Facebook vs the Bible?

“I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking as he pulled out his iPhone and took advantage of a new Facebook application — right in the middle of the sermon.

It was then that I realized the narcissistic machine that is Facebook.”

How would my life look if I poured myself into the pages of my Bible instead of pouring myself into the pages of Facebook?  Shifting uncomfortably in my chair, I found myself desiring to do the same. I shuddered. Have I really come to this place where I’m more concerned about what’s taking place on Facebook than what’s going on in this church service?...

To learn more about this question click here: Facebook Faceoff

• How many times a day do YOU check Facebook?
• Have you ever checked Facebook during church?

So join us for the movie and for some lively discussion and prayer. Sign up below!

Date: September 18, 2010
Time: 5-9pm
Location: 2000 North Loop Rd., Alameda

Dinner is provided
Note: We will be watching a church appropriate version of the film.

Watch the Trailer Below.

Sign up here:

So it’s getting to be that time of year again when we get to experience that inexplicably transcendent feeling that accompanies the realization that one hand is now all that is necessary to count down the days till school starts. YAY.  New Classes!  More Stressing about grades!  College Apps!  SATs!  But seriously..  If you’re like me- or like most people- my guess is that you find it hard to stay 100% on track during the school year – It’s easy to get bogged down with class work, with the social scene- insecurity slips in so quickly, and before you even realized what’s happened you’ve all but forgotten your commitments, your identity, Jesus’ call on your life-and “self-centered” has become the name of the game again.

Well, I thought it would be helpful to gather together some tools that Christians throughout the ages- (the years compulsory schooling and the most peculiar inventions known as “middle school” and “high school” have been around) have used to stay on track, and keep out of “civilian affairs.” (2 Timothy 2) So here’s my “Top 10” practical ways to stay focused. Some of them are tips, some are guidelines, some fall in the netherworld between goals and objectives- all are things that I’ve found useful, (or, if not that, things that I’ve heard other people say and thought “hey that’s a good idea” and was too lazy and forgetful to actually implement-) things to help you keep your head in the game.  Feel free to comment and add your own to the list!  SO.  Here we go: (insert electric-guitar heavy ESPN theme music here)

10.Early Bird Gets the Worm!
C.T. Studd once wrote, “if you don’t desire to meet the Devil during the day, meet Jesus before dawn.”   Consistent devotions is a given, but try doing it first thing in the morning  (It’s hard.  I know.  I struggle just waking up in time to make it to 1st period 5 minutes late on ordinary days.)  If you can’t find the time, I would try reading a chapter in the morning while you’re eating cereal or brushing your teeth.  Or in the hallways as you wait for 1st period to start.  So yeah.  If you don’t know what to read there’s lots of daily devotions on our Interhigh Site…
But anyway- morning is key.  Start off your day right.  While you’re by yourself at home, or waiting at the bus stop, send up a prayer for the day, think about the challenges you’re going to face, ask God for strength.

9.Pray Every Day and You’ll Grow!
Duh.  To God.  For yourself – for strength to make it through the day, for God to grant you his spirit of power, of love and of self discipline. (2 Timothy 1), thanksgiving etc.
For others- for your non-Christian friends to have open hearts, for your Christian friends to stay strong, etc.  And other stuff too.  About everything.  “Pray continually.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

8.Chocolate Factory!
(If this doesn’t make sense do you, don’t worry about it- you’ll only get this title if you saw Veggie Tales way too many times while you were getting babysat at church.) Make sure you have some Christian friends!  If you don’t have any, than you’re pretty much dead meat.  No.  Seriously.  Get together with some like-minded friends every week.  If you’re not part of a youth group do some research and find one in your area.  Pray for each other.  Share what’s going on in your life- the sins you’re struggling through.  If there’s other Christians at school ask some of them to keep you accountable – to check you if they see you stumbling.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”  Or think the book of Daniel- Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego.

