Last night was another good one at ikon. Our band was finally back together again after i had been a vacation a couple weeks ago and Trevor was gone to Rome last week. We had some great singing and worship even though Trevor was loosing his voice.
Our topic for last night was "living with pain. I gave a message and then we broke up in to our small groups to discuss the topic. Here's a summary a what was talked about:
Ever since Adam and Eve ate from that tree human beings have been living in pain. This pain comes from the sin that we are now all born with which comes along with a separation from God and a longing in our souls to return to him. Sounds pretty heavy right?
Well that was our topic for last night. We live in world that tells us we need to be happy all the time and if we are not, there must be something wrong with us. So we try to make ourselves happy with things, relationships, addictions, prescription drugs etc.. these things may do the trick for a while but after a while they leave us empty again and looking for more. The reality is we can't be happy all the time and it's OK. We have suffering in our lives, but it is how we deal with that suffering that makes us who we are. Romans 5:1-5 says:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The stunt here is trusting God to help us deal with the pain and suffering in our lives knowing that our future holds the promise of something much better. Jesus is right there with us every step of the way and he has experienced all the pain and suffering that we have. Through this we are able to find true joy for our lives not just the temporary happiness that the world tells us we need.
This topic brought out some great group conversations and i think everyone left last night with a sense of the joy and hope Christ has to offer us.
I hope your week is filled with joy and hope as well.
Peter
Monday, March 10, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
stunt junkies week 3
well, I'm back from vacation. It was great to be able to spend some time relaxing with my wife before the arrival of our second child. Being in warm weather was defiantly a plus too :)
So i got right back in to things with Ikon last night. This week Trevor was gone so we had some members of the NC worship team come and help take his place. we also had our own little version of American Idol with some of our leaders singing and playing instruments. Trevor would not have been impressed :)
Anyway, on to the theme of the evening. We talked about forgiving others. We started out by viewing a Nooma video called "Luggage" In this video Rob Bell discusses forgiveness and the danger of holding on to things and not forgiving. In small groups we discussed what can happen to people if we don't forgive them, and what can happen to us if we don't forgive others. this really sparked some great conversation about the dangers of bitterness, revenge, rage, anger, and enabling people to continue their destructive behavior.
We closed the night by looking at how Jesus was able to forgive those who were torturing and killing him while he was hanging on the cross(Luke 23:32-36). We left everyone with the question "who do you need to forgive?"
Forgiveness in it's truest form is probably one of the hardest things for a person to do. it goes against everything our human nature tells us. If someone wrongs us we want them to pay for what they have done. Jesus teaches us that we need to forgive others even if they don't deserve it. after all that is what he did for us. what we wanted everyone to see last night is that while forgiveness comes with a lot of risk and pain, the reward of it for the forgiver and the forgivee is totally worth it. Have a great week.
Peter L-B
So i got right back in to things with Ikon last night. This week Trevor was gone so we had some members of the NC worship team come and help take his place. we also had our own little version of American Idol with some of our leaders singing and playing instruments. Trevor would not have been impressed :)
Anyway, on to the theme of the evening. We talked about forgiving others. We started out by viewing a Nooma video called "Luggage" In this video Rob Bell discusses forgiveness and the danger of holding on to things and not forgiving. In small groups we discussed what can happen to people if we don't forgive them, and what can happen to us if we don't forgive others. this really sparked some great conversation about the dangers of bitterness, revenge, rage, anger, and enabling people to continue their destructive behavior.
We closed the night by looking at how Jesus was able to forgive those who were torturing and killing him while he was hanging on the cross(Luke 23:32-36). We left everyone with the question "who do you need to forgive?"
Forgiveness in it's truest form is probably one of the hardest things for a person to do. it goes against everything our human nature tells us. If someone wrongs us we want them to pay for what they have done. Jesus teaches us that we need to forgive others even if they don't deserve it. after all that is what he did for us. what we wanted everyone to see last night is that while forgiveness comes with a lot of risk and pain, the reward of it for the forgiver and the forgivee is totally worth it. Have a great week.
Peter L-B
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Stunt Junkies - Part 2
It was hard - with Peter basking in the sun in Dominican Republic - but we carried on without him. I attempted to fill his shoes and play his guitar. While all were initially impressed with my rendition of "Smoke on the Water," we then went into the first song. Trevor kicked me off the stage after the first few measures. He is such a musical snob and doesn't know rockin' creativity when he hears it.
