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Spark* "notes"

Thanks to all those this weekend who attended our first Spark* Youth Workers Conference. I'm encouraged by the many youth workers (paid and unpaid), students and speakers who engaged in the seminars and workshops. It was a great first go--- and every indication is that we've landed on something worthwhile here--- and at a great price point too. Our student volunteers did a superb job representing Crown and helping our guests feel at home. 220+ participants (including a couple who had travelled 7 hours from Chicago!) focused on equipping the next generation to know and share God (Generational Transference). That's cool.

More feedback later... We're debriefing and reviewing evaluation forms this week... and I have to remember to grade papers and teach classes! But for now I want to say "thank you" to all those who follow God's call to intentionally invest in the lives of young people. What a blessing you are!

Our Weekend at Big Sandy

What a great time my family had at Big Sandy Camp this last weekend: broomball on the lake, sledding on the ice oval, endless hot chocolate, and donuts cooked over an open fire! It was especially a joy to be with several students from Crown who served as worship leaders (LifeVoice pictured with me leading prayer), youth workers, and volunteers at the camp. It was great seeing a student give his life to Jesus and many others also flourish in their walk with God and deepen in their friendships. Our middle son had such a great time he's asking to go back this summer as a full out camper. Well done, Big Sandy Camp! Thanks for the opportunity to partner with you in ministry!

Spark* next week

February 11 is soon approaching! We're excited for the first Spark* Youth Workers Conference at Crown College. I'm looking forward to interacting with our guests and being encouraged by their passion for the next generation. Please register right now so that we can plan a full lunch for you! Just $19 gives you the opportunity to hear from some cutting-edge youth ministry leaders, gain relevant training in high-quality and workshops, and of course eat some good food! Here's a sneak peak (again!):

Warm-hearted Warriors: Raising Boys to Know God

 

 My sons run. They jump too. And wrestle. They play super-hero games, fighting injustice with mighty powers. They laugh with their bellies, cry with their lungs, and smile with their entire soul. They swoon for girls and stand-up for their Mom. Something as simple as a marker can create artful hunter-styled masterpieces on their faces. Something as valuable as time from their Dad can create heart-full adoration in their souls.

Boys love life with innate zeal. They long for maximum joy. Throwing a rock in the river can be the epitome of adventure. Even reading a book can be a fraternal celebration of happiness and companionship.

But all across North America the delight of boyhood is discouraged in our churches. Countless young men have given up on God at a young age. They have found in our modern religion the killer of their appetite. Emotionless fellowships have frustrated many of our starving warriors. By repelling their hearts, we have lost thousands, if not millions of men. We have isolated their minds from their souls. We have taught them church data but failed to teach them passionate biblical faith. A warrior will not serve someone who does not inspire him. And, unless dramatic action is taken, the transference of faith to successive generations will be halted in defeat.

Our boys need a warrior environment. Our warm-hearted soldiers will grow to serve God if we enable them to continue craving life. One day, armed with authentic love, these warm-hearted warriors could engage this entire world with transformational power. Imagine an army raised up around this planet passionately and unswervingly committed to the cause of peace and life, relief and restoration, joy and confidence.

Here's how it could happen:

• PLAY HARD WITH YOUR SONS: It is vital that we make our families and churches houses of fun. When a boy thinks of their home or their church, let them be excited! Nothing pushes away our youth more than to suck the life out of the adventure of knowing God.

• PRAY STRONG WITH YOUR SONS: Essential to the commitment of every warrior is the inspiration of their commander. A warrior will follow the leader who connects with them in the deepest place of their soul. We must teach our boys a life of action-talk with God. A warrior who knows and trusts God as their leader will follow him to the ends of the earth.

• STAY LONG WITH YOUR SONS: When a parent or mentor abandons a boy, the warrior's heart turns cold. Too many boys are being taught to plunder and pillage because too many of us are injuring their hearts. If we truly want to grow warm-hearted warriors we need more people in our families and churches to give long-term commitment to our sons.  

Let's do this together. Let's raise our boys to actively know a God who cares for them, who leads them with faithfulness and inspiration, who gives them courage and strength to face any foe. Let's raise warm-hearted and warrior-spirited boys by raising them with a playful, prayerful, faithful life.

God's Anti-Aging Potion

Oh, if only there were a miracle elixir that would take off the years. Or a magical potion to re-grow my head hair. Or P90x without the P the 90 or the X.  

