We have the seven people for the January Wendy's night. The next one is scheduled for February 12th.
Also, be on the lookout for our Younker's Community Days Fundraiser!!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
A few things that didn't make the email:
The permission slip/information slip for CIY Discipleship is posted. Click on the "Eastview Resources" link on the left, you'll find it in the "CIY Discipleship-2008" folder there. If you have questions, please let me know.
The Annual Release Form for 2008 will be available for you to download, print, sign, and return to me. Without it, your students will not be able to participate in overnighters, trips, etc. It will be up by Friday. Please get it to me ASAP!
Josh Davis has scheduled a ski trip for January 26th at Sundown Mountain in Dubuque. Here are the details as listed on the Facebook Event that he posted:
The permission slip/information slip for CIY Discipleship is posted. Click on the "Eastview Resources" link on the left, you'll find it in the "CIY Discipleship-2008" folder there. If you have questions, please let me know.
The Annual Release Form for 2008 will be available for you to download, print, sign, and return to me. Without it, your students will not be able to participate in overnighters, trips, etc. It will be up by Friday. Please get it to me ASAP!
Josh Davis has scheduled a ski trip for January 26th at Sundown Mountain in Dubuque. Here are the details as listed on the Facebook Event that he posted:
"I plan to go skiing on January 26th and am inviting anyone who wants to go with me. Transportation is limited. If you are willing to drive, that is greatly appreciated. I plan on leaving around 2pm and skiing from 4-10ish and being home no later than midnight. The cost to go will be $46 for your rental plus spending money for food. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at jdav06@yahoo.com."
I have strongly encouraged and supported Josh in setting this up, but please understand that this trip is in no way, shape or form an "Eastview Event." Here's what our Ministry Policy Manual has to say (in part) about "Non-Official Events":
"Non-official events…
• will never be promoted via official church publications or email addresses without a disclaimer.
• may be promoted verbally or by flyers at youth group by our students.
• should not be accredited to Eastview on any written flyers.
• might be adequately supervised or not supervised at all, depending.
• have no established conduct standards, such as what movies they may be showing.
• require parents to investigate to ensure their supervision expectations are met.
• The church assumes NO responsibility,liability or insurance obligations for such events, even if a youth sponsor attends all or part of it."
• will never be promoted via official church publications or email addresses without a disclaimer.
• may be promoted verbally or by flyers at youth group by our students.
• should not be accredited to Eastview on any written flyers.
• might be adequately supervised or not supervised at all, depending.
• have no established conduct standards, such as what movies they may be showing.
• require parents to investigate to ensure their supervision expectations are met.
• The church assumes NO responsibility,liability or insurance obligations for such events, even if a youth sponsor attends all or part of it."
I am not trying to dissuade participation, I'm communicating with you that this is not an "official" Eastview event.
Our January Wendy’s GeTogether night is NEXT Tuesday. I’m not sure how to say this “gracefully”so I’ll say it...we can have 20 kids show up to help, but I want our kids to make more than $5 a piece for this fundraiser. Financially, the dollars wouldn’t make sense. Please, only have your kids sign-up for this and other fundraisers if a) they need the money, and b) they’re planning to participate in events requiring money.
Because of the way this fundraiser works, and the amount money earned, I’m going to limit the number of students to SEVEN (7). The first 7 to sign-up on the sheet on the bulletin board will be the 7 we use. Thanks for understanding.
You may email me if you want your student on the list.
Because of the way this fundraiser works, and the amount money earned, I’m going to limit the number of students to SEVEN (7). The first 7 to sign-up on the sheet on the bulletin board will be the 7 we use. Thanks for understanding.
You may email me if you want your student on the list.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Here are Al Menconi's thoughts on "r" rated movies. I thought they were interesting vis-a-vi the discussion on Guitar Hero, Halo, the Golden Compass, etc. He wrote it in response to a letter questioning his discernment. I like his thoughts here.
Original article here.
"FROM THE DESK OF AL MENCONI:
This guy makes some good points. The point I disagree is where he arbitrarily says R rated movies are evil and then states that we shouldn't have anything to do with evil. While I agree that we shouldn't have anything to do with evil, where does Scripture say "Pvt Ryan" or R rated movies are evil? The thing that we need to be careful of is adding to Scripture and giving our addition the same credence as Scripture. Doing this only leads to trouble. The classic example is Eve in the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis 3:3, when the serpent was questioning Eve about God's instructions she added to God's Word. Her reply seemed innocent, "God said that we must not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden, and we must not touch it or we will die." God simply said, "Don't eat from it." He didn't say anything about touching it. What had she done? She ADDED to God's Word just to be safe; but what's wrong with adding a "bonus of goodness?" By doing this she was implying that God's Word wasn't good enough to stand up to Satan's temptations. She had to "help God out" and she made an extra rule just to be safe! You know where that led.
