Two NCBC Young Adult Publications

Last week the Post Office received the latest installment of The Connection (see link below), the quarterly young adult newsletter here at New Covenant. Issue 7's topic is the final purpose from New Covenant's mission statement - equipped servants. I hope you enjoy reading through it. Thanks to Billy for being interviewed, and Kim for writing a short article.

As New Covenant gets ready to release their annual report, I thought I'd publicly release my Young Adult Annual Report (see link below) as well. I chose to do mine completely differently this year and focus solely on the stories of some young adults I know God has been working in. I'd like to thank Travis, Jenelle, and Shane for sharing their stories with me (and you). I'd also like to thank Apple's Pages program for making the report look good (I didn't have time to truly design it myself this year).

Without further ado, here are the publications:

• The Connection - Issue Fall 2009
• Young Adult Annual Report (2008-2009)

Valentine's Gala

If you are married or engaged, are in your 20s or 30s, and live in the Cedar Rapids area, then consider coming to the annual Valentine's Gala. It's only one month away! It will be a wonderful evening for you and your spouse to dress up (time to put on that tie, gentlemen!), enjoy some appetizers and dessert while listening to live music in a cool venue, and spend an evening celebrating your marriage (or future marriage!). Consider going out for a nice dinner beforehand, secure a babysitter now (if you need one), and buy something special for your spouse to give to them at the end of the evening.

But don't just think of yourselves! The Gala will also be a great event to invite some non-church friends from work or your neighborhood. Allow them to enjoy the evening and celebrate their relationship as well!

Here are the nitty-gritty details for the Gala as being sent out by the sponsoring group (the Marriage Matters ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) from New Covenant:

Date: Saturday, February 14th
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: ara Gallery (located near the NE/Marion Carlos O'Kelly's)
Tickets: $25/couple
Attire: Cocktail (What is "cocktail attire"?)

Live music is provided. As are appetizers and dessert. There will be door prizes to help you invest in your marriage. Tickets will be available to NCBC attenders and their friends starting Sunday, January 18th. Starting February 1st, remaining tickets will be available to the 20-30-something general public. Space is limited, so get your tickets quickly!

New Issue of The Connection

I just finished up another issue of our young adult newsletter "The Connection".  This quarter's issue focuses on New Covenant's mission of developing "caring community members".  Kristin Snodgrass has written an excellent article with helpful suggestions on how to show care to someone who has gone through a difficult time based on her family's own life experience.  You also get a chance to meet a Jeremiah and Rebecca Inwards.  And finally there is an announcement about the annual Valentine's Gala.

Hope you enjoy Issue 5 (Winter 2009) of The Connection.

Shout Outs

I want to give props to four young adults who are doing great things:

• First, my wife's cousin Kami has another article on Neue.  Without knowing who was the author, within a few sentences I suspected it might be Kami - and I was right!  Excellent article, Cuz!  Disconcerting and thought-provoking, but excellent nonetheless.
• Next, I want to point the spotlight on Jonathan Spaulding.  He has put together a WONDERFUL short film (starring a few friends of mine!) entitled Father, Who Art.  The film premieres on November 22 at 8:00 pm sharp (so arrive early) in the Activity Center of New Covenant.  I was honored to see the film beforehand and I was SOOO impressed.  And when it comes to film, music, art, etc., I don't hand out compliments like that easily.  Jonathan has done a fabulous job.  So put it on your calendar, cancel other plans if you have them, go see the film, be touched by it, and congratulate Jonathan on a job well done.  As I told Jonathan after seeing the complete film for the first time, I'm really proud of him, and I think you'll be impressed to.
• Last, I want to let everyone know about Randy and Heather Ransom.  I had the joy of having them in my small group one fall, and it was neat seeing them grow in their relationship with Christ.  But one day they announced that their jobs had been transferred to Dallas, and they left Iowa.  Last week, out of almost no where, this letter appeared in my mailbox at church - the Ransoms have quit their engineering jobs to make a difference in the country of Zambia!  They were willing to give up their incomes to go help orphans have a better life and find hope in Jesus Christ.  Way to go, Ransoms!  (Click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to see Heather and Randy's pictures and read their bios)

It's encouraging to me as a young adult pastor to see young adults applying their faith, pointing people to Christ, and using their talents to advance the Kingdom.  If you have similar stories, I'd love to hear them!

