This morning I woke up at 4:45am so I decided to get up and record this simple song. It’s pretty rough for a couple of reasons. First – it was 4:45 in the MORNING. I never knew 4:45 came twice in one day. Secondly I got a new guitar amp that I used so I was trying to dial it in and figure it out.  You can listen to it by clicking here.

The words are simply:

Holy, You are holy
Holy are You God

Worthy, You are worthy
Worthy are You God

Mighty, you are mighty
Mighty are You God

One of my passions is helping parents understand youth culture and the things that are out there that can be harmful for their students.  I realize that not all parents will agree and each family has their own guidelines for what is allowed and what is not.  That is fine.  However part of my role as a youth pastor is to get information out on youth culture and into the hands of parents.  This is part of the reason why I am so passionate about music and movies.  I used to write Bible studies and reviews for a youth leader resource website years ago.  I had a blast doing it and God blessed me through spending time to write those.  I still have the old files.  If you’d be interested in them let me know.

I love this video.  I have been listening to Mark Driscoll for about 8 years now through his podcast of sermons most weeks.    I love this video – that’s why I’m posting it.  We have to be discerning on what we take in and what we don’t.  What are you thoughts on the video?    Should we be discerning about what we take in or not?

I came across an article recently on Katy Perry. As a music lover I try to keep up on current trends/ artists that are impacting youth culture as a whole. Katy Perry is no doubt one of the most popular (if not the most popular) music acts in the world right now…and quite possibly the most dangerous to youth culture.  As a parent you really should read the article.  It will at least get you talking to your student(s) about Katy Perry and or music in general.  Here’s a clip of the article;

Let’s just go ahead and say it: Katy Perry is one of the most dangerous elements within youth culture right now.

Her first hit “I Kissed a Girl” is a long way from the gospel music she originally produced. (But hey, if you’re gonna sell out, sell out big, right?)

Her next #1 tune, “California Gurls,” isn’t much better. When she performed this little ditty at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, she teased the crowd with the same explicit hand gestures she uses in her music video.

“Teenage Dream,” her latest single, uses the same formula: Sex masquerading as music. Its lyrics should give parents and youth workers pause before downloading the tune for their teens. The following are just a few of the racy words:

We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a floor out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I’m complete

Let’s go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We’ll be young forever…

Typical of many top songs today, “No cuss words, so it must be clean.” You can check out the rest of the lyrics or view the brand new – and incredibly sensual – music video to understand the point of this song.

Perry’s message has been unmistakable all along, but “Teenage Dream” says it most clearly: the quintessential teenage dream is filled with lots of sex and no regrets.

So maybe you’re thinking, “What can I do as a parent about the music my student(s) listen to?  For starters here are some questions you need to ask:

• Is it worth it to go through my students music?
• What kind of role models do I want my student(s) to have?
• If I run the music they listen to through a Biblical filter does it come out looking like God’s Word?
• If not do I want them listening to it?
• As a parent what can/ should I do if my student(s) is listening to music I don’t want them to listen to?

Believe it or not these are the same questions I use when filtering the music I choose to listen to.  There will always be the argument of whether or not we should listen to Christian music only and if there are secular bands that are ok to listen to.  As for your family, I can’t tell you the answer to that question.  I do have some strong opinions though.  Some parents really get angry with me when I suggest they go through their kids music and throw out the stuff that you as the parents don’t like.  I often get asked, “Who would do that?”  My answer is, “My mom would and she did.”  When my mom found my stash of music I listened when I was in junior high it all got pitched.  Why?  Because it wasn’t glorifying God and it “wasn’t allowed in their house.”  As a parent it’s your responsibility to guard the home and what comes in and what stays out.  I think it’s a lot in the approach of how it’s done.

Talk to your kids about music.  Ask to read the lyrics of some of their favorite bands.  If they won’t let you let me know and I’ll give you links of websites where you can look up the lyrics to any artist in the world.  What you find may shock you but it’s worth the risk.

If you have any questions about music and media I would love to talk to you about them.  Just ask.

