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| 153. Thoughts, viewpoints, and ideas on the incidents in Boston |
| From Youth Specialties on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 4:58 PM PST in the "Resources" Category. Links Boston's Massacre, Media's Response, and a Telling Imbalance - Walt Mueller The Ultimate Terrorist - Greg Steir Friends Show Up! - Doug Fields Today (like everyday), We Pray For Our Enemies - John Huckins Read More... |
| 154. Real Beauty Sketches |
| From Youth Specialties on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 2:42 PM PST in the "Resources" Category. This was a great video showing a social experiment that contrasts how people see themselves vs how others see them. It's a great reminder for our students. Learn more about the entire project: Dove Real Beauty Sketches Read More... |
| 155. Real Beauty Sketches |
| From Youth Specialties on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 2:42 PM PST in the "Resources" Category. This was a great video showing a social experiment that contrasts how people see themselves vs how others see them. It's a great reminder for our students. Learn more about the entire project: Dove Real Beauty Sketches Read More... |
| 156. Fear Only Fear |
| From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 1:39 PM PST in the "Blog" Category. I've been fired two times from ministry positions. Well, that's not fair. I was fired once, and I was laid-off once. But the fearsome inner dialogue that erupted within me—despite 20 years separating the two terminations—was eerily similar. I'd grown and matured in significant ways over those two decades, so my intense reaction to the latest bombshell meant: A. My interior self hadn't grown as much as I would've hoped, or B. My experience, while deeply personal, is not uncommon to anyone who's ever been told, "We don't want you anymore." After walking alongside several fired youth workers over the last few years, my gut tells me both are probably true. But the focus of this article is not about coping with getting fired. Losing my job was simply the most intense personal experience I've had of ongoing and pervasive fear. And the voice of fear has often been the primary tool the evil one has used to keep me frozen—exasperatingly short of the fully transformed life God has dreamed of for me. In both terminations, I saw it coming. I grasped and positioned and politicked and even begged. I tightened my grip, hoping I could somehow control the situation and distract the approaching monster of loss. Once my control was taken away, I entered a very brief stage of disorientation mixed with relief. The waiting was over. My exerted effort to control (which is tiring!) was no longer necessary. But quickly on the heels of that moment, the voice of fear started to whisper, then insinuate, then sneer… "You're done." "No one will hire you after this." "You'll never again impact the Kingdom." "Your family is going to starve." (Yeah, the voice of fear isn't always rational.) ? ? ? My second termination was less than four years ago, so it's fresh in my memory. It's very easy for me to re-live the volcanic emotions of those unendurable months. Sure, I had other strong feelings: anger, sadness, and even something I can only call curiosity. But the struggle that almost undid me was unequivocally an MMA match with my inner voice of fear. My youth ministry coaching program (for a video introduction to the program, go to theyouthcartel.com/coaching-2/) has given me a cautious invitation into the deepest places of struggle in the lives of youth workers. And I've found, over and over again, that somewhere around half of youth workers struggle with debilitating fear. They might hide it well, even from themselves, but it colors their interactions, nudges their decisions in one direction or another, and limits their freedom and ability to truly be themselves. I'll go a step further—we youth workers nurture a collective self-image of fearlessness ("Rawr! I'm a wild one! Get out of my way, 'cause I'm a bundle of Jesus-y action and energy!"). When that vocational stereotype (which is both thrust on us and self-selected) is combined with the spotlight of ministry leadership, it misleads us, telling us that our experiences of fear are not "normal." And that's a killer lie. Enrolling In Theory U Otto Scharmer is an MIT professor and leader of The Presencing Institute. He's created a model of transformation called Theory U that blows me away with its accuracy and insight. I use it in all my coaching groups—it not only offers us a language for describing our organizational and personal transformation, but even more, it delivers keen insights into the inner voices that derail that transformation. Scharmer's Theory U moves in a U shape from the starting point of our current reality, then moves through three downward stages that include: 1. Suspending, when you acknowledge that the change might be good and needed; 2. Redirecting, when you look at your current reality from a third-person perspective, admitting your own culpability for "the way things are;" and 3. Presencing, which Scharmer describes in slightly new-agey