Hello and Happy Tuesday!

As I have stated in previous posts, I enjoy keeping up with the youth ministry community, browsing the internet for interesting articles to share with you, games for us to play, and keeping up with things you are interested in.

The latest article I found to be very interesting.  I had heard of the book it mentions, but never pushed myself to learn more about it.  This article is about a book written by 19-year-old twins Alex and Brett Harris.  Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations is a book written by teens for teens, challenging them to push beyond what they consider comfortable.

Alex and Brett Harris are challenging their generation to push beyond the low expectations that society has for teenagers; they want to show that just because you are a teenager it does not mean that you have to be self-absorbed, immature, and incapable of doing anything more than school, playing video games, and texting. They created a blog, The Rebelution, in August of 2005 as a place for them to develop their thoughts. The Bible verse shown on the homepage is 1 Timothy 4:12. “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”   How does that verse speak to you?  Do you think that as a youth group we live out that verse?

Read the article, share your thoughts.  And, in case you are interested, I do have a copy of the book in my office.  If you want to borrow it, let me know.  I’m thinking this might make a great book study, especially for senior high… what do you think?

Peace,

erin

So, I was browsing the national Episcopal website and I found this very interesting article. “Worshiping online: Is it really church?” After reading the article I was very surprised to learn about the Second Life cathedral with 400 to 500 members, with the oppurtunity to worship online, attend Bible studies, and discussion groups. On one hand I thought it was a wonderful idea, reaching out to people who might not attend church otherwise; yet at the same time, is the internet really taking over our lives that much that we need to offer the oppurtunity to worship online? As I type that I think of the Facebook profile I recently created in order to stay in touch with the youth on a daily basis. We have a wonderful community, something that you can not recreate online, yet our ability to make that community stronger through the internet is a blessing.
So, my question to you is this- where do we draw the line? Is there even a line to draw? Maybe, maybe not. I believe that the only line we can draw on this issue has to be personal. We are unable to define this for every person. The largest drawback I see to this is the fact that people attending these online services do not have the ability to partake in the sacraments. How much does that take away from the experiene these ‘avatars’ are having compared to your experience on Sunday mornings?
Read the article, think about what it would be like to worship online, and share your thoughts.
I have to admit, I am very curious about the Second Life cathedral! I wonder how the worship services, Bible studies, and discussion groups work. Do people really feel like they have been to church?

Peace,
erin