Redefining the middle class

I thought that you might be interested in this article: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/31/low-richardson-pegs-middle-class-making/#

Share your thoughts here.

Since it is Halloween, or the eve of all saints, I could not help but be entertained by this picture - truly comical! It pokes fun at Obama's "spread the wealth" comment.

Enjoy, my comrades! Oh, and please do vote!

Fall into Grace

This weekend I got a new take on an old phrase. I had the privilege of being at a church that was born out of failure. Its pastor had a fall from grace forcing him to lose his high position as heir apparent to a 6,000-member congregation and requiring him to give back a very lucrative book deal, but out of the broken pieces of his life, a new thing has begun. I had the opportunity to participate in the new thing that now has gained a level of legitimacy as a new congregation about ready to move into its first building, and it was an eye-opener.

As a result of its unique beginning, this church has attracted people whose life histories have not exactly followed the good Christian housekeeping seal of approval. They are, many of them, rejects from other churches – dropouts due to their own falls from grace.

And as I pondered this, I wondered why it was the exception to the rule to have a church full of broken people. What are churches supposed to be anyway if not communities of those who need Jesus on a regular basis? Unfortunately in many places, church has become more like a group of people who are all fixed up instead of those who are broken. At least that's what we try to be… The First Church of All the Fixed Up People.

The problem with supposedly being fixed is that you have to do something with the knowledge that deep down inside, you know that you are not – that not everybody is telling the truth about themselves, yourself included, but because we are all "fixed," we can't face the truth. In this light, a fall isn't the worst thing that could happen. If it brings you in touch with the real truth about yourself, and a true understanding of God's grace because you need it so much, it could be the best thing that could ever happen to you.

All I can say is, the place where this pastor has fallen to is a much better place than where he was before he fell. And the more I think about this, the more I am convinced that we have the phrase all wrong. You don't fall from grace; you fall into grace. Grace is not up; grace is down. Grace is what you finally understand when you fall. In fact, until you're down and broken, you can't even know what grace is. Oh you may be able to define it, and illustrate it so that it sounds like you know what you're talking about, but you never know grace until it reaches you personally in the depths of your own brokenness. Thus a fall into grace is really a fall into your salvation.

Fall from grace? Impossible. Grace is already down. Grace is what catches you. You can't fall from grace because there's nowhere else to fall. You're already in the arms of God.

                                            ~John Fischer (emphasis mine)

I'll Have A Life... With A Side of Youth Ministry

I read this great article by www.thesource4ym.com, a site dedicated to Part-time and volunteer youth workers, about how to balance one's time for part-time and volunteer youth workers.

Here's the article: http://www.thesource4ym.com/howdoi/IllHaveALife.asp

Enjoy it with a cup of coffee, and be prepared!

DTQuest's 10/20 Monday Memo Devotional

Part II - Practical Application

"There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4-5)

Paul was explicitly clear about oneness (unity) - one body... one Spirit... one hope... one Lord... one faith... one baptism... one God and Father of all - so we cannot neglect the importance of being unified. What are some of the ways by which DTQ can work with church-based youth ministries? Here are some do-able and useful suggestions:

• Sign up for an account through National Network for Youth Ministries (if you have not done so already, here's the link: www.nnym.org) and join Deaf Teen Ministry affinity network (www.deafministry.org). Encourage the churches with Deaf ministry to join as well! This is one of the main tools I've used this as a youth worker to communicate with various ministries across this region, and this is also the main venue by which we plan our retreats, our second one coming up in January. Very beneficial if everyone's committed to it!
• Actively seek out churches with Deaf ministries. Look up on the yellow pages, Google them up, check out their websites, and even go up to Deaf people to see if they know any! The churches won't come to parachurch ministries for help (except for a few rare cases), so you will have to reach out to those people. Many churches are willing to collaborate with other ministries and missionary organizations because they want people to know Christ. So, be the initiator!
• Connect with Deaf ministry program leaders who are passionate about the youth, and tell them what your vision is all about. Maintaining a regular contact with the church about DTQuest events is also important. Encourage the churches to support your local YFC DTQuest chapter (like ours for YFC-CM DTQuest program) either financially or by providing the usage of facilities. Want to go an extra mile? Set aside an hour for each church every month to sit down and develop or maintain a relationship - a major plus!
• Communicate clearly, communicate well, and communicate often - the churches need to know what you are doing with your ministries! First, tell them your vision using crystal-clear terms! If the churches know exactly what you envision - clear communication - they will be more willing to lend a helping hand either financially or materially. Second, choose several vehicles of communication in order to maximize your message delivery to the churches. Use e-mail newsletters, written letters, catchy flyers, announcement boards, church brochures, a biplane with a sign trailing on its back on Sunday mornings - use whatever it requires for you to inform all the churches about your needs - thus communicating well! Finally, make a mental commitment to keep churches posted about how God has been working in your personal lives and ministries - hence communicating often. The church leadership will appreciate it and might even be willing to invest more into your ministries! All you have to do is tell! Ask, seek, and knock... sounds familiar?
• Pray - this is the most crucial aspect of all ministries! Pray that the One who promises unity will bring local churches together to be the brilliant light of the world. Pray that a true and lasting unity will permeate both your and the church ministries to be an excellent example to the world. Pray for His guidance and wisdom daily. Be honest about your needs. Samuel Chadwick writes: "The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but trembles when we pray." Never underestimate the power of a praying saint!