We Won’t Run Away
Key: G
Tempo: 90-100

Verse 1:
Holy God  you came to earth
To rescue the world from darkness
Few have responded to Your call
Others reject Your love

Chorus 1:
We won’t run away from Your love
We won’t run away from Your open arms
We won’t run away from Your love
We won’t run away from Your call on us

Verse 2:
We’ve responded to Your call
You’ve chosen to draw us to You
Still sometimes we stray from Your Word
This is us running back to You

Chorus 2:
We’ll run back to You like prodigals
Who have strayed from You
We’ll run back to you like sons and daughters
Run to their mothers and fathers

This is why I love Plugged In Online.  It gives very fair reviews of movies as well as the content within the movies.  The site never goes to the legalistic side of saying we shouldn’t view certain movies it simply gives the synopsis, tells about the content and gives some fair warning.  The rest is up to us to use God’s Word as a filter and a good dose of Godly discernment in choosing to watch certain movies or listen to certain music.

We had a good discussion tonight with our students about this same thing.  It’s definitely worth talking about.  Parents I hope you are taking the time to teach your kids to be critical Godly thinkers in choosing the content the take in.  It is so worth it.

We filled 3/4 of a large dumpster while doing demolition.

This summer has been crazy busy.  Really everything since April has been on fast forward for me.  In April dad had all of his complications from his first colon cancer surgery.  He ended up being in the hospital over a month.  That all went by so fast with all of the worrying and everything that came with that.  Also in April we started our Brazil Team training to take a team of students and adults down to Southern Brazil to minister to students.

I went on vacation for a week when we came back from that.

Then August 8-13 we took another team of students to Kansas City, MO and Kansas for an Urban Plunge to do ministry with some homeless shelters down there.  It was an incredibly HOT week while we were there.  We saw real temps of 103 and heat indexes of 112 while we were there.  Our students were troopers though.  There was minimal complaining about the heat.  We did so much stuff while we were there.  Below is a list of things we did;

• we did not shower Sunday or Monday nights
• Monday we sorted trash at a thrift store.  We went to a food bank and repackaged cereal in the hot warehouse for 4 hours.  Then Monday night we went and transformed a yard at a half way house for a couple of hours.  Did I mention we didn’t shower Monday night?
• Tuesday we got up and went to the River of Refuge and did some demolition at an old hospital for 8 hours.  We completely demolished a room and got it ready to be transformed into an apartment.  We showered Tuesday night.
• Wednesday we stood outside in the 102 degree heat for 5 hours and handed out boxes of food to needy people.  That was maybe one of the most powerful experiences while we were there.  Ask our students about it sometime.
• Thursday we went and cleaned at Hope Faith, served food and toured their new facility.  Thursday afternoon we napped, went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum and then ate at Jack Stack that night.
• Friday we came back to Newell.  Did I mention it was 6 hours in a 15 passenger van with students who didn’t shower Thursday night either?

It was a stretching experience for everyone.  Things happened that we didn’t expect that were both positive and negative.  Some planning fell through on their end but in the end it worked out maybe even better.  I have talked to a number of our students since we have been back and I know that lives were transformed and eye were opened.  It’s always very cool to see students start to grasp how powerful the Gospel is and how powerful we can be ministered to by those who are less fortunate than us.

Things could definitely get interesting around here – but in a good way.

In our culture today it almost seems not cool to wear Christian t-shirts.  Even the term ‘Christian t-shirts’ for some people (yes even some believers) will not be a big hit.  This is why I am thankful C28 has a great ministry today.  They are doing a great job with their graphics for their shirts and apparel that are both relevant and boldly centered around the Gospel.  This is why I have a C28 banner to the right side of the blog.

Here’s the really cool thing about C28.  If you click through any of the links on my blog back to their site and make a purchase from them 10% of that purchase goes towards purchasing give-a-ways for our student ministry.  It is my account but I am taking the credit I get back to go towards give-a-ways for our student ministry.  Would you help us out?  Simply click on the banner above and browse through their store.  If you see something you like great.  If not that’s great too.

Today I am heading down to Principal Park in Des Moines for the first round of the Iowa High School State Baseball Tournament.  Storm Lake plays at 2pm and a couple of our guys play on the team.  I am looking forward to spending the afternoon down there watching a great game of baseball and exercising the ministry of presence.  The ministry of presence is something we often forget about but is important.  Sometimes it even goes unnoticed and that is perfectly fine. We can’t be at every event every-time but the big ones are worth celebrating with our students as well as the small ones.   This afternoon I will be celebrating in the stands while a couple f our students play on and support their team.

What are some ways you exercise the ministry of presence.