Best Sports Quote Ever

From US Snowboarder Graham Watanabe...

"Try to imagine Pegasus mating with a unicorn and the creature that they birth," he said. "I somehow tame it and ride it into the clouds and the sunshine and rainbows. That's how I feel."


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High School Alpha Holy Spirit Weekend

The last weekend in March we will be loading up a bus and heading to Camp Awanata in the mountains for a weekend away from distractions and the familiar. We're looking forward to spending the time looking at who exactly is the third person of the trinity. (What's a trinity for that matter)

Joining us for the weekend will be a special guest worship leader Tim Evens. Here's a little video we did to introduce him to our group.




To sign up visit our website and download the trip release form bring it to High School Alpha this Sunday night 7pm at St. Andrews Mt. Pleasant.

Abbie Walking

It's true our little one is now super mobile.

How Millennial Are You?

The Pew Research Center has put together a neat little quiz to help you determine how "Millennial" you are. Millennial is defined as.."a term used to refer to the generation, born from 1980 onward, brought up using digital technology and mass media; the children of Baby Boomers; also called Generation Y". (from dictionary.com)What I've found interesting is the report attached to the quiz. You can check out all 150 pages of here. 

Here's some interesting insight from Chapter 9

"By some key measures, Americans ages 18 to 29 are considerably less religious than older Americans. Fewe young adults belong to any particular faith than older people do today. They also are less likely to be affiliated
than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations were when they were young. Fully one-in-four members of
the Millennial generation are unaffiliated with any particular faith. Millennials are also more unaffiliated than members of Gen Xers were at a comparable point in their life cycle (20% in the late 1990s) and twice as
unaffiliated as Baby Boomers were as young adults (13% in the late 1970s).
Young adults also attend religious
services less often than older
Americans today. And compared
with their elders today, fewer young
people say that religion is very
important in their lives.
Yet in other ways, Millennials remain
fairly traditional in their religious
beliefs and practices. Pew Research
Center surveys show, for instance,
that young adults’ beliefs about life
after death and the existence of
heaven, hell and miracles closely
resemble the beliefs of older people today. Though young adults pray less often than their elders do today, the
number of young adults who say they pray every
day rivals the portion of young people who said
the same in prior decades. And though belief in
God is lower among young adults than among
older adults, Millennials say they believe in God
with absolute certainty at rates similar to those
seen among Gen Xers a decade ago. This suggests
that some of the religious differences between
younger and older Americans today are not
entirely generational but result in part from
people’s tendency to place greater emphasis on
religion as they age."


Have some fun and learn about yourself? Click here to take the quiz.

Props to Holly

Pulling Teeth

Here's a quick update about my wife and the last 4 days of our lives. Lisa headed out last weekend to the St. Andrew's Woman's retreat. The first night of the retreat the ladies were given the names of other ladies at the retreat. Lisa drew the name of someone she didn't know and eventually found the lady and struck up a conversation. It turns out that the lady she met was married and her husband is a dentist. (Lisa's a dental assistant) They talk about the dental profession and pulling teeth.

Some back story is that Lisa was told that the dental practice she worked for would be sold with in the next few months and her position would be dependent on the type of practice that would buy the space. Basically she'd be getting laid off.

The lady Lisa met at the retreat said that her husbands part time assistant had just moved and he was looking for someone to fill that position. Coincidence right? Here's where it gets a tinge of the divine... Lisa can only work specific hours that I'm off so I can watch Abbie. Child care doesn't add up financially for us.  The new dentist's old assistant worked the exact hours that we need.

Long story short is that Lisa got a call Monday set up a working interview on Tuesday went in had a great experience. (The staff prayed before the office opened) She was offered the position yesterday on the spot and accepted. 

You can almost visibly see the weight lifted off her shoulders. Job security is so important. For us this has been just another example of God lining up things.  Not saying for those struggling that God isn't working things out but hopefully our story is an encouragement towards faith that God is sovereign despite how dark our situations get.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarale/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

What We Have Been Up To...

Here's a brief summary of what we've been up to in the student ministry this past month...

Student Ministry February 2010

February for the Student Ministry at St. Andrews held much to celebrate and much to look forward to. In my mind we are operating in four key areas. First Basic Impact this month continued on their schedules. Basic has been looking at key stories in the Old Testament and seeing Jesus revealed in all of them. Impact continues to walk through Student Alpha. It’s challenged the faith of our students and firmed up the foundation that many of them have already had. I’m excited to see what this looks like next fall when we launch it as a doorway into the youth community at St. Andrews. We have been really blessed by the flood of parent involvement in providing dinners on Sunday evenings. Bethany Huthwaite has been great in coordinating those efforts.

