If you don’t text message and you work with teens you are missing it. Teens text, they have cell phones, but they don’t really even care about talking on them, all they want is to be able to text message each other.
Here is a helpful infograph from Mashable, see post here. What are the implications for this in ministry? Can we do youth ministry without text messaging?
Here is an interesting infograph about pornography addiction in America. It was created by non-christians and sheds light on the major problem we have here in America and how this problem is effecting us in so many ways!
I would love some help building a list of resources (podcast, sermons, articles, books etc…) that would help counsel and equip students to fight pornography. Leave some stuff in the comments!
Thanks in advance, for the help.
My 3 year old son is the epitome of a hypocrite. See, in our household there are a couple words we are not allowed to say and they are “stupid” and “shut-up.” The reason is because our sons used them way too much around too many people, and they always seemed to be pointed towards someone.
But there is a problem. My three year old has become a hypocrite/legalist and so does the very thing he is telling other to stop doing. This is how it breaks down:
Me, (talking to my wife two rooms away) “…That movie was Stupid.”
My 3 yr old, “DADDY! You said ‘Stupid!’”
Me, “I know buddy, sorry about that. Daddy shouldn’t have said that.”
My 3 yr old, (under his breath for the next 3 hours) “Stupid daddy said ‘stupid.’”
It is the same with “shut-up.” But many times he will just say it for the fun of it or even sing a song where every word is either “Stupid” or “Shut-up”.
The Point: Doesn’t it seem like we can do this in our ministries also? Think about confronting a fellow worker who always jokes around, or is late, or does not seem to care. Yet in our own way, we do the very same thing. Maybe they show up late to every meeting, but then when we show up late we make it sound like it is ok that we are late, we can excuse it. How about when we confront a student on their personal study of the Word, prayer or journaling? Are we really doing as much as we are asking the student?
It’s not that I’m trying to discourage you from confronting an issue, I am merely saying that in my own life, if I challenge my students to have a better thought life; to get into a fight club; to be in community, I had better be doing those things or addressing areas in my life that need change.
Just as my son is a hypocrite for yelling at me for saying shut-up or stupid, and then saying the same thing for the next hour, many of us do the same thing, just on a much larger scale. Don’t be like my three year old, confront sin but confront your own first. Challenge a student to study the word, but challenge yourself first! Don’t be a hypocrite.
Just about every youth pastors bookshelf contains one, if not the entire collection of these DVD’s. They are compelling, creative, engaging, and thought provoking. Their subtle light blue color always seems to stand out from all the other books and DVD’s and seems to act as an honor badge saying, ‘I’m cutting edge’ ‘I’m cool’ ‘I’m a youth pastor!’ If you still don’t know what I am talking about take a look at the photo below.
Nooma. These short DVD’s are produced by Rob Bell and contain his patented teaching style, ask a bunch of questions about everything and give very few answers. Now to be totally honest I know people who have either come to the Lord, or come back to the Lord because of these videos and Bells teaching, yet with that said I want to pose a question, or maybe better put a challenge to those of you who are on the Bell-wagon.
Before I get there I must say that for some time now I have had problems with Bell and his teaching, to be totally honest I used his Nooma videos, but after a couple months, all the questions he posed without any answers and the vagueness that Bell gives as ‘teaching‘ started to concern me. Since that time I have read up on Bell, listen to more of his teaching and read some of the theological, in nature, statements that he has made. Doing all of this has only continually brought me to a place where I distanced myself from Bell more and more, mainly because he seemed to be a boarder-line heretic, or at minimum someone whose teaching did not point to the Jesus of the Bible. Some of you know this about me, mainly because we have talked about it.
Back to my challenge. Bell has come out with, what I would argue, the nail in the coffin as to where he stands as an evangelical Christian. As Justin Taylor put it, speaking about Bells new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Timemagazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins. (my underlining)
Did you catch that section I underlined? Bell is arguing that a loving God would never sentence humans to eternal suffering, aka Hell. What Bell is saying in this book, which I have not read but plan to, is that everyone will go to Heaven, this my friends is called Universalism. It is not Christianity what-so-ever!
So my challenge is this: Why allow someone to teach your students about Jesus, when in reality this teacher believes your students will go to heaven not in any way dependent on if they listen to him or not. Please find men, and woman, who will teach Christ-centered, Jesus exalting, God glorifying theology so those students, who according to my Bible will be going to hell unless they believe in the substitutionary death of Jesus, can know for sure who Jesus is and how much Love does Win!
Still don’t believe me? Watch this video and pay attention to what Bell says, and what he does not say:
In closing I will post John Pipers words from Twitter – “Farewell Rob Bell.” See HERE
Here are two articles from guys who are much smarter then me: And I would guess there will be much more written in the days and weeks to come, and I will update this post with that content.
Kevin DeYoung: To Hell With Hell
Justin Taylor: Rob Bell Universalist?
