My friend had this video on his blog. It’s a short film with a great message!
I have been pondering, studying, and thinking a lot about heaven, life after death, and “life after life after death” (as N.T. Write calls it). I have been studying the Scriptures, early church beliefs, church tradition, as well as more recent understandings. Last week I met with the single dad of one of my students. After talking about a few things I asked him what seemed to me to be a simple, natural question, but an e-mail the next day revealed that it was in fact a powerful question that had deep significance for him. The question I asked? “How are you doing with all of the things that you have been through?”
Here’s the e-mail he sent me the next day:
PK, Thanks not only for hearing me out, but especially for asking how my life is going. That question is rare. It means a lot to me.
What an interesting statement and a sad commentary on our culture – even within the church. Questions are a powerful tool that we have to help others. That’s why I wrote a book of questions (What Would You Do? 500 Questions to Get Teens Talking).
What good questions have you asked this week?
What are some good questions you can ask in your encounters this coming week?
Lord, help us to demonstrate our care for others through asking good, open, powerful questions. Amen.
This Christmas we decided as a family that rather than Christmas being about presents for us we wanted to give in a more substantial way to help others as well. We prepared shoe boxes with toys, school supplies, and candy for children at our friend’s orphanage in Mexico City which we are sending along with about 35 other shoe boxes prepared by students in our youth ministry. We also decided to give the gift of fresh water through the digging of a well as well as chickens to help a family be able to eat and provide additional income through World Vision. If you would like to consider doing something similar, follow this link to World Vision to see these and many other options for giving: http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?lpos=top_drp_WaysToGive_GiftCatalog&go=gift&§ion=10024
10 Minute Moments is a new devotional book by Kurt Johnson designed especially for Jr. High students. I decided to put the book to the test by giving it to Olivia, a 7th grade students who has been following Jesus for about a year. After a few weeks I asked her for her honest feedback. Here it is … raw, unedited, and straight from the mouth of the target audience:
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On Tuesday I had to do some grocery shopping for our youth leaders’ network Christmas party. When I got to the register, however, I realized that I had forgotten my tax exempt form. I called the church and asked one of the secretaries to fax it to the store. While I was waiting, I allowed a couple of ladies to pass me in line. Having nothing else to do, and waiting near the end of the check out line, I decided to bag their groceries for them. When the first lady realized that I did not work for the store she thanked me for helping, adding that I didn’t have to do it. I told her I was glad to help. On her way out, she told me she had been having a really bad day, and that I had “restored [her] faith in the decency of humanity” through my kindness. I thought that was an intriguing line. Of course, I know that God was using it to do more than that, and ultimately I trust that it was pointing her beyond humanity to our Creator and His love for His children.
REVKEVJR.COM 
