Why Students Don't Get It

I read this today and was convicted that we are all students. We must be careful and diligent in what we spend our time on and with. Oh how it is important to know why and what we believe in today's information age.

"When all is said and done, Tiger, we'll either hold fast to the truth, or we'll face the consequences."— Dr. Noebel, President, Summit Ministries

Why Students Don't 'Get It'
By John Stonestreet

If Christian Smith and Melinda Denton are correct,1 our key concern in regards to the next generation is that they "get" Christianity. Our primary focus should turn from whether Christian students like church, or whether they think of Jesus as their best friend, or even whether they know why they believe what they believe (though that has been a useful tag line for Summit Ministries for years). Primarily, if Smith and Denton are correct, our focus should be teaching them what Christianity is because, simply put, they don't get it.
My experience working with students, most having strong histories in conservative evangelicalism (and representing almost evenly home, private Christian, and public schooling), suggests Smith and Denton are right. I often hear students describe their experience of Christianity in these terms: "I've been a Christian my whole life, but I don't really get it." Or, "I prayed the prayer when I was four, but I don't think it stuck." Or, "I committed my life to Christ when I was fifteen, but I am not sure it stuck."
How is it that students who are so deeply engrossed in church culture and who have more access to the Bible, Christian literature, youth programs, and other resources than any generation that has lived since the founding of the church, can be so confused about what Christianity actually is and why it matters? How is it that they possess such a truncated, neutered view of the Kingdom? How is it that these students just don't "get it?"

1. The Distraction Factor
The age of information presents two unique challenges to this generation of students. First, they encounter daily an overwhelming amount of information. Of course, information isn't neutral; it contains, argues, or embodies ideas. Students today swim in a deluge of information. Whether or not there is an absence of the true or the genuine, there is often an inability to find it amidst all the noise and distraction.
Second, they experience this information, with the inherent ideas, differently than previous generations. Information today (especially via the internet) comes without context, without a clear source, and often without narrative. Their lives look more like a random episode of Seinfeld than the start-to-finish Cosby Show. They are not a linear generation.
The result? Neal Postman argued a long time ago, without understanding the full impact of the Internet, that the west had become a silly culture.2 Entertainment had destroyed our ability to think and prioritize. We lack discernment. We care about irrelevant things, and ignore what is actually important.
Unfortunately, the Christian community often responds by heaping "Christian" noise on the rest of the noise. Attempting to be "relevant" to students, we instead contribute to their appetites for distraction. Entertainment has made us silly and Christian entertainment has made our students silly Christians.

2. The Grip of Adolescence
"There was a time, literally, when there were no teenagers."3 In virtually every other culture in the history of the world prior to late 20th century Western culture, kids became adults. Not anymore. Now, they become teenagers or, as we call them, adolescents.
Despite its rather recent history, adolescence goes largely unquestioned as a fixed stage of development. It is fully expected that students will lose their minds from ages 13–18. "Kids will be kids," we say. Only, we aren't referring to kids, we are talking about those who buy, vote, and drive automobiles.
Further, the grip of adolescence continues to forcefully expand. On the front end, we now talk about "pre-teens" (with marketing engines quickly spotting the financial potential). On the back end, whereas eighteen was once considered the end of adolescence, it is now the middle. Adolescence now refers to ages 11 to 30.
But, that's not all. Adolescence is now, and this must not be missed, the goal of our culture. Somewhere along the way, we ceased to be a culture where kids aspire to be adults and became a culture where adults aspire to be kids.
Often, our approaches to youth ministry sanctify adolescence. Whereas teenagers have the capacity (and thus, I would argue, the calling), to think deeply and broadly about their culture, confront evil and injustice, and champion the truth, they instead are encouraged in their adolescent narcissism. It's a neutered Gospel, only about them and their needs, lacking vision (Prov. 29:18).

