Uth Resources

A Cup for Camp!

2010-04-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Camp is vastly approaching Ignite Student Ministry. We are headed to Bridging The Gap Summer Camp in Dayton, TN this year. We are excited to go, as this will be the first year to go to a Summer Camp in 4 year!!! With that being said, we are in full swing to raise money for this trip. And we have, what I think, the best fundraiser ever!

Ignite Student Ministry has partnered with a company called Just Love Coffee. And this is where it gets good.

We are selling some of the best flavor of coffee ever! If you have never had a cup of Just Love Coffee, I suggest you head down to Reeve Sain’s Drug Store in Murfreesboro and grab you a cup!

Head on over to http://www.justlovecoffee.com/ignite and purchase a bag of coffee. For every bag of coffee that you purchase, $5 goes to the youth group and $5 goes to help an orphan in Africa. It is a Win, Win…Win. You get coffee, we raise funds, and you are helping bring an orphan food and water. What better way to fill your service cup!

If you don’t want to order online, you can go to Murfreesboro and go to the Just Love Coffee store and buy from there. Tell them you want to support Ignite Student Ministry!
Here is the address:
149 MTCS Dr.
Murfreesboro, TN 37129

Thanks in advance for helping us out! I look forward to seeing what God has in store for the student ministry of RSC.

Press On,
Shelby Craig

The Screen In a Bedroom Can Be Deadly!

2010-03-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

After reading an article from Kaiser Family Foundation and seeing the below video on The Today Show this morning. I decided to finish this article to ask the Parent to WAKE UP and BE ACTIVE IN YOUR TEENS LIFE. You are the greatest source of influence on your teenagers life weather you believe it or not. And if parents would realize that and take initiative, stories like this wouldn't happen. It's a long article, but please, take the time to learn and understand your teenagers culture.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Today’s generation has a new pied piper: the screen. Whether it’s a Hi Def, 60” behemoth hanging on the wall, or a 3” screen on a cell phone that fits in a pocket, kids are entranced by the glow from the tech in their lives.

But what kids can’t take their eyes off of…parents seem to hardly notice.

The Dominance of the Screen
A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

It’s time to turn our attention to the undisputed heavyweight: the screen.

For many hours each day, kids between the ages of 8 and 18 are entranced by the LCD screens attached to video games, computers, movie theaters, televisions, and cell phones. (In fact, knowing how crucial screens are to most kids, Samsung has been hard a work creating a virtually indestructible screen that will fit kids’ lives even better.)

Sure, those screens are very different in size and location, but the content they deliver to kids will ensure that kids keep their noses glued to them. In fact, photographer Evan Baden noticed such a deep dependence on screens by kids that he put together a telling portfolio aptly entitled, The Illuminati.

The evolution of the screen over the past century has been fantastically chronicled in this video. The gist is that entertainment was once confined to the Silver Screen, but now, all things entertainment are available on a screen that fits in a pocket or purse.

As we discuss the individual screens that have captured a generation, note two things. First, see how dependent upon the various screens most kids are, and how long they look at them each and every day. But second, notice how passé many parents seem to be in regards to the screens in their kids’ lives.

Television
If there’s a sacred cow of media, it’s “television content.” Kids watch 4 hours and 29 minutes of television programming each and every day, which is an increase of 40 minutes per day over the last 5 years! But don’t think kids are glued to their couches for this amount of time. Nope, they can now watch television programming online, on their cell phones, on handheld video game systems, and even mp3 players.

Television has gone mobile.

But don’t be too quick to discount ye ol classic television set, either. Part of the reason kids are watching more television these days is also due to the fact that 71% of them have a TV in their bedroom (and 49% of them have cable or satellite access there, too). KFF’s study clearly showed that kids who have TVs in their bedrooms watched an hour more of programming each day than kids who did not have a TV in their rooms.

The effects of extended TV watching are well-documented: it plays a role in kids starting sex earlier. In fact, multiple studies have observed this disturbing trend.

But, according to KFF’s report, less than half of kids’ parents (46%) have rules about what sort of television content they can watch. And a mere 28% of kids’ parents have rules about how much time can be spent watching TV.

So it looks like one of the most influential screens in kids’ lives is largely unmonitored by parents.

Computers
Another big player in the screen world is, of course, computers. From desktops, to laptops, to netbooks, and soon, the fervently anticipated iPads, computer screens demand 1 hour and 29 minutes of kids’ attention each day. The three most popular computer-based activities include visiting social networking sites, playing computer games (like the wildly popular Farmville on Facebook), and watching online videos on sites like YouTube.

Computers give kids access to the world through a connection to the Internet…and a third of all kids are accessing that world from the comfort of their bedrooms. Yep, 36% of kids have a computer in their bedroom, and 33% of them have Internet access to boot, according to KFF.

