Third Day is doing a blog carnival on their blog, so I thought I’d write about my favorite live experience with them.
The thing I remember most about one of the concerts I went to in Florida was the way it ended. Usually, you go to a concert and the band leaves after a wildly popular song and comes back to do an encore when the crowd yells for them. But not at this concert.
Third Day ended this particular concert with a worship set, and the last song was “Agnus Dei.” The lights went down as the crowd sang along with the band. Then it was just the crowd repeating the phrase, “You are Holy.” It was a meaningful worshipful experience.
I opened my eyes and realized that the band had left the stage. It was just us, worshiping the One that the concert was really about – God. Third Day successfully made that concerto about Him and not about the band.
I was doing some research for my talk today at Grace Christian School (the school I graduated high school from), and I came across a report that I had seen on Ypulse and had been meaning to read for a long time.
The Horatio Alger Report called, “The State of the Nations Youth” gives some information based on a phone survey of 1,006 students ages 13-19, and it touches on various topics that would be interesting to any youth worker in the US.
Some things I found interesting:
As recently as 2003, 75% of teenagers said they felt hopeful and optimistic about the future of the country. This year, however, barely half (53%) of students feel hopeful and optimistic about the future of the country a 22-point decline in five years.
53% of those surveyed would describe themselves as religious.
Only 46% report that their parents have rules about how they can use the internet.
64% of teenagers say that they spend some time each week practicing a sport for an average of 10.3 hours per week.
Almost four out of five students (79%) say that getting good grades creates a problem for them. Fourty-five percent say that it creates major problems for them.
88% use the word “confident” to describe themselves.
Don’t you love the first few days of school? When I was a kid, I liked going back to school. It meant new clothes, new books (yeah, I’m weird), new smelling classrooms (even though I went to the same school from 2nd-12th grade, they always smelled like fresh paint), and new opportunities.
Now, as a professor, I like the first day of school because it means new thoughts on new subjects. It means new opportunities to share with a new group of students and to hear fresh ideas about the topics that will one day help them minister to young people in their communities.
It’s killing me not being in Mexico for the first classes this year. Huberto is teaching Principles of Youth Ministry to the freshman, and I got a report from him about the first day of classes. He tells me that the group is very involved in the class. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m hoping it turns out to be a good thing.
Well, in order to get by without being there this first week of school I’ve been watching this hilarious video that I saw. Maybe it will help you get through the first week of school, too.
I was playing around with Photoshop and put our family in a green Volkswagen taxi. The “vochos” are a typical sight (without our family) in Mexico City.
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It would be great for Christmas shopping this year to get free shipping from Amazon.com. So, click on the ad below for your free trial.
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