The second area we’re moving in is life groups. We’ve seen students challenged to grow in the context of relationships. A new off campus life group has started meeting on Monday nights bringing a new opportunity for students who couldn’t make our life groups that meeting the other nights of the week. Many of our groups are working through either Mark, James or engaging the sermon series on Col.

Third is that we’ve launched a great confirmation process. Nyle Martin has been wonderful in breaking in this massive new class and their high school table leaders. This first third of the course is devoted to Christology. The person and work of Jesus will lay a firm foundation for the rest of the class to build on. We leave for our annual Confirmation Retreat in a week and are looking forward to a great time.

Finally we’ve committed time and effort to training for our adult leaders. We’ve recognized that time is a precious commodity so we’ve limited our face to face training time and have recorded on video trainings that leaders can view on the internet at their convince thought the week. Greg Shore has been great in this pursuit. We have really challenged our leaders to think through youth ministry as a calling as they move deeper in shepherding the students they are in relationships with.

Next month is turning out to be the busiest of the year. March holds both our Confirmation Retreat as well as our High School Alpha Holy Spirit Weekend. Please join us in praying for the youth of our community as these retreats hold special times away from the distractions of everyday life and an opportunity to listen to what Jesus has for them.

Alpha Notes on How and Why We Read Scripture

Here's the notes from my talk last night...

Alpha Talk “How and Why We Read Scripture”

• My Story might be a lot like yours.  My first interaction with what I would consider as authentic Christianity happened when I was a teenager.
• Tim led a Bible Study at a Mc’D’s before school and for months and months I sat in the corner on the fridge and just listened to him explain what is in this book.
• I was intrigued because he genuinely believed in what he was sharing with us.

• It led me to ask questions
• generally about whom God is but
• more specifically about why is this book so important.
• Because if you’re like me then you have a healthy skeptical side, a good sense of humor and are good looking.
• For the longest time it really bugged me when people would use the Bible to prove the Bible. That made no sense to me as a skeptic.
• Can’t define a word with that very word. Doesn’t make sense.
• What God used to really get my head wrapped around this concept is this..
• Centuries people have been claiming to have gone to God and come back with some message.
• Whole movements are based around this principle.
• Philosophers, humanists, hedonist offer us speculation. God offers us revelation.
• God has come to us in the form of a person.
• Jesus
• A popular Pastor (Mark Driscoll) wrote this… “Where as speculation is the human attempt to comprehend God, revelation is God’s communication to humanity with clarity that is otherwise impossible. The object of that revelation is the 66 books of Scripture.”
• Now this happens in two ways
• The first let’s just call General
• Middle school trip out west.
• Uncle
• Left Western PA à drove from Punxy PA to Devils Tower Wy.
• Just about half way we stopped at this truck stop and I remember opening the door from our home on wheels and staring at the endless acres miles and miles fields.
• I remember thinking two things as a middle school student.
• 1. I am so small
• 2. God there is absolutely NOTHING OUT HERE.
• Have you ever been in that situation where your breath is taken away by the sheer beauty of nature?
• Great Weekend. 04
• Aura borealis
• Christian thinker John Calvin says this... “Humans can not open their eyes without being compelled to see God”
• General Revelation through nature will only get us so far.
• One of the privileges that I get here at St. Andrews is that I and others lead a class for middle school students called Confirmation.
• It’s basically Alpha for middle school students who want to join the church.
• On our very first meeting I posed the question. If you wanted to find out about someone to get to know them better how do you go about doing it?
• Expected “sit with them at lunch” or exchange phone numbers.
• What I got was the entire class roared back FACEBOOK!
• In a round about way this is how God made the specifics about his special relationship with his people known.
• He has made himself known to us through the inspired writings of this book.
• Now no one is born with a clear understanding of who God is, nature will only get us so far, he has shown us specifics about himself through this book.
• It’s brilliant just like no two people are alike no two relationships are alike. So God speaks to us differently…
•  I don’t speak the same way to my one year old daughter the same way I do to my 14 year old nice the same way I do to my grandfather.
• Scripture speaks to us differently too God’s invitation to a deep meaningful relationship with him comes through poetry, prose, history, one liners, biographies, letters all kinds of different styles.
• So if God has made known to us all we need to have a relationship with him in this book and is powerful enough to preserve that truth from generation to generation from Adam until Dave. Feeding daily on this allows us to see Jesus our savior.

