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One year ago I came across an organization that is doing great things around the world. Mocha Club exists to fund relief and development projects in Africa. They work in five main project areas: Clean Water, Education, Child Mothers + Women At Risk, Orphan Care + Vulnerable Children, and HIV/AIDS + Healthcare.

As great as Mocha Club is, it’s very simple to get involved. All it takes is $7 a month (aka the price of 2 mochas, thus the name).

The team I’m on (Katie Peterson, Hannah Postlewaite, Allen Pointer, Aaron Abbott, Jessica Klug, David Gibson, and Jessica Folsom) have taken part in this for a year now and have been supporting the building of wells in Sudan to provide clean drinking water to the people. This water is saving their lives. Again, it’s only taken each of us $7 a month. The mone withdrawn monthly from my bank account, and honestly, I can say I’ve never missed it.

This is a call for more people to get involved and join our team. By following the link below or clicking on the banner at the top of this page, you can take part in saving lives in Africa for simply $7  a month–a very small sacrifice.

When you sign up, you’ll also receive a free Mocha Club t-shirt.

If you’re interested in signing up or learning more, click on the following link and help change lives in Africa:

CLICK HERE to join Mocha Club and begin saving lives in Africa

Very easy question and I need your feedback!

Am I [David] a loser if I go to a movie alone?

That was the Question of the Week last week for The Brink Podcast. Tomorrow we’ll be answering that question with your answers. So let me hear your comments. Feel free to slam me if you wish. The funnier the better!

If you want to catch up, you can listen to The Brink Podcast by visiting www.thebrinkonline.com/podcast

In addition to the Question of the Week, we have an exclusive interview with Jack Mooring from Leeland and discuss online dating.

I can’t get enough of this kid. Awesome!

I have a unique job. I help edit/write curriculum for churches. In the Teacher’s Guides for teen teachers, one of the sections is called “Inspiration for Teachers.” The name of the section pretty much speaks for itself. It’s used to motivate and encourage teachers to keep on teaching even when things are going rough.

I deal with those lessons every single day. Every day I read, edit, and sometimes rewrite the “Inspiration for Teachers.” Here comes the unique part: What do I do when I become discouraged with ministry, life, etc?

The obvious answer seems to be “Pay attention to what you’re editing!” True, but at times it’s difficult to take my work and make it reality.

I was recently reminded of a book I read several years ago called Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields. I read the book while I was going through a very discouraging time during my youth ministry internship. The principles that I read then still apply today in many facets of life. Here they are:

DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENT
1. Welcome Christ’s suffering
2. It’s okay to question God’s calling on my life
3. Discouragement isn’t necessarily a sign of spiritual incompetence
4. Keep first things first – my relationship with God

PRACTICAL STEPS TO BATTLE DISCOURAGEMENT
- Be confident that you are not alone
- Find an experienced and neutral mentor
- Find an upbeat friend outside of youth ministry
- Realize that not everyone will understand you and your ministry
- Take a day off
- Schedule solo time away (Take a day out of each month to sit and reflect and get recharged)
- Clear the piles (Clean the piles of junk off your desk at least three times a year)
- Get some sleep
- Begin a discouragement journal
- Begin an affirmation file
- Make a personal comitment to last

Maybe someone will find this helpful.

(Special thanks to http://desireatheresa.blogspot.com for posting this info)

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“LOL Idk brb”

Does that look familiar? If not, it’s time to enter 2009. If you have a phone or have been online for a brief second, you’ve seen that language.

When we text, use Facebook, and update Twitter, we’re likely to use “cyber language” (or abbreviations) to say what we want to say. It’s been happening online since AOL introduced their Instant Messenger.

However, is it possible that using these abbreviations is damaging our intelligence, or even stunting our intellectual potential?

Maybe you think I’m being ridiculous, but consider the facts. Many teens (and adults) spend more time on a computer for leisure than for work or school. It’s very rare for people to use proper spelling and grammar when sending a text, updating Twitter, or posting a new status. Granted, some people do, but not all.

People chat in “shorthand cyber slang” that produces “sentences” that look like “just wanted 2 say ur great i luv u ttyl lol.”

I can’t help but think with so much time spent online and texting, this HAS to crossover into other areas of life. Hopefully most adults have had enough grammar ingrained in their minds to avoid this problem, but with teens it’s a very real issue.

Do teens know when to use there, their, or they’re? What about you’re, your, and ur? (One of those doesn’t belong.) Do they even care? Maybe not.

