Venti--Jesus, No room, please.

photo by spcummings


Youth Ministry Resources, Ideas and Activities Keeping Pace: Addressing Teen Trends in Ministry YouthWorker.com

I get to teach this Sunday in the Internationals ABF. The ABF comprises people from nations within our church and community who come together and learn more about God every Sunday at 11am in Room 142 at Wooster Grace.

I am continuing the series on cults and other beliefs where the challenge is to discover the main tenets of various faiths and then to discern how to share one's story of faith with others.

As Greg Stier (founder of Dare2Share Ministries) states, “Starbucks Spirituality” Will Become More Prevalent. He sees the ghettoizing of the Christian worldview where the world will see only greater distorted perceptions of Christianity." He cites one result of this compartmentalization as “Starbucks spirituality”—"the customized, 'made to order' picking and choosing of beliefs from varying religious worldviews. For example, a Starbucks-spirituality approach might pull a tenet from Buddhism, add an aspect of Wiccan and blend it with a few core beliefs of Christianity. To counter this phenomenon, it is essential that Christian teens be grounded in the core doctrines of the faith."

So my intent is to challenge the Internationals ABF to share their faith in light of the Starbucks Spirituality prevalent in our culture. In fact, I intend to challenge them to engage in one good conversation with someone this week and to share what happened.

I love the song by Casting Crowns, "Everyman," which puts the burden of outreach on the one professing faith in Christ. The lyrics of the second chorus says at the end, "Will we help them understand? Jesus is hope for every man."

It is our privilege and responsibilty to go and to share what God is doing in our lives. I wonder if you can engage a conversation this week where you start from where the person you talk to is versus where you want the person to be. To be more clear, discover a new person's story and then share your own story with them. You can start today. So share what happens here with me.