The Adult/Teenage relationship

Here's a graph I saw on Snooky's blog and thought I'd reproduce here.

Thought it was an interesting idea of what a 15 year old might really appreciate and how we can use that in Youth Ministry.

Based on research by the Fuller Youth Institute

Most important word in the Bible

"Some years ago the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth was asked what was the most important word in the Bible, the questioner no doubt thinking that Barth would say 'love' or some such godly quality.  But instead Barth answered, "Hyper." In Greek, hyper is a preposition, meaning "on behalf of" or "in place of" another.  Barth called this the most important word because it signifies that the death of Jesus was in our place and for us.  He died so that we might not have to die spiritually."
 - Boice on Christ's death for sin.

The 2000 Walk

I remember meeting my mate Carnsey almost 10 years ago when I went out to Stanthorpe to help with a youth camp.  Andrew was the school chaplain at the time and I was struck by his passion for ministry.  That hasn't changed at all these last 10 years as Carnsey spent some time on the OM (Operation Mobilisation) Ships and is now the OM Qld director.  Andrew is at City North and he's also been studying at Malyon which has given me a chance to get to know him and his passion for mission even better.

Andrew's passion has led to this latest endeavour, did you know that there are still 2000 languages that don't even have one verse of scripture?   When Andrew, and his mates Sav and Dave, realised this and also realised how few people even knew this was the case, they set about raising awareness.  In doing so they're going to walk 2000km, from Cairns to Stanthorpe and tell people along the way about these 2000 languages.

They're not specifically raising money, just awareness, and if people want to give money then that's good, but other's might want to pray for a specific people group or go themselves and work in Bible translation.  The fact is the more people who know, the sooner people will act and those 2000 languages will be reduced.

This is obviously a Queensland focused event, so I hope that people outside the state will read this, visit www.the2000walk.com and become aware of the amount of people that have not got a single verse of Scripture in their language.

Being in Relationship...

On Teen Street Camp this year we discussed things that built a wall which blocked us having a relationship with God. As we built the wall we wrote these things on boxes, physically building a wall at the front of the stage.


Then, on the last night of camp, we discussed the saving power of Christ and burnt these things which stand in the way of our relationship with God, cleansing us and allowing us to draw near again. It was a powerful analogy and I still find these photos powerful, both as a reminder of the night, and the idea of getting rid of these things that stand in our way.


What things are standing between you and your relationship with God?  Is it simply the fact you're rejecting Jesus? or is it peer-pressure, depression, bitterness, loneliness or laziness?

My Cute Nephew

Here's a video of my ever growing nephew Nathanael with his latest trick.... the awahwahwah :-p

Gospel In Life

Last night we commenced the "Gospel In Life" Lounge Group series as part of the Young Adults Ministry at City North Baptist.

The series is aimed at exploring the gospel and how to live it out in all of life - first in our hearts, then in community, and ultimately out into the world.  The first study was "City: The World That Is" and looked at the exiles in Babylon and God calling them to go and settle in the city, and to pray for that city because if it prospers then they will prosper (Jer 29:4-14).  We discussed the effectiveness of Christianity in our cities in Australia, and though good work is being done there should be much much more.

As an added tool Pastor Joe has set up a Young Adults Ministry Blog to generate discussion on topics arising from the Lounge Group studies.  So head over and have a look and add your own thoughts.

But while you're here... what things are your Church doing to impact your city?

Re-Launch of My Jarrol Spot

Well I have been quiet for way too long now and I have been meaning to get back into blogging.

After playing around with Blogger's new template tools I thought I should change it up a bit here and use it as motivation to blog a little more.

I hope those who were following and reading haven't deleted old links, because I'd really like to see some discussion and interaction again.  Also with the Facebook linking tool NetworkBlogs that will post this to my facebook page I hope friends will read and post on this blog as well.

I'm continuing at Bible College, and am feeling called into a full time pastoral ministry role, so I'm hoping I can use this blog to bounce ideas on assignments as well as theological stuff I'm learning to widen the intake of knowledge both practically and academically.

Keep a look out for more soon....


....Deano....