I am doing a bunch of writing these days, and one project I am working on is a Student Guide/Journal for the PlanetWisdom Events. It will help students respond and reflect through out their weekend experience. The theme for the event is Unlikely Heroes, inspiring students to take an active role in changing the world.

I have found a bunch of interesting (and some funny) quotes I am considering putting in the journal:

“Explore your mind, discover yourself, then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person.” –Wilferd A. Peterson

“Here I come to save the day!” – MIghty Mouse

“Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They’ll hate you for it. But that’s the point of Batman, he can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice.” – Alfred, Batman: The Dark Knight

“Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: “With great power comes great responsibility. This is my gift, my curse.” – Peter Parker, Spiderman 2

“I’m sure millions of viewers are wondering what it is like to wear the tights of justice. Well, it’s tingly and it’s uncomfortable.” – The Tick

“Heroism is not just pulling a child from a burning house or a driver from an icy river or a kitten from a tall tree. Heroism is also holding the door for a frail elderly and driving courteously and cooperatively and listening with an attentive heart to a friend’s words. Small daily acts of love are as heroic as big once-in-a-lifetime acts of rescue.” - L. M. Heroux

Any good hero quotes I am leaving out?

One of the defining words for this digital era is interactive. We’re becoming accustomed to being able to access and create our own media at a moment’s notice. We desire to contribute to our own learning and entertainment like we would any conversation. We now yearn to be a part of shared experience.

This shift in values has significant implications for the way we approach education. Places where we’ve traditionally accessed information—schools, libraries, and museums—have identified this shift and moved to making their learning opportunities more interactive. There is a new set of standards for how we teach others. We are moving away from one-dimensional education with the teachers being the experts who hold the key to information.

Students already have instant access to most information. They’re becoming accustomed to being able to change, interact, and create while they learn.

We teachers and leaders then become guides to help students explore information and use it in the right context. This requires a new vision for our roles as educators. We become “experience architects,” creating environments that help participants dive deeper and explore further into the things of God. This new role requires a significant investment of energy into creativity.

Bible Storying helps us to explore our new roles as experience architects. The storying process encourages us to experiment with all kinds of creative exercises that will foster learning and formation in our students.

(Excepted from my forthcoming book Shaped by the Story: Helping Students Encounter God in a New Way)

Last week I had the privilege to lead a workshop with some of the faculty from Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School in Brookville, New York. I lead them through a storying experience and training in the morning, and my brother Mark lead the afternoon.

Mark is co-owner of Imago Media, and has developed interactive training that he has  used to help ministries for a number of years. He focused on the major communication shifts taking place in our culture, and how we must now connect with people through teaching that is interactive, collaborative, image-driven, and story-centered.
Really good stuff!

We were so encouraged by the faculty at “LuHi”, especially Ron Gothberg who hosted us. Ron is the campus pastor and a teacher at the school. He is a wonderful person and deep thinker who is helping students to embrace new forms of worship and spiritual practice. It was great to connect with Ron and see his heart for students!

Ron also took Mark and me to the Yankees game… we had to see a game in the old stadium before they tear it down this fall!

I decided to post a video that my friend Aaron Pedersen and I made a few years ago. It recounts a strange story from the life of Elisha, where he is jeered by youth from the town because of his baldness. Elisha calls on some bears to punish the youth… a harsh lesson. This is story is taken from 2 Kings 2. We used this video to discuss the complex nature of God and scripture… this story is tragic, humorous (to some), and mysterious all at the same time.

This week I will be doing an extended Storying training for youth workers at the SHIFT Conference. I will also lead a couple of “Cups of Coffee” discussion groups – one on Learner-Focused Ministry and another on Story-Centered Ministry. I am really looking forward to it! I will let you know how it goes soon!

Here is an interesting article I found from the Louisville Courier-Journal:

As both Easter and Passover near, the Sacred Heart Model School played host to an event closely tied to both. The traditional Jewish Passover meal and ritual — called a Seder — celebrates the Jews’ freedom from captivity and is tied directly to Easter and the death and rebirth of Jesus Christ in the Christian tradition.

