Silent Day

Hey guys- here's a sweet opportunity that's coming up again to put your faith on the frontlines for your friends, teachers, and families to see.

Stand True, a pro-life organization, is sponsoring and promoting the Day of Silent Solidarity, which they use to promote awareness of abortion and the pro-life movement. You can visit their website for more information about their organization and the Day of Silent Solidarity. Please visit Silent Day's website to register your school for this massive nation-wide event. There are already over 2,000 schools registered for participation- make yours one of them!!!

You know that we are very supportive of the pro-life movement and we want to help get this message into the schools, so here's what we're doing: If you want an official Silent Day t-shirt, you can purchase them through us at the discounted rate of just $5!!! There are two t-shirt designs for this year which you can view here. We want you to have these shirts by Sunday, October 18, so you can wear them and let the church know what you're participating in, so please sign up and pay by Wednesday, October 7 on the sign-up sheet in the Crash Room.

Fall and Winter Schedule

Here's a brief summary of dates and events that are coming up this fall. This information is also available on the church calendar which can be accessed by following the link above.

October 10- Party at the Underground in Cincinnati. High School only (their rules, not mine). Cost is $8. Local music, pool, foosball, shuffleboard, food, drinks, video games. We'll leave the church at 7p and return at midnight.

October 25- Paintball at Cedar Ridge in Germantown. Cost is $20. This includes rental gun, mask, air, and paintballs for the day. We'll leave right after church, stopping for lunch at MacDonalds in Germantown, and finish playing around 5:15. Parents will need to pick up their students at the paintball course by 5:30. Sign-up and payment deadline is Sunday, October 18.

November 20- Lock-In at the church. Price TBD. Will start at 10p on Friday night, conclude at 8a Saturday morning. We'll provide dinner and breakfast in the morning as well as snacks and drinks all night.

December 12- Ugly Christmas Sweater party. This party will begin shortly after the ending of the Christmas Musical and will take place downstairs in the youth room. There is no cost for this event. The party will end around 11p.

December 27, 2009 - January 2, 2010- Winter Trip. We're going to Florida! Cost is $150 and the sign-up deadline for this trip is Sunday, October 18th. A $75 deposit is also due 10/18 along with a signed permission form/financial agreement, which are available in the youth room. Information sheets also available in the youth room detailing the where's what's and when's of the trip.

Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis' fictional account of a senior demon giving advice to an apprentice demon contains tremendous insight into the nature and design of temptation. Focus on the Family's radio ministry is producing a theatrical audio presentation of Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, coming October 15, 2009.

Lord of the Rings fans will be delighted to know that Andy Serkis, who provided the voice for Gollum, will star as the voice of Screwtape, the senior demon in the narrative.

Visit the official website, www.Screwtape.com, for more information and pre-release ordering information.

Focus on the Family has released a 7 minute behind-the-scenes sneak peek.

Winter Trip

Hey all- we have nailed down dates and a location for Winter Trip this year. We're going to Florida!!! This entails a longer trip than we usually take, so we're moving back to Christmas Break for this year's trip. We'll be leaving on Sunday, December 27, and returning on Saturday, January 2. The cost for the trip will be coming soon (hopefully by Sunday). A non-refundable deposit will be due around the middle of October and the payment balance deadline will be Sunday, December 13th.

We are staying at the Beach Club of Marco Island, which is just south of Naples, FL. Students will stay in either a 4 or 6 person condo. An adult chaperone will be in or next to every condo unit, and we will let you know as soon as possible who the adult chaperones are.

Students who participated in last February's Winter Trip still have valid Medical Release Forms (MRF) on file at the church for 2009, but since our trip extends into 2010 we will be needing an additional MRF for 2010 from each student going on the trip.

Further details and information forthcoming soon...

Increasing Resilience for Hurting Kids

Our kids face obstacles every day — difficulties with friends, stress at school, issues with boyfriends or girlfriends.

But many of the students we work with also face larger obstacles-poverty, violence at school or in their neighborhood, parents getting divorced, substance abuse in their homes, homelessness, teenage pregnancy, abuse, or domestic violence. Remarkably, some kids seem to make it through these situations intact, while others crumble before our eyes.

