I like Blake. I make it a point to mention that because it wasn't always true. When I first started out in this youth group, when I had no idea what I was doing or what it took to be a leader, when my place in all this was really about me finding my purpose...back then, my impression of Blake was made from an immature and selfish perspective. I got a vibe that Blake didn't like me, so I didn't like him. It was that simple.
But that was then and this is now. Not only have I figured out that, as a leader, I have no room for personal grudges, but I have also come to see the things that make Blake an interesting and overall good person. And I gotta say, I really like the dude.
I hate what's going on now. I hate not having him with us. I hate that Satan keeps managing to take him away from us. Those of you who want direction for our youth group, this is a perfect opportunity to get some. We should be a youth group that prays for each other. We WILL NOT sit on our hands while Satan does this to one of our own! I want Satan to tremble in fear under God's power being carried out through us and our prayers! Who's with me?!
And just to clarify something here: I think this is important for us to discuss. I won't share the details of Blake's situation here for any Internet surfer to see (and I'd ask the rest of you to use the same kind of discretion), but the general idea of discussing each others' struggles for the sake of being there for each other is not inappropriate. In fact, I'd hope we're all comfortable doing it. Make sense?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Direction
This post is in response to the discussion taking place on the post called "Don't Ask." Check it out if you haven't already.
I'm just going to try to share a small part of my own personal vision (a vision that is more or less shared by all the leaders) for our youth group, with as much specific details as I can. This is a very difficult post because there's so much detail I could include. Saying it all would be too much to read, but saying only parts would be ignoring important issues. In the end, I have to trust that you guys can figure out a lot of this stuff for yourselves. But please feel free to bring up anything not mentioned in the comments for discussion.
So, my vision...
God first! God first! God first! It's not about us! It's all about God! Once we understand that, then we work for...
A youth group wherein every member, that's everyone from you guys who are active on this blog to that Roxanne girl that comes on Wednesday nights but rarely talks to anyone, has a passion for God and are clearly growing in their spiritual lives. Everyone should be bonded in that goal. That means you guys are all so interested in God that He occasionally makes his way into your everyday conversations (conversations that could easily include any member of our youth group). Take a moment to picture what that might look like.
Okay, if you're really picturing that, let's move on...
Let's say we get to go to Mission Arlington. What if every member (even the ones that currently never join us in anything we do) was there and excited about working? What if everyone could see how they were being used and were excited about it? Everyone! Picture that. What do you see? What's happening? What are you doing? What is the person you most hang out with doing? What are the two of you talking about?
Or lets say we were at PlanetWisdom. Someone in our youth group is saved. What if every member was unanimously rejoicing? Or what if no one in our youth group was saved and we were all just rejoicing about the strangers that were saved? Can you picture us doing this? How are we doing it? Are we gathering together in prayer for them? Do some of us have tears in our eyes? Are some of us joining them at the front? In any case, I'd say we are doing it together, and with a single purpose, which is to give God the glory.
By the way, where do you see us sitting? Could you see us sitting closer to the front...close enough to make eye contact with the ones who have come forward? I'm not talking about sitting close to the front for show as some youth groups do; I'm talking about consciously putting ourselves in a position wherein we might have an opportunity to reach out and lend some support, even through something as simple as eye contact. Think about that. Maybe I'm wrong, but at the very least, it's something to consider.
Okay, now to name some names...
Shaun could be a leader, but he needs more confidence in himself. JD could be a leader, but he needs to recognize that he's worth more than just a laugh. Stephen could be a leader, but he needs to feel accepted (same goes for David). Ryan could be a leader, but he needs how to lead all the above to be leaders themselves. Make sense? This list could go on and on...Ben could be a leader of the skater kids (and skater wannabes), Melody could be a leader among all the girls (as could Lauren and Laykin), Roxanne and Clay could be leaders among the neighborhood kids, Amelia and Daniel could be leaders among those who currently aren't very active (after becoming more active themselves)...Blake could too.
You guys could recognize needs like these and help each other by trying to encourage each other individually in them. That's part of the youth group we'd like to see - members helping and encouraging each other not just in general areas but in the specific needs and working toward finding each other's specific place. One of the biggest parts of this is recognizing these needs. You might say, "Well, I don't know what their needs are." Well, members that seek to discern such needs are in fact themselves part of what makes a strong youth group. It's not just in recognizing needs...its also in caring enough to make the effort to seek them out when you don't recognize them. I know that's a mouthful, but try to understand what I'm saying here.