language as "waiting for the future that wants to reveal itself." From a Christian perspective, Presencing is the point of spiritual discernment, where we wait on the "still small voice of God." Once a whiff of new possibility is revealed or discerned, we move through three stages that form the upside of the U: 4. Crystallizing, which is the process of shaping the idea or change; 5. Prototyping, where we're beta-testing the change, or checking if we've correctly understood God's prompting; and 6. Performing, which is our transformed state of new reality. These six stages of the "U" are patently helpful, but what has been particularly instructive to me (and helpful both in my own life and in my ministry leadership) are the voices of resistance Scharmer points to. Voices of Resistance First, let's think about this process of transformation in an organizational sense because, frankly, it's easier. All of us, as youth workers, long to be a part of positive change in our churches and youth ministries. And who hasn't tried to introduce a change (a new program or a cancellation of a long-standing tradition) that was met with some level of resistance? So let's say your weekly youth group meetings just feel stale. You've been doing the same thing, in the same format, for a very long time. It's rote. You're bored with the format, and have noticed the slow advance of entropy in your students' responses. They're still attending, but they're not engaged, and you don't see many signs of spiritual growth. But you're a savvy and spiritually minded youth worker. And you won't respond by simply copying some other church's program or introducing disruptive changes based on a youth ministry fad. What you really long for is to re-imagine your weekly youth group meeting in response to God's leading. What you really long for is to collectively and collaboratively enter into a process of spiritual discernment. You know in your gut that change is needed, but you'd prefer to follow God rather than simply "tweaking" things. As soon as word gets out about your intentions, you quickly run into the four voices of resistance: 1. The Voice of Judgment—Quite simply, the Voice of Judgment is represented by the people who say (innocently or, as most of us have experienced, with a threatening, dismissive tone): "Change is not necessary." "Why would we change anything?" "Things are just fine as they are." "We've always done it this way!" This sort of change-resistant judgment can shut down the possibility of growth and deep transformation mere seconds after the hint of change has left your lips. What will combat the Voice of Judgment? An Open Mind—a simple willingness to at least consider the possibility of change. 2. The Voice of Cynicism—The best way to define cynicism is, simply, "the opposite of hope." Cynicism and hope cannot co-exist. While the Voice of Judgment says, "Change isn't necessary," the Voice of Cynicism says, "Change isn't possible." "We can't pull that off." "We don't have the resources to do anything differently." "We tried that before and it didn't work." The Voice of Cynicism is a wicked, wicked enemy of transformation. It's rooted in a low self-image (or a low image of the power of God), and it's shockingly prevalent in churches. We look at our lousy track record of living into substantive change, or we compare ourselves to the "successful" church across town, and we respond with hopelessness. The resource we need to overcome the voices of Judgment and Cynicism, in Scharmer's terms, is an Open Heart. Can you see the beauty of this? When we open our hearts to God's great goodness and the Holy Spirit's transforming work, how can we not resonate with the God of Isaiah who said, "See, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:19, or, for older youth workers, DC Talk). 3. The Voice of Fear—If we're able to move past or through the Voices of Judgment and Cynicism, we get to the real bad boy: The Voice of Fear (cue shivers). While the Voice of Judgment says, "Change isn't necessary," and the Voice of Cynicism says, "Change isn't possible," the Voice of Fear says, "If change happens, I'll lose something." "That would cause me to lose power." "This change might be inconvenient." "I'm comfortable with the way things are now, and don't want to risk that." Fear is the trickiest of these voices, as it's so rarely expressed as a direct statement. I've found I can fairly easily spot the first two voices when I'm watching for them. They're blunt and obvious. But expressions of fear are usually cloaked in other language, because the person (or group) stating the resistance isn't usually aware of the fear that informs their resistance! I love that Scharmer tells us the resource we need to overcome the Voice of Fear is an Open Will (which he short-hands as "Spiritual Intelligence"!). Acknowledging and facing our fears really is a matter of will. Now, will alone doesn't generate much of a solution to fear; but it's a critical starting point. Here's a crazy generalization (but still true more often than not): When you try to introduce change in youth ministry, you'll likely hear the voices of resistance come at you in these ways… • Parents