One of the main problems i saw with teens in the movie Thirteen was the role of the parent. The mother in this case acts like she is more of the Child. She is very crazy acting and likes to party a lot. She needs the attention and FRIENDSHIP of her thirteen year old daughter insted of being her parent and guardian. The mother goes out with her friends a lot and leaves the younger siblings with the thirteen year old who has stress from school with projects that are due as well as a lot of other homework. Even though the teen tells her mother she can not babysit, the mother tries to play a guilt trip on the teen. Also, the mother has no time to sit and listen to the teen when she reads her the deep heart felt poetry she write to express herself.
This scenario is often seen in families in todays culture and world, exspecially in single parent homes. The parent figure feels as if they need to be more of a "cool friend" to their child insted of a parent or guardian. There are many reasons why a parent would do this, our job as youth ministers is to build relationships with the teens and youth and help them through it as they live it each and every day. Another job we might have is to sit down and talk with the parent about how they act and how they are not being a parent but rather a friend to their child.
Before we can make any plans to start meetings with the parents we need to build a relationship with them. Start talking to them when they come and pick their child up from youth group. GO TO THEIR HOUSE AND VISIT THEM! This is one of the most productive ways to make realationships with people and i really beleive we need to do this a lot more often. When you go to someones house you are saying to them that they are good enough, respected enough, for you to come to their house to visit them. It shows love in many ways.
One way we could set up a meeting with the parent is to invite them over for dinner one night. While at dinner you can discuss the things that bother the child the most. The most important thing to remember in these instances is to do it in a calm, caring, loving way. If you come at the parent, telling them in any way they are a bad parent they are most likely going to go off on you and ask you who you are to tell them such things.
The child might need to seen counciling from a professional counseler. We as youth leaders should have contacts and know the local youth councilers in our city or town. We need to remember to keep up our relationships with other associations because we never know when we are going to need their help, or when they are going to need our help.
With these few starters i beleive that we can impact the family life and show them the love and care God has for them and they way he wants them to live.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Postmodernism:Jones
Postmodernism is the beleif that we all have a story, but none of us have the same story. It is said in postmodernism that there is no place for religion and that everything is absolutley subjective. This is the world in which we live today. Everyone has a individual beleif and there is no one who has the exact same beleif. If we live in a world today who says there is no room for religion how are we suppost to share the works and words of God with them? It is our duty as youth ministers and beleivers in Christ to find a way to communicate the gospel to a world who does not beleive anymore.
First we need to start the process off my commnunicating with God through prayer. It is said that "Prayer is the most effective, most deadly weapon to the status qoe and the worldly ways of people. It will break those chains and boundaries and set them free from the slavery of sin they are under." We as God's people need to pray to him more than just five minuets of our day. We need to be serious! We NEED to be firm beleivers in the fact that God is GOD and he is listening to us each and every time we talk to him; He will answer our prayers if it is in His name and of His love! Think about it, how much would happen if we beleived in this with all that we are...amazing miracles!!!
Second, we need to be brave and open to anything that God wants us to do. He is the only one who is going to get us through this world and get to the people exactley what they need to hear to beleive in him, if we do not open our hearts and minds to the crazy things he wants us to do, we will not reach out to the people.
Third we need to not give up and keep going with patience and perserverance. Things are not going to change in a day, or week, or maybe even a year. We need to be patient and understanding to GOD'S time, not our own. He knows exactley what he is doing and he will bring it exactley when it needs to be broughten. If we give up and be impatient our miricles in the making could all go to waste and all the work and effort we had put into it would be wasted. Whenever we are weary or tired we need to learn to lean on God all the more and push all the more to tear down Satans evil tricks and plots.
With doing these three things i fully beleive that we can get across the amazing message of Love and Salvation to a world who has given up hope and no longer beleives.
First we need to start the process off my commnunicating with God through prayer. It is said that "Prayer is the most effective, most deadly weapon to the status qoe and the worldly ways of people. It will break those chains and boundaries and set them free from the slavery of sin they are under." We as God's people need to pray to him more than just five minuets of our day. We need to be serious! We NEED to be firm beleivers in the fact that God is GOD and he is listening to us each and every time we talk to him; He will answer our prayers if it is in His name and of His love! Think about it, how much would happen if we beleived in this with all that we are...amazing miracles!!!
Second, we need to be brave and open to anything that God wants us to do. He is the only one who is going to get us through this world and get to the people exactley what they need to hear to beleive in him, if we do not open our hearts and minds to the crazy things he wants us to do, we will not reach out to the people.
