Random Thought # 2

Okay, so we have some odd weather in AZ lately and the weather reports have confused me.

What is the difference between "partly cloudy" and "mostly sunny" ?

They sound very similar to me, but I am no weather man.

John

Inevitable Departure..

In just 4 hours I depart for our Route56 winter camp. Well, not just me. I am going along with 6 other leaders and 42 students, and while I am totally excited I am also a little unsettled as well. I am not sure why I have this feeling, maybe because I know that 42 sets of parents have entrusted their child to my care. Maybe it is because I have never taken 5th & 6th grade students to a camp before. Maybe it's because I sometimes doubt my abilities and not sure why God called on me to serve him in this way. Or maybe it is simply because I am human and it is in our nature to get nervous and even a little scared before a big event or moment in our lives. This is definitely one of those times. Camp is such an amazing and unique experience that enables both leaders and students to escape the daily routine and simply be in community with each other and with their creator.

My prayer for this weekend:

Dear Lord, I thank you for this amazing opportunity to be with you this weekend. I thank you for the blessing of all the leaders, students, and families that are a part of this experience. I praise you for your creation of the mountains and the beautiful scenery that you made for us to worship you. Lord, I am sorry for my selfish ways in trying to live my life and plan this camp on my own. Right now I come before you asking for you to place a hedge of protection around the camp this weekend and all of the people attending. Keep us safe and please help us to have an open mind and heart this weekend to being in community with others and to hearing your word. Lord, please bless the leaders, give them patience and guidance as they pastor to the students in their care. Give us the words that you know need to be spoken. Provide the parents with a heart of comfort that their child is under your protection and they will return home safe. Lord, I give this weekend to you. I know that whatever happens is for a reason, and that I am here to serve you to bring students into a relationship with you. Thank you again for your love, your desire to know me personally, and for blessing my life. I give you praise and ask these things in your son Jesus Christs name.. AMEN.

Have a fun, safe, and blessed weekend everyone.

John

Aftermath of Meetings

I am not someone who usually minds meetings I actually enjoy them most of the time. Now after a statement like that you know there is a "but" coming. So here it is. But, I have come to realize that after these meetings I always walk away with more "things to do" then before the meeting. The challenging and stressful part is that as the "things to do" list continues to grow my schedule becomes more and more vital. I have struggled over the past month or so with my schedule and being effective with my time. This became very evident to me after our meeting yesterday as I felt somewhat overwhelmed with all of the things on my plate. You know things like work, family, friends, time with God, personal time for me, sleep, etc.

I am very excited about our Route56 winter camp this weekend. It is a great opportunity for me to get away from it all for a few days, and spend some quality time with God. My plan is to use this weekend to reevaluate my priorities and schedule by praying to God asking for his guidance, discernment, wisdom, and humbling myself before him in true submission.

My prayer is to return from camp with a clear mind, conscience, and heart so that I can restructure my schedule to be effective at being a follower and servant of God.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

John

iTunes music Shuffle Up and Deal

Saw this awesome post on Natalie Johnson's blog and also on Pastor Kevin's blog and I thought it would be fun to get involved in.

Open-up iTunes or your iPod, hit shuffle and post a comment with your first 5 songs that come up, no matter what they are...

Then post how many songs you have and how many days.

Here were mine:

1. Smile - Kutless
2. Flat on the Floor - Nickelback
3. The Grocery Store - Jim Gaffigan (Comedy)
4. Christmas Collage - Kathy Mattea
5. Moonlit - Falling Up

I have 1948 songs, 412 podcasts ( I am way behind here) totaling 5.4 days.

John

Myspace Question?

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OK here is a situation I am curious on everyone's thoughts as to what they would do. This is not a real situation with me currently, but definitely something youth pastors are dealing with.

Students in your youth group have a MySpace account, and they find you on it or you find them. The student "adds" you as a friend and then you have total access to their alternate world. You then read messages or bulletins posted from them that are inappropriate (sexual, drugs, etc). You wonder if the student realizes they are sharing this information with the world in a very real way. You also realize this is stuff that has never been shared at church or in your youth group setting, not to mention their parents have no idea either. So here are a few questions I have about a situation like this:

1. What is your initial reaction to this information?
2. Do you confront the student immediately?
3. Do you tell the parents immediately?
4. Do you not say anything yet, and proceed with caution?

I guess for us a youth workers the ultimate question to ask ourselves is, "Do we have something in place (policy, step by step guide, etc) in our youth ministry to deal with a situation like this?

MySpace is real and can be both good and bad and it is our responsibility as youth workers to be informed of the current culture of our students and be prepared to deal with these type of situations.

I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks everyone for sharing.

