Not My Own

I have watched about five episodes of the T.V show Glee and I must admit that I am a fan. I have not officially called myself a "Gleek" yet but we will see after I watch a complete season. Glee is a musical comedy-drama television series that focuses on the high school Glee Club.Glee club participates in show choir competitions while its members deal high school drama and relationship issues. In the five episodes I watched, I have seen a variety of teen issues covered including teen pregnancy, homosexuality, divorce, drugs, sexting, and questions about musical appropriateness/lyrics. As a youth minister, I also enjoy watching a show that focuses on the lives of teenagers and what they are going through. Does this mean the show accurately describes every teen's life? Absolutely not! An episode I watched recently called "Grill Cheesus" brought God into the series. I thought this episode was just going to be another T.V show that mocks Jesus or depicts Chris

I have discovered that church drama is the worst kind of drama because everyone tends to think God is on their side and they are entitled to claim ownership to the church. Our humanness has left us with pretty horrible communicating tactics and poor listening skills served with an enormous amount of pride. No wonder people get so mad. Everyone has a different opinion of how church should be run and who should be in charge. Our consumer focused society is not helping our selfish mindset about what church is. I asked one of my new students the other day if she belonged to a church anywhere. Her response was, "Not exactly. My family is church shopping right now." I have heard the phrase before but this time it struck me differently. Currently, our church is going through some struggles. We are trying to embrace transition from what used to be a small town country church into a church that speaks to the growing suburb community. This transition comes at a difficult time sinc

Ephesians 6: 10-12 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This past weekend I saw student's lives changed, had open and honest conversation about sex and relationships, and watched three different generations bond together sharing wisdom and teaching one another. It was a beautiful picture of family ministry.  Adults and teenagers were together talking about subjects that I think most churches try to sweep under the rug causing people to learn about sex and relationships through media and other misleading sources. One parent put the weekend into her own words... "Mostly this weekend I was reminded that teens want adults to be real, truthful and to sh