The Connection (Young Adult Newsletter) Issue 4

I had a SUPER busy week last week, and have another one coming up.  One of the things I was busy finishing last week was the fall issue of The Connection.  The purpose of The Connection is to help further connect the young adults at New Covenant with God, one another, and the broader church body.  In Issue 4, you get to meet a wonderful single gal who has been part of the New Covenant family for about a year, learn the dates for the Barn Dance outreach event and the annual Birdnest Christmas Open House, and read a fantastic article about evangelism by one of New Covenant's own young adults.  Enjoy!

Baptized!

Last night our church family celebrated the 33 lives that have been changed by Christ who also chose to be obedient to God by being baptized.  The rainy weather that was threatened in the forecast stayed away and we had a beautiful evening to enjoy the sun, the cool air, the testimonies, the fellowship, the worship through song, and more.  It was a wonderful evening.

The photo to the right is from my spot in the grass using my phone's puny camera.  But I just had to capture the moment my friend Shane Ohrt was baptized by his mentor, Don Purdy (they are the two white dots in the center of the photograph).  When I moved here 6 years ago, I remember playing ping-pong in my basement with Shane.  As we talked, it was clear he was really young in his faith in Christ.  Now, he is a leader, a godly man, a maturing disciple of Jesus.  It was a joy for me to get to see him baptized. It was also fun for me to see Shane him baptized by Don, an awesome man I've had the joy of co-laboring with for the past 6 years.

Seeing Shane baptized reminded me yet again that I live for changed lives.  Nothing gives me a rush like hearing how God has worked in the lives of people.  I am in awe of His grace!

Another "kethup" post

What I thought would only happen one time is beginning to happen more frequently - the irregular "ketchup" post. I probably don't need to worry about doing these since most of the blogosphere couldn't care a lick about my life, but for some reason it helps me - so to catch my 3 readers up, here goes...

PERSONAL

• Had a GREAT trip with my family to Topeka, Kansas to see LeAnn's side of the family over the 4th. LeAnn and I are so blessed to have the extended families that we do. I am so thankful to God that both of us have parents that love Christ and siblings who are leading their families to follow Christ as well. It is always so enjoyable to be with any of our family. The only regret was not getting to go boating/skiing/tubing one day due to weather (that and not getting another day or two with everyone!). Otherwise, the week could not have gone better.
• K turns 11 today. We have a small family party tonight with the annual "birthday-party-with-friends" event on Friday.
• I've been swimming laps almost every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since the pool opened. I've lost 13 pounds in 2 months, and hope to lose about 9 more by the end of August.
• LeAnn and I just booked a week away together (not just a weekend) on a "couples retreat" in mid-November. We get to hang out at a house in the middle of Wisconsin reserved for full-time pastors and their spouses.
  
• I'm addicted to the game "Scramble" on Facebook (it's pretty much the game "Boggle"). I'm up for a turn-based game with anyone!
• I'm enjoying our "eXchange" series on Romans here at New Covenant. But I need to get caught up on last week's sermon since we were out of town...
• I read "Deadly Viper Character Assassins" on my spiritual retreat June 27. It was fun, a great reminder, surprisingly "non-Christian" coming from two pastors, and something I'm giving to the leaders I get to co-labor with to encourage them to be men of radical integrity.
  

MINISTRY

• I have a bunch of stuff to do for a conference we are putting on here at New Covenant on mid-sized groups. What started as a conference for the leaders of our Adult Bible Fellowships has spilled into an event we are inviting other churches too. I got to design the promo materials, and now need to get those mailed out to various churches.
• I have 2 weddings in one day on July 19th. I've never officiated two in one day, but I'm honored that I get to stand before Jonathan & Mallori and Dustin & Josie as God makes the two into one as they exchange vows. But because I have 2 in one day, I should probably get to working on at least one of them this week...
• I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to pour my time into now that my time with Watershed is pretty much over. I have a couple of different missions trips in mind, plus a "leadership development group" that's been swirling around in my head. If I'm going to do something on the leadership development thing, I better get going on it since the idea is a 9-10 month class, so I need to get going in September. Any young adults in CR that read this and have an interest, email me...
• We have an opportunity at New Covenant to reach out to some international students studying business at Kirkwood here in Cedar Rapids.
  

