We’re Here!  The grace of God covered us and led us through every leg of our journey yesterday.  We arrived safely in DC on Wednesday night and when I said the van would load at 6:45 there were a few groans, however the excitement was already flowing when half the group was waiting at the vans before 6:45 to load up.  We ate breakfast and enjoyed 10 miles of DC rush hour traffic to get to Dulles airport.  The group unloaded at the curb for TACA airlines and when we walked in, the line was winding and extended well past the rope ques.  I was able to ask an airline official about our group of 21 to see if they wanted us to do anything different.  She said she would check us in and made a line that went directly to her desk for our group.  Once the tickets were in hand, my anxiety level dropped drastically.  The next stage would be security, which we were prepared to be rough.  As we entered the security area we walked into an empty line and were happily greeted by TSA agents who were intrigued by our flood of bright yellow shirts.  With two obstacles overcome effortlessly, we went to our gate and enjoyed coffee and doughnuts before take off.  Although some in our group had given me a rough time about a Latin American based airline, we didn’t have to sit with chickens, bring our own chairs, or protect the kids from the fiesta.  Both flights went incredibly smooth.  The first time fliers seemed to really enjoy flying and everyone’s nerves were calmed by the good food and incredible staff.  We had an hour layover in San Salvador, El Salvador and as the first plane landed I was fearful for our luggage making it to the next plane, but from a window we could see Katie’s polka dot luggage and many of our pieces of

The last hurdle to cross would be customs in Costa Rica.  After making it through customs and getting every piece of our luggage safely from the conveyor belt, we went through declarations without a question asked about our saws and drills.  Not a single fear I had about getting a group of 21 people and our luggage through the airport became a reality.  It was rainy here in San Jose as we drove nearly 45 minutes to the AMCA house on the other side of the city.  After unloading our luggage we enjoyed pizza and Pepsi.  The group hung out, unpacked, showered off the day of travelling, and enjoyed a night time reflection about how God’s grace has guided us this far and we are all excited to see what he will do along the next leg of the journey.

The only hiccup we have had in this first few days is that the internet crashed as soon as we got to the house.  I believe a couple of people were able to call home, but it crashed before I could do any group updates.  Such is what we were prepared for being in another country, as with everything, God’s grace will cover this.

Reality has hit...I turned in my Bible this morning to realize that tomorrows date is the day I have been working and planning for since December.  All of the plans go into action tomorrow at 4pm as Summersville Baptist Youth pack two vans and take off toward Manassas, VA where we will spend a night in a hotel before flying to San Jose, Costa Rica for 10 days.  Although the tools are packed, the projects outlined, and the itinerary prepared, I am not sure what to expect.  I am first excited to introduce 20 youth and leaders to short term mission work and to watch them grow as they experience God through this experience.  Second, I am excited to partner with JD Reed before he heads to Bolivia, and to help with a local church and orphanage.  I am, third, excited to return to the place where I believe God laid the initial seeds that grew into a commitment of full time ministry when I was a teenager.  But overall, I'm not sure what to expect.  I read this morning in Acts 8 when God led Philip to an Ethiopian in a chariot.  In my mind I picture Philip thinking to himself "I'm not sure why I'm chasing this chariot, but we'll see what God has in store" and then as he's running beside the chariot he overhears scripture being read out loud.  When  he hears this and gets the opportunity of explaining the passage from Isaiah to the Ethiopian and realizes that God put him there to change a mans life.  My hope as we travel to Costa Rica is that we show up at the right place and time and God uses us in powerful ways.  I know we have been called there for a purpose and I am most excited as we embark on this journey to discover how God will use us.  Psalm 130:5 says "I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope."  I with the Psalmist can say, I wait with hope and anticipation to be used for your glory, God!

Parenting

Recently parents have been at the front of my mind.  I am coming to the realization that although I am a youth pastor, the parents of the teens I serve spend a lot more time and have a lot more opportunities to shape their kids than I do.  I desire to be a resource to parents and help them engage their kids in ways that are meaningful.  A few weeks ago I watched a video on Youtube that a father had posted on his daughters Facebook page.  The father was reacting to a letter his daughter had posted on Facebook after she blocked her parents from her page.  At the end of the video, the dad tells his daughter that she is grounded and then proceeds to shoot her laptop with a .45 pistol.  I have mixed emotions about the ordeal, but respect the dad for doing what he thought he needed to do to drive home his point to his daughter.  This morning the Today show aired an interview with the parents and their daughter.  I take away two points from this interview you can watch below.  First of all, as a parent, you will not always do the right thing, however, accepting that with humility is a wonderful lesson to learn and to teach your children. The second lesson that is valuable for all of us is that what you post on any social networking site can be seen by millions of people whether you intend on it to or not.  I'm sure this dad felt that he would make a statement to his daughter and her friends, but never dreamed he'd be answering thousands of emails a day in response to this.  It makes us think through what we do and how we post things for the world to see.  Check out the interview and see what you think.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

