and headed for Daddy. The girls were the same way (still are at times). Often times The Boy makes it into my bed, thus throwing a kink into my plans of sleeping for many hours at a time. However there are times when I am able to catch him first and go and lay with him and let him feel safe and secure.
I feel like the same is true with God. How many times do we find ourselves in a dark place that scares us (more than) just a little bit? And when we do, we tend to cry out and head toward Daddy for protection. And then we find ourselves being swept into His arms and hugged to His chest and protected and safe. Unlike myself, who tends to sleep through things like the crying out. God hears us every time. And when we cry out to Him and start toward Him, he is faithful to scoop us up into his arms and hold us close where we can be both warm and safe.
May you cry out to God in your times of trouble and may he be that protective Father for you when you do.
Grace, Peace, and Love y'all.
So that was the case, I heard a cry in the dark, I headed toward it, turned on the light and I took my son in my arms and them laid with him until he was out once again, And that is when I realized what I wanted to write about. Because the parallels seem lovely really.
The Boy woke up, found himself to be in the dark and it scared him a bit. So he did what he knows to do: He cried out and headed for Daddy. The girls were the same way (still are at times). Often times The Boy makes it into my bed, thus throwing a kink into my plans of sleeping for many hours at a time. However there are times when I am able to catch him first and go and lay with him and let him feel safe and secure.
I feel like the same is true with God. How many times do we find ourselves in a dark place that scares us (more than) just a little bit? And when we do, we tend to cry out and head toward Daddy for protection. And then we find ourselves being swept into His arms and hugged to His chest and protected and safe. Unlike myself, who tends to sleep through things like the crying out. God hears us every time. And when we cry out to Him and start toward Him, he is faithful to scoop us up into his arms and hold us close where we can be both warm and safe.
May you cry out to God in your times of trouble and may he be that protective Father for you when you do.
Grace, Peace, and Love y'all.
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