What do you think?

Here is an issue/article where your comments might spur a great discussion - so let's have it - check out the article on CNN and then come back and post your thoughts.

~C

Extra Time...

What will you do with your extra time in 2008? Yes, that's right you've got more time before the New Year is rung in! So what will you do?

Whatever it is - I hope you all have a fun, safe and sober New Years (eve) - see you in 2009!

His,
~C

Tuesday's Two-Cents

thoughts about the past week(end) ~ Yum - had the chance to have a 30th Anniversary piece of cheesecake at one place that knows how to do cheesecakes! I'm also still on vacation - so it's been nice to (for the most part) relax, hang out and do whatever!

this weeks to-dos ~ finish writing my sermon for Sunday! make some food for a New Years party, finally finish cleaning the apartment.

book I'm reading ~ Acts

tunes that triggered ~ hmmm, my newest playlist on the iPod - Bless the Broken Road, Hands of the Potter, My Wish, You Carried Me - and a few others!

thoughts on the coming week ~ rushed yet relaxing...

Scripture to skim ~ Acts (yes, all of it!)

Noteworthy News

See teenagers can make a difference in their world when they put their mind too it....

Teen Helps Darfur

What are you going to do?

An extra...

I want to share a quote with you - read it, think about it and then ask yourself - 'could I say the same thing?'

"If I died right this minute, I would be able to say, 'God, what a ride! What a ride'"

- Mike Yaconelli -

Christmas video to check out...

Check out the 12 Day's of Christmas LIVE!

Tuesday's Two-Cents

thoughts about the past week(end): this past week and weekend were great - I finished up my work and am officially on "vacation" until Jan 4th woo hoo! Saturday we celebrated Christmas with my immediate family - great times - food was good, spoiled rotten by my parents even at 26 years old, hung out and had a great time! Sunday was the Youth Group Christmas Party - some pretty funny (Kodak) moments! :-) Oh, and I'm supper pumped for my dad he was just offered a new job!

this weeks to-do's: not much, but a whole lot - it's CHRISTMAS TIME...so there is more Christmas music to listen to and more family to see and celebrate with. and maybe some cheesecake as some would say nom nom nom...

book I'm reading: well I just finished Proverbs today, outside of Biblical reading I'm going to hit up Crazy Love one more time and I've been flipping through "The Cookie Bible" (twas a Christmas gift) and "8,789 Words of Wisdom."

tunes that triggered: the 46 Christmas songs we listend to at YG last night - love them all, except #46!

thoughts on the coming week: can't wait - especially for Christmas Eve worship - it's my favorite worship service to attend all year long!

think about a thought: don't take life or death too seriously!

Scripture to skim: Proverbs 29

50...

It's my 50th post on Chris' Corner - so we're running with the 50's theme. Take a gander at what is here - 50 things to do - maybe pick your favorite, the one your most afraid to do, or create your own and comment below....looking forward to another 50.

50 things to do...

in no particular order

1. Watch the sun set and rise (I would love to do this at the beach and the mountains)
2. Read the entire Bible (a handful of times...what a wonderful Love letter)
3. Fall in Love
4. Do something everyday that scares you (or at least something that challenges you)
5. Give to someone who has less & then give some more - anonymously
6. Watch the stars (leave the city - it's a better view)
7. Go on a mission trip
8. Watch a black & white &/or silent film (amazing)
9. Go white water rafting
   
10. Test drive a sports car (just for fun)
11. Walk in the rain
12. Embarrass yourself
    
13. Quit your job (don't like it - don't go back) (if you do like it ask for a raise)
    
14. Tip your server more than you probably should
    
15. Swim in an ocean
    
16. Attend the Olympics (at least once)
17. Go to a concert you never thought you'd see
18. Talk to an old person (if your young) talk to a young person (if your old)
19. Be Thankful
20. Attend a Broadway show
21. Learn CPR & First Aid
22. Volunteer somewhere
23. Learn to cook something (well)
24. Go camping (for real - no RV)
25. Attend worship at a church (denomination) other than your own
26. Ride along with a police officer
27. Go on a cruise
28. Hold indoor shopping cart races at Wal Mart
29. Mentor someone
30. Be mentored by someone
31. Appear on TV
    