will often verbalize (in helpful and unhelpful ways) the Voice of Judgment. • Volunteer youth workers will often express the Voice of Cynicism. • And your teenagers will usually be the primary megaphone for the Voice of Fear. Battling Our Own Inner Voices Now for the uncomfortable part. It's one thing to finger those people and their voices of resistance. We're the change-embracing, risk-taking, Spirit-responsive youth workers, after all! We get this stuff. Except, I'm also riddled with fears (and plenty of judgment and cynicism, for that matter). I might be pretty good at keeping my own resistant voices chained up in the basement of my soul and psyche, pretending they don't exist. But in times of emotional intensity—like the two job losses I mentioned at the beginning of this article—they start howling from their subterranean pen, threatening to rip free of their chains and wreak havoc in my life. Our God is passionate about transforming your life. God wants a new you, a better you, a more sustainable you, a version of you who more fully embodies who he made you to be—in your personal and ministry lives. Maybe you're naturally drawn to the Voice of Judgment ("I don't need to change!") or the Voice of Cynicism ("I'm not capable of change"). But here's what I've found: While youth workers are stereotypically cynics when it comes to change in their churches, it's the subtle, lying Voice of Fear that most often hamstrings change in our own lives. We fear being "found out." We fear being exposed as a fraud. We fear losing our job or the security of a salary. We fear having our integrity questioned, or our character accused. We fear not being good enough, or strong enough, or insightful enough, or capable enough. For most of us, our arch-enemy is our own voice, co-opted by the evil one, whose intention is to destroy our potential. What Do We Do? After I was terminated a second time, the fears I'd kept at bay in the basement of my soul broke free, and came hunting for me. I retreated to a cabin in the desert—I was in the desert literally and figuratively! I gave a full day to focus on each of the primary emotions I was experiencing: sadness, anger, fear, and joy. As I was honest about my fears, they poured out of me. I typed furiously on my keyboard, filling pages and pages with the most raw and unfiltered ugliness. That was more than three years ago. And—this is going to sound strange, so stick with me—I now think of those fears almost like friends. Sure, they're dysfunctional friends that can seriously jack with my life. But my fears have driven me to a more dependent humility in my relationship with God. Listen: My fears have not gone away. They seem almost like a cross to carry. They're part of me, like a pet that could scratch my eyes out, but mostly lies innocuously in the corner. Naming them defangs them, disempowers them. And as I'm present to my fears, I'm able to consciously and consistently hold them up on the palms of my hands, as an offering to Jesus, the one who longs to transform me. I'm not completely sure why Jesus doesn't totally remove them from me (probably something about keeping me humble, or living into a life of faith), but I'm okay with that. How about you? • Can you be honest about the fears that hold you back from experiencing the ongoing transformation and change brought by the Holy Spirit, and leading to the John 10:10 full life God dreams of for you? • Can you acknowledge those fears—what you risk losing—and hold them out on open palms? • Can you ask Jesus to take you to a place of risk, of faith, of deep revision? Oh, I long for that in my own life, and will pray for it in yours. ? Mark was, for many years, president of Youth Specialties. He's now a partner in The Youth Cartel, a youth ministry training and resourcing organization. And he's the author and co-author of our new five-book series "A Parents' Guide to Understanding…" (check them out here: www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-parents---family.html). Mark lives in southern California. My Journal of Fear Here's an actual excerpt from the journal I kept during that time in the desert more than three years ago, while I was facing my deepest fears… This experience for me is physical. It's a significant tightening of the muscles in my chest, and a shortness of breath (or, more like a shallowness of breath—little truncated baby-breaths). At the same time, my mind starts to tell stories—negative plausibilities that freight-train into likelihoods. I create fictional reasons for why this particular thing must be happening, and quickly embrace them as the most probable explanation or outcome. In this space, I'm convinced they're true, or most likely true, even though I can cognitively ascent to the possibility that they're not true once the anxiety subsides. But just as often, the tales I tell during those periods become my new reality, and I repeat them, cementing them, until or unless someone or something intervenes to force a new perspective. • I'm anxious about losing friends, which seems fairly inevitable. • I'm afraid I won't find a meaningful job. • I'm afraid whatever job I find—meaningful or not—will be