Music: Questions To Ask

I know that over the years that we have always struggled on music in the vans on long trips. We want to “connect” to students but they want to be in their own little world with music. The “banning” of all electronic devices does not seem to have an inviting feel even though I know why there are churches that follow the guideline. They do it to monitor music in some cases and then also to try to use the trip as building community and you cannot argue with that.

Jonathan McKee has an interesting take on music in the vehicles and even though the picture that he describes to seem like a big bus with individuals walking around, I think that it can be used in the small vans that ym’s all across the country use. Here are his thoughts:

Using the music to provoke discussion

Some see iPods as barriers. I see them as springboards for discussion.

Every time I took a trip like this I bought my adult leaders a simple little tool that proved to be very resourceful: a Y-jack. Yes… just a simple jack that you plug into an iPod that changes one earphone output to two.

It worked like this. My adult leaders would sit next to a kid with an iPod, pull out a set of headphones and a Y-jack and say, “Mind if I plug in?”

This little question in itself yielded great responses. Most kids responded, “Sure.” They actually liked the fact that an adult was taking an interest in their music. But some kids (Christian kids especially) are apprehensive to oblige to this little proposal. The reason? They don’t want us to know what they are listening to.

As you can see, the opportunities for conversation are great.

I always advise my staff. “Try not to lecture, try to ask a lot of questions.”

I like asking the following:

• Who is this artist?
• What is he/she singing about?
• Do you believe him/her?
• What do you think most kids hear when they listen to this song?
• Do you think it effects them? How?
• Do you think it effects you? How?

Music always provides great discussion jump-starters. It sometimes helps to jump on iTunes before a trip like this and review some of the top music, Google the lyrics and become familiar with some of the mainstream artists. This little bit of research can help you articulate some good questions, and eventually provide a few answers if the opportunity arises.

What are some ways that you have handled music / connecting in the past ?

 

Real Steel: Persevere Your Faith

If you click the link below, you will be directed to the trailer of the movie. I am not a huge movie buff, but this one is one that has piqued my interest.

Real Steel Movie Trailer (2)

There is also something that I enjoy doing and that is film & theology nights. Where you watch a movie and then you discuss spiritual elements out of it. Even though the crowd was small a few Sunday’s ago; we did this with the movie – THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU. We had a great discussion on choices, free-will and predestination.

In this movie, the theme of preserving your faith will rise to the surface.

Through my connections with LINC and their diligent work on teaming up current themes and the lectionary; we will be taking a look at three scriptures:

1 Kings 19:1-15

1 Timothy 6:9-16

Exodus 17:8-16

Here are some of the key topics that we will be exploring:

Plenty of things in life can make us feel like we just took a right hook to the head from a boxing robot. When we get knocked down, God calls us to get back up and keep going.

The “good fight of faith” isn’t about who hits the hardest. It’s about invoking the will and the spirit of God to preserve and grow in faith.

We don’t compete in the good fight of faith all alone. We are surrounded by brothers and sisters in faith who support us and cheer us on when we get knocked down or feel like we can’t go on.

Tonight, some of our students will study this in our current theme class and then we will be going and seeing the movie on Saturday. We will see what our reactions will be to both.

Book Review: More Lost Than Found

This past weekend while my daughter was having surgery, I decided that I would download two books onto my Kindle to take to the hospital and read. The first book that I chose was More Lost Than Found by Jared Herd. I have been familiar with Jared for years through Big Stuf Camps, Orange Conference and the XP3 curriculum that I have used and continue to use.

Here is the product description from Amazon:

I vaguely remember finding Jesus when I was a child, but I vividly recall losing him.”

Jared Herd grew up the son of a preacher, baptized in religion before he was ever baptized in church. As a child, his parents went through a painful and public divorce, and Jesus became a distant memory, like an artifact of childhood that gets put away and forgotten.

Eventually Jared broke a promise he made to himself and walked back into church. He realized the problem wasn’t God- it was how he had been told to think about God.

Like Jared, teenagers and young adults are leaving the church in astonishing numbers. Something is obviously wrong. Is the problem Jesus? Or is the problem how we have been told to think about Jesus?

Perhaps you’ve always wondered how music, movies, friends, or anything on the outside of Christianity could relate to your life inside of it. Perhaps something in your life keeps you from believing you would ever fit in as a believer. Maybe you were always told what to become, but no one tried to understand how you became who you are.

In More Lost Than Found, Jared Herd comes alongside anyone who has ever struggled with faith to reengage them in the truth they long to hear. If you have ever felt you didn’t fit at church or had questions about God, maybe it’s time to give your faith another chance. God wants to find you where you are. 

My Thoughts

I appreciated the book that Jared has penned down. I know that there are many who are describing this book as average to even below average and there are many that are describing that he is moving away from tradition Christian teaching. I differ on both of those statements. I think that it is a good read and that there are things in the book that will give you plenty to ponder. I am going to give a few thoughts/quotes that I highlighted.

Illusion vs. Reality

He talks about illusion and reality and he shares this statement:

Whenever religion forces you to forgo who you are and where you are, choose to trade that pressure for a walk with God into his reality.

I think that many individuals struggle with illusions versus reality.

Disillusionment / Doubt / Pain

These three words have been coming up in various places for me lately and Jared talked about them in one of his chapters. A good friend, Kathy Escobar, finished a fantastic book a few months ago called Down We Go and she does a tremendous job on devoting a chapter of her book on pain and another chapter on doubt. If you have not read her book; you need to get it – it is a 5-star must read. But, back to Jared and his comment on doubt. Here is the statement/quote:

Most people I know who walk away from faith don’t walk away because of doubt. They walk away because of pain. Perhaps they don’t walk away from God. Perhaps they walk away from religion that doesn’t have room for their disillusionment.

In ministry, I have seen many individuals struggle with this and unfortunately, I think that it is due to the fact that we do not allow individuals to openly wrestly with these three concepts.

Jesus Words

I think that this is a paragraph that many will cringe at when they read and have but I think that we need to explore them a little deeper, here it is:

I don’t think Jesus came to teach people how to become Christian. He came to show people what the human experience should look like. If we let him, the red words of Scripture can lead us out of the illusion created by ingenuity and move us closer toward reality. The beauty of Jesus words isn’t just that they offer salvation, it is that they actually make us thought-provoking, fully engaged, inspiring people when we follow them.

Final Thought

Jared says the following: In the Bible, when Jesus encounters someone, they always leave different than they came. We need to connect with people lately and we need to make sure that with each encounter; individuals are changed.

My Rating

I will go with a 3.5 out of 5