7.Goals!
Set some!  For example, something along the lines of: “I am going to share the gospel with at least one person between 1st and 4th period, one person during lunch, and one person between 5th and 6th period.”  Well, set goals that are a little more realistic than that.  Maybe like, invite one friend to my youth group bible study every week?  Give some Christian Literature to a friend once a month?  Give a gospel presentation to one friend in the year?   Make some new friends?  Other things of that nature…

6.Plan Ahead!
“Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have,” wrote Apostle peter to some group of early Christians.  (1 Peter 3:15)  Put together a gospel presentation- integrate your testimony, include bible verses, write it all down and practice it until you know it backwards and sideways and can give it naturally and casually to your friends.  Improve on it as you go on living life, as you learn more bible, as your knowledge grows- as you see what people get and what people don’t, what needs clarification and what you can shorten, etc. etc.

5.Read Up!
It’s important to know what you believe- and the best way to do this is to sit down and plough through some of the tens of thousands of books about why Christianity makes sense that smarter Christians than you have been writing for 2000 years.  Biology teacher blasting “creationism”?  Read Michael Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box, or Lee Strobel’s Case for a Creator.  One of your friends hits you with the problem of evil or some tough spiritual question?  Try Mere Christianity, The Case for Faith, Letters from a Skeptic.  Or if you want some serious intellectual stimulation try J.P. Moreland’s Scaling the Secular City. For anything else check out the books written by William Lane Craig (also see his debate with Christopher Hitchens- on youtube) or Josh McDowell.  And this is just the tip of the apologetics iceberg.

4.Lists, Post – Its..
Write it all down!  To remember and remind yourself.  Write out a list of all the friends you’re going to try to pray for consistently, the friends you’re going to try to reach out to.  Put post-its in your locker with big bold letters spelling out things along the lines of:  “JESUS LOVES YOUR FRIENDS TOO” and “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT” and “WHAT IF YOU DIED TOMORROW,” or “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT…..  ??”  Things like that.  (and I’m only half joking.)  Or bible verses.  (The Great commission?)  Or whatever works for you.  Keep yourself reminded.  Write things down so that your goals and objectives will be more concrete.

3.Spend!
Be generous.  Take your friend out to lunch.  Or pay for his/her school lunch.  Jesus says in Luke 16 to “use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”  Really.  Generosity can be a powerful testament to the fact that you are in this world but not of it.  Be generous in your time as well as your money- I know you would rather practice your guitar, or spend that extra time studying for that class you’re studying in- but always try to prioritize people.  If an annoying friend tries to talk to you – be civil, engage, try to be loving.

2.”Don’t Worry.  Be Happy.”
Strangely enough, the biblical Christian might have more in common with this an adherent of this laid-back, Bob Marley hippy attitude than you might think.  Sometimes reflecting back on the day can be discouraging- seeing all the ways you messed up.  Again.  Always remember Romans 8- that “in all things (even sin) God works for the good of those who love him.”  Trust- in God’s grace, in the work of the Holy Spirit.

1.  BE CREATIVE!
Always be looking for new ways to reach out, to serve- creative things you can do that match the gifts God has given you and your unique situation on campus.  Maybe start a weekly after school bible study with a small group of friends.  Or ask your small group leader to join you at your lunch hang out spot.  Hand out Christian Literature at lunch?  Play a Christian song with your band at your school talent show.  Start a philosophy club to open up discussions!  Walk down your local main street and engage random people in conversations about what they believe.  I don’t know.  Pray about it- and do something crazy and awesome.  You got it.

So these are my ideas! hope they help. Please comment and post your own!

That’s what is commonly associated with Valentine’s Day, but for the Element Youth Group, it’s a day to be countercultural, as for the past five years, the holiday has gone hand in hand with demonstrating acts of compassion. Each year, instead of waiting around for that special someone to come knocking on our door, we mobilize and go out into the community to model God’s love.

This year, our gifts of handmade cards and blankets went to the local convalescent homes as our students split into three groups and visited Bellaken Nursing Center, Lakeshore Residential Care, and South Shore Convalescent Hospital. We sang some praise songs, gave a brief message, and then the students spread amongst the residents to mingle and chat with them.

It was beautiful to see radiant smiles on both the faces of the students and the residents, and everyone had a good time this Valentine’s Day as we experienced love in a different, and dare I say better, sense than the traditional definition. Definitely looking forward to it next year.

Did you spend your Valentine’s Day in a God honoring way? Let us know below in the comments section.

Does separation from your cell phone bring you great anxiety? Does studying ever end up becoming a time of “see how many things I can look up on Wikipedia”? Or has your hearing been severely impaired because of the amount of music you’re blaring into your ears every spare moment in the day? I can relate.

