New Life Group

One thing I love about HSM is the opportunity to lead a High School Life Group. I'm really excited about this year because I'm starting off with a group of freshmen guys (and one sophomore who turns out to be too awesome for words, so I'm thrilled he's in the group!).

Most of the guys go to different schools and have different interests. We have skaters, a computer guy, a basketball player, a wrestler, a trampolinist, a stud who has been dating the same girl for 10 months, and a musician. It's such a great and diverse group. Everyone seemed to get along great at the Meet n' Greet last Tuesday. It was loud and crowded, but we still had some fun.

One thing I wanted to do was give them a quick pop quiz about the Bible. I wasn't grading them, nor was I using it to assess their knowledge. The pop quiz was a list of 20 true or false questions. Most of them were trick questions intended to catch their interest. No one scored a 100 and I didn't expect them to. Below is the pop quiz. Try your best and check the answers and explanations a little further down. Good luck!

POP QUIZ!!!

TRUE or FALSE?

1. There is power in prayer. ________

2. There are dinosaurs in the Bible. ________

3. Peter was a fisherman and became the first Pope. ________

4. "A dog returns to its vomit" is from the Bible. ________

5. Noah's Ark had two of every animal. ________

6. You go to hell because you're a bad person. ________

7. Jesus was Jewish. ________

8. The Bible can be interpreted in many different ways. ________

9. There is a talking donkey in the Bible. ________

10. The guy who wrote 13 books of the Bible killed Christians. ________

11. There are many paths to heaven. ________

12. Adam & Eve ate an apple. ________

13. Jesus said, "What luck for rulers that men do not think." ________

14. We have guardian angels to protect us. ________

15. Jesus was the only one to walk on water. ________

16. Moses broke the first set of the 10 Commandments on the ground. ________

17. Xerxes (zerks'-ez) from the movie 300 is in the Bible. ________

18. David cut of Goliath's head with his (Goliath's) own sword. ________

19. BC and AD stand for "Before Christ" and "After Death". ________

20. We should never point out other people's sins. ________

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Answers!!!

1. FALSE: Surprised? Trick question! There is no power in prayer. There is power in the one who you pray to. What if you pray to a toaster? There's no power in that prayer! God is the one with power and prayer is simply our way of communicating with Him.

2. TRUE: I say true with the disclaimer that it is likely, but not fact. In Job 40:15-249, God speaks of a huge animal called the behemoth. Read closely at the description. He describes the animal the same way we would describe a dinosaur. Does that mean that it is a dinosaur? Not necessarily. Does it mean that it could be a dinosaur? Absolutely! Our group will study this more later for fun. It's a great way to get students interested in the Bible.

3. TRUE: The Pope belongs to the Catholic denomination, but nonetheless, a fisherman became a leader because of Christ. I thought that was interesting.

4. TRUE: The phrase is commonly associated with a criminal who returns to the scene of his crime. Proverbs 26:11 is actually speaking of a fool who repeats this folly. The criminal would fit into the category of a fool, but so does everyone else in the world. If you continue making the same mistakes (they don't have to be criminal), then you're considered a fool.

5. FALSE: Trick question again! Most paintings and children's books depict a male and a female set of animals entering the ark. However, God commanded Noah to bring 7 of every clean animal and 2 of every unclean animal. He also commanded that he bring 7 of every kind of bird. So, while the majority might have been in pairs of two, we know that some were allowed to bring friends.

6. TRUE: This is another trick question that requires some logic. Hell was created for those who were rebellious (meaning Satan and his demons). Hell is the absence of God's salvation. Imagine having the flu with no hope of getting well. The lack of hope is hell. Because of Adam and Eve, we became rebellious. We live our lives according to our own ways and ignore the One who created us. As a result, we are sinful. God has a standard and that standard is perfection. Since we're rebellious and sinful, the things we do that are not perfect are considered bad things. That doesn't just mean killing and stealing. Lying, laziness, selfishness, foolishness, etc... those are all short of perfection and therefore not good (i.e. bad things). So, to atone for our rebellious ways, Jesus lived a life that wasn't rebellious and became worthy to take our places. By us accepting Christ into our lives, we are giving Him our sins. With our sins wiped clean, we are able enter Heaven. So, the common thing to say is that you go to hell because you didn't accept Christ. That's true, but it doesn't make sense until you understand why you need Christ.

The best way I've heard it put is, "If you don't want to live your life for God on earth, why in the world would you want to spend eternity with him in Heaven?"

7. TRUE: Jesus was absolutely Jewish.

8. TRUE: Trick question again. You have to be careful on this one because our culture uses terms and phrases so loosely that two things may sound similar but mean two different things. This question is based off the idea that the Bible is a large metaphorical book with hidden wisdom and insight. What you read can mean different things to different readers. The problem with that is the Bible is very real, historical, and direct. I love when someone reads a parable that Jesus told, then claim its up for interpretation. One problem... read a little further and Jesus plainly explains to his disciples what he meant.

The epistles are real letters written to real churches/people by real people. When Paul tells us that we shouldn't use perverse language, he means that we shouldn't use perverse language. If you try to spin that in a way so you can cuss, you're just trying to justify yourself. Sorry, it doesn't work that way! Everything needs to be read in context with a knowledge of the history to gain a full understanding.,=

9. TRUE: This wasn't a Shrek reference! In Numbers 22:22, Balaam's donkey begins to talk to him!

10. TRUE: Before Paul became a Christian, he was a zealous Pharisee. When he heard of this Jesus craze going around, he got permission from the Jewish leaders to throw Christ followers in prison, or stone them. He later went on to preach to the gentiles and plant churches all over the place. He would write letters to the churches to answer their questions or to encourage them. He would also write to individuals to instruct and encourage as well. Thirteen of those letters make up part of the New Testament.

