Summer is almost here!

It's hard to believe, but summer is almost here! We have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us for spiritual growth. Spiritual growth happens in so many ways, and we try to incorporate a variety of them in to the MABC Youth Ministry. During the school year, we spend our time examining Scripture and looking at the ways in which our lives intersect with Scripture.

This summer, we'll be focusing on living our lives together. Passport's theme, "Life Together," will help us learn how to be a true community. We'll focus on learning the spiritual discipline of seeing God in our everyday experiences, and how we share them with one another. Each of us has a story to tell, and each of us needs to learn about the stories of those around us.

So join us this summer as we do life together and as we share our stories!

Social Media: The Fourth Dimension

Below is an article I wrote for CBF Georgia regarding the effects social media has had on youth ministry... hopefully it will help those who have teens, work with teens, or know teens to understand a little better how social media is changing youth culture!

To see the full issue of Visions, which is dedicated to Student Ministry, click here

Surrender Our Sin

The pink post-its represent "our sin."

We spent our last Sunday before Easter discussing the challenging topic of sin. We talked about how many churches seem to either focus on sin all the time or not at all. We watched several different videos that showed some very different perspectives on sin.

In our small groups, students were encouraged to look at what Jesus had to say about sin. We also read what Paul had to say about how difficult it is to avoid sin.

As we observe Good Friday, we recognize this as a day where the sins of humanity got the best of us and led to us putting to death the one person who had never sinned.

May we take the time to observe this Holy Weekend just how much history was changed. May the story of Jesus's death cause us to rejoice all the more that evil did not have the final word.

As we join with millions of Christians around the world, tonight we mourn all that is wrong in the world and in us. We mourn the death of Christ. Tomorrow we dwell in the agony of waiting and the difficulty of uncertainty. And as the sun's first rays peek over the horizon on Sunday morning, may we shout with all of creation that "CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

Surrender Our Status...

"Surrender" is a tricky thing! There tend to be a lot of areas that are easy for us to give over to God. If we're honest, though, there are probably some areas of our lives that are easier for us to hold on to. Perhaps these are some of the intangible areas, like our status-- those areas that are hard to define, and hard to determine how much Christ should influence them. 

The orange notes represent what we want to surrender about our status

We talked about how our status, especially in middle school and high school, can be quite dependent upon what our peers think of us. We talked about the positive and negative aspects of status. We also talked about how much Jesus emphasized the opposite of what society often thinks regarding status-- that the last will be first, servants will be honored, and the lowly raised up. We looked at descriptions in Isaiah about the coming servant of God and how he would not be what people expected!

Here's what some of our youth are seeking to surrender:

"To do things for me, not because it will look good to my friends."    "To learn to serve so that I can lead."  " To leave the status quo behind." "To reach out to those who are 'outcasts' and be a better friend."

As we continue on our Lenten journey, we are going to spend this last Sunday before Easter discussing a difficult topic... sin. It is one of those areas that churches seem to either spend all their time focusing on, or very little of their time acknowledging. Where is the balance? What did Jesus have to say about sin? How do we acknowledge our mistakes, and learn from them? 

Join us at Inside Out this Sunday as we explore all these questions and more!

Surrender...Our Stuff

Each week we'll add what we need to surrender...

For the next several weeks at Inside Out, we will be delving into the topic of "surrender." As we discussed last Sunday night, this is a very "churchy" word that we may have heard a lot about, but never really applied to our daily lives. As we look at various aspects of our lives in which we might be called to surrender to Christ's way of life, we are trying to be really honest with each other and ourselves.

Last week, we looked at surrendering our stuff. This is a really important area for us, especially as those who live in the US. We brainstormed about what drives us to always be seeking "more": perhaps our own insecurity, the desire to have security, the various perks that seem to come with accumulating more, the status that comes with stuff, etc.

We read a lot of Scripture that is most often cited in discussions regarding money and possessions. One of our challenging thoughts was how the trap of just saying "spiritual answers" because they sound spiritual can actually turn us into very "me"-focused individuals... which contradicts Jesus's call to love our neighbors as we love ourselves!

Check out this funny video about how sometimes we turn to greed to fill the holes in our lives, rather than working on our relationships with each other or God...

This Sunday night, we'll look at "Our Status." In a world that is constantly urging us to climb various ladders-- social, material, occupational, etc.-- we are faced with the challenge of Jesus telling us the last shall be first and the first last! Don't miss out on our discussion of "Surrender...Our Status."

Spring Break, Madness Report, and What's Coming UP!

Our work crew (including Natalie Byrd and Kala Horvat)

I hope that this finds those of you who have been traveling for Spring Break enjoying some much needed time off!!

As many of you have heard from both our students and from all of our pictures posted on Facebook, we had a GREAT time at March Mission Madness. To explain a little more in depth... my crew was tasked with doing some painting, organization, and cleaning at a half-way house for abused women and children. I had 8 girls on my crew ranging from 8th grade to 11th grade, and they were AWESOME workers.

But beyond all the good work we did, one person we encountered throughout our day really brought home the meaning of all of this. This person told us that while painting might not seem like a big deal to us, it helped to remind this person that the world isn't an entirely bad place. Seeing complete strangers coming and caring for this half-way house made this person recognize that not all people were bad, either. Talk about a powerful moment.

This about sums up our great time on St. Simon's!

As one of our students so aptly said, "MMM was a weekend of fun with friends and doing God's work...a perfect combination!" 


As we continue our Lenten journey in the Youth Ministry, we will be looking at the theme of "Surrender" over the next several weeks. Jesus's journey to the cross models for us what it might look like to live out our faith despite all the distractions that surround us! Join us this Sunday evening from 5pm- 7pm at Inside Out as we delve into what it means to really surrender.

March Mission Madness--Meet the World

By the time you're reading this, we are on the road to St. Simon's Island where we will join with 200 other youth from all over Georgia for the weekend! March Mission Madness (or MMM) is focused on helping students incorporate their faith, their worship, and their missional activity into their everyday lives. Each year our theme challenges students (and adults) to stretch their faith and strengthen their relationship with Christ. Please be in prayer for our students and chaperones this weekend as we seek to dive deeper into our relationships with God.

As a youth minister, I constantly wrestle with how to encourage students to live out their faith right where they are-- in all the avenues of their lives. This is what Jesus urged his followers to do, and this is what we are called to do as well. But as most of us are all too aware, there are so many distractions and so many other voices that demand our attention-- status, self-image, material possessions, relationships, public image, fitting in, hurts, illnesses, worries... the list goes on and on.

So in keeping with my Lenten journey (see last week's post), I've been asking students if there's one thing I can pray for them for as we journey through Lent. This week, here is my prayer for our students:

God of Healing and Comfort,

Be with those we know who are sick and suffering. In the midst of the pain, hurt, and tragedy that exists in our world, give us the strength to remember your promises-- You are near to the brokenhearted, and you draw near to us. Let the warmth of those words comfort those who need it most. Give us the strength and courage to be your hands and feet to the world and to those right in front of us.

In Christ's Name I pray, Amen.