I'm the middle school pastor at McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Florida. I'm married to the most incredible woman in the world, Kristi. We have two sons, Jonathan (5) and Tyler (2). google profile
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Avatar & Pagan vs. Christian Worldview - from @pastormark // Good stuff
abstain from every form of evil. http://read.ly/1Thess5.22.ESV
Youth Leaders Conference Refuel Hosts Steve Fee, Jeanne Mayo and Mark Oestreicher in Fort Myers
Youth Leaders Conference Refuel Hosts Steve Fee, Jeanne Mayo and Mark Oestreicher in Fort Myers
Refuel Conference to be held at South Fort Myers High School on April 30th and May 1st. This Youth Leader and Youth Pastor conference. Get the excitement and value of a mega conference for a fraction of the cost!
'Matchmaking' in Middle School Angers Parents - Children's Health
'Matchmaking' in Middle School Angers Parents
Friday, February 26, 2010
Matchmaking Web sites have become immensely popular on the dating scene for young adults, but how would you feel if your elementary school-age child was participating in surveys to find their "love connection?"
The Elwood Community School drama club in Elwood, Ind., is using their own matchmaking Web site for fundraising. The Web site was created by the school, and students in grades six through 10 can pay to find a compatible boyfriend or girlfriend, WISH-TV reported.
Parent Michelle Everett found out about the fundraiser when she found a match survey in her 11-year-old daughter's book bag. The fundraiser takes place without parental consent slips, like most other school fundraising campaigns.
"I don't believe that at 11 years old a school should be promoting opposite sex matching," Everett said. "A tenth-grader matched with a sixth-grader? And the school is promoting it, and it's inappropriate."
Everett saw red flags when she read the survey that said it listed all the compatible matches of the opposite sex.
Despite Everett's alleged phone calls to the school, the superintendent said he has not received any official complaints from parents. He claimed the survey is harmless, and has been raising money for the school for the past 15 years.
"I approved this fundraiser on February 1st, and I knew about the content of the survey, and it's just a good way for kids to have a little fun," said Thomas Austin, superintendent of Elwood Community Schools. "It's a voluntary survey."
Everett said she is concerned the fundraiser could have an effect on pregnancy rates in the district.
Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and Fox News contributor, agreed the fundraiser could have some negative consequences.
"It encourages adolescents to consider their relationships just as 'adult' as any other relationships typically kindled by 'matchmaking,'" Ablow said. "This could certainly lead them to believe they are ready to engage in adult encounters."
Austin said the matchmaking fundraiser has already been completed for this year, but he will consider putting a stop to next year's fundraiser if he gets enough complaints.
In Ablow's opinion, Austin should not only suspend the fundraiser, but resign from his position.
"Adults creating a system that makes them 'matchmakers' for children is psychologically indefensible," Ablow said.
Are you Capable?
"Leaders are born and made."
Their are things that God wires us for. Some of us to lead large groups of people, and some run behind the scenes and get things set up, torn down and all the technical details taken care of. How are you wired? In whatever leadership capacity you hold, maybe God has made you for that or given you the gifts and skills to be great or good at what you do. Throughout history you see the example of people who God has made "for such a time as this." However, just being born with special abilities (gifts or talents), doesn't make you excel as a leader. Aubrey Malphurs in his book Being Leaders looks at some things that all of us can focus on as God grows our influence, things that can help us sharpen our skills as Christian Leaders. 1. Character - This is the foundation of Christian Leadership. We should always be evaluating the innermost details of our lives to be sure that we can lead with a "true heart." (Psalm 78:72)2. Knowledge - At a conference a couple years ago, I remember being challenged to always stay current with what you are doing. We should stay on the cutting edge of our trade, this is only going to sharpen our knowledge and allow us to push beyond the self made barrier of status quo. 3. Skills - Even the best players on the team show up for practice (unless you are some over-paid pro athlete). The best thing that we can do is practice what we are good at and also the things that we aren't good at so that we can always be improving. 4. Emotions - I struggle with this one. Emotion is the first thing that happens all the time, we can't help getting our feelings hurt, we hear sad news, we hear great news, emotions are first. Acting upon emotion is what we can control. Sharpening these capabilities coupled with the way that God has wired us will help us be more capable leaders.
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