THOUGHTS THAT DESERVE THEIR OWN POST

• One disappointing moment on our Topeka trip last week: LeAnn saw a friend of her parents' at church Sunday after the service. He asked the typical "so where are you these days" and she answered "Cedar Rapids" just as I was walking up to join the conversation. He immediately remarked about the floods, having heard about it on the news. He even clarified: "your city government buildings were built on an island in the river, right?" After our affirmative answer, I could not believe my ears at the next statement to slip from the lips of this "wizened Christian man".
  
  "Well, you'll get no sympathy from me".
  
  The same attitude that I saw in the New York Times article on the Cedar Rapids flood was pouring out of this man in front of me. I tried to help him understand the magnitude of the flood, but it was useless - his opinion was that if someone builds anywhere close to water, they should expect to lose everything in a flood someday.
  
  After I realized he was stuck in the conclusion he had jumped to concerning the flood, I chose to point the light on Christ and share about all the great things God has been doing in the city, especially through His people. The man before me seemed amazed at this and was somewhat pleased, but you could tell he had come to a firm opinion and was not going to give any pity whatsoever.
  
  I couldn't help but think about this conversation the entire 6 1/2 hour trip home. One thought I had was that perhaps this man shouldn't receive any mercy if his home was destroyed by a tornado since he had the hubris to build it within the state of Kansas. But I knew that wasn't the right response.
  
  But the overwhelming thought I had was this: Even if the entire city of Cedar Rapids had intentionally built near the river with arrogance and ignorance, the Christ-like response is not only sympathy, but compassion in action. The Scriptures tell us that while we were sinners, while we were arrogant and ignorant thinking we could do it better or differently than God, Christ died for our sins. He entered in to our problem, put compassion into action, and rescued us through the cross.
  
  And so having a Christian man (whose wife has been very active in her church's missions committee which has aimed to put Christ's compassion into action all around the world) respond with such an uncaring attitude just hit me below the belt emotionally. I could not believe a self-proclaimed Christ follower could come to such a "logical" conclusion of unsympathy.
  
  
• I have several magazines and articles waiting to be read, one of which is an AP study on the consumption of news by today's young adults.
  
  
• I finally saw Rob Bell's "Everything is Spiritual" sermon/DVD. I liked it much better than I anticipated. I used to listen to Rob's sermons via podcast, as well as own every Nooma film he has taught in. But so many of his sermons and Nooma films began to come to the same conclusion. "We just need to go out and do good in the world." It felt like a rehashing of the social gospel of the 70s. Christ seemed absent, and good works was enough. Obviously I am all for doing good in the world as you can tell by my praise of the flood relief efforts, but to only do good without the knowledge that Christ gave us the example seemed empty to me.
  
  I expected the "Everything is Spiritual" message to come to the same conclusion - just go do good things because it is all spiritual. But that wasn't the message. Rob had some EXCELLENT illustrations and ideas in his message, and I've already used his Flatland illustration in conversation twice. I'm going to lend it to a friend, but this is probably a message I should relisten to (which I rarely do).

FINALLY THE END

Okay, this is WAY more than enough. I'll be surprised if even one of my three readers makes it this far. And that counts my wife. :o) I know I would probably have given up reading this far by now - probably because of the info in that AP study...

Happy Father(less) Day?

I forget where I heard this story about elephants and fathers first, but basically, a "gang" of wild young elephants were terrorizing the African plains, randomly killing other animals, especially rhinos. These young elephants had been transplanted, and had grown up on their own without parental supervision. So one idea that was implemented to try and stop these elephants from killing was to bring in an old bull elephant. Once "Dad" was present, all the killing stopped. Fathers (or just plain male figures) seem to make a difference.

