Kirkmont Youth Newsletter

YS STUDENT NEWSLETTER #314

November 5, 2007

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD

Most people think the average teenager isn't capable of much beyond hanging with their friends and wasting time. But Zach Hunter isn't your average teenager. And he's hoping to show you that you're not either.

Just look around the world and on the news and you'll find that there are plenty of things wrong with our planet--homelessness, hunger, global warming, AIDS...the list goes on and on. And we usually look at these problems and decide they're too big for us to do anything about. Zach has been trying to end slavery around the globe and is proving that one person can make a difference. And in his book, he'll reveal the elements needed to make amazing changes in your world. In the end, he hopes you'll find the thing you're passionate about--and start making changes!

Learn more and purchase "Be the Change" here.

http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6524

Also available in your local Christian bookstore.

Find a Christian bookstore near you:

http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6522

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1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

A little while ago I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, team teaching with a guy named Steve Carter. Steve has invited me up there to speak with his youth group a couple of times, and we're becoming pretty good friends. He's showed a lot of confidence in me and has helped me discover that young people like me have something worthwhile to say to the church.

Anyway, Steve was telling me about this new word he'd made up: wombish. Before you get weirded out, let me tell you what he means by that. You see the word compassion in the Old Testament is actually the plural form of the word womb. So basically, being compassionate is being wombish. The Bible tells us to be compassionate as God is compassionate. When we think of God's compassion as being like a womb, it's a pretty cool picture. A womb is the ultimate safe environment, where virtually nothing can harm you, and the mother must give away a piece of herself in order to keep you safe. As a matter of fact, if the person doing the protecting weren't there, then life in the womb would cease to exist. I think that's the kind of compassion and care we should offer to people who are oppressed and hurting around the world. (And this doesn't apply just to situations as drastic as slavery.)

Steve also pointed out the first few verses of Isaiah 61 to me, in which Isaiah says the Spirit of God is upon him, giving him a mission to preach to the lowest of the low, to break bonds, and to bandage wounds. Jesus reads these very same words aloud as he begins his own ministry (Luke 4:18-19). God sent Isaiah--and Jesus--to reach out to the hurting, the despised, the rejects. And God asks the same of each of us.

My friend Steve lives this out among the youth he ministers to at Mars Hill Bible Church. After speaking at the church, I had the opportunity to have pizza with some of the middle and high school kids. Each student around the table shared with me how they were living out compassion in their lives. A group of middle schoolers told me they had learned of some people in their own community who were unable to pay their electric bills and were in danger of living in freezing conditions. The students decided to raise money by recycling cans so they could pay their neighbors' heating bills. Other students went to the region devastated by Katrina and helped with the cleanup. Still others went on short-term missions trips outside the country. It was great to see so many students living out their faith to help others and becoming wombish.

Some people seem to be afraid of an idea they call the "social gospel." I don't know everything they mean by that term, but I think they're concerned that if we emphasize serving the poor and bringing justice as part of God's calling for us, we're saying living for Christ isn't about holiness and trying to get closer to God. But I don't see it that way. Compassion is not some alternate gospel. Compassion is an overflow of the gospel--the Good News of Christ's sacrifice. Compassion says we have embraced the relationship with God through Christ. It's not that we have to earn our salvation by doing good things, but compassion and service flow out of us because we are filled with God's love. If we don't take care of orphans and widows, if we don't care for the poor and hurting, how can we say we belong to Jesus?

Even though it's a weird word, think about this word "wombish" for a little while. What do you think it would look like in your life for you to be "wombish" toward people in your school who are suffering?

What about people in your larger community--the homeless, fatherless, or sick?

What about people who make you feel uncomfortable?

What about people around the globe?

Have you ever been involved in serving someone in need?
How did it make you feel?
How do you think it makes God feel?

Do you think of serving the poor and needy as a way to get to God or as an overflow of the relationship you already have with him?

Check out James 1:27. What does James mean when he talks about "pure religion?"

**

Taken from "Be the Change" by Zach Hunter, copyright 2007, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here: http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6524

2. SURF REPORT

~ ZGraphicNovels: A new line of Christian manga books
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6525

~ #1 Song on the Day You Were Born: Just a fun site to visit
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6526

3. FORGETTABLE FACT

Pearls melt in vinegar. (Don't try this at home!)

4. POTENT QUOTABLES

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."
- Booker T. Washington

5. PARTING SHOT

A babysitter is a teenager acting like an adult while the adults are out acting like teenagers.

*All "surf report" internet links and "potent quotables" are provided for informational purposes, and do not imply endorsement by Youth Specialties.