by
Chet
25. November 2010 21:57
I like this one.
My attitude is definitely under development... under construction. So many things have been identified that need to be torn down, and many things that need to be built in their place have become clear. I've severed some relationship ties, cut some ties that have held me back or added nothing to my life except stress and aggravation. I've set aside some habits and established some new ones. I've begun to recognize failure as not something to be feared, but to be accepted, embraced as part of the plan, and used as a powerful motivator toward success.
It's still at an awkward stage, because much of this is theoretical for me and not all that practical. That or it's so practical that I haven't always made room for the flexibility that must be built in. But it's developing.
My attitude of myself is changing much. I believe in me. I believe in my potential. I believe that I have something to offer, and that what I have to offer has value.
I believe in others, but the fac...
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by
Chet
4. September 2010 22:03
How can I be a godly leader? That's the question of the disucussion I'm leading on our church's high school youth group tomorrow morning. This is the third lesson in a series of four, and I haven't been present for the first two lessons, nor do I have the materials to look back and see what they covered. So first things first, I want to walk through down the road of where we've been so far. After that, I want to pose the questions, "should we all be leaders," and "is leadership something we should all aspire to?" While I believe we all have circles of influence, I don't think that being known or visible as a "leader" is a sign of a more mature or more important person. In fact, I think it's good to ask, "what good is a leader without any followers?" I think this YouTube video shows that while leadership is of course important the initial step to "get the ball rolling," it is by no means all that is needed to get a movement started.
What are the different roles portraye...
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by
Chet
14. August 2010 14:32
I'm leading our church's high school youth group tomorrow in a discussion that seems to focus on the "destructive path" of alcohol. I'm having a tough time with some of it's arguments, as I feel they are a bit more of a fear tactic than a a logical progression of thought involving the Bible's complete perspective on the topic, alcohol's real affects (especially on young bodies and brains), and more than anything else, personal convictions. While there is something to be said about statistics and slippery slopes, there is much more to to be said about real-life experiences and thought out decisions based on values, priorities, and convictions. These are my thoughts on the lesson as I prepare to both teach it, and move from simply talking about the dangers of alcohol to the importance of personal decisions in every area of life, from alcohol and drugs to cheating, lust, and anger.
[Note: This is still a work in progress. There are definitely some areas I want to add to on personal con...
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by
Chet
11. August 2010 13:38
Tonight I'm once again leading the youth group at our church. Tonight we're going to talk about Affirmations. An affirmation is telling yourself, in times of doubt, that which you know to be true at other times. This takes some forethought, of course, because that time of doubt when you need that nugget of truth is not the time to go discovering it. Tonight I'm going to talk with the youth about some of the affirmations we may already hold (positive and negative) and work with them to develop a couple on a note card they can take home and put on their bathroom mirror or something.
I love this popular youtube video about the young girl who knows all about these statements of truth. Even if this is prepared for video, the fact that this girl has these statements memorized and can recite them with passion and emotion makes me say "Bravo, parents. You're doing well."
I'm not a big fan of making statements about who you want to be and feeling that just because you say it s...
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by
Chet
27. July 2010 18:53
I'm putting together a little guide for our church youth group tomorrow night. Neither myself nor my other Wednesday night cohort in crime, Dewey, can be there, so one of the college-age guys is going to lead the group. I thought I'd jot down the flow here, since I can easily link directly to the videos and write out the discussion questions as well.
GETTING STARTED
Today we're going to watch a couple video clips from a movie called To Save a Life. This movie is the story of a young man named Jake Taylor. He's the school champion of basketball and beer pong, has a beautiful girlfriend, and everybody loves him. Life couldn't get better, right? An old friend from Jake's childhood comes back into his life, and shortly thereafter, commits suicide. Jake begins to think. "What did i miss? What could I have done different? It's all my fault!" A youth minister meets Jake, and leads him to Jesus. Things don't magically turn nice and neat, however, and Jake begins to really wrestle w...
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