Notice that the key to all of this is every member, even those ones that don't seem to think they really have a place and are just observers. When our youth group understands that THERE ARE NO OBSERVERS IN OUR YOUTH GROUP, then we will be getting somewhere. Everyone has a part to play...somehow.
Okay, so hopefully through all this, you have some idea of who we are. Now, what are we doing? Well, I've already suggested a couple things - Mission Arlington, PlanetWisdom. More importantly than the specifics (which is Aaron's call) is the ideas behind the things we do. If we go to Mission Arlington, the idea is "missions." If we go to PlanetWisdom, that's "discipleship." Get it? Missions, discipleship, fellowship. These should be the three main ideas behind any thing we do. So what should we do? Well, let's think about things that fall under these categories. What do you think? Any ideas?
Consider this also: it's not just in trips. It's also in projects. We've already got Compassion. What is there to do with that? Is it enough to remember to give a couple bucks to that every now and then? If not, what else can we be doing with it? And let's not forget about OneVerse. If you're interested in this, please tell Aaron. Encourage him to get us involved with it.
That leads me to another point about leadership. It's okay to challenge the youth leaders. We want you to. If there's something you feel our youth group should be doing, lead out in it...starting with telling the leaders about it. Stephen does this, and it's really encouraging.
So that's about all I can think to write for now. Before I conclude (my part, that is), I think I should try to suggest some specific goals...
I'm just going to try to share a small part of my own personal vision (a vision that is more or less shared by all the leaders) for our youth group, with as much specific details as I can. This is a very difficult post because there's so much detail I could include. Saying it all would be too much to read, but saying only parts would be ignoring important issues. In the end, I have to trust that you guys can figure out a lot of this stuff for yourselves. But please feel free to bring up anything not mentioned in the comments for discussion.
So, my vision...
God first! God first! God first! It's not about us! It's all about God! Once we understand that, then we work for...
A youth group wherein every member, that's everyone from you guys who are active on this blog to that Roxanne girl that comes on Wednesday nights but rarely talks to anyone, has a passion for God and are clearly growing in their spiritual lives. Everyone should be bonded in that goal. That means you guys are all so interested in God that He occasionally makes his way into your everyday conversations (conversations that could easily include any member of our youth group). Take a moment to picture what that might look like.
Okay, if you're really picturing that, let's move on...
Let's say we get to go to Mission Arlington. What if every member (even the ones that currently never join us in anything we do) was there and excited about working? What if everyone could see how they were being used and were excited about it? Everyone! Picture that. What do you see? What's happening? What are you doing? What is the person you most hang out with doing? What are the two of you talking about?
Or lets say we were at PlanetWisdom. Someone in our youth group is saved. What if every member was unanimously rejoicing? Or what if no one in our youth group was saved and we were all just rejoicing about the strangers that were saved? Can you picture us doing this? How are we doing it? Are we gathering together in prayer for them? Do some of us have tears in our eyes? Are some of us joining them at the front? In any case, I'd say we are doing it together, and with a single purpose, which is to give God the glory.
By the way, where do you see us sitting? Could you see us sitting closer to the front...close enough to make eye contact with the ones who have come forward? I'm not talking about sitting close to the front for show as some youth groups do; I'm talking about consciously putting ourselves in a position wherein we might have an opportunity to reach out and lend some support, even through something as simple as eye contact. Think about that. Maybe I'm wrong, but at the very least, it's something to consider.
Okay, now to name some names...
Shaun could be a leader, but he needs more confidence in himself. JD could be a leader, but he needs to recognize that he's worth more than just a laugh. Stephen could be a leader, but he needs to feel accepted (same goes for David). Ryan could be a leader, but he needs how to lead all the above to be leaders themselves. Make sense? This list could go on and on...Ben could be a leader of the skater kids (and skater wannabes), Melody could be a leader among all the girls (as could Lauren and Laykin), Roxanne and Clay could be leaders among the neighborhood kids, Amelia and Daniel could be leaders among those who currently aren't very active (after becoming more active themselves)...Blake could too.
