"HAPPY" PEOPLE

I’m really hesitant to write this blog because I know if I use certain words, certain people could get offended. And I also know some parents do not like to hear such words. But bottom line, the reality in every middle-school and high school across America is that there are certain kids that are......how should I put it.....that are attracted to the same-sex. So knowing some people do not like to hear those "vulgar" words and so I don’t offend people, instead of using the oppropriate words, I’ll use the word “Happy” to speak about the males and females of this groups.

How should we, lovers of Jesus, react to HAPPY people that enter the schools, the work place, the restaurants, etc….? What should we tell a HAPPY person if they want to go to a Bible school? What if a HAPPY person came to our church and was praising God with outstretched arms? Would we doubt their “realness”? How would we react if our kids were hanging out with a HAPPY person on a Friday night? What if they were invited to a party full of HAPPY people and we knew there would be no drinking or drug use?
If we saw an old woman that attends our church getting harassed, we most likely would stand by her side and defend her. Would we do the same for a HAPPY person we don’t even know?
What if 9 out of 10 HAPPY people that attend middle school or high school feels as if they are harassed and mistreated by others? Would you stand up for them?
What if 3 out of 5 HAPPY people in middle school or high school felt like their lives were at risk on any given day at school? Would you defend them?

The middle schools and high schools of our cities have HAPPY people in them. They form groups like GLSA, HAPPY Student Alliance, and they protest the mistreatment they face day to day. Do we you feel such a group in uneccesary? Some HAPPY people walk around with HAPPY PRIDE symbols, whether it be a rainbow scarf, or a pin, to let people know they are not scared of what public opinion is regarding their lifestyle. Do we see this pride as obsurd? Do we question why someone can take pride in being "different" form what is "normal"?

If Jesus were around today, could we see Him being overly vocal about HAPPY people and the choices they make? Or could we see Him spending time with them to show them they are loved by the Father? Can we see Jesus sitting with them at a lunch, work, the mall, their homes. Or do we see Jesus at a rally protesting and telling HAPPY people they are destroying our families?
Bottom line, do we see Jesus leading the way for us to throw stones because WE are the perfect people? Or do we see Him kneeling next to a HAPPY person that's lying on the ground, writing in the dirt looking at us?

TEENS FINDING VALUE IN MAKING BABIES

The things I'm willing to tell you just so I can write a blog. I do admit and confess, sometimes I watch the Tyra Show. Alright, I LOVE THE TYRA SHOW! THE SHOW IS AWESOME! I'M ADDICTED TO IT! SHE’S SO STINKIN CREATIVE AND FUNNY!!!!
Alright, now that I’m officially look at as a tender creampuff, let me move on.
The other day, I was heartbroken (yet fascinated) to hear what this 14 year-old girl was saying. She was letting Tyra know that she was very, VERY sexually active. Not just sexually active, but extremely anxious to get pregnant as well. And not JUST anxious to get pregnant, but TAKING FERTILITY DRUGS! At the age of 14. MIND BLOWING! She came from a family without a father and a single mother who has had several men living with her through this young girl’s life. So whatever this girl’s perception of boys is, she’s picked it up from her mother. But I couldn’t help but to laugh when Tyra asked her who her role model in life was. The little girl beamed with joy as she said, “Jamie Lynn Spears, who I hope I can be as good of a mother as. Compared to her sister (Britney Spears) she’s a way better mother.” Wow. A 14 year old girl wanting nothing more in life then to be like a 16 year old mother she doesn’t even know. I got one word for that: LACKOFPOSITIVEINFLUENCE!!

Since that episode, I can’t stop thinking about that girl. Not necessarily the girl from the Tyra Show, but THAT girl in today’s society. When I look at a 13 or 14 year-old, it’s hard to imagine that they even know how to ride a bike yet, let alone make a baby.
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education, reports that “Teenagers in the United States are more likely to have sexual intercourse before age 15 and have shorter and more sporadic sexual relationships than teenagers in Canada, France, Great Britain and Sweden. As a result, they are more likely to have more than one partner in a given year.” That to me is the recipe for BABY.
With pop-culture influencing kid’s into making bad choices the norm; with a single-parent struggling to raise their child in a positive manner; with Christian’s being to scared to teach about sex; No wonder kids want to make babies. They have become oblivious to the depth of God’s love for them.
ROMANS 8:35,37: “Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”
When THAT girl can embrace THAT truth, then they can finally understand the true beauty and purpose of an intimate relationship.

