Here’s a 2-minute video with a good story. And a reminder of what the third family of your church family can do for your teens–and how teens appreciate it.
The Lady Who Waved
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Monthly Archives: February 2014
Rooted at the Local Level
I’m a huge Donald Miller fan. He’s got a Wild Frontier-thinking kind of mind. So I was disheartened to read his three (though I belong to a church like he described in 3) blog posts that have sent the internet world in a frenzy. You can read them here and here and here.
Doug Bursch wrote my favorite response to the hubbub. You can this in its entirety here.
This part particularly resonated with me:
“In recent years, there has been profound growth in the celebrity Christian blogger, author, conference-speaking-guru category. This group of ‘Christian experts’ has increased in audience and influence. Although their influence in shaping the dialogue has expanded, their accountability to the local church has waned. Continue reading
You Who Struggles
Dear you who struggles,
One day, you will give and receive love like an open window in the summertime. You’ll be so filled with joy that you’ll blow kisses at the sky and laugh at the wind. You will come to the end of your foggy valley and squint your eyes in the beaming sun. It will be radiant–oh, how radiant! You’ll run, with energy and emotion returning to your lifeless soul. The pathways before you will be quite rocky, but never impossible. One day, you will see yourself as the flower that you are. You will dance with bliss in the majestic ballroom of life, and you will feel beautiful. The spark will return to your eyes. Your smile, shaped by the cruel knife of pain, will be more beautiful than ever it was before. The nights will cease to be long and tearful; you will slip into a sleep full of dreams and pleasantry. The days will not seem so pointless, nor will they be grey and meaningless. Your heart–oh, your unique, wonderful heart–will burn with love for life.
But now, all you can see is your foggy valley. Continue reading
Endorsing Research?
I’m a bit late finding this research. At least a bit late for me. Back in the days when I was writing Stuffed Culture Collection and Stuffnet and the like, I was all over such information. But Google replaced that ministry resource for Wild Frontier and we’ve moved on to new territories.
Focus on the Family and Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life teamed up to release a very interesting report on Millennial Faith Participation and Retention. You can find it here. That’s a fancy title for yet another study on Millennial faith habits. But this one has several very good ministry points all founded on research. These are (found under “Key Conclusions for Ministry”):
1. Bible-teaching churches continue to see healthy growth. There has been positive growth among churches that clearly teach the truth of Scripture and declines among those which don’t.
Conclusion: Be faithful to teaching and honoring God’s Word in a clear and vibrant way. Young adults desire to receive uncompromising truth that calls them to something beyond themselves. Continue reading
Awkward: The New Cool
One thing I’ve observed in the past few years is the uprise of a new type of cool, a new social craze. Walk into a high school and see these people, self-proclaimed freaks, all about the hallways, in the cafeteria, and in the gym. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be this way anymore. The millennial generation is the Internet generation, not the drug-experimenting party animals we’re so frequently made out to be. (That’s not to say that some of us aren’t party animals, I’m just talking generally here.) Many teenagers are describing themselves as “antisocial.” We’re Internet rats. We scurry about online, discovering the ins and outs of technology in ways that our elders will most likely never be aware of, finding new ways to express our discomfort with ourselves. The word is all over our Facebook feeds, squeezed in our 140-character Twitter blurbs, spoken in giggly, insecure tones among acquaintances and friends alike: awkward. Continue reading
Pixar and the Pentateuch
I am the oldest of five children. It goes without saying that I watch a lot of kids’ movies.
The setting: we had run out of movies with which to entertain the children. The only thing new was the rental DVD of Monsters University, and the kids had just watched it last night. Ever the resourceful woman, my mom decided that while she made lunch, the children’s time would be passed by watching the same movie again…but with commentary. That makes it a whole new movie, right?!
Well, not quite, but the kids bought it long enough for mom to make lunch. Continue reading
Cautiously Rash
I’m not a spontaneous person by nature. Well, it depends. I’m quite influenced by my emotions. If I’m rash, it’s because I’m experiencing strong emotions. Actually, I’m a really rash person. I’ll admit it. My feelings, desires, and temptations are quite strong. I don’t always think before I say and do stuff. It helps to be with a rational person who can say, “Wait! You should think!” before I do something stupid. I mean, it’s not like I wake up and think, “Hm, I’m going to do something rash today.” It just sort of happens. Continue reading