You guys could recognize needs like these and help each other by trying to encourage each other individually in them. That's part of the youth group we'd like to see - members helping and encouraging each other not just in general areas but in the specific needs and working toward finding each other's specific place. One of the biggest parts of this is recognizing these needs. You might say, "Well, I don't know what their needs are." Well, members that seek to discern such needs are in fact themselves part of what makes a strong youth group. It's not just in recognizing needs...its also in caring enough to make the effort to seek them out when you don't recognize them. I know that's a mouthful, but try to understand what I'm saying here.
Notice that the key to all of this is every member, even those ones that don't seem to think they really have a place and are just observers. When our youth group understands that THERE ARE NO OBSERVERS IN OUR YOUTH GROUP, then we will be getting somewhere. Everyone has a part to play...somehow.
Okay, so hopefully through all this, you have some idea of who we are. Now, what are we doing? Well, I've already suggested a couple things - Mission Arlington, PlanetWisdom. More importantly than the specifics (which is Aaron's call) is the ideas behind the things we do. If we go to Mission Arlington, the idea is "missions." If we go to PlanetWisdom, that's "discipleship." Get it? Missions, discipleship, fellowship. These should be the three main ideas behind any thing we do. So what should we do? Well, let's think about things that fall under these categories. What do you think? Any ideas?
Consider this also: it's not just in trips. It's also in projects. We've already got Compassion. What is there to do with that? Is it enough to remember to give a couple bucks to that every now and then? If not, what else can we be doing with it? And let's not forget about OneVerse. If you're interested in this, please tell Aaron. Encourage him to get us involved with it.
That leads me to another point about leadership. It's okay to challenge the youth leaders. We want you to. If there's something you feel our youth group should be doing, lead out in it...starting with telling the leaders about it. Stephen does this, and it's really encouraging.
So that's about all I can think to write for now. Before I conclude (my part, that is), I think I should try to suggest some specific goals...
- We have an average of 25 kids on Wednesday nights. By the end of this month, let's try for 30.
- By the end of March, let's pray to see a significant difference in the behavior on Wednesday nights.
- I want to see somebody (hopefully a lot somebodies) in our youth group saved in the next few months. I know that things like these are in God's hands, but we should be praying for it anyway. And if there's somebody specific you know, by all means, pray for them.
- Speaking of specific people, we need to be praying for Blake.
- Of course, there's M-Fuge. Don't assume that's just going to "happen."
- We also need to be praying for Dalton.
- I would say that success with this "True Love Waits" program should be a goal. How exactly do we measure this success? Maybe this isn't for us to know, but I believe that if God really moves, we should all recognize it.
After School Activities
What do you guys do after school? Hang out? Go straight home? Get into trouble? I've been thinking that it might be cool if we all (or at least all who could) got together and did something on occasion. Maybe once a week or something, depending on how it would work out for you guys (I'm not trying to get in trouble with your parents by interferring with homework time, etc.).
What could we do? Who cares? Seriously, with us, does it really matter? I'm sure we'll find some way to entertain ourselves. Never seems to be too big a problem. Later in the spring, maybe we can talk water wars and such. Anyway, just thinking. Gimme some input.
What could we do? Who cares? Seriously, with us, does it really matter? I'm sure we'll find some way to entertain ourselves. Never seems to be too big a problem. Later in the spring, maybe we can talk water wars and such. Anyway, just thinking. Gimme some input.
Friday, February 09, 2007
prayer
dear father, i thank you that we are not appointed to wrath and that we have nothing to fear, because you are with us. I lift up the issue of terrorism both at home and abroad, and i pray in jesus' name that your great ability to save, protect and deliver would come to light in the body of christ and in the world.
father i remember the great diliverence you afforded moses and the children of israel so they could escape from the egyptians unharmed. i know that because you did that for the seed of abraham under and older and lesser convent. you will certainly do that and more for your children under this new and better coventent. i choose life and deliverence a in the name of jesus christ. i thank you for the angels who have charge over my life, who protect me and keep me in all my endeavors.
father i remember the great diliverence you afforded moses and the children of israel so they could escape from the egyptians unharmed. i know that because you did that for the seed of abraham under and older and lesser convent. you will certainly do that and more for your children under this new and better coventent. i choose life and deliverence a in the name of jesus christ. i thank you for the angels who have charge over my life, who protect me and keep me in all my endeavors.