I just read a GREAT article on how the young adult generation in many aspects is the "fatherless generation" like the wild herd of young elephants. It is an interview with Rick Johnson, author of Better Dads, Stronger Sons and founder of Better Dads, a fathering skills program designed to equip men to be more engaged in the lives of their children. I agree with many of Rick's conclusions, and would encourage you to consider how you can help change this culture of "fatherlessness".

To any guys reading this: The first idea I have for changing this culture of fatherlessness is to be a great father yourself (or prepare to be a great father). Stay involved in the lives of your kids. Sacrifice time for yourself and give it to them. Read a book. Throw a ball. Even watch one of their TV programs for 30 minutes (and talk about it with them). Ask how their day went and really listen to them, even when they ramble and struggle to find the right words. They crave your attention and admiration and need to know you are proud of them and love them. So show it - through your actions, your ears, your eyes, and your words.

My second idea (especially if you don't have your own kids yet) is to "adopt" the kids of a single mom you know. Take them out for an afternoon, take them to the park, give the mom a break, and let these kids know that there is at least one guy who thinks they are important. You may not be able to be a "guy friend" to every kid out there, but you can do it for one kid. And that make all the difference.

Latest edition of The Connection

For the past 8 months, I've been putting out a somewhat-quarterly newsletter for the young adults at New Covenant called The Connection.  The purpose of this newsletter is to "connect young adults to God, New Covenant, and each other."

Each time I create a new issue, I intend to post a link to it on my blog, but I have failed to get that accomplished... until this time!  Here is Issue 3 of The Connection in PDF form.  Enjoy!

Co-ed Dorm Rooms?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this article on co-ed dorm rooms now available on many college campuses. I've seen signs of this in our culture for sometime now, so this just seems to be the natural progression. Eventually we'll probably end up with co-ed locker rooms as well.

While the article has only positive to say about the experiences of those who have already experienced a co-ed living situation, I can't help but wonder what the long-term ramifications of this might be. To me, it just seems like practice for a future divorce (even though these couples living together aren't married). Here's what I mean:

You learn how to live with a member of the opposite sex, but not be "one flesh" with them, living as a united team. So when your marriage hits some tough times, or you just go through a bit of apathy in your marriage, you revert back to what you learned in your college days, shift into a "roommate" mentality, and stop working on the relationship. Eventually, you want to feel "in love" again, and so you look for it elsewhere since your relationship with your spouse is now merely platonic. For most people, when they reach this stage, divorce just seems like the natural thing to do since "we've grown apart."

Additionally, co-ed dorm rooms seem to devalue the "specialness" of a guy and girl getting to know and explore each other intimately (physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc.) in the confines of a new marriage. It seems like we are content with our mud pies in the slums when God offers us a holiday at the ocean (to recall the C.S. Lewis quote).

But I'm probably "too old-fashioned" and "Christian" to see that this is just fine for some people. Looks like I'll need to ask for forgiveness from the popular culture for connecting the dots and seeing where this "innocent" situation could lead us.

A Time for Everything

For everything there is an appointed time,
and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to rip, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – NET)

This is only the 2nd (and last) time that I have posted the same thing on my personal blog as I have posted on Waterblogged, the “official” blog of Watershed. But I felt it best to put this in both locations since it concerns Watershed and myself.

Last night at Watershed, I announced at the beginning of my message that I am stepping down from leadership of Watershed. Anytime a leader announces they are “stepping down” immediately questions arise: “What’s wrong?” “What did he do?” “Is there some scandal I don’t know about?”

So let me start by saying that nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. My marriage is fine. I’m doing well spiritually. I don’t have some unconfessed sin I am needing to deal with.

Also, Watershed is fine. In fact, it is going great and could possibly be at its healthiest point ever in its 4 1/2 years of existence.

So why would I be stepping away if everything is “fine”? Simple: obedience.

Now I must confess that my obedience has come slowly. I have sensed that God has wanted me to do this for several months. But I like Watershed – I like the young adults who come, I enjoy teaching, I enjoy worshiping alongside of those who come, and more. And so I fought against what I knew God was telling me to do.

But by February, I knew I had to obey. This feeling wouldn’t go away after much prayer and counsel.

