This summer we held a seminar for parents of teens with Sean and Josh McDowell. Here are a few highlights from their sessions:

Quotes on the importance of having a relationship with your teen before you attempt to apply rules, truth and discipline:
“Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.”
“Truth without relationship leads to rejection.”
“Discipline without relationship leads to resentment.”

Seven things every teen needs:

1. Affirmation

Leads to authenticity (Romans 12.5)

Empathizing and “sharing sorrows” leads to affirmation

2. Acceptance

Unconditional acceptance leads to security (Romans 15. 7)

Security leads to vulnerability

Teens will rise or fall to their parents’ opinions of them

3. Appreciation

Leads to significance

Acknowledges that you believe what they’ve done/said is first, positive, but also, valuable.

4. Availability

Leads to a sense of importance (Matthew 19. 13-14)

Lack of availability says “other things are more important.”

5. Affection

Leads to “lovability” (John 15. 12)

Appropriate physical touch and verbal affection is key

6. Approach their World

Leads to a sense that you’re interested in/value what they care about (1 Cor. 13.5)

7. Accountability

Leads to a sense of responsibility

Set reasonable rules – no rules leads to “my parents don’t care…”

For more information and material, see Josh’s website and the special section from his seminar at PCC.

A little while back we had a night where our students were able to express themselves to God during worship through journaling prayers.  After reading and hearing students share their prayers and be open and real with God, I was blown away.  Despite the number of adults who think middle school students can’t own their faith and have a relationship with Christ, these students proved them wrong with what they were able to articulate and what they live out in their lives.

Here are some excerpts:

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Lord, help me to think about others and help others.  Lord, I want to be so much closer to you.  Please, please help me to find and make time in my day for you.  I want to praise you and be with you.  I love you, Lord.  Thank you for letting me know you.
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Thank you God for listening to me tonight.
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God, you have given so many blessings to us, yet we don’t return them to you.  I want to thank you for your son, our homes, jobs, money, and friends.  We live an incredible life.  Your love is everlasting and I love you Lord!
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Show me how to live, God.
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Dear God, Let me get away from distractions and things that draw me away from you.  All the people that make me think things are important even though I know they are not important to you and shouldn’t be important to me.  Just let me love no one more than you and show that in my life.
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Dear God, let me become more like you.
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God, you are always there for me and I thank you for that.  Please help me to want to seek you more.  I want you to be the number one thing in my life but it’s really hard and I need your help.  Please just help me to see you!  I need your help through this.
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Dear God, I would like to praise you for everything and giving us the money we need.  You are just so great.  I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do next.
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God, I just want to be able to connect with you so bad, it’s not even funny.  I want to put you first and I want to love you more than anything else but it’s hard.  I guess I just need to spend more time with you or something.  But whatever it is, I’m going to try to put my whole heart into growing closer to you.  I don’t think we realize how powerful you are.  I don’t think we always see the constant battle of good and evil going on.  I don’t think we realize it, but please help me to understand these things.
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Thank you God for your love, forgiveness, and grace.
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Thank you for my friends and a girlfriend who likes me for who I am.  I love you for being in my life and for everything you have done for me.
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Lord, I’m sorry.  I’m sorry that it’s been all about me.  That’s why I haven’t been with you.  I wanted to feel something, not praise you, Lord.  I give you all of my stress Lord.  I haven’t been letting go.  I want you to have it all.  I don’t want it to be about me anymore lord.  I want to be back with you again.  I’m sorry for falling into the pressures of this world.  I give my life to you again Lord.
——
Lord, I apologize.  You don’t deserve the way I treat you sometimes.  I’m sorry for being so focused on myself that I lose track of you and bringing others closer to you.  I guess I just need more grace than I thought.  Thank you for the desire to know you and follow you more.  Please help me to make that translate into actions instead of just words.  Thank you for being willing to use me despite my failures.  Thank you that the more honest I am with you, the more useful I am to you.

Next month (Sep. 19-21) we’re heading down to Mexico to serve the students and staff of Rancho Sordo Mudo.

This trip is a great opportunity for middle school students to be able to serve others across the border and get a taste of what missions are all about.

Spots are limited, so if you’d like to go, please get your paperwork in A.S.A.P. to be a part of this trip.

All the information and forms you’ll need can be downloaded by clicking here.

I’m looking forward to seeing how God will grow us as we serve others and take the focus off of ourselves!

This past Sunday I mentioned that a lot of times we will see babies or kids who look like their parents.  Maybe a little girl has her mom’s smile or her dad’s eyes…

We looked at 1 John 3.1 and saw that we are referred to as God’s children.  Ephesians 5.1-2 calls  us to be imitators of God.

For those who are Christians, it is our job to look as much like our (heavenly) Father as we possibly can.  It should be our goal to think, act, behave, speak, and treat people the way he would.

When we do this, people will begin to recognize that we’re different.  We won’t look like everyone else; we will look like our Father.

Just wanted to let you all know about something pretty cool…

Phil Wickham is a worship leader and musician from San Diego, and he just released a FREE worship album. It’s a live recording of a show of his from a couple months back.

If you’re interested in checking out more information or downloading it, go to his website.

I downloaded it yesterday and have been loving listening to it!

So, this past week (July 27-Aug.2) we went up to Hume for our summer camp.  Out of the dozen or so trips/camps/retreats that I’ve been able to help lead, I truly believe that this one stands out as the best.

Students’ attitudes were amazing, group unity was tight, maturity on behalf of the students and leaders was shown, and I could go on and on…

But the thing that struck me most was how serious our students were about growing in their understanding of who God is and how we can know him more intimately.  Discussion and devotional times were exciting to be a part of because of the questions asked, the thoughts shared, and the hunger in the hearts of our students to grow closer to God.

I was so encouraged to see our group bond at Hume.  Whether it was during Friday’s “church time”, the scavenger hunt/group games on Wednesday, or just throughout each day, I was so thankful for what I saw:  8th graders hanging out with 6th and 7th graders; older students setting great examples for younger students (and leaders); uplifting words being spoken; students flat out enjoying being around each other.

Some of my highlights from camp:

• After one of our students had a book she was reading wrecked, a group of our girls secretly pooled their money together to buy a new copy of the book for her.
• Going on the high adventure course with a bunch of our students
• Seeing many students give their lives to Christ for the first time and others giving him more control over certain areas
• Friday’s church time – hearing from our students, “yarn encouragement”, and hugging it out
• Going to Victory Circle on Friday night and hearing a student say, “This week God taught me that it’s ok if I don’t fit in with other people because I know that I will fit in just fine in heaven.”

To everyone who went: Thanks for making it such an amazing week!
To those who didn’t: I look forward to being able to have experiences like this with many of you during this next year.

We’ll be going to Rancho Sordo Mudo in Mexico next month, so make sure you get signed up so you can be a part of a trip like this with our group!

Tori’s sad cuz camp’s over!

We got back from camp at Hume Lake and there are a ton of pictures at our flickr site.

More info on our week at Hume coming soon!

Click on the image below to check out our calendar for the month!

Some highlights:

Pizza Port – 8.5

Beach Day @ T Street – 8.12

Family Bonfire @ T Street – 8.19