32. Go Naked (not in public, find a quiet beach, or waterfall and reconnect with nature)
33. Rescue a lost dog (or a cat if you must)
34. Buy a homeless person some food
35. Get married
36. Have a weekend away with friends
37. Become a parent
    
38. Pay for the car behind you in the drive-thru lane
    
39. Be Happy!
40. Listen (really, listen)
41. Trace your roots
42. Have coffee with a stranger
43. Cut your own Christmas tree
44. Inspire someone
45. Read a great book & then pass it on to someone else
46. Be the member of an audience for a TV show
47. Write a letter to the person you look up to
48. Get passionate about a cause and spend time helping it instead of just thinking about it
49. Plan your funeral
    
50. Accept yourself for who you are!
    

Millstones

"Youth Group is the perfect place for young people when their schedules permit,
and when nothing else more important is going on."

How do you feel reading that quote?

As a youth leader I tend to agree - in some cases it's a generalization - but in most i think it's dead on!

Most adults want young people to be conformed to the comfortable instead of transformed by the uncomfortable. Church is a great place, to teach young people about Jesus. But what about encountering Jesus?

Causing young people to meet Jesus face-to-face could do irreparable damage to parents' plans for their children.

What would happen if parents and adults alike in the church stopped "planing" every moment of our young peoples lives? What would happen if we let Jesus ruin their lives like we should have allowed Him to do to us? What if their lives were placed in His hands and not in ours? How would your life be impacted - can you give up control and give it back to the One who is supposed to have it in the first place?

To borrow another quote from Mike Yaconelli:
"Unfortunately, too many adults are more concerned about young people ruining the carpet than they are about Jesus ruining their lives. More worried about peer pressure than parental pressure, more upset by unpredictability than predictability, and more fearful of the loss of future income than the loss of creativity and imagination."

Ouch!

Where are YOU in all of this?

Are you willing to let our young people put youth group (God) back at the top of their list (ahead of school, work, sports, music, dance, other extra-curricular, and even ahead of YOU?) Are you willing to let our young people become ruined by Jesus?

I hope so,
His,
~C

Tuesday's Two-Cents

Tue's 2-Cents on Wed...sorry, the last several days have been a bit 'off' so I'm catchin up today!

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PAST WEEK(END) ~
The weekend was great I had a chance to get away for a bit of a mini-vacation to Kansas City. Steph and I drove down Friday and enjoyed the time to just relax, do some shopping (window that is) and enjoy a few meals. I really enjoyed the mini-break.

THIS WEEK'S TO-DO'S ~
Well, seeing as how it's already Wednesday - my biggest things to get accomplished are work related - I've been out of my office for about a week, so I need to get a few things caught up and finally I will need to be ready for three Student Ministry Christmas parties (one tonight, one Friday and one on Sunday.) Once that is planned it will be on to making sure WAVE for Jan 4th is ready to go.

BOOK I'M READING ~
Going through "The Air I Breath" again (still) and currently in the home stretch of Proverbs.

THOUGHTS ON THE COMING WEEK ~
BUSY, but good - I'm looking forward to finishing things up this week and essentially having the rest of December off - it will be good to have time for family and friends over Christmas. I'm also looking for time to get my sermon written for January.

THINK ABOUT A THOUGHT ~
What is one thing you want for Christmas? & What is one thing you want to do for someone else this Christmas?

SCRIPTURE TO SKIM ~
Romans 5:1-11, let me know your thoughts!

Know the Fish, Not the Boat

The catch phrase for our Student Ministry is "Out of the Boat Into His WATER." Catchy I think (no pun intended), but what does it really mean? How is it that one takes a step or leap outside of the boat anyway? And what happenes when you're out of the boat and in the water? How do you get to know the Fish?

I'm curious what some of your thoughts are to these questions....how do you (or have you) get to know the fish?

Share your comments ~

His,
~C

Tuesday's Two-Cents

Thought About Past Week(end) ~
The past week was...a bit busy - yet good. Friday I had the chance to catch my first High school basketball game of the season. On Saturday I was able to celebrate my moms birthday with a wonderful dinner and a great night of fun and conversation. Sunday, was Sunday - the youth seem to be a bit "off" right now - not sure why, but I hope they're back "on" soon.