Reading this article reminded me of the downward spiral we’re all heading in with the advent of newer and faster technology. Our world is more and more becoming a place where silence and free time is uncomfortable. This quote really stood out to me: “The alternative to all this fiddling is being alone with your own thoughts, which terrifies people used to constant stimulation provided by our media-saturated culture.” How true is that! I can recall days growing up, and even nowadays, where instead of having to deal with my onslaught of thoughts I drowned it all out with television, the Internet, and my iPod. And you know what, it’s becoming easier and easier to do this. Being able to actually hear God past all the noise we surround ourselves with is a challenge (I mean, we can’t even hear ourselves at times!)

I think about this passage: 1 King 19:11-13

¹¹ The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

God was a gentle whisper. Yet how can we let that voice in if we fill our ears instead with the constant noise of our iPods?

Something that I did over the summer with my home group at church was to do a week-long Media Fast. It was inspired by this hilarious article in the LA Times about a teacher who did something similar with her middle school students. Essentially, all of her middle school students went crazy: and what was revealed was the severe lack of ability to relate to others. How pathetic that our relationships, our creativity, and our time are so easily stifled by the media we consume.

So what can we, as counter-cultural Christians do to reject the ways of the world and continue to strive for Christlike-ness? Here are some ways:

• PRAYER. Praying for the different ways that people can be negatively affected by media overconsumption (i.e. video game violence, the increase in sexual images onscreen, Internet addiction, escapism… etc.) can help us recognize the great need this world is in to hear God’s voice over all others.
• Reading the Bible. How well do you know God’s word? Well enough to recite amazing chapters like Romans 8 or 1 Corinthians 13? Are we truly placing his law and Word within our hearts? Or are we more concerned with memorizing lyrics of the newest hit songs?
• Meditate over Scripture. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
• Hang out with peers. Share your devotionals, pray together, read together.
• Write a letter… by hand! When was the last time we did this?
• Read a book. Some good suggestions: Shadow of the Almighty (Elisabeth Eliot), Loving God (Chuck Colson), Mere Christianity (C. S. Lewis), Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien) — there’s so many good books out there!
• Exercise / play sports! Our physical health is also very important to God (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• Share the gospel with someone. Instead of going to the movies with a friend, try having a conversation with someone about your abstention from media and why you’re doing what you’re doing. Maybe it’ll open up an opportunity to share the gospel!

More encouraging articles:

• Pastor John Piper’s view on TV and Movies:
• Sermon on Silence and Solitude:

Can you unplug yourself? Or will you let yourself be pulled by the masses instead of what God may be calling you to do? I pray that Christ can help us do the former! We definitely need a lot of His help.

Riding off of Dan’s recent article, I wanted to pose the question of: what does it look like to honor God with your clothing? Like Dan mentioned, I think we have to think critically about what the things on our clothing says, but for girls, another aspect is that of dressing modestly. I have many peers that have been convicted in this aspect of our Christian lives because they realized they needed to honor the people around them through dressing in a way that doesn’t stumble others. The Bible says “that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9-10) and that whatever we do, (including how we dress) we should seek to glorify God (1 Corinthians 3:10). For some of my peers, in practice that meant throwing away some clothes that they realized were immodest or wearing layers under clothing that was too short (we love layers!). If you’re wondering what may be considered immodest, you could try asking your leaders or checking out the “Modesty Survey” that Alex & Brett Harris of The Rebelution Blog created: http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/.

In addition to being more discerning about our clothing, this year my peers have worked together on a creative project designing t-shirts that stimulate spiritual conversation. Several of them have contributed designs to our project, titled 2:22 Apparel (after 2 Timothy 2:22) and we hope to have the favorites printed within this coming year. (Check them out for yourself at .) We think that trying to honor God with our clothing can be an exciting and fun thing too!

I encourage all of you to join us in being mindful of what you wear, recognizing that discernment in this area really does honor yourself, others, and God.

