In the past few decades, the time period for adolescence has grown. In the early 20th century, adolescence generally lasted 18 months and was defined as “being responsible for oneself.” Mark Ostreicher, in his book “Middle School Ministry,” reports that sociologists and psychologists now believe that adolescence can, and often does, last 15-20 years (from age 11 to age 30). Additionally, they have boiled it down to three main questions an adolescent must answer to become an adult.
“Who am I?” (identity)
“What power do I have?” (autonomy)
“Where and to whom do I belong?” (affinity)
When these tasks are “accomplished” and the questions are answered (on one level or another), one has crossed the threshold from adolescence into adulthood. I believe this is also true when it comes to our faith.
This summer Mount Hermon is doing a trial run of a program that will help 16-18 year old boys begin crossing the threshold from adolescence into adulthood in both life and faith. In this two-week program, we will point guys to Scripture to find answers to these questions as they strive to become men who seek after the heart of God. This program will be much more than a Bible study. For two weeks, these guys will live together in Biblical community, they will encourage and challenge one another, they will be real with each other, they will grow together and they will leave knowing how to live as men of great character and integrity. During this camp experience they will begin the process of answering the questions of identity, autonomy and affinity. Steve Gerali, a veteran youth worker, speaker and author will be coordinating this trial run. Feel free to check out his new book “The Crest” which is what this camp experience is based on.
We are accepting ten 16-18 year old guys into our two-week trial run on July 3rd-16th. The cost has yet to be set, but because it is a trial run it will be lower than our other camps. If you are interested, please email me by clicking here. Spaces are limited and they are expected to fill quickly.
The traditional approach to education is summed up best in this “Rules for Good Listening” poster. The message is straightforward: “Good students sit still, they don’t wiggle, they look forward and open up the 2 ears that God gave them, because God gave us two ears and one mouth so we would listen twice as much as we talk!”
I don’t want to refute the theology of this statement (I will save that for a later post) but I do want to point out the damaging nature of this methodology of teaching. This method of teaching assumes that all students learn the same way. The problem is that research proves students have different learning styles and not all students will benefit from these “Rules for Good Listening.” Not only that, but some students may actually be harmed by this method of teaching.
One of the most popular models for learning styles proposes that there are three main types of learners.
Visual learners :: Visual learners learn through seeing. These students will watch the teacher’s facial expressions and body language. They tend to think in pictures and appreciate diagrams, images, maps and hand-outs. When they are able to represent concepts with images, they can better understand meaning.
Auditory leaners :: Auditory learners learn through listening. These students are the ones for whom “The Rules for Good Listening” poster was created. They learn best from verbal lectures and written information often has little meaning until it can be heard.
Kinesthetic learners :: Kinesthetic, or tactile learners, learn through moving, doing and touching. These are the students that are often misunderstood and can even be harmed by the concepts expressed in the “Rules for Good Listening” poster. They don’t learn from sitting still, looking forward and listening. This actually hinders their learning experience. These learners learn best through a hands-on approach as they actively explore the world around them.
The best teachers create lessons that are intentionally geared for all three types of learners. It is much more difficult because it takes more time and mental energy, but it is worth it because the impact is much greater.
I often wonder if people are just as entertained by me as my sons and I were entertained by these mice. One of those little guys was hanging on for dear life as the wheel just kept spinning and spinning.
I’m not much different than that little guy. The wheel of life keeps spinning round and round–and sometimes it does it at break-neck speed. Oftentimes I feel so overwhelmed and dizzy from the todos on my list, the projects I’ve taken on, the expectations that others have of me, the endless events on my calendar, the emails/phone calls I have to return and the responsibilities I have. It just seems like I’m spinning out of control on the wheel of life with no end in sight.
There are a few actions that have been helping me slow the wheel down and gain some perspective. When I am disciplined enough to take these actions, life is much more manageable.
Get a full night’s sleep :: Sleep is usually one of the first things to go when life is busy yet it is one of the most important things we do. I used to view a full night’s sleep as something that weak people needed. I am slowly realizing and embracing the healing, rejuvenating and refreshing discipline of getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
Have realistic expectations :: I am a perfectionist and I want to do everything and I want to do it all at 100%. Because of this, I have struggled with an unrealistic todo list every day. I am learning to calendar 2-3 tasks that contribute to my overall goals each day and focus on doing those tasks before I do anything else. This provides me with focus and a reason to celebrate at the end of each day.
Exercise :: We all know that exercise is good for us but finding the time is often the difficult part. I recently bought an inexpensive and portable exercise bike that I now ride while I’m watching TV. I don’t feel as guilty for watching TV and I get exercise at the same time. Not only that, but it often limits the amount of TV I do watch.
Rest in God’s grace :: This is the hardest action for me to do but I continue to learn how vital it is to my life. It is so good for me to remember that God loves me in spite of myself and not because of anything I have done or anything I will do. This action step is simply stepping off the wheel of life and resting in God’s grace despite expectations, successes, failures and todos. God ran the world before I was born and He will continue running it when I am gone. He doesn’t need me. This is just further evidence of His grace!
