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Six reasons the next generation is leaving the Church (a response in the positive)

On his blog: Without Wax, Pete Wilson mentions the work Christianity Today have done on why Young Adults are leaving the Church (Barna President David Kinnaman examines the 6 reasons in a new article in Christianity Today). It's some really good food for thought. But I wanted to offer a response, granted it's limited to my own experience, but I thought it would be good to look at six reasons why Young Adults are coming to Church.

1. Community: Church offers a sense of being able to be known and know others more deeply. Becoming involved in people's lives on an existential level, which is primarily the level of engagement within a Church, given the things and nature of what is spoken about, leads to vulnerable, open and trustworthy relationships. This is what people are hungry for and what the Church can truly offer.

2. Aspirational Standards: We live in an age where the lowest common denominator seems to set the standard. But young adults who live in this world, are equally hungry for challenge that encourages and inspires them to live a more wholesome, healthy and life giving lives. This is what the Gospel, communicated well, offers.

3. Social Justice: Church is a place where a young adult's passion for social justice can be fed and exercised. If a Church is carrying out it's Biblical mandates, then a place is created for a young adult to belong to a community of like minded people wanting to stand up for the lost, last, least and lonely, those who are oppressed.

4. Transcendent Experience: Another hunger of this generation is to know God, or at least a version of him, and this does not necessarily mean the Christian God. But Church can offer a space where people can come and be, and where God (Yahweh) can meet them.

5. Solid Theology: The Gospel is God's invitation through Jesus Christ to be in relationship with him, to follow him toward life, to be apart of God's life and to belong to a kingdom or movement that is slowly but surely taking over the world. This is an attractive thought to a young adult, and although it is understood that a high cost accompanies such an opportunity, there is eagerness to belong to and understand this, as opposed to sitting under a God who is only about you doing the right things, and doing them now! This god is not attractive, or accurate for that matter!

6. Identity: Belonging to a Church, or Christian community offers a young adult something which is rare in most other cultural settings. It offers belonging, identity and stability. These things are born out of the nature and being of God, which ultimately is what we, enjoying the human existence, need.

So there are my six reasons of why I think young adults are actually coming to Church. Love to hear your thoughts!

Full-time ministry is like this...

The video below has gone viral, and as I watched it, I felt for both Nadal and Djocovic. They have just finished a marathon of a tennis match and are absolutely spent. as I watched and thought about the clip, my thoughts drifted to how that experience, that they are having, of imense fatigue and a need just to sit down, relax, and chill out, can be very similar to some seasons of ministry. That even when you may want to, or need to sit down, take a break, chillax, it isn't actually possible. Thankfully though there are times for rest, which we need to embrace, just like the reality that every tennis match finally concludes in some way shape or form. I hope you enjoy the clip, and see the funny side of it with compassion.

 

Conquering Conformity: part 4 (Escape from Egypt)

In the  passage this week, we look at how Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. We see how God signified for them the importance of this move with a resetting of the calendar, a fresh start, how he promised to be with them in the desert as they worshipped him -transforming their death into life, how he rescued them from the enemies and fears bearing down on them and how the Israelites were obedient to God throughout it. May you find the hope and strength you need, through this passage of Scripture. Conquering Conformity _ The Story of moses _ Wk4

Youthstreet: Becoming the youth God wants us to be! (Michael Hands)

Tonight Mike preached up a storm speaking out of 1 Tim 4:12 "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." He issued a call that we are to be different. We are to live in such a way thatwe are somehow different to those who are not followers of Jesus. That the transformation Jesus has done in us, shines through, so that we're the ones who don't drink at parties when everyone else is getting drunk, that we're the ones who refuse to start gossip and bag-out othes, that we're the ones who respect and listen to our parents or teachers. So why not take a listen and let God challenge you to live out the transformation that God is doing in your heart!

Mike Hands - Youthstreet

How to mobilise Young Adults for Mission

The end of November 2011 saw the conclusion of the Governments unprecedented and inspirational initiative to contribute one dollar for every other one dollar raised to the relief work being done by a variety of welfare agencies on the Horn of Africa. This meant that countries presently in famine such as Somalia, Ethiopia and The Sudan have been provided by our government twice the aid possible than if the general public were just to offer support.

It was out of this concept that a friend of mine, Crystal, approached me with an idea 'what if we were able to do something that raised some money for those who people who are starving to death?' She spoke to a few others, including Ryan, which lead to a series of brainstorms that resulted in a brilliant and creative idea.

The idea was to put on a free BBQ in a public space, down the beach, with a high volume of passers-by, and use that outlet to tell the story of the Somalian Famine, make people aware of the facts , history and implications of the situation and then both encourage and enable people, if they chose, to contribute to the governments dollar for dollar scheme.

It was a Saturday morning when we set up base camp: tables, chairs, shade covers, our BBQ and drinks eskys, music, signage and flyers, all ready to go down the beach at Burleigh. The $4$ Somalia initiative was in full swing. We spent a good portion of the day cooking, chatting, informing, playing and hanging out. Many of those who are part of our young adult community came down to help and hang out. By the end of the day we had given away 300 sausages in bread and collected a grand total of... $2,234.60, which the government consequently matched, making the sum total of our efforts that day: $4,469.20.

It was amazing to be involved in such an exciting initiative and reflecting on it these are some of the learning's:

• A simple idea can have a huge impact.
• Offering free stuff disarms people and encourages their generosity. If we'd of sold each sausage for $3.00 (which would have been expensive) we would have not raised half of what we did.
• Always get council approval, it actually saved us being shut down.
• The power of the story is what moves people.
• A small group of people joining together can make a huge difference.
• These ideas allow people not of faith to be exposed to and involved in God's unfolding story.
• An event like this has lots of different moving pieces, which allows a wide variety of people to become involved.
• People want to be involved in changing the world, but often they prefer others to make it possible for them to be involved, but not responsible.
• Making a big sign for the event was cool, but misinterpreted by some as the cost of a sausage, not the cause we were standing for.
• It's important that location and timing compliment the idea you are trying to execute.

