Free Refills

Issue #6 9/21/08

A youth worker friend of mine related this story to me: One day while eating at Taco Bell he was joined by one of the students from his youth group. The student excused himself for a moment and reached into the backpack he had been carrying and pulled out a Taco Bell cup and proceeded to go the soda fountain and fill the cup. Judging by the condition of the cup it had been well used and when the student returned he asked him about using the cup. The student explained that he brought the cup into Taco Bell to use it at the all-you-can-drink refill station without having to pay for a new one. When my friend pointed out to him that this would be considered stealing the student quickly rationalized the action by saying that he was doing it to save money for church camp. We laughed about the students’ rationalization, but we’re all guilty of the same thing. In our own lives we often rationalize similar actions and say that they are no big deal.

Purity or the lack of purity reveals itself in almost everything we do. Purity shocks people. It should. It’s a rare quality. But it characterizes the new lifestyle to which Jesus calls those who submit their lives to Him. By God’s standards, purity isn’t foreign; it’s normal.
“Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

During our Sunday morning class the youth looked at (or will be looking at, depending on when you’re reading this) purity or integrity. Here are some Bible verses you may consider reading on the subject to further discussion with your student: 2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Peter 1:15 and we read in class Acts 5:1-11.

Here are some discussion questions you may want to talk about with your student: Why is it important that journalists and newscasters are truthful? Why are we to conduct ourselves with truth in our lives? What do you need to do in your life to perform “heart surgery” so you will respond in purity?

Again, these are just ideas, maybe you have your own way of talking to your student about their lives and that’s fine too. It’s your involvement as a parent in your student’s life that can make a world of difference.

And as always if you have any questions or concerns or maybe you want to get involved with the youth ministry just let me know.

John “does anyone else want Taco Bell all of the sudden?” Downey

Get a Life

Issue #5 -- 09/14/08

When I was a kid I had this thing about foods on my plate touching each other. My peas could never ever touch my mashed potatoes, my mashed potatoes could never touch my meatloaf and so on…if they ever did touch I would isolate the two offending particles of food, and not eat them. It wasn’t until years later did I realize that even if the two foods had touched that they were still okay to eat, and in most cases just as, if not more so, delicious. A lot of times we try to compartmentalize our lives in much the same way. We separate everything in our lives into neat little categories so they are easier to deal with. We try to do this with God as well. Have you ever heard the term “spiritual life”? The term “spiritual life” gets tossed around a lot in Christian circles, as if it’s just another compartment in our lives. But did you know that there is no Hebrew term for spiritual? If you were to ask Jesus, “Hey Jesus how’s your spiritual life?” he would have no idea what you are talking about. You see because to label one area of your life “spiritual” is to label other areas of your life “not spiritual.” It’s an idea that is absolutely foreign to the bible.

Everything is spiritual, yet we have a tendency to compartmentalize our lives, we act like our spiritual life and our everyday life are two separate things when they are really the same thing. Everything we do is spiritual; eating, drinking, having a conversation with our neighbor, taking the kids to school, going to work, talking about the big game…all of it is spiritual. Why? Because we’re human, we’re alive, and we are given by God a body AND a spirit, but also because God is everywhere, he is omnipresent. We don't always see Him, we can ignore Him, but He's there, He's everywhere. This first Christians latched onto the idea: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Col. 3:17

We compartmentalize our lives because that's what is easy for us, that is how we understand life best sometimes, but that is not the reality of it at all. The reality of life is that every act is a spiritual act…and the truly everything is spiritual. If you think about this and really think about it…how does it make you feel? Is there anything you should be doing differently in your life?

John “You won’t hear me use the term spiritual life” Downey

The Things We've Handed Down

Issue 4 -- 09/07/08

One of the most important aspects in the life of teenagers is parental involvement. Studies show that parental involvement in a teen’s life can prevent them from straying in their faith later in life. I recently had the chance to go to a family reunion, and I was amazed as I listened to some of their conversations. They didn’t just talk about who had died and had been born since they had last gotten together. They also talk about what mission trips they have been on, what they are doing in their home churches, and what they are learning about God. My grandfather has eight brothers and sisters that my great-great grandmother forced to come to church every Sunday. Because of her tenacity she has touched countless other lives. Wouldn’t it be great for our great-grandchildren to be able to say the same kind of thing about us someday?

In the coming weeks I will be using this space for some discussion ideas from our youth lessons on Sundays that you can use at home during the week. I will also provide a scripture reference or two, like this one: Matthew 19:16-26 we studied this passage in our morning class. Or this one: Proverbs 8:1-11 from our Sunday evening service.

Here are a few questions from this weeks lesson(s) you can be talking about this week:

1) Why do you think Jesus would ask the rich young ruler to give up his possessions if he was doing everything else right?

2) What is your greatest obstacle in following Christ on any given day?

3) What are tangible ways you can begin to practice solitude in your day?

These are just ideas, maybe you have your own way of talking to your student about their lives and that’s fine too. It’s your involvement as a parent in your student’s life that can make a world of difference.

And as always if you have any questions or concerns or maybe you want to get involved with the youth ministry just let me know.

John “The Youth Guy” Downey

Safe ID

Issue Two-08/10/08

About a year ago I became the victim of identity theft. Before I knew it almost $1,400.00 had been taken from my bank account. Somehow, someone used my account to buy themselves stuff at Wal-Mart in Las Vegas, I have never been to Vegas, so I was pretty sure I had not made those transactions. I still don't know how it happened, but I do know I will now be even more careful with my bank card than I have been before. I had heard of these kind of things happening to other people, but I lived my life with the idea that, that couldn't happen to me. Those warnings you hear about this kind of thing happening don't apply to me. It couldn't happen to me. You know a lot of people are like that in there spiritual lives as well. We see the warning signs of things we know we shouldn't be doing but we think that's not for me, that's for someone else. Those warnings don't apply to me, so-and-so needs that message more than I do. We see the warnings, but we don't apply them to our own lives. And when we do that we fall short of God's goal for our lives. God wants to use us for His purposes, but we have so much stuff of our own in the way that he can't, because we haven't listened to the warnings and applied them to our lives. It's because we haven't listened to God. What is God saying to you today? Are you listening?

John ”Safe ID” Downey

Email is for old people

Issue One 08/03/08


Communication...from the time Adam looked at Eve and said “Whoa! man” people have liked to talk. We like to keep in touch with each other and know what’s going on. Flippantly someone made the comment to me that not all the youth check their e-mails, but if I sent them a text message as a reminder for an upcoming event they would sure get that. There is even a new youth ministry tool I saw this week for simply for that purpose. I don’t have a cell phone, maybe because there are times when I don’t want anyone to be able to get in touch with me or maybe because of taking the Dave Ramsey class I would have this insanely guilty conscience about having one. I probably should have one for emergencies, but I don’t see myself getting one anytime soon. I understand the importance of good communication which is what lead me to produce this, a decidedly low tech newsletter for youth and parents, mostly parents (since I fully expect youth will lose it before they get out the door of the church). So keep looking for this newsletter each week in your bulletin, with extra copies available on the tables in the foyer. It should keep you informed about all the youth are doing, and it’s easier that texting 30-40 people with no cell phone.

John “Low-Tech and Lovin’ It” Downey