Kids and Walls

We had a JV meeting tonight that went relatively well, but with some fall backs. It is truly interesting how some things will work in certain crowds and then it has to be completely overhauled for others.

For example…we can conduct a small group meeting at two of our schools where at the third…it JUST DON’T WORK! IT AIN’T HAPPENIN’. Why is that? I’ve heard all my life that kids are alike all over. They simply want attention…friendship…to be noticed…to be wanted…to be a part of something. Are they like adults? Is that all that we want? To be loved. In the words of the infamous Eddie Murphy when he goes out on his first date with Lisa in,”Coming to America”…”To be loved…Oh what a feeling, to be loved.”

We wish for acceptance in any and all of our undertakings. We want for importance and that others would take note of what we have done be it little or of a big impact. I feel that’s all that these kids are after. I held a brief conversation with a few youth workers on why middle school and high school sports are so popular. Why is it that almost all the guys want in on the action with Bball and football…now soccer and sometimes wrestling. The girls want in on Vball and cheerleading. Why? What is it about the feeling that they so crave in a world gone mad where things instead of people matter; where popularity and reputation seem to be worth more than a person’s self esteem or feeling.

I talked with a student tonight who couldn’t have cared less about God, Jesus, the Holy three, and everything they stand for. On top of that, he’s more than glad to present his idea in a forceful manner to everyone around him that God is nothing more than a rumor started centuries ago. He hates the mere thought of even discussing the possibility of Lord let alone his own faith…if he has any at all.

Something or someone somewhere caused this huge, thick wall that he has built around him completely. He sits on the inside hoping that no one will know how scared he is that someone might actually be willing to care about him or his future…if he chooses to have one. This teenager puts on this front where no one can talk to him, with him, and no one comes close. What is it in his past that has hurt him so badly that no passes are being distributed, nobody gets by the gate. Nobody gets through the wall.

One teenager was killed in a highway accident this weekend and two other students went staright to the hospital…not in good condition. The scene this morning at their school was not a pretty one. People everywhere were devistated at the fact that they no longer will come to school with their friend. I’m quite certain that they all thought they would see her come Monday morning in her seat or in the hallway as they have for the past few years…and then this happened. “Tomorrow is promise to no one.” We make all these plans on a daily basis taking for granted that we will still be around to actually see those plans come to pass. This guy about whom I was talking, that has a super-thick wall built around him, may very well not be around next week. The Lord could call his number at any point in time with out a warning. I just wish that he realized it.

This has been another total waste of time in “The World Gone Mad” brought to you by none other than the Bakerboy himself.

Live podcast

We just completed our first of many LIVE recordings of the podcast, “The World Gone Mad” this past Wed. night. Things went smooth for the most part. There were a couple of hickups in the techie side of things, but for our first live recording it was a success. We had a large group there for the show and a great number of really good questions come rolling in one right after the other. They were sincere in their questioning and in their search for a real answer which were glad to be able to provide.

There was a focus panel of five people including my co-host, Dave Capkovitz, Hailey Church, and Serena Fry as well as the Bakerboy Himself. It took quite a while for setup, but it was well worth the time and effort as an investment into the lives of these teens and their parents.

Through the mercy of God were able to successfully complete the show on, “Materialism” and have set up another live podcast recording at Hamilton High School next Wed. th 21st at 12pm sharp in their gym to discuss Peer Pressure, and the other topic is on the importance of service. Hope 2 c u there!

Ciao,

A Strange Brew

NOTE: THE STUDENTS PICTURED ABOVE ARE NOT THE ONES OF WHOM WE SPEAK IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.

Many people call them pre-humans because they are in that state of mind in between high School influence and the ropes of their friends tied to the grades before them…middleschoolers. Whatta’ ya’ gonna’ do?

We held a small group meeting last night at a local pizza joint with some kids who were funny just to hear them attempt to communicate with one another. I am unsure if they understand precisely what it takes to fill an enitre sentance becuase they typically converse in small fragmants of thought and unless you are tuned into their channel you become more lost than a 3 year reign of survivors on a deserted island who can’t seem to get home due to the fact that they continue to find so many great things to occupy both theirs and your time right their on the isle of nowhere’s ville.

