Tim Stevens: Pop Goes the Church: Should the Church Engage Pop Culture?
Spending a couple hours at Real Life Ministries yeasterday a number of things stood out.
1. RLM is about people and relationships.
2. RLM coaches people in their ministry endevors.
3. RLM has clearly defined values and qualities they are building into those their coaching.
I thought I should post some of my favorite resources and why I like them. Hope you enjoy.
Newspring This church posts videos on their website. They are innovative and in your face. I believe you need to feed yourself and when I am feeling stale, Newspring brings some refreshment.
Youthtracker We use this site for tracking our middle school students. It is all web based and the students simply check in via the computer. Pricing is affordable.
Amazon has DRM free music downloads that are a little less expensive than I-tunes. I love itunes but this us youth ministry we are talking about.
WestCoast Bible College and Seminary A new and innovative Bible training school. I just registered to take some masters level classes. Why...They are trying some innovative things and I think the current system needs a remodel. Check them out...It is more affordable than you might think.
Twitter Think of this service as micro-blogging. I can send a twit via IM, SMS, or Web. People can follow, comment and stay up on your activities. Check me out @cnygren.
Google I like google for a number of reasons. Their email service for organizations is amazing. They offer website analytics to find out who is looking at your website. They continue to innovate.
ProPresenter is the presentation I am using on my Apple computer. It is a very smooth interface and these guys at renewed vision know their stuff. I am looking forward to using their ProVideoPlayer.
Tony Morgan is a pastor on staff at New Spring--Chief Strategy Officer. He is innovative and funny. If I ever meet him I will give him a hug--word has it he is not a hugger.
More to come later....
My oldest son has fought learning to ride a bike for the past couple of years. Yeasterday I put air in his tires and said let's do this. He asked me if we need the helmet and pads that we had used before, and I figured he was not going to want to do this I said no to all the saftey gear. Much to my surprise he was motivated, he pedaled harder and focused more.
So I wonder if all the saftey gear got in the way? I know that sounds irresponsible but seat belts have been saving lives for only like fifty years. Putting on the pads and guards and helmet might be taking his focus off being successful. All these things remind him that he might get hurt.
I also wonder if we also focus too much on the getting hurt in life. And we start building in airbags to keep us safe so we won't feel pain. There is a scene in lethal weapon with Mel Gibson and Rene Rouseau where they start comparing scars and how they got those scars. God never wastes a hurt, and our scars serve a purpose.
So here's to riding without a helmet!
This past year our church has started a spanish speaking service. I think it has been great to see spanish speaking people in our church being a part of our body. The complexity of the situation that I have run into is that most of the children in our middle school ministry that are part of the spanish ministry are fully immersed into an english speaking culture and have adapted very well. Some questions I am asking myself...Is necessity of a spanish speaking service a short lived ministry or will there be a continued need for it into the next generation? Will English be a primary language or will other languages drive ministry endeavors? The children of our spanish speaking families seem so adapted to american culture even though they are bi-lingual and are influenced by multiple cultures.
This past year I went from being a part time technical director/middle school pastor working close to 60 to 70 hours a week to serving solely as a middle school pastor working around 50 hours a week. Talk about a breath of fresh air. In reality it has taken me about seven months to fully engage back into my middle school ministry. This past week I finally felt like we made some significant strides. We had an amazing team meeting and the team was excited to be together for the purpose of committing ourselves to the students. That excited me.
One of my goals for 2008 is to blog with more frequency. I value this medium and I hope to encourage others via my thoughts. Not telepathic thoughts but rather written words about my ministry experience.
Upcoming blog posts:
More thoughts on the Willowcreek Shift Conference
My life goals
The mind of a middle schooler
The problem with the Christian subculture
Don't push the red button
If you need some good resources check out Simply Youth Ministry
A couple of months ago a great friend of mine, Lynn Schofstol helped me renovate my office. It turned out amazingly well. I have a futon, a great work space and a fridge. I love the comfort it brings people. Someone said it looks like a bedroom and I guess since I am a middle school pastor my students are familiar with a bedroom--they seem to be hanging out in my office more than before. A space we can relate to is important.
Another work environment I have found recently is Karma Juice Bar. It is a smoothie bar in Kennewick. The place is amazing; free wifi, beautiful colors, healthy choices and amazing personalities running the place. They have a back room with leather chairs. I joke with the owner that I need to start paying rent. Please check out Karma Juice Bar and tell Katy that Chad sent you!
I am in Chicago for the next week for a student ministry conference. Getting away with a team is always a good practice and I am hoping to have some time for personal reflection and God time.
Brian Mclaren is speaking and is talking about cultural shifts.
Sent from my iPhone
I was assigned the passage Luke 6:1-19. This message was delivered in the main services at FBC Kennewick. The response was good I feel like God is reveling more about how I am to communicate his word. While I was not 100 percent pleased with this message I was overwhelmed at how God used it to convict myself and many others of our Pharisaical attitudes.
This message was delivered on Feb. 28, 2008 to the Epicenter Middle School Group.
Illuminate - Mark 13 Part 1