I realized today that I'm getting older. My colleague/friend, Dean Ericksen, and I were recounting an event in my life that I was thinking had occurred ten years ago.

"When did that happen?" he asked.

"Ten years ago in 1992," I said. 

"Uh, that was 20 years ago," Dean corrected.

"Thanks a lot Dean for helping me with my math," I muttered quietly when his stinkin' aging ears were out of hearing distance. :) 

Suddenly, a wave of realization hit me. The big FOUR OH is this year! I suppose I'm cool with that fact... but it is also occuring to me that in 2013 I turn 41... and after that comes 42 and then 43 and onward until I die. Fun, eh? (Not "fun-ny"!) This is just the way it goes. Numbers increase in age. See, I can do math.

So I guess, rationally, I'm not really after becoming younger... because that's actually agically (new word) impossible. So what is it that I really want in relation to my inevitable collision with elderliness (new word)?

Well, here it is. This year I suspect that I'll begin to better embrace an age-tested (as in eons of time) idea: The true test of  life is internal vitality... even during external advancement of age.

Some of the most inspiring people are those who have lived many years and yet remain young at heart. There is something miraculously encouraging about an older soul who is flourishing. You can see the spark in their eyes... the excitement of their passions... the resilency of their experiences... and the catalytic impact of their actions.

This is the anti-aging potion of God. Godly maturity: when the heart, soul, strength and mind integrate with God's heart, soul strength and mind.

I'm not suggesting that people who follow after God won't grow wrinkly or weathered or beaten down physically. No, I am suggesting that godly people, at whatever age they happen to find themselves in, draw up strength and vitality and vigorousness from an inexhaustive well. And I am beginning to believe more and more that after a lifetime of developing a pattern of drawing up God's nourishment... a youthful fruitfulness flourishes in the most mature of people.

I said that phrase very deliberately.

Biblically, maturity equals a youthfulness of faith. It does not equal "fully developed"... which is never possible on this earth (even though many of our church mission statements implore us to become "fully developed followers"-- thankfully we have eternity to learn that!).  Maturity, in reality on this earth, equals a continual pursuit of God in all things.  A "long obedience in the same direction" as Eugene Peterson has written. Maturity is a privileged undertaking reserved for any-aged believer... most contagiously and innocently by young children... but perhaps most profoundly and practitionally by those who have lived through many seasons of life. Maturity, biblically, equals a zeal, a passion, a hope, an abundance, a kenitic energy, an unbridled spring of faith... a childlike wonder and enthusiasm held in a quiet, but mighty, resolve which naturally seeds itself to others.

Rootedness producing fruitfulness. That's what I've decided I want to learn to better live out this fortieth year of my life.

"The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord's own house. They flourish in the courts of God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, 'The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is nothing but goodness in him!'" ~ Psalm 92:12-15

 *Image taken from here.

Register for Spark*

*Click on the postcards for full-size image.

*Go to www.crown.edu/spark to register. For individuals and/or teams. Only $19 (includes lunch).

Refreshing Day at Recharge 2012

We had a great time at Recharge today! Thanks to all the organizations, churches, ministries, and teams that helped make today an encouraging success. Tiger McLuen, Jeanne Osgood and the Youth Leadership folks were organizational masters.  St. Andrews Lutheran in Mahtomedi displayed inspiring hospitality. Heather Flies and Mark Matlock encouraged and challenged the sold out (750) crowd. And the workshops were excellent!  Thanks to stellar investments from Daniel White Hodge, Ginny Olson, Brian Pingel, Dan Rotach, Cesar Castillejos, Stefan Vanvoorst, Tim Coltvert, Jeff Carver and others.

Personally, it was a rich day. I needed it! For instance, every time I hang out with Brian Pingel (youth ministry faculty at North Central University) is a lift for me... though this is strangely the first time we've actually spent time in the Twin Cities (Louisville and Seattle before this!). Ginny Olson oozes encouragement- so I know it will be good to have her at Crown for Spark* in 1 month (Along with Daniel White Hodge and others. Toby Zook also represented Crown tremendously, by the way!). Great to meet some new friends like Cesar and Edrin... The particpation and feedback to my seminar (GROW DOWN) today was also a tremendous blessing... especially hearing stories of how God is working to raise up a new generation that knows and loves Jesus.

Glad and exhausted to be here in the Twin Cities! Looking forward to the year ahead and how God will continue to stir His people here.

