Ticking Time Bombs

From the Associated Press

"Imam Abdullah El-Amin, who co-owns the Numan Funeral Home near the intersection where the shooting took place, said drug-dealing, prostitution and "hopelessness" are common in the area, he said."

"It's terrible that these things are just laying there, festering, in society — time bombs waiting to happen," said El-Amin, a Muslim minister and candidate for Detroit City Council."

As a youth worker myself I can see how Imam feels about this incident. Hopelessness is too common. The inner city does not hold the monopoly on hopelessness. Although I work in an affluent church, I see kids drowning in it. Consumerism and a sense of self absorption is killing the American teenager.

It struck me when Imam referred to some as ticking time bombs. When I talk to students, I say that their words and attitude to the least of these are lighting or extinguishing the lit fuse of the next shooter in their school. Proverbs says, "Life and Death are in the power of the tongue" 18;21

i was a ticking time bomb in Jr. High, until Christ, the Prince of Peace came into my heart. It was the kind words of youth leaders and Christians, and their hope and optimism they shared about a better future that paved the way to some semblance of wholeness.

it is the person with the least hope, the least joy and the least to live for that we should be looking for. it is these who are angry and disenfranchised with the culture and their micro societies. What other way to let off steam or get attention than destroy the "oppressors" of their life.

Jesus said I have come to heal the sick, the well have no need of a doctor. (my paraphrase) Mark 2;17

Unless I can convince this generation to reach out to the hurting and wounded, I fear shootings will escalate and simply become the norm to our society.

One last scripture: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Sounds like a pretty good description of a society that has lost hope. Sick of guilt, shame, pain, and ultimately life.

Miss California: Damned if She Does or Doesn't

I just caught a little bit of the story on GMA this morning but it seems Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was getting crushed by Miss USA judge, and openly gay vlogger, Peres Hilton for her answer to gay marriage. Peres asked her her opinion on gay marriage and Carrie gave a straight forward answer. Carrie said that she was raised to believe and does beiieve marriage is between a man and a woman which angered Peres.

In the interview this morning Peres slammed Carrie for her honest answer. It seemed he felt personally felt betrayed, I guess, because he felt she should have answered in the affirmative to gay marriage. He also said she could have answered the question differently. She could have...if she wanted to win and go against her convictions.

Do you want a Miss USA who lies or is PC just to get win? What kind of message does that send? Dear God, she's running for Miss USA not political office?

Here is a billiant comment I picked up another blog,

"Sad that her family is teaching her to be a bigot at such a young age. Now, is she going to use her platform to spread in-equality? It goes beyond opinion when you enter equal rights issues. Bigot."

Wow, America the Ugly.

Peres simply showed another example of intolerant thought from a view point who demands tolerance of others. Carrie was damned either way. I'm glad she went with her convictions. She may not have won a crown here on on earth, but then again, I believe she is looking froward to a crown of a different kind.

You can read the whole story here: Did It Cost Her Her The Crown?

Bullets Over Birmingham

So, an interesting week of work. Donald and I have been working over on remodeling a house on Ave I. We were talking abut man's inability to handle power and that is why He does not give us very much. It was then we heard swearing and then shooting. Two 9mm pistols rang out, car windows shattered and a stray bullet came right through our house.

As we lay on the ground I asked Donald, "Do you think man can still handle the power?". We both laughed as he called 911. The cops came 15 late as usual. Afterwards we were both thankful and I, more reflective.

Do no take today for granted. As Larry Norman once sang

You gotta live your life the best you can
Though you sometimes do your worst.
You gotta laugh when you fail, it's not the end of the world
Life is a play you can't rehearse.

Chorus

Ain't no use worrying, life goes so fast.
It's only today that counts
Live it like it might be your last.
It's only today that counts
Live it like it might be your last.

from It's Only Today That Counts full lyrics Here

Detox Complete In The Past 30 Days?

They say time gets away from you. If that is true, my life is on a jail break. The past thirty days has me stunned for no apparent reason. Ok, I can think of a few but I'll discuss that in a later post. I think my long detox is over. I have called the past two years a "spiritual detox". It seems that I have become alarmingly alive and screaming for truth. Like a long hunger striker, I am beginning to remember what God tastes like, feels like. His presence is real but overwhelming. Every conversation I have with someone is important. My lust for reading and experiences has increased. Some would say after a long illness, I have my appetite back.

I have a strong craving for discourse not conformity. My spiritual diet has changed for the better. God is not someone to be gorged but savored. God is not to be lapped up but sipped like wine. That is not to say I do not indulge from time to time. I guess I have come to that place of peace with myself. I am not complacent, far from it. I am more aware of my actions and thoughts than ever.

My Utmost for His Highest devotion scripture for today was "Arise, Shine" from Isaiah. I am ready to arise from the it and shine, Not for myself and not for money or fame but for the sheer fact that God has called me to. I am ready for what is next. Where are you at?

PT

Bringing Our Ship To Life

I watched the commissioning of the USS H.W. Bush aircraft carrier for the US Navy. The speeches were all inspiring but when Doro Bush initiated the "bring the ship to life" portion of the ceremony my mind went crazy with comparisons to the church. Here are my take aways

The Flag is Hoisted

We all fight under a banner. The banner is to signify to our friends that we are friendly and a danger to our enemies. We, the church, need to raise our banner high. These days the world seems to be confused as to what we stand for. I must say I am a bit confused. The Apostle Paul admonished us to be in the world but not of it. If a visitor comes to your youth group do they know what you're for or only what you are against? What causes have you taken up? Is yours a banner others desire to rally to or run from?

"Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, That it may be displayed because of the truth.Selah" Psalm 60:4

Let's raise our banner high.

Commander takes Command

The ships captain came to the podium and received his command. This takes courage. The ship is a floating city with close to 6,000 people on board. There is a leadership vacuum in the church. The next generation is not stepping up and the current leadership will not tough love their youth ministries or congregations. We are like Saul who feared the people and wanted to save the best for himself. We must take command but not control. We must allow God's Spirit to lead us and love others. We need the sacrificial love of God to compel us and not the fear of losing kids.

Bringing The Ship To Life

This portion of the commissioning gave me shivers. Doro Bush asked and appealed to shipmen to bring the ship to life. We must always remember that the church is people. Church is not dogma, liturgy, services, or programs. Church is people and they, we, are what brings the church to life. Through the power of the Holy Spirt dwelling in us, we live out our faith and join our hearts with other believers to meet the needs of a hurting world. When I saw the shipmen running, not walking, to assume there positions and posts I saw the church. I want to see the church run to it's position. I want to see the next generation run to join the battle not run and hide.


Setting Watch

Finally we have to set a watch. There must be a time and place where someone takes responsibility for what happens on their watch. We can't blame the previous youth pastor or the current pastor. We have to do what we can on our watch and make it matter. Set your watch. We must take control of our discipleship program and our evangelism strategy. Let's quit making excuses and start making disciples.


Let the sparks fly,

Paul Turner


P.S

This carreir will patrol the waters, search and rescue, conduct missions, protect the innocent and guard the United States of America. What will your youth ministry do?

Do You Have Pizza Evangelists? Part II

Did you notice that students stopped, filmed and commented this video? it was worth their time. It caught their attention. Do student find anything film worthy when they visit your youth ministry? This bring us to another good question.

Does more activity=more progress? I passed by one Little Cesar's and saw 5 sign holders, dancers and twirlers. It was a great spectacle but there was only one problem. I wasn't hungry.

In the previous post I encouraged you to let your "sign twirlers loose. Use those untapped gifts and talents to draw attention to the gospel and your youth ministry. The key is finding hungry people. You will find these "signers" most at lunch and dinner times to remind people that pizza is hot and available. They strike at hungry times. The 2 questions we must ask are:

1. Are we reaching spiritually hungry kids? Are we reaching students who sit at home most days and play video games and wonder why friends do not call.

2. Are we strategically unleashing kids? If we don't have a plan for kids to use their gifts and their spiritual enthusiasm, all we have is a sideshow of activity.

The secret to reaching more students lies in your own youth room. You may want to do a teaching series on evangelism and show a bunch of Little Cesar pizza sign videos, have a sign twirling contest, film kids out waving different kinds of signs, give away free pizza, the ideas are endless.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Paul

Do You Have Pizza Evangelists?

If you have ever been on a missions trip, you might see a man like this perform and draw a crowd. After the display, someone might come forward and share a gospel message. But these are pizza evangelists who don't do this for money (at least not any extra money) and to my knowledge, self expression is it's own reward.

Do you have evangelists in your group? These employees are willing to give it all for pizza and for YouTube glory. How much more important is the message of salvation.

Are you overlooking students who have gifts and talents that could draw a crowd? Who could you let off the leash, let them do what they do best and see God get the glory and your youth ministry grow?

PT

Ha Ha we fooled you!! Or did we?

There seems to be a trend in marketing. The theme seems to be ha ha we fooled you now buy our stiff. If they have to fool us into trying there product; what does that say about what we already think about there product? If Pizza Hut has to fool me into a dinner and then ruin my emotional high of eating a good meal out by reminding me why I don't go to Pizza Hut and then think I'm going to eat there in the future; then I think they are fooling themselves.

The same deal goes for Microsoft. How bad a rap do they have to fool people into using there product? Pretty bad. Vista has been a disaster. Unlike food, you might convince someone to switch but not a Mac user. You would have to find a computer virgin or someone inexperienced at best or that does not pay attention to the bad press PC's get.

What about faith? I've heard a few testimonies of people who went to an event as a youth and then complained they were preached at. Is your youth ministry guilty of bait and switch? Yep. Mine was. We have big events and then we share a gospel message. Is it ok to have event without a message? These are questions each of your group must answer. But let me share three reasons why this is not a good idea.

1. It breaks trust with students

If you advertise the fun advertise the message to or the point. If not, students may have fun but it may be the last time you see them. Come for the fun and stay for the fundamentalism doesn't work.

2. Jesus comes across as a program not a relationship.

I don't believe Jesus did he big events just to do the message. Open air speeches were normal for that day. Jesus did not have to do the big event to get the crowd. The miracles happened because there were needs. If we could multiply food and raise the dead pizza would not be necessary.

3. Discipleship is an after thought or worse, assumed.

I've scratched my head at why kids who receive Christ at an event and did not return so much, I should be bald. Most youth pastors want kids to become disciples but never plan for that. We plan to get kids to an alter but we don't think far enough ahead to create doorways for kids to a walk through to follow Christ deeper. In other words we plan for for a soft sell. We don't want to scare kids so we don't explain what it means or follow Christ only to believe and receive. I think kids appreciate our honesty. They want to know it will be tough but worth it.

So, are you having to fool kids to receive Christ or come to youth church? Is there a different methodology you could use? Van you make your events honest, fun and spiritually holistic? What does the church's use of bait and switch tactics tell us about how others see the church?

Just some thoughts.

Let the sparks fly,

Paul