Anyway, into more serious matters, our 2nd night of "Stunt Junkies" dealt with the topic, Forgiving Yourself. Most of us know in our heads that Jesus forgives us, but letting that settle into our hearts is another matter. We compared the stories of Peter's denial and Judas' betrayal of Jesus and pondered how they dealt with their grave sins. Judas, we know, kills himself. Peter, weeps bitterly. We are never told in the Bible how Peter resolved this, only that Jesus forgave and restored him (John 21). Which is how we forgive ourselves - not looking to ourselves to be convinced, but listening to Jesus and taking the risk - doing the stunt - of believing what he says about us is true.
The night also touched on the very sensitive topic of suicide. We encouraged any who needed to talk to do so or even if they have a friend who would show suicidal thoughts or tendancies that they need to talk to trusted adult for help in the situation.
Finally, Ty - one of our leaders - gave an awesome personal testimony to the forgiveness of Jesus in his life, and how he came to accept it. I am so grateful for Ty and all the leaders who do such a great job of ministering to our kids.
Forever your partner in loving our teens,
Pr. Mielke
Anyway, into more serious matters, our 2nd night of "Stunt Junkies" dealt with the topic, Forgiving Yourself. Most of us know in our heads that Jesus forgives us, but letting that settle into our hearts is another matter. We compared the stories of Peter's denial and Judas' betrayal of Jesus and pondered how they dealt with their grave sins. Judas, we know, kills himself. Peter, weeps bitterly. We are never told in the Bible how Peter resolved this, only that Jesus forgave and restored him (John 21). Which is how we forgive ourselves - not looking to ourselves to be convinced, but listening to Jesus and taking the risk - doing the stunt - of believing what he says about us is true.
The night also touched on the very sensitive topic of suicide. We encouraged any who needed to talk to do so or even if they have a friend who would show suicidal thoughts or tendancies that they need to talk to trusted adult for help in the situation.
Finally, Ty - one of our leaders - gave an awesome personal testimony to the forgiveness of Jesus in his life, and how he came to accept it. I am so grateful for Ty and all the leaders who do such a great job of ministering to our kids.
Forever your partner in loving our teens,
Pr. Mielke
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
lock-in
This past Sunday night was a great night for Ikon. We had our biggest turn out of the year. I was glad to see so many people bring friends to experience 24t7 before the lock-in. We started a new series called stunt junkies. Over the next few weeks we will be talking about the risks of following Jesus. The inspiration for this series came from the Discovery Channel show by the same name. So of course, we have some classic ikon videos to go along with it. (check out this week's on the youth website) This past week we looked at the calling of Paul, Nathaniel, Matthew, and Peter James and John to be disciples. We discussed what they had to leave behind to follow Jesus; we then related these stories to what we must leave behind to follow Jesus today.
The lock-in was a good time too. We had basketball, rock band, Wii, group dances and more. Besides me and Janice only a few stayed awake the whole night though. It was definitely one of the best lock-ins we have had in the last 5 years.
The lock-in was a good time too. We had basketball, rock band, Wii, group dances and more. Besides me and Janice only a few stayed awake the whole night though. It was definitely one of the best lock-ins we have had in the last 5 years.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saving Sex Week 3
last night was a very intense night at 24t7. The night was titled "Wreckage" and we discussed dealilng with and preventing sexual abuse. The statistics on sexual abuse in our country are shocking :
Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
Rape
Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal or oral penetration. Penetration may be by a body part or an object.
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling. (But, be aware: Some states use this term interchangeably with rape.)
In 2006, there were 272,350 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual
Women
One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, and one in 33 men.
One out of every six American women have been the victims of anattempted or completed rape in their lifetime. A total of 17.7 million women have been victims of these crimes.
MEN
About three percent of American men — a total of 2.78 million men — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime
In 1995, 32,130 males age 12 and older were victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
Teens
>Studies indicate that dating violence affects at least 1 in 10 teen couples
>Over 50% of high school boys and 42% of high school girls believe that there are times when it is "acceptable for a male to hold a female down and physically force her to engage in intercourse."
