I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. God is trying to teach me something… something about myself and something about other people. From what I’m getting so far is looks like it is all coming back to one thing… Value. I’m seeing it everywhere and in all kinds of people… people I know and people I don’t know as well. Everyone is living to feel valued… loved… accepted by someone… everyone lives hoping that somewhere out there in this thing they see as their life there is some hope, some inkling of purpose and value.

People will do anything for it. Anything.

Something inside of us needs to know that we were created for something and that this something somehow is connected to someone that gives us great value. People try to find their value in so many different area’s. I work with teenagers… many have broken homes, bad family relationships, feel lonely… confused… hurt… angry… and sometimes even numb. I would venture to say that teenagers are not the only ones that feel like this… it just seems that they show it more openly than the “grown up” world.

In this giant web of feelings and emotions it seems people try to find something that makes it stop… not go numb but makes the sense of worthlessness morph into value… even if its only temporary. It only shows how meaningful value is to people and how much we need it. To know someone cares about us and if we get up in the morning… to know that there is something that makes us feel like we are smart, funny, accepted… fill in the blank. It only shows that we were created, made, designed, molded to need and crave someone to value us. It’s in our makeup, it’s in humanity… it’s people, bare and open with nothing else cluttering up who they are… it shows who we are and our dependency on the value we need.

Like I said earlier I’ve been seeing this concept more and more around me, in the people I know and do not know. I watch many teenagers give their entire heart and soul to someone else… usually called a boyfriend or girlfriend, in the search to feel valued. Now, if you are a teenager reading this blog… Do not shut me off… here me out. This is important, it matters I’m not anti boyfriend/girlfriend if it is right…

They get completely wrapped up and consumed by this other person. They think about them all the time, write songs for them, send them letters, myspace their love for them, announce to the entire world that “they are their everything, one true love, their purpose”. They open up their entire heart to them… all their feelings, hurts, time, failures, successes, and questions… They give this other person everything about them not knowing that when you lay down your everything you do not always get everything back when you pick it up… Sometimes you get less and sometimes you get back something entirely different than what was laid down. Time goes by and something happens that causes the relationship to fall apart and die. They are left hurt and bare with nothing else to offer anyone around them that feels new and fresh and valuable… so they pick up the pieces of their failed relationship and that’s who they become… they become the pieces of what they once were and they no longer feel as complete and whole as they once did… instead they struggle to fit together who they are and what their purpose is with all they have to work with… pieces. Pieces to a jigsaw puzzle of their life that they.. know… nothing… about. They are left with the hurt of trusting this other person with their value and being disappointed… let down.

The problem, the danger was not in having a boyfriend/girlfriend… it is in what they gave… everything. It’s dangerous to give another person all your emotions and love without knowing what they will do with it. It happens though because they need to feel valuable. Maybe their home life sucks, maybe they don’t feel beautiful, maybe they are just angry with not knowing who they are, who they were created to be, and life sucks on this side of the fence, to them, so they do whatever they can to find someone who will tell them, They Matter and are loved. And, when they find that person that tells them what they so desperately need to hear they are ready to fight the entire world to have it. In their eyes it’s this person they would fight so hard for but when you look at what’s underneath it’s really them fighting for what they do so desperately need… value and the sense of it they get from this other person. Not knowing that this other person needs value just as much as they do and neither of them are the source or understand enough about value to give it to the other in a means that is lastingly meaningful and eternal. So, this is why they give their everything to this other person because they are constantly trying to be a source of value to the other person and the only way they feel they can do this is by opening up themselves more and laying down more and giving more just to hear one another say I LOVE You and You are my everything… they.. you were not created… to be the source of value to another person… you were created to receive value and in turn be a conduit to show others the real source of love and value…

You were created to be loved and give love.

God made you because he felt in himself that he wanted someone to love and that would love him back. He made you out of himself when he breathed life into you. The scriptures refer to God as love… he is the source of it. God made you out of himself, which is love, so you could love him back. And in doing so you would find your value, your purpose and feel complete because you were doing what you were made to do… Loving God. There is so much more to this than what I can go into just here, perhaps another day.