Third we need to not give up and keep going with patience and perserverance. Things are not going to change in a day, or week, or maybe even a year. We need to be patient and understanding to GOD'S time, not our own. He knows exactley what he is doing and he will bring it exactley when it needs to be broughten. If we give up and be impatient our miricles in the making could all go to waste and all the work and effort we had put into it would be wasted. Whenever we are weary or tired we need to learn to lean on God all the more and push all the more to tear down Satans evil tricks and plots.
With doing these three things i fully beleive that we can get across the amazing message of Love and Salvation to a world who has given up hope and no longer beleives.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Life changes! Only accept payments of Obediance!
God is amazing! He is so so so SO amazing!
He works wonders right in front of our eyes and sometimes (ok, most of the time) we don't even see it!
This past Friday he showed me another After School Program.
It was crazy, but it was still a great place for the kids to be insted of the streets.
I went to Salem, Mass this LONG FREE weekend.
God is showing me more and more I am a leader for him.
I prayed with 2 teens at the alter
I gave my Testimony
I gave the Benidiction
I talked about RAILTON at a divisional Youth Praise
I got Gods word through so many that touched my heart
God is just unbeleivably astonishing
The Creator of the Universe!
The Alpha and Omega!
Begining and End!
The Lion and the Lamb!
The King and the Townsman!
The Savior and Lord!
I cant fathom sometimes that the King of all kings would come to earth and DIE for ME...
He has great plans for me(which he is making known to me day by day)
and i am SO excited for them!
No matter what
No matter where
No matter when.....
I will follow my God!!
God loves us no matter what, and that my friends, is the truth!
No matter how sinful we are
No matter how many times we turn our back on him
No matter how ugly and stupid we feel
God still loves us no matter what....
NO MATTER WHAT!
o and another thing....
God thinks we are BEAUTIFUL!
We are made in his image: so dont you dare think you are ugly or a mistake!!!!
O and in those hard times, the times you think you are going to DIE....remember these Lyrics
God will make a way
When there seems to be no way
He works in ways
We can not see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to his side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
God will make a way...
<>< <>< <>< ><> ><> ><>
So, God also has this AMAZING life planned out for you. he knows everything you are going to be doing and he is going to be with you through everything, o yeah, and All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always ne tjere to help you come through it...(1 Corinthians 10:13b The Message)
Your probally asking, ok, whats the catch. Well the catch? It is to obey God and trust in him! Yepp, thats it....sounds easy but it is waaaay harder than you think. I'm not going to lie to you...but just know the benifits you will get from it is totally amazing....let me rephraze that...they will BLOW YOUR MIND!
><> ><> ><> ><> <>< <>< <>< <><
He works wonders right in front of our eyes and sometimes (ok, most of the time) we don't even see it!
This past Friday he showed me another After School Program.
It was crazy, but it was still a great place for the kids to be insted of the streets.
I went to Salem, Mass this LONG FREE weekend.
God is showing me more and more I am a leader for him.
I prayed with 2 teens at the alter
I gave my Testimony
I gave the Benidiction
I talked about RAILTON at a divisional Youth Praise
I got Gods word through so many that touched my heart
God is just unbeleivably astonishing
The Creator of the Universe!
The Alpha and Omega!
Begining and End!
The Lion and the Lamb!
The King and the Townsman!
The Savior and Lord!
I cant fathom sometimes that the King of all kings would come to earth and DIE for ME...
He has great plans for me(which he is making known to me day by day)
and i am SO excited for them!
No matter what
No matter where
No matter when.....
I will follow my God!!
God loves us no matter what, and that my friends, is the truth!
No matter how sinful we are
No matter how many times we turn our back on him
No matter how ugly and stupid we feel
God still loves us no matter what....
NO MATTER WHAT!
o and another thing....
God thinks we are BEAUTIFUL!
We are made in his image: so dont you dare think you are ugly or a mistake!!!!
O and in those hard times, the times you think you are going to DIE....remember these Lyrics
God will make a way
When there seems to be no way
He works in ways
We can not see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to his side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
God will make a way...
<>< <>< <>< ><> ><> ><>
So, God also has this AMAZING life planned out for you. he knows everything you are going to be doing and he is going to be with you through everything, o yeah, and All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always ne tjere to help you come through it...(1 Corinthians 10:13b The Message)
Your probally asking, ok, whats the catch. Well the catch? It is to obey God and trust in him! Yepp, thats it....sounds easy but it is waaaay harder than you think. I'm not going to lie to you...but just know the benifits you will get from it is totally amazing....let me rephraze that...they will BLOW YOUR MIND!