Of course, our ministries' context will differ from region to region, and from individual to individual. Those suggestions are meant to encourage you to seek support from a church (don't limit yourself to only one - be bold), and to give you some tools by which you can experience unity. A final word here: unity is not easy. That's why Jesus prayed for it before he died on the Cross. Paul knew the difficulty of this, and exhorts the early church to pursue this. But the good news is this: unity is made possible through the indwelling Holy Spirit that lives in each one of us! AMEN

You Have Our Attention, Lord

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing
This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous -
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What's Next?”

What is next?

We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.
You told us this would happen.

You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, You warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.
You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.

We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have.
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor.
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are You taking it

We’re listening. And we’re praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?

Of course You can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.

This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,
Amen

God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow to answer them. (Luke 18:7 NCV)

~Max Lucado

DTQuest's 10/13 Monday Memo Devotional

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." (John 17:20-23)

Jesus, in his famous prayer before he was arrested, prayed specifically for a lasting, unbreakable unity among all believers who profess Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus knew that unity would not come naturally for humans. It is a great thing to actualize in principle, but it can only be achieved with the presence of Holy Spirit in our lives, bridging whatever our differences are to bring us together with a common mission.

As a friend of YFC DTQuest and a leader for a church-based youth ministry, I would like to delve into a question that has been asked by many of you: How can a DTQuest and church-based Deaf youth ministry work together to reach our teenagers for Christ?

First and foremost, all believers within DTQ and the Church (I am not referring the "Church" as an institution, but as a group of people who declared Christ at their savior and lord of their lives) must have a firm grasp on the core doctrines taught by Jesus Christ. Christ died for us because He loves us and wants us to be one with our Father. It is essential for all believers to believe that we are only saved only by Grace through Christ's death on the cross. That is the fundamental Truth we all must share to be able to reach our teenagers for Christ. If a church or a ministry doesn't share basic biblical truth about Jesus Christ, then unity will never be achieved.

Second, it is important to recognize that DTQuest is an "outreach arm" of the church. I won't deny that it is crucial for teenagers to be with a group of like-minded peers - one of the hallmarks of DTQuest's GROWgroups - but the Bible also teaches and shows us (most clearly in Acts) the important role of the church in the lives of all believers. Only in the context of a local church will people grow closer to Christ. Teenagers won't stay teenagers forever; there will come a time when teenagers will need to become plugged into a local Body of Christ.

DTQuest is part of the fulfillment of the Great Commission that Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 28; the Church also has a commandment to encourage, support, and challenge all people to know God and to fall madly in love with their Creator. AMEN

Freebies!!!

I just LOVE free stuff... who doesn't??? Here's a list of links for free stuff... some are great for sermon series, other for media, and a few will require some digging for some nuggets. All in all, they will empower your ministry and save your money in the long run!

http://vineresources.com/swag
http://www.muddyrivermedia.org/
http://www.openresources.org/
http://open.lifechurch.tv/
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/freebies.html
http://content.simplyyouthministry.com/ffa08/
http://www.crazychurch.com/
http://www.newspringonline.com/
http://www.pastor2youth.com/
http://www.thesource4ym.com/
http://www.youthministry.com/?q=freebie-library/popularity/
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/articles/
http://www.dare2share.org/
http://timschmoyer.com/category/friday-freebie/
http://studentministryresources.com/

Enjoy the dibs... share any free links you frequent in the comments section!

Credits goes to www.youthministrygeek.com!

Pro-Life, Pro-Woman - FRC Publication

I received this e-mail this morning from Family Research Council (www.frc.org), and wanted to share this with you. This article reports what the American Psychological Association (APA) won't reveal about the psychological effect abortion has on women. Also, check out the links at the bottom of this e-mail for more information - all fascinating!