11. FLASE: This doesn't work logically and I'll explain: There are three options: We have one god, many gods, or no gods. You cannot have all three. It has to be one. If it's true that we have many gods, then it would make sense to say that the Christian God was one of them. However, the Bible makes the claim that there is only one God and that God is perfect, doesn't lie, and is all powerful. If there are many gods, then the God of the Bible is lying about being the only god. If He's lying about being the only god, then the attributes that make Him a god are not real because God doesn't lie. If God does not have the attributes of a god, then He's no god at all. Most religions claim to be the only way and are exclusive. In the end, you really have to come to the conclusion that there is either one god or no gods. (ie one way or no way).

12. FALSE: The Bible only says that they ate fruit. We automatically think of an apple because of children's books and paintings.

13. FALSE: That was actually a statement from Hitler.

14. FALSE: Though it's really nice to say, the Bible says nothing about guardian angels.

15. FALSE: Though it was brief, Peter took a step out of the boat walked toward Jesus. That is, of course, until he got scared and began to sink :)

16. TRUE: After God had given Moses the two tablets, Moses headed down the mountain to deliver the new law to his people. Unfortunately, his people grew tired of waiting for him and began worshipping a golden calf. Moses was so mad that he threw the tablets down to the ground. I'm sure it was awkward when he had to get the new tablets from God!

17. TRUE: Xerxes is the king in the book of Ester.

18. TRUE: After killing goliath with his sling, David ran over and cut off Goliath's head with his own sword. That's pretty intense!

19. TRUE / FALSE: BC stands for Before Christ, but AD stand for Anno Domini, which means "In the year of our Lord."

20. FALSE: Just to clarify, the question is in regards to Christian brothers. A brother in Christ should point out the other brother's sins. It must be with the purpose of helping the brother grow and not to bring him down. We have to encourage each other to steer clear from sin and strengthen our walk with God.

Like I said, no one score an A, but we had a lot of fun going over the answers. I love challenging students to search for the truth and examine those claims and phrases that are so popular in our culture. Most, if not all, of these questions are based on the idea that people can answer with, "Well I've heard...". I want my guys to answer with, "Well I know....".

Darren, Darrel, or Darnel?

Hollie and I are leading High School Life Groups this year. Since it's her first time, she was given a copy of Help! I'm a Volunteer Youth Worker! by Doug Fields. It's a fairly short book with quick chapters of thoughts, ideas, and wisdom from Doug. I decided to skim through it and toward the middle I hit the chapter on names.

"For most kids, their name is their greatest possession. Remembering a teenager's name communicates significance." (Chapter: Name-Dropping Allowed Here)

This is very true for students and adults alike. Remember one's name makes the person feel special, important, and worthy. Forgetting someone's name can be embarrassing and sometimes insulting.

I'm actually really bad with names. I have this strange talent where I can remember exactly where I met someone and how we met (literally anyone), but names always slip from my memory!

A trick that most people use that doesn't help me at all is repeating the person's name during your conversation with them. Ten minutes later, I can't remember if it was Craig or Carl who I was talking with! It doesn't mean that the person isn't important, it just means that I'm an idiot when it comes to names!

Here's what I do to remember names:

When I meet someone for the first time, I take note of their name and think, "I only have to remember this name for 10 minutes." Sometimes I'll visualize the person with a friend who has the same name. A big group of Brians hanging out helps quite a bit.

Once the conversation is over, I quickly bust out my phone and go to the notes app. I have a list of every person I've met, no matter how insignificant the meeting was. I enter the name and next to it I write a short note about the person. Maybe it's what we talked about. Maybe it's how they look. Sometimes it's something interesting that they do.

I rarely refer back to this list because taking 90 seconds to jot things down usually helps me visually remember the person's name. Here's an example:

Steve: El Toro, plays trumpet, looks like Hurley from Lost.

Rudy: Steve's friend, frist time at church, made joke about throwing him a football in slow motion... then crying.

Alisha: Ran camera 2 this week. Has British accent. Works at Rubys.

Kyle: Volunteer, just married, graduated from IVC.

Once I have this list, I find it very easy to remember names. On top of that, it's really easy for me to remember something special about the conversation. Next time I see Steve, I'm going to ask him about the trumpet. When I hear the British accent, I'll remember her name is Alisha. When I throw a football in slow motion, I'll be expecting Rudy to catch it :)

Attempt 223

There are many things in this world that I will never do: run for political office in Saskatchewan, drink an entire gallon of hot sauce in one sitting, shave an unyielding hyena, and eskimo-kiss a rhinoceros. There are, however, many things that I have tried and failed, yet deserve a second chance (I will learn to play you, ukulele!!!). Blogging falls into the second category.

I have tried many times to maintain a blog, but quickly realized that even I wasn't interested in what I was writing. Of course there were the occasional quips that I so joyfully published for the interwebs to read, but aside from that, my blog was nothing more than a, "Hey read me so you can think I'm awesome and/or intelligent!" There was just no meat to my blog.

So, just like the ukulele that I attempt to strum every once in awhile, I'm going to take my shot at blogging again and hopefully make some better music than my four stringed Hawaiian friend. This time, I'm going to write posts to help others with the thing that interests me the most, youth ministry. Even if the only person who reads this is me 5 years from now, it will still be nice to see where my head was when I dove head first into youth ministry :)