This summer seemed to make the most sense for a transition, so I will be transitioning out of leadership during June, July, and August. The leadership team (made of Steve Adolphs, Matt & Amber Schouten, John Connelly, and Bill & Sue Lottes) will continue to protect the vision of Watershed. At this time we don’t have a solid answer on how we will oversee the teaching schedule since I have been doing that pretty much by myself. But I have no fears that we, with God’s guidance, will come up with a great solution.

I always knew my time with Watershed would some day come to an end, but I always thought it would happen when I died or God moved me to a different ministry. But I’m obviously not dead, and I don’t have other plans in mind. So my plan is to just pour into my family more and the ministry I was called to first as the young adult pastor at New Covenant. But I am remaining open to whatever the Lord wants to do with my life.

I want to thank all of the young adults that worshiped together through the gatherings of Watershed. Seeing you worship, give of your time in serving, and caring for one another and those outside of Watershed has been an inspiration to me. When we tried to start Watershed back in 2003, many people said we were crazy – it wouldn’t work. There was no way you could have people from many different churches come together without it wrecking. I think they would be right if Watershed was a man-birthed organism. But from the very beginning, we knew that God was leading and creating this unorthodox ministry. And we simply chose to follow Him in faith. That is why I believe Watershed is as strong as it is right now.

I’m excited about the future of Watershed. I wish I could be intimately involved to watch it closely, but God either has different plans for me or for Watershed (or both). I’m excited because last week around 10 people stood up saying they were feeling some sort of call from God to go overseas for a long term commitment (a year or more). I’m excited because I see people worshipping authentically through the songs and as they listen to the messages. I’m excited because I see new people being welcomed naturally. I’m excited because God is clearly doing something by moving me out, and we get to place our faith in Him and follow His lead just as we did when we started this crazy thing.

I’m not leaving Cedar Rapids anytime soon – so to any Watershedders reading this – if you see me around, please stop me and say hi. I’ll want updates! But not only will I want to know what’s going on with Watershed, but also I’ll want to know what God is doing in your life. So I encourage you to keep going deeper, to get in over your head so that the “river” of Jesus Christ can take you wherever it/He wants.

Still going deeper with you,
Erin

If I was a Senator...

Today marks the 6 year anniversary of my official start as the young adult pastor with New Covenant. I'm glad the "government" of our church isn't set up like the Senate where I would have to go through an election process to get to serve another 6 years! It has been such a joy to be at New Covenant, to co-labor with the awesome staff I work with (and play with!), to worship with the amazing people that make up this church family, and to know, love, serve, counsel, lead, and minister alongside the young adults that God has called to be part of our church family.

In 6 years, we've seen a LOT of changes. On the home front, LeAnn and I have added two more kids to our Birdnest, have seen a lot of turnover in our neighborhood which has led to wonderful relationships with new neighbors, are the parents of a soon-to-be middle schooler, and have added a little weight (well, at least I have - everyone said it would happen once I was in my 30s - they were right!). Our marriage is as good as ever, and we continue to see God work through us in the lives of others (including our kids).

Within the New Covenant family, the young adult population has gone from roughly 70 to 400+. We've gone from 1 ABF to 4. We've seen more young adults than ever go through membership, join or create small groups, jump into leadership positions, and bolster the ministries that exist. We've seen more weddings than ever, and a wonderful rush of new babies. And most importantly, we've seen some young adults place their faith in Christ and had their lives radically changed from the inside.

I keep personally receiving praise from people for all the changes happening within New Covenant concerning the young adults, but the praise really belongs to our elders who obeyed God's call to hire new staff, the existing staff that welcomed us "newbies" and supported us before we even had the keys to our new offices, the church family that had room in their hearts for 20 and 30 somethings, and people like the Berry's, Luebe's, and Purdy's that have hearts for ministering to this generation. But most of all, the praise truly belong to God, who has clearly been doing the work. I see my weaknesses everyday, and it is beyond obvious that the blessings we have in the young adult realm have truly been from our generous God and not me.

My dreams for the next "6-year-term" include seeing the college ministry finally be what I dream it to be, more young adults than ever going on missions trips, more young adults in leadership positions, existing leaders continuing to lead with excellence, young adults engaged in basic spiritual disciplines, young adults naturally sharing their faith, young adults making a difference in the community and their spheres of influence, and God changing more young adult lives with the incredible good news of Christ's death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin.

