just in case you were wondering!

My Theology of Youth Ministry
By Peter Ralph

Today’s Youth are faced with enormous challenges and decisions. The decisions they make must be well thought out and weighed with an adult maturity. In a very short time, Youth must go from a childish nature to an adult nature. For the first time in their lives they are making life-altering decisions. Within the context of these decisions are the topics of faith, Godliness, baptism, evangelism, service, devotional life, life goals, purpose and calling, as well as a plethora of others. In my opinion, at no other point in a person’s life will they be confronted with as many life and future altering decisions as in their adolescence.
The place of the Church and therefore the Youth ministry team is one of a resource for Youth, parents and caregivers. The goal of the church should be to assist in facilitating Youth, parents and caregivers in supporting the Youth to make wise godly decisions. In order to facilitate for these people, first a trusting relationship must be created between the ministries in the church and the Youth and their support systems. Without a trusting relationship such as this, what is said by the Youth ministry may lack credibility. Good relationships are built through many different methods that have one thing in common. As our Christ as our example showed, clarity in communication is key in order to have a meaningful relationship with others (Matthew 5). The method which ties into my theology will be first and foremost being truthful in who I present myself to be, what my goals are for the Youth ministry as a whole and whom I serve. I believe an open door policy both at the church and in my home is a powerful method for people to get to know me personally.
Parents are integral and crucial to any Youth ministry. They play many roles, not the least of which being prayer support. I believe prayer to be a vital tool for any ministry. On this point I will not waver. Prayer needs to completely surround the ministry and the people within it. I believe a lack of prayer to be an unwise way in which to go about ministry.
Parents have insight into Youths’ lives. As a result of this, parents have much to say that is beneficial in gauging where Youth are in their decision making processes and internal maturity. The other side of this is that realizing the growing independence of the Youth, permission must be given by the youth for the parent to be involved in an official capacity. In every aspect of the Youth ministry’s relationship with parents and caregivers, communication is key. Therefore every effort must be made to ensure obvious and clear lines of communication between the Youth ministry team, the Youth and their caregivers.
Because parents and caregivers entrust the Youth ministry team with their most precious treasures, their Youth, we must be relentless in our insurance of the Youths’ safety. As a result of this, I believe Plan to Protect is a crucial part of ensuring the safety of the Youth. Any sponsor must be forthcoming and honest with their personal circumstances and legal past in order to ensure the physical and emotional safety of the Youth (1 Timothy 3:1-3).
If youth ministry depends solely on the Youth pastor, then success of that ministry is unlikely at best. Jesus taught the Church to delegate and modeled this with his disciples (Acts 6:1-3). Volunteer Youth leaders offer a most precious gift, time. This is not something to be taken lightly. These people will likely have jobs and lives outside of the Church yet they have chosen to follow Christ’s example to serve. This must not be taken for granted. Volunteer Youth leaders need to be ministered to by the Youth ministry as they minister to the Youth. The Youth ministry must show appreciation to the volunteer Youth leaders on a regular basis. The volunteer Youth leaders must also have a safe place in which to voice concerns and hurts as well as make suggestions for ministry direction. Effort must be made to ensure volunteer Youth leaders feel listened to and valued. Without this the health of the Youth ministry team as a whole will suffer.
My dream for any Youth is to see these men and women of God mature, take ownership of their faith and put Christ as Lord of their life. I believe service to the body of Christ to be a vital maturity step and a natural step for those deeply committed to their faith. My desire is for Youth to become servants and within that to become evangelistic, not out of obligation but out of desire and passion. It is important for the Youth ministry team to not only nourish the Youth within our church but also to look outward to the broader community to seek those who do not know Christ and be their witness to Christ’s love in the world. My prayer for any Youth group is that the aroma of Christ’s love will be so apparent it cannot be denied nor could it be mistaken for anything else. When people walk through the doors of the church, they will be greeted and welcomed by believers from who God’s love is emanating.
Youth are not only the future of our country but also of the Church. As a result of this, our goal should be helping these Youth make Godly decisions and discern God’s will for their lives. No matter where God leads them, they are a vital part of the continuing ministry of God’s Church in the world.

people need to smile more! So Says I!

So tonight I will be back on the road where one thing is sure, there won’t be any tomatoes. Tomatoes are not something you would tend to find on the road but I used to say that about pig heads and then a hole truck full of them flipped in Edmonton a few years back and my understanding of what you do and do not see on the road was for ever changed. But still the likelihood of seeing tomatoes on the road is very unlikely. On the same note you would think that finding only one shoe on the road would be unlikely at best but often you do find only one shoe. I also got hit in the windshield with a fish once. Sask. If anyone was wondering. I think that people with large lawns are glutens for punishment. Also people with long hair, is it ever handy? Short hair is! I think people who like to eat raw fish are lazy! People who need stuff should be able to get stuff! Profound and profane are awfully close! (I just made that up) sometimes I wanna listen to old school rap and other times I don’t! Saskatoon is far away if you go the wrong way around the world! Pizza is the perfect fruit. Broke back mountain is an unfortunate name! So is sasaphrass. Chris and Scott and Jeff need to update more often than they do! So says I!

didja like the car Chris?