Adult Definitions

**Sorry--- here's a little rant I got on today. Not very "grown-up" of me I guess. :)

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ADULT 1: fully developed and mature : grown-up / 2: of, relating to, intended for, or befitting adults <an adult approach to a problem> / 3: dealing in or with explicitly sexual material <adult bookstores> <adult movies> ¹

So let me get this straight.  An "adult" is someone who is "fully developed and mature" and/or "dealing in or with explicitly sexual material". I suppose these two bookend statements explain the middle demarcation: "of, relating to, intended for, or befitting adults".  

We all know it is wrong for children to deal in or with explicit sexual material. Even our messed-up-confused-moral culture understands that involving children in or exposing children to explicit sex is sick. Any of us understands that there is something inherently wrong with adulterating children. Therefore, rightfully, the most severe grudges, hatred and punishments are directed towards those predators that mess with children.  

But is there ever truly an age that it becomes mature for someone to "deal in or with" explicit sex? Is there ever someone "fully developed" or "mature" enough to deal in or with distorted sexual interplays that are devoid of a fully developed and mature relationship? For some reason our society has come to believe that explicit sex is okay for adults... because by some form of definitive gymnastics we pretend that falsities and spoiled truths relate to, are intended for, and are befitting adults.

Really. "Fully developed and mature" in which way exactly? In what form of honesty does our society define "fully developed" and "mature" as engagement with perverse material? I don't blame the dictionary for describing what "we" mean by our language. It is not the dictionary's fault that we are so twisted up. 

We adults, after all, feel it is our right to define our own truth. We rate "adult" video games as "M" for "mature" - games filled with explicit gore, violence, language and sexual content. Culturally, we've made these "M" games the most enticing and luring so that our teenagers can't wait to play the "M" games... and many don't wait... and many adults buy those games for their kids... who are, according to the dictionary, not yet fully developed or mature... and our society pushes kids towards adulthood... as if we can't wait for our children to become like us.

Have you read The Hunger Games yet? You should. Your kids have read it. And they get the point... until adults desensitize and innoculate them some more.

Adults are the most selfish, temporal, insular, obsessive people I know. It doesn't take much observation to determine that what adults think befits adults demonstrates some rather childish tendencies in these so-called "fully developed" people. Adults are known for trying to get what they want when they want how ever they want.  And if adults aren't allowed to get what they want when they want they can be known to throw a good hissy fit. Adults have been known to take things from others, form cliques, shun outcasts, rule with distrust, talk behind backs, cut corners, give-in to addictions, and operate on emotional extremes.

Ironically, Merriam-Webster's definition of "childish" relates to, is intended for, and is befitting of many adults in our culture. Engage with this for a moment: The word "childish" is "marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise <a childish spiteful remark>."

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ADULTERY: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also : an act of adultery.

Is there any wonder why the word "adultery" means what it does? To lack fidelity in life isn't called "childry".  "Adultery", not "childry", simply takes the logical next step from our own definitions of "adult". To act like an "adult" is to engage in "adultery".  A "fully developed and mature" person, after all, should be able to do what he/she wants with whomever he/she wants and not worry about the consequences it causes to others or themselves. Adultery, after all, simply follows the linear progression of a fully developed self-absorption and a fully matured self-gratification system. Adultery lacks the innocent and uncorrupted heart of a child.

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ADULTERATE: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element; 

UNadulterated people are largely an exception today... and they are largely the topic of insults from leading adults. My grandparents are nearing their 70th anniversary. They have lived exceptional unadulterated lives marked by simplicity, love, trust, and unselfishness. They were like this when they were young... and they are like this now, while they are old. They would do anything for anybody. Their favorite time in life is when they can spend time with each other or with friends and family, playing, chatting, eating. They cherish the little things and fear the big. They relish loving gifts. They take responsibility in their community and live for the best in others. They are not perfect, and they are not fully developed. They have made mistakes and done some things they regret. But they would be the first to tell someone that they do not have everything figured out about life and there are times when they feel lacking to accomplish something or when they realize they didn't do the right thing. Their hearts keep turning, more and more, towards faithfulness. Together they each have almost 90 years of history in learning to embrace the heart of a child. Their age may mean physical deterioration, but it conveys a resolving purity and love.

UNadulterated people are those who live with purity and innocence. UNadulterated people have not been corrupted, debased, or made impure by harmful elements. It's not naievete or ignorance. It's a process of sanctifiying purity that is winning the war against fully developed impurity.  