40 days of Prayer

Over the past few weeks we have been talking about Lent in the Boso household. Carmen has been blogging recently about Philippians 2 and not complaining. Although that has been a challenge to me in my attitude about many things, I do not feel as if that is the area I need to focus on during the next 40 days known as Lent. I have contemplated giving up foods, things, thoughts, etc. and even looked at adding things to my life, but with 2 seminary classes and multiple youth activities and family obligations on my plate I really could not add anything else to my routine.

I have felt really bad leading up to today when I was asked, "what are you giving up for Lent?" I would answer "I don't have a clue." I even resigned myself to just going through the next 40 days as normal. This morning, however, in my time with God felt that the most transforming thing I could do for the next 40 days is pray. I am ashamed to say that prayer occupies a very small percentage of my time. This is no doubt very disappointing as a Christian, but even more so as a minister who tells people that prayer changes things and the first thing we should do is pray.

My lame excuse for not praying has been "I'm very busy, have lots to do." Then I stumbled on this quote by Martin Luther about prayer:"If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer."

I am no where close to spending 3 hours a day in prayer, and the thought that I have so much to do that I cannot afford not to pray is very much true. I am so busy and have so much on my plate that if I am going to be effective at anything I must rely on God to work in my life and through the situations of every day.

So I am making this commitment for Lent, to spend an hour each day in prayer. My plan is to give up my lunch hour every day to get away and alone with God. Jesus spent 40 days alone in the wilderness and so through this season I will spend 40 hours alone with God being transformed and shaped into the man he wants me to be. My hope is that prayer becomes a necessity in my life that grows to even more time each day so that I can say like Luther "I have so much to do, I cannot get it done without spending my time daily in prayer."

Every Student, Every School

After attending the Dare2Share Un-tour conference in Columbus, experiencing some hard situations in youth ministry, and watching the movie "To Save a Life" I have been wrestling with how we as adults can reach out and make a difference in the lives of teenagers.

Last week I posted this on my facebook: "I need some help from the teen crowd. If you could tell a church full of adults the moat (should have said most) important thing they should know about you what would it be? Email me or send me a private message so you can have the freedom to share your heart. Thanks!"

In response to this question I got a variety of answers and developed a sermon that spoke to these situations. I also got a host of adults that wanted to see the responses. I feel it would be inappropriate of me to resend those posts or give out names, but I used the information I gathered in this sermon that I hope does justice to the responses I received. The overwhelming response from teens is that they want adults to understand them. I have sought to reinterpret what understand means and figure out how we can connect with teens in a relational way. I know this isn't the way most blogs go, but I think the text from this sermon has started a response from teens and adults alike that should be shared.

I preached the following sermon at Summersville Baptist Church on Sunday February 27, 2011.

Very rarely do I use the pulpit as a place to advocate for the teenagers I serve. I know you are used to hearing me make announcements, beg for food, or see goofy pictures of us playing messy games. But today I want to share my heart with you. Obviously there is a huge place in my heart for teenagers or I would not be a youth pastor. In the past few months I have been confronted with the hurt and pain that teenagers deal with regularly. To some teenagers are like aliens, you aren’t sure how to deal with them, to others they might be a nuisance, and others see them as a blessing and joy.

I read a blog this week about a teacher named Natalie Munroe from Philadelphia. Some observations she had made about students were discovered on her blog and have made national headlines. Among her observations she said "My students are out of control. They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying. Kids, they are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS.[1]"

If you are a parent, teacher, or just general observer who deals with teenagers on a regular basis you might agree with Munroe. However there are teenagers who are motivated, passionate, polite, loving, selfless, etc. I can point you to teens in our church who give up their time to babysit so parents can attend church activities, who teach younger kids the sports they love instead of investing completely in their own success, our youth group supports a girl named Marwa in Israel with the spare change they bring every week. More than 50 kids will give up food for 30 hours in a few weeks to raise money and awareness for world hunger, and on a weekly basis I have a student tell me a story about a conversation they have had telling a friend about Jesus.

