extraordinary

this is...

an absolute riot!!!

beauty tips for ministers!

it's great... check it out.

50 more years of youth ministyr: rollercoster!

i love the world of weblogs, with that said, there are some things about it that i truly can't stand. but also, there are the things i do love and embrace about it, and truly feel that there has been a shift in the ability of people to dialog about things that never really existed before.

and that, friends, brings me to my topic today: youth ministry and the next 50 years.

in my daily blog reading (i love the opening bookmarks in tab ability in firefox!) i  was reading marko's comments about the article in CT today about the next fifty years of ministry, specifically youth ministry. if i were the one assigned to the article, i would have taken the same approach as the writer and gone with the same interviews and probably said the same things. but, i would have also wanted to know what joe youth worker down the street thought. or even bob the head/senior pastor who got his start in professional ministry as a youth pastor/worker. to some extent, those view points are probably even more fascinating than the ones from those who are the movers and shakers of youth ministry, you know the ones we all name drop at some point in our career.

but looking beyond all that, there is some serious things happening in ministry today. having spent the last year of my life working as a youth worker (i am still in awe that i get paid cash money to hang out with teenagers) God has introduced me to new ways of approaching ministry and all that's involved in that. i would love to say that when i walk away from this ministry to the next one God calls me to, i will be able to hold my head up high and say that it was great. but that wouldn't be the truth. i work for a church that is stuck in the early nineties model of youth ministry: program, program, program... and we need your money to do that, because that will assure that our kids are ok! well guess what folks, ok is not good enough. if we are not in the business of kingdom expansion, then what's the point?

i truly believe that the next fifty years of youth ministry will see a radical shift. this will take youth ministry, and all ministry for that matter, into new and unexplored realms that can truly only be guided by God. i think that we will see a shift to not just minister to youth, but also to their families as a whole unit. i think that we will see kids hurting beyond our wildest imaginations and will result in a turning to seek something bigger than what they are being hurt by which can truly only be God. i think that we, as professionals, will have the biggest struggles in our lives due to church politics getting in the way of working for the Kingdom.

with all that said, and so much more to say, the next fifty years of youth ministry will only be the greatest, wildest adventure that anyone can fathom. the question is not what will it look like, but are you ready for the adventure? and if you are, are you willing and ready to let God let you do His work?

i do suffer from one problem though: many questions, no solutions... at least not yet!

_____________

i am trusting to a fault.
i don't give up, even when i know i should.
i feel like i invest a lot into some relationships and get little in return.
i misplace something.... and what ever it is, i know it's in the worng place.

sunny rain

hey, it kind of sounds like an emergent worship band name... wow!

anyways.... not why i am here...

today i found myself driving across a bridge, and while on the bridge it was raining and sunny. blue sky and all. the thing is, this is typical california weather. we do have our share of dark and stormy days, but there are the ones, usually at the beginning and end of seasons, the are completely contradictory to what seems to be happening.

but isn't the world we live in completely contradictory of itself? don't we live in a constate of contradiction because of the worl d we live in?

hyphy

did a little research on the "hyphy" movement. here are some findings...

• this is a bay area, hip-hop movement
• could be considered a sub-culture of the hip-hop culture
• involves dancing or getting hyphy, which means to move in a wild or ridiculous manner
• a big part of the culture is using drugs and alcohol
• there is a car element of the culture: involves driving a car in circles and or people dancing on the hood of cars

here are some articles:

• streets teams
• hip-hop to the nth degree: hyphy
• hyphy pulls a bay area break out

i think the most interesting thing that i have found thus far it that the movement was spawned out of a group of hip-hop artists who wanted to be recognized beyond their southern california hip-hop counterparts. yes there are differences in the music, but the desire to be unique and not associated with so cal hip-hop culture has spurred the movement of this additional sub-culture to spread beyond the east bay.
currently the hyphy movement is making it's way east, and is evolving. asking someone in modesto, california (only an hour and a half from oakland) what hyphy is, and the definition begins blur from the origin. it becomes more of a ritual dance than a movement. law enforcement views it as a gang activity and riots in the streets.

the bottom line, here is another group of people who are desiring to recognized for something. sociologists tells us that the origins of gangs and their success can all be tied into the sense of belonging to something that they don't have anywhere else in their lives. that sense of family that escapes people can leave a large hole, and the first thing to come along is the gang and they do a good at filling the hole.

so, where is the church?

well, the church itself is struggling to be noticed. and, there are people groups in different denominations that are struggling to be noticed as well. the problem here lies with putting aside scripture for human need, and not realizing that human need is something that can only be truly filled by the Word. the moment we put aside the Word, is the very moment that we are denying God and His ability to bring the community and family together.

more to come...

new roomie & her boy

How to Survive a Freestyle Rap Battle

How to Survive a Freestyle Rap Battle

       

This will explain the basics of freestyle, flowing, and battling.