• Ephesians 1:18 “Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know the hope to which he has called you.”
• If we want to grow in our relationship with God we need to get to know him better. We do this by knowing what he has shown us.
• Personally I look at Jesus and how he spent time with his father.
• Early in the morning
• Away from distractions.
• Mark 1:35
• “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
• Scripture ADDRESS added mid 1500’s to help people find their way around.
• I like to encourage the students I work with to use the SOAP method of feeding on God’s word daily.
• S –Scripture
• We’re trained to start in the beginning. I’d say don’t.
• Mark
• Colossians
• O –Object
• Who what where context
• A – Application
• Apply to life
• P – Prayer
• Lord do this in me.
• Final word
• I know I should but I don’t, it’s boring, it’s confusing.
• Let me help with a story.
• Thanksgiving
• Snack
• Full for the feast
• Be careful what you’re soul is snacking on.
• For the Christian we speak to God through prayer, God speaks to us through his word.

Alpha

Tonight I had the great opportunity to speak at Alpha. For those of you who are not familar with Alpha it's a short course in Christianity. My topic was "How and Why to read scripture". I'll post my notes soon for anyone interested.




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Resolve for Monday

Every Monday I'm going to post one of Jonathan Edwards resolutions. He penned these while still a very young man and used them to guide his life. What am I using to guide me, my family, my ministry???

5. Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

• I have normally a 25 min commute from doorstep to office chair every day. How do I redeem that time? 
• How much TV do I watch? Video games do I play? Blog posts do I type? 
• How do I define the "most profitable way" 
• What did Christ value? 
  

Metto Coffee

If you like the local coffee shop Metto be sure to tune in to this barista competition at 4. More about coffee then you ever wanted to know.


Watch live video from usbcscaa on Justin.tv

Rules of a Gentleman

Number 22...

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."

~ John Locke 

What a great website. For the rest of the rules go here. 

 

Props to Jeremy A.

Listen Up Teenagers This is a Walkman...

A great review of a Walkman by a teenager. For the young people who frequent this blog it'll be educational for the more mature it'll be comical. My favorite quote from it was...

"It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equalizer, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette."

Enjoy....

When the Sony Walkman was launched, 30 years ago this week, it started a revolution in portable music. But how does it compare with its digital successors? The Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week.

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.
He had told me it was big, but I hadn't realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.
When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade - a bland grey.

LISTEN UP TEENAGERS... THE CLASSIC WALKMAN EXPLAINED 1: Clunky buttons 2: Switch to metal (that's a type of cassette, not heavy rock music) 3: Battery light - usually found flickering in its death throes 4: Double headphone jack (not to be found on an iPod) 5: Door ejects - watch out for flying tapes and eye injuries

So it's not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.
From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.
When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed.
As I boarded the school bus, where I live in Aberdeenshire, I was greeted with laughter. One boy said: "No-one uses them any more." Another said: "Groovy." Yet another one quipped: "That would be hard to lose."
My friends couldn't imagine their parents using this monstrous box, but there was interest in what the thing was and how it worked.
In some classes in school they let me listen to music and one teacher recognised it and got nostalgic.
It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

For the rest of the article click over to the BBC

Luther at St. Pauls

Last night was the third (second for me) of the St. Paul's "Great Theologians" course at St. Andrews Mount Pleasant. The theologian of the night was the good Dr. Martin Luther presented by The Rev'd Graham Tomlin from the Godpod podcast as well as Dean of St Mellitus College in London. It was great having him in person lecturing on such a monumental figure.

For me the touch points came from Luthers earlier life. Specifically how Luther's background in the Via Moderna as well as Biel's teaching on the Mass so shaped Luther's view of imputed alien righteousness. Simply saying Christ's righteousness becomes mine as my sin becomes his. 2 Cor 5:21

Is this not the bedrock of youth ministry today? Luther in a sense was earnestly and at times clawing his way to figure out the character of the true God. How many young people live lives that on the outside seem collected yet on the inside are in turmoil asking those same questions? Graham went on to point out that Luther could offer us a litmus test for our theology in the form of two simple questions... 1. Does our theology offer a God who can be loved? and 2. Does it help in despair?

"God only saves sinners, only teaches the stupid, only enriches the poor, only raises the dead." ~Luther.