Don't Ask
There are certain things about our youth group that many of us have come to except as things we must live with. These are things we cannot explain nor seem to make go away. Still, on occasion I overhear one of our members asking questions about these things. For this reason, I have compiled the following list of questions. These questions lack any definitive answer and are thus hereby deemed no longer permissible to ask. We don't know, people! So, please, don't ask!
Who broke this or that in the youth building?
If you're referring to something that was broken about 10 years ago, it was probably me. Otherwise, we can only assume that it was one of you...or that it happened during one of our break-ins.
What is that smell on the van?
If you absolutely have to ask this question, I'm gonna have to ask you to please be more specific. Are you referring to that smell of burning rubber, the smell of the exhaust, that smell of wet upholstery, or that general musty smell? If it's none of the above, it could be one of Ben's cheeseburgers left over from who knows when, or maybe somebody farted. Mostly likely it's a combination of all of the above.
What is Stephen doing?
I love Stephen to death, but when the dude gets bored and begins to entertain himself, I can't help wondering if the boy's crazy. He's entertaining himself, okay?! That's all we can say. Whether he's trying to see how many times he can blink his right eye before his left eye blinks or whether he's trying to scrunch up his fingers so that they're all the same length without being noticeably bent, what's going on in that Stephen's mind is known only to Stephen.
Doesn't JD know that his Regis Philban impression stinks?
Believe me, we've tried to tell him, but he still insists on doing it. I don't know if he doesn't believe us or if he thinks it's gonna get better with practice. All I know is that there's no stopping him.
Hey Gary, can you turn the heat on?
Don't bother. He can't hear you.
So there you are. I have officially declared these questions not worth asking. However, to contrast these, I have also compiled a short list of questions that are not only well worth asking, but also highly recommended. They are...
What is God's will for this youth group?
What is my part to play?
How can I step up and be a leader?
Who do we need to reach out to?
Who in our youth group should we be praying for?
How does my behavior on Wednesday nights effect what God is trying to do?
Who broke this or that in the youth building?
If you're referring to something that was broken about 10 years ago, it was probably me. Otherwise, we can only assume that it was one of you...or that it happened during one of our break-ins.
What is that smell on the van?
If you absolutely have to ask this question, I'm gonna have to ask you to please be more specific. Are you referring to that smell of burning rubber, the smell of the exhaust, that smell of wet upholstery, or that general musty smell? If it's none of the above, it could be one of Ben's cheeseburgers left over from who knows when, or maybe somebody farted. Mostly likely it's a combination of all of the above.
What is Stephen doing?
I love Stephen to death, but when the dude gets bored and begins to entertain himself, I can't help wondering if the boy's crazy. He's entertaining himself, okay?! That's all we can say. Whether he's trying to see how many times he can blink his right eye before his left eye blinks or whether he's trying to scrunch up his fingers so that they're all the same length without being noticeably bent, what's going on in that Stephen's mind is known only to Stephen.
Doesn't JD know that his Regis Philban impression stinks?
Believe me, we've tried to tell him, but he still insists on doing it. I don't know if he doesn't believe us or if he thinks it's gonna get better with practice. All I know is that there's no stopping him.
Hey Gary, can you turn the heat on?
Don't bother. He can't hear you.
So there you are. I have officially declared these questions not worth asking. However, to contrast these, I have also compiled a short list of questions that are not only well worth asking, but also highly recommended. They are...
What is God's will for this youth group?
What is my part to play?
How can I step up and be a leader?
Who do we need to reach out to?
Who in our youth group should we be praying for?
How does my behavior on Wednesday nights effect what God is trying to do?
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Prayer request
Please pray for one of my sparkies whose parents are getting a divorce. It is going to be hard for this little 5 year old. Also pray that I will know how to talk & comfort her as her parents go through this.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
SUPER AWESOME GAME OF FANTASTIC...uh...STORY!