This Weeks To-Do's ~
Work - lots to do in the coming week or so to get ready for a bit of a vacation from work. I have several loose ends to get tied up. Oh, and Christmas decorations still need to come out! :-(

Book I'm Reading ~
Ummmm, right now I"m in the midst of "The Air I Breath" again...., book of Proverbs and hopefully Acts this week...

Thoughts On The Coming Week ~
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Stephanie and I are getting away for a "long" weekend out of town. Lot's of window shopping, sleeping in and RELAXING! Woo Hoo. Also, the 2nd part of a great series at WAVE for Sunday night.

Think About A Thought ~ this is for you to ponder for the week - feel free to share (comment) your thoughts here...
What would you life be like if you had one day this week where you didn't HAVE to do anything? How would your day look?

Scripture to Skim ~
Luke 19:28-40 (what's it have to say to you?

Trouble

Trouble...my thoughts for today are spawned from my recent reading of Mike Yaconelli's article "The 'Trouble' With Youth Ministry."

It's dangerous...when you and I are trying to follow Jesus, we're going to get into trouble. In making disciples (of ourselves and others) we take on the role of introducing people (in my case, young people) to the life-ruining Jesus who causes nothing but trouble.

Often joked about in youth ministry - did you know if your church doesn't have a rule that exists just because of your ministry, then you aren't letting Jesus have first place in your ministry? What would the session say about that? I've just entered the start of my fifth year with GSPC and no rule...YET! We'll see if we can work on that one in the coming year!

So, what's with the "life-ruining Jesus" part? Isn't this church, Jesus, following business supposed to make everything orderly? Ha! take a look at Matthew 6:33 ("But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness...") - if you want to be a disciple (and don't we all?) but if you really want to be His disciple, a follower of Jesus, nothing can be more important than Jesus.

If work is more important than Jesus, then work has to go. If surfing the internet is more important than Jesus, then the internet must go. If school (or school related activities) is more important than Jesus, (yes, I'm gonna say it), then it's gotta go. If your boy/girl-friend is more important than Jesus, then he/she has to go. Are you getting the picture here? If anything in your life is more important than Jesus, then whatever 'it' is, it has to go!

I know what you're thinking "it's hard to be a disciple!"
ding ding ding - we have a winner! No one, including Jesus, himself - ever said it would be an easy task. What do you think "take up your cross daily" means?
but in the end - being a disciple is the only thing that will really matter.

Youth Ministry causes trouble -- an example: a youth worker with a heart for the lost, was ministering to gang members in her church (a job in which she was specifically hired to do) - long story short - eventually the gang members decided they wanted to go to worship - so they did! When the minister announced the giving of the peace one of the gang members stood up and said "hey, dude, you are cool!" The entire congregation turned around in shock. After the service the youth worker was told to not bring the gang members to church until they learned how to behave.

They should have given the youth worker a raise - they didn't - She was fired!

Unfortunately, many people in the church are more concerned about rules, policies, and procedures than they are about the unbelievable, miraculous, spectacular, unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime event that occurs when someone starts to get well. When people get well, it exposes the sickness of those around them.

Rather than getting mad, there should have been a celebration because a group of gang members miraculously desired to be part of the church. Who are the gang members in your church?

Sometimes I wonder if it's easier for the rocks to cry out in the presence of Jesus than for some church members to celebrate the "trouble" that genuine youth ministry causes.

Woo Hoo, (in honor of the late Mike Yaconelli)
~C

Walk Full, Don't Run On Empty...

Is your kid "over-booked?" Chances are if you're reading this the answer is a resounding YES!

The rule of thumb according to Dr. Meg Meeker is; one extra-curricular activity per season. This means one sport or one instrument or whatever each season or semester. I tend to agree. For some of you reading this - it's probably hard to hear. Youth today are way over-extended, overbooked, too busy, and plain worn out...it's healthy for them to have down time, time to learn how to deal with boredom. It really is okay! As well, it's becoming even more important for youth to be spending more and more time at home with their parents.