About 80 children from the Catholic school’s fourth- and fifth-grade religion classes took part in a model Seder at the school to better understand the roots of their own Catholic traditions. The Seder on Wednesday was led by Peter Anik, community relations director of the Jewish Community Federation of Louisville.

Passover — and the Seder — celebrate the freedom of the Jews from Egypt. The word “Passover” refers to the Angel of Death sparing the first-borns of the Jews as it passed over while they were in Egyptian captivity.

It was at a Passover Seder just before his crucifixion that Jesus is said to have told his followers to take bread and wine and eat of his body and drink of his blood.

Sally Rothenburger, one of the religion teachers who organized the event, said she and fellow teacher Maggie Osborne decided to put on the model Seder to help their students understand from where their own religion originated.

“This is where our roots came from, the Jewish heritage. Jesus was a Jew, and Jesus was celebrating Passover on what we call Holy Thursday,” Rothenburger said.

“(We want) the children to understand from the Bible where the Passover originated and why Jesus was celebrating it and why we continue to celebrate, because the Catholic Eucharist was initiated that night.”

As they sat and prepared for the ritual, fourth-graders Charlotte Cheek and Thomas Hall and their classmates glanced through the Hagaddah, the Seder prayer book from which they later would read. The children seemed eager for the experience.

“It’s a very important Jewish celebration,” Charlotte said.

“I think it is a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about the Jewish faith,” Thomas said.

Fifth-grader Joshua FaKunle, had more youthful expectations. “I think it’s going to be really fun,” he said.

Which would please Anik, who later said the Passover Seder should be a family- and child-centered event that, while it deals with a serious subject, should be a fun and joyful experience.“You’re celebrating freedom,” he said.

The Jewish Community Federation leads model Seders for schools and churches of any denomination, Anik said. “Passover celebrates the themes of freedom, and that works for anyone. Not just Jews and Christians, anyone,” Anik said.

Rothenburger said she hopes her young charges took away another lesson from Wednesday’s event: “I hope that they’ll understand that there’s a oneness under God, that we all believe in God. We’re all His children.”

Article from:  http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703310424

If you have never experienced a Seder, you are missing out! I developed a booklet called a Haggadah (which means “telling”) for Christians to use in leading a Seder that includes a how to guide in the back. This Haggadah ties together the stories of the Exodus and last supper.

I have used this guide in a variety of adult and student groups, and these have been some of the most rich and meaningful encounters with God we have ever had. You can purchase a six pack of Haggadahs directly from me for $33, plus shipping, just click here to purchase!

The Willow Creek Association is completely refocusing on relevance in ministry rather than on a seeker model, and the Shift Conference is a huge step towards that goal. I am teaching a 3.5 hour point leaders track on Storying at the conference and hosting some “Cups of Coffee” to discuss story and learner-centered teaching.

I would love for you to consider coming to the conference. In fact, I can help you get a $50 discount off registration by entering my code when you register: SMC8EMN (does not apply to Student/Faculty Rate). I do not get any money or credit for this, I just think this conference is going to be great!

On a another note… don’t forget to subscribe to this blog by clicking on Entries RSS under subscribe (upper right). The more folks reading, the more motivation it is for me to post good stuff daily!

This past Saturday I had the privilege of leading a storing workshop with the youth workers from Bloomingdale Church in Bloomingdale, IL. I have recently become friends with Daniel and Burt who lead the youth ministries in that church. They are both bright, eager young guys who love students and desire to help them be transformed by God. I really enjoyed my time with their team. They are energetic and fun and love to ask questions!! I think I always get more from the group I am training then they get from me… I was SO encouraged!!

Daniel asked a great question… in essence, he asked, “how can we help parents understand the importance of trying to shape their child’s identity more than just trying to influence their behavior?”

I would love to get your thoughts on this…

> 1.3 million youth live on the street

> 13 die each day

> many cite sexual abuse as why they’re homeless

> 1 out of 4 homeless people is a youth

November is National Homeless Awareness Month
go to these sites to learn more and do something now:

http://www.youthnoise.com

http://homelessyouthamongus.org

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/regeneration