3. The Cultural Identity Crisis
Darwinism was the central battleground of worldviews in the late 1800s, the reliability of Scripture in the early to mid 20th century, and truth for the Gen Xers. While these issues are still very important, most of the contemporary worldview battles are rooted in a basic disagreement of what it means to be and live as human.
Today's students enter a world of runaway biotechnology, postmodern social constructions of gender, virtual online identities, family redefinition, distorted understandings of beauty, and multiple sexual orientations, each of which fundamentally challenge our concept of humanness. Further, our culture has largely embraced Darwin, trivialized Scripture, and relativized truth, and therefore left few stable resources to negotiate this corporate identity crisis.
At the same time, clear teaching on what it means to be imago dei is largely neglected in the church. Conservatives, as Nancy Pearcey noted,4 often begin the redemption story in Genesis 3 rather than Genesis 1. The fall, though taught, lacks context (from what have we fallen? To what will we be redeemed?) On the other hand, liberalism replaces the rule and responsibility endowed upon humanity by God with muddy concepts of "freedom" and "self-image." The depth and breadth of the fall is trivialized or ignored.
What it means to be human is a critical touch point for students vis-à-vis the Christian worldview.

4. The Issue of Definitions
The battle of ideas is often the battle over definitions. Asking students, "What do you mean by that?" has never been more crucial. Assuming that we share definitions, or that traditional definitions will go unquestioned, with the emerging generation is a mistake with significant consequences. Among the more crucial words needing careful definition include God, human, truth, faith, Gospel, Kingdom, evil, tolerance, male, female, pro-life, justice, marriage, family, freedom, rights, responsibility, and the good life.
Further, the concept of worldview needs clear definition if it is to be preserved. Having been used and misused in a variety of ways, it is dismissed as a modern concept from one side and in danger of dying the death of the "we already tried that program" from the other side. Abandoning the concept would be wrongheaded, given its rich history and its Biblical foundations.
I have attempted to highlight several barriers to communicating the full Gospel to the next generation. Articles like this that list trends tend to appear pessimistic. I am, however, encouraged by the commitment and courage I have seen from this current generation of students once they "get it."


Notes
1. See Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press, 2005). Smith and Denton describe the current worldview of American teenagers, most of whom claim Christianity as their religion, as "moralistic therapeutic deism."
2. Neal Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Penguin, 1985).
3. Dianna West, The Death of the Grownup: How America's Arrested Development Threatens Western Civilization (St. Martin's Press, 2007).
4. Nancy Peacey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Crossway, 2004).

Obedience

Obedience is doing exactly what I'm told to do,when I'm told to do it,with a right heart attitude.
Obedience brings blessing;disobedience brings conflict.
The first time God prompts your heart and you refuse to obey, your revived life begins to dry up and shrivel away. To delay is to disobey.
To maintain the fire of revival in your heart, you must be committed to absolute obedience to the holy God. The closer you are to God, the faster you will obey.

Insight from the Word

Deuteronomy 28:1 "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth."
1 Samuel 15:22 "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams."
Psalm 40:6-8 "In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Making It Personal

Is there any known command of Scripture that I am not obeying?
Is there any God-ordained authority in my life (boss, parent, etc.) toward whom I do not have a submissive attitude?
Has God prompted my heart to some act of obedience which I have not gotten around to doing yet?

© Life Action Ministries: Revival Review--Keys to Continued Revival

School - This Year in Review

As we approach the end of another school year, I can’t help but reflect back on an incredible year of learning. This was one of our favorite years from a curriculum perspective; Elizabeth studied countries and cultures while Christian completed a study of American history from 1850 to the present. We read a tremendous amount of outstanding literature, a couple of our favorites being a biography of Amy Carmichael and “The Winged Watchman” which is about Nazi occupied Holland during World War II. One of the benefits of traveling to churches around the country is that we have the amazing opportunity to do and see many things that we might not otherwise do. One such event took place at First Baptist Church School in Brenham, Texas.

