I remember my first real road trip as a young man. It was with a group of fifty plus teenagers from Colorado Bible Church. Our destination was a camp in Hollywood, Florida...in July...on an overcrowded school bus with no air conditioning. Did I mention that our starting point was Denver, Colorado? Strange smells indeed. Let's just say that this particular summer camp didn't conclude with a baptism in the Atlantic Ocean. It started with one, just to scrub the stink off.
A few days ago my little girl Kailey (whose 5 years old) asked me a startling question from the back of the car as I was driving. She asked, "Why does God speak like this?" and then she went silent.
This video from my friends at liveabove.com does a great job at explaining the need for graduating high school seniors to be financially, socially, spiritiually and emotionally prepared for college life.
During his earthly ministry Jesus was driven by an almost fanatical commitment to reach those who were lost. He pursued those who were broken, reached out to those who were hurting and transformed those who were willing. Instead of hanging out at the temple with the other rabbis Jesus hung out in the streets with tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. According to Jesus' own words his driving cause was to "seek and save what was lost" Luke 19:10.
It's 2009; do you know what kids today are saying, thinking and doing? Well for starters, according to Harris Interactive's 2009 YouthPulseSM report, they are shopping, maintaining relationships, absorbing technology, worrying about the future, aspiring to greatness and going online and going online and going online. And this just barely scratches the surface of what their lives are all about.
Would you ever make a movie? I'm not talking about a YouTube upload that you and your friends filmed with your cell phone...I mean a real movie. If so, what would you do?
I recently heard an interesting story about an elementary aged girl from a non-Christian home. Her Christian friend had invited her to Sunday school, and she desperately want to go. But there was a problem. Her parents didn't want her to attend church. Yet that didn't dampen her desire to go. Early one Sunday morning she got up, dressed before her parents were out of bed, and then knocked on the church family's door to ask if she could go with them.
Ah, November. With your noticeably shorter days and colder temperatures, you still manage to brighten our spirits with the warmth of pumpkin spice lattes and the start of another holiday season.
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