Twilight’s “Life” after death vs. Eternal Life in Christ
I have recently finished reading the “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyers and was pleasantly surprised. As a youth pastor I needed to understand why so many teens were into this book series, so as a voracious reader myself I undertook the reading of her books. Many teen boys don’t like the vampire heroes of the book as they are “Vegan” (don’t attack humans) and sparkle in the sunlight. It is not hard to get over that as most teen boys seem to react to the things that teen girls really really like… Justin Beiber would be a case in point, but that is...
Read MoreAir Support
A bullet whizzes over your head to smack into the dirt behind you. You hug your rifle a little tighter in your foxhole as you hear the screams of the enemy forces charging towards you. Their baleful screams and tromping boots put an ice cold fear in your heart. You pull your helmet down into place and steady yourself. You take position and ready your weapon. The tide of enemy forces is overwhelming and you know you’re done for, but you determine in your soul to go down fighting. Suddenly someone jumps into your foxhole with you. It’s the LT (lieutenant). He looks at you with...
Read MoreAnyone for Tutoring?
It wasn't too long ago in the midst of the craziness of youth ministry that my wife gets a call from one of the teens. "Hey do you think Andrew would be available to do some tutoring with me." My wife didn't commit me to anything and said I'd get back to them. I have nothing against tutoring and maybe I would be good at it, but something groaned on the inside when she relayed the message to me. I tried to figure out which course this teen was going to be struggling with and wondered if I had the wherewithal to even handle being a tutor for it. I could just picture a...
Read MoreUsing Your Gifts
We all have something to offer. We all have something to give. What are your gifts? Where does God want you to serve in the body? How can you be making a difference for Jesus Christ in our church, our community, and in our world one life at a time if we aren’t being intentional? I had a pastor friend who once told me that the opportunity was given to him to preach crusades in Nigeria, Africa. He saw many miracles and was flabergasted that God would choose to use him in this way. He knew he wasn’t worthy and didn’t surmise that the miracles happened because he was so...
Read MoreChristmas Formal Banquet
It’s finally here again! The last youth event of the year is a fun filled evening containing everything from door prizes to turkey dinner! our theme this year is “A Candy Cane Christmas”. We have a special photographer coming to do pictures with the teens and we are borrowing a sleigh from the village for scenery! A Yankee swap usually ends the night with either a dollar store gift or something from home you no longer want. We’ve had some “interesting” gifts over the years! I sure have appreciated all the help from the leader’s this year as we have...
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