We ordered pizza and they got up and headed directly for the video game where the excitement hit the roof because the poor schmoe beofre them who obviously had nothing better to do on a Tuesday night than to waste time playing a silly poker game in a restaurant, left before he finished his game, had some turns left before the game had finished. I sat there wondering, “What in the world? Can’t you play vid games at home?” I was always excited to go to any restaurant, mainly because my mom hated to cook, except on Schwan’s night…which if I recall was every night except for Sunday when she became tired of either ordering out for pizza or shoving Schwan’s latest heat and serve dish into the oven, and so she cooked microwave popcorn. As long as Dad took over before she actually made it to the microwave with the nearly impossibly easy instructions, we had some good unburned popcorn. If he wasn’t around, we normally went through 3 or 4 bags before we got to an unburned edible bag that didn’t reek of smoke. Ahh…the goot times.

As soon as the breadsticks, or as they call them, appetizers, arrived, they were right back in their seats demanding the first and biggest breadstick for their own. The volunteers and myself just looked at eachother in shruggingly disregarded it as one of those pre-human tendancies with which they now grow in because of the times in which we live. Kids can’t break away from the tv for anything other than a cel call, text message, or food. That is one of the main reasons, and you may have already read about this, but we took a week away from TV. It becomes too much of a crutch and I don’t want my kids nor myself falling into the trap that we feel like we have to have the tv on 24-7-365. It is difficult enough to find the undivided time to spend together with the fam.

This has been another total waste of time in a World Gone Mad brought to you by none other than the Bakerboy himself.

ACLJV Follow Up

(PLEASE NOTE: THE STUDENTS LISTED ABOVE ARE IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO THE STORY I AM ABOUT TO TELL)

We gave the gopsel last week at one of my schools and tonight we did some follow up to some of the questions they had asked last week in addition to diving a wee bit more in depth to the Bible and some discipleship. Some of these students are ready to go deeper in their walk with Christ and are more than willing to take the steps needed. Others would much rather steer as far away from Jesus and his teachings as humanly possible and I just can’t understand why. There’s this one kid who absolutely shuts down whenever the topic of Jesus or anything surrounding Jesus is discussed. He will sit and wait patiently while shaking his head at us for attempting to teach the gospel and its truth to the other teenagers. Until asked to stop, he will tell the others in the room that Jesus is a hoax, some fake character that lived millions fo years ago and doesn’t exist.

I believe this young lad has been emotionally wounded at some point in his life and has a very thick, brick wall built around him not letting anything or anyone near it, and if they do get near…they ain’t gettin’ in. I think the more he resists any kind of attempt to build a relationship with him so that they walls will begin to crumble, the more he wants a friendship. He has just devised this kind of facade that must remain so that others don’t discover how scared he really is. Please pray that God will bring many others to help chizzle away at the wall this kid has so intricately built.

Kerplunk went the brother

I overheard my two youngest sons wrestling and play fighting in the backrgound as I brewed my next cup of espresso from HemisphereCoffeeroasters.com. They would lightly smash eachother in the arm, face, leg, whatever body part that would not cause permanant damage to the opponent. It reminded me of my younger years when I would wrestle with my younger brother, and then we would both tackle our little sister, pin her to the ground, and threaten to allow drool and spit to fall on her face as we asked who was her favorite brother…for some reason I could never stop or pull the spot back into my mouth before it broke off and “accidentally” fell on her face somewhere. Ahhh…family. Those were the days. Of course I do not recall taking it lightly as we fought our little sister. i think we had the assumption that if God wanted to save her from our torment…he would have, but alas he did not. I figured we were simply doing God’s will (he-he) I wouldn’t say that we were necessarily sent from above to toughen our sister up for the real world where regular everyday people would no treat her as kind as usually did. Where was I…

Oh yes, the boys were wrestling in the next room when I heard one hit the ground as if he had been mortally wounded. He played out a death scene in a movie he recently saw where the wounded victim fought for his life. In the best drama, oscar winning moment, he crawled to a nearby chair weeping and gasping for his last breath before he gave up the ghost…I smiled as his younger brother watched closely his elder bro who played out his part perfectly…right before he copied his every move to the last breath, tear, and cry out for vengence. The wife and I quietly chuckled as the moment unraveled before us. The older son would flop his arm on the ground one last time, then the younger woulkd follow. Boys being boys…what a sight to see. God has blessed us with three adoring children and they keep us on our toes and in stitched every step of the way.

This has been another total waste of time in a world gone mad by none other than the Bakerboy Himself.