How does Eve's actions relate to your critic's stand on R rated movies? Scripture is clear on many things we should avoid, but it is silent about movies. I would say that it is a good policy to avoid R rated movies in the majority of cases, just as you said in your article, but be careful of saying it is a sin to attend R rated movies. That's adding to God's Word and it can only lead to trouble. Why not simply say we will evaluate each movie on its own merits in light of Philippians 4:8? Doing this will eliminate 99 and 99/100% of R rated movies. We are not condemning the movie; we are simply evaluating it in light of God's Word. Be careful about making blanket statements and making conclusions Scripture doesn't.
I believe this would be an excellent time to teach your kids how to discern quality entertainment as a whole. They typically don't know. The problem isn't R rated movies, the problem is most kids don't know what is good. Their parents or youth pastor said to avoid R rated movies, but they never taught them what is worthwhile. Many PG and PG-13 movies are much worse than many R rated movies. Often the child's thought is, "it's not R rated, so it's okay." Is it really? Someone needs to teach him how to choose quality entertainment. If most kids are asked if a movie was good, their response is often, "It was funny!" Or "It was exciting!" Or "It was sexy!" Or "It had a lot of special effects!" But they can't explain if it was good or not.
If your kids don't have the ability of discerning quality entertainment, they will forever be subject to the manipulation of the Hollywood marketing machine. As parents and leaders we must see the vast majority of entertainment as "ammunition" aimed our kids in the Spiritual war of life. It is our responsibility to teach our children how not to be causalities in this battle for their minds. A way you can do this is to bring "their entertainment" into your Sunday school class and help them filter it through the grid of God's Word just like you did with "Pvt Ryan."
Finally, as a caution, study Eph 5:1-12. We are to expose evil, but to stay innocent of sin. How can we do that? This is my most difficult challenge as a speaker. My problem is not knowing my material, it's how do I expose evil and still keep my audience innocent of sin. I'm sure you have seen "presentations" on the evils of entertainment that exposed too much. Don't be one of them!
In His service and yours,
Al Menconi"
Original article here.
"FROM THE DESK OF AL MENCONI:
This guy makes some good points. The point I disagree is where he arbitrarily says R rated movies are evil and then states that we shouldn't have anything to do with evil. While I agree that we shouldn't have anything to do with evil, where does Scripture say "Pvt Ryan" or R rated movies are evil? The thing that we need to be careful of is adding to Scripture and giving our addition the same credence as Scripture. Doing this only leads to trouble. The classic example is Eve in the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis 3:3, when the serpent was questioning Eve about God's instructions she added to God's Word. Her reply seemed innocent, "God said that we must not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden, and we must not touch it or we will die." God simply said, "Don't eat from it." He didn't say anything about touching it. What had she done? She ADDED to God's Word just to be safe; but what's wrong with adding a "bonus of goodness?" By doing this she was implying that God's Word wasn't good enough to stand up to Satan's temptations. She had to "help God out" and she made an extra rule just to be safe! You know where that led.
How does Eve's actions relate to your critic's stand on R rated movies? Scripture is clear on many things we should avoid, but it is silent about movies. I would say that it is a good policy to avoid R rated movies in the majority of cases, just as you said in your article, but be careful of saying it is a sin to attend R rated movies. That's adding to God's Word and it can only lead to trouble. Why not simply say we will evaluate each movie on its own merits in light of Philippians 4:8? Doing this will eliminate 99 and 99/100% of R rated movies. We are not condemning the movie; we are simply evaluating it in light of God's Word. Be careful about making blanket statements and making conclusions Scripture doesn't.
I believe this would be an excellent time to teach your kids how to discern quality entertainment as a whole. They typically don't know. The problem isn't R rated movies, the problem is most kids don't know what is good. Their parents or youth pastor said to avoid R rated movies, but they never taught them what is worthwhile. Many PG and PG-13 movies are much worse than many R rated movies. Often the child's thought is, "it's not R rated, so it's okay." Is it really? Someone needs to teach him how to choose quality entertainment. If most kids are asked if a movie was good, their response is often, "It was funny!" Or "It was exciting!" Or "It was sexy!" Or "It had a lot of special effects!" But they can't explain if it was good or not.
If your kids don't have the ability of discerning quality entertainment, they will forever be subject to the manipulation of the Hollywood marketing machine. As parents and leaders we must see the vast majority of entertainment as "ammunition" aimed our kids in the Spiritual war of life. It is our responsibility to teach our children how not to be causalities in this battle for their minds. A way you can do this is to bring "their entertainment" into your Sunday school class and help them filter it through the grid of God's Word just like you did with "Pvt Ryan."
Finally, as a caution, study Eph 5:1-12. We are to expose evil, but to stay innocent of sin. How can we do that? This is my most difficult challenge as a speaker. My problem is not knowing my material, it's how do I expose evil and still keep my audience innocent of sin. I'm sure you have seen "presentations" on the evils of entertainment that exposed too much. Don't be one of them!
In His service and yours,
Al Menconi"
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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