A former member of Ikon who is now in college came in and shared her story of being sexually abused. She talked about how it affected her, how she thought of herself, and her relationships. She also shared how she was able to deal with it with the help of God and the people in her life.
The most amazing part of the story was that now, 5 years, latter she was able to forgive the people that did this to her. She was willing to share her story because she wants to help other people who have been or will be affected by this. She wanted them to know that they are not alone, they are not worthless, and that God has the power to restore our brokenness.
As i said, this story was very powerful and sparked a lot of emotion in many of the kids there.
After this, guys and girls split up in to separate groups to discuss what they had heard. in the end, both gender groups prepared statements to share with the other group. the girls expressed their desire to be respected and protected by guys. The guys wanted the girls to know that they will strive to be Godly men and asked them not to accept any guy who is anything less than their "Knight in Shining Armor". they made a pledge to respect, protect, and stand up for girls and to hold each other accountable. Every guy that was there signed this sheet of promises that were made. we are going to have it enlarged and posted in the YMC. I can't express enough how proud of both the guys and the girls for the statements and promises they made.
The night ended with the singing of "From the inside out" and our normal sending song of "Tell the World"
Though this was a tough and emotional night, we wanted to make sure everyone left last night knowing that no matter what you have been through in life that there is hope in Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that this night brought heeling to some, awareness to others, and hope to everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me or any other of the Ikon leaders.
In Christ,
Peter L-B
Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
Rape
Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal or oral penetration. Penetration may be by a body part or an object.
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling. (But, be aware: Some states use this term interchangeably with rape.)
In 2006, there were 272,350 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual
Women
One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, and one in 33 men.
One out of every six American women have been the victims of anattempted or completed rape in their lifetime. A total of 17.7 million women have been victims of these crimes.
MEN
About three percent of American men — a total of 2.78 million men — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime
In 1995, 32,130 males age 12 and older were victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
Teens
>Studies indicate that dating violence affects at least 1 in 10 teen couples
>Over 50% of high school boys and 42% of high school girls believe that there are times when it is "acceptable for a male to hold a female down and physically force her to engage in intercourse."
A former member of Ikon who is now in college came in and shared her story of being sexually abused. She talked about how it affected her, how she thought of herself, and her relationships. She also shared how she was able to deal with it with the help of God and the people in her life.
The most amazing part of the story was that now, 5 years, latter she was able to forgive the people that did this to her. She was willing to share her story because she wants to help other people who have been or will be affected by this. She wanted them to know that they are not alone, they are not worthless, and that God has the power to restore our brokenness.
As i said, this story was very powerful and sparked a lot of emotion in many of the kids there.
After this, guys and girls split up in to separate groups to discuss what they had heard. in the end, both gender groups prepared statements to share with the other group. the girls expressed their desire to be respected and protected by guys. The guys wanted the girls to know that they will strive to be Godly men and asked them not to accept any guy who is anything less than their "Knight in Shining Armor". they made a pledge to respect, protect, and stand up for girls and to hold each other accountable. Every guy that was there signed this sheet of promises that were made. we are going to have it enlarged and posted in the YMC. I can't express enough how proud of both the guys and the girls for the statements and promises they made.
The night ended with the singing of "From the inside out" and our normal sending song of "Tell the World"
Though this was a tough and emotional night, we wanted to make sure everyone left last night knowing that no matter what you have been through in life that there is hope in Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that this night brought heeling to some, awareness to others, and hope to everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me or any other of the Ikon leaders.
In Christ,
Peter L-B
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Saving Sex
Hey Ikon parents,
I just thought i would update you on what we have been talking about at Ikon this past . If you are curious about what we are trying to accomplish with this series check out Pastor Mielke's message on the parent section of the Youth Web Site. This past Sunday we talked about Porn. we discussed how it affects our sexuality, our relationship with God, and our relationships with other people. Girls and guys also split up in to separate groups to discuss the impact porn has on guys and girls. Here are some of the statistics we discussed:
Size of the Industry
$57.0 billion world-wide - $12.0 billion US
The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink
Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises.
US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, & NBC (6.2 billion).