Well this is from my first yaer at Siloam Springs camp. It was pretty great! We all were having a great time, but the itty bitty camp (compared to Pineywoods) of SS was gettin us all cabin fevered kinda....So Gary gerry-rigged a little trip. We left the camp and took owf towards the north-west corner of the state. When we got to the "destination" we found it was a SAFARI! It was a drive-thru safari! Gary , being too dang generous, payed for everyone's way...Because we all know how much the extravagant City of Hope pays it's workers....I still don't see how he had been able to shell out the money for all of us on various youth trips...Musta been that Piggly-Wiggly he turned over in the '70's.....ANYWAYS! We started the safari....Naturall I was tryin to get out and chase something or ride various life-endangering animals...But they were child-locked...Gary knew us all too well...We went along and Marissa saw a tiger that was beggin for a pet...She let out a "squeal of delight" as Nick called it...haha...I think she was really serious that she wanted to give em a pettin...HAHAH! We informed her it wouldnt work out, what with the whole food-chain thing, so we continued on...
We came to a clearing and were wondering where the heck the animals were....We then hear a thump....A MONKEY SIZED THUMP! We then witness a little primate's face pop into the view of the windsheild. She begins dancing around and attempting to releive us of our windsheild wipers....I found this hilarious and quite entertaining, while Gary was a bit perturbed...THOSE ARE OUR NEW WIPERS! he yelled! Jason found that hilarious and said "GARY! A MONKEY IS DANCING ON THE WINDSHEILD AND YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE NEW WIPERS???" The monkey eventually lost interest in our water-removal device and became much more enthused in the smell of his buddy monkey's butt...xD!!!
After countless other animals (no reptiles as a matter of fact...poop) we came to a place where we could get out and intereact with some harmless animals and the babies that could one day....how you say.....CONSUME YOU! There were, tigers, wolves, monkeys, hedgehogs, kangaroos, lemurs (which you could bottlefeed giving Lauren her famous nickname Lemur Riemar...HAHAH!) and chimps....Naturally I headed for the Chimps and found a modified boxcar that had been made into an enclosure. The others chose to looks at the other animals , Tristan interestingly gave a monkey a bottle-cap...anarchy ensued....HAHH! Well I went over to the chimps and began talking to it....Yes....I can talk to apes...What of it?....haha...Well he found out that it was great fun if he ran along the side of his cage and I ran alongside the outide....We were havin a good ole time and Lauren came up...She being the animal-lover as I am, she thought this was pretty cool. She did it, but the chimp didnt really like her technique I suppose...It showed it's indescretion by dunking it's head in it's water bucket and promptly spittin, nay SHOOTING the water in a perfect stream right onto Lauren shoulder...Missing me if you might ask...HAHAH! It was hilarious and I made sure to let everyone know this as soon as possible. Jason didnt get it on video, unlike everything else that year..hahah!
We left after Lauren was dried out and I spent the rest of that day giggling to myself..haha...very very very FUNNY!
This was a great memory to me, and I think it was pretty funny...If anyone remembers anything more please comment and say.....HAHAHAH!
We came to a clearing and were wondering where the heck the animals were....We then hear a thump....A MONKEY SIZED THUMP! We then witness a little primate's face pop into the view of the windsheild. She begins dancing around and attempting to releive us of our windsheild wipers....I found this hilarious and quite entertaining, while Gary was a bit perturbed...THOSE ARE OUR NEW WIPERS! he yelled! Jason found that hilarious and said "GARY! A MONKEY IS DANCING ON THE WINDSHEILD AND YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE NEW WIPERS???" The monkey eventually lost interest in our water-removal device and became much more enthused in the smell of his buddy monkey's butt...xD!!!
After countless other animals (no reptiles as a matter of fact...poop) we came to a place where we could get out and intereact with some harmless animals and the babies that could one day....how you say.....CONSUME YOU! There were, tigers, wolves, monkeys, hedgehogs, kangaroos, lemurs (which you could bottlefeed giving Lauren her famous nickname Lemur Riemar...HAHAH!) and chimps....Naturally I headed for the Chimps and found a modified boxcar that had been made into an enclosure. The others chose to looks at the other animals , Tristan interestingly gave a monkey a bottle-cap...anarchy ensued....HAHH! Well I went over to the chimps and began talking to it....Yes....I can talk to apes...What of it?....haha...Well he found out that it was great fun if he ran along the side of his cage and I ran alongside the outide....We were havin a good ole time and Lauren came up...She being the animal-lover as I am, she thought this was pretty cool. She did it, but the chimp didnt really like her technique I suppose...It showed it's indescretion by dunking it's head in it's water bucket and promptly spittin, nay SHOOTING the water in a perfect stream right onto Lauren shoulder...Missing me if you might ask...HAHAH! It was hilarious and I made sure to let everyone know this as soon as possible. Jason didnt get it on video, unlike everything else that year..hahah!