Allowing computers in bedrooms is definitely something parents should be leery of; in an incident in

The content available to kids online is constantly growing and changing. Unfortunately, many of those changes are not good.

For instance, one of the biggest buzzes in youth culture this past week has been the explosion in popularity of a website called ChatRoulette. This is a site that allows users to employ their computer-mounted webcam to chat with any other person using the site at the same time. If you don’t like who you’re looking at, you just hit “next,” and in true roulette fashion, another site user is randomly assigned to your computer screen.

During the writing of this article, I visited the site for about 7 minutes to see what the buzz was all about. In that time, I clicked through mainly guys – no surprise there – about 60 in total, 4 of whom were openly masturbating. In the same 7 minutes, I only saw 2 women…but one of them was doing a topless strip tease.

This website has been getting alot of buzz in the UK and Europe, but hadn't quite yet hit the US. I have been leary of letting people know about this site, because curiosity can kill the cat. But after The Today Show covered it, I knew that your student would be finding out about it. Here is the video from The Today Show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Are you still sure you want a computer in your child’s bedroom?

Free Fall Countdown

2009-11-20T06:41:00.001-08:00

t’s time to start and your audience is nowhere to be found. Sound familiar? Then, try using our countdowns to alert them that it is time to be seated. Pick a five-minute countdown that is contemplative, entertaining or anything in between. If these don’t help your timeliness, you can always try militaristic force.

What a great resource and perfect timing for your Thanksgiving service. Igniter Media is giving this free countdown away for the month of November. I
Provided By: Igniter Media

Free Website Backgrounds

2009-11-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

KenSHinH brings us a super-handy Free File of the Month this month, with his Fiber Backgrounds. Be sure to grab his textures and check out his other great files!

File: Fiber Backgrounds

Description:

- 10 backgrounds fiber.

- perfectly ready to websites.

Includes PSD :

- PSD 10 layers

Features:

- Each texture is 2000 X 1200 px

- Colors : CYMK

- Resolution: 300 Pixel

- 10 backgrounds fiber.

- perfectly ready to websites.

Includes PSD :

- PSD 10 layers

Features:

- Each texture is 2000 X 1200 px

- Colors : CYMK

- Resolution: 300 Pixel

Download it here!

Provided by: www,graphicriver.net

How to Engage Student In Worship

2009-09-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Studentminitry.org has encouraged me to start a "How To" series on Uth Resources. This is the first in many upcoming post. I have asked by dear friend, recording artist, and amazing worship leader Wes Walters to write this post as he is an expert in this field.

Worship is putting the spotlight on God. When "engaging" students in worship it's important that your definition of worship understands reverence and 'spirit and truth', as well as the fact that some of these kids may not know God and some of the ones that DO may not grasp him intimately yet. Everyone expresses themselves differently so you cannot have unrealistic expectations on say, a 14 year old who is trying to wrestle out who God is, for example. However, you CAN and SHOULD expect reverence and respect.

When I last spoke to a group of teens before I lead worship I has this little monologue. (This is a long way to say what I want to say but hang on and it'll be worth it). I said, "Some of you may not get what's going on in here (ie., you've been invited by a friend, non-believer, etc.) and you may not understand why we're singing songs about blood and other things, but you can at the very least appreciate and respect that we are in love because we have been changed, and we want to exclaim it. Just as though you may go to a concert with a friend and they're a fan of the group you're all seeing but you are not a fan. However, you want to hang with them so you respect that and let them have a good time and you are almost obliged to them and are cool with it. Adversely, if you are in here and you ARE one of those people that has been through a change with God, you're responsibility at the very least is to be sincere. In Isaiah 29:13 it says, "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." SO, if you do not feel like singing because of a bad day, or you have something going on that you need to pray about, or whatever, then it would be most honest to tell that to God. Just like David did. He wasn't always happy and raising his hands, etc. God is most honored when we are most real with him because you cannot fool God or lie to him."

Sometimes, I've heard worship pastors say "worship until you feel like it." I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement because what that encourages is empty emotional experiences instead as well as burying issues rather than being honest. What if I were to come home from a rough day at work and was very down, but I looked at my wife and said, "You make me so happy, I'm completely satisfied in you, I love you." While these things are true in essence, my wife knows me and can read all over my face that something else is going on in me. She wants to hear how I really feel and what's happening in my heart. That's love. After she listens, gives advice, prays with me, etc. I then can offer her praise from a very sincere and happy place. It's the same with God. He is more concerned with our inside being restored than with what we're showing on the outside so that people won't judge us for not "engaging." Also, we're supposed to bear on another's burdens. If we need to go and settle something with a brother or sister before singing or living in a way that's not sincere, then we should because God wants us to and THAT is obedience which may be the hardest but is the most satisfying worship we can offer God.

