I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church…I have a lot to say on both subjects…and then some
I'm sitting in a doctor's office in Petoskey because of some minor ailments from the last couple days. Some thoughts that I have had after the end of the Big Ticket Festival Tour have been rolling around in my head.
First, I have come to the conclusion that serving others is the missing ingredient from most churches. I've heard stories and stats about how we are heading for a post-Christian America, and ways to combat it, but it seems to me that if we quit worrying about what is happening and engage the world as servants, not as combatants, we would do more to speak into the world's situations.
Second, which is related to the first, I am beginning to think that some of the legislating of morality is the wrong track. I understand it, but I think that more social conservatives do damage, by trying to legislate their interpretation of morality and lose the ability to speak into others' lives.
So what do we do? I think that the church needs to quit picking at theological issues and instead focus on practical issues. Earn the right to speak into someone's life. Don't be condemning. Like the women caught in adultery, Jesus said he didn't condemn her, and go and sin no more. I also think that eventhough marijuana use is wrong, treating it like we do alcohol, seems a better way than the farce of drug enforcement that we have. We need to listen and find out why someone is using substances rather than judge them for using.
I guess I see very little compassion from the church. That is where we need to start.
I was listening to the Net @ Night podcast with Leo Laporte and Sarah Lane (standing in for Amber MacArthur) the other night. Somehow the subject they started talking about was a portion of the Conan O’Brien show from earlier in the week. This was an interesting, because Scot McKnight, a theologian and blogger that I regularly read just got done with a series about the book Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled–and More Miserable Than Ever Before. Both of these hit on the unique subject that with everything we have, people are more miserable. I see this with the youth group kids and the some people in church. Listening to the podcast Money Life with Chuck Bentley, he has been hammering the fact that we have put ourselves into debt to buy things that end up making us miserable. So we keep trying to earn money to buy our happiness, only to be unfulfilled. I won’t go into details, but there are people that I am close to that they haven’t figured that out yet. In fact, they once told me that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I think that in the coming years, that America will realize that we need to change…
I subscribe to and read a lot of ministry blogs, especially youth ministry. I found this while reading this morning. Here’s the lead in:
I agree whole heartedly, most of the pain in the church is compounded with the poor way in which discouragement is handled. Doug Ranck points out a good process to deal with it when it comes knocking at your door.
Here’s the link.
Cross posted at Big Ticket Festival Ministers’ Connection.
I know that Christianity isn’t works driven, but as it says in James, a faith without works is dead. The other thing that most don’t realize is that when you do good deeds, you usually have good feelings and vice versa.
Indexed » Blog Archive » Don’t do it for the tax deduction.
I listen to a lot of podcasts, read a lot of blogs, and keep up with things on some of the bigger social media sites. I love to learn, especially when it comes to ministry and specifically, youth ministry.
So recently, I was listening to the Fuller Youth Institute podcast with Kara Powell. She was interviewing Leroy Barber on Sabbath Rest for urban youth workers.
During the interview, there was an interesting interchange about senior pastors expectations for youth pastors. One youth pastor talked to his senior pastor and told him that they probably wouldn’t see fruit for 5 years. His senior pastor accepted that. That seems to me, not to be the norm. While sitting in a youth worker seminar at a Youth Specialties convention, Len Evans brought out a interesting statistic (at least I think this is where I got it from the convention was in 2002) that youth pastors time expectancy at a job is, on average 3 years.
We are called by God, whether we have a degree or not, to walk slowly beside the ones we minister and realize that once the salvation has started that is a long process of healing and reorienting their life toward the path that God would have them take.
I look at this website, the Facebook group, the MySpace page, and Twitter account as a way to facilitate that process. We are all here to walk next to each other whether in paid ministry or in volunteer ministry and help each with the path that God has appointed us to and help spread the Light of His Word.
Cross posted at Big Ticket Festival Ministers Connection
Where do we draw the line? I understand not letting a teacher lead or organize prayer in a public school or related setting. They are government workers, and if a government worker in a work type setting is leading or organizing prayer or some sort of religious service then I understand how that under the Constitution that could be viewed as establishment of religion. I work for the federal government (National Weather Service) and it would be inappropriate for me to lead a prayer at a severe weather spotter talk.
However, here is where I have the problem. Somebody else who is not a government representative organizes a prayer at a function, and I am then not allowed to express my beliefs by praying along with them?
I understand the original complaint with the coach leading the prayers, but now, if the students organize and lead the prayers, he can’t participate? If he is showing favoritism to the Christian players over the non-Christian ones, then that is wrong, that’s even non-Biblical (book of James). However, if he isn’t doing that and expressing his beliefs who are we to interfere.
So if I go to a Lion’s Club meeting to do a talk, and they pray am I not allowed to participate?
The Associated Press: Ban on a type of prayer in school allowed to stand