We left after Lauren was dried out and I spent the rest of that day giggling to myself..haha...very very very FUNNY!
This was a great memory to me, and I think it was pretty funny...If anyone remembers anything more please comment and say.....HAHAHAH!
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Super-Fantastic Contest Game of Challenge
Okay, I thought I'd give a little update on how this is going to work. The idea of this game is to encourage everyone to participate on the blog more. I figured if people thought they might have the chance to get something out of it, maybe they'd put forth more of an effort. So with that goal in mind, I've come up with a couple guidelines.
- Instead of having one chance a month at some prize, I'm going to try a point system. At various places on the blog (and they can appear anywhere, so be on the look out), there will be a simple assignment. Each assignment will be worth a certain number of points. At the end of the month, the person with the most points wins. I figure this works better because it gives me the chance to offer more assignments without having to give a prize for each one.
- There is an automatic assignment every month that is worth 10 points. That assignment is simple: just make a post. Not a comment, a post. Post anything - an idea for our youth group, a funny story...whatever - you know, we've been over this. Okay, you're not going to get 10 points for every post you make, just the one. But just think how alive things would be if every member was making at least one post every month. Now, some of you might be thinking "That's not fair. If someone doesn't have anything to say, they don't have anything to say." But you see, that's the whole point - to make you think of something to say. Get it?
Friday, February 02, 2007
Overwhelmed
I don't know about you guys, but I thought Facing the Giants was an awesome movie. As an aspiring Christian filmmaker, I was very impressed. Say what you will about the acting, the overall professionalism of the production was very good, especially considering how it was made.But even more impressive than the film itself was its message, and I had one quick thing I wanted to say about that...
The whole time I was watching that movie, I was thinking about our youth group. I replaced the football team with us, and thought about how everything coach Taylor said applied to us. Do that, and you'll find a lot to think about.
One of my favorite parts came at the very end, when Taylor comes home after the game, completely satisfied with the way God has moved. He's happy - the team has won, he still has his job, he has a brand new truck, the team (and school) has experienced an awesome revival, etc. He has everything he wanted since the beginning of the film.
Everything...except one thing. He still can't get his wife pregnant. Personally, I believe he has made peace about this by this point. When you think about it, it was really one of the only things he ever truly had to make peace about. Even though he had decided to praise God win or lose, the outcome of the game, up until just a few hours before, was still up in the air, and everything else he was struggling with had been fulfilled as well. Not having a family was the only thing he had to really come to accept as something he couldn't control.
And yet, when he comes home, completely fulfilled and satisfied with all the Lord had blessed him with, his wife gives him the good news that she is going to have a baby. All he can do is break into tears and proclaim, "Oh God, I'm overwhelmed!"
I pray that our youth group will experience this same kind of revival - the kind where God gives us everything possible to give...and then a little more just because He can. I want to see every member of our youth group saved and excited about serving God. I want to see us do some amazing things in our service to Him. I want to see us make differences in the lives of the people we encounter. And then I want whatever else God wants to throw in. By the end of this year, I want us to be able to say unanimously, "Oh God, we're overwhelmed!"
But this will only happen when we begin to apply the values expressed in the movie. So let's get busy...
Current Wave of Disinterest
Interest in this blog seems to come in waves - waves followed by long periods of extreme disinterest. And even in those waves of interest, we only ever hear from certain members. I can always count on Sarah, Melody, and Lauren, and sometimes Ryan. David comes around when he can, and if JD's at Ryan's house, he might get on long enough to post some silly little comment. But that's pretty much it. We have an average of somewhere around 25 people on Wednesday nights, and only five or six of you are active on this blog. Something's wrong with that.
So here's the thing (and I'm starting to run out of ways to put this, so either I'm closing in on the one point that'll get everybody's attention, or it's a hopeless cause): I look at this blog as a sort of gauge of interest in our youth group. People who care about the youth group will care enough to log on and contribute. It's really that simple. Sure, there are some members who don't have access to it. That's understandable. And there are some members who are too shy or who believe they don't have anything worth saying. I can respect that (although I will continue making every effort to discourage that kind of thought).
