4 VOICES STUDENTS HEAR TODAY

The students of Generations Church have just returned from a life changing YOUTH CAMP (all of them are). As a career youth worker (been involved with students in some form or fashion for 32 yrs,) I am convinced that one of the reasons students do not keep what they received at camp is because of the voices they hear when they get home.

I am going to talk about these different VOICES for the next several blogs, so keep coming back.

#1 NEGATIVISM

#2 CRITICISM

#3 SKEPTICISM

#4 CYNICISM

Physical and sexual abuse are rampant in the culture of today's family but I believe that the most long lasting form of abuse today is VERBAL ABUSE. In my 30+ years of working with students I have seen more of them overcome physical and sexual abuse, but I have seen so so many come short of God's best for them because of some verbal curse that was spoken over them by parents or someone in authority over them. WE ALL KNOW THIS . . . WORDS CUT LIKE A KNIFE AND OPEN UP A WOUND IN THE SPIRIT OF THE PERSON.

Which is why I want to address this topic of THE VOICES students hear today.

NEGATIVISM - the disposition that always projects the worst case scenario.

"They think that we are not good because we do not get up with the chickens at the crack of dawn and we do not walk 15 miles to school like they did." This was a recent quote from an 18 yr. old senior with whom I was talking with on Facebook. Sure he was stereotyping all older people but there is an element of truth in his words. Many older folk from before the "baby boomers" think nothing but negativity about the youth in today's culture. There is this thunderous negative voice coming from our culture toward the youth culture of today that says: LAZY, ENTITLED, TROUBLE MAKERS, RUDE, EVEN IRRELEVANT. They respond by being even lazier, ruder, even hiding (ipods, video games, sun glasses etc.) so that they can show us who is really in charge. Which in turn just re-enforces what the world believes about them and many just write them ALL off as being that way.

WE MUST EXPRESS HOW MUCH WE BELIEVE IN THEM!!! Even if they fall short of our expectations we must express with our words how valuable they are and how they are the hope of our nation.

LETS ALL PRACTICE: "I believe in you . . . " come on lets do it again "I believe in you . . ."

In His Grace,

Ed