Critique Modern Youth Ministry

Posted on June 8, 2011 by caleb

Just read a really good and helpful booklet—Critique of Modern Youth Ministry by Christopher Schlect. As i’ve been struggling and thinking much about “modern youth ministry” i’ve realized that there is so much that is assumed and not actually biblical. Here are a few of my favorite miscellanies from the essay. If you’d like to read it, which i would strongly urge, you can find it here.

“I am convinced that young people have a far greater capacity for spiritual and social maturity than we tend to give them credit for, and parents have been given the responsibility to see that this capacity is realized.”

“Effective youth ministry is the father’s task; he has the responsibility to establish a godly atmosphere in the home. Fathers must be leaders in worship, prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and in fellowship with other saints. Moses demanded that fathers in Israel rear their children in such an environment that the majesty of God was plainly manifest to them everywhere they turned (Deut. 6:6-9). This standard remains, and fathers today must meet it. If children do not come face to face with Almighty God in every aspect of their lives, their fathers,through abdication, are bringing them up in practical atheism.

Where does this leave the modern church youth ministry? It has no place where fathers live up to God’s demands. Where fathers have abandoned their responsibility, churches should not focus on the abandoned children, but rather on the fathers.”

Interesting isn’t it? Yes, i’m a youth pastor but i desperately wish that i wasn’t needed in that capacity. There are many discussions that need to transpire on this subject and i’ll see to it they begin soon. My longterm goal: work myself out of a job.

Outpaced by a baby and couldn’t be happier.

Posted on May 19, 2011 by caleb

For about a month now we’ve been camped out downstairs.

living/bedroom aka the campsite

It is wonderful and the fact that we haven’t had countertops or internet or the fact that there is no carpet upstairs and the apartment isn’t finished; the fact that our yard is bare black dirt with some rock sprinkles doesn’t even phase us because it is still our house… and it’s air-conditioned… and we have directv… and life is just too darn enjoyable to complain and with Ephraim around, especially so. This house project has been amazing and honestly there’s no end to that feeling in sight. Lord willing we’ll have many years of projects ahead.

A big part of what we have been up to since i’ve posted last has been constructing the island. We built it in four separate pieces so as soon as they were all complete it was on to the install which because of Grandpa Tony’s expertise and precision was a piece of cake and actually quite invigorating.

unfinished island 1

unfinished island 2

unfinished island 3

unfinished island 4

Unfinished but that's not slowing us down to pile on the "stuff".

Then it was on to the edge of the countertop. Because we are doing granite tile and i wasn’t about to pay the atrocity for the matching edging, we made it out of red oak (for it’s strength and durability as opposed to white pine which we used for the rest of the cabinets). In the process we went ahead and cut the corners off the island, partly for looks and partly for logistics.

countertop face trim

countertop face trim 2

We decided to go with the cheapest granite tile we could find ($1.88 sq. ft.) and we are well pleased with the result. I’m not brave enough yet to attempt to lay this myself, so we hired this part out but because we are using the tile we are still well under $10 a square foot.

empire white from floor & decor

Primed and ready; backsplash is coming along.

Countertops still waiting for the grout.

Almost done, just needs grout, sealer, and a wipe-down.

apartment countertop

The countertops should be finished tomorrow (May 20, 2011 for those reading this in the archives a good while from now) and while it will be wonderful to finally have proper countertops (as opposed to hardiebacker and those blue things) in the meantime we’ve had our fingers in a few other pots. We are getting close to finishing all the trim both door and baseboard upstairs, installing some door knobs and shower curtains and rods. One of the things i really wanted to do was to figure out a way to cover up the breaker box and the holes where various wires and cables come into the house:

Breaker box and holes where various wires and cables run in.

Dad was gracious enough to let me have a few of the old doors from his remodel and i’m pretty pleased what i came up with—a mini-closet!

A mini-closet within a "closet".

I stained the main closet door to match and this is also the original knob.

It was completely rusted out so i soaked in in distilled vinegar for a few hours and then brushed it up.

Another project that we checked off our list is our downstairs bathrooms, our friend Jose did a most excellent job with the glass wall.

Thank you Jose!

But one of the most fulfilling and i would wager one of the more rewarding projects that we’ve undertaken has been Ej’s mother’s day present from me and Ephraim—a flower garden that’s been appropriately dubbed the fish bed.

Breaking up the clods...

My supervisor.

Fish bed!

As fast as everything else is moving right along Ephraim is outpacing all of it. He’s growing like a weed and about as invasive as one too! He gets so frustrated that he can’t just get up and walk around but overall he’s a wonderfully pleasant child that loves DVDs and dogs and cats. We trust that the next one (that will be here before we know it) takes after big brother.