In an experiment, piranha were placed in a large tank separated from their food by a see through glass divider. After several days of ramming their heads against the glass divider the piranha learned that it was a futile effort to try and get the food. The glass divider was then removed yet they starved to death while [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
Expectations of our Youth (art of connecting pt. 3)
Posted: September 15, 2011 in systemic abandonment, TeensTags: Christ, Down syndrome, God, Jesus, Special Olympics, Student, Youth Ministry
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I’m A Huge Rock Star (youth pastor life skills series pt.5)
Posted: August 10, 2011 in Mental Health, Youth MinistryTags: Health, Jesus, Narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Inventory, Personality disorder, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement
I am currently reading The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement and was struck by the following paragraph: “It’s difficult to say based on hard data whether older adults have shown the same trend toward greater narcissism, as people older than college age have not completed the NPI very often. Are, say, thirty-somethings today [...]
Understanding Family Systems (Exploring Family pt. 1)
Posted: July 13, 2011 in Adolescent Development, Parenting, Youth MinistryTags: Domestic violence, Family, God, Jesus, Parental alienation syndrome
So much has been said about the current state of the family that there’s hardly anything new to add to the conversation. It is regularly reported that the family is under attack and is falling apart due to changes in our culture. However, the future need not be bleak for families that are seeking recovery from [...]
Would Jesus Sit In The Smoking Section With A Gay Huckleberry Finn?
Posted: November 23, 2010 in Drug Abuse, LGBTQ Youth, Self-Injury, Substance Abuse, Teens, Youth MinistryTags: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, AIDS, God, Huck, Huck Finn, Jesus, Mark Twain, Samaritan
In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck wrestles through a moral dilemma about demonstrating true friendship to a stigmatized person of his day – a man who bore a dual stigma of being black in a racist society and slavery in an exploitative one. To help his friend Jim escape meant violating not only [...]
Personal Inventory (youth pastor life skills series pt.3)
Posted: September 20, 2010 in Depression, Grief, Mental Health, Youth MinistryTags: depression, Emotion, Fear, God, Happiness, Health, Jesus, Motivation
It’s important that we stop from time to time and take a sober look at the that of our life and ministry. Scripture says to be ”sober minded” and that requires a regular honest evaluation of or current state of affairs. The following is not an exhaustive list but will give you a good idea, if [...]
Coping With Burnout
Posted: July 1, 2010 in Mental Health, Misc., Spirituality, Teens, Uncategorized, Youth MinistryTags: Abba, Burn-Out, burnout, God, Health, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, Suicide, Youth Ministry, Youth worker
For youth workers (paid or volunteer), there can be nothing more frightening than the belief that something terrible might happen to a student that you have invested so much time and energy in. As a substance abuse counselor, I struggle with the reality that one day someone could overdose and die regardless of how much I try [...]
