John Wesley's Small Group Questions:
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
"Parents... If your kids don't learn flute in school they are going to pick it up on the street."
This time of the year we begin our Confirmation process. For those outside of the Anglican context here's a link to help better put that in context. With this season beginning another question normally comes up? What Bible should I get my teenager?
I love this question because it means first that parents value God's word enough to want it in the hands of their children and second it means that they are not just picking up the first Bible they see on a bookstore shelf.
So how do you go about choosing a good Bible for a student? Here's some helpful tips...
John Wesley's Small Group Questions:
5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
To ease fears DaveLibbon.com will not be blacked out over to SOPA/PIPA. Please don't riot.
The older your students are the more likely their phones have become a distraction. I'm 30 and yes my phone is a distraction. Props to my friend Meg for the find on this great idea. It'll need some tweaking to be used in a family context but I think cleaning up dinner would be a good motivator. Enjoy...
We usually take a pretty hard line against phones at dinner, but a new trick just popped up that gives us hope for the future.The Phone Stack
It’s called a phone stack, and it’s a buzzing, flashing reminder of every phone-etiquette rule the world seems to have forgotten.
It works like this: as you arrive, each person places their phone faced down in the center of the table. (If you’re feeling theatrical, you can go for a stack like this one, but it’s not required.) As the meal goes on, you’ll hear various texts and emails arriving… and you’ll do absolutely nothing. You’ll face temptation—maybe even a few involuntary reaches toward the middle of the table—but you’ll be bound by the single, all-important rule of the phone stack.
Whoever picks up their phone is footing the bill.
It’s a brilliant piece of social engineering, masquerading as a bar game. It takes the phone out of the pocket—where you can sneak a glance and hope nobody notices—and places it in the center of attention at all times. Suddenly, picking up your phone is the big deal you always secretly knew it was. And more importantly, it comes with consequences.
But if, after the third ring, you decide your call is more important than your lunch tab, we’re sure your friends won’t object.
As the father of two daughters this is a very important thing for them to grasp. As a youth minister is something I'd encourage every teenage girl to watch and parent to talk to their kids about..
Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.
Big Props to Erin Cooley for linking to this on FaceBook
There's this interesting thing inside of me that when something hits the Christian culture and people go a little crazy about... warning flags start to fly in my mind. My inbox / Facebook / Twitter feed was packed with people talking about the below video...
To be honest I haven't watched it yet (call me a rebel (although I have read the poem)).
I did find a really well written and balanced article by Kevin DeYoung on The Gospel Coalition Website He has a brilliant observation that many younger Christians have a hard time seeing grace as more then God's forgiveness of sin. When the truth of the gospel is that it's grace that transforms the believer, sustains the believer, as well as redeems the believer. Below is DeYoung's conclusion. The entirety of the article is well worth the read...
"The strengths in this poem are the strengths I see in many young Christians—a passionate faith, a focus on Jesus, a love for grace, and a hatred for anything phony or self-righteous. The weaknesses here can be the weaknesses of my generation (and younger)—not enough talk of repentance and sanctification, a tendency to underestimate the importance of obedience in the Christian life, a one-dimensional view of grace, little awareness that our heavenly Father might ever discipline his children or be grieved by their continued transgression, and a penchant for sloganeering instead of careful nuance.
I know the internet is a big place, but a lot of people are connected to a lot of other people. So who knows, maybe Jefferson Bethke will read this blog. If you do, brother, I want you to know I love what you love in this poem. I watched you give your testimony and give thanks to God for his work in your life. I love the humble desire to be honest about your failings and point people to Christ. I love that you love the church and the Bible. I love that you want people to really get the gospel. You have important things to say and millions of people are listening. So make sure as a teacher you are extra careful and precise (James 3:1). If you haven’t received formal theological training, I encourage you to do so. Your ministry will be made stronger and richer and longer lasting. I encourage you to speak from the Bible before you speak from your own experience. I encourage you to love what Jesus loves without tearing down what he also loves and people are apt to misunderstand. I encourage you to dig deep into the whole counsel of God.
Thanks for reminding us about Jesus. But try to be more careful when talking about religion. After all, there is one religion whose aim is to worship, serve, know, proclaim, believe, obey, and organize around this Jesus. And without all those verbs, there’s not much Jesus left."