So why share all of this, so long after the event? Firstly I think it's important to reflect, but mostly because if you are asking, How do I create a social justice initiative? How do i respond to poverty? How do I make a difference in the world? Or you're throwing around ideas of what Young Adult mission initiatives could look like, then you may be helped by reading this.

So after hearing our story, be encouraged: come up with a simple idea, don't be afraid to try new things, ask the right people to help you, and go for it! That's what one of our young adults did and the results were incredible!

Conquering Conformity: part 3 (Moses, Yahweh and the Egyptian gods)

Moses went on behalf of Yahweh, (the Jewish and Christian) God, to demand from Pharaoh that he let the Israelites be free from the oppression of the Egyptians. What we think is a simple abolitionist strategy, is actually the set up for a clash of the titans. As God Almighty goes head to head with the Egyptian gods. The Egyptian gods are represented in the ten plagues and we see God tear them apart piece by piece. If your wondering how this takes place, how the Egyptian gods are represented in the plagues, how the ten plagues align themselves with the Egyptian gods, and what on earth that has to say to us, then have a listen or read from the links below.

listen here: Conquering Conformity _ The Story of moses _ Wk3

Read the manuscript here: Download 0609 - 12two - Moses 3

 

Conquering Conformity: part 2 (Moses - Stu Leo)

This week at 12two (our Young Adult community) we tacked the second part of the Jews escape from Egypt, looking at the call of Moses, the excuses he offered and the triumph God began in and through his life. Have a listen in to Stu Leo as he walks us through the next few chapters: 

Conquering Conformity _ The Story of Moses _ Wk2

Conquering Conformity: part 1 (Moses - Stu Cameron)

This week at 12two (our Young Adult community) we kicked off our new series exploring the life of Moses - the great leader and patriarch of Christian and Jewish faith.  It was on Stu Cameron (Lead Pastor) to set up the story by unpacking Exodus 1 and 2.  Listen in here: Download Conquering Conformity _ The Story of Moses _ Wk1

 

Where do I rank in the entire world?

Yesterday I stumbled upon Alexa, that's not a chick in case you were wondering, but a website that tracks stats on your blog. What I found was quite funny, as Alexa keeps track of your world blog rating! Alexa tracks through 125 different countries and over 30 million blogs, and is able to provide a score of how much your blog is visited/read in comparison to every other site it tracks. What's my current world ranking I hear you think, I thought you would never ask. My current world ranking is:

19,296,775

Yes you are correct if you are thinking 19 million! 24 hours ago my ranking was 19,318,490, that is a drop (which is good) of 21,715 places! Amazing times!! My goal by the end of 2012 is to see it dropped by 1 million places! I also discovered what my blog is worth in monetary terms:

£239.99 which is $362.55

I have no idea how they work this out, what it means or even why I am posting it... Perhaps because it's just very strange!

The top two search results leading people to my blog are:

1	bear grylls christian	16.61%
2	taking something for granted	14.92%

What is interesting is Wikipedia's equivalent search success on question one is 29.5%, so I'm definitely playing with the big boys when it comes to Bear Grylls! So having shared all of that, thanks for reading the thoughts on my blog, I hope you have felt encouraged and challenged.

The art of disappointment

To feel disappointed is an act of love and honour, but only because that act of love and honour has not been reciprocated. We should note up front that sometimes it cannot be, meaning that occasionally disappointment is an inevitable conclusion! Have you ever wrestled with disappointment? Of course you have, it's part of what it means to relate to others.

I wanted to offer some thoughts on how to handle disappointment, so you feel more empowered when it occurs. Jesus said, whilst giving instruction to his crew on where to go and what to do, (in Luke 9:5) "If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them." As I sat with this I realised a couple of things:

Disappointment originates from denial, rejection even. When we are denied something: a shared value; an expectation; a relationship; an opportunity, etc. the result is we become disappointed. That's what happened to these followers, they were to be denied acceptance, and hence they were disappointed.

But the advice is to 'shake the dust off'. This means that you should not continue to bear the values, influences, or impact that disappointment has on you. As they left the town they were told to shake the dust off their sandals, to finish and leave in that town the denial they had experienced, not to carry it into future towns thinking the same would occur there.

In doing such a thing, you are making a statement about those who have disappointed you, or as teh Scripture says are creating testimony against them. In shaking the dust off, leaving the disappointment in the town, they were actually saying that the character and influence exhibited is not that which I wish to align myself with. This is a key thought when it comes to moving past our disappointments!

We only become disappointed when we care about something or someone, if you don't care, then disappointment cannot occur, so the fact you are disappointed is a good sign of your character and heart. The disciples wen to the town to tell them about the Kingdom of God, they only did this because they cared, which is why Jesus wanted to offer them a technique for dealing with the inevitable disappointment that comes when you choose to love.

My final thought springs from the inevitable question all of this leads to: Can disappointment bear any fruit? My answer is if not to compel another to change, then no. Disappointment can only gain traction and become something positive when the person disappointing you chooses to care more about you than themselves. Often we disappoint others by mistake, so when confronted about it we are keen to resolve the matter to reinstate care. The people in the town, had no desire or care for the disciples to belong there, and hence Jesus instruction, walk away from that issue, and their influecne on this subject, and shake the dust off. If you find yourself wondering 'should I go and speak to the person who has disappointed me?' The answer to that question is in whether or not you think they will care more about you than themselves or their current situation. If you don't think they will, then shake the dust off.