Elizabeth writes, “In February, we had a conference at First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas. I was invited to go to their school while we were there. This was the first time I had gone to a traditional school instead of being home schooled. My teacher was Mrs. Stegint, and she was very kind. I liked the gym where we did exercises and games. We had computer class and library time. And recess was the best! And lunch was good too. It was easy making friends with the kids, especially the girls. Before I came, the second grade class had seven boys and seven girls…I made it eight girls! I will always have ‘forever friends’ in Brenham, Texas.”

Christian remembers, “I was blessed to be invited to go to school for a week and experience what it was like. The kids in my class became good friends of mine, and my teacher was very nice. It was an experience I’m not going to forget!”

Thank you FBCS Brenham for welcoming Christian and Elizabeth into your school family with such openness and sincerity. We were truly blessed!!!

Other highlights from the Slenk’s school year:
§ Christian memorized the Gettysburg Address and recited it in Gettysburg, PA
§ Elizabeth scored 100% on identifying all 93 countries we studied this year. (see picture)
§ Journeyed through the Old and New Testaments and learned about the Reformation and Christian martyrs at the Biblewalk Bible Museum in Mansfield, OH
§ Participated as a family with a mobile food bank distributing food to families in need in San Saba, TX
§ Walked the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (see picture)
§ Pastor Bill Mummert from Gettysburg Baptist Church also raises Texas Longhorns. In October, he gave Christian one of his lassos which Christian has practiced with regularly. He's ready to round-up some cattle now! (see picture)
§ Rode the Metro around Washington, DC and visited monuments, The White House, and Smithsonian Museums (see pictures)
§ Christian caught catfish in San Antonio, TX (see picture)
§ Elizabeth made New England Pumpkin Cake while we studied the United States. She even mailed a piece with some tea to Grandma Rogers in Michigan to enjoy while she recovered from knee surgery. (see picture)
§ Elizabeth kept a science notebook this year and regularly drew pictures and wrote about what she saw outside. In Jesup, GA, she worked on her notebook under a palm tree. (see picture)
§ Visited and rode horses at Miracle Farm residential boys ranch in Brenham, TX (see picture)
§ Explored the Wilds of Africa at the Dallas Zoo (see picture)
§ Strolled through Prairie Dog Town in Lubbock, TX (see picture)
§ “Remembered” The Alamo in San Antonio, TX (see picture)
§ Both Christian and Elizabeth love to read. In addition to school reading, they each have a goal of reading 400 minutes per month. They have met or exceeded that goal all nine months of the school year! (see picture)
§ Rode a 1,700 ft. zip line at River Valley Ranch in Manchester, Maryland (see picture)
§ Imagined traveling the Underground Railroad as we viewed the secret slave hideout at Gettysburg’s oldest, most historic home, the Dobbin House (see picture)
§ Stayed next to the St. Louis Arch on our way north from Texas to Michigan (see picture)
§ Tasted Hershey’s “Chocolate World” in Hershey, PA (see picture)

We consider it such a privilege to not only home school, but to home school as we travel around the United States. As Christian and Elizabeth’s mom as well as teacher, I am so thankful for their growth this year, both academically and spiritually. What a great year we’ve had!!! Thank you, Lord!





Take a look at the pictures by following the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ben.slenk/SchoolThisYearInReview?feat=directlink

How Much?

Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done but by how much I could have done. In God's sight my giving is measured not by how much I have given but by how much I could have given and how much I had left after I made my gift. The needs of the world and my total ability to minister to those needs decide the worth of my service.

Not by its size is my gift judged, but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice....

In the work of the church the amount one man must do to accomplish a given task is determined by how much or how little the rest of the company is willing to do. It is a rare church whose members all put their shoulder to the wheel. The typical church is composed of the few whose shoulders are bruised by their faithful labors and the many who are unwilling to raise a blister in the service of God and their fellow men. There may be a bit of wry humor in all this, but it is quite certain that there will be no laughter when each of us gives account to God of the deeds done in the body.
"Help me to give of myself completely today, Lord. I hold nothing back, even if at the end of the day I'm the only one with a bruised shoulder. Amen."

