Let’s face facts, your parents had it easier. Back then, good parenting advice just needed to include “always wear clean underwear” and “never talk to strangers.” Wouldn’t they be astonished to be thrust into child rearing in 2010? You probably don’t get too much of an argument about clean underwear, but talking to strangers has become a sought-after activity and it’s startlingly easy.

A new website called Chat Roulette has become very popular among teens and young adults. The concept of the site is simple: turn on your webcam, press a button, and be instantly connected to another random user. The site says that you need to be at least 16 to use it, but there is no way to confirm a user’s age. In fact, you don’t even have to create an account or enter any information at all. Just click, and you’re face to face with…who knows who?

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Confirmation Sunday at Jesse Lee was March 21. Our theme was “the light overcomes the darkness”…a very special pick by the confirmands who became church members on the first full day of spring, when the days become longer than the nights.

We used this mash-up of scripture, read as a script by 5 different voices:

Genesis: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

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We just held a pretty big end-of-summer event, and we weren’t sure how much ice cream to order. We kept it simple with just chocolate and vanilla, although we had all kinds of toppings. We found that we could serve about six high schoolers per half-gallon of ice cream. We went through about 3 vanillas to 2 chocolates.

I hereby declare the end of poor communications within your youth ministry. I’m here to confirm what you already suspect: kids don’t check their Email. To them, Email is old technology, only good for formal communications with teachers, bosses, and other adults.

For high schoolers, it’s all about texting and Facebook. Generally, kids prefer a text message to a phone call because rather than having to drop everything to answer it, they can reply when it’s convenient. Kids prefer this for their personal communications, as opposed to the formal communications I alluded to earlier. Consider which category allows for more effective ministry, and then add a texting package to you cell phone account.

The real communications goldmine is Facebook–not just because all your kids are on it, but because all the other kids in town are on it too. Some people have a real hang up about Facebook, and I think it’s because they don’t understand how it differs from chat rooms. Facebook isn’t about anonymity. You set up a profile which includes your name and your picture, and then you seek out your friends to share in an online experience. Most kids who get into trouble online are interacting with an anonymous somebody pretending to be somebody else in a chat room, but not on Facebook.

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This may be one of the crazier ideas I’ve come up with, but I’m excited to see how it works out.

I have just sealed a deal with our local pizza shop to allow us to print a coupon on the back of our youth group T-shirts. Anytime one of our members shows up wearing the shirt, he or she can get a free fountain soda. T-shirts done right are great pieces of mobile evangelism and can be effective advertising for your ministry. This makes them even more likely to be worn in a crowded public place where several other teens hang out. Fountain soda is dirt cheap for the pizza shop, so it’s a great deal in exchange for their logo being flashed around town. Meanwhile, the shirts make an awesome handout after a lesson on redemption.

From the Inbox…

Where/How does your group go about transporting kids to off site youth events?  According to my research, many churches are stepping away from using 15 passenger church vans citing safety concerns, in favor of smaller vehicles or buses.  Oh wouldn’t a million dollar budget be a wonderful thing

You’re right…the 15-passenger vans have pretty much been blacklisted. They have proven themselves to be a particularly unsafe mode of transportation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns against using them. And I understand that churches who have them are finding it more and more difficult to insure them.

We had one at Jesse Lee when I first arrived, but I convinced the Trustees to get rid of it. The design of most models puts a seat and cargo space behind the rear wheels, causing them to handle much differently in quick-turn or skid situations, while the passenger weight increases the center of gravity, making them more susceptible to rollover accidents.

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Last Sunday, I had the honor of delivering the sermon at Jesse Lee. The title was Anger Management, and the main thrust was that, while we spend time and energy being angry over various and sundry circumstances, there are some things that are really worth being angry about.

I used this story as part of the sermon, and I thought perhaps you would enjoy it…

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The truth is that we worship a timeless God. That statement conveys both the utmost expression of hope and the greatest mystery of the human existence. Everything that we experience has a start and a finish. We wake up and we go to sleep. Class begins and class ends. We’re born and we die. But worshiping a timeless God means that death isn’t the end. Rather, it’s the beginning of endlessness.