><> ><> ><> ><> <>< <>< <>< <><
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Mueller
As i learn more and more about Youth ministery and the culture of the youth i have grown out of i realize the one most important thing, we must be accepted into their culture by listening and learning from them before we can teach and coach them through life. If we are not accepted into their culture they are never going to listen to us, they will just think of us as outsiders who want to intrude on their territory. By reading Muellers work in the book "Understnading Culture" i learned that there are certain characteristics of culture. Culture has been created by God and given to us, humanity, to use and enjoy. God is the reason and creator of all culture, therefore there has to be good in culture. God has given us the responsibility to keep up ther culture and work on the progress of it. Culture is universal. No matter where you go no matter what time in history it is you will always find cultures imfluanced by people's lives. We as youth workers need to realize that no matter where we go there is ALWAYS going to be culture and it will most likley always be different, therefore we need to learn how to adapt and accept different cultures. Culture is shared by the people that are living in the society. When we go into a society we will reconize the culture. We will also reconize that there are cultures inside of cultures. We need to not let this pass by our eyes but take every moment and lesson to heart to help us to learn and grow through these different cultures to better serve the people.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Borthwick
Youth ministery means reaching teenagers where they live. I belive this wholy. We need to get out into the worlds of the youth and learn it. There is no way we can just sit back and watch them and learn everything we need to learn to reach out to them. We need to get out in their world, do stuff with them, learn stuff from them, and know where they are comming from when they come to us with problems. Some ways we can do this is go and take them out to the movies for a night. Tell them they can invite a friend or two and just enjoy their company.
We need to get out into their culture without trying to conform them to ours. We need to realize that the times have changed (even if we are only a few years older) and that the things we did when we were their age is no longer the "cool" thing. We need to learn from them about their culture and when they try to tell us how somthing goes, let it go that way and not correct it because we think it is suppost to be done another way. However, if the act being done is morally wrong or could hurt others or the person commiting it, then we have the right and power to step in and say it is not right.
After we reach teenagers where they live we have to get to know the church. Knowing the church will help us to better communicate to the youth about it. Also when we know the church we can integrate the youth into it little by litte, not all at once by shoving it down their throughts. To get the youth into the church we also need to be CENTRIFUGAL, reaching out to the different cultures and not trying to make them all into one culture. There are many different cultures wherever you go, therefor it is very, very important to get to know the culture before we try to move the youth into the church.
With my calling to youth and to become a missionary Salvation Army Officer one day i feel the need to get a jump start and dive head first into getting to know others culture more and more. God has placed a call upon my heart to know others cultures so that i may be more productive in my work of spreading his gospel. As in the book where a church transformed itself to reach out to the "punk rock" genre of youth I want to be one who changes my ways of thinking and acting so i might be able to learn others culture. Im also going to start to build goals for myself and ask someone close to me to help to keep be accountable to those goals. The first goal is to learn spanish enough to be able to understand and communicate. I know this is going to take time and i am ready to dedicate my time to this because i feel it is very important to know a second language, exspecially spanish.
To end i just want to thank Steven Bussey for being such an inspiration to keep learning and educating myself. Before this year i had just done work to get it done but Steve has inspired me and given me a yearning to want to know more and more about youth and how they work. He has shown me the things i can accomplish when i put my heart and mind into it and not give up but work all the harder when i come to rough times. Thank you so much Steve.
We need to get out into their culture without trying to conform them to ours. We need to realize that the times have changed (even if we are only a few years older) and that the things we did when we were their age is no longer the "cool" thing. We need to learn from them about their culture and when they try to tell us how somthing goes, let it go that way and not correct it because we think it is suppost to be done another way. However, if the act being done is morally wrong or could hurt others or the person commiting it, then we have the right and power to step in and say it is not right.
After we reach teenagers where they live we have to get to know the church. Knowing the church will help us to better communicate to the youth about it. Also when we know the church we can integrate the youth into it little by litte, not all at once by shoving it down their throughts. To get the youth into the church we also need to be CENTRIFUGAL, reaching out to the different cultures and not trying to make them all into one culture. There are many different cultures wherever you go, therefor it is very, very important to get to know the culture before we try to move the youth into the church.
With my calling to youth and to become a missionary Salvation Army Officer one day i feel the need to get a jump start and dive head first into getting to know others culture more and more. God has placed a call upon my heart to know others cultures so that i may be more productive in my work of spreading his gospel. As in the book where a church transformed itself to reach out to the "punk rock" genre of youth I want to be one who changes my ways of thinking and acting so i might be able to learn others culture. Im also going to start to build goals for myself and ask someone close to me to help to keep be accountable to those goals. The first goal is to learn spanish enough to be able to understand and communicate. I know this is going to take time and i am ready to dedicate my time to this because i feel it is very important to know a second language, exspecially spanish.