And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
--2 Corinthians 8:5

A.W. Tozer

San Antonio and Graham Texas

We just left San Antonio upon the completion of the annual Life Action Vision Gathering retreat. The purpose of Vision Gathering has five components. Spiritual Enrichment, Relationship Building, Vision Casting, Partnership Development, and Ministry Update.

These five elements are woven together in a Thursday evening through Sunday noon retreat atmosphere. Invariably, the highlight is what the Lord does spiritually in our hearts as we seek Him for personal renewal. Again, this year, we saw the Lord touch hearts as the message of revival always produces HOPE! Hope for our nation. Hope for the church. Hope for the home. All beginning with hope in our hearts.

A panel of four business leaders, who ran companies ranging from 120 employees to 18,000 employees, participated in a discussion on “Integrity in the Marketplace.” Wow! What insight!

We arrived in Graham Texas a couple of days ago and are just beginning an 8 day summit here at Oak Street Baptist Church. This church for over two years has been praying day and night for God to do something incredible here in this community. Is now the time?

As the moral and spiritual crisis in our nation mounts, the odds escalate. But I am reminded that the seed for a great miracle lies not in difficulty but in impossibility. Our goal this week and every week is the impossible. But so was the resurrection. And so was each of the Great Awakenings . . . including the next one!

2 Letters from 2 Churches

A letter to our team Revivalist Ryan and his wife Mal:

Dear Ryan and Mal,

“I cannot express in words how our family has completely turned around. The Lord is great, and all the Glory be to him. I know that you guys are doing his work, and I pray that you will continue to touch other lives with his word. I only pray that one day my faith will be as focused on him, as you are. I bought all the Cd's from the Thirst Revival and have already started to listen to them. The funny thing is, I put it in my van cd player yesterday, after I listened to it, I went to eject it, and it would not come out. My husband said to me "Maybe that means you need to listen to it again." I laughed and said, “You know honey your right." So, I will probably never get it out, and you know what? I don't want to! I can listen to it always and never lose it. I visited your blog and will continue to pray for the safety of your team as you travel. Our family has been blessed in so many ways. God is great. Yesterday, a woman that we know called my husband out of the blue. She told him that she was at a Women's Conference and God laid it on her heart to pray for him, our family, and our business. That he would not be tempted to over charge customers and that God would keep him strong and deliver him from temptations. She also tried to contact me to pray with her over the phone. When my husband came home he told me what happened. At first, I was thinking to myself why she would say a thing like that. Does she think we steal from our customers? Does she know my husband’s heart? Has this been something he is dealing subconsciously with, that he has not shared with me? Is he conflicted about his work? So many questions I had running through my mind. However, at the end of all those questions of Why. I kept getting the same answer. It's God at work! So I just wanted to share this with you guys. We will continue to live a cross-centered life and raise our children to do the same. Thanks so much for all the reading material, and Cd's. Also, thank you Mal for showing me the portrait of a submissive and loving wife. We love you brothers and sisters in Christ. May Peace with you always and may God protect you in your travels.”

A letter from a young mom in a recent church:

“I just wanted to say again how blessed I was this past week with Life Action coming to Tabernacle. The experience transformed my family. I thought I would be praying for months or longer on the softening of my husband's heart, but man God did a work through Ryan on him. He said he swore Ryan pointed at him when he was talking about bitterness. We all pray together every night and the younger boys wanted bibles so we got them each one today and even a toddler bible for Grace (she's 2). We are still growing and learning from the things you guys taught through. Every time we go back and discuss we see a new point. And I am just so thankful God brought your team to us. I am and will be forever thankful for you! You have no idea how awesome it is for me to have a sister in Christ. And it gave me strength and hope to reach out to other women in my church. And I am so happy to have women to pray with. I keep reading things online and buying new books, and feel like I can't learn enough. We also continue to pray this doesn't die out. I want this to be the fire that got started that can't burn out!