The knowledge of good and evil does not make someone "fully developed" nor does it make someone "mature."  Instead, the knowledge of good and evil makes someone corrupt, debased, and impure.  In other words, adulterated lives have grown in the wrong direction.

One thing is clear to me. The pure of heart are not adults in the way that our society defines adults. They are so much better than that. They remind me of my six-year old daughter. Beautiful. Wonderful. Wide-eyed. Fighting against the eroding pressures of this world to remain true. Inspiring to me... a person who too often gives in to the complexities and needs a reminder to desire the simple truth of life.

Jesus said, "If anyone who causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck" (Matthew 18:6).  I think he was serious.

¹ Definitions taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com

Nursing infants silence enemies

I was startled recently by an obscure verse in a famous psalm. Usually, verse 1 and verses 3-9 of Psalm 8 get all the attention. They are marvelous verses describing the majesty of the Lord and the humble wonder of humanity. God is rightfully praised and humans are rightfully placed.  "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your Name in all the earth... What are mortals that you should think of us... For you made us only a little lower than Elohim (God)..." Etc. These are orienting verses that help us discover God and ourselves more clearly.

But verse 2 shocked my system a bit.  For some reason through the years I have skimmed over this verse.  This time, however, I became ashamed that I had so passively dismissed these words in the past. It reads like this:

"You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise.  

They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge."

First, I am reminded that God places tremendous attention on young people. In a world that dismisses and neglects children, God intentionally teaches them.  God focuses time and energy to equip them to be proactive proclaimers. Most of us would naturally agree that babies and young children exude a sort of passive praise of God. Their innocence and fragility and sweetness emotes with the wonder of our Creator. But to think that God enables them to personally engage in the act of praise is a remarkable thought. God believes that children, even nursing infants, are able to praise Him. Again, as Scripture reveals repeatedly, we read that we should never hinder a little one from following God.

Secondly, I am startled that nursing infants and children have the power to silence God's enemies. No missles, no hidden nuclear program nor secret drones.  No government authority, no military advantage nor organized movement. These babies still rely upon their mothers for life and nourishment. They are weak and fragile.  Babies cannot yet completely control their fine motor movements. Babies poop in diapers... as long as someone has diapered them. Nursing infants and children are at the mercy of others who care for them. And yet, somehow, according to Psalm 8, they are able to pacify God's enemies.

It's quite a picture: God's enemies silenced by diapered, nursing infants.  Like Daniel in the den of lions, babies shut the mouths of devouring beasts.

How? Simple really. Astonishingly simple. God cares for young people and teaches young people to proclaim praise in the midst of the terrors roaming this earth. And in their fragile innocence and wide-eyed wonder, these children quell the rage of sin and shine hope to the nations.

Thank you, Jesus, for the unbridled wonder of the next generation!

Here's the entirety of Psalm 8 in the New Living Translation (taken from Bible Gateway):

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.^[a]

 ¹ O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.

 ² You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength,^[b]
   silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.

 ³ When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
      the moon and the stars you set in place—
 ⁴ what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
      human beings that you should care for them?^[c]
 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God^[d]
      and crowned them^[e] with glory and honor.
 ⁶ You gave them charge of everything you made,
      putting all things under their authority—
 ⁷ the flocks and the herds
      and all the wild animals,
 ⁸ the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
      and everything that swims the ocean currents.

 ⁹ O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 8:1 Hebrew according to the gittith.
2. Psalm 8:2 Greek version reads to give you praise. Compare Matt 21:16.
3. Psalm 8:4 Hebrew what is man that you should think of him, / the son of man that you should care for him?
4. Psalm 8:5 Or Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels;Hebrew reads Yet you made him [i.e., man] a little lower than Elohim.
5. Psalm 8:5 Hebrew him [i.e., man]; similarly in 8:6.

 

Spark* Youth Workers Conference

Crown College is hosting Spark* - a refreshing one-day conference for youth workers (paid or volunteer) on February 11, 2012.  Spark* offers fresh resources, networking, and an encouraging environment. It's a great event for youth ministry leadership teams. Speakers include Daniel White Hodge, Ginny Olson, Eric Iverson, Matt Reeve, Jack Mackinnon, Meg Murphy, Gary Newton, and Brad Palsma. Minnesota Teen Challenge and Youth Specialties will also have resources on hand.

Cost: $19 includes registration, seminars, snacks and lunch.

Register: Online at www.crown.edu/spark

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