Steps

1. Listen to previous freestyle flows and battles by great artists (e.g., rappers like Jin, Jay-Z, Yusaf, Benefit, Rakim, Big L, Eminem, and any other great artist that spits hardcore rap).
2. Understand the techniques those artists use to flow and battle, which will help you enhance those techniques yourself.
3. Start writing rhymes. Write down anything that comes to mind and try to rhyme it. Using your emotions is a good way to describe what you're feeling when you spit or write lyrics. Make sure you eat a hearty meal before attempting a battle.
4. Practice free-styling -- anytime, anywhere, as much as you can. Even if you run out of things to freestyle about, just continue spitting, no matter how wack you think you sound. It helps you develop better rhymes and your mind becomes more focused on what sounds good when you spit. It's like a mental workout. So always practice spitting anywhere.
5. Once you've noticed you can spit on spot (when you want to), try to spit about more specific things. Direct your raps toward things that bother you or upset you. Anything you dislike or want to talk about, try to spit about it. Once again, practice this until you feel you've got it down.
6. Start freestyle battling. The first step to freestyle battling is to practice the first 5 techniques in a battle against a friend or someone who it wouldn't matter to if you messed up. Constantly battle like that with people, especially if you can find a friend who is actually good at battling so they can teach how to improve what you lack. Again, continue to practice this until other friends you know (especially those into hip-hop music) think you're pretty good.
7. Have your first real battle against someone you at least somewhat dislike. If you can find someone who just gets you emotional or who angers you, it makes it easier to flow about them. You want to make sure when you flow about them you include 3 major things.
   
   
   • Metaphors - Making comparisons with your target (the person you're battling) to something that denigrates them.
   • Disses - Saying things that either make fun of them in general (e.g., how they dress, speak, spit, look, walk, talk, act, or their personality) or about them personally (e.g., the way they live, their past, their lifestyle, weaknesses about them, anything that directly goes against them in a way that makes fun of them).
   • Punch-Lines - a Punch-Line basically is a bar (2 lines you spit) that incorporates a Metaphor, Dis, and/or anything else to enhance the flow directed at your opponent.
8. Don't worry if you lose your first few real battles, the point is to constantly practice spitting. Continue practicing until you've got it down. And pay attention to how other people spit whom the crowd/judges enjoy. There are many techniques to battling, but these are just the basics.

Tips

• If someone beats you in a battle and it gets to you, practice more until you think you're really ready. Then challenge them again: if you win, you will earn a lot of respect back. It's a great feeling, and chicks or dudes will dig your system and flair.
• When you think you lost it, don't worry - just relax. The worst thing to do is freak out. Just relax and keep going. You might still ace it.
• While your opponent is rapping, think how you can come back to what he says, so you get a better punchline.

Warnings

• "Spit" as used in the context of this article is a synonym for rapping, not the forcible expulsion of saliva from the mouth. Please do not practice the latter kind of spitting; it does not make you look nearly as cool.

waiting

having to wait for something means having to have patience.

i have been told that i have a ton of patience. but, i find that really hard to believe.

right now i am waiting on people. at this very moment, i can't move forward without these people and i hate having to rely on someone like that. i don't feel stuck, just unable to take that step forward. and i know that, by definition is, being stuck, but i am not stuck.

maybe it's more fear than anything else... but that's where i am at.

rest in peace

fall

this is truly my favorite season, and i was thinking about that yesterday and today. more specifically, would i love fall as much if i lived somewhere else?

i have a new friend who lives in Wisconsin, and it's really cold there right now. i enjoy the fact that here in California i can still wear flip-flops and t-shirts and not worry if i will be too cold. but he tell me about an amazing storm they has there yesterday, with lightning and thunder.

the storm yesterday was slow and steady rain all afternoon. enough to make an impact on the farmers who are in the middle of harvest and to significantly rearrange the dirt on my car. the weather  today was great... the perfect fall, California day.

i love the fall and i love California.