As I sit here in a food court in a mall in Minneapolis (I'm here to support a friend), reflecting on all that has taken place, tears of thankfulness are threatening to flood my eyes. Hopefully those at the tables around me continue to ignore my presence. :o) I am so humbled that God would call me to this amazing place called New Covenant Bible Church and allow me to be here for such a time as this. And while I know it won't last forever, I am completely up for another 6 year term (or longer!).

Baggage Series

I normally post Watershed related posts on Waterblogged, but since I'm posting my personal thoughts on this one, I thought it would be best to put here.

I starting a new 4-week teaching series tonight at Watershed entitled "Baggage". I'll be teaching about how our past affects who we are and how to keep our past from weighing us down and keeping us from living emotionally and spiritually healthy productive lives.

Since I don't possess the wisdom to completely overcome past issues, I'm turning to the Scriptures. We'll be looking at the story of Jacob found in Genesis over these 4-weeks. Tonight simply introduces the story and Jacob's baggage.

I'm also sharing the story of a friend of mine from my past. I reconnected with "Jill" (not her real name) recently and found out some of the baggage she has had during the past 2 years as she endured her husband's marital unfaithfulness and subsequent divorce. Her story, while incredibly difficult, I think will give hope to many people. She wrote some very beautiful things to me to share with those who will listen, and as I let more of her story slip each week, I think others will be amazed at how she responded and will hopefully do the same.

I have to admit I'm a bit excited about this series. I probably get this way about ever teaching series I do, but I think this could be a "watershed" event in some people's lives. Today's preparation didn't go nearly as smoothly as I had hoped (sermons seem to be like giving birth to me - I'm in labor, it's hard work, and I never quite know what I'll give birth to!). So I'm not as excited about tonight as I was yesterday. :o)

If you happen to read this before 7:30 pm Central time, would you pray for me? And even if you read this after 7:30 pm tonight, you can still pray for further weeks. There is a good chance the series will be posted online, so you can subscribe to the podcast if you so desire.

I am very thankful that God has spared me some of the deep emotional and spiritual baggage many people seem to carry around. While I still have some to deal with, it is so nice to not be bogged down with past sins. I only hope that many of the young adults who will hear this 4-week series will come to a similar place in their own lives and sense God's peace and freedom in their hearts and minds.

Waiting for Marriage

USA Today published an article about young adults and their "wait" for marriage.  I knew the average age of first time marriages was increasing, but this gives further evidence to this fact.

According to the article, "[t]he trend toward delaying marriage has emerged over several decades as economic and social forces have made it more difficult for those in their 20s to reach independence. Sociologists and demographers say other factors are also at work, including increasing numbers of cohabiting couples, more highly educated women who have fewer highly educated men of comparable age to partner with, and more choices open to women than in decades past."

I would personally add to this list:

• Looser Sexual Norms:   Each generation tends to move further and further away from the expected sexual norms of their parents' generation.  Media (both professional (TV and cinema) and self-published (such as YouTube)) seem to reflect this.  Why wait for marriage for sex when you are encouraged to enjoy it outside of a long-term marriage commitment?
  
• Pain of Divorce:  The children of the divorces of the 80s are now adults and have no desire to experience the pain they watched their parents go through (and that they themselves experienced).  So why rush into marriage when it appears it will only bring arguing, separation, and pain?
• Extended Adolescence:  Sociologists have been extending the age of adolescence to 26, and in some cases I've read, age 30.  We seem to be maturing slower, whether because of our upbringing, parental examples, education, or past experiences, and so we simply aren't ready for the responsibility of marriage.

Those were the first things to pop into my mind, and I'm not surprised one bit by the USA Today article.  And I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing - I would rather have people wait until they truly are ready for marriage than jump in to soon and wreak havoc upon a relationship through their selfishness and immaturity.

Thanks to Church Relevance for the link.

