Want more FREE ideas?
Jonathan's FREE Ezine
Subscribe
FREE RESOURCES & IDEAS ARTICLES & HOW TO'S RECOMMENDED SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND RSS PRINTER FRIENDLY
HOME ABOUT US CONTACT US THE ONLY RESOURCES FOR SALE HELP

TheSource4YM.com
Jonathan's Resource Ezine

Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
 Tuesday, November 23, 2004

In This Issue

If you aren't a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe - it's free - just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner.

Featured Article: Madonna... Searching for Something?

by Jonathan McKee
November 23, 2004

I was channel surfing the other day and saw Madonna on the news. CNN's Richard Quest was interviewing her about her children's book and politics ... but the conversation strayed:
    QUEST: A final thought. If your daughter decided to prance around the stage in her underwear, singing and hollering, would you approve?

    MADONNA: If she was an adult, there's, you know, not a lot I could do about it. She would be free to make that choice.

    QUEST: Would you approve? If she behaved like you, if she mirrored your life to some extent, as a mother, who's now essentially found a spiritual way of life, would you approve?

    Madonna started to respond ... but then pondered the question for a moment. Five seconds of awkward silence passed. Then she finally spoke.

    MADONNA: Probably not.
    (CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports, Aired November 15, 2004 - 17:00 ET)
I confess ... I was surprised to see her admit that. But this isn't the first time Madonna has revealed her heart in an interview. Madonna is typical of this heartbroken, hurting generation. Even though she seems like she's pushing God away ... she has realized that she's missing something ... she's searching for something.

I talk about this in my new book. Years ago in a Vogue interview she talked about her struggle with feelings of inadequacy:
    "I have an iron will and all of my will has always been devoted to conquering some horrible feelings of inadequacy. I'm always struggling with that fear. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being of worth and then I get to another stage and I think I'm mediocre and uninteresting and worthless and I have to find a way to get myself out of that again and again. My drive in life is from this horrible feeling of being inadequate and mediocre and it is always pushing me, and pushing me and pushing me. Because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am SOMEBODY. My struggle has never ended and it probably never will."
No matter how much "the unchurched" seem to want to push away God, secretly they are searching for something to fill the emptiness in their lives.

I know, I know. You're thinking, "What? Madonna interested in God? ‘Like a Virgin' Madonna? ‘Papa Don't Preach' Madonna? ‘Kiss Brittany' Madonna?" You might even conclude, "Empty ... yes! But ‘looking for God?' No way!"

But even the most die-hard atheists are secretly looking for an anchor. Lee Strobel (Author, A Case for Christ, A Case for Faith) attests to this. I asked Lee, an ex-atheist, about this in an interview I had with him:
    JONATHAN: In that book (Harry & Mary), one of your points was that "people are morally adrift but secretly want an anchor." An encouraging point to those of us sharing our faith- because of the ramifications- "people want something more than the empty life they're leading- whether they admit it or not!" Yesterday you shared that, as an atheist, you felt like something was missing. But because you didn't want to feel guilty about your behavior, you used to use your atheism as an excuse for your actions ... ?

    LEE: Well I think that atheists ... in my experience, have some intellectual, and sometimes considerable intellectual issues involved with Christianity. But often those are used to mask underlying moral or emotional issues that, I think, were both true in my case. I think the questions I had intellectually were legitimate, but at the same time I used them, not as a platform to pursue truth, but a defense mechanism to keep Christianity away. So it didn't infringe upon my morals or cause me to deal with emotional issues that kept me away from God.

    JONATHAN: So when you wrote that point about "secretly wanting an anchor," was that strictly from your life or did you observe people having this up front shell, but underneath feeling empty?

    LEE: Well, my friends in the newspaper business who lived very raucous, wild lives- as a person- I think really deep down inside, they were coming to the realization that this is not the path to happiness. That it was not leading them where they want to go. And yet they knew nothing else but to continue to pursue it. And I think down inside they were looking for some framework for their lives- some anchor for their lives. And, um ... some have found it and many of them haven't.
The "unchurched" are looking for something. Unchurched kids are searching to fill the hole in their heart. They are trying to fill that void with things that don't belong there like possessions, popularity, drugs and alcohol. But nothing works. So they continue to question.

