emmanuel: god with us today

uploaded to flickr by jeremy stockwell

today as i write, i have the song "o come o come emmanuel" on repeat on my iPod  and it is so deeply speaking to my soul that my writing is being interrupted by my own tears.

o come, o come, emmanuel
and ransom captive israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the son of god appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, o israel.

i like the pleading nature of the song. i imagine israel crying out to god - please free us from our lonely exile. we are out of options without you.

2009 has been a difficult year, a few things this year didn't go the way i had hoped or even expected. but today i'm captivated by the idea that emmanuel, god with us, has come to me.

because when i think about this past year, i can see a new spirit formed in me, and a deeper faith, a new level to my spirituality, and a fresh perspective on the world around me. and i'm more grateful for emmanuel's daily presence with me than ever before.

advent this year has been a symbolic reminder to me that god is with me all the time. even when i don't feel his presence near me, or it seems as if my prayers have gone unanswered - he has come to me and to israel and to all people. rejoice!

i'm depending on and rejoining in the fact that emmanuel, god with us, means:

• peace to calm all fears


• strength to restore the broken world


• courage to tell the truth


• hope for new life


• vision to imagine a better way

may emmanuel's peace and presence be with you today. rejoice!

recently my friend aaron niequist created this amazing video - featuring his song "resistance" interwoven with "o come o come emmanuel" for a willow creek weekend service. may it bless and inspire your spirit today.

friday reflections: my spirit & the church

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd7ybCJFKRE]

early adolescent development

my brother quinn is a 5th - 6th grade public school teacher (you might say that the love of kids runs in our family: my sister: a family therapist, my other brother: a soon-to-be elementary school teacher, and my other other brother: the best babysitter on the planet)!

quinn recently developed a training for some local children's ministry leaders on early adolescent development. and because he's the smartest and most entertaining teacher i know, i thought i would share a portion of the training here. enjoy!

4 characteristics of early adolescents:

1. they know - students have more access to information than ever before and the information is more global in nature, it is accessible right at their fingertips through media and technology. most adults did not know as much information as kids do today at their age.

they also know social cues and can easily distinguish between real vs. fake. they are good judges of character  and gravitate towards those who are genuine.

children's ministry application: provide opportunities for students to access information about the bible and their faith, and challenge their intellectual knowledge.

2. they want – just like they know a lot, they want a lot. they have a great desire to have more things, sometimes the stuff they have defines who they are. this is not always their fault because they live within a materialistic culture with parents who often don’t set boundaries.



children's ministry application: instead of blaming students for their “i want” attitude – empower them with skills to handle greediness or materialism.

3. they can – they can produce and use their gifts for greater purposes of good. they are using the information they have, combined with their sense of creativity and problem solving to accomplish large tasks. students are able to understand a situation and apply their gifts for the good of the end goal.



children's ministry application: believe in students to accomplish large goals. give them real problems and rely on them for real solutions. implement their suggestions and encourage them to continue thinking creatively for the church.

4. they will – these students will be our future leaders. they are currently going through an intense time of change which will shape them for adulthood.  this is the beginning of change for the rest of their adult lives as they become adults.  how they react now to the choices they make will shape them for the future.  these students will bring positive change to the future by thinking creatively, problem solving and using their gifts.



children's ministry application: help students make great choices as they grow and encourage them with words of affirmation when you see them making great choices.

what characteristics would you add to quinn's list?

church + family (does not always) = faith

what does it take to really impact a child's faith for a lifetime?

i used to think a formula like this was the best strategy:

great church experience + strong family experience = faith for a lifetime

but this weekend, i had an experience that reminded me once again that a simple formula doesn't guarantee a child will chose faith for his whole life. i continue to be surprised by the number of college students and young 20 year olds who i know had a solid, strong childhood church experience and a faithful family life who are choosing to live without a traditional faith.

david kinnamen & gabe lyon's book unchristian highlights the research that supports this:

spirituality is important to young adults, but many consider it just one element of a successful, eclectic life. most young people who were involved in a church as a teenager disengage from church life and often from christianity at some point during adulthood, creating a deficit of young talent, energy and leadership in many congregations. our tracking research suggests that today young people are less likely to return to church later, even when they become parents. (p.23)

this sunday, our pastor asked the congregation to think about what influences us to become who we are. i was fascinated by the responses given by both adults and children: our dreams, our talents, our opportunities, the books we read, the schools we attend and the influential people around us. it was interesting to me how holistic the responses were, leading me to believe that for my particular faith community - a strong personal faith is a culmination of our entire lives.

could it be possible that our children's faith, and our own faith for that matter, is a combination of our whole lives? of course, our church experience matters, and our family experience matters, but i'm also wondering if our pain, our hopes, our disappointments, our careers, our neighborhoods, our education, and our personalities influence the choices we make day to day for our faith.

i'm curious what you think - what will it take for us to approach a child's spiritual formation from a holistic approach, and can we really change the statistics - can we really inspire childhood faith for a lifetime?

friday reflections

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8HjvLy7T1k]