To end i just want to thank Steven Bussey for being such an inspiration to keep learning and educating myself. Before this year i had just done work to get it done but Steve has inspired me and given me a yearning to want to know more and more about youth and how they work. He has shown me the things i can accomplish when i put my heart and mind into it and not give up but work all the harder when i come to rough times. Thank you so much Steve.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday Evening Program: Jesus Folk
This past sunday i attended a program called Jesus Folk. It was a musical production put on by the Hartford Citadel Corps form Hartford CT. the program was made up of "fringed kids" who without this program probally would be on the streets with nothing better to do than get in trouble. It is an amazing way to get kids and youth involved and let them actually be a prt of somthing and not just feel like it. the prgram shocased some of Jesus most important ways of reaching out to the people in his day. It had catchy fun songs and amazing lessons we can use in our everyday life. As i watched the body language and the faces of the participants i could see they were loving it. The end of the program was Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. It really showed me how you can take kids and teach them Jesus in a whole different way.
A program like this would moste deffinatley be possible in whatever corp i may be placed. Even if there were few youth and children you could still put together a presentation with dance, timbrils, band, singing or even a short play. Its amazing how God can take the most simple things and work miricles through them. You never know how much you impact a child or youth's life when you give them a role to play in a special presentation. They know thay they are loved, trusted, and cared for when you trust them with the responsibility of learning a part, memorizing lines, learning a dance or singing a solo. I thank God so much for putting the simple things in my life for me to be thankful for. He has provided me with so many things i could never dream of having. I cant wait to see what he is going to do with my life. All i know is that i am going to be a vessel for him and my life is going to be amazing because he is in control of it.
A program like this would moste deffinatley be possible in whatever corp i may be placed. Even if there were few youth and children you could still put together a presentation with dance, timbrils, band, singing or even a short play. Its amazing how God can take the most simple things and work miricles through them. You never know how much you impact a child or youth's life when you give them a role to play in a special presentation. They know thay they are loved, trusted, and cared for when you trust them with the responsibility of learning a part, memorizing lines, learning a dance or singing a solo. I thank God so much for putting the simple things in my life for me to be thankful for. He has provided me with so many things i could never dream of having. I cant wait to see what he is going to do with my life. All i know is that i am going to be a vessel for him and my life is going to be amazing because he is in control of it.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
God's Work
God has been working tremendously in my life latley. I have been struggling with acceptance that he is the only love that i need. I have went through times in my life where i searched for the hole in my heart to be filled with the love of man and it never happened. No matter how hard i tried to find love, i was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have been persuing Gods love now for a while and i beleive i am finally begining to accept the fact that His love is the love i need to fill the void in my heart.
Psalm 139 talks about how the Lord has known us even before we were created in the womb. It also talks about us being fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. My body image has also been a prombem that i have had sence i can remember. I have always been the chunky girl who never got picked for gym class and who always got picked on for being overwight. I have relized that this is the body God has placed me in and i am going to take care of it by exercizing more often. My body is Gods temple and if i dont take care of it, its like trashing God's temple....which i do NOT want. For lent i have decided to pick somthing up rather than to give something up. I have decided to start to exercise more. I can praise the Lord when i exercise with the music i listen to and the thought i concentrate on.
Im also growing more twords the Lord and his plans for my life. As of now i have the dreams of going on my internship, going on a missions trip, and eventually becomming an officer of The Salvation Army. I have been called ever sence i was fourteen years old and i have ran from it. Im ready to embrace the destiny God has planned for me and take it up with my whole heart. I know i know...its kinda crazy and a big steph but hey, who can ruin my dreams when they are not only mine but the Lords!!!
Psalm 139 talks about how the Lord has known us even before we were created in the womb. It also talks about us being fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. My body image has also been a prombem that i have had sence i can remember. I have always been the chunky girl who never got picked for gym class and who always got picked on for being overwight. I have relized that this is the body God has placed me in and i am going to take care of it by exercizing more often. My body is Gods temple and if i dont take care of it, its like trashing God's temple....which i do NOT want. For lent i have decided to pick somthing up rather than to give something up. I have decided to start to exercise more. I can praise the Lord when i exercise with the music i listen to and the thought i concentrate on.
Im also growing more twords the Lord and his plans for my life. As of now i have the dreams of going on my internship, going on a missions trip, and eventually becomming an officer of The Salvation Army. I have been called ever sence i was fourteen years old and i have ran from it. Im ready to embrace the destiny God has planned for me and take it up with my whole heart. I know i know...its kinda crazy and a big steph but hey, who can ruin my dreams when they are not only mine but the Lords!!!
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