There are a great deal of people who want to jump on board with writing off teenagers because of the lazy, disrespectful, selfish, entitled stereotype, but the reality is, these kids need a transforming relationship with Jesus and need someone who will walk with them and show them how to live a life that honors Jesus. The rants of Munroe and other teachers might be a cry of frustration or disillusionment as they have set out to make a difference in the world, for others it might be the lack of understanding of teenagers that deters your interaction with them

I did an informal survey this past week to find out what teenagers wish a church full of adults would know about them. Needless to say I got some interesting responses like this one:

Facebook post “I would tell them that even though I'm a teenager doest mean I don't have time for God. I always put him first. He is and always will be my main priority.p”

“don’t underestimate us!”
“I feel like we’re constantly judged by little things”
“I wanted to talk more about Jesus, but it's hard because it seems like a lot of adults want us to be quiet”

We might expect they wanted things done their way or more freedom, but the overwhelming response was that teenagers want to be understood. I know what you are thinking, “I wish I could understand them”. If I can add my interpretation into this, I don’t know that understanding the lyrics to their music, or the way they dress, or how to tweet, flikr, myspace, blog, txt, or facebook is what they mean. In a world where teenagers are harsh to each other and trying to figure out who they are, they desire to be heard and seen and know that someone values them for who they are.

This hurt is present here in Nicholas County. We have kids that are resorting to drugs, alcohol, hurting themselves, and hurting others all because they feel invisible, unloved, outcast, or misunderstood. And please hear me, this isn’t those kids from somewhere else, it is here, in our church and in our schools and we have the ability to make a difference.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses was reminding the people of Israel of how God had rescued them out of the slavery of Egypt. How God had provided a path across the Red Sea with the Egyptians chasing at their heels, and how God had provided food and water in the desert. The men and women listening to Moses had experienced the salvation that God offers and so were told in Chapter 4:

Deuteronomy 4:9-11 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁹ Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” ¹¹ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

Out of experience, God wanted the people to pass on their experiences to their children. The hope that Israel has in God is to be passed from the parents on to the children and grandchildren. The love of God and the relationship that you share with God, share that with the children.

The burden of responsibility lays on us as adults to share the hope that we have. The experiences we have gathered through our lives help us to look at breakups, homework, chores, friendship problems, athletic disappointments, and other monumental events in a teenagers life and see that they are mild compared to other things life offers, however my hope is that our experience of survival and hope in the midst of these situations enables us to provide hope and comfort when a child or teen experiences these hurts. After all, these are the experiences that will shape them. The lessons we help them discover in these times will develop their character.

Ultimately, we hold the burden to share Jesus with these kids. And in this changing culture a weekly church service is less influential than a personal relationship in leading someone to Jesus. Barna.org did research in 2004 that said that more than 75% of adults who make a decision to follow Jesus do so before the age of 18[2]. This is good news. We have lots of opportunity around us.

What this means is that we need to be involved with kids in a way that makes a difference. Being a coach, writing letters or cards, taking them out for icecream, showing your appreciation when you see them at church, teaching Sunday School, working with AWANA or the youth group on a regular basis. Going to games or band concerts to encourage our kids, reading to school kids or volunteering at the High School or Middle School. These are ways that we can pass on the hope and experience we have because of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the midst of social media like facebook, myspace, twitter, texting, and cell phones, studies have shown that although a younger generation is hyper-connected with technology, they feel more alone than ever. It is hard to convey the full truth of love, hope, and worth in 140 characters. So I offer hope. For those of you who do not tweet, text, blog, or facebook, your ability to relate to someone face to face, say hello, give a hug, high five, handshake or smile is exactly the qualities that teenagers today need. If you write letters or send cards you could pass on an art that is fading away in the face of technology. Your ability to quilt, crochet, bait a worm, or identify a tree while on a walk could be used by God to speak love and truth into a life that feels invisible or alone.

I got a text from a college student this week that said “I don’t check my mailbox much, but I did this week and it was full of letters from people at the church, thanks!” Overwhelm them with love in ways that are unexpected.

Now don’t get me wrong, not every teen feels invisible or alone. There are a lot of kids that are on fire to tell their friends about Jesus and want to change Nicholas County and the world for Jesus. These kids need your help as well. They need prayer, ideas, resources, and encouragement when they succeed, struggle, or fail to do what God has called them.