Here's a little taste...

You are but dust...

Every year I pull this joke out and every year it's funny...

A priest went to give ashes to a middle school student with the words "You are but dust and to dust you shall return"

the student cracked up and said back...

"No way, I don't want any butt dust on my face!"

This Lent Lord Make Me Deaf

This was sent to me by a very wise friend...

Ash Wednesday – February 17^th 

An excerpt from The Road to Daybreak, Henri J. M. Nouwen

A Lenten Prayer

The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.

I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.

I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life.  I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.

Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.

Amen.

High School Alpha Part 3

Topic: How Can I have Faith?

I was out sick last week. So no update this week as I'm climbing back in the saddle.

Resolve for Monday

4. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.

Questions...

• What is the end of your life? $, Education, Family, House on the harbor? 
• What does the life look like whose end is to glorify God? 
• What was Edwards getting at here? 
• What does it mean to "suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it." What do you let slide?
  

Snow

Not since 1989 has there be snow on the ground in measure in Charleston SC. Last night that changed. Here's our evening and morning in pictures. Be sure to click through to the flicker site to see all the pics.

Was reminded of this verse this morning. Is. 1:18..

  "Come now,^(A) let us reason^[a]

together, says the LORD:though your sins are like scarlet,
   they shall be as^(B) white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
   they shall become like wool."

* I know for some of you this is not a big deal. Specifically those in Pittsburgh but for us it's huge. It's the first time our Husky has seen the white stuff and only Abbie's second time!

Acute Pancreatitis

The last week of my life has been on my back because of a little organ that your stomach sits on. Some how, as of yet to be discovered, I made my pancreas very angry.  It started out with this strange pain in my upper abs then hit me with a strong fever and planted me firmly on my back for the week. I've been to multiple doctor offices been given more shots, Iv's, and have had more test done then any other time in my life. It's been a rough week.

The real answer to this condition... stop eating.  So I've been on a super bland diet and laying low. Good news is that I'm slowly crawling back into the saddle as things in my gut seem to calm down. Shocking news is that I haven't had a cup of coffee since Sun AM. (That's rather a big deal for me) Anyway I thought I'd at least share why the ol blog has been quiet this past week. My wife has been on super duty being mom and a great nurse. It's awesome how she's served me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Resolve for Monday

3. Resolved, If ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

Question...

• What are the things that remind us to return to truth? 
• How can you guard against growing "dull" 
• What is the role of the Holy Spirit in calling us to return to Jesus? 
• If we are totally saved, once and for all,  by the sufficient work of Jesus on the cross then why do we repent of the sin we commit? Isn't it all taken care of past present and future.
  

Family Nights

Across my google reader a few days ago came a great article by Kem Meyer on how they do family nights. It was more pictures then article but is really worth checking out.

• How does your family play together? 
• Is family time viewed as a chore to be done? Guilty when it doesn't happen?
• Is family worship a task? 

"I found some old family night photos from last year. They made me smile. We still do family nights, we just haven’t been as intentional about our themes or photos. I’m motivated to ramp those up again. Last night we had Gpops & Gbunny over for a Wii party, but I don’t have the pictures to prove it ever happened. MARK THE MOMENT!"
   

Check out the rest of her pics by clicking here

Mens Retreat

"An angry god is of no help to the world but neither is the old grandpa who thinks everything is cute."

"As long as we begin with God is love we will have a weak and impotent understanding of repentance. It begins with holiness."

~ Clay McLean
St. Andrews Mens Retreat.

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The Power of One to One

I came across this article while looking for a Bible reading plan. (They have some great ones over at www.youversion.com ) For me it really emphasizes the importance of relationships in how we do evangelism as youth ministers and followers of Jesus. My story is very similar and can appropriate the persistence that it took for God to save me. The money line is the second to last sentence. If you work with young people I hope this story gives you some encouragement...

"From 1974–1979, a young, upstart Presbyterian youth pastor named Ron invaded local high schools in my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, boldly sharing the Gospel one-on-one with anyone who would listen — and with some who wouldn’t. Over the years, countless teenagers heard and understood God’s plan of salvation for the first time. Hundreds responded. Many went on to serve the Lord in full-time ministry as church-planters, youth ministers, pastors, and missionaries.