Poppin verse Krump

Battle of the ages. Different generations have brought a different flavor into culture that seems to come to a clash with each other every so often. You get it from your older or younger co-worker. From your uncle or niece. From your teacher or student. Every generation believes what they’ve brought to the forefront of culture makes more sense or will have more of an everlasting wrinkle on the pages of history.
66 Ford Mustang Coupe verses 02 Dodge Viper GTS;
Elvis verses Timberlake;
Hymns verses Contemporary;
Daily Planner verses Blackberry (I think my wife is the only person still using a daily planner).
POPPIN VERSES KRUMP…..?
Being an elementary age kid in the 80’s, I caught the tail end of a dance craze that brought some light to the Hip-hop culture: Breakdancing. I remember believing my older brother was pretty good at it even though he had no idea what he was doing. But after watching the movie BREAKIN, I couldn’t blame him for trying. That movie inspired millions of suburban and small town kids to learn how to pop.
Poppin was a craze and almost every kid gave it a try. Stand in front of the mirror and start poppin away. The more you did it, the more you fooled yourself into thinking you looked cool.
Now-a-days, if you want to get your boogey on, you better know how to krump.
It’s the hottest dance out there where you just go ballistic on the dance floor. Throw your arms and kick your legs, but someone how some way, you better make it look controlled and cool. If you’re not careful, someone may come up and punch you because they might think you’re trying to attack them.
B-boys that pop hate krump because it’s too simple, and fams that get krump think poppin WAS cool…….25 years ago!!

Poppin vs Krump (krump starts at 2:49)

Battle of the ages. Ol’ School verse New School. Sounds very familiar in the world of Christianity. Some elite traditionalists cannot stand to hear the word “relevance”. Relevant means worldly. Some ultra-modernist think tradition is for grandma and only kills the church. I can’t help but to wonder….who’s right?
In a culture where the body of Christ looks like Popeye’s beloved Olive Oil because churches are half full (I like to use a paradigm-shift there), it amazes me that this is an issue.
The Church is in a state where we can't afford to not remember what it means to be a Body. And not just any body, but of CHRIST. The Apostle Paul tells us that “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.-1 Cor. 12:12-18.

So whether you like to Pop or get Krump, it’s all about letting go and dancing. To dance means to move to the music with the best moves you got. Relevance doesn’t mean “young”. It means meeting people with what they love. Tradition doesn’t mean “non-applicable”. It means remembering where we come from. Tradition will always be relevant as long as we have people who love it. And relevance will always be needed it we ever want to reach ANYONE for Christ. In the big picture, don't they go hand-in-hand?

"RUN!!! HALLOWEEN'S HERE!"

“Jo-Jo, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a Halloween party for the youth” she said. “You’re promoting Witchcraft and Satan worshipping. You know, I have a good idea. Why not have a Harvest Festival Party? Kid’s would enjoy that.” I asked her what that would look like and she replied, “It’s the same thing as a Halloween party but it doesn’t promote Satanic Worship.” I said, “Oh, so it’s all in the name?” And she responded, “Pretty much. Also, having the kids dress up in something more innocent like an angel or a disciple.” All I could think was Wow. I would love to see some of the football players dress up like fat baby cherubs.

Tis the season for some Christians to flee from evil and others to be in the world. Both very biblical stances. Some teenagers will be at churches to participate in youth functions that provide a Christian alternative to Halloween while others will be putting on a mask to try and pass as a kid so they can get their share of candy. Some parents will look at youth pastors as heretics for doing an event that has the word “Halloween” in it while other parents are calling the youth pastor incompetent because the youth pastor doesn’t understand that God is bigger then Halloween. Either way, the youth pastor gets the awesome job of choosing which side the youth program is going to go.
So my stance as the Youth Director of New Hope Community Church is……………..go get tons of candy from as many houses as possible and then go into a cave and pray while you eat.

HELICOPTER PARENTS

It’s just another day for this young college student who has jumped into the “beginning” stages of adulthood. He wakes up in his one person dorm room and goes through the male college-age ritual of getting ready in the morning; smell his pants that he wore yesterday to make sure they don’t stink. Gargle mouthwash instead of brush his teethe. Smell his armpits to see if they’re just too ripe to not use deodorant. Right before he walks out the dorm, he hears his computer chirp which means he has a message from someone. He goes over to read the message, and is suddenly filled with shame and embarrassment. Message from mom reads, “I KNOW YOUR NOT GOING TO YOUR CLASSES WITHOUT CLEANING YOUR SELF UP PROPERLY!!” He really hated that darn webcam in his bedroom.

Helicopter parents just don’t know when to let go. They hover over their kids and hinder them from becoming adults. As of lately, they’ve been joining Facebook to have a peek into the secret lives of the children. Their kids don’t have to get jobs if they don’t want to because they’re going to be bogged down with homework, so they buy their kid’s groceries for them, weekly. They spend thousands of dollars to get there college kids “help” from a “doctor” because of their depression and stress they have from being in a new environment. Yeah, some parents take it to an extreme but majority of parents do practice helicoptering. "We estimate that 60% to 70% of parents are involved in some kind of helicoptering behavior," says Patricia Somers, an associate professor of education at the University of Texas-Austin, whose analysis is based on more than 50 interviews with officials from 10 four-year public universities across the USA.

