After viewing the movie expelled:no intelligence allowed, I was sitting outside with one of my youth leaders. As we were waiting for a couple of parents to arrive and take their kids home, he asked me this question, "Do you ever get scared?" At first I thought, that is a strange question. I mean, I love a good thriller movie, snakes scare me, but what did he mean? And then I realized that he was talking about what we are attempting to do as youth ministers. Looking around the entrance to the theater that evening, I observed the battleground. Yes, it is a battleground. We are battling for the souls of teens. If you doubt this, then you need to evaluate your current view of the world in which we live. "It is a jungle out there."

We continued the dialog a while longer, and I related my thoughts like this: 'before us lies a mountain. It is daunting and unable to be conquered apart from God. With God I am excited to tackle it, to take on this task of battling for souls.' My co-leader responded in kind with a word picture that I must share with you. In the movie "300" one of King Leonidas' Spartans (preparing for an unsurmountable battle) receives this warning; the "enemies arrows will block out the sun." His reply, "then we will fight them in the shade."

God has enemies. His enemies want the souls of your teens. You have to be ready to battle for them. I will leave you with this scripture for now, so you can be on proper war footing;

Apparently we have a bit of a situation...It has been discussed on different blogs that a few of the scientists that were interviewed, in the new movie Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed discussed below, did not fully understand what the subject matter would be pertaining to. PZ Meyers and Richard Dawkins, 2 renowned scientists have suggested that they would have stated something different had they know that the subject of an intelligent designer would be the main focus of the movie. This leads me to believe that we will hear exactly what their opinions are and be able to understand more fully where the atheistic community is coming from in the quest to limit another possibility to our existence being discussed.

WOOHOO! Now I am really excited for this movie.

I am so excited about this movie. I have been doing The Truth Project dvd series with my juniors and seniors for the last 18 months. It is a comprehensive "world view" study done by Focus on the Family. It is an incredible study to equip your college bound youth with a strong foundation in God's truth claims, so they may deal with the word's truth (or lie) claims!!!

Any how, the movie is not related the study, but it is called "Expelled: No intelligence allowed." Ben Stein is the star of this film in which he travels the world investigating situations in which educators, scientists, and philosophers have either been fired, and or expelled from their profession due to an interest in the "intelligent design theory." He not only interviews the oppressed, but also confronts the oppressors in a way that only Ben can do. The movie debuts in Florida on the 18th of April. If you have not heard about this then check out www.expelledthemovie.com and watch the trailer.

I would also encourage you to go to www.thetruthproject.com and research the possibility of doing this in your church. We have had two adult groups as well as the youth taking this course. A local Christian school has also shown this as part of a "world view" course they offer. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, this class is a must!

If you have questions about this study just email me at popyouthguy@cfl.rr.com and I will be glad to help in any way I can.

In Christ,

Bo Bartlett

Have you ever called someone and got that annoying busy signal? Ever think God is calling us and hearing that same annoying noise?

I have just finished reading "Growing Souls" by Mark Yaconelli and it was great. It is so funny, but I have been bothered by something for quite a while now and I could not place my finger on it. You see last fall I took my youth group to Night of Joy at Disney. It was pretty cool to see David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Third Day in concert with the castle in the background. Praising God in the Magic Kingdom for all to hear was amazing as well. As I looked around the park I saw so many teens walking in groups, each one completely oblivious the worship around them. Between text messaging each other, and listening to I-pods, how could they possibly see God at work! A few months prior to this I was in Orlando at a Starbucks and witnessed approximately 10 people sitting in the lounge area on laptops. No doubt busy in their own little world, not aware of anyone else in the coffee house. A thought came to me. How can we possibly begin to have a relationship with Our Lord and Savior when we have lost the ability to relate with each other. We were created for the purpose of worshiping God, and for relationship with each other!!! In this fast paced world of "high speed internet," Visa check cards, ("don't let cash slow you down!") text messaging and email, we have lost contact with intimate relationship.

Mark's book brought the troublesome feeling I was having to light. Recently I have begun weening the youth at Prince of Peace from their fast paced lives into a slower, more contemplative time. On some Sunday evenings at Youth group we will break from "the plan" and enter into a "quiet time" placing God first in their lives. We have a beautiful campus here with a lake and garden area. It was a struggle at first, but the more it occurs for them, the more they enjoy it. As a matter of fact two of my kids noticed that with the time change they can watch the sunset during this time on the lake, and are amazed. I write this to let you know that it is OK to go against the grain with your youth, and to give them something that the world cannot, time with God. He is waiting. AMEN