I’m one of those who heard the Gospel for the first time through Ron back in the mid-seventies. However, my first response to Ron and his Gospel was not to repent, but to run. I ran from Ron, from his “disciples,” and from God. I ran for about six months, avoiding Ron the best I could. It was a difficult task, as he seemed to show up everywhere. He was at every football and basketball game. He was in the school halls, in the cafeteria, in the parking lot. He and his band of disciples were always inviting me to another retreat, another Bible study, another prayer meeting, another youth night at the church. Finally in November of 1975, I responded to the Gospel. I repented and put my faith in Christ alone. Fortunately, it didn’t end there. Ron wasn’t content just to carve a notch in his well-worn Bible to represent yet another soul saved. Since he was not out to save souls, but to make disciples, his work with me was just beginning. He added me to one of his famous “action groups” where about eight of us met together weekly and learned to walk with God.

I believe in one-to-one evangelism, one-to-one follow-up, and one-to- one discipleship. Here’s why. Ron shared the Gospel with me. I didn’t respond. I ran. Ron ran after me. For six months he ran after me, preaching to me and praying for me. He just wouldn’t go away. 
That’s one-to-one follow-up.

After I responded to the Gospel, Ron began to disciple me in a small group. He taught me how to study and live the Bible. He taught me how to pray. He taught me how to share my faith and how to make disciples. 
That’s one-to-one discipleship. (2 Timothy 2:2) Personal follow-up and discipleship. That’s the Great Commission. 
That’s what ONE 2 ONE is all about.

It’s a guide. It can’t make a disciple, but it can help you make one. Most importantly, it helps a new disciple get the right start.

Steve Murrell"

• Who has played a key roll in disciplining you?

High School Alpha Part 2

Topic: 

• Why Did Jesus Die
  

Dinner:

• Grilled Cheese and Chili or Turkey Noodle Soup
  

Favorite Moment:

• Lots of new faces, and smaller dinner tables. It was good getting to know a newer student named Bailey 
  

Student involvement:

• Allen had the stage and lived it up as he dramatically told us about his dream last night. It was great!
  

Up Next:

• Next week is off due to the super bowl. Giving our leaders a break and some rest. We'll be hitting it hard the following week.
  

Abbie's Baptism

On a personal note here are some pics of my daughter's baptism this past weekend...

St. Paul's Augustine

Last night held the kick off of the St. Paul's Theolgical Center's spring season. Among the three tracks listed is the one I've enrolled in which promises to be challenging and fruitful. This track will look at the life and thought of 8 great thinkers of the Christian faith. Last night kicked things off with Augustine.

Kendell Harmon was our guest lecturer and really did a great job of fitting what could easily be a years worth of thought into an evening of provoking discussion.

The evening started out by tracing some of where this Bishop of Hippo came from. I have always loved Augustine's story and his Confession remain one of my favorite books. We heard about Monica's prayers, and Ambros's teaching. Augustine's biography could be a hole evening but Kendell moved quickly into Augustine's thought and culture.

"Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee."

"To do theology is to think God's thoughts after him."

We talked about the Donatist's heresy but not in a condemning way I was struck by their root plea of "Where can I find the real church?"

How relevant is that to youth ministry? Isn't many of our young high school seekers asking that very question? How many youth minister would point them to Augustin as a result?

Or how many youth ministers see the absolute value in being the Monica? Praying with out seeing fruit through years of hedonism? It's easy for me to get angry when I see a young believer chose to worship his girlfriend over Jesus but does that anger lead me to pray?

Some other high points of the night came as we discussed evil. Bringing out the comment that evil is a mystery to be redeemed not a problem to be solved.

There was many other things covered such as Plagius and our pre fallen nature as well a short discussion on Augustin's view of the end times..

"There we shall rest and see, see and love, love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end." Augustine

Over all the challenge for me will be, over these next 8 weeks, to take what I'm hearing and learning and apply them to not only my life but my ministry. It comes easy for me to sit in the ivory tower but where the rubber meets the road is where Jesus is. 


-------------

 Here's some reflection from Rev. Steve Wood's blog...

We kicked off our St. Paul’s Theolgocial Center last night.  Kendall was the guest lecturer in our “Great Theologian’s” track.  He presented on St. Augustine.  He was wonderful.  The framework through which he examined Augustine’s work was threefold: 1) Church order & structure; 2) Human freedom, choice and sin; and, 3) Eschatology.  Very helpful handholds for the participants to grasp the greater work of the great saint.

Craig Ferguson and Youth Ministry

This showed up a while ago on the YS blog it's really worth watching and is genius in it's delivery. What do you think?