But I've started to realize that, for the most part, people just don't care. And before you try to tell me otherwise, understand that I know what I'm talking about. I'm a youth worker after all - it's my job to know what's really going on under the surface. And here it is: most members of our youth group have minimal interest in our ministry. They want to come, eat, hang out...and that's about it. They choose not to play an active role.
I know who these people are because they're the ones who make it a point to tell me they visited the blog once before...or that they thought about visiting it. I say something about the blog - they proudly say, "Hey, I've been there!" Congratulations! You've made yourself aware of a ministry that we've been taking on for nearly a year! Want a cookie?
It's sad, really. I'm not talking about the blog; I'm talking about our youth group. Think about it: a youth group is supposed to be something people want to be a part of so that they can grow closer to God in the company of fellow Christians. It should be a place in which a person feels comfortable enough to cry, to laugh, to share, etc. It should be a place where there are no secrets, where people come to open up and deal with all sorts of problems. In our youth group, it seems like we have the exact opposite thing going on...
Again, before you try to make an excuse for us and tell me that I'm blowing things out of proportion, understand that I really do know what I'm talking about! Again, it's my job! We know about the members who are messing around with drugs! We know about the members who are sexually active! We know! We don't know everything, but we do know a lot! We know because it's our job to know. We know more than we could ever share with you guys. You just have to trust me on this: there are members of our youth group that need help!
The point is, knowing all the problems in our youth group, it really saddens me that an opportunity like this blog tends to go wasted. The opportunity to grow and work together only exists when every member is taking advantage of it (make sense?)! But so many members opt to ignore God's will for our youth group...and for their lives. What is wrong with our youth group that we're not providing the kind of atmosphere that motivate these people?
Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here. Well then, in that case, I guess the only choice we have is to make this the choir's responsibility. Go out and recruit new members! Do you have your messenger up right now? See a member that isn't very active on the blog? Tell them to visit and to speak out!
So here's the thing (and I'm starting to run out of ways to put this, so either I'm closing in on the one point that'll get everybody's attention, or it's a hopeless cause): I look at this blog as a sort of gauge of interest in our youth group. People who care about the youth group will care enough to log on and contribute. It's really that simple. Sure, there are some members who don't have access to it. That's understandable. And there are some members who are too shy or who believe they don't have anything worth saying. I can respect that (although I will continue making every effort to discourage that kind of thought).
But I've started to realize that, for the most part, people just don't care. And before you try to tell me otherwise, understand that I know what I'm talking about. I'm a youth worker after all - it's my job to know what's really going on under the surface. And here it is: most members of our youth group have minimal interest in our ministry. They want to come, eat, hang out...and that's about it. They choose not to play an active role.
I know who these people are because they're the ones who make it a point to tell me they visited the blog once before...or that they thought about visiting it. I say something about the blog - they proudly say, "Hey, I've been there!" Congratulations! You've made yourself aware of a ministry that we've been taking on for nearly a year! Want a cookie?
It's sad, really. I'm not talking about the blog; I'm talking about our youth group. Think about it: a youth group is supposed to be something people want to be a part of so that they can grow closer to God in the company of fellow Christians. It should be a place in which a person feels comfortable enough to cry, to laugh, to share, etc. It should be a place where there are no secrets, where people come to open up and deal with all sorts of problems. In our youth group, it seems like we have the exact opposite thing going on...
Again, before you try to make an excuse for us and tell me that I'm blowing things out of proportion, understand that I really do know what I'm talking about! Again, it's my job! We know about the members who are messing around with drugs! We know about the members who are sexually active! We know! We don't know everything, but we do know a lot! We know because it's our job to know. We know more than we could ever share with you guys. You just have to trust me on this: there are members of our youth group that need help!
The point is, knowing all the problems in our youth group, it really saddens me that an opportunity like this blog tends to go wasted. The opportunity to grow and work together only exists when every member is taking advantage of it (make sense?)! But so many members opt to ignore God's will for our youth group...and for their lives. What is wrong with our youth group that we're not providing the kind of atmosphere that motivate these people?
Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here. Well then, in that case, I guess the only choice we have is to make this the choir's responsibility. Go out and recruit new members! Do you have your messenger up right now? See a member that isn't very active on the blog? Tell them to visit and to speak out!
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