While doing a little reading for one of my classes, I came across this little tidbit in a book called "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. When analyzing the Columbine shootings and those that followed, Mr. Gladwell came to the following conclusions concerning teens, peers and culture:
"My sense is that the way adolescent society has evolved in recent years has increased the potential for this kind of isolation. We have given teens more money, so they can construct their own social and material worlds more easily. We have given them more time to spend among themselves--and less time in the company of adults. We have given them e-mail and beepers and, most of all, cellular phones, so that they can fill in all the dad spots of their day--dead spots that might once have been filled in with the voices of adults--with the voices of their peers. That is a world ruled by the logic of word of mouth, by the contagious messages that teens pass among themselves. Columbine is now the most prominent epidemic of isolation among teenagers. It will not be the last."
Mr. Gladwell stresses the fact that in our time, teens are much more influenced by their peers than their parents. It may be time to update our terminology. We're no longer talking about peer pressure but peer control.
Well, parent, do you know who or what is controlling your teenager?
Just a thought.
Bro. Tom
Showing posts with label Christian character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian character. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Our Generation Summit
Every year for the past five I have had the privilege of taking a group of young people to the Our Generation Summit in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee during the holiday break. My first acquaintance with this group was at a summer camp at Fort Bluff, TN. There a group of college-aged young people had gathered together for the cause of world missions. My daughter was one of those young people, and I, as an interested father, went to the camp to check it out.
What I encountered there surprised and thrilled me. Here, under the banner of Baptists Committed to World Evangelism (BCWE) and the leadership of missionary-pastor Austin Gardner, was a small group of young people who sincerely believed they could evangelize the world in this generation. Not only did they believe it, they had plans to do it. Not only did they have plans, they had resources and manpower. Mostly, though, they had the enthusiasm and optimism of youth. And it was clearly contagious. A worker with youth at the time, I clearly saw the advantage of getting young people under the influence of this amazing group of missionaries. So began our trips to the Summit.
So what is a Summit, anyway? The Summit is a three-day meeting, beginning about noon on Thursday and ending at noon on Saturday. During that time, there are a number of sessions, more or less equally divided between joint sessions where everyone meets together and mini-sessions where the students are divided into small groups to study individual topics in more detail. For the 2009 meeting, such topics as Life on Life Discipleship, Media in Ministry, The Real Islam, Youth Directors and Missions, and Hudson Taylor were included in the mix. Joint sessions lasting up to three hours each were also conducted, and consisted of alternating periods of preaching, music (godly and inspirational; not carnal), and skits or videos produced by the Our Generation team.
The programs are well-prepared and effective, but it is not the programs that God uses to touch young hearts, it is the team. From the leader, Bro. Austin Gardner, all the way down to the newest student at the Our Generation Training Center, these are people who are passionate about world evangelism. They believe in a big God who is still doing big things, and they are not afraid to go out on a limb for Him or to encourage others to do so. There are no closed fields to this group, neither is there any vision too big. They dare to believe that when Jesus gave the Great Commission, He meant it for every Christian to go to every creature in every corner of the world.
The impact on young people is truly amazing. Challenged by straight talk and biblical teaching from men and women who are essentially their peers, our students respond. They begin to see that God not only can do something with their lives, His plan is far better than any they could devise themselves. IT LITERALLY CHANGES THEIR LIVES! F.B. Meyer could have been commenting on the Summit when he made this statement: “Fire the hearts of the young with all the beauty and blessedness of the service of Jesus, and they will not find it so hard to leave nets, and fishing boats, and friends, to forsake all and follow Him.”
The only sadness for me is that, even after five years, the meeting is not nearly as well-known or well-attended as it should be. The 2010 Our Generation Summit will be held again in Pigeon Forge from December 29, 2010 to January 1, 2011. Details will be available on their web site at ogsummit.info somewhere around the end of January, 2010. Pastor, Youth Pastor, Sunday school teacher, this year encourage your students to do something life-changing. Tell them, encourage them, plead with them, beg them if you must, but get them to the 2010 Summit. I guarantee a blessing waits.
Just a servant,
Bro. Tom
What I encountered there surprised and thrilled me. Here, under the banner of Baptists Committed to World Evangelism (BCWE) and the leadership of missionary-pastor Austin Gardner, was a small group of young people who sincerely believed they could evangelize the world in this generation. Not only did they believe it, they had plans to do it. Not only did they have plans, they had resources and manpower. Mostly, though, they had the enthusiasm and optimism of youth. And it was clearly contagious. A worker with youth at the time, I clearly saw the advantage of getting young people under the influence of this amazing group of missionaries. So began our trips to the Summit.
So what is a Summit, anyway? The Summit is a three-day meeting, beginning about noon on Thursday and ending at noon on Saturday. During that time, there are a number of sessions, more or less equally divided between joint sessions where everyone meets together and mini-sessions where the students are divided into small groups to study individual topics in more detail. For the 2009 meeting, such topics as Life on Life Discipleship, Media in Ministry, The Real Islam, Youth Directors and Missions, and Hudson Taylor were included in the mix. Joint sessions lasting up to three hours each were also conducted, and consisted of alternating periods of preaching, music (godly and inspirational; not carnal), and skits or videos produced by the Our Generation team.
