Urban Dictionary

At breakfast this morning we discussed the meanings of words students used that some didn't know. Well here is one of the places I find out the meanings of such words. I also subscribe to their word of the day to keep me informed. (Diclaimer: Some of the words are vulgar or contain vulgar content...be forwarned.) I still believe it is a good tool to keep up with what our students are saying.

Urban Dictionary

Anti- Valentines Day Party

Hey Devin from Revolution is having an Anti Valentines Day Party. It will be an outreach for students to hear the gospel. If any of your students might be interested in attending, and bringing their friends, please let them know. This will be a unique oppurtunity for kids to hear the gospel.

Also the proceeds will be going to The USA Motorcycle Trip, so I am pretty excited about that.

Notes from the Marin Foundation

GLBT Notes
Elevating the Conversation
Andrew Marin
11-15-08

Top 3 Things:

1. Its the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, Its God’s Job to judge, and its our job to love.
2. We are called to live in relation to and relationship with the GLBT community.
3. The number one way to encourage someone in the gay community to pursue a relationship with Jesus (which should be our goal as the church, not trying to make them straight) is to teach them, and affirm the belief that God exists, and desires a communicating relationship with them.

***Don't use the word homosexual***

GLBT=Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender

Earn street cred(Respect) first, then you might earn the right to have people listen to you, but not before.

Behavior defines identity for gay people, so avoid attacking the behavior.

If we open the door an inch to the GLBT community, they will break the doors down to come into the church.

Think big picture. Not little advances.

Gay people have a lot of love to give.

Constructive tension produces growth, but it takes time.

Stats

86% of GLBT were raised in the church, while only 60% of the general public were raised in the church.

They also have almost twice as many people dropping out of the church.

Gays are not oppossed to religion, they just run from the church cause they have hurt them so bad in the past.

Most gay people just want to talk to someone and be loved by the church, not be affirmed by it.

Suicide is 5 times higher among gay teen, than straight communities.

Jesus is the only hope to the gay community.

Close ended questions
Don't answer them with close ended answers (yes or no)

Good answers to close ended questions:

Was I born gay? "I don't care" or "it doesn't matter". How could I possibly know that? And if I could what would it matter?

Is it sin? Romans 3:23, James 2:10, matthew 7:1-2, it doesn't matter wether I believe it is a sin or not. What does that matter? That's not my job

Can I change? Do I know of people who say they are x-gay? Yes, do I know of people who have tried and not been able to change? Yes.

CHANGE - Definitions of real change

Secular to sacred
Gay to Christian
Gay to celebate
Gay to straight
Somewhere

Going to hell? There is only one eternal judge that can decide that, why are you asking me this question?

Can I be a gay Christian? What is stopping you from believing?

Cool Story

So at Parkcrest we are doing this thing called the Ebay project. Where people sell something of value on ebay, and the money goes to our Parkcrest helps fund, which is essentially a fund for helping the poor. Anyway, this lady at my campus didn't want to go through the trouble of selling her graphing calculator online, so she just gave it to me this last Sunday morning and told me to try and find a student that needed one. Those things go for $100 brand new. Anyway, not more than 30 minutes later, a student, who I trust, sees the calculator on my desk, and just in conversation says that she needs one of those for school. I know her family and they do not have a lot of money, so i am sure a $100 calculator is hard for them to come by. As soon as she says this, I just hand it to her and say, well then this is for you. Her jaw dropped open, and she didn't think I was serious. I told her some one had given it to me just a few minutes ago, to give to a person who needed it. I told her she must have given it to me for you. She couldn't believe it. She took the calculator, and told me that they hadn't been able to get one yet for school because they are so expensive.

I couldn't help but think about our conversation last Thursday morning, and how God will provide for those that truly depend on him. It was awesome to be a part of that little blessing for a student, and when I told the lady who had given me the calculator to begin with, she was just glowing.

I just though I would share that little story with you, as a small reminder of how cool our God is.

-Nathanael "Kozmo"

Winter Camp

Hey guys,

Just wanted to offer this out to you guys first (sorry I've been missing the meetings as of late)... it looks like we're going to have about 15 spots for our Jr. High winter camp at Forest Home this year. We're going January 30-February 1. I was thinking, if maybe some of you guys who have a smaller group want to hitch your wagon to us for this year, maybe we could work something out. The cost of camp is $160. Shoot me an email if you're interested. And I'll let you know for sure spots after this Sunday when we close registration for our group (although you guys would have more time... I'm trying to train our parents to be on-time about sign-ups).

Jon Schliep
jschliep@bethanylb.org

Hey

Great meeting this morning guys. If you want to have admin rights on this blog, and you are a youth pastor in the greater Long Beach area, just send me an email and I will add you. My email address is ndrkozmo@gmail.com.

Wuts Up Y'all

Hey there. 

                           What is happenin in the land of Youth Ministry???

  School is startin up and beach trips are ending. I was just wondering how the summer went for everyone.  We had a dropoff of attendance through the summer but that might be normal.  I was gonna see if anyone has words and ides to get kids and parents back in gear to come to church???????