Today in one of my meetings I was asked, "Where have you seen God moving?" Usually these questions catch me off guard and I have to think a little. But not today. I knew exactly where I see God moving. I saw God move in a powerful way through our youth this past Sunday. I am in awe with the depth of spirutality that our youth carry. They unabashedly offer the entiriety of themselves to God. I heard in the testimonies of Caeden and Davis... "God will always love you" and "God will not be disappointed in you."
We need to hear these voices. We need to hear them often. And I am so grateful that the youth remind us of these words. And the youth don't proclaim this message with downtrodden hearts but with joy. I can't tell you how proud I am!
We have our last UMYF of this year on June 2nd. We will take some time to reflect on what we have talked about this past years. Then mix in a slideshow of some of our highlights. Then we move in to our Summer Schedule. I can't wait! Celebrating today what God is doing in your families!
We have spent the last two weeks talking about "Bullies". There is one way to change the environment of bullies. That is to be a force for good. It is to remind everyone whose they are by speaking good words over them. But this doesn't come easily. Youth and most of us adults would agree being negative comes much easier. It is easy to complain. It feels good in fact. It is easy to call down someone with out having compassion. It is easy because it is habit.
Speaking good over someone has consequences as well. It just might make the person feel good. It just might make them feel like they are somebody. Wait a minute! Those things are true. Encouraging each other is hard because it isn't habit. But once we do it enough it becomes a habit.
So my hope would be that youth would be a force against bullying by doing their best to encourage each other.
If you want to dive deeper which I think you should. Preview the documentary on NETFLIX called Bully. And if you feel comfortable share the realities of Bullying with your youth.
On June 2nd we will have our last UMYF of the semester then transition in to our Summer schedule. God has done some great things in the lives of our youth this past year. We will look back on some of our messages and see where God has moved.
This past week at UMYF we talked about some of the negative effects of bullying. We have two responses to bullying. One response is to foster it. We don't protect those who are bullied or we choose to take part in speaking negative over a peer's life. All the while we choose to close our eyes to effects of our actions.
And then the other response is to be a force of good in the lives of our peers. We choose to encourage each other even in the face of adversity. Even when we don't feel like it. Even when we feel like it is undeserved.
Every person no matter who they are is starving for good words. From the bully to the bullied. Each needs to hear that they are a person of significance Why do we do this? We do this because we are acknowledging that each person is a child of God. Each person is someone deeply loved by God. And we do this by calling out the good in them.
I am who I am today not because of my critics but instead because of the GOOD that others have poured in to me. This is the epitome of being CHRIST for each other.
This week we will dive deeper in to this. We will dive deeper in to hearing how much God loves us and how important it is to spread this narrative by speaking good in to others.
First thank you to all of you that come to the BLOG each week to get a glimpse at what we are talking about each week at UMYF. I think it is important to be in the know. Because I believe each week we touch on very important issues at youth.
For the next couple of weeks we are going to be talking about Bullying. The reality that kids live in is that they pick on each other. But the other reality is that they don't think about the consequences of their words and the hurt that lies behind them.
Even the best of Christians fall in to this trap. Even during the most light hearted of games like four square I have to remind youth that it is just a "game" but it turns in to a time to make fun of others.
Kids bully because someone looks weak, they talk funny, walk funny, annoying, etc. Whatever the case may be nothing ever justifies such actions.
As Christians our goal should be to lift people up and not bring them down. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear." Bullying is not something new. It isn't something just youth struggle with. It is all of us.
The adage "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." This phrase is laughable. Because words hurt. Words cut deep. And even some in the midst of bullying have taken their lives. This is a serious issue not to be over looked or passed by.
So we will be looking at standing up and encouraging each other even when we might feel tempted to do otherwise. And to also talk about how we can help our friends that are being bullied.
A youth group can be a shelter for youth to feel accepted, loved and cared for. And our hope is that our youth group is making some progress in this area.
There are many reasons that youth shouldn't be able to attain a credit card. The most prominent one would be that youth are really good at spending money that isn't theres and money that they most likely won't have to pay back.
I remember the first time I got a credit card when I was 20 years old. I hadn't had the card but for a few days before I had bought a taylor guitar ($1,500), a new tv ($250), and a DVD player ($100). Immediately I was in debt with frivolous purchases and with not very much money to pay for these things.
I bought those things on my credit card because I had seen my parents use credit cards countless times while not seeing the less glamourous side of them writing the check to pay the bill. Now I wouldn't for a minute use a credit card to buy a single thing! I hate debt!
This is why it is important to teach sound financial principles to youth. This is a subject that we must be intentional about. Your new car didn't appear out of nowhere!
John Wesley the founder of the United Methodist faith says, "Earn all you can, give all you can, and save all you can." Notice he doesn't say spend all you can.
I believe that these principles are learned. And I believe that youth can begin to live out these principles in their life now and not later! Richard Cassidy will be leading us this Sunday in this discussion! I can not wait.
Starting on April 28th will will be focusing on the subject of Bullying to end out the year. The youth devotionals for May and June will be focusing on Bullying and the type of life Jesus calls us to, to defeat such a trend.
The marriage equality symbol has become quite a famous icon in the Facebook world. And youth have asked and wondered what this symbol means and why people are putting it as their Facebook picture. This is a vibrant conversation that continues to happen in the United Methodist church with people who love Jesus on both sides of the issue.
Here is what we want to do at our next UMYF. We want to talk about this issue in a healthy way. We want to see where youth are and what they think about it. Then talk about the way that Jesus has called us to live. The epitome of Jesus' mission is to love others as Christ has loved us. Often times these issues are lost in the midst of such a divisive debate.
What we will not do is engrain a certain perspective in your youth! I believe in helping youth come to a place where they develop a faith and value system that they take ownership of and to hopefully be a helpful part of the conversation.
We also have some awesome teachings coming up as well. April 21st we will talk about "Money,Money!." What a youth does with their money matters! Youth are really good at SPENDING YOUR money! But could they actually start living out some fundamental financial principles even being in the 6th grade. Richard Cassidy will be leading that discussion.
And then we will take the last few weeks of the semester and talk about the Bullying epidemic.
As I think about the issues of marriage equality, money, and bullying. I am constantly aware that these are issues that impact REAL people. The church has the responsibility to be a beacon of hope to a hopeless world. Right now in their schools there are REAL people who need the love of Jesus. And the BEST people to show that and make a difference in the lives of their peers is the YOUTH!
A couple of weeks ago I watched to a TED talk about how we could
possibly reshape the trajectory of a group adolescents lives. One of the things
that we MUST do is convey to youth that they are heroes in waiting. Instead of
labeling them as immature, lazy, lacking responsibility, etc,. We label them
with the truth of how God sees them. It easy to bow down to the negative labels
or just begin to maintain your youth without pouring into them that they are heroes in waiting. They are valuable.
And more and more I realize that this is not just something we say but it is
something that we must communicate by being.
This past week Ryan Montgomery led the devotional. He put in
a lot of work and did such a great job. A 6th grader led our youth
devotional time! And even more our discussion was so fruitful. Coming up on our
retreat some of the other youth will get a chance to lead devotionals.
We love to create stereotypes and hide behind them. I am an
adult and you are a teenager. But more and more I realize that stereotypes are merely walls that we create that hinder us for seeing each other as God sees us. Youth just as much as any adult are my brothers and
sisters in Christ. It is my Christian mission to see them as God sees them because
I realize that God speaks through them just as much as God speaks through me if
not more.
