Challenge Day at CP

I have wonderful, fantastic, incredible news! College Park High School is hosting Challenge Day on Tuesday November 13th and we are helping!

Here's what Challenge Day's website states:

OUR VISION
Our vision is that every child lives in a world where they feel safe, loved and celebrated.
OUR MISSION
The Challenge Day mission is to provide youth and their communities with experiential programs that demonstrate the possibility of love and connection through the celebration of diversity, truth, and full expression.

Praise the Lord! For an incredible opportunity for students, for Hope Center to serve the local community, and to come alongside of students that are in need! Please be praying for this event!

This week, we are still doing Off Campus Lighthouse for small groups. Please contact your small group leader for questions on when and where your group is meeting. Also, this Thursday is Fudd's, I believe most groups are either meeting at or around Fudd's. We will be there no later than 8:15pm, so please have your student bring $5 for a snack if they want, pick up at 9:00pm.

Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

Adolescence is a Cultural Phenomenon

On Saturday, October 6th, there were two awesome conferences. One was a Women and Teen's conference at Hope Center with Laura Kaczor, I heard it was an amazing day! I can only tell you second hand though. The second conference was the one I was at which was a Bay Area Youth Forum in San Raphael with Youth Ministry expert Mark Oestreicher. Awesome, awesome stuff.

Here's a little of what he had to say:
"Adolescence is a cultural phenomenon." Meaning: it doesn't have to exist, it is not a right, it is not necessarily natural.

Timeline of Adolescence:

Year                       Age range                           Length of adolescence

1904                       14 ½ - 16                               18  months long

1970                       13-18                                     5-6 years

*why? Food, globalization different diet, physiological changes

*Mandatory law to secondary education

*Isolated from adults with peers

Average contact with adult world?

Markers graduated high school and turn 18, expect responsibility

2012                       10 ½ - 30?                            20 years (a quarter of a lifetime)

*fat and weight allows kids to go into early puberty

Adolescence no longer accurate, now descriptions of different “stages”. Breakdown of adolescence:

10 ½ - 14               Early adolescence

15 – 20                  Mid adolescence

21-30                     Emerging adult *That means I'm not an adult yet, protect your children!*

*no agreement on markers of adult

*extended adolescence syndrome

“remove natural consequences, protect them, keep them safe, 20’s called teens, 20’s called children”

So that's the problem, what are the solutions? Well let's meet up and talk about it. If you are ever interested in talking about this material, or just want to meet up - I would love to! Let's talk about how to make Lighthouse even better for your student, let's talk about how parenting is going, let's talk about how the Giants and Niners are going all the way! Shoot me an email and we can work out a time.

We still are doing Off Campus Lighthouse this week, please have your teen contact their small group leader to find out when and where they are meeting.

Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

Talking about Politics?!?

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but yes, we are talking about politics for a three-Sunday sermon series. "God's Kingdom, Man's Politics" (dramatic music in the background), to be specific.

But what do teens care about politics? Most can't vote and even if they could, do they know enough to be informed?

1. Starting last Sunday 10/14, we started talking about our responsibility as Christians to pray for our politicians and our country. We looked at 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Romans 13:1,6-7.
2. This Sunday we are talking about allowing our political opinions to be shaped by the Gospel. We will look at Hebrews 4:12, Romans 12:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
3. Lastly, we will be talking about how the Kingdom of God is more important than the kingdom of men, we cannot allow our political views to divide the church. We will look at Ephesians 4:1-6, Matthew 5:44.

Please feel free to read these verses and open up a discussion about politics with your teen. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I also found a helpful article titled "Talking Politics: What to Say to Your Kids" http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/voting_banner.html#

Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

What is our Goal?

We are very blessed to have an amazing network of parents here at Hope Center and I just know that there are great things that can be shared to use to encourage one another. I asked Debbie McClary, mother of senior Liam and sophomore Kira, to share something from her heart. THANK YOU DEBBIE!

What is our Goal?

   When our kids were younger, we were in a great small group study based on Chip Ingram’s ‘’Effective Parenting in a Defective World”. This summer we went through the study again, as leaders of a group of parents with younger kids.  What struck me the most both times was Ingram’s assertion that as parents our goal is usually that we want our kids to be happy, while God’s goal for them is to be holy, to be like Jesus.  We want them to get a good education, to be successful, to live a nice life and not have to struggle. But if we stop and think about it we realize that is a worldly view of success, not a Biblical one.  The Bible tells us what our goal should be, both for our kids and ourselves – to know God and be more like him. To love God and others and fulfill the purpose God has for us, to focus on living in a way that is pleasing to God, not our own selfish ambition.

