limbo is not just a game we play but a stage of life we arrive to...but there are similiarities

I have entered a Limbo period in my existence...

When I say limbo I mean that awkard positioning of a back bent at a 90 degree angle, trying to shuffle underneath a the bar that has been set way to low, and everyone around you is cheering you on towards success, but we all know that it would be a lot more amusing if I were to fall.

See the problem with Limbo is that the object of the entire game is thrown off. Isnt it the object of a bar to be raised not lowered? but the harder feat would be to balance yourself as you go underneath the lower bar, not trying to jump over a bar that is raise way to high in the first place.

I guess what I am saying is that at time of limbo in a persons life, one should not use the excuse of a lowered bar to be difficult, because one is trying to "limbo" underneath it, one should recognize the fact that the bar is low and one should do there best to raise it.

or

One should not worry themselves with straining themselves as to make sure they are with in the boundaries of the a regulation game of limbo...one should see the non-sense of the bar and just simply step over it as any rational thinker would.

Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus by Mark Yaconelli

The Sacred Way:Spiritual practices for everyday life by Tony Jones

Enjoy the Silence by Maggie and Duffy Robbins

These books would help me take my youth group through a time of thinking and reflecting on the word of God.

Do get a steady idea of the youth ministry, i would use

10 Rules of Youth Ministry and Why One Eighty Breaks Them All. by Blaine Bartel

Purpose Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields

these are just basic ideas of who we would try to get a handle on what is goin on with the youth minisrty...

implications of implementations

how would i go about reaching the teen-agers in hardford county?

well i would have something to offer to them, something that they can't get from anywhere else.
a time for them to relax. they are all over the place in the week soccer practice, lessons, varsity sports, family activities, everything. i would have a youth setting where they can take the time to relax and experience God for at least once that week.

relaxed lighting, and slow contempletive music will help them to get rid of all the things the that they have delt with all week and take time to hear from God.

we would have fun, but it is in a way where everyone is apart of the fun, not just certain people. we want to have an enviroment where everyone feels welcomed, and everyone feels like they are apart of the group. i think alot of teenagers are looking for acceptance, and this is the place where they should find it in the church.

i would also offer them, people who care, who they can talk to who are not their parents. they need to be able to see that we care about them, and believe in them, that they can do what they really feel like they want to do. it is interesting to see what people can do when they have someone who believes in them.

we would give them, God. when God gets a hold of people it is like nothing else. others are attracted to passion not matter what it is. passion for God will spread through his holy spirit.

philisophical/diabolical strategery...

these students will not be easily fooled...they might let on that they are fooled or play stupid, but they understand what is happening in the world.

they are all upper middle class, so they are connected with the computer, ipod, psp, nintendo ds, xbox, tv, internet, instant messenger, myspace. all of these things have a way of defining us as people. we are controlled by what we spend our time in. i think when it comes down to it what all of these things point to are...

image

and

community...

these are two things that are so important to a person in this life. what they look like, what defines them, what makes them who they are, what shapes them, the way they look at themselves, the way others look at them...it all comes down to image and community... ironically the only way anyone is truly going to find these things, is when they find their peace with GOD.

i woudl guess that my mission will be to help people find out that there image and community is not found in themselves but it is defined with their relationship with the image and the community. i don't even know if we will ever find out who we truly are or who are neighbors truly are, but as long as i get them to think of there life, and realize that no amount of effort released on their part will fulfill what they truly need. it is found in the one who was the original.

i guess that my strategy would have to be something that keeps their attention, yet something that they will not see everywhere else. There needs to be a reason for them to listen, something that says "i will learn something at youth group that i will not learn anytime else during the week"

i would do things that would help them to build their image...find what they are good at and let them roll with it until they accept it as their own, until they accept that it is a gift, until they accept that it was given to them from GOD.

i would do things to help build community, somewhere where everyone feels like they are welcome. i want everyone to be accepted at youth group. if they don't...we are failing. i want the lines of skin color to be blurred, i want the lines of social class to be blurred, i want the line of appearance/weight/image to be blurred to a point where everyone is forced to be honest with themselves....i am an idealest...

its alot easier to write it, then it is to act it out. I want people to experience the beauty of other people. not be confined in themselves, learn from other people, love other people, experience the maker through his creatures.

i desire for everyone to see themselves as they truly are...people just the same as everyone else just learning from each other and learning from GOD...

ill let you know how it turns out

demostratin my demografics

i youth pastor in the harford county maryland...

this is a suburb of baltimore, this county is just south of the pennsylvania border...

the total population of the county is 218,590...
86.8% of the population in harford county is White (215,378)
9.3% of th population is Black(20,260)
1.5% of the population is Asian(3,313)
1.9% of the population is Hispanic (4,169)

17,861 people range from the age 10-14 8.2% of the total population
14,706 people ranging from the ages of 15-19 6.7% of the total population

in harford county out of the 61,532 students enrolled in school...
21.7% are in high school ranging from grades 9-12

my job is to find out how to reach 13,347 students in the harford county for Jesus.

most of the families in harford county would range from middle to upper class economically...
out of the 60,722 families....