Sometimes I wonder if our advancements in technology are actually advancing a need to dumb down the rest of society. Why read a book when you can take a quiz that tells you what classic novel you are? Why watch the news and think about difficult issues when you can watch “real life drama” on Gossip Girl?

Are we becoming dumber from all this? Idk.

“For the Moments I Feel Faint”- Relient K

As much as I would love to blog, I have no time today. So, instead, let me provide you with a reminder to listen to The Brink Podcast by visiting www.thebrinkonline.com/podcast or clicking on the magazine logo above.

In this week’s episode (8/14) we discussed Michael Vick, saving money for college, Ouija Boards, and the question that is bound to make you uncomfortable: Do Christian women dress too sexy?

Also check out the previous podcasts while you’re on the site. You can download them from iTunes, put them on a CD, and take them with you in your car. It’s like we’re sitting in the passenger seat with you…but with more room!

A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported a story that, unfortunately, is not very surprising. However, for many parents it might be. According to the story, in many ways parents are clueless as to what their teens are doing on social networks. The survey polled 1,013 teens and 1,002 parents. Here’s some of the results they found:

• 37% of teens said they used social networks to make fun of other students, but only 18% of parents believe their own angels do so.
• 13% of teens said they posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves. Only 2% of parents said their kids have done that.
• 24% of teens said they signed on to someone else’s account without permission, while only 4% of parents said their kids have done that.
• 28% of teens posted personal information that they normally would not have revealed in public, but 16% of parents said their kids did that.

It’s very important that parents understand what their teens are doing online. Many parents don’t want to invade the “privacy” of their teen, but it’s also important that parents keep their teen safe and away from illegal or potentially dangerous actions. It’s one thing for a teen to take Facebook quiz called “What Twilight star am I?” It’s another for a teen to post naked or sexually suggestive pictures and/or personal information such as a cell phone number or home address.

Many parents will want to see these stats and think, “That’s disturbing. But my kid isn’t involved in that.” Seems like the majority of the 1,002 parents said the same thing. Look how many of them were wrong.

To read the full story, click here: What Parents Think Teens Are Doing on Social Networks and What the Teens Are Actually Doing

Before I deleted my MySpace page, if you went to the section marked “Heroes” you would see a variance of names. Some were former youth pastors that had a major impact on my life. Some were family members that made a difference for me. Others were the all-too-typical answers of musicians and athletes.

As I’ve gotten older, my idea of a “hero” has changed. Some of these people are still the same. I still consider my parents, my Truth and Peace leaders, former youth pastors and pastors, and mentors to be my heroes. However, the list of celebrities has changed and been replaced by people that are closer to me and even younger.

While I was reading Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love he asked a question that made me stop and think. To paraphrase, Chan asked: What are you doing right now in life that requires you to step out in faith?

For most of us, that question would be unanswerable. We live in our nice homes/apartments, have multiple TVs with cable, DVR or Tivo, and cars that work. We have a close group of friends that we’re comfortable with so we don’t venture out to meet new people who are different than us. Even though our paychecks might not be what we want them to be, we still live beyond our basic necessitities and don’t give much thought to giving to others in a way that squeezes our pockets. In a sense, we don’t make sacrifices. Let’s be honest: giving $10 to missions is probably not a real sacrifice on our part if we’re about to spend $40 on lunch later in the day.

The more I thought about this, the more I realized I DO know people living with faith, through faith, and in faith. I do know people making sacrifice after sacrifice because their faith has impacted the way they live on a daily basis. Thankfully, I’m lucky to call these people my friends.

Who are these people? It’s the couple who has poured their blood, sweat, and tears into a small Nashville church in a troubled community. There’s no paycheck and there’s not much appreciation from people. In fact, they’ve faced the opposite. However, they continue to do what God has called them to do. It’s the friends that have spent their summer working overseas in France and China, training and preparing to travel abroad and share God’s love with those who do not know Him. It’s the friend spending the next 11 months in China because her heart is absolutely burdened for the people. It’s the couple on Laos and the couple in Mongolia, giving up their comfortable lives to serve people who are lost and do not know Christ. It’s the couple that moved away from home to attend seminary in a brand new city in order to further their education to be more effective tools for God’s serve. It’s the incredible girl that just left Nashville to teach in St. Croix because her heart has been heavy for the people and the island for many years.

These people have stepped out in faith. They’re not waiting until a certain age. In fact, all of them are under 30. They’re being faithful to what God has called them to do.

These people are my heroes.