Mike King

24/7

Over the last three years we, YouthFront, have increasingly seen the renewed desire by youth to enter into the Presence of God and seek Jesus in a passionate and holistic way, with mind, body, spirit, heart, will, and soul – you get it – with all of who they are. 

The Holy Spirit is calling this generation to take the words of Jesus as if He meant what he said.  They will not prop-up our tired church institutions that don’t take the work of God’s Kingdom seriously.  All over the world, youth are leading a movement of prayer.  Church history shows that great movements of the Holy Spirit are led and embraced by youth. 

24-7 Prayer is a major international expression of this phenomenon.  God is at work!  Pete Greig is an awesome young man that God has used to inspire hundreds of thousands of young people in 57 countries to pray radically.  This leads to living radically – a Kingdom life that engages culture, works for justice and expresses mercy. 

God is doing something special in Kansas City. I believe it is something that has worldwide consequences. 

Please come (pastors, youth pastors, and church staff) on Thursday, April 7 from 7:30-8:30 a.m., to Colonial Presbyterian and let’s explore how we might cooperate with God and His intentions for ourselves, our youth, our churches, our city, our world.

Peace,

Mike King

Dr. Brueggemann in Kansas City

Dr. Brueggemann is coming to KC April 3-5.  Brueggeman is often referred to as “America’s premier biblical theologian.” He is in high demand as a lecturer and conference speaker.  Some of Dr. Brueggemann's recent books include: Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Fortress Press, 1997); a book of prayers, Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth (Fortress Press, 2003); An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination (Westminster John Knox, 2003); and Inscribing the Text: Sermons and Prayers (Fortress Press, 2004).

He will be at Village Presbyterian Church.  Click here for Tim Keel's take on Dr. Brueggemann and more details of his KC schedule.

The Altar

 

May 27—29 is the next Altar at YouthFront Camp South.  The Altar weekend is a time of sacred space, an embrace of simplicity, a dance with the sacred, a pilgrimage…where we listen and seek God through prayer, song, experiential worship, and His creation. Take another step in your spiritual journeys. Come for part of a day or make it a weekend getaway.  It's your choice; camp out under the stars or stay in one of the cabins.

Find out more and register at YouthFrontZone

Movies

How come all the movies out right now (with the exception of a few art house films) suck?

Thank God Lent is over - An e-mail conversation between the President of Youth Specialties and the President of YouthFront

My Lent Posts (42 in all) are over.  This is cause for rejoicing among some.  Here is a typical conversation regarding these Posts.

_________________________________________________

Hey Mike,

Thank God lent is almost over!  The phrase "part 33" should just never exist in the English language.

Marko

_________________________________________________

Marko,

Just consider it a Lenton cross to endure...

Mike

_________________________________________________

Mike,

Hey, that's a good perspective!

Marko

_________________________________________________

Marko,

I made a big change for you. Instead of Part 35, in your honor it will be # 35.

Mike

_________________________________________________

Mike,

Ah - that CERTAINLY helps (at least in fantasy-land)

Marko

_________________________________________________

God only knows how many people like Marko I helped celebrate Lent because of these Posts.  I can't wait until Advent...

He is Risen...

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ^They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ^but when they went in, they did not find the body.^  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ^ The women^ were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men ^said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.^ Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” ^Then they remembered his words, ^ and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. ^Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.  ^But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ^ But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.^

                                                                                                                    ^{Luke 24:1-12}

Christian Right? - Resurrection of the Son of God #42

Resurrection was a highly charged political motif in the First-Century Mediterranean world.  The early Christians knew it.  The Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.  Paul knew it.  Rome knew it.  Jesus was being hailed as the divine Son of God, over and above the Caesar.  His early followers believed his kingdom was greater than the Roman Empire and in fact, encompassed the whole world.  This was political dynamite in the ancient world.  If we take seriously the message of Jesus, the resurrected one, we can expect the same kind of radical impact in our day and culture.  I do not associate the radical nature of the way of Jesus with the Christian Right political movement of our day.  I think Jesus would be as involved with the Christian Right movement as he was with the First-Century Zealots.  Some of the greatest opposition to taking the message of Jesus seriously in our culture will come from those who think that they are faithfully guarding the Truth of Jesus.  Chapter Nineteen, Page 726-32

Touché - Resurrection of the Son of God #41

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

I was really caught up in Wrights second paragraph on page 722 as he was describing a particular view of Jesus’ resurrection within recent scholarship.  In his description he was emphasizing the idea that some view god as an unfair tyrant showing favoritism to Jesus who alone was given the privilege of coming back to life.  As he continued in his description I was commenting to myself, “this line of scholarship seems really stupid.”  And then Wright tied it to the brand of Christian thinking that I was brought up on – that we are the favored ones sharing Jesus’ privileged status (Oh, of course we don’t deserve it…much humility) we're just chosen.  I wrote in my margin “nice move, Wright, touché.”  Chapter Nineteen, Page 722

Happy Birthday, Jessica

On our last day in Hawaii we celebrated Jessica's 19th Birthday.  We have one more year with a teenager.  Jessica is our youngest.  She has been such a blessing.  She has been with us for eight days, in our room (which is not to good for romance) but we have had a blast.  All day her phone rang with calls from friends all over the country wishing her a happy birthday.  She is counting the days until she returns to serve on the YouthFront camp staff.  Jessica we love you.  We will never forget the day you were born and Dr. Philgreen said, "You have a baby girl."  Wow, that was a moment we will never forget.  You are a joy, a bright light and you have made us so proud to be your parents. 

 

Farewell Hawaii

Our Last Sunset on Wakiki for this trip.