A young adult living for Christ

My dad sent me an email several weeks ago with a link to the blog of a twentysomething from my hometown and church. In fact, I used to babysit Eric (pictured) when I was in Jr. High and he was a 3 year old brat! He was quite the little kid - full of spunk, full of words, and his brain never stopped working. It appears not much has changed. :o)

But as I read Eric's blog finally for the first time today, I was so impressed that Eric, while teaching English in Costa Rica, is living for Christ where he is. So if you have a bit of time, you might enjoy reading his long posts about the adventures he is having in beautiful Costa Rica and seeing Christ in his life in the midst of it all.

My face is now on Facebook

Well, it's happened. I have officially joined Facebook. I would like to take this opportunity to blame Mark Forstrom and the Church Relevance blog for this life-altering event. I don't foresee myself spending tons of time on Facebook, but I think I'm going to enjoy keeping up with some people via this method.

If your face is also on Facebook, feel free to add me as a friend.

Generation Me, Generation Next

After downloading and printing a copy several days ago, I finally had a chance to read yesterday the Pew Research Center's report on "Generation Next". What I saw discouraged me, yet motivated me, all at the same time. My summation of the report: The current 18-25 year old generation is the most selfish, media savvy, lifestyle permissive, irreligious generation ever seen in America.

This seems to fly in the face of reports I saw just a couple of years ago saying that this next generation of young adults (Gen Y or Millennials as referred to by some) was going to turn out a lot like the current Seniors generation (those over 60) because of events like 9-11 & the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, and as a reaction to their predecessors - Gen X. They would be the most patriotic generation in decades and lead a new wave of volunteerism. They would be the most conservative group politically and socially in years, and they would be driven by their faith.

But this report says the opposite.

And the Pew group isn't the only ones finding these things out. My friend Kim Pagel posted about the book "Generation Me" and the author's similar findings concerning this new generation of young adults. I encourage you to read Kim's excellent post on the subject.

So in regards to the Pew survey, it discourages me because Generation Next contains our future leaders and cultural shapers. And yet this report motivates me because the need for Christ is so readily apparent. I know that some of these attitudes revealed in the survey will shift as this generation begins to marry, have kids, and settle into careers, but the worldview you have in your college years guides much of the thinking in your adult life - and it appears that there is a widen open opportunity to share Christ and a biblical worldview with the new generation of young adults.

Teens and Twenty-somethings want marriage more than sex

I don't have much time to post my thoughts and reactions to this (gotta go pick up Josh Bales from the airport for tonight's Watershed Worship Gathering), but thought some of you might be interested in this news item. Apparently a new survey has been conducted of 14-29 year olds that indicates that those in this age bracket seem to want a good marriage more than sex.

You can read the news release for yourself. I would like to see the full results of the survey (especially with the ages broken apart - 14 to 29 is just too wide of a spread in my opinion), but couldn't find it quickly on youthography's website.

Campus Staff - Full-Time Ministry Opportunity

I've been wanting to post this for the past week, but things have been so full that I haven't been able to get to it. But this is BIG news!

New Covenant is ready to start having conversations with people who would be interested in helping us start a new campus ministry to Kirkwood Community College. You can see a job description and some other info from the Employment Opportunities page on the NCBC website.

We are praying that God will allow us to hire 4 individuals that are perfect for this job. You should know that our staff will need to raise their own funds (but New Covenant will be providing some financial support and other help - but how much is still being determined (we are just starting our church budget planning cycle)) and training will be provided by the EDGE Corp (part of the Navigators). There are no age requirements, just have to be able to connect with college aged young adults (well, you have to be out of the college years, so I guess there is one age requirement).

If you are interested, or know someone who would be, email me. We are already praying for these staff and for the students they will reach through God's empowerment. So let's talk!

Oh, and here's the official blurb we are using to advertise for this position:

A growing Bible church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is looking for team-minded individuals with a passion for college students to help start a new Christ-centered ministry on the main campus of Kirkwood Community College. This pioneering job will involve crafting something from scratch, establishing new relationships, raising your own funds, and allowing God to increase your faith in dramatic ways. To learn more...

Living on the Cheap

Since so many reports have been coming out the past couple years revealing the deep debt that many young adults carry, I thought this site might be helpful to some of you. Consider how you can cut costs to free yourself of debt and make YOU the master of the funds God gives you. And even if you aren't in debt, maybe you can glean some helpful tips!