In 1 Thesselonians 2:8 Paul says that “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” The idea of sharing your life, your experience, your knowledge, your heart is what kids today need. The overwhelming response from the kids I talked to shows that they really want you in their lives. They want to see you living out your faith and encouraging them to do so as well. They want to hear your successes and failures so that they can learn from them.

We have been challenging our students to reach out to other students to share the Cause of Christ, telling them the good news of Jesus and making disciples who make disciples. There is a website printed in your bulletin: www.everyschool.com. I want to challenge you to visit that site and adopt a school. You can sign up to pray for the students, to help equip and train students, to start or help with a campus ministry. This is a way that we can connect students, adults, and ministry leaders to reach every student and every school in America for the Cause of Christ. If you aren’t web savy and want some help, ask a kid or teenager to help you, enjoy the time that you get to share together.

Our youth ministry has over 80 middle school and high school students that have attended at some point since September. In the upcoming months I am going to print cards with a name, picture, and address and give you an opportunity to adopt a kid to pray for, send cards to, and encourage in their relationship with Jesus. If you want to be even more involved than that, talk to me and I’d love to help you get connected with the ministry that God can use you to make an impact.

As Christians it is our task to give an answer to anyone, teenager, child, or adult, who asks the reason for the hope that we have. We can take on the example of Paul and more importantly Jesus to not only share the Good News of salvation, but to share our lives as well. We have a great opportunity to reach a generation that is searching for something a lot deeper than TV and video games.

Let me close with this plea and challenge from a teenager: Not all teenagers are "bad" kids. Even though we don't say it most of the time, we definatly look up to you for guidance. We don't always need you to come up with great pieces of advice to give us; but to just listen to us when we have a problem can mean the world sometimes. When you mess up, don't be afraid to admit it. We all make mistakes and it makes me admire you more when you can admit when you've done something wrong to try to fix it. If you don't have the answer to a question it's okay to say you don't know the answer. I love listening to your stories about when you were in high school. I love it when people tell me they are praying for me. In my opinion that is one of the nicest things you can do for someone. Trust me, we definatly need all the prayer we can get! :)

---

[1] Walt Mueller, learning my lines…http://learningmylines.blogspot.com/. Accessed 2/26/11.

[2]Barna Group, Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/196-evangelism-is-most-effective-among-kids?q=conversion+age. Accessed 2/26/2011.

I just finished my last big paper for the semester. I have completed 5 classes this spring. With all of the papers I have been writing, I have also been amazed at the amount of books I have read already this year. This is definately not me bragging, but I have read some pretty good stuff. I figured I would throw some books out here that I have enjoyed in the past couple years just as suggestions and food for thought.

Marva Dawn. Joy in Divine Wisdom.

Jim Henderson & Matt Casper. Jim and Casper go to Church.

Neil Cole. Organic Church.

Frank Viola and George Barna. Pagan Christianity.

Barbara Brown Taylor. Leaving Chruch.

John Shea. An Experience Named Spirit.

Mark Labberton. The Dangerous Act of Worship.

Francis Chan. Forgotten God.

Kenneth Curtis, Stephen Lang, and Randy Petersen. The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History.

Jesse Rice. The Church of Facebook.

Mark DeVries. Sustainable Youth Ministry.

Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart.

It is always interesting to see what people are reading, because these are the things that have been shaping my thoughts over the past many months. I would have to say my top 3 most influential have been:


3: Sustainable Youth Ministry
2: Organic Church
1: The Dangerous Act of Worship

So there it is, this is what is shaping me.

to Blog or not to Blog...

Over the past month I have cranked out over 50 pages of written material for seminary classes. I only have about 30 more pages to write in the next two weeks. In all of this I keep wondering, "do I really have that much to say?" I have started using the blog reader on iGoogle and enjoy gaining bits of info and life from all kinds of people. But one question I keep asking myself is "can I contribute anything?" Well I don't know if I can contribute, but I guess if I can write papers about nonviolence, worship, ethics, and reflections of my personal and theological experiences, I might as well put something in blog form in a way to journal out loud. Maybe something I say will touch someone else, and maybe it is just therapeutic. Either way, I am going to give this a shot.

This past week I had a conversation with our revival speaker, Mark Allen, and we talked about the use of blogs. I guess some people use their blogs as a soap box, and I'll probably do that occasionally, some might ask questions, and others share too much personal info. I'm sure I will be guilty of all of these as I chart my path through the world of blogging. Well back to writing papers.