Even more remarkably, there are kids who even thrive despite facing huge struggles. Which leaves us scratching our heads — Why are some kids able to bounce back from tough stuff, while others aren’t? What are the differences between those who seem to make it through in one piece and those who seem to fall apart? And what can we do to help more kids survive — and even thrive — in the midst of steep challenges?

Continue reading here...

‘Sex’ and ‘porn’ make top 10 of kids’ online searches

The top 10 search list for OnlineFamily.Norton is as follows:

1. YouTube

2. Google

3. Facebook

4. Sex

5. MySpace

6. Porn

7. Yahoo

8. Michael Jackson

9. Fred (A popular fictional character whose YouTube channel has become a hit among kids.)

10. eBay

By the way, I checked out “Fred” on YouTube and realized that I had seen the character before on an episode of the Nickelodeon series iCarly (and I don’t know if that made me feel any better). In a related story, the Orlando Sentinel published a front page article yesterday about kids’ online habits and the disconnection between what they’re up to and what their parents think their up to.

Read the rest of the report here...

What parents think teens are doing on social networks, and what the teens are actually doing

Here's a sample of the new report's findings:

• 37% of teens said they used social networks to make fun of other students, but only 18% of parents believe their own angels do so.
  
• 13% of teens said they posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves. Only 2% of parents said their kids have done that.
  
• 24% of teens said they signed on to someone else's account without permission, while only 4% of parents said their kids have done that.
  
• 28% of teens posted personal information that they normally would not have revealed in public, but 16% of parents said their kids did that.

Read the rest here...

Twitter and the end of the world as we know it

Is our culture systematically training young people in narcissism? I mean, are the music, film, and video games they love subtly undergirding an “it’s all about me” worldview? For example, nothing has fueled the pre-teen worldview more than two made-for-TV Disney films—the High School Musical franchise and Camp Rock. You’d couldn’t find two more narcissistic launching pads for the kids who’ll be entering your ministry soon.

Read the full article here...

Making Peace In Our Families

I was not raised in a Christian family. My first real encounter with Bible reading was as a child, with a pocket-sized King James New Testament my grandmother had given me. It had been collecting dust on a shelf, until a vague curiosity compelled me to read it. Not knowing where else to begin, I opened to the gospel of Matthew. The antiquated language, together with the unpronounceable names of the genealogies, almost made me give up. But I pressed on. The familiarity of the Christmas story, at least, was comforting.

I came to rest in the Sermon on the Mount. Some of the sermon made sense, though I struggled with it as generations of Christians have — aren’t these impossibly high standards for mere mortals? They certainly seemed beyond the reach of a preadolescent boy with no background in theology.

The Beatitudes, however, especially the first four and the one about rejoicing in persecution, simply seemed odd. What did it mean that those who were poor in spirit, mourning, meek, and hungering and thirsting could be blessed by God? I did not have any knowledge of the Old Testament or the prophets. I could not hear the text as a post-exilic Jew might, with the words of Isaiah echoing in the background.

Yet this is how we must hear the text if we are to understand the nature of the kingdom Jesus inaugurated, the theological and social context in which we practice peacemaking.

Continue reading here...

Great Sales at christianbook.com

Hey guys- just wanted to pass along a few great resources that are heavily marked down until tomorrow night at www.christianbook.com:

Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, for $5.99. For years Drs. Cloud and Townsend have been teaching people how to set personal boundaries. Here they give you the biblical basis for setting limits, explain how to construct your own, and show how boundaries can be damaged. Discover methods for dealing with abusive or controlling people and keys for gaining control of your life!

Knowing God, by J.I. Packer, for $7.99 J. I. Packer's Knowing God has become a classic of the Christian faith. Why? While it gives us information about God with clarity and grace, it does much more---it aids us in actually knowing him, in building our relationship with him, and helps draw us closer to him in love and worship. This 20th anniversary edition of Packer's classic has new Americanized text, reader-friendly type, and a new preface. Study guide not included.

The Case For Life, by Scott Klusendorf, for $9.99. Do you find it difficult to articulate your stand on hot-button issues like abortion, cloning, and embryo research? Take heart! Klusenberg shows you how to effectively make a case for the unborn. Discover how to engage others in this biotech debate, answer objections persuasively, and equip pastors and laypeople to defend their views.