Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

- From all your Neel Road Student Ministry Staff

Where is the line?

Students are notorius for pushing the boundaries. If your jaw just dropped, you've undoubtedly been eating dinner at 3:30p for far too long. If not, you work with teenagers or, God help you, parent them. If that be the case, you know this is true. Students seem to live to push the limits. Why should I wear a helmet on my bike traveling 86 miles per hour down a hill that so steep I'm actually riding upside down? Why should I chew my food before I swallow? Why should I respect my body as well as my girlfriend's body and not enter into a sexual relationship before marriage?

Unfortunately, the desire for "the line" is rooted in sin. And even worse, they've learned this from us, as their leader and examples (parents, ministers, teachers, bus drivers, and everyone else). Speed limits are a perfect example. What would happen if there were no speed limits? Some of us would cruise at the same speeds we do now, arriving safely at our desired destination. Others would take this opportunity to push their cars to the limit and utilize that chance to get where they need to be as fast as humanly possible. Is there a benefit in that or do they just flirt with death?

In the same way, in pushing the limits of sin, are we growing closer in our relationship with Jesus or are we flirting with death? If our questions always revolve around "the line," which direction are we facing? Are we focused on Christ or the boundaries behind us? As opposed to wondering the location of "the line," why do we not ask ourselves what in our life stimulates our affection for Jesus? Perhaps if we focused on him and not our sinful nature, we could walk in his likeness all the more.

So, do you still want to know where is the line?

What Do You Wish Your Parents Knew?

There seems to be a growing disconnect between parents and their teenagers. Culture plays a big role in this, but I believe the church owns an equal stake in the problem. In many churches, students are banished to the dungeons of our campuses where their nose and worship can't be heard. "Not in our church!" you might think, or scream at your computer screen slamming your fists down and spilling your coffee (be slow to anger). And maybe this doesn't take place in your church, but it does in most. Our students are disconnected from the church that provides for them. This is mirrored in the home and it's a tremendous problem.

Our teenagers wish their parents were engaging, in an appropriate manner. They want their parents to be relevant and involved, without pressure or judgment, but with love and grace. There are certainly aspects of their lives they're longing for: converstations, examples, knowledge. Ask your students, "What do you wish I knew?" "What do you wish you could say to me?"

It's up to us as leaders and parents to intergrate the church generationally. Our young adults are leaving the church by the bus load (or by the freshman class load). Is it our fault? Perhaps. I wonder how things would different if our students felt like they belonged and were wanted. Maybe we should give it a try.

What's the Point of All This if You're Not Going to Let This Change You?

A few weeks ago, our students began a new study. We've been watching and discussing the movie, To Save a Life. In it, Jake Taylor watches his former friend take his own life in the hallway at school. You see, Jake is your stereotypical popular kid. Roger, the exact opposite. Roger decides that there is nothing else for him to do but take his own life. Jake's last-ditch effort can't stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rock Jake's world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can't shake the question, "Could I have saved Roger?" In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself at church. There, he quickly encounters the routine of others and poses the question to his peers, "What's the point of all this if you're not going to let this change you?"

I asked the same question tonight, and I ask it to you, "What's the point of all this if you're not going to let this change you?" For far too long, Bible-belt churches have preached conversion. The problem with that is that ultimately, especially for our students, we convince them to believe what we believe. They walk our isles and pray our prayers. When does their life change? Are we raising disciples or converts?

What about you? "What's the point of all this if you're not going to let this change you?" What is the point of all our routines unless we actually let these teachings we hear each week permiate our lives and change us. Jesus said to go into the world and make disciples, not converts. How would things be different if that was our goal?

God, I have let you down.

Have you ever said that? I bet we all have. I was sitting in chapel this morning (I'm in seminary, by the way, if you're wondering why I was in chapel) and two men began a skit where God and Man have a conversation about being His masterpiece. "I don't feel like Your masterpiece," he said, "a Picasso, maybe, but definitely not a masterpiece." God reaches for his hammer and chisel and begins to chip away at all the pieces of our lives that are not of Him: pride, anger, lust, apathy. Then, the man looks God in the eye, lowers his head and says, "I just feel like I have let you down..." In a moment of defeat, of loss, the man looks up to see his Creator smile and say, "You were never holding me up."

In those times of defeat, how comforting is it to remember that we were never what holds God up.