such a dramatic lowering of income that our family will suffer (which will, as much as I try to convince myself otherwise, totally feel like "my fault"). • I'm afraid I'll lose interest in the things I've been passionate about, especially if I'm in a role that doesn't give me cause to think on them and speak about them. • I'm afraid I'll have a cool opportunity that will require a move, and a boring opportunity that allows us to stay in San Diego, and that I'll have to choose, knowing that one seems selfish, and the other feels like death. • I'm afraid of becoming a shell of myself. I'm afraid that I've "peaked," and nothing else—work-wise—will come close to providing the meaning and fun that I've experienced. • I'm afraid I'll have to wear a suit and tie, or at least "business casual," and give up some of my individuality in order to get work. • I'm afraid I won't be able to tell thousands of youth workers that they really matter, that they're not crazy. I'm afraid I won't be able to tell them they need to change and try new things. I afraid I won't be able to encourage them or push them or paint a picture of a new reality. • I'm afraid I'll have to be normal and boring and conventional and predictable. • I'm afraid I'll phone it in… …struggle, …have nothing to say, …and no one to say it to. ? Read More... |
| 157. Ministry & Media |
| From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 10:48 AM PST in the "Blog" Category. [music] BUILDING 429 SONG:"Press On" (from We Won't Be Shaken) TOPIC:Trust THEME:The singer doesn't always know what's in store, but is willing to press on as long as God's at his side. BACKGROUND:It's hard to believe Building 429 has been around for a dozen years. Opener "Get Up" encourages us do be more than pew-seaters and change the world for Jesus. The title track—and first single—is a radio-friendly tune about standing strong despite things that come our way. "All The Glory" acknowledges that no matter what we may accomplish on this earth, it's thanks to God. "Bonfire" is a synth-heavy rocker that is the most surprising song on the album—truth be told, I was hoping for a few more surprising moments... DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:Tell about a time when you've had "fear and doubt." How were you able to overcome those feelings? Is having fears and doubts wrong? Why or why not? What are some excuses people give for not following God? Why doesn't God just reveal himself and his plans, and take away our fears and doubts? Read aloud Proverbs 3:5-6. What does it look like to trust in the Lord with all of your heart? How can you trust when you don't know exactly what the future looks like? Does having "straight paths" mean we'll never encounter problems? Explain. [music] ANDY MINEO SONG:"Bitter" (from Heroes For Sale) TOPIC:Bitterness THEME:The singer realizes that if he holds onto bitterness, there's no room for love. BACKGROUND:Even though he's only 24, hip-hop artist Andy Mineo has made his presence known for years, working with and producing names such as Trip Lee and Lecrae. This is his first solo album, and it's a unique blend of classical music, hymns, heavy metal, electronica, and hip-hop. The album kicks off with "Superhuman," which begins with a slice of the hymn "I Will Rise and Go to Jesus," and then rushes into a song about how we put people on pedestals, even though we're all just human. "Wild Things" is a scathing plea for us to step out of the four walls of the church and go to "the wilds," where the people who need us really are. The screaming vocals and heavy guitars match the subject matter. "The Saints" and "AYO" are "party songs" about enjoying our lives and living in freedom through Christ. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:Why is it that bitterness and love can't coexist? What are some things you get bitter about? What are some things that bitterness can lead to? Read aloud Ephesians 4:31-32. How are bitterness, anger, and slander related? What makes forgiving others so hard? How does bitterness and unforgiveness reflect on us as Christians? [Keyword: video] THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY [PG-13] TOPIC:Love SCRIPTURE:John 13:34 CLIP LOCATION:01:41:00 through 01:42:26 (DVD Chapter: 20) SYNOPSIS:Galadriel asks Gandalf why he would choose a hobbit. Gandalf says that while some believe only those with great power that can hold evil in check, he believes it's ordinary people doing "simple acts of kindness and love" that have power, too. GOSPEL FILTER:As Mother Teresa famously said: "We can't all do great things. But we can do small things with great love." How would it transform the world if we could teach teenagers to have that mind-set? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:Do you agree with Gandalf, that "simple acts of kindness and love" can be as powerful as greater acts? Explain. When have you seen someone show a simple act of kindness and love? Why isn't that kind of behavior a part of most people's everyday lives? Read aloud John 13:34. Why would Jesus have to make loving one another a commandment—shouldn't it just come naturally? What makes loving other people so hard? What are some ways we can love one another? [Keyword: video] LINCOLN [PG-13] TOPIC:Equality SCRIPTURE:Galatians 3:28 CLIP LOCATION:01:14:11 through 01:17:34 (DVD Chapter: 10) SYNOPSIS:Lincoln has a discussion about equality, and how it's about balance and fairness. GOSPEL FILTER:The idea of making things "fair" is a big one today. Is the world fair? Should it be? Does the Bible back up balance and "fairness"? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:What was the equality and fairness Lincoln was talking about? Do you think the world is more equal now than it was then? What does equality mean to you? Why is the world so concerned with the fairness of things? What are some benefits of keeping things equal? What are some problems with keeping everything equal? Read aloud Galatians 3:28. If we're all equal in God's eyes, why do some have a harder life than others? Ultimately, what does it mean to be "one in Christ Jesus"? What is our responsibility in keeping ourselves and others as one in Christ Jesus? [Keyword: video] RISE OF THE GUARDIANS [PG] TOPIC:Purpose SCRIPTURE:John 15:16 CLIP LOCATION:00:11:14 through 00:16:10 (DVD Chapter: 3) SYNOPSIS:Jack Frost helps some kids have a fun snow day, but he's frustrated they can't see him. He says to the Man in the Moon, "You put me here; the least you can do is tell me why…" GOSPEL FILTER:Even though he's looking at the Man in the Moon, Jack could easily be asking that question of God. And it's a feeling that many teenagers are wrestling with: Why am I here? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Tell about a time where you felt "invisible." Why do we sometimes ignore people around us? What do you think your "purpose" is on this earth? How do we find our purpose? Read aloud John 15:16. According to this verse, why are we here? What does Jesus mean when he says we should "bear fruit"? Tell about a person who seems to bear the fruit Jesus is talking about? What makes that person different? Does being "chosen and appointed" make you feel less invisible? Why or why not? [Keyword: video] [youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RElUmGI5gLc TOPIC:Learning DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:Would you be a part of this program if you could? Why or why not? What are some risks of a program like that? If you could design your own school program, what would you change? What would you keep the same? Read Proverbs 1:1-7. Why does Solomon value knowledge and learning so much? What would it look like if we took that same sort of approach to our youth group? If you could design our youth group, what would you change? What would you keep the same? Read More... |
| 158. We're All Born This Way |
| From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 10:42 AM PST in the "Blog" Category. The other day I had breakfast with an old friend—we've met, off and on, two Saturday mornings a month for 10 years or so. I hadn't seen him in a few months, so we had some catching up to do. I asked about his family. He paused, glanced down for a moment, then leveled his gaze at me. "This will take awhile if I go in this direction," he said. "I have time," I said. And then he pulled the pin on the grenade: "Well, [college-age son] came to us a few months ago and told us he was tired of fighting it—he wanted us to know that he was coming out as gay, and he intended to start openly living as a gay man." In my friend's eyes, I could see the weight of years loaded into this short statement. I asked if this admission was a shock to my friend and his wife. He told me that his son had always been wired differently, and that he'd come to him when he was 12, anxious and upset over the dawning possibility that those differences might mean he was gay. So my friend took his son to counseling every week for six years, trying to give him the space to wrestle-out his feelings, within a context of engaged pursuit. "I never told you about all of this because I wanted to honor the privacy of my son's struggle," he said. "I understand," I said. "So, how are you and your wife processing all of this now?" "Well, I've read a bunch of books, prayed a lot, and hashed stuff out with [my wife]. Mostly, I was worried that my son might resent me for taking him to a counselor all those years, but he told me he was grateful for it—the counselor really helped him to navigate his feelings." I asked if his views on homosexuality had changed, now that he had a deeply personal connection to it. And he explained that the pile of books he'd read could be divided into two camps—nurture and nature. Some contend that homosexuality is the byproduct of environmental factors that funnel some kids toward homosexual feelings and behaviors. Others insist that homosexuality is a genetic reality, and therefore just as "natural" an orientation as heterosexuality. For those in Camp #2, homosexuality can't be considered sinful because those who identify as gay are, simply, hard-wired that way. Lady Gaga captures the spirit of that argument in her hit song from 2011, "Born This Way": "No matter gay, straight or bi/Lesbian, transgendered life/I'm on the right track, baby/I was born to survive." In