So, where does this leave you if you are picking up the pieces of who you once were. Perhaps you have already laid down everything and learned the hard way that you do not always get everything back. Where does this leave you?

Like I said God made you to be loved and love him… this is where value comes from and this is where you can give your everything without fear. Even if your everything is already broken. Cause, when you lay down your everything you do not always get everything back when you pick it up… sometimes you get less and sometimes you get back something entirely different than what was laid down. When you lay down your life and everything to God what you get back is something entirely different than what you laid down… Since he is the one who made you… he knows which pieces do not belong to his picture of your life and he knows how the pieces fit together to make the beautiful picture that he originally intended. What you get back is restoration to life as you were created to be… Loved to give love… This is where you find value.

Now, may you find the pieces of your life are not the end, may you lay down your everything to this God who loves you for you, may you find your value not in someone else but in the beautiful picture God made you for, and may you find that when you lay down your everything, broken or not, you sometimes pick back up something that looks entirely different than what you laid down.

I just ran across Craig Groschel and Bobby Gruenewald’s new blog; http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/ . Craig is the author of the free book I listed in a post a while back, Confessions of a Pastor. Both Craig and Bobby have posted some good reading material with some interesting stories. My favorite, so far, is pulling pants down… don’t think about it… just take a short break and read it here. Swerve looks like it is going to be a new blog hotspot before too long. Check it out.

IT’S THANKSGIVING!!!!

This Thanksgiving, may you be aware… may you realize thankfulness is not an emotion but an action… may you stop and enjoy the people you are with… and then.. be thankful for it all.

I ran across a really interesting statistic this week here. I was reading over this article and found that 90% of all Christian churches are small churches, which consists of churches below 100 members. This statistic shocked me and really brought the realization of how powerful the small church really is. I have grown up in small churches all my life since my Dad is a pastor. One of the major issues I see that keeps many small churches from completely reaching their communities is a lack of vision. I can’t tell you how many of these small churches I was in that did not think they had enough money… enough resources… enough people… big enough facilities… or enough of anything else to really make a major impact in their community. A few of the ones that did made it all about getting attendance to a certain number and missed the entire advantage of the small church. Take a look at this:

If you are new to the whole world of blogging, then you are probably beginning to see the benefits of networking or exchanging links between bloggers. Pamela Slim from Escape From Cubicle Nation has compiled a list of the do’s and do not’s of networking in blogs. It is a must read for anyone starting a blog or has been blogging for a while. You can also read more about the list over at Jim’s blog www.churchtechmatters.com

I found a really interesting article today on www.churchmarketingsucks.com about Gateway Community Church  in South Riding Va. Apparently they decided one day to cancel church service to volunteer at 61 area homes in their community. You can read about it at Pete’s blog who is a member at the church. I love this idea. Think creatively about this, are there any elderly people in your congregation that need help around the house, maybe a cooked meal, gutters cleaned, or anything? What about others in the church and outside the church that could use some help… the hungry… poor… homeless… families with parents who have just lost their job and are struggling to make it. Wouldn’t it be great to just show up one Sunday and go out and help in the community to make it a better place… novel idea, huh? Read over the comments for each blog as well, they have some good nuggets of info there too. Oh, and if you can’t stop wondering, the Extreme Makeover Church Edition picture is not really a show… I made a little modification to it.

Well, I was just looking at Bart’s blog The Older Brother and saw a post about knowing how rich we are. Now if we all get honest, there have been times when we just do not think what we have is good enough. Our salaries are not good enough, our cars are not good enough, our stuff just at times does not seem good enough. Well, this website Global Rich List gives you a simple tool to see where you rank in "Richness" (my new word:) compared to the rest of the world. Let me tell you, it is humbling. The tool has a ranking on it that will adjust to show you where you compare. If you were to ask me if I was rich, initially I would have told you, "probably not… I could use some extra cash just like anyone else." Well, I tested my "Richness" and was very surprised at where I ranked. So, in true Mythbusters fashion I wanted to see what was considered low end, or poor. So I took a salary of only $1,500 a year, that’s $125 a month… and tested it. I was surprised at what came out. A person making only $1,500 a year would still be ranked in the top 24.8% of the richest people in the world. We are rich… and we don’t even know it. I have placed a link below so you can see your "Richness". You may be surprised.