So Pastors, when you speak to your students about diving into worship, you must establish an active, working definition of worship. You can ask simple questions like Pastor Tim Smith at Mars Hills always says, "Am I moved by the glory of God?" Also, let them know that when they honor God in any way, that's worship because it puts the spotlight on Him and is another opportunity to exclaim who he is and how he saved us by grace. Then you can make it clear that when they are good students in school, when they honor their parents, when they treat people with love and mercy, when they hear and implement the word from you at church, and when they speak/sing the name of Jesus, that these are all ways to worship. Also, they need to know that they have in fact been worshipping during the week by doing these things and that when we all gather to collectively sing songs, pray, fellowship, hear the word, etc at church or youth group, it is a culmination of many different lives and their stories praising God together at the same time and it is beautiful.

Now I know that a big issue, especially with teenagers is an apprehension to be open and demonstrative with their worship because they are concerned with the people around them. That is settled when we begin to understand that we are not gathered for the people around us and therefore do not need their approval. God approves of us and that's all we need. (Jer. 1:5) ( I know, easier said than done!) If we begin to worry about these things such as what will people think, etc. we are putting our worship on ourselves or we are bowing at the idol of human opinion. That's not what God intended at all. Simply stated, worry is misplaced worship and is a lack of trust in God.

When I say we are not here for the other people, I need to add that we are indeed not even there for ourselves. We need to approach worship and church coming not to receive but to bring. When we go FOR God, we WILL be "fed" and we WILL "receive". It is a secondary bi-product, a natural occurrence. This comes because God sees that we have a proper and scriptural understanding of how to worship Him. (John 4:24)

This whole idea is a paradigm shift. It's creating in your students an atmosphere and attitude of reverence and joy. (Which is opposite of most things in the world, which says worship self.) Worship and the Christian life are not meant to be stressful and full of worry. In fact, they are to be the contrast of that. Jesus said we are a people of hope and joy. When we come into a situation of gathered worship times, it should be one of reverence, yes, but never one of confusion or worry. It should be free and if any students don't want to engage for any reason, they should know and continually know that they have access to you and your leaders to talk about why and figure it out so that they CAN worship freely.

I'll leave you with an equation and a question. The equation for your students is when you add the Realization of the Sovereignty of God to the Realization of our Self Condition it always equals Unrelenting worship. Another way to say that is in a question form: The question is not "How do I worship?" Rather, in light of the sovereignty of God, it becomes "How can I NOT worship?" Once we and your students grasp God's sovereignty, it's hard to do anything but worship Him.

Wes Walters

Creative Arts Pastor

Restoration Church, Buffalo, NY

www.restorationbuffalo.com

www.weswaltersmusic.com

Wes and his wife moved from Nashville to Buffalo in October 08 and since then so many amazing stories have come from Restoration church and now an album of worship music is emerging from these hard and beautiful restored lives and stories. The music you hear on this page is from there. Walters' first solo worship project is entirely made of songs used at and written for Restoration Church. The album is due out this fall and is aptly titled Restoration.

Free Looping HD Background

2009-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Beautiful red background loop from Generator. Subtle enough to bring a heightened level of quality to any video project. This file serves perfectly as a background, but could be sped up, or slowed down at key points to really impact the feel and flow of the video. Slow down the animation when your showing some text, speed it up, to help aid a transition. This background is infinitely usable!

Main features:

High Definition background animation
Loops seamlessly
Very solid color scheme
Great depth of field

Download it: Click Here

This is provided by: VideoHive

Free Audio Book Download

2009-07-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

For the month of July, ChristianAudio.com will be offering Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan. Just use the coupon code JUL2009 at checkout. Head on over to their free download page to get it.

Freebie of The Month from IgniterMedia.com

2009-06-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

Ignitermedia.com is offering a Summer Collection of stills for free this month. The still images are provided in standard and high definition. Enjoy!

Mtn Dew Night Freebie

2009-06-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Chad Shiffer has provided a fun freebie through the SimplyYouthMinistry.com. It is called Mtn. Dew Nite. All the games, trivia, and lesson are centered around every youth group's favorite drink. Mtn. Dew. Give it shot.

Free Resources for Church or Youth Group

2008-11-20T13:30:00.001-08:00

Worship House Media is giving away a Christmas resource everyday in the month of December. All you have to do is go to their website, and download it. It's like Hanukkah but extended! Check the video out below for the promo!

Daily Freebie Promo - "Marketing Ploy" from Worship House Media on Vimeo.