contrast, those in Camp #1 treat homosexuality as a sin because that's how the Bible labels it, over and over calling it an "abomination" (which means, literally, "that which is forbidden"). The two camps appear to have little overlap, but my friend told me that he doesn't feel wholly comfortable in either one: "Even my son told me, as he was coming out to us, that he believes homosexuality is sin. But he was just tired of fighting his feelings—living as a poser. So it was a tremendous weight off his shoulders when he finally gave in to the inevitable." I asked, "If even your son believes it's a sin, what does that mean for both of you?" "Well," he answered, "I believe some are born with a latent proclivity to homosexuality, and it's sometimes triggered into an active lifestyle by environmental factors. That's how I've landed with my son, for now…" And then my friend asked a question that's at the core of the issue for followers of Jesus, and especially those who serve as ministry leaders: "If God truly created some this way, isn't it simply judgmental to treat those who identify as gay as some kind of pariah?" I said something like this: The truth is, we're all born into toxic water—there's not a person on earth who has escaped the "sin bath." That means all of us, to use Lady Gaga's template, are "born this way." Some of that toxic residue is more culturally acceptable—greediness, selfishness, insecurity, anger, narcissism, and so on. The truth is, we're all born with a proclivity for something(s), and our environment often triggers what is latent and makes it active. All of us must wrestle-out the consequences and influence of sin in our life. Capitulation is certainly a pragmatic strategy, but I can't defend it as a path that honors God or spin it as "obedience." As fellow travelers, we have no business heaving stones at the adulterous woman—Jesus made that clear in John 8. But we also have no business normalizing sin to take the pressure off the dissonance we feel when we love people (just like ourselves) who are contaminated by sin. God said a brave and true thing to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). It's God's grace, the power of our weakness, that is our path forward—and that transcends the arguments of Camp #1 and Camp #2. ? Read More... |
| 159. The Ultimate Terrorist |
| From Dare 2 Share Ministries International on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 8:16 AM PST in the "Blog" Category. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...." John 10:10 "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 My heart is broken over the loss of life and massive casualties in Boston yesterday. Two bombs exploded and lives were changed in an instant. Three deaths (so far) and well over a hundred injuries ensued. Mass chaos followed. A city, a state and a nation are in mourning over this brazen act of terrorism. The finish line of the Boston Marathon should have been a threshold of celebration, a testament to the hard work and perseverance of runners who accomplished the ultimate feat. But for many it became an asphalt emergency room. And tragically, for a few, it became a different kind of finish line...the final one. Pray with me for the grieving families and recovering victims. Pray that the terrorist(s) is caught and brought to justice. Pray for the church to rise up in Boston and be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people of that great and historic city. As the authorities desperately search for clues as to who was responsible for these bombings it's easy to forget that there is another terrorist behind the human terrorist who actually lit the fuse. The murderer who committed this crime was influenced by an even darker spiritual force....the ultimate terrorist. The ultimate terrorist snickers at every headline that amplifies his horrific handiwork. He thrives off infusing fear and terror into the hearts of as many as possible. This sadistic murderer runs a global network of unseen terrorists who do his bidding at every turn. This terrorist uses humans as pawns to steal, kill, destroy and terrorize. There are no Navy Seals that can storm his compound to take his life. He'll never be tracked down by the FBI or Homeland Security. This terrorist, the ultimate terrorist, is Satan himself. He is the one who whispers in the ears of terrorist both foreign and domestic to pull triggers, make bombs and ambush the innocent. We as believers can fight back. The great Apostle Paul tells us how in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." We don't fight back with weapons built by human hands. We fight back with prayer. We fight back with divine love. We fight back by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Will you strap on your spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-20) with me in light of yesterday's tragedy? Will you use your spiritual weapon of prayer to fight against the Prince of Darkness and uphold the people of Boston over the next several days? Will you reach out with love to those around you who are wondering why all this happened? Will you share with them, not two dollar answers to two million dollar questions, but the hope that Jesus offers in the backwash of such horrific tragedies? If you are a follower of Christ then you are engaged against the ultimate terrorist. He came to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus came to bring life, true life. Let us share this life and hope with a world that is in desperate need of it...especially now. Read More... |
