Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Prayer in Schools, KIds can pray!
One of the forums I frequent from time to time had someone saying again about prayer in schools. This was my response.
I just want to bring this up. Do not be deceived you can pray in school! According to the Equal access act, you can even hold campus ministries in public schools. Here's the thing adults are not allowed to run them. Students have to lead them. In youth ministry we have to stop complaining about there not being prayer in schools and start equipping and training our students to run these ministries. We've got to stop tying their hands and letting them think they're helpless. 80% of the people who will ever accept Christ as Lord and Savior will do it by the age of 18. Our students are front line missionaries in one fo the most fertile mission fields there is.
Let's not worry about the prayer in schools issue. I don't really want mandated prayer in schools because in our pluralistic society they'd be praying to Allah one day, vishnu to the next, satan the next and anyone else that people worship. Instead let's teach and equip them to spread the gospel in their schools. They have the right.
God bless,
Dave
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One of the forums I frequent from time to time had someone saying again about prayer in schools. This was my response.
I just want to bring this up. Do not be deceived you can pray in school! According to the Equal access act, you can even hold campus ministries in public schools. Here's the thing adults are not allowed to run them. Students have to lead them. In youth ministry we have to stop complaining about there not being prayer in schools and start equipping and training our students to run these ministries. We've got to stop tying their hands and letting them think they're helpless. 80% of the people who will ever accept Christ as Lord and Savior will do it by the age of 18. Our students are front line missionaries in one fo the most fertile mission fields there is.
Let's not worry about the prayer in schools issue. I don't really want mandated prayer in schools because in our pluralistic society they'd be praying to Allah one day, vishnu to the next, satan the next and anyone else that people worship. Instead let's teach and equip them to spread the gospel in their schools. They have the right.
God bless,
Dave
Monday, December 15, 2003
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Well I reformatted my page so that I could add links to other blogs. If you read this and you'd like me to link to yours please email me at angelprty1@aol.com. I'd like to keep it to ministry/arts folks. My first link is for my friend Len Evans in Fairfield CT. Len is the one who gives me the nudges to post something to this page now and again.
He is also the author of many articles on youth ministry a speaker a youth pastor and an all around great guy. We are both members of the Interlinc Write Group together and I web master his upcoming youth ministry site It's going to be agreat resource when it's ready, stay tuned. Check out his blog, he's got a lot of great stuff to say.
And now onto the blog. How do you vent? Some people sing, some people shout, some people go ballistic. Me, I draw cartoons. I let my funny little people say what's on my mind. I have several characters and online strips. Scratch--a demon who makes commentary on the church and culture from the enemy's point of view. Chatting Crania (formerly talking heads) Where I deal with a lot of my frustrations with political correctness and the seeming exclusion of Christianity from it. A few of my things can be seen on the Megazeen web site ( http://www.megazeen-online.com ) online comics section. Please note, I don't think Santa and Satan are the same thing, the strip is a priority check for Christians. A new Chatting Crania strip on Christmas will be there next week. You can also see more of my toons on the A.M.O.K. web site.
It was while I was working on the latest Chatting Crania strip, that I was led to a passage of scripture. The passage is Phillippians 2:5-11. It convicted me so much that I changed my whole sermon. Here's the point. I am so defensive about all the political correctness stuff because I feel my rights are being violated. I feel like the ACLU is stripping me of my freedom and I want to stand up for my rights and the rights of all Christians. Look at the passage and see what Jesus did. Did He claims His rights as God in the flesh? No! He made himself nothing. He humbled himself and He served others, even His betrayer. He obeyed God to His death, and I am worried about a few nativity scenes. What would happen if instead of fighting these people we served them? What would happen if we humbled ourselves and showed them the love of Jesus? Verse 9 tells us Jesus humbled Himself and and was obedient and so God exalted Him to the highest place. How might God bless our efforts?
You see the final two verses of this passage changed my point of view. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father. One day everyone will kneel before Jesus and everyone will confess that He is Lord. When that day comes for me, I believe that Jesus has washed me clean and I will enter the place that He has prepared for me. On that day the people who reject Him will know they were wrong and it will be too late. That makes me grieve, but hopefully it will also make me act. Hopefully I will be willing to lay my rights aside like Jesus did in order to share the love of Jesus that God may use me to draw someone to Him. I believe that is what Jesus did? What about you, what will you lay aside to share the Lord? Just a thought.
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He is also the author of many articles on youth ministry a speaker a youth pastor and an all around great guy. We are both members of the Interlinc Write Group together and I web master his upcoming youth ministry site It's going to be agreat resource when it's ready, stay tuned. Check out his blog, he's got a lot of great stuff to say.
And now onto the blog. How do you vent? Some people sing, some people shout, some people go ballistic. Me, I draw cartoons. I let my funny little people say what's on my mind. I have several characters and online strips. Scratch--a demon who makes commentary on the church and culture from the enemy's point of view. Chatting Crania (formerly talking heads) Where I deal with a lot of my frustrations with political correctness and the seeming exclusion of Christianity from it. A few of my things can be seen on the Megazeen web site ( http://www.megazeen-online.com ) online comics section. Please note, I don't think Santa and Satan are the same thing, the strip is a priority check for Christians. A new Chatting Crania strip on Christmas will be there next week. You can also see more of my toons on the A.M.O.K. web site.
It was while I was working on the latest Chatting Crania strip, that I was led to a passage of scripture. The passage is Phillippians 2:5-11. It convicted me so much that I changed my whole sermon. Here's the point. I am so defensive about all the political correctness stuff because I feel my rights are being violated. I feel like the ACLU is stripping me of my freedom and I want to stand up for my rights and the rights of all Christians. Look at the passage and see what Jesus did. Did He claims His rights as God in the flesh? No! He made himself nothing. He humbled himself and He served others, even His betrayer. He obeyed God to His death, and I am worried about a few nativity scenes. What would happen if instead of fighting these people we served them? What would happen if we humbled ourselves and showed them the love of Jesus? Verse 9 tells us Jesus humbled Himself and and was obedient and so God exalted Him to the highest place. How might God bless our efforts?
You see the final two verses of this passage changed my point of view. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father. One day everyone will kneel before Jesus and everyone will confess that He is Lord. When that day comes for me, I believe that Jesus has washed me clean and I will enter the place that He has prepared for me. On that day the people who reject Him will know they were wrong and it will be too late. That makes me grieve, but hopefully it will also make me act. Hopefully I will be willing to lay my rights aside like Jesus did in order to share the love of Jesus that God may use me to draw someone to Him. I believe that is what Jesus did? What about you, what will you lay aside to share the Lord? Just a thought.