Internet Pornography Sales
$4.9 billion
Pornographic websites
4.2 million (12% of total websites)
Pornographic pages
Country
Porn Pages
United States
244,661,900
Pornography Time Statistics
Every second - $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography
Every second - 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography
Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States
Children's Exposure to Pornography
Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography
11 years old
Largest Consumer of Internet Pornography
12-17 age group
15-17 year olds having multiple hardcore exposures
80%
8-16 year olds having viewed porn online
90% (most while doing homework)
Breakdown of male/female visitors to porn sites
72% male - 28% female
* August 7,2006: 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography. 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
· 38 percent of adults believe it is ‘morally acceptable’ to look at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behaviorMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003. * 59 percent of adults believe it is ‘morally acceptable’ to have sexual thoughts or fantasiesMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003.* 38 percent of adults believe there is nothing wrong with pornography useMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003. * 42 percent of surveyed adults indicated that their partner’s use of pornography made them feel insecure.Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1. * 41 percent of surveyed adults admitted they felt less attractive due to their partner’s pornography use.Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.
As you can see, pornography is a huge problem in our society and it greatly affects young people. It destroys the gift of sexuality and can really mess up our relationships and how we view members of the opposite sex. We hope that this night encouraged your teens to question what society sees as "OK" and to realize that God has called us all to something much better. As always, let me know if you have any questions.
God's Peace,
Peter
I just thought i would update you on what we have been talking about at Ikon this past . If you are curious about what we are trying to accomplish with this series check out Pastor Mielke's message on the parent section of the Youth Web Site. This past Sunday we talked about Porn. we discussed how it affects our sexuality, our relationship with God, and our relationships with other people. Girls and guys also split up in to separate groups to discuss the impact porn has on guys and girls. Here are some of the statistics we discussed:
Size of the Industry
$57.0 billion world-wide - $12.0 billion US
The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink
Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises.
US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, & NBC (6.2 billion).
Internet Pornography Sales
$4.9 billion
Pornographic websites
4.2 million (12% of total websites)
Pornographic pages
Country
Porn Pages
United States
244,661,900
Pornography Time Statistics
Every second - $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography
Every second - 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography
Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States
Children's Exposure to Pornography
Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography
11 years old
Largest Consumer of Internet Pornography
12-17 age group
15-17 year olds having multiple hardcore exposures
80%
8-16 year olds having viewed porn online
90% (most while doing homework)
Breakdown of male/female visitors to porn sites
72% male - 28% female
* August 7,2006: 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography. 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
· 38 percent of adults believe it is ‘morally acceptable’ to look at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behaviorMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003. * 59 percent of adults believe it is ‘morally acceptable’ to have sexual thoughts or fantasiesMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003.* 38 percent of adults believe there is nothing wrong with pornography useMorality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003. * 42 percent of surveyed adults indicated that their partner’s use of pornography made them feel insecure.Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1. * 41 percent of surveyed adults admitted they felt less attractive due to their partner’s pornography use.Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.
As you can see, pornography is a huge problem in our society and it greatly affects young people. It destroys the gift of sexuality and can really mess up our relationships and how we view members of the opposite sex. We hope that this night encouraged your teens to question what society sees as "OK" and to realize that God has called us all to something much better. As always, let me know if you have any questions.
God's Peace,
Peter
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Good to be Back!
Hey Next parents!
Last night marked the beginning of our second semester of Wednesday Nights! It was great to be back after a long and enjoyable Christmas Break. Our series for the next 4 weeks is entitled "Risky Business" This series will take a look at some lesser-known risk takers from the Bible and examine the risks and rewards they faced. Last night we looked at Acts 4 and the risks Peter and John took by sharing Jesus. We discussed the risks involved with being a Christian and sharing your faith but how the reward is very much worth it. In small groups the youth were challenged to find practical ways to share Jesus with others in their life. Please e-mail me with any questions you may have. Have a great Week!
Peter
Last night marked the beginning of our second semester of Wednesday Nights! It was great to be back after a long and enjoyable Christmas Break. Our series for the next 4 weeks is entitled "Risky Business" This series will take a look at some lesser-known risk takers from the Bible and examine the risks and rewards they faced. Last night we looked at Acts 4 and the risks Peter and John took by sharing Jesus. We discussed the risks involved with being a Christian and sharing your faith but how the reward is very much worth it. In small groups the youth were challenged to find practical ways to share Jesus with others in their life. Please e-mail me with any questions you may have. Have a great Week!
Peter
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