Your ministry, your family, your team, all mean so much to us!

Thank you!!! And bless you on your journey and we continue to pray for the
Churches in your path. May they be as blessed by God's word as we were!”

How to Share the Gospel with Children

One of the church's greatest privileges and responsibilities is ministering to children. Whether the context is children's church, Sunday school, AWANA, VBS, or something else-and whether it's evangelism or discipleship-our greatest priority is teaching the gospel. Responding to Christ's work in repentance and faith is how children begin and mature in the Christian life.
Sharing the gospel with children, however, is not simply presenting a flannel graph lesson and asking for a show of hands. In fact, statistics indicate that most children raised in the church abandon the faith after high school. This raises a question: Did these kids really understand and respond to the gospel, or were they merely inoculated against genuine Christianity?
Three Concerns
I have three concerns about how we share the gospel with children:
1. That we not replace the true gospel with false or distorted versions
2. That we not confuse the gospel with a child's response
3. That we not equate a true, inward, spiritual response with an outward physical or emotional response
True or False?
In Galatians 1, Paul sternly warned of those who distorted Christ's gospel, saying: "If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:9). We cannot and must not modify, amend, or distort the saving message of the cross. But there are many false or distorted versions that masquerade as the truth.
We also must not confuse the gospel with a call to moral obedience. This means that it is insufficient to teach children to live by the Sermon on the Mount, practice the Golden Rule, obey the Ten Commandments, or simply love God and others.
Of course, we want children to obey Scripture, but if this is all we say, we are giving the law, not the gospel. As Tim Keller has pointed out, "The gospel is good news, not good advice."
Even worse is a message that focuses on self-esteem, self-help, or health, wealth, and prosperity. You don't have to be a TV evangelist with big hair and a luxuriant set to fall into this. If we just present Jesus as affirming our selves or solving our difficulties, without talking of sin, judgment, and the cross, then we're portraying Jesus as a spiritual genie, not a saving Lord.
Neither should we think we've shared the gospel when we have said, "If you ask Jesus into your heart [accept or receive Jesus], you will go to heaven when you die." While it's true that those who receive and believe are God's children (John 1:12), it is false that "asking Jesus into your heart" brings salvation. For one thing, that statement includes nothing about:
· Christ's death, burial, and resurrection
· Jesus' identity as Messiah, Lord, and God manifested in the flesh
· Sin, the nature of salvation, and the need for repentance
So the problem with equating "asking Jesus into your heart" with the gospel is that it shifts the focus away from Jesus Christ's atoning work onto the child's subjective work or experience.
What is the gospel, then? Paul defines it in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." Very simply, the gospel is that Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Responding to the Gospel
My other two concerns are that we not confuse the gospel with a response and that we not equate a true, inward, spiritual response with an outward physical or emotional response.
A true response involves both repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). Repentance is turning from sin, self-righteousness (Phil. 3:1-10), and idolatry (1 Thess. 1:10) to serve the true and living God. Faith is trusting in the crucified and risen Christ to save us.
When sharing the gospel with children, we need to emphasize faith and repentance. But we must always remember that these are responses to the gospel; they are not the gospel itself. Ask for a response, but only after making the message clear.
But don't confuse repentance and faith with a response to an invitation, such as:
· Raise your hand if you want to go to heaven.
· Pray the sinner's prayer.
· You need to be baptized.
· Make a decision about Jesus today!
These methods have, no doubt, resulted in genuine conversions, but there are dangers. It's easy to raise your hand or say a prayer without truly turning from sin and trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord. On the other hand, it is possible to have repentance and faith without any physical or noticeable demonstration at that time.
Making It Practical
We all share a passion to make sure our children understand the gospel and turn to Christ in genuine salvation. Following are some points of emphasis to keep in mind as you guide young people to understand spiritual truth:
· Talk a lot about who Jesus is (God-Man, Savior, Lord, King) and what He has done (died for our sins on the cross, rose from the dead).
· Make it clear that all people need their sins forgiven and will be judged for their sins if they are not saved.
· Urge children to turn from their sins and trust in what Jesus has done.
· Invite children to talk to you further about their relationship with God.
· Motivate parents to pursue further discussions with their children.
· Think long-term about how you can continually disciple children, vs. how many "decisions" you can record.
· Pray for the children, and expect God in His grace to use the gospel to bring them to true, saving faith in Christ.