- Learn more about Nspire church software by going to www.nspiresoftware.com -

Are you a Pastor? Ministry Worker? Ecstatic Techno Church Geek? and looking to start a blog? If so you may want to check out this blog at Church Communications Pro. They have started a post called "Blogging 101 for Pastors (or Pasture’s if you have seen the skitguys video). This is a great post that is interviewing nearly 50 bloggers in the church blog realm.

This is a great place to get some inside tips from seasoned church bloggers if you are considering getting into the blog-o-sphere. Also check out Jim Walton’s interview for this blog here. Jim is the author of www.churchtechmatters.com , a blog all about church technology. Check it out!

- Learn more about Nspire church software by going to www.nspiresoftware.com -

I just ran across this promotion twice today. Get Craig Groeschel’s book "Confessions of a Pastor" for free from Mpbooks.com I heard about this through a magazine first but then saw it again on www.churchvideoideas.com (which by the way is a great church "techie" blog). One last note, they are only giving the book away to the first 1,000 requests, so make your request quick.

So, I went to a conference yesterday afternoon where I heard Ron Luce of Teenmania speak. He is traveling the U.S. telling church leaders about the state of our youth generation. Now, we all could probably agree that media has somewhat of an effect on our kids (Everyone could agree to this, if not go hang out with your local youth pastor and at the youth services and you will catch on). Ron brought to the table some very disturbing stats and info. The scariest of all the information that he had was this, "Only 4% of this youth generation are Bible believing Christians." This is the first time this has ever happened in American History!!!

The truth is the largest generation will determine what America turns out to be. Let me explain. The Baby Boomers were 28 million strong and the largest generation of their time. Everything has been effected by the Baby Boomers. From finances, to technology, to church as we know it today… all effected by the Baby Boomers. Well, if you are experienced in youth ministry you know our current generation of youth are referred to as the Millennials, which are 33 million strong. Remember the LARGEST determines what happens… let me hit the point home for you. Refer to the stats below.

Percentage of Bible-based believers per generation:

65% WWII Generation

35% Baby Boomers

16% Generation X

4% Millenials (This Generation of youth)

Now think of it like this. If only 35% of the Baby Boomers were Bible based believers, what does only 4% look like. Like I said earlier, the largest generation determines what America looks like. With 35% of the Baby Boomers, notably the most influential generation to date, as bible believing Christians; America has still seen corrupted laws and rampant degrade of Christian morals and beliefs. If America has experience this with 35% of the decision making generation as Bible based believers, how much worse do you think 4% will look?

Ron Luce has created this campaign called BattleCry to bring this awareness to the church. If the church does not reach out and teach this generation then in 5 years you and me will be living in a Post Christian nation… Officially. We have all the information… We have all the tools… we need to use them! "More than 2/3rds of all adults who have given their lives to Christ, made their decision before the age of 18." (from Wake Up Call Event Journal) This generation of youth will determine what the church looks like in 5 years… What are you doing to reach them?

You can read all the details and find out what you can do by going to www.battlecry.com . If you have a church blog… church website… or anything, read up on this crisis through battlecry and post a message. The ENTIRE church needs to know about this. If you use Nspire, I encourage you to utilize this tool we have made. Use the attendance, it’s not all about bar-coding, it’s about knowing who was not there… knowing what is going on in your peoples lives, especially for you youth pastors out there using Nspire. If you do not have a church software, I recommend you get one… any one… whether it is Nspire or not… get something that you can use. Nspire is not the end all be all of church software, we did not make it to be that, but there is a church software out there that will work for you… I suggest find it and lets start reaching out to these kids and getting the church involved in their lives… Not just the Youth minister. Church Software can help you track the details, this is the only reason I am getting off on this tangent, somewhat. It is important.. It will help you… and it matters. The cost is minimal for the benefit.

If you have questions, post a comment here or contact us by email or phone. Remembers to read over the battlecry website.