Here we are at 2:30 in the morning. I am watching a tape of American idol and just saw “Chris” do an interpretation of the Johnny Cash song; “I walk the line!” it was very very good! I need to recalibrait my sleep paterns now LYC is over.
Today I finished the Accord. This car has been hard to finish because of other time constraints. But we are now finished. So here is the list of work done on the car, ahem…

#1 tires
#2 exhaust
#3 electrical gremlins fixed
#4 fixed 1 seized brake caliper
#5 new brake shoes
#6 audio mp3 player and speakers installed
#7 new clutches
#8 body repaired
#9 bumper fascia replaced
#10 front of car painted
#11 new light fixtures
#12 dadblasted horns fixed (Grrr)
#13 dash gages fixed
#14 other stuff I can’t remember.

This car is now a very reliable and good car. So now it sells! I hope. This is work that I love, I get that most people find cars frustrating but I don’t. I dig em. I have planned my next hotrod (I think) it will be an offbrand car (not a mustang or a camero but something odd)(read, cheep) perhaps a valiant. Never done a dodge before. It should be fun. It will be a rat rod of sorts. This means that it will not be painted. It6 will not have any interior except for the steering wheel and gages. No fan, no radio, no wipers no glove box, no carpet or center console, just a ratchet shifter screwed to the floor. Nothing that doesn’t make it faster. I want to se how fast I can go for about 5 grand. Hmmmm yea, thas so nice. This will be fun. I am undecided if I want one seat or seats for 3 *roalbar makes it so there is only a seat for 1 person in the back. This will be a rod that needs almost no upkeep. Original paint, nothing to clean or polish. Just a car to destroy tires! Anyone want a ride?

Dangit!

Chris, you are so lucky I like you
your sterio is now in. Anyone who is a "chev Guy" needs to get there head examinid! The Chev GMC company is run by magots


thats all I have to say about that

chris got a new car!

Sometimes working with school organizations is frustrating. Aaaah well. So, today I bought a new car. The purpose of it is to sell to a friend. (Chris) it is nice, it’s silver, and kinda unassuming. It is kinda like a bread and butter sandwich. It works, and that’s all. It’s a 1991 Pontiac grandprix. 4 door and silver. It has a steering wheel and some windows. It has a motor and tranny. All in all, it is a good car if you want nothing more than cheep transportation. That it will do!
I had some taco time today, gotta stop doing that. It just aint good.
Last night I saw fun with dick and Jain. That was funny! The whole movie can be summed up in one quote. “You’re all up in my goodies!”
Someone should go see Randy Gay. He is in the foothills hospital cuz he got hit by a car! I went to see him, and he is one busted dude!
That’s all for now!
Congrats to the AUC men’s socker team

i have watched 3 movies this week. Two of them were old favourits and the other is totally new. the first fav. is "death to smoochy" lotsa people dident like it but i thought it was killer (in a good way) i often like dark comideys. this is one its about At the start of the show, we meet Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams), the hugely successful host of his own TV kids program. He quickly gets bounced from the tube after he accepts a bribe, so the powers-that-be at Kidnet need a squeaky-clean replacement. They find less-than-talented Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), a naïve idealist who performs as Smoochy the Rhino. He quickly learns about the corrupt world of children’s entertainment. He meets cynical TV executive Nora Wells (Catherine Keener), sleazy agent Burke Bennett (Danny DeVito), brain-damaged ex-boxer Spinner Dunn (Michael Rispoli) and his Irish-mafia chieftain cousin Tommy Cotter (Pam Ferris), greedy charity head Merv Green (Harvey Fierstein), and others.
Smoochy’s show rockets up the charts, which sends Randolph on a mission of revenge. After some failed attempts, he finally scandalizes Sheldon when he tricks him into performing in front of a crowd of Nazis. Eventually Sheldon regains his spot and his popularity, and with that comes additional power. His bosses pushed him to do an ice show, and he finally agrees, but he uses his newfound power to create an extravaganza that does things his way. Sheldon’s idealism scares the bigwigs, so they start to plot for his removal via violent methods and then the creadits roal (go see it yourself. its totally worth it) the other is quite well known,it is also my all time fav. comedy, "knights tale" seariously people, this is wikkid awsome. the 3dr is the spitfire grill. i enjoyed it. go see it
its kinda cool in a fried green tomatos kinda way!