John

Kids & Online Pornography

I read this article on The Christian Post about a recent study stating that "more children and teens are being exposed to online pornography."

The ages of the kids in the study were 10-17 yrs old. Yes, parents that is the age range of 5th grade and up. Here are a few excerpts from the article:

"Forty-two percent of Internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 percent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out, University of New Hampshire researchers found. Their conclusions appear in February's Pediatrics, due out Monday."

Online pornography was defined in the study as images of naked people or people having sex.

In the survey, conducted between March and June 2005, most kids who reported unwanted exposure were aged 13 to 17. Still, sizable numbers of 10- and 11-year-olds also had unwanted exposure — 17 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls that age."

To read the rest of the article follow this link; "More Kids Exposed to Online Pornography"

Parents please understand this is a reality in our current world. There are no kids 100% safe from pornography. Here are a few suggestions however that can help prevent their exposure from becoming a problem.

• Keep your computer in a public area in the house such as the family room, office, kitchen, etc.
  
• Set your computer's viewing levels to restricted which will help to block popups, and unsafe website viewing. You can also put a password on your computer.
• Talk with you child about the dangers on the internet and encourage them to tell you when they see something that is "inappropriate."
• Do research- this one is just for you parents. You have to be informed and understand the current dangers that are on the world wide web, and the ways you can protect your child from them.
  
• Finally, continue to pray and seek guidance from God for both you and for your child. Pray for God to give your family wisdom, discernment, and trust to keep your home a Godly home.
  

These are just few suggestions and I hope that they help, but please keep in mind the best way to keep your kids safe and grow them to be healthy mentally and emotionally is to be actively involved with your child, and constantly talk with them.

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. My prayers are with your families.

John

Random Thought #1

I am pretty sure that Toronto still has a law that states it is legal to own a "Raptor" as a pet.

John

Ref: Toronto Raptors

The "Traffic Jam" Report 2/4/2007

This past Sunday we discussed the topic of "Compassion". We used clips from the movie "Radio" to help put a solid illustration to this topic. Our focus was to discuss how we can begin to serve God by serving others with a heart of compassion. I always love opportunities to engage students in conversations that challenge them to think about how they can impact the lives of others everyday. Read the whole post and check out the family questions at the end.

Here are some student suggestions on how to be compassionate towards others:

• Say "Hi" to someone different everyday
• Give someone a hug
• Sit next to someone new at lunch
• Pick the kid first that always gets picked last
  
• Write someone a card or note saying something nice about them
• Sit next to a new kid on the bus
• Give a "highfive" to 5 random people.
  
• Invite a new kid over to your house to play video games.
  
• And more!
  

Attendance: Solid & some new faces =)
Lesson Topic: Compassion- Serving God by loving others
'Fun Factor': Good
Team Participation: N/A
Music: N/A- We took the week off of worship
Lesson Quality: Above Average (So proud we had 2 leaders share the teaching this week, they did a good job presenting the message)
Small Group Quality: Really Good (Great small group discussion questions)
Length of Lesson: The whole service (We went back and forth between teaching and small groups)
Student Response: Very Good- (Lots of great student conversation during small group)

Read the scripture Matthew 25:34-40 and discuss the questions below;

1. Discuss as a family what this scripture is talking about and how it relates to "compassion" and serving others?
   
2. How can caring for someone ever be bad? inconvenient? uncomfortable?
3. When you help or care for someone else how does that make you feel? How do you think it makes them feel?
4. What can you do this week to show love to God by caring for others?
   

Have a great week everyone!

John

Top 5 Parent Resolutions for 2007

As we are now a month into the new year here are 5 resolutions that every parent should consider to help grow and strengthen their relationships with their children in 2007.

1. Catch Kids Being Good — Try to Stop Saying 'No' "Resolve to catch kids being good. Pay attention to the good behavior every day, and you'll probably see less of the bad," Murphy said.

2. Add Some Boredom to Kids' Lives Brain research shows that when people are in a daydreamlike state, they do their most creative thinking.

3. Read to Kids Every Night Many parents read to their kids but may not realize how much more they should be doing it.

4. Laugh a Lot The logic for this resolution is simple: Laughter makes being a family fun.

5. Plan Adult Time To be good parents, moms and dads sometimes need to get away for a little adult time.

It is my prayer that as parents we continue to challenge ourselves as we strive to raise our children in a God centered home.

To read the complete article check out the link- "Five Resolutions Every Parent Should Make"

John

The word "so"

Well, it has come to my attention that I said the word "so" alot. I have realized this based on the fact that someone so kindly pointed it out to me, and then I became paranoid about it. So, I began to listen to myself as I spoke and realized that it was true. So, now I am torn between whether this is no big deal or really annoying. I have asked several people for their expert opinions and have come to the conclusion that it is OK, but I must continue to exercise caution so that it does not become annoying. So, in conclusion I am still pretty normal and at least I don't say "like" every other word.