"Abortion has more than its share of moral complexities, but a panel of experts at FRC headquarters today showed that it poses an especially dangerous threat to women's mental health. To a capacity crowd, experts and clinicians did what the American Psychological Association refused to do in its latest report on abortion and mental health: told the truth-the whole truth-about the relationship between abortion and depression, anxiety disorders, suicide, and substance abuse. The prevalence of these symptoms among the 30 million women who have had the procedure is climbing at an alarming rate. While the research has yet to give pro-abortion leaders pause, the American people are taking the harmful effects of abortion very seriously. In a blockbuster poll released at today's lecture, the Elliot Institute found that 85 percent of American adults believe that "significant emotional problems" after an abortion are "common" or "very common." Only 15 percent of the people surveyed believe that abortion generally makes women's lives better. Seventy-one percent of participants across the ideological spectrum said that conducting research on these post-abortion complications should be a moderate to high priority. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, hinted at the policy implications of the study. "Politicians who ignore the issue of post-abortion complications are ignoring an important concern of the American people." Of equal concern to pro-lifers is that millions of these women are suffering at the hands of government-funded organizations like Planned Parenthood. The public is ready to address this problem. Is Congress?"

Additional Resources
2008 Post Abortion Awareness Poll Survey Summary [PDF]
Post-abortion Mental Health Effects, Awareness, and Politics

Post your thoughts based on what you have already read, if you feel inclined to do so.

Potpourri of quotes

On economy...

“Lots of other places—from Britain to Australia—took a hit in 1929 but, alas, they lacked an FDR to keep it going till the end of the Thirties. That’s why in other countries they refer to it as ‘the Depression,’ but only in the U.S. is it ‘Great’.” —Mark Steyn

Here is some funny newspaper headlines:

Cheer Up, Everyone!: “Poll: 60% Say Depression ‘Likely”’ —CNNMoney.com

“Issue of Depression Addressed on Campus” —Spectator (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire)

“Male Depression: Why It’s Undiagnosed and What It Looks Like” —Beliefnet.com

“Is Depression Robbing Kids’ Happiness?” —IBNLive.com (India)

“Depression: Does It Cause Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)?” —wddty.com

“Depression Can Be Funny Too” —Navigator News (Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL)

~****~

On politics...

“Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self-definition—do you really know who he is and what he believes?” —Charles Krauthammer

“Obama could have allied himself with all sorts of other people. But, time and again, he allied himself with people who openly expressed their hatred of America. No amount of flags on his campaign platforms this election year can change that.” —Thomas Sowell

“The short memories of the American voters is what keeps our politicians in office.” —Will Rogers

Some plainly nonsensical quotes from Obama, the demo-gogues, and the Left...

“I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Sen. McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us.” —Socialist Barack Obama in Tuesday’s debate, trashing what we like to call “capitalism”

“You have to wonder about what John McCain and his running mate, what their priorities are for America. Privatizing Social Security, gutting Medicare, deregulating healthcare is not putting your country first, it’s putting a radical, misguided, reckless ideology ahead of the interests of your country.” —Barack Obama

Off the deep end: “[Republicans] get to take things out on poor people. Let’s be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn’t hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people.” —Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Revising history: “We kicked—along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon.” —Joe Biden in Thursday’s vice-presidential debate **“Biden said the strangest and most ill-informed thing I have ever heard about Lebanon in my life. Nobody has ever kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon. Not the United States. Not France. Not Israel. And not the Lebanese. Nobody. Joe Biden has literally no idea what he is talking about.” —Michael Totten*

Take your own advice: “The truth matters.” —Joe Biden

Non Compos Mentis: “You know, the one thing that really gets to me, which I don’t think many people are discussing, but to me sounds like a little bit of a contradiction is being pro-life yet being pro-hunting—unless you are assuming that animals are not alive. That’s such a huge contradiction to me on the McCain-Palin thing. It just doesn’t fit in my book.” —supermodel Mayra Veronica

From WAY out in left field: “I’m also worried since it’s October that George Bush will do one of three things: Either find bin Laden, who’ve they’ve had somewhere for eight months waiting to bring out... at the ranch... Or, you know, let’s start a war with Iran. That’s always a possibility. And here’s the third thing and I don’t know much about the Bible and I’m not a big rapture guy but I believe George Bush is, and what better way, if your polls are so bad, than to go out by pushing the button and destroying all life on Earth?” —Hollywood producer and director Barry Sonnenfeld

The creme du de coup...

Jay Leno: The [second presidential] debate took place in Nashville, Tennessee, which is perfect—the economy right now is kind of like a bad country song: “I lost my girl; I lost my house...” ... The debate was held in “town-hall” style, which means instead of ignoring the moderator’s questions, the candidates could ignore the voters directly. ... [Congress] passed their $800 billion bailout bill [Friday]. Although some senators who voted for it are now very upset. They thought they were giving themselves a pay raise. ... Congress keeps saying that not only are taxpayers going to get back the $800 billion, oh, they’re going to make money on the deal too. Yeah, yeah. See, now you know where the ‘con’ in congressman comes from. ... The Labor Department has announced that 159,000 people lost their jobs last month. Worst job loss in five years. Here’s the ironic part—all 435 members of Congress still have their jobs. ... The stock market’s so bad now that at closing time, instead of a bell, they play taps.

~All credit goes to the 08-41 edition of Chronicles from The Patriot Post (http://patriotpost.us)