“The desire to be needed is very powerful in parents," says Adele Faber, a Long Island, N.Y., author of parenting books. "To go from that all-powerful parent whose kids desperately need you to someone who sees a child as a separate individual is a very hard journey. We need to help our kids be separate and independent people who can function on their own."

We fear for there safety. We Fear for their spiritual growth. We believe they aren’t ready to face to “real world”. We don’t trust their judgment. I can’t help but to wonder, WHAT THE HECK HAVE THE PARENTS BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST 18 YEARS!!?? Have they not taught their kids anything? DO they doubt the Holy Spirit will guide them? Do they think their prayers for their kids will not reach God’s ears?
"'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'"- Jer. 29:11. This is our hope as Christian parents: God is in control and we can trust him. He really does have only the best planned for our children.

KIDS HATE SHARING

I was shocked to see my best friend Aaron get grabbed by his ears and yelled at by his mother. I can tell by his grimacing face that she had one heck of a grip on it. I told her it was no big deal and it didn’t bother me. She said, “Jo-Jo, stay out of our family affairs.” So I did. She went on to say, “We’ve been telling this boy he needs to learn to share more. All he does is take, take, take, and take from people. But when it comes to sharing, it doesn’t get anymore selfish then him.” I knew I shouldn’t have asked for some of his potato chips.
Something about sharing just doesn’t resonate with kids. I’ve watched some of the most loving parents do an excellent job raising some of the most loving children. But when it came to sharing, these loving children turn into rabid pit-bulls. I’m constantly telling my daughter she needs to share. She agrees with the statement, but doesn’t AGREE with the statement.
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Acts 20:35 NIV
Somewhere along the line someone had taught me how to share. Sometime in my life, it was more then my parent’s emphasis on sharing that opened my eyes to the beauty of sharing. At some point, it went past words and it was put into action. That’s what caught my attention. That’s what got me excited about sharing. That’s when I found out one of the most beautiful things someone can do for someone else is giving up a portion of what it is they have as an expression of selflessness and love. It’s a practice worth doing. I’ve seen 65-year-old men and women who’ve been trained to never provide for someone who doesn’t earn it or obtain it themselves. If you ask me, that goes completely against scripture. What’s that one bible verse? Oh yeah. “God helps those who help themselves.” Oh…wait. That’s not in the Bible. That was that old lady down the road.

THE WRONG KIND OF "HIGH" SCHOOL

He’s a good looking young guy that all the girls are nuts over. He’s friends with all kinds of kids in the high school and one of the most popular. He’s an amazing skateboarder. He’s one of the most social teenagers I have ever met. He can hold a conversation with anyone from a five year-old kid to a crabby old grandma. He makes sure he looks good with his dress attire at all times, staying up on the hottest clothes. Oh, and one more thing: he loves to smoke marijuana. Well, I should say loved because now he’s on fire for Jesus and loves to do anything possible to praise Him.
This young man is a kid that really had me confused. He looked like he had it all together and you couldn’t hold anything against him. But recently he admitted to me that smoking and selling pot were his main focuses in life. This is such a common trend among teens in your local high school. It’s no longer just the kids that look like “bad” kids that our getting more deeply involved with drug use and selling. You can find the best athletic star high during class with a pocket full of mom’s and dad’s prescription pills to sell to anyone willing to buy a cheap high. According to a study by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 61% of high school teens say their high school has a major drug problem, compared with 44% in 2002. Problems are rising in middle school, too, with 31% of middle schoolers saying their school has drug issues. That’s up from 19% five years ago.
These kids have turned to drugs because that seems to be the answer for their lives. I disagree with psychologists who think there is a deeper issue at hand with anyone who uses drugs. Some kids do have deeper issues, but others just want to have fun. When I first became a Christian, playing capture the flag or watching the Princess Bride on a Friday night with a couple dozen Christian kids that could never watch anything PG13 or worse was not my idea of fun. I missed my old life of partying and freedom to choose whatever I wanted to do. I missed smoking pot because that was my idea of fun. And not just fun but that’s what cool people did. I was too cool to be with those “Christian Nerds”. (I happen to still hate The Princess Bride but I am far from cool these days.)
With drugs becoming more and more of an issue in the high schools, we need to prepare our kids for that reality. Make sure that we are engaging with them about the issue. Not just telling them they better not do it. Make sure they keep an eye open for who is doing the drugs and not assume it’s the kids with the baggy dark clothes with long hair and smells like a dead skunk. It could well be the kids that they can’t wait to bring home and show off how cool of a friend they’ve made. We should make sure our kids are proclaiming that Jesus came “that they may have life, and have it to the full.” If our kids don’t pay attention and take action, then it’s a battle already lost and pointless to fight.