| 160. YM Essentials: The Boston Marathon Bombings: Dealing With National Tragedies |
| From youthministry360 on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 @ 8:02 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. Yesterday's horrific events at the Boston Marathon are touchstone days in our national conscience. They are days marked by unspeakable national tragedy. And though tragedy affects our communities each day, national tragedies, such as terrorist attacks, shootings, and natural disasters, provide a meaningful opportunity to help students grow in their understanding of God and His ways. In the process, I believe they grow closer to Him, to each other, and develop valuable empathy for others.But none of this is possible if you ignore your chance to address these issues. I will never forget the pastor of my previous church preaching to the congregation on the Sunday following 9/11. It was a powerful time. I vividly recall eating lunch with a friend the Monday after the sermon. I remember communicating to him what a meaningful message my pastor had preached. I asked if he was similarly moved by his pastor's message. He replied that his pastor was doing a sermon series and simply preached the next sermon in the series. Of course, they prayed for the victims, but the pastor missed the moment to help his congregation process their feelings and connect the events with their faith. I have never forgotten this encounter. It impressed upon me the importance of adapting our plans to address meaningful, and especially tragic, events that impact our society. So, let me encourage you to consider adapting your plans and addressing the events in Boston the next time you engage your students.While your chosen method of addressing these incidents will vary, here are some general guidelines that will help you in discussing tragedies like the one that happened in Boston. Connect Evil With SinHelp students see that God's original plan for creation was for peace and harmony. And not just peace between God and people, but peace between people and the created world. Peace between people and animals. And peace between people and other people. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were choosing their own rule over God's. And as a result, from that moment until now, there has been discord between people. Evil and violence is a result of sin. It is a result of humankind, not God.God Acts To Rescue Us From EvilJesus is God's answer to sin and evil. Through Jesus, God made a pathway for people to be saved from the consequences of evil. Even though evil may win in the moment, God has removed the long-term sting of evil's consequences. There is no death in Christ, only life. Furthermore, God acts through people who have been transformed by Christ to spread Christ's love and goodness in the world. So while evil is at work, good is at work as well. And good will win in the end. Always. Allow Students To Express EmotionAllow for a healthy expression of emotion. God is the creator of emotions. He can handle our anger, our questioning, our fear, and so on. Don't ever discourage students from expressing these emotions. Instead, just as we see in countless examples in the psalms, encourage them to bring them to God, trusting Him to handle them in line with His character. Allow Students To Ask QuestionsWe get scared by not having the answers. One of the redeeming things about a national tragedy such as this is that it gives you a more comfortable environment to NOT have the answers. For many, including me, the presence of evil and suffering is one of the great questions of their faith. While there are correct theological answers to these questions, they don't often provide a source of comfort for the soul, especially the soul of those who grieve. In these cases, it's OK to not have a tidy answer for every question. Sometimes we must trust in who God is and know that in the end, He will make all things right. We wanted to link to a few thoughtful responses to the tragedies here. We will expand this list as more becomes available. Please feel free to share your thoughts or links in the comment section below. Boston Massacre, Media's Response, And A Telling Imbalance by Walt MuellerMarathon Marred by Fatal Bombings by Steph MartinToday (Like Everyday), We Pray For Our Enemies by Jon HuckinsTragedy in Boston: Roundup of Reactions from Pastors in the Area by Ed StetzerA Glowing Message Of Hope For Boston by Morgan Clendaniel Boston Marathon Explosions: A Personal Theological Response by Daniel GriswoldPatriots' Day by D. Scott MillerWhen Terrorism Comes Close-The Boston Marathon I'll Never Forget by Tim MeierA Theology of Tragedy in Youth Ministry by Benjer McVeighPraying For Boston by Steven Sheets Read More... |
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