Today, I didn’t have time to talk, but I glanced over at their table from time to time.  I gotta tell you, I felt sooooo sorry for them.  What a picture of why “go to them” ministry works and “come to me” ministry isn’t quite so effective.  I think I saw a grand total of 2 kids talk to them in a 30 minute period.

I’m not coming down on them, because they’re just getting started and I know all too well how difficult & intimidating it is to go into a room full of kids you don’t know hoping someone talks to you.  I remember feeling like that guy.  Actually, I pray that I always feel a little bit like that guy just to keep me on my toes and make me remember who’s really in control.  But, part of me wanted to go over there and kick them in the butt until they engaged with some kids.  I wanted to fold up their table, push them to the middle of the room, and tell them to just talk to someone. 

Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen?  The kids might laugh at you.  Maybe, but in most cases that won’t happen until you walk away.  Just don’t look back.

I have to applaud their consistency.  They came today, and they were here last week.  Maybe they’ll be here tomorrow.  There’s something to be said for presence.  Sooner or later, maybe a kid will get dared to go to their table and talk to them, while his friends watch & giggle.  But, I’d rather force the issue.  You’re there to meet kids, to have an impact on their lives, to show them who Jesus is.  Jesus ain’t sitting at a table with a big bag of Starbursts.

Jump in, fellas!  It’s a whole lot more exciting.

The same thing happened back in May.  I got that feeling that something just wasn’t right.  I was doing everything I was “supposed” to do.  Quite times, worship, prayer, fellowship, but it was all just religion.  Then I went on assignment and wa la the real reality hit me in the face – God is real, He loves me, He wants to walk with me, He’s cool as crap, and He wants me to point others to him. 

So, I’m back.  Back to reality.  Time to let the world be the world with their kings & presidents & CEOs.  Time for me to focus on His kingdom and The King.

I just got done writing a weekly update for some of my friends & supporters and thought I’d share part of it with you.  I had the opportunity to chaperone my school’s homecoming dance Saturday night and wouldn’t you know God showed up in a strange, but very cool way.

To finish off the week, Sarah, Jesi, & I chaperoned the dance on Saturday night. Chaperoning a dance is always a surreal experience, because the kids are not experiencing fun at Young Life Club as we are used to seeing. They are at a dance with their friends experiencing the “fun” the world has to offer. It always makes me a little sad to see, but helps me know we are doing ministry exactly where we need to be doing it.

That’s how I went to the dance on Saturday night, a little down, just wanting the night to be over. I was assigned to the dance room from 10:00 – 11:00, walking around, being a presence, making eye contact with my Campaigner guys to hold them accountable. Little did I know God was about to give me a huge sign of encouragement.

Believe it or not, 80’s music is back. The DJ played Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and the kids just belted it out – I’m still not sure how you dance to that song (I’m thankful for songs they can’t dance to, btw), but they were definitely singing at the top of their lungs. A few of my friends came over to me as they yelled the lyrics, “Hey, Storms, this is a Club song. This is just like Young Life.” Yeah, I thought, just like Young Life.  I hoped not.

I smiled and sang along without moving my lips (not sure if Chaperones are supposed to sing or dance). Then, the very next song was Sweet Home Alabama, a song we literally do every other week at Club. As the song started playing, I couldn’t help but think how cool it was that 2 songs in a row were Young Life songs. I got my camera out and started walking among the kids, figuring there wouldn’t be much inappropriate dancing to Sweet Home Alabama.

So, there I was in the middle of about 300 kids all singing one of our favorite Club songs, snapping pictures, thinking how neat this was, and the chorus started. “Sweet Home Alabama” they sang. Then, I would say about 90% of the kids shouted out “Bama Bama Bama, Wooooo”. That’s a little thing we add to the song at Club to make it more fun and here all these kids were at their Homecoming Dance singing just like they were at Club – and it was almost all of them. Now that was surreal. What a blessing for me to hear.

I don’t want to sound like a pansy, but I almost started crying.  In my defense, I was tired and had endured watching Georgia almost get beat by Auburn earlier in the day, so I was emotionally spent.  But it was one of those things where you’re just like “Wow”.  I didn’t want the song to end, just to hear them keep singing.