The harvest is ready.

Are we ready to reach out to them?

LEARN MORE ABOUT REACHING OUT TO "THE UNCHURCHED"
IN JONATHAN'S NEW BOOK,
"DO THEY RUN WHEN THEY SEE YOU COMING?
REACHING OUT TO UNCHURCHED TEENAGERS."
CLICK HERE FOR THAT BOOK!

Jonathan McKee is president of The Source for Youth Ministry and author of the new book "Do They Run When They See You Coming? Reaching Out to Unchurched Teenagers." (CLICK HERE FOR THE BOOK) Jonathan speaks and trains across the country and provides free online resources, training, & ideas for youth workers at www.TheSource4YM.com

Something You Can Use: Toilet Seat Toss

Talk about "crappy" games! (Sorry ... I couldn't resist!)

Even if your group doesn't like "games" ... this is a fun up-front activity you can have a few students do on stage, entertaining the rest.

This game is basically the same as playing horse shoes but with a twist. Instead of using actual metal horse shoes and metal stakes you use two plungers as the stakes and two toilet seats as the shoes. Just stick the plungers on the ground 20 feet apart (a flat smooth surface is usually best) with the handles sticking up in the air. (Practice beforehand so you can figure out if you need to use duct tape for extra securing!)

Then toss the toilet seats and try to ring them around the plunger opposite your team. It is good to have a few extra seats around incase they break and the padded ones I found are more durable. Second hand is fine as long as they are clean. I have used this at a western themed event.

Materials needed: 2 plungers & 2 toilet seats

Added by Mark Janzen

CHECK OUT MORE OF OUR GAME AND UP-FRONT ACTIVITY IDEAS
ON OUR GAMES & ICEBREAKERS PAGE


One of the Greatest Resources for Training Your Leaders: Get the "Ready-made" PowerPoint Seminar called "Reaching Out to The Unchurched" for FREE with a pre-order of Jonathan's New Book.


Only two weeks left to pre-order Jonathan's new book!

Why do you care?

Good question: because we're giving away one of the greatest resources for training your leaders, both student and adult, to reach out to "the unchurched."

 CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AND CD

A GREAT RESOURCE TO MOTIVATE AND EQUIP YOUR LEADERS
One of the great resources on the new 2005 Outreach Resource CD is the "ready-made" PowerPoint seminar called "Reaching Out to the Unchurched." You can use this 38 slide PowerPoint presentation to teach your student and adult leaders about the mindset of "The Unchurched" today. This presentation parallels chapter 3 in Jonathan McKee's new book, DO THEY RUN WHEN THEY SEE YOU COMING? published by Youth Specialties.
  • LEARN THE TOP 5 BELIEFS THAT RESONATE IN TODAYS POSTMODERN, PAGANISTIC, AND PLURALISTIC SOCIETY

  • LEARN HOW MTV, MOVIES, MUSIC AND CELEBRITIES AFFECT YOUTH CULTURE AND ARE A MEGAPHONE FOR THESE 5 BELIEFS

  • DISCOVER THE GOOD NEWS ... THERE IS HOPE IN REACHING THIS GENERATION.

"Do They Run When They See You Coming" is recommended by Mark Oestreicher, Bo Boshers, Jim Burns, Kurt Johnston, Walt Mueller, Chap Clark, Wayne Rice, and more!


CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK
AND GET THE FREE CD


Jonathan's Resource Ezine from The Source

Delivered free via e-mail to subscribers each week. We encourage you to distribute this newsletter freely and ask only that you not change its contents.

HAVE YOU MISSED PAST "EZINE" ARTICLES?
CLICK HERE FOR JONATHAN'S "EZINE" ARCHIVES

And for more FREE resources and ideas ... go to THE SOURCE
www.TheSource4YM.com

Copyright ©2004 The Source for Youth Ministry
All rights reserved.
JONATHAN'S BRAND
NEW BOOK AVAILABLE
NOW WITH FREE CD!
(CLICK HERE)


Podcast


getting students to show up - the training
CLICK HERE FOR MORE


A Li'l Bit Podcast


iPhone Contest THE SOURCE
iPhone CONTEST...
READ AND WIN!
© 1999-2008 The Source for Youth Ministries           Site Disclaimer
Designed by WebNurds