included

all of us want to belong to something. we feel better about ourselves when we belong. on facebook there are groups, causes and fan pages. we like to see how many friends we can have on myspace, facebook and msn.

at school, there are different groups you can be part of. it could be a group of friends that you hang around. it could be something you're involved in. it feels great to identify with a group. it feels good to be included.

• what about when you get excluded, though?
• have you ever experienced that?
• do you know what it feels like to want to be part of something, but you're being pushed out?

"at bikers church, you belong by showing up..." is what the church is about. that means for the youth, too.

• do you think it's possible for everyone to feel like they belong?
• what can we do to help people belong?
• what would make you feel like you belong?
• what do you think it means to belong to something?

let me know what you think.

a fresh start

september is just around the corner... its almost time for school to start. there are new classes, teachers and, possibly new friends. some of you are going to a different school than you did last year. for all of you it is a bit of a fresh start. you have a new opportunity.

maybe you had a good year last year at school. you can build on that. what made it good? was it friends? was it hard work? was it good teachers? did you enjoy your courses and time with friends? were you involved in activities in some way?

maybe it was a bad year last year. you can change it. just because one year's bad doesn't mean the next one has to be. what could you do differently? are there people who made it difficult for you? are there friends that pulled you down? was there drama causing problems? did you think your teachers were out to get you and what do you think caused that?

i've had both types of years in high school. my grade nine year was terrible. after that, i enjoyed my high school experience. i didn't get the greatest marks in high school, but one thing that helped me was i got involved. for me, it was music. for you, it could be sports, music, drama or whatever else your school has to offer. i think every student should get involved in their school in some way. it takes school from being something you have to do and turns it into something you get to do. it changes things from being boring and adds some excitement and a reason to be there.

what are some of your thoughts? what are you going to build on from last year? what would you change from last year? how will you get involved? these are just ways to make you think about how to make your high school experience memorable.

for our youth nights, you will also be seeing a fresh start. there will be more on that in the days and weeks to come. stay tuned, follow the blog and upcoming announcements at youth.

being still

tonight we talked about how we live in a confusing world. a world that sends us mixed messages all the time. sometimes we get told that it doesn't matter how look and than what we see from celebrities is that outward appearance is all that matters - how thin you are, what you wear, etc. it is a very confusing challening time to be living and there is a lot to sort out. there are all sorts of messages out there. it is hard to hear god's voice through all the confusion - so how to we do it?

we also talked about how there are a lot of things we allow to drown out god's voice. you mentioned friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, family, school, sports. we always think we have to be busy. places to go, people to see.

we talked about elijah. he saw god do amazing things (you can read about them in 1 Kings 17 & 18), but he was threatened by jezebel. she was angry with him and wanted him dead. even though he saw god do huge things, he was afraid of her, so he ran. he took off and hid. he wanted god to kill him... talk about being depressed. he felt alone. he wanted to hear from god.

while he was away in hiding, some things happened. there was a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire, but god wasn't in any of them. then there was a small breeze - god was in that. that can be a big lesson to learn. a lot of times we are looking to for god to get our attention with something big. maybe we think we will find it easy to listen if he decided to show up with a megaphone and just told us what to do. i think that's what elijah was looking for, but god wanted him to speak quietly, in a whisper. we need to do the same thing. the first part of the bible verse i put on the blog a couple days ago says, "be still and know that i am god." does that mean you have to sit in one place and not move, waiting for god to speak to you? probably not, but it does mean you should try to quiet your mind.

my challenge for this week is to take 10 minutes. maybe when you get up, maybe when you go to bed. get away from your cell phone, your ipod, your computer or games. close your bedroom door and don't let anyone distract you. put down your books and just take some time to talk with god. take some of that time to listen. one way you can listen is reading the bible. i believe god will speak to you. possibly there's a bible verse or something that comes to your mind or maybe someone says something to you. it could be anything, but god will speak if you are ready to listen and seeking him.

if you are willing, share your experience as the week goes on. are you taking the time? what are you doing to listen? are you able to "be still" or does your mind race like crazy?

light in a dark place

on monday, i read a cool story. it was about a catholic sister that moved to the caldwell area here in ottawa 30 years ago. she has spent her life giving to the community. a place that has a bad reputation, but also has a lot of good people.

last week, as you know, there was the fire that killed a 2-year old in that area. while its tough to find good news with such a difficult story, there was some. the fire took place in the evening. by the next morning, there were already numerous phone calls to the office she works out of, asking how people could help. many people were already mking donations of toys, food and clothing for the family. in a short period of time, they even had to start using a vacant apartment in the area to hold all the stuff.

i can't remember her name, or find the article at the moment, but she is shining a light in a dark place. she is a shining example to the community and she was the one that people contacted to see if they could help. many of these people don't have a whole lot themselves. this is an example of light in the world. its out there, but sometimes you have to look.

naturally, we tend to be selfish and protect ourselves. we have to teach children to share because they already know how to be selfish. this is because of our sinful nature. god made us in his image, though. as a result, he gives us a desire to help those who really need it. i believe this is god showing us his heart and drawing us to him. when situations like this happen, god gives us the opportunity to see what can happen when we turn our thoughts towards others instead of ourselves. in that way a little more light shines. do all these people believe in jesus? no, not at this point. will they all? not necessarily, but his light is shining when people give to others in need.

this was just a thought to give you hope that there can be light in the world. you are right, without jesus, there is no light... he says he is the light of the world, but his light shines sometimes where we least expect it.

too much noise (darkness and light, part deux)

well, cccatherine's comments made me think of some other questions (don't worry, i'm not going to comment everytime someone posts something, but i thought this was important). at one point she states that one reason she didn't follow that right objective was that,

• "i didnt hear tory."

she's right - there was a lot of noise and tory was hard to hear, especially since people didn't know who to listen to. it can be like that at times for us with god. god can be speaking to us, but we don't hear him, because there's too much "noise." other things keep us from really listening, or maybe you don't know what you're listening for.

• what is the "noise" in your life? in other words, what drowns out god speaking to you?
• what are ways that god can speak to you?
• when you are making choices, who do you listen to?

look up the following verse:

Psalm 46:10, if you don't have a bible, there's a link to a website called biblegateway.com on the left. you can use that.

what do you think that verse means?

darkness and light

last week at youth we talked about darkness and light. the first few minutes were spent in pure darkness. you had to figure out your objective. there was mass confusion, lots of noise and some people were scared. there were also some who found it fun. the darkness represented our world and how dark it is.

what are ways that this world is dark? is there some light in the world, too?

i intentionally had two "objectives." one was the right one and one was the wrong one. i found it interesting because everyone, including the person with the right objective did the wrong thing.

why did you listen to the wrong objective? just because someone says something confidently, does it mean they are right? do you ever do things to fit in with a group, even though you know its wrong?

jesus said that he is "the light of the world." what do you think of that?

jesus also tells his followers that "you are the light of the world." he passes his light onto us. what are ways you are shining his light? how do you reflect his light? what have you done today to shine the light of jesus into dark places, like at school, in your community or even your home?

welcome

welcome to the first bikers church youth blog. this will be an opportunity for you to continue to discuss what we talk about on thursday nights. i will try to have it published on the weekend, so that it can remind you to put actions to what we've talked about.

this will also be a chance to discuss upcoming topics or events. there will be some polls, where I will give you a few options. this way we will have topics that are relevant to you and events that are fun and interesting.

following this blog is our first discussion, please take the time to read it and respond. let me know what you think.