Tabernacle Baptist Church, Ennis Texas

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Ennis Texas after a great week in Duncan OK. Here are just a couple of the testimonies from this past week (all testimonies used with permission):

“God has used the Thirst Conference at FBC Duncan to return Joy to our family. Literally, my daughter Joy had been gripped with bitterness over many things that had happened in her past. God is faithful and He graciously brought her to a place of repentance, and gave her the grace to openly share her journey with the Thirst team. Tonight I held my daughters hand in worship and felt once again a joy in spirit and brightness in her spirit that had been gone far too long. Thank you God for proving Yourself faithful.”

“I am 27 years old and my dad is actually on staff here at FBC Duncan. I was saved at 8, married at 20, was divorced at 23, and had a baby. I began using drugs at 24 and had been until a month ago. I remarried, had another child, and went to rehab and jail. I tried to fill a God sized hole with a man-sized “thing”, my husband filed for a divorce. I’ve come back to Christ to meet the need He put there instead of trying to fill it with drugs and people. If God can come to me and change my heart, I know He can do that for anyone. God has got my attention. Praise God.”

We are looking forward to what this upcoming week has in store for all of us.

Feb 2, 2009 A Spiritual Birthday

February 2, 2009 will be a day that we will never forget. Our daughter Elizabeth (Dolly) had been reading some stories with Jennifer during school that morning about some heroes of the faith. As a result she began to ask if a person who thought they were saved before, went to church all the time, prayed, tried to obey, but didn’t really feel it in their heart could still need to be saved? Shortly after, she came to the home “office” and wanted to receive Jesus as her Savior. We talked for some time and she walked through the gospel message for Jennifer and me and indicated that it was time for her to repent and confess her sins, receive by faith the gift of Jesus and salvation, and begin to live a life that reflected the fact that the Holy Spirit lived inside her. We talked, she prayed (like we had never heard her pray before), we cried, and then celebrated the fact that she committed Jesus to be Lord and Savior of her life. These past 4 days we have had a daughter that has had an entirely different attitude towards living her life. What a privilege that God would allow us to be part of this.

Denison Texas..... I thought we were down south?

Last night we arrived in Denison TX after a great week in Sulphur LA. First Baptist in Sulphur LA was a great place to start after our break over the holidays. The church had a great spirit and many people were moved and changed as a result of the power of the Holy Spirit. Upon arrival in Denison last night one thing stuck out more than anything. It was below freezing when we arrived and at 1:37 PM this afternoon it is still only 33 degrees. Last night temperatures dropped well below 30 degrees and trailer life can become much more complicated as water lines begin to freeze and the furnace runs nonstop all night long. It is in these moments that I wonder while lying in bed for the night…….. when was the last time I filled the LP tanks on the trailer? Needless to say, the furnace was still running and blowing heat this morning. I will be getting more LP today.

We are getting ready to host an 11 day conference starting Sunday that will go through January 28 here in Denison TX at Parkside Baptist Church. Attached are pictures of the church as well as what our “community” of trailers currently looks like. Our home is the one on the far left.

Prayer Requests:
1. For God to do a work in the lives of His people (including us and the team) during this conference that is about to begin.
2. That family and friends back home in Michigan would be safe (and healthy) from the extreme cold they are currently experiencing.
3. For a great friend whose family relocated to another state, and was just notified that his new job was being eliminated.

Thank you for your prayers, friendship, and support. God is working.