Props to SDelony

Cellphones, Parents, Students, and Schools

Below is an excellent article our children's minister sent me. The article was written by columnist and teacher John Rosemond who recently spoke at St. Andrews.  It's worth the read for any parent of a teenager or preteen...

           In the course of his research, Akers learned that whereas almost all school systems initially attempted to prohibit or restrict student use of cell phones, most have ultimately capitulated to pressure from parents and students. In some cases, the obvious choice has been made to ignore violations; in others, the matter has been deferred by state-level bureaucrats to individual schools or districts. That buck-passing has resulted in largely ineffectual attempts at control. Needless to say, it doesn't take a teenager long to figure out that a rule isn't going to be consistently enforced, much less figure out how to use a cell phone without being detected, as in texting.

           The problem of enforcement is complicated by parents who demand instant access to their children during the school day and therefore will not support attempts to enforce cell phone restrictions. In this regard, parents often point out the need for their kids to be able to contact them in the event of a school shooting or terrorist attack, the likelihood of which is miniscule. Besides, in situations of those sorts the last thing law enforcement wants is hundreds of parents racing toward and crowding around a threatened school, thus constituting a hindrance to emergency operations.

           As for parents needing to be able to communicate with their kids during the school day, how about calling and asking that the child be brought to the office? Let's face it folks, the child who frequently "needs" to call his parents during the school day is the very child who needs to learn to take responsibility for himself. In that regard, a good number of principals and teachers have told me of cases in which a student has called parents from school to complain of being disciplined, resulting in said parents storming into the school to right the "wrong" inflicted upon their little innocent. These sorts of situations do not, by any stretch, constitute "need."

           Akers also points out that the shrinking numbers of kids who don't have cell phones still manage, somehow, to get through the school day just fine. I'll go a step further and speculate that these deprived children generally have greater respect for authority, a higher level of social and emotional well-being, and are (needless to say) more focused on their academic responsibilities than their cell-phone obsessed peers.

Please read the entire article by clicking here.

Resolve for Monday

2. Resolved, To be continually endeavouring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the forementioned things.

 Questions...

• How are your reminded of that which guides you? 
• Daily scripture reading is a discipline not just to gain knowledge but to guide you. Who have you told about what you read in scripture today? 
• Write down what it is that God is calling you to be right now.
  

Questions Middle School Students Ask

This is from our Basic (Middle School Youth Group) gathering last night. We taught on the fall and then opened it up for anonymous questions to be asked. Here is what 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are asking...

• - If God loves you with all His heart, why do terrible things happen to people and their families? Why isn’t everybody healthy and happy?
• - Why is God our Father and Nature our Mother?
• - Why did God allow the tree to be there?
• - Why can’t animals talk like the snake?
• - Why was Satan a snake?
• - Why did God let the serpent in if He knows everything?
• - Why did God make the bad fruit?
• - Why did God put the tree in the garden if it was forbidden?
• - How can I be sure I’ll go to heaven? What can I do to glorify God?
• - Did God foresee Adam and Eve taking the apple? Is God not omniscient? (WOAH BIG WORD)
• - Where Adam and Eve actually children or did God say that because to him they were?
• - When did Jesus come down to Earth? Why do some people not believe that he is real?
• - When Satan is defeated and there is victory what will happen? By ‘victory’ does that mean there’s no more sin?
• -If God didn’t want us to sin and eat the fruit then why did he plan it?
• - Is what Satan did to Adam and Eve why there is sin?
• - Did Adam and Eve ever really talk to God after that?
• - If God has a plan for everyone, why do innocent people die all the time?
• - Why did Adam and Eve have to be tempted?
• - Why does God take loved ones away from us?
• - Will I ever be able to see my GranPap smiling and happy in heaven?
• - If God controls all, then why did he let Satan trick Adam an Eve into eating the fruit?
• - Why are people bad?
• - Why does it seem like the poor countries get disaster? (Haiti, earthquake; Sri Lanka, tsunami) – can’t God control that?
• - Did Adam and Eve go to heaven?
• - Do animals go to heaven?
• - Did people before Jesus go to heaven?
• - Will we ever get to go back to the Garden of Eden?
• - If God knew sin would destroy the world, why would he even give Adam and Eve the choice of sinning? And if He created sin, why can’t/doesn’t he destroy it?
• - How do I know it is you who is talking to me? How do I not know it is Satan tempting and leading me away?