"Youth Groups Destroy Children's Lives"

The heading for this post comes from David Fitch, a Pastor/Professor, who discusses some concerns he has with traditional youth ministry. What you may be surprised to find out is that I almost entirely agree with him. Take a moment to check out his brief comments here: http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/youth-groups-destroy-childrens-lives/

And then hold the light up to our youth ministry at FBCJC - are we nurturing disciples or unraveling authentic faith under the guise of "youth ministry"?

How Is the Digital Revolution Revolutionizing Your Child?

Recently, I spoke at a conference on the "Communicating Church." The majority of attendees, optimistic indulgers in the "new media," were undoubtedly surprised, if not shocked, to hear me warn of the dangers of such media as Facebook. But my rant was NOT about "sexting," child predators, or anything related to safety, security, or content. Instead, I offered a warning about what these mediums themselves do to us and how they shape us by their mere form. Watch this video, from the New York Times, to learn more about why you make want to think even harder and longer about the exposure you allow your children to new media technology.

No Xchange Next Two Weeks

Due to our churchwide Thanksgiving Dinner (Nov. 17) and the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 25), we will not have Wednesday night Xchange the next two weeks (Nov. 17, 24). Enjoy the extra time together as a family!

Texting Leads to Babies?

I'm not one for shocking with statistics, but some statistics simply beg our attention, and this is one of them:

According to a study revealed just this week, teens who text more than 120 times a day are more likely to have had sex and used drugs or alcohol than those who don't.

While researchers stopped short of claiming that "hyper-texting" leads to these behaviors, they say that the link between the two is "startling" and deserves our attention. The researchers' conclusion led them to point toward two common denominators between the teens who texted with such frequency and engaged in risky behaviors - (1) extra sensitivity toward peer pressure, and (2) permissive or absent parents.

Few of us would consider ourselves to be "permissive or absent parents," but the following questions might be worth asking:

1) Do I even KNOW how many texts my child sends and receives a day?

2) Does my child spend more "home time" communicating with peers than parents?

3) Am I modeling and teaching how to act responsibly with a cell phone - boundaries, limits, etc.?

As a footnote, allow me to offer some encouraging advice that comes straight from the mouths and lives of our teens - fasting from (or turning off) the cell phone is a life-giving practice. Try to get a teen to turn off and put away their phones seems like asking them to hold their breath at times - a nice challenge for 30 seconds, but impossible for much longer! But many of our teens, some voluntarily and others by "force" (such as mission trips in the mountains of KY!), have reported again and again how liberating and even peace-making it was to not be tethered to their phones. Perhaps you can institute "Family Fasting Hours" (or even days, if you're brave!) where everyone in your family turns their phones OFF (not on silent!).

Now that's a Sabbath practice we could all benefit from.

A Beautiful Alternative

One of the joys of my work with teenagers is setting a match to the flame of their imagination and watching it burn in beautiful ways. Some have said that what our troubled world lacks most is a constructive imagination, and I take my role very seriously as an "imagination-instigator."

Along those lines, the Christian community is becoming more fruitful in producing people with such abundance and life-giving imaginations. Whether it be through Blake Mycoskie and TOMS Shoes (http://www.tomsshoes.com/) or Chris Seay and the Advent Conspiracy (http://www.adventconspiracy.com/), God is shaping an imaginative re-creation of the ways we live, work, and give in ways that have the potential to bless our world and carry out God's mission. (Just yesterday, I even read an argument for fasting on Thanksgiving, but I'll save that discussion for another day . . . after I indulge in some Thanksgiving goodies!)

Nothing brings me more joy today than seeing our own youth catch such a vision. I am thrilled to say these little pockets of resistance to the status quo are popping up all over the fertile soil of our faith community's adolescent population, and I want to highlight just one of those stories for you here.

In many ways, Holly Davenport is quite the typical girl. She loves to shop, she loves a good TV show, and she loves the color purple. But rather than falling into the cultural trap that would allow her to define herself by these interests and pursuits, Holly has caught a vision for helping the most vulnerable of our world through her gifts and passions.

This past Friday, Holly had every reason to think about herself on her birthday. But instead of creating an event to accumulate more possessions for herself, Holly had a simple request for partygoers - bring a pillowcase and some bias tape. Why? Because, together, we were going to create dresses for girls in Africa (see the pic with this post for some finished products).

As we enter into this extended holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), perhaps now is the time to re-consider our holiday traditions in light of the message of Advent. What would it look like to bring Faith, Hope, Peace, and Love to a world that needs them in major ways? Perhaps now is a great time to think about how you can spark your family's imagination and watch the flame burn throughout this Winter season.

Want to Serve Our Community with Your Teen?

On Saturday, December 4th, the FBCJC youth will be hosting "Kids' Night with Saint Nick," a special night for kids to come and have fun and learn about the beauty of Saint Nicholas, not to mention a chance for parents to get out, go on a date, do some Christmas shopping, or just take a nap! The evening will be a structured night of pizza, movie, games, and more - all from 4-8pm.

Imagine how nice this would have been to have when your children were younger - well, now you can help make this happen for other parents of young children! If you would like to help us put this event on, we need additional adults to help with such things as pizza management, nursery oversight, registration, and more. If you're interested, just respond here or let Dave know (cndavemcneely@aol.com, 865.475.3826).