The Myspace Generation

I had watched a video about youth and the Internet these days. It totally blew my mind what was going on now. I have known about myspace and facebook, I even have both of them for myself. What I didn't know was the stuff that was going on in these sites. Youth these days think that when they are on the Internet no one is watching them, well they are wrong. When they are on the Internet it gives the WHOLE WORLD the right to see them and see what they are doing through posts of blogs(like this one) posts of picture, and even posts of videos. Another thing that youth are happy about with the Internet is no one is in charge of them when they are on it. They believe that they are free from parents and all authority when they are on the Internet. Even if some parents try to block or restrict some sites the youth of today know so many ways to get by the filters that the parents should just not even bother with them. It is sad to say but today's youth rely on the net and they don't even know it. They are blind to the fact that if the Internet would break down for a day their worlds would come to an end. Myspace and facebook combined have over one hundred and sixty million(160,000,000) members.
It is not just myspace and facebook that get all the attention on the Internet. Other sites such as sparknotes.com serve as a cheat to homework. Instead of reading the books the students go onto the Internet to sparknotes.com and get the outline of the story. The teachers are very aware of this and try as hard as they can to try to get the youth to read the actual books. They have gone to measures as far as making the student read the book in class so they know that the students did not go onto the Internet to read the sparknotes. Schools are also having a hard time to get the students involved in classes because of lack of technology. Today students have so many technology at their fingertips that they don't want to learn in the "old way" of text books and note books.
Another thing that blew my mind was the kind of websites that are out there today. There are such sites out there to a god names Ana, the god of anorexia. On these sites devoted to this so called god it gives "testimonies" of girls who have not eaten for days or who have dropped to outrageously unhealthy weights. It gives the youth ways to stop eating and how to loose weight. There are also sites out there for suicide. On these particular sites it tells the youth how to kill themselves. There is even a site that has a little quiz you take to see what the best way to kill yourself would be.
As a follower of Jesus Christ and a Youth Worker these sites scare the crap out of me. They are telling out precious royal youth that they are not good enough to live, they are not pretty enough to be seen, or they are nothing but a piece of garbage that should be thrown out into the trash. We, as youth workers, need to reach out to the youth and tell them that they are so much more than what this world tells them to be. We need to get out there and tell them that they belong to a royal family and they are kings and queens, princes and princesses of the King of all kings. I believe that the best way to reach out to these youth is to go right to the source. Some may say not to have a myspace or facebook because we too will get sucked into the addiction. My concern and argument is how can we know what these youth are doing on the Internet if we do not have the tools they have. How can we reach out to them if we block ourselves from myspace and facebook. If they are on these sites most of the day after they get home from school shouldn't we make one to be able to communicate with them? I know there are plenty of other ways to communicate with them but will they really pay attention and listen through those ways? Maybe, but I be live they will listen much more if we get into their world via the sites they love. This does not mean that our site has to have suicidal quotes, or Ana shrines. We should make our sites the person we are off the sites. If we are a rockstar, then your site is quite alright to be rocking. We should also use our sites as ministry tools for these youth. When they add us as a friend they are going to go to our site and check it out. How awesome would it be if one day the youth came to your site and read or saw exactly what they needed to be led to Christ, and you didn't even say a word, you were just real with yourself and the rest of the world.
These are some things youth workers as myself should be thinking about. How can we reach out to the generation that is glued to the computer? If you have any other ways to reach out to this generation, please post comments and let me know.

God Bless
1 Love 1 God 1 Way <><

Sunday Jan. 27, 2008: Pay Off

While i am here at railton i am learning how to be a better leader and how to be better prepared for "pop ups". Pop ups are times when you are asked to do something whenever, wherever. You are never prepared for such pop ups, but you can be ready for them. I have been learning that no matter where you are, no matter what you do, be ready for someone to ask you to do something because you are now a leader.