John

Webspeak: Kids Language

Hey parents, this is for you!!!!!

Saw this special on Good Morning Amercia, and was blown away by some of the information. Kids today have their own language and many parents today don't know how to crack the codes. This is a great article about the dangers of Weblingo and the ways it can affect our children's development and potentially their success in life. Here is an excerpt:

"But now, the use of slang and abbreviations is not limited just to e-mails, text messages or instant messages. It is showing up in kids' schoolwork, in their SAT essays and in college admission applications.

Sara Goodman, who teaches high school English and journalism at Clarksburg High in Clarksburg, Md., said she worries that this new language will compromise students' ability to write and to communicate.

"Most of these kids started using IM when they were between the ages of 8 and 10," Goodman said. "So they learned it when they were learning the other grammar rules."

To read the rest of the article or to find out more information that can help you understand how your child communicates on a daily basis check out the link below.

Webspeak: The Secret Language of Teens

you can also visit www.homeword.com for more parenting resources.

John

Geico Cavemen At A Party!

The latest installment of the brilliant Geico Cavemen commercials. Priceless =)

Christian Youth Challenge "YouTube"

Saw this interesting article on "The Christian Post". Here is an excerpt from the article:

More than a month ago, atheists began to blaspheme the existence of God on the popular YouTube network. Today, Christians are turning the tables and taking up the challenge to stand up to their faith in Jesus Christ publicly.

"I'd like to personally praise the Lord for all He does for me," said one young participant in the newly launched "Praise the Lord Challenge" on YouTube. "He's done so much for me and I've only known him a few years."

The Praise the Lord Challenge counters a $25,000 campaign launched before Christmas where atheists, many of whom are young students, videotape their blasphemy, denying the existence of the trinity. "The Blasphemy Challenge" is giving away 1,001 DVDs of the documentary "The God Who Wasn't There" to participants. The only price, the campaign states, is "your soul."

I highly encourage you to follow the link below and read the rest of this story. As mature Christians we need to encourage our youth to stand up for Christ as "The Word of God will bring people to faith in Jesus Christ."

The Challenge Blasphemy Project

The "Traffic Jam" Report 1/28/07

Today we ended our new year's series called: If You Could Be New... What Would You Do?
We discussed the topic of "New Fruit" and what it means to live a fruitful life. In the book of Matthew (Chapter 13:1-23) there is the story of the farmer that went to plant his seeds, and we used this story to guide the lesson. Here are some of the bullet points from the teaching.

• The path for a fruitful life is HEARING AND UNDERSTANDING God’s Word

• Fruit is our IDENTITY (Matthew 7:20).

• Fruit is seen in our ACTIONS (Matthew 7:16).

• Make a commitment to OBEY God’s way (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

ROAD SIGN OF THE WEEK: Grow your ROOTS deep into God’s Word

As I reflect on this series I am so thankful for God's guidance during this month. I feel this was the perfect series for our group to start off the new year. Over the last four weeks I have seen growth among many students in our group, and for the rest I have seen them begin to ask questions about their faith and their relationship with God on a daily basis. My prayer is that God will continue to inject his spirit into our group and provide us with guidance as we grow from seeds into fully grown followers of Christ.

Attendance: Solid & some new faces =)
Lesson Topic: wk-4 of series "If You Could Be New...What Would You Do?"
New Fruit- What are the results of this new life?
'Fun Factor': Way Fun - We had awesome energy and the leaders saw students enjoying being together.
Team Participation: Super Good
Music: N/A- We took the week off of worship
Lesson Quality: Pretty Good (We really dug into scripture, and I saw students engaged and connected with the story.
Small Group Quality: Above Above Average (Solid small group interaction and discussions)
Length of Lesson: 20 minutes
Student Response: Very Good- Students were responding verbally, asking questions, and by the looks on their faces took the word to heart.

Awesome series, I think the best one we have done yet, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Have a great week everyone!

John

Vacuum Shoes?

"Hey, I got an idea! What about we invent some shoes that can also vacuum things." This is the statement I envision the person who came up with this concept saying when the light bulb flickered on in his brain. As if America is not lazy enough!


I wonder;

• Will the shoes become a new fashion trend?
• Will they be offered in different colors?
• How much stuff can you actually suck up?
• Is this more efficient than using a regular vacuum?
• Do they run on batteries? What is the battery life?

Anyway, just some thoughts. You can read more about this brilliant innovation by clicking the link Vacuum Shoes. Enjoy!

John