Do you really believe that you (mom & dad) have the greatest influence and impact on your kid's lives? It's not their peers, not society and surely not their youth leaders - it's you as parents. So, then why is it that a majority of parents either overbook, or allow their youth to become overbooked? Don't you want them spending the most time with those who have the most influence over them?

So, is it time for you and your family to cut back on your kids' schedule? Are you secretly saying 'yes,' knowing you're not going to do a darn thing about it? Or, will you really do what's best for them and cut down on their calendar? You know if God wants them to be a concert trombonist - God will allow them to live long enough to figure that out on their own - let them be kids for now. Your kid does not have to "out shine" the neighbor kids. They just have to shine in the way God designed them too. And youth definitely don't need to have any adults "reliving younger years through their kids' activities and lives."

Teens if you're reading this one - it's time to check yourself...are you really running yourself into the ground? How will this really help you in the long run? What do you accomplish? Do you want to run around worn out and empty? It is OK to say no to some things!

And for everyone....where is God in all of this? Why is it that a relationship with God (worship, Bible Study, Youth Group, family discussions over faith issues...) ALWAYS get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list? The next time I hear a youth being grounded from 'God', or that I see 'God is taking second seat to something else - something that doesn't have eternal matter - I think I'm going to scream!

It's time for us to shape up and do our youth a favor - cut back on the activities and really live.

What are you going to do? What are your family values?

His,
~C

Tuesday's Two-Cents

So, here's is going to be my attempt at a "weekly-update post." Sure, there will be other posts throughout the week - but like other bloggers, this will be a regular format. I may toy with it in the first few weeks (I'm open to suggestions on what you'd like to see here) but it will be "regular" at some point....

Thoughts from the past week(end) ~
Obviously this past week(end) included Thanksgiving - for me we had two thanksgivings and one birthday. Thursday & Saturday saw us with family, and Friday Steph & I had dinner with my family for Grandma's 78th birthday. It was a fun, yet busy weekend. Sunday night we were out for our Leaders Christmas party and ended up at a friends house following for some card playing. I loved the end to my "time out of the office." This year's National Youth Workers Convention landed at the perfect time, I was able to attend NYWC and return home for a day off and then ran straight into the weekend.

This Weeks To-Dos ~
Personally I'm hoping to clean up our apartment and get some Christmas decorations out. Usually we move our kitchen table into our bedroom to make room for our tree. However since last Christmas we have rearranged our room with our new King bed. So, we're thinking no tree this year. Other than that I hope to get some work done on my sermon for next month.

Book I'm Reading ~
I just finished Youth Ministry 3.0, by MarkO. I'm taking a break for a few days from reading to review some of what I heard at the Convention.

Tunes that Triggered ~
In the last four days it's been Lost & Founds Christmas album....if that doesn't put you in the mood...

Thoughts on the coming week ~
This next week should be interesting. I've had a few weeks "off" as far as lesson planning for WAVE and this week I'm back "on." I'm excited about the 2-part series we're doing this month, as well as the annual Christmas party in a few weeks. I've also got a few meetings I'm looking forward to this week.

Will You Go With Me?

Okay, I'm on a journey - we're all on a journey....but I'm asking "will you go with me?"

What I mean is, will you go with me into the life that God has called us? Will you follow me even if I open up a topic that is hard to swallow? Will you stick with it?

You know a lot of people have this idea that having Jesus in your life makes everything all nice and organized. The real fact is that having Jesus in your life can ruin it! Take a look at Luke 9:57-62. Really, please go take a look. How is any of what Jesus is saying there "nice and organized?"

What about later on in Luke 14:25-27 - how do we respond to that? Are we taking up our crosses, daily? Would you be willing to never see your family again if that's what it cost to go after Jesus? Are you willing to ruin your life for your Savior, your Creator, for God?

Ask yourself - what you're willing to do...I'm taking a path where I think I'm uncovering some truths - but truths that might be hard for some of us to swallow. I'm going this way because I feel the American Church needs a change...wiling to go with me? Keep checking back here - post your comments, let's open a discussion on where we feel the Holy Spirit is leading us.

See you in a few days,
His,
~C