This past Sunday the Railton group attended the Spring Valley Salvation Army here in New York. It is a beautiful little corp with an amazingly beautiful chapel. The corp is made up of community people and retired officers. It was so amazing to see so many soldiers and officers in their uniforms. What i have seen is now a days when you go to a Salvation Army only the Corp Officers and the leaders of the corp are wearing their uniforms. I sat in the youth or teen Sunday school. There they talked about foundations and priorities and how we need to get our priorities straight in our lives. It made me think about my own priorities as i was helping them with theirs. I am learning by the grace of God to have patience with others. I was told that when we pray for patience God is going to send people in our lives to teach that to us. I believe patience is a very high priority to have with people. By having patience with others you show them that you love and care for them. Another priority God is wanting me to work on is not being able to make everyone happy. I am the kind of person who would ring myself out for someone else. God is teaching me that we cant always make everyone happy. I need to also spend some more time to myself. As i am well into the second semester at school i have less time to do things such as watch movies and hang out. I need to first get my work done, help others with their work if they need it, and then go and chill and hang out.
I know that God is drawing me nearer and nearer to him each and everyday. All i have to do is just have patience and understanding of others.


Dear Lord i just pray to you now holy one that you give me patience and love for my fellow classmates and others here at the school. I pray that you help me to set my priorities straight and always remember to put you and your ways first. I love you Jesus. Amen.

SFOT Sunday Janurary 13, 2008

Let me just start off with God is amazing! He is such an amazing God and I just want to give him props today for everything he has given to me and blessed me with.

Sunday the ministry team I belong to was at the SFOT for children's church. Our theme was Noah's Ark and let me just say WE BROUGHT IT! We worked so well as a team this time that it was amazing. I'm sure that things went wrong, but to others around us the children's church was as close to perfect as we can get.
As i was lying behind the puppet stand with the big giraffe costume on (I couldn't stand up because the kids would see my head over the puppet stand. I couldn't sit up because I had to hold the head of the costume up and my arms were getting numb!) I was thinking of the song the kids and leaders were singing, Trust in the Lord with your H-E-A-R-T. Such a simple song, with such simple lyrics but as I sang these simple lyrics I began to think to myself how important it is for us to trust in the Lord with our whole heart. I then began to think of what the Lord was trying to put onto my heart with such a simple children's song. He was telling me to trust in him, throw myself at his feet and just trust him with my whole heart.
I have been having some problems trusting the lord lately, but as I sang that song I prayed to God to take my life, I was trusting in him from then on. God is now taking my life and giving me little signs to let me know he is here for me. He is an amazing God and I believe that trusting in him with my whole heart is going to be and has already been one of the best decisions of my life. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a very very hard journey for me because I have come to realize that I worry a lot about things I shouldn't be worrying about. I also have a tendency of getting worried that God is going to throw me out of his hands because of the sins I have commit ed and the fact that I have been let down plenty of times before. I am scared that I am going to loose people in my life that I don't want to loose. I have plenty more fears but I am ready to let it all go and just TRUST in the LORD with all that I am.
I know that by trusting in the Lord with my life I can better fulfill his purpose and will for me. I will become a stronger, braver, more confident christian and will be able to go out and spread his love and gospel more. Who knows, maybe he has plans for me to go over seas or to another country (I have never been out of the east coast of the states, and I have also never saw the Ocean...). It brings me great joy in my heart to think of things he might be calling me for. I know that whatever he calls me to do, I am going to run toward it full force, holding nothing back, because that is what He wants me to do. As I was doing devotions I came across a scripture that really stuck out to me. Isaiah 61 talks about God's anointed ones who are to go out and take care of his people in need and to rebuild lives and towns. I believe that is what God is going to have me do. He is going to use me to reach out to youth and their families who are in need of the Lords love and comforting and hope. I am praying more and more on this to see where God is specifically leading me. Don't worry, I will defiantly update you on it when I get any more information on it.
God Bless....1 Love 1 God 1 Way <><

A New Begining

As a new year and a new semester begins, I too being somthing new. This Blog. This particular blog is going to be containing things I am learning from Christ in my everyday life and my extrodinary chances to go out into the world and minister to others about the gift of life Jesus Christ gave to us all. First off let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Stacy Elaine Cross and I grew up in a little town in Ohio by the name of Bucyrus. I have lived there my whole life untill I came to school, in New York, Suffern to be exact(dosnt sound like a place you would have a pleasure going to school, eh?!). I have a younger sister, a mother, and a step father (who is the best dad i have had in my life). I attend Railton School for Youth Work Training through The Salvation Army. I take a number of different classes and get to minister to a variety of differnt enviroments.
Well, that is a little about me. You will learn a lot more throught the year from the blogs I am going to faithfully post.Thanks for reading and God Bless!
1 Love 1 God 1 Way ><>