What do you think?

Saw this article on USA Today's site about the possibility of FL requiring HS students to declare a major program of study - like college.

The thought is that by choosing a major, students will be able to focus more on courses that are interesting to them and be better prepared for college or working. On the surface, that sounds really good. What high school student wants to sit through classes that have no bearing on his intened future? The problem is, 'intended' future is often not the same as reality 5 or ten years down the road.

Will this really leave students more prepared? Or will it just add more stress for students to deal with in a time of life when they're not really ready for that kind of decision. What do you think?

Students - what major would you pick? Would you want to be forced to choose a major in HS?
Adults - At 15 years old, would you have picked a major that would have prepared you more for the future you are now living in?

Coming Soon to WestWay...

If any of you are in the area and have a free weekend April 28th & 29th - get the details and bring some students...

I hate when that happens II

What would you do?

I've been listenning to some of Erwin McManus' podcasted sermons today while I'm preparing a display for our ministry fair (basically cutting and gluing). Several of them are from his Chasing Daylight series, which is also a book by that same title that was just released (and released a few years ago as Seizing Your Divine Moment). As he talked about Jonathan going out to do battle with the Philistines, knowing that the outcome was uncertain, he asks a great question that I needed to be reminded of:

"If you were afraid of nothing, what would you be doing?"

Fear shackles people into jobs they hate, relationships that degrade them, and patterns of living that actually suck life away. But what if we didn't fear being alone? What if we didn't fear the pain that comes when we're not numb? What if we weren't afraid of not making ends meet?

It's staggering how much of our lives can be motivated by fear, if we allow it to be. I've always dealt with a fear that people wouldn't like me. The last few weeks I've been thinking about how the fear of failure has marked my actions. I was always a good student. Things came easily for me in school. Other things in life have come easily for me as well. But I know that waiting for me somewhere around the corner of a choice is failure. I will fail. I know it. I know that it's coming... and I fear it.

But, what if I didn't?

What if I trusted God to build me through whatever failure may lurk ahead, enough to break the patterns of ease? The natural ability that God has given me has gotten me to a comfortable place in life and ministry... but where will the supernatural courage of initiative take me as I cast aside the fear that I won't be up to the task/good enough/strong enough?

I hope to find out.

But what about you? What do you fear? What uncertainties hold you back?

"If you were afraid of nothing, what would you be doing?"

I hate when that happens...

Back to School...

I know I haven't blogged a whole lot lately, but I did run across this awesome experiment from the blog of another youth pastor named Scott Green.

For all 0f you who've said you just can't relate to today's kids anymore....

Try this. (same link as above)

Ouch...

Last week did not end well...

The two houses we were most interested in sold. We were scheduled to go for a final look to make our decision and prepare an offer, but they sold before we got to them. So on the house search, we went back to square 1 basically and checked out a whole new slate of options.

In the middle of that, I woke up about 2 AM on Friday with really sharp pain in the left side of my lower back. I've had kidney stones before, so that was my first thought. Not a pleasant thought... and I was right. The pain subsided for a few hours of relief later in the morning, but came back everytime the stone shifted. Finally passed it on Saturday afternoon after drinking enough water to keep Dumbo hydrated.

The good news is - it's a new week. The pain is almost completely gone. Also, yesterday afternoon, we found another house that we like and are meeting with the realtor this afternoon. We'll make an offer then. It had some nice trees and bushes and stuff and a really cool shed/workshop/garage area that will work out as a great playhouse for the kids.

40 Days...

I usually get ran over by the bandwagons - seriously, I have wagon wheel ruts on my back as deep as the ones at Ft. Laramie. That's ok, though, I have some kind of allergic reaction to whatever it is that most people are into at any given moment anyway. (Don't worry, there's a big but coming.) I just get really annoyed when I see people changing everything about themselves in order to fit in (maybe because that tendency is a constant undercurrent in my own life).

BUT...

Right now, our church is doing the whole 40 Days of Purpose series (probably the biggest bandwagon running in the church right now)... and I like it a lot. Maybe I can rationalize this bandwagon ride by convincing myself that I was ahead of the curve because I read Warren's first book long before I knew how huge it would become. Or maybe a few points of disagreement are enough to make me feel better about 'going with the flow' of thousands of other churches. At any rate, I'm excited to walk through this with WestWay (we went through it in Auburn as well and it was one of the best things the church ever did together).

I'm excited to see people realizing there's a point to this whole thing called life. I've grown up asking "Why?", seeking purpose for everything. (Probably got really annoying when I was a kid and had to know "Why?" all the time.) I've neer been satisfied to just do what I'm told. (Which is really odd, because I was always the kid that did do what I was told - just wasn't satisfied by that.) I pray that people will be able to move past the mundane and discover why they're here.

We started a new 'roughly college age' group last night. There seemed to be a really good mix of people looking forward to walking through a little life together. Can't wait to see how it all unfolds.