Is this truly our relationship wit h certain products? Do we become mindless consumer robots at the thought of the latest tech release from our favorite company?
Interesting, funny but non-the-less thought provoking video.
What do you think? Is this true?
I was having a conversation with another youth leader and as we spoke about seminary, resources and conferences, the topic lead us to the difference between a youth leader from a small church vs. a youth leader from a large church.
Aside from the obvious differences; volunteer versus staffed, no budget versus budget, ministry support versus minimal to no support, we also commented on the opportunities afforded to leaders of large groups to present, lead workshops and headline youth conferences. I understand that conferences want to offer presenters that have experience, knowledge, a track record and are known through out the world of youth ministry. The bigger the name the better the attendance. I don’t fault them, too much. Putting together a conference takes time, a staff and money.
The problem with this is that many of the youth leaders who attend these conferences are also leaders of smaller youth groups. The average size of a church in America is less than 100 members and the average size of a youth group is 1% of the main congregation, in other words 10 students. Many of these youth leaders from small churches are are looking to be inspired, to network and to gather resources, but many of them are also getting a subtle message. That message is that a successful youth leader is one with a large youth group. That a successful youth leader is one that is invited to share their strategies, ministry success and resources, but this only happens if you are a leader of a large youth group.
As a member of youth leaders with a small youth group (about 20 students, which is above average since our congregation is less than 200 members), I must say that our voices, opinions and experiences are as valuable as any youth leader of a large group. I would even dare to say that youth leaders with small youth groups can relate to the struggles, sacrifices, the battles and the short comings that leaders of larger youth groups have long since experience or have never experienced. I am, by no means, saying that we cannot glean from these leaders, am just saying that there should be more of a balance that reflects the majority of the youth groups in the nation.
I hope to one day see a large scale youth conference that would invite a youth leader with 20 students or less to share, to lead a workshop and/or to be one of the main speakers.
Billy Graham has been preaching the gospel for the past 70 years. He has been sought out by politicians, notable people and the social elite. His message has always been the same – The Cross. At the age of 95 he shares with us his last message – The Cross.
Enjoy and let’s continue this legacy by sharing this video with family and friends who might be looking for a relationship with Jesus.
One of the hardest things I have had to do as a youth leader is to let go. In other words, after four years of walking, teaching and spending countless hours with students there come a time when we need to give them space to make their own decisions, but sitting in the sideline is hard to do.
Being a youth group leader is similar to being a coach. There are long hours at the office followed by long hours of training, conditioning and making sure that they are ready. During this process it is inevitable to become attached to your students, especially if your youth group is not too large. After their time has come and they graduate from High School, some go away to college while others stay, find a job while going to school. This is Prime Time, they are on the field and they are playing for keeps. As a coach, your remind on the side lines while they are in the field. As you see the plays unfold you cringe when they make a mistake. You want to run out into the field and help them up, get them back in the game. You want to run out and review the play book with them just like you’ve done countless times in the past, but you know that you have to remain on the side line. You cheer when they succeed, when they made the right choice, when they accomplished to get ahead, but still you remain in the sideline.
This is all part of the growing process, the maturing process, a part of being a youth leader, but none the less it’s hard to be in the sidelines. This will happen once again next year, and it will be one of the hardest things I will have to do again.
Would you prefer to be the worst player on the best team or the best player on the worst team? Why?
Have you ever thought about how much is your life worth, in dollars? I am sure that if it was up to us we would say that it is priceless, but what about for someone else?
I was watching the news, as many of us do, and I caught a clip reporting the festival on Randall’s Island and it’s closure. As I awaited for the commercial to finish I was intrigued because I has no idea that there was an event in Randall’s Island and it peeked my interest to see why the last day of this event was cancelled. The news reporter, once again, pop up on the screen he began to talk about the event and the reason behind the cancellation of the final day. He reported that several concert goers became sick and died after using drugs. As the story continue the reported interviewed several concert goers and asked for their reaction. The first was somewhat shocked and showed some sympathy towards the tragic events and stated “I don’t want to speculate on anything”. The last two where a bit more shocking to me. A young man and a woman where asked about their reactions and began to complain about the cancelation and expressed their dismay in “having to pay for what someone else did”! They seems very upset that the event was cancelled due to these deaths even when informed that the company was going to provide some type of refund.
This led me to ask some questions. What is a life really worth? Are we really in a place in history where my convenience trumps the life or death of another person? Is this mantra, “You do you and I do me” really the mantra of this generation? Am I really that far removed from the prevailing thoughts of this generation? Lastly, If this is so then how will this affect us now and in the future?