One of the things we’ve always said is that we want to reach every kids at our school.  While that seems nearly impossible, one of those things we say but don’t really “really” believe, God showed me that it is possible and it is happening.  I’m so thankful for being able to witness what God is doing in the lives of kids.

More to come…

Sean just posted a few questions about his new iPhone, and while reading it I was wondering what types of technology other leaders are using to keep in touch with kids.

During the closing session of the Conference, Dr. Dash describes an unpolished & spontaneous presentation by Earl Creps.  Do you think you present a Jesus that is too small?  I know I do.  Here’s some of what Dr. Dash had to say.

Creps talked about our tendency to shrink spirituality, offering Jesus as a set of self-improvement techniques. “We present a Jesus so small that he can be tucked into our lives,” he said.

The alternative, Creps said, is John 15: abiding in Christ. We need to stop holding up answers, and start holding up Jesus. Our pragmatism essentially says that Jesus is not enough by himself. We are offering our people too little. Jesus did not come to improve our lives, but to be our life. He did not come to make bad people good or good people better; he came to make dead people live.

The enemy of faith is not so much doubt, Creps explained. It is reductionism. The world is waiting for a spirituality that is big, much bigger than the one we’re offering with our self-help spirituality. Instead of looking for turbo versions of ourselves, maybe we need to spend more time looking at the transcendent God who is much bigger than our puny lives and organizations.

For the first time in the conference, I found myself taking pages of notes. What I need most, I realized, was not more techniques, as good as they are. I am hungry for Jesus. The same is true of my church. A bigger church and a better life are alright, but not nearly important as my connection to the one who said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”

Are we paying attention?  Here are some highlights…

Scott Stevens, director of student ministry at LifeWay Church Resources, told Baptist Press it’s not uncommon for youth ministers to hear teenagers voice thoughts of suicide.

“Teens face challenges of many kinds, not to mention the pressures of a performance-based existence where often the only time they feel accepted is when they excel in their performance — in athletics, academics, etc.,” Stevens said. “Unfortunately, teen suicide continues to be a permanent ’solution’ to what are often painful but temporary problems.”

The most significant increase was found among girls ages 10-14, an age and gender group which saw suicides rise 76 percent from 56 per 100,000 in 2003 to 94 per 100,000 in 2004, the study said.

“Proper response is the key,” Stevens of LifeWay said. “Any time a student voices suicidal thoughts, they must be taken seriously and not discounted as a mere cry for attention.”

Key questions to explore include whether the student has thought about how he/she might commit suicide and whether the student has the means to carry out the suicide, Stevens said.

“In addition, one might ask the teen to contact them if they feel like they are about to take their own life. Immediate intervention is needed,” Stevens said. “Parents and other authorities and caregivers must be alerted. This is not a time for secrets, and if a teen’s friend is voicing thoughts of suicide, they need to share this information with an adult.”

We are not far removed from this problem, but right in the middle of it.  Think about the number of teenage friends & aquaintences you have.  Now read these statistics. 

A Centers for Disease Control survey found that 17 percent of high school students said they’d seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months, 13 percent said they had created a plan to commit suicide, and 8 percent said they had tried to kill themselves.

If these stats are completely accurate, 4 of my friends who were at club Monday night have attempted suicide and I feel oblivious to it.  

We definitely need to spend some time preparing & thinking about how to handle situations related to attempted suicide & the actual suicide of one of our kids.

Read the entire article at Baptist Press.

Another leader at my school got a game going which has now turned into a weekly thing, and we are consistently strengthening relationships and starting new ones. Just make sure you bring plenty of water, and a frisbee would be good too.

If you’re unfamiliar to lava tag, all it takes is people and a playscape (a massive jungle gym type of things found in parks). Its a great way to spend time with kids, and its completely free. The rules are incredibly simple; you play tag but if any part of you touches the ground, which is lava, you’re out or have to walk/skip/spin back to “home”. But rules can be tweaked to a rediculous amount. My favorite variation was if you touch the lava you had to stand up on the table and sing “I’m a Little Teapot” complete with the dance before continuing. Pretty much anything (within reason) goes as long as everyone agrees.

I’ve not tried it with high schoolers, other than the ones on the leadership team and the ones who were once wyldlife-ers. But it might be worth trying it out, espically if they’re competitive.