I just finished Drew Dyck’s book “Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith…and How to Bring Them Back.” I’ve been involved in college ministry for eight years, and I recognize ...
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Most of the time we aren’t naïve enough to say the five words, “It won’t happen to me…”, but more often than not we live like we believe the phrase is true. Last year nearly a million people ages 15-24 believed that they would not become HIV positive; yet they were wrong.*
Although HIV & AIDS have been around for 30 years, many people still do not know the basic facts about how HIV is transmitted and how it can be prevented. HIV is transmitted through sexual contact, needle sharing, childbirth, breastfeeding, and blood transfusions....
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Your life will declare the value of something. Just follow the trail of your time, money, attention, affection, and thoughts, and you’ll find it—the things you value above all else, the things you worship. Worship is an activity of the human heart; it’s never a question of if but rather what you worship. Your boyfriend, girlfriend, job, pleasure, fame, success, acceptance, materialism, power, prestige, appearance, reputation, wealth…What is it that has captured your heart as being supremely valuable?...
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Who comes to mind when you think of the word “leader”? People with higher salaries and assistants and more authority and influence than you? Power suits who fly first-class? People who are respected and who are listened to? People other than you?
Check out the examples that Jesus gave us:...
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A TV advertisement for a national newspaper in Britain
shows a close-up shot of a powerful-looking young man with a shaven head running
at high speed toward an elderly woman, giving the strong impression that he was
going to attack her. At the last moment the camera angle changed and we saw the
full picture: he was running in order to get her out of the way of a fast-moving
car which was going to hit her as she crossed the street. We saw him pick her up
and take her to safety. The advertisement went on to claim, of course, that the
newspaper gave its readers the fuller picture of what was really going
on....
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We are the instruments used to bring God's love to this earth. We are merely flutes, clarinets, trumpets, and french horns. The Holy Spirit is the Musician, breathing into us LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF CONTROL (Galatians 5:22-23). These qualities and traits are the "Fruit of the Spirit" or character traits of the Holy Spirit which we were given through the death and resurrection of Christ.
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Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and painting.
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As I sat in the crowd of blankets and lawn chairs at Radicalis, Rick Warren was reminding our generation what the word “radical” means. It means “to be rooted.” Radicalis brought me back to one of my favorite verses in Ephesians 3, "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." I want to be rooted in Jesus' love. I want that for my generation and I want that for the people who don't know Christ....
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Radicalis had its first monthly meeting on Thursday! Hundreds of 18-25 year olds from the SoCal area came to check out the first meeting, and I have no doubt that number will grow in the months to come. Pastor Rick Warren started off the monthlies in the book of James, where he will be teaching from at all of the monthly events. In his very father-like fashion, he sat in a big chair while he gave his message, which always, for Radicalis, leads back to being part of a movement that will make changes in this world. Such a big message, but felt so personal....
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It's trendy to be part of a cause, but when it comes down to it, not many people believe in something enough for it to impact or change the way they live their lives. It's easy to wear a rubber bracelet or to purchase something you normally would that just happens to benefit a cause. But when a world problem asks more of us, the answer is often no.
That needs to change, and our generation can be the voice that says "no more." No more spiritual emptiness. No more world poverty or pandemic diseases. No more pain. Our generation can also be a voice that says "YES."...
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