I always knew elements of culture broke into our lives in subtle ways, but sometimes it takes a real life object to set me off thinking about it. The other day I saw a girl at the BART station carrying a bag with the catch-phrase “Live Your Life” printed on it, in very large colorful letters. My first lingering thought was: wow, isn’t that incredibly narcissistic? Of course she probably didn’t really think about it, and it turns out she’s not alone; After a little searching I found out this is the major motto of our clothing friends over at American Eagle (In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not really ‘up’ on fashion trends, I tend to wear cheap shorts and either meaningful or free tee-shirts). Nonetheless, the question remains: are we as narcissistic and self-engrossed as our clothing claims?
If you own these kinds of clothes, or worse yet, have some of this “Live Your Life” gear, you might be a little upset. Or angry. I hope it’s both, really. Truth is, I hope those of us who wear logos on our clothes that we never even think about feel ashamed, because it goes to show how not only are we each failing to think critically as individuals, but even our hive-minded group-thinking is at the mercy of trends.
Don’t quite see what the big issue is? Not yet frustrated with the mottos of our generation? Well then lets talk a little bit about Sin. Some people say it’s doing bad things, but they’re talking about sins, not Sin. Some of the better informed say it’s separation from God; True, but it’s an incomplete definition. Want to know what Sin is? It’s when we shake our fist at God, and say “God, I’m gonna live my life how I want to,” separating ourselves from the Giver of Life. Of course we usually do it with through actions rather than words, like Adam did, but the meaning is the same.
I hope our little motto just got a lot more scary. The point is, think about what Your clothes are telling the world. It may be as obvious as the American Eagle motto. It may be phrases that just push the boundaries a bit. Worse yet, it may be clothing with no words at all, which proclaim a scandalous  or unchristian identity.

Stop, and think about it.

It was this part of the documentary that caught my attention. This same teenager, desperate for answers and a solution to his perpetual emptiness and longing, decided to start attending the youth group at his local church, hoping to find what he wanted in religion and faith. He described how, as soon as he got there, he experienced and really enjoyed the sense of community that he felt there and the security that he gained through his faith. Soon, this teenager made the decision to become Christian and thought that he had finally found a place where he could find comfort and belong. However, he began to wrestle with different questions and doubts that he had, related to the existence of God, and sadly he was unable to get any satisfactory answers. He began to grow more and more unsure of his faith, and without anyone who could answer these questions he had, he attended the youth group less and less, eventually leaving and falling away from his belief. Without basis for his faith, he decided that it was ultimately pointless and turned back to paying off his so-called “friends” and spending his time with them drinking and smoking.

As the documentary ended and I looked around the classroom, I felt a sense of concern, pity, even, wondering how many of these people were just like those teenagers in the documentary – lost, alone, uncared for by their parents and unloved by peers, seeking just to be loved and accepted. It hit me how privileged I am to be a part of Interhigh, a community where I can not only experience a true sense of love and belonging among my fellow peers and mentors but where I can also learn to defend my faith and create a foundation for what I believe in. It saddens me that if that one student from the documentary could have had access to a ministry like ours, he could have remained faithful rather than falling away and turning back to drinking, smoking, and accumulating false relationships in order to fulfill his sense of longing.

We who are a part of Interhigh fellowship are truly blessed to have this kind of ministry where teenagers from all over can get together to bond and deepen our relationships and our faith. However, as Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” We need to steward the blessing of this ministry that we have been entrusted with. There are many more people like this student who may be may not be entirely firm in their faith, and all they need is someone who can answer their questions and help them get over their doubts. It is important that we do not sit idly by, watching fellow Christians one by one lose interest because of their doubts that remain unanswered. Through Interhigh we are becoming better equipped, and with this entrustment to greater knowledge comes the duty of reaching out to our friends who may not have a strong foundation for their faith. Now that we have been and will continue to be trained in this way, NO individual should ever experience what this teenager went through. We need to take the initiative and take advantage of our resources by reaching out to fellow Christians who may not have access to groups like Interhigh; helping them to better understand what it is we believe and working to strengthening our faith together.

Written by Stephen Sun, Alameda High School, Class of 2011

What Diana West is suggesting in The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development Threatens Western Civilization will undoubtedly sound ridiculous to thousands of youth pastors, family therapists, and advertising gurus whose livelihoods depend on entertaining, counseling, and selling to teenagers.

Nevertheless, West argues that adolescence didn’t always exist.

Continue reading this article at Breakpoint.