On the way back from a Mount Hermon staff retreat, we stopped at a well-known fast food restaurant in the central valley of California. One of the first things we noticed was this health-conscious sign about eating a balanced and nutritious diet. I was fascinated by it, because fast food is not known for its healthy qualities. However, what fascinated me most was the small print at the bottom of the sign. I took a picture of it because I was so shocked it was there in the first place.
This dampened any desire I had to eat there in the first place. All I got was a milkshake…and an epiphany.
Every choice we make in life has a small print warning underneath it. This is one of the many reasons we have been given God’s Word!
When we are tempted to sacrifice our faith in Jesus to date and/or marry someone primarily because of their physical appearance, the warning is: “ A beautiful person who consistently makes bad decisions is a lot like a gold ring in a pig’s snout” (see Proverbs 11:22).
When we find ourselves spending time with people who are leading us away from our faith in Jesus, we are warned: “You become like the people you hang out with” (see Proverbs 13:20).
When we begin to think too much of ourselves and our own abilities, the warning is: “Continued pride is detestable to God and it takes us farther away from Him.” (See Proverbs 16:5).
When we speak in anger trying to provoke an argument, the small print is: “The words of a fool lead to arguments and those arguments could very well lead to a well-deserved beating.” (see Proverbs 18:6).
It’s both funny and disappointing to me that I can often pay more attention to a small print warning at a fast food restaurant than one in the Word of God. My goal over the next few weeks is to approach each decision looking for the warning in small print.
Here’s the cool part–there is ALWAYS a positive side to these warnings. God warns us against certain actions so that we can experience His presence and His grace at a deeper level. Isn’t that the whole point of a warning–to protect us from harm and lead us to a healthier, more fulfilling life?
Creativity can be enigmatic. Not only is it hard to define, but many people would not even consider themselves as creative. Yet, Scripture tells us that we have all been created in the image of a Creative God. Therefore, in one way or another, we are all creative. So, how can we actually BE creative?
Scott Belsky in his book “Making Ideas Happen” gives an example of the creative process of Walt Disney. Disney had a three-staged process in creating and developing feature-length films. He used three different rooms to create, nurture and evaluate ideas. Whether you use three actual rooms or not, these 3 stages can be helpful to the process of creating.
Room/phase 1: This is where true brainstorming occurs. In this room, the team members are allowed to throw out any and all ideas. There are no limits, no evaluation, no criticism–only ideas.
Room/Phase 2: Here, the crazy ideas from room 1 are collected and organized. The end result is a storyboard chronicling events and general sketches of characters.
Room/Phase 3: Room 3 was also known as the “sweat box.” This is where serious evaluation and assessment comes in. The entire creative team would critically analyze and review the project with no restraints. Because the end product of Room 2 was created in community, one person was never the focus of criticism.
Regardless of whether you are a youth worker creating a program, a parent planning a family vacation or a student working on a project, these 3 steps in the creative process are a great way to harness our God-given creative power.
We are so thankful for what God did in 2010 in our Youth Programs at Mount Hermon. We witnessed students’ lives change as they encountered Jesus. We were blessed with new church partnerships. We continue to hear stories of God moving in students lives and families. We were blessed with resources to raise our programming to the next level. We were encouraged by students who committed to read their Bibles after camp in “the 21 Day Challenge.” It was a great year.
We are hoping and praying that 2011 will be even greater! We just finished setting our 2011 goals and we are excited to both share them with you and get your insights, thoughts, wisdom and advice as we move forward into the future God is calling us to. Here is a quick overview of our 2 primary goals for 2011:
1. We will increase the number of students we impact :: we have so many great youth programs at Mount Hermon (Ponderosa, Conference Center youth, Amata, Echo, CILT) that we don’t want to be content with our past successes. This isn’t just about having more students come to quality and effective programs. That’s only a portion of it. We also want to set students up to have “more than just a mountain top experience” by helping them plug into the Word of God and the people of God when they leave camp.
2. We will increase the number of churches we serve while improving our level of service to current churches :: I truly believe that the church is the vehicle through which God is going to bring about His Kingdom. This means that Mount Hermon youth programs exist to serve the church. This isn’t just about expecting churches to come to our programs. This is about us conversing with churches, seeing what the needs are and working to serve them in those needs if it is at all possible.
This is just a quick overview. If you have a moment, we would love to hear your thoughts and we would value your prayers.
Here’s to a God-glorifying, Kingdom-advancing, life-changing 2011!
In an effort to continue to increase the quality of our programming at our youth camps, the Mount Hermon Youth Team took a trip to Disneyland to learn more about excellent programming. Many critics poked fun at our “field trip” but it ended up being an amazing experience. After our day at Disneyland, we spent some time debriefing and we came up with the top 10 lessons we learned from our visit to Disneyland. This is the second installment of those lessons.
6. Darkness (and purposeful lighting) allows you to control where people look We noticed that almost every ride was inside so that the lighting was under full control. Disney determines where you look with lighting. It could be colored lights, spot lights or even black lights but they had full control over the focus of each ride. The only inside ride we noticed that wasn’t dark was It’s a Small World which is so visually overwhelming that you don’t have time to look at anything else.