27.2% (16,526) of them make between $50,000-$74,999
19.0% (11,515) of them make between $75,000-$99,999
14.2% (8,630) of them make between $100,000-$149,999

59.4% of the families in harford counties make $50,000 or more

another interesting statistic i saw from the census website was...

that out of the 167,594 people that are over 15 years old....

2.5% are seperated from their spouse
8.3% are divorced...

this is not a huge number but is enough that it will effect the students I work with...

smallville, small group, biggie smalls

i have the priveledge of leading a small group of approximately 14-16 students in the bel air area. on a good night we will have as many as 20 students. they are awesome, full of questions, and the coolest kids in MD. we have been going through the book of james for the last 4 weeks. we are still in the first chapter. it has proven to be very beneficial, james is a very practical book. so we have been discussing each different concept that we have come across in the book. i think that the best one went a little like this...

if you were go out and buy a skateboard....and you didnt know anything about it what would you have to do?
1. admit that you don't know anything about the skateboard, except that it rolls on the ground.

2. you would ask someone who knew what they were talking about and get the best information from them about this skateboard.

3.believe that, that person gave you the right information...and not doubt that they would steer you in the right direction

now say you didnt believe that this person knew what they were talking about and you went out to try to find the skateboard yourself with out following their guidance. you would end up running from store to store not knowing which skateboard is the best one to buy, or you would just buy the first one you saw which could turn out to be problematic because you didnt put much thought in it, and you didnt get the best deal.

i parralleled this with...

james 1:5-8

v5.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generouslyto all without finding fault,and it will be given to him.

v6.

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

v7.

That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

v8.

he is double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

no matter how crappy that parrallel is it worked and it helped all of us kind of get a good grasp on what this passage was trying to say...we meet every week and i have to find ways each week to explain scripture and it is pretty hectic with all of school and things....i thinks its awesome though...the lord is helping us learn together through this

kevin et al

kevin et al
Originally uploaded by joymadison.

this is journey my niece...
she is laughing...
i love her...
she lives in seattle...
that is too far away...

kevin et al

kevin et al
Originally uploaded by joymadison.

this is my nephew jaden...
he is my boy...
he likes to get naked at the sight of a tornado...
he as well lives in seattle...
that is still way too far away...

kevin et al

kevin et al
Originally uploaded by joymadison.

this is my neice jaylie...
she is a free spirit...
she lives in seattle...
that is too far.

what our passions and sufferings are, to each other...

this is my friend omar i met throught some friends that i was in a band a couple years back we hang out when im back in virigina every once and a while.

do you attend a church, if so what kind? -no i don't attend a church

If not, why not? and if yes what do you like about it? -i don't attend a religious institution. my mind is my church

with your church encounters what would you say the worst part about it was? -the worse part is not being able to leave

what was best part? -it is uncorruptable, except for by its maker. i know i can never lie to myself.

what would attract you to a church? -if it had a machine where you can connect your brains together and proove without anything but the straight truth, what our passions and sufferings are, to each other.

what is some advice that would you give the american christian church? -maybe this is a weakness and not a faith of yours. this strength you search for is within yourself. you're digging into books, and inhaling obvious phrases, and whispering wishes to the ceiling. maybe you should be digging deep into the darkness of your dying yet gifted heart, exhaling the truths and poisons that haunt your being, and scream the harrowing facts that eat away at your insides, to the floor. and stare at it and be proud. that you can see what you really are. IN FACT: you will never be fully true. that is the only "sin". what are you afraid of? can you only answer to proper etiquette? Can you not accept that you are a disgusting vessel? What is a Do-Gooder when it's all in lies? the bottom line is, the only REAL reason why you do "good" and contradict your own true feelings, is so that you will not be alone. I think anyone would rather be crucified, than be alone, or, even be in acceptance of their monstrous realities

although i dont agree with everything omar has said, i think that he makes a good argument...

maybe us a christians hate to look at what we really are deep in side, maybe some do just try to go to church and blend in so that they will not feel alone, and seldomly do we search our own souls, to see who we truly are and what incredible thing God has truly created when he made us. we can not be afraid to look into our selves no matter how scary it is, this is the only way we will become truly real with ourselves and in turn truly real with God and in turn honestly real with others around us.

desperate times call for desperate measures...

this is one of my best friends matt from back home in Virginia. we met in high school and shared interest in music, tattoos, and God

do you attend a church? no

If not why not, and if yes what do you like about it? yet to find a new church since i departed from my last

with your church encounters what would you say the worst part about it was? the perceived image of non-believers

what was best part? fellowship

what would attract you to a church? an overall sense of humility

what is some advice that would you give the american christian church? understand that we do not live in a christian nation, keep politics and faith completely separate, a major re-evaluation of morality and immorality needs to occur deport Pat Robertson.

I think that he brings up some valid points...
#1 it is very important that no matter what we do, we have to be careful not to mix church and politics. people dont need to hear about government and ect. they can watch T.V. and read and form their own opinion, we need to make sure that we let them know about the truth...there is a God that loves them, and let the God deal with the different heart issues of the individual
#2 we as a church need to show a since of humility, knowing that the answer to every equation is Jesus, yet letting others know that we are just as much on a journey as they are.
#3 we have to becareful the way we treat "non-believers" its easy to think that we have it together and that their life is a total mess, and in a certain way look down on them because of that fact.