Of course I don’t have the answers to all these questions, but I can say with certainty that a life is more precious than my comfort. A life and death is more important than my temporal and earthly desires. When we start to minimize someone’s life we start to lose our humanity, our perspective and ultimately our connection with God. I don’t know how much a life is worth, but I know that every life is precious to God. I am not sure if this mantra “You do you and I do me” is the prevailing worldview, but I know that Jesus commanded us to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” I am not sure how these views will affect our kids and our future, but I do know that my future is secure in God’s hands and this means that my future is destine to be one spent with Him for eternity.
Choir singing “Keep yo business off of Facebook
Two weeks ago I took a trip abroad and circumstances were such that my phone was disconnected and thus I was not connected at all to the internet, chat, text, Facebook etc. I was able to learn a couple of things about this experience.
First, I just want to share that I went to Guatemala, a country found in Central America. It is the country that borders Mexico on the south. It was inhabited by the Mayans centuries ago and they left many remnants, artifacts and traditions that are still felt today. It is a very picturesque country with several volcanoes (one which is active) huge lakes and colonial structures. The native population is skilled in creating colorful and beautiful tapestry, interesting wooden carvings that double as jewelry boxes and vibrant paintings depicting scenery and it’s native picture.
As I mention earlier, there are several things that I learn through this experience, and I will share them in the next couple of post.
It was interesting to experience a different type of connection with family as I was disconnected from the on-line world. It was a great experience to be able to give my full attention to any and everyone that I spoke with. Conversations became more focused without the intrusive buzz of the phone on vibrator, the compulsive sneak peak at the screen to see if I missed a text, tweet, message or email or constantly thinking about what to take a picture of to upload to Instagram. My attention was solely on the conversation and I actually enjoyed it a lot more. This disconnect helped me to connect more with family and friends.
Many believe that they can be productive and effective while multi-tasking but I have seen contrary. Some might get the gist of the conversation while they text and check email, but miss the eye contact, the facial expressions and everything else that come along with effective communication. I have read that many young people have problems making friends off-line because they don’t know how to. This is a sad state of affairs and it’s telling of how much technology has infiltrated and taken over out lives.
This also creeps into our spiritual lives. Are you constantly Tweeting during the sermon? Do you check email, update your Facebook status (with nothing that has to do with the sermon) or do you use this time to schedule the week, clean out your email or critic the preaching? Then you are really not using the time to connect with God. Disconnecting from tech can mean connecting with God.
Something to think about – disconnect for a full day and work your way up to a full weekend. You will be able to see how this disconnect will help you to connect more with your spouse, kids, friends, family and significant other – not to mention God.
When I reconnected I found myself inundated with emails. As I was going through them for what seem to be 2 hours I realized that I did not miss much. Many of the emails from subscriptions I signed up for shared similar articles and information from one week to the next. In addition to that, if I missed an article I just had to go to the website and sera h through recent articles. Some other emails had info that could wait or had been handle by someone else that was capable.
Something to think about – being informed is great, but sometimes we get so bogged down with information that we can’t see the beyond it. There will always be new articles, news stories, the latest info and being able to filter all this information can and will help us spend time on things that are more important like God and family.
My last post posed What If questions that had to do with questioning whether technology has taken over every aspect our lives. Have we come to rely on technology more than God?
I write this as I sit waiting from my flight to Guatemala and a two week disconnect from technology and reconnect with God without the use of technology. I pray that this time will be a time to connect with family and have a wonderful time.
I pray that after the two weeks I can reconnect with a better perspective. I promise to come back and write my findings, thoughts, reflections and lessons learned.
Dear MTA,
The proverbial phrase “It’s not you it’s me” does not apply in this occasion, it is YOU! As with every relationship, we’ve shared wonderful times, and times full of tension. We’ve seen the best of each other and the worst. You’ve provided comfort, stability and laughter, and I have been present through snowstorms, downpours and sunny days. Sadly you have also been a source of frustration, disappointment and anger.
We are bound by a codependent relationship. I need you…and you need me! I need you to be consistent, to be on time, to be reliable but most of all I need you to be fair! I would love to remain friends, maybe even go back to the type of relationship we once shared, but I can’t ignore the problems we have now. I cannot ignore your unreliability, your indifference and how you’ve taken advantage of me recently.
I hope you understand why I feel this way. I hope that you are paying attention and that you are listening. We need help! I am willing to sit and talk if you are willing to do the same.
Sincerely,
An MTA Rider
ap|chronicles 