   If we trust God and believe His ways are best, then His goal must be the right one!    Jesus went through so much more than our kids ever will and if he is truly our role model then we need to help our kids learn how to deal with life’s ups and downs. This means that we can’t fix all our kid’s mistakes, make sure they never get hurt and continually strive to give them an easy carefree life.  That is not easy for me at all, but I see the wisdom in it. I hate for my kids to be sad or disappointed and yet I know that life is full of hardship and sadness and they (and I) need to learn how to deal with it and trust God anyway. Life is hard, but God is good! We can help them to have the perspective that God is sovereign and somehow is working all things together for our good and His glory.  As Jesus told us in John 16:33, ‘’In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” Thank you Lord!

If you would like to follow up with Debbie for discussion and encouragement, her email is 4mcclarys@gmail.com 
If you would like to check out more on "Effective Parenting in a Defective World", click http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Parenting-Defective-World-Family/dp/141430384X

Interested in sharing something on the Lighthouse Loop blog? Talk to me and I'd love to hear what you would like to share!
Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

When and Where for Off Campus LH

For the next three weeks we are doing Off Campus Lighthouse. Basically our regular Thursday night schedule is being cancelled and each small group leader is picking when and where the small group is meeting. Here are the details for each group:


-Freshman girls with Stacey Miller - McCooey's residence at 7pm on Thursday
-Sophomore girls with Lynn Laybourne and Rose Taylor - Meet at Panera at the Willows 7pm on Wednesday 10/10
-Upper classmen girls (Juniors and Seniors) with Julie McHuron and Tiffany Ciccone - still deciding. Please email or contact on Facebook.

-Fresh and Soph guys with Paul Scholz - checking on a possible service project for Saturday morning.
-Junior and Senior guys with Ian Longtin and Ryan Moon - please contact by email or Facebook.

Please contact the leaders with any questions.

Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

Off Campus Lighthouse

Starting next Thursday (10/11) and for the rest of October, Lighthouse is going to be off campus - that is, off Hope Center campus. Why? What's the point? Glad you asked!

1. To help those who may not be able to be involved on Thursday nights at Hope Center
2. Easier to coordinate service projects when we are not forced to meet on Thursday

Firstly, we have at least 8 high schools represented in our group spanning from Pleasant Hill (duh!), Martinez, Walnut Creek, Concord, and even Brentwood. We are so blessed to have such a diverse group, but we also face challenges. Each student has extracurricular activities in different seasons, some have much longer commutes to Hope Center, and sometimes Thursday evenings do not work best.

Secondly, last year we did our first Serve Thursdays (often mistaken for SURF Thursdays). We coordinated service projects to serve the elderly, help the disabled, clean a school, babysit, and serve meals that heal to those in our congregation. Without a doubt, we need to do this more often but it is not easy to find service projects on Thursday evenings.

So what are we going to do? Again, great question! I am empowering our Lighthouse small group leaders to pick a location and time - kind of like the Lifegroups that our church promotes. Now many leaders at this point may not change the Thursday night time, but will change the location. That is fine and 100% their decision. So please contact your teen's small group leader to get more details, click to the "Meet our staff" page http://lighthouseloop.blogspot.com/p/meet-our-staff.html

I pray that this will lead to more students in Christ-centered small groups and more service projects!
Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc

A Miracle on Fall Retreat St.

WOW! We are back from Fall Retreat and it was an amazing weekend!

A little sun glare, we need a better group picture!

We read in the Scripture that Jesus walked on water, fed 5,000, and made the lame walk, and this weekend 5 churches from different denominations, cultures, and group traditions came together for Fall Retreat. Now I know that it is easy to pass this off as no big deal, but I will tell you that it was a miracle by God's grace. No fights? No arguments? No one left behind? No one hurt? No anger or frustrations big enough to matter? That is a modern day miracle that is worth praising God for!

More pics are on Facebook, click http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.373806512695650.86839.110182149058089&type=1

Paul / paul@hopecenter.cc