Stirrings

Often times I hear a good story and I just have to share it. It’s kind of like it gets into your bones and you just have this feeling that tells you, “this is too good of a story not to share. Well, I have one that my local cattle vet had shared several years ago through one of his newsletters. I just found it in a stack of papers in my basement the other day. Now if you really want to get the flavor of this story, you have to know my veterinarian, he’s a rough and tough, come in the middle of the night (to pull a calf or do a C-section) kind of guy who also loves to share some dry wit with you on occasion, and if I didn’t mention he has some very good and interesting opinions on politics too. But the wonderful short story he shared in this newsletter really got me to thinking about us and how we live our lives in faithful obedience to God. Let me share the story: Read More.

The Saint Paul School for Theology Youth Workers’ Gathering, March 30 &31, 2012 will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at Church of the Servant. The theme for the event is “Sustainable Youth Ministry.” Mark DeVries of Youth Ministry Architects and author of Sustainable Youth Ministry will be the keynote speaker. One of the exciting features this year is the involvement of the VocationCARE team of the Fund for Theological Education. They will lead in practices that nurture and sustain, and participants will leave with the beginning of a design toward this end.  For more information or to register go to Sustainable Youth Ministry Registration. ¡

Over Christmas “vacation” I read David Kinnaman’s most recent book, You Lost Me. It’s a good read, and I recommend it. In it he confronts the reality that not only is the Church failing to connect with youth and young adults outside the church, but just as much those INSIDE the church – “our own” children. Instead many have become “Nomads”, “Prodigals” and “Exiles”, to use his terms.

Kinnaman’s words were still fresh on my mind when a week ago I read an article (www.abpnews.com/content/view/7048/53/) about a Southern Baptist pastor who is bashing traditional age-level Sunday School for pulling apart families and failing miserably in “raising up (our children) in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22:6)—much of what Kinnaman is saying, too. According to this article, 85 percent of all students in our youth group ministries will fall away from the Church (faith—as Nomads, Prodigals or Exiles) within three years of their high school graduation. Rather alarming! Read More

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), which is a national non-profit organization committed to reducing national hunger and food insecurity, released a poll on Jan. 19^th revealed that by an overwhelming margin, North American voters were opposed to cutting food stamp assistance (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP) as a venue to reduce government spending. To read a brief article on the poll, go here. For the polling summary, go here. And for the results of the poll, go here. ¡