The programs are well-prepared and effective, but it is not the programs that God uses to touch young hearts, it is the team. From the leader, Bro. Austin Gardner, all the way down to the newest student at the Our Generation Training Center, these are people who are passionate about world evangelism. They believe in a big God who is still doing big things, and they are not afraid to go out on a limb for Him or to encourage others to do so. There are no closed fields to this group, neither is there any vision too big. They dare to believe that when Jesus gave the Great Commission, He meant it for every Christian to go to every creature in every corner of the world.
The impact on young people is truly amazing. Challenged by straight talk and biblical teaching from men and women who are essentially their peers, our students respond. They begin to see that God not only can do something with their lives, His plan is far better than any they could devise themselves. IT LITERALLY CHANGES THEIR LIVES! F.B. Meyer could have been commenting on the Summit when he made this statement: “Fire the hearts of the young with all the beauty and blessedness of the service of Jesus, and they will not find it so hard to leave nets, and fishing boats, and friends, to forsake all and follow Him.”
The only sadness for me is that, even after five years, the meeting is not nearly as well-known or well-attended as it should be. The 2010 Our Generation Summit will be held again in Pigeon Forge from December 29, 2010 to January 1, 2011. Details will be available on their web site at ogsummit.info somewhere around the end of January, 2010. Pastor, Youth Pastor, Sunday school teacher, this year encourage your students to do something life-changing. Tell them, encourage them, plead with them, beg them if you must, but get them to the 2010 Summit. I guarantee a blessing waits.
Just a servant,
Bro. Tom
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Measurable Christianity?
I have recently spent some time studying what is known as a Christian Life Profile Assessment Tool. The idea here is that we can measure the level of our Christian maturity (spirituality) through the use of an objective assessment.
The assessment divides Christianity into what the authors call 30 Core Competencies. There are ten each under the categories of beliefs, practices and virtues. Beliefs are basic doctrinal issues such as the Trinity, Salvation by Grace, Authority of the Bible, etc. Practices include worship, prayer, Bible study, spiritual gifts, and others. Finally, virtues are those fruits which the Bible says should be readily evident in our Christian lives, such as love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
In the assessment, each individual is given 120 statements which they are to rate from 0 (does not apply at all) to 5 (applies completely). Thus, a sample statement might be, "I control my tongue". The examinee is then to determine whether this "does not apply to me" - 0, or it "applies to me completely" - 5. After rating every statement, he or she must total the scores to determine areas of the thirty core competencies where they have strengths (high scores) or weaknesses (low scores). Recognizing our propensity to sandbag, the assessment requires that each participant get ratings in the same areas from three additional people who are close to them and able to judge these areas. These assessments, call the "one another" assessments, are shorter (40 statements instead of 120) and are designed to be relatively easy to complete.
After one completes the assessments (self and one another), the totals are calculated, presumably giving a clear indication where spirituality is less than desired and giving guidance on which areas need work. Each person designs their own plan for improving their walk with God, then finds one or more people to be accountable to for the follow-up.
Taken as a whole, there are some very interesting aspects to this process, such as:
- can you measure spirituality?
- does this provide an artificial standard?
- is it legalism to try to "train" everyone to a minimum spiritual level?
- and others I haven't thought of yet.
At the same time, it is an intriguing possibility.
So, fellow bloggers, what think ye?
The assessment divides Christianity into what the authors call 30 Core Competencies. There are ten each under the categories of beliefs, practices and virtues. Beliefs are basic doctrinal issues such as the Trinity, Salvation by Grace, Authority of the Bible, etc. Practices include worship, prayer, Bible study, spiritual gifts, and others. Finally, virtues are those fruits which the Bible says should be readily evident in our Christian lives, such as love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
In the assessment, each individual is given 120 statements which they are to rate from 0 (does not apply at all) to 5 (applies completely). Thus, a sample statement might be, "I control my tongue". The examinee is then to determine whether this "does not apply to me" - 0, or it "applies to me completely" - 5. After rating every statement, he or she must total the scores to determine areas of the thirty core competencies where they have strengths (high scores) or weaknesses (low scores). Recognizing our propensity to sandbag, the assessment requires that each participant get ratings in the same areas from three additional people who are close to them and able to judge these areas. These assessments, call the "one another" assessments, are shorter (40 statements instead of 120) and are designed to be relatively easy to complete.
After one completes the assessments (self and one another), the totals are calculated, presumably giving a clear indication where spirituality is less than desired and giving guidance on which areas need work. Each person designs their own plan for improving their walk with God, then finds one or more people to be accountable to for the follow-up.
Taken as a whole, there are some very interesting aspects to this process, such as:
- can you measure spirituality?
- does this provide an artificial standard?
- is it legalism to try to "train" everyone to a minimum spiritual level?
- and others I haven't thought of yet.
At the same time, it is an intriguing possibility.
So, fellow bloggers, what think ye?
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