7. Waiting in line is an opportunity to build anticipation In many amusement parks, waiting in line is a necessary evil that has to be tolerated. At Disneyland, waiting in line is part of the experience. Disney goes to great lengths to build anticipation for the experience to come as you wait in line. They do this by capitalizing on all 5 human senses. They are drawing you in and preparing you for the experience as you wait in line.
8. Getting into the park is 1 transaction Disney makes it easy to get into the park. You may have to wait in line but it only takes 1 main transaction to get into the park. And once you are in, you are welcomed by bright colors, sounds (in our case it was a marching band) and smells. You really do feel like you have walked into a different world when you walk through the gates.
9. Transitions are important There are so many transitions at Disneyland and I never really noticed this until I was intentionally looking. When you transition between lands/regions, you are very aware of it. You walk through something (like a castle) and enter into a region that is themed differently. This very clearly communicates that you are leaving one land and entering another. On rides, movable walls were often used to transition from one section to another.
10. If you can fool the senses, you can fool the mind I didn’t realize the extent to which Disney capitalizes on the 5 human senses. There were recorded sounds such as jungle noises, fake radio broadcasts and thunder that added to the experience. Music tone and volume were also used to control the mood. The textures of the walls waiting in line for Indiana Jones made you feel like you were in a cave. Lighting, or lack there of it, was used to control mood. These are just a few of the numerous examples of this. Disney drew us into each experience by capitalizing on the 5 senses.
In an effort to continue to increase the quality of our programming at our youth camps, the Mount Hermon Youth Team took a trip to Disneyland to learn more about excellent programming. Many critics poked fun at our “field trip” but it ended up being an amazing experience. After our day at Disneyland, we spent some time debriefing and we came up with the top 10 lessons we learned from our visit to Disneyland. This is the first installment of those lessons. Even though I put all of this together, this research was a group effort!
1. Employees are part of the Disney experience
Employees are not called employees; they are called “cast members.” It doesn’t matter what your job is, you are a “cast member.” Depending on what land/region you work in, your uniform is themed to fit the feel of that land. On the Tower of Terror at California Adventure, cast members were not only dressed in character, but they acted in character.
2. Everything is themed
You would think this would be an exaggeration but it’s not. Everything from the “cast members” uniforms to exit signs to trash cans are themed at Disneyland; and the theming is different for each land/region.
3. Shooting things is fun
This sounds seriously stupid but it’s true! One of our favorite rides was Toy Story Mania at California Adventure. On this ride, you aim and shoot at video targets with your shooter as you ride about in a double seated cart from video screen to video screen. They even keep score. Interactivity and competition are huge! Their website says, “everyone’s a winner” but it’s not true. Shane beat me…by over 50,000 points.
4. Great scripting can redeem a low budget/outdated ride
This is something our program consultant Murphy taught us. The Jungle Cruise is a low-budget and outdated ride. The tour guides make the experience! Our tour guide spent the entire “cruise” making us laugh with cheesy puns and jokes that redeemed what would normally be a painfully boring ride.
5. Branding is everywhere
Regardless what you and I may think of this, Disney’s branding is everywhere. And for the most part, it is tasteful. After many of the rides, there are merch stores just waiting to capitalize on your experience. After some rides, there are Disney-branded pictures you can by of yourself on that ride. There is advertising all over the park (and outside of the park) for Disney-related movies, events and merchandise. Even construction areas are marked off by walls that are tastefully branded so you can’t see the construction.
Stay tuned for the final 5 program lessons we learned at Disneyland
Check out this quick interview with Brian, one of our youth summer staffers last summer. Let him convince you to apply for one of our many summer staff jobs at Mount Hermon!
You can find more information and fill out an application by clicking here.
If you are in junior high, high school or college, we have a favor to ask of you. Today we are asking you, our Mount Hermon Youth/Young Adult faithful, to share your story! We are asking you to submit a short blog post (250-450 words) answering one simple question: “What does Mount Hermon/Ponderosa mean to you?” We want to hear how God has used Mount Hermon in your life.
Here are the top 5 Reasons to submit a blog post to encourage you to be a part of this:
1. It will be an act of worship–Any time we tell of God’s goodness in our lives, we are worshiping God. Just look at the psalms. God is glorified when we tell others what He has done in our lives.
2. It will encourage others in their faith–When we hear stories of how God has moved in the lives of others, we are encouraged in our own faith journey. There are hurting people just waiting to hear a story like yours that will help lead them 1 step closer to Jesus.
3. It will help you remember–It’s a proven fact that writing things down helps us to better remember them. If God has used Mount Hermon in your life, you definitely want to guard this memory so you can tell your children, your children’s children and your children’s children’s children…you get the idea.
4. It will make you famous–So this one is not entirely true; it just sounded impressive! We will, however, post a picture of you next to your blog post.
5. It will enter you into a drawing for a $100 prize--Everyone who submits a blog post will be entered into a drawing for a $100 camp discount or a $100 gift certificate at the Mount Hermon bookstore (depending on which one you want). We will conduct the drawing in late January/early February of 2011.
If you have any questions or you want to submit a blog posting, email us by clicking here.
