I thought I'd start Video Blogging Again.  I've got several short interviews I'll post in the coming days.  I thought this one was a great place to start as we're watching enrollment for our Teenage Paradise, KIVU, climb for summer 2012. 

If you'd like to come join us, CLICK HERE, and you'll be whisked off to the greatest place on earth! (ok, not really.  it's just another URL, but it will be the beginning of an adventure of a lifetime.)

Our culture in undergoing an interesting transformation.  It seems as though everywhere we turn, we're asking kids to grow up faster, get a jump start, try to be ahead of the class before their peers get there.  They have to win.  They have to get good grades.  They have to perform in Athletics.  There's an overwhelming amount of pressure on today's kids, so much so; they've lost the ability to just grow up and be kids.  

I was talking with a friend yesterday and he told me the story of his own teens.  "My middle son was a pretty good football player, so the last three years of high school all he did was play football, condition, and lift weights.  He was consumed.  

My daughter was a better swimmer, but she was getting tired of swimming when she entered her Junior year.  I told her, 'Do what you want.  Live your life.  Take a break.'  And as I watched her develop she was happier than my son.

It was almost like the thing my son wanted the most was draining the life out of him.  But when I gave my daughter the freedom to explore who SHE wanted to be; it was naturally refreshing."

It's happening all over our country.  Kids are being pressured more and more into stressful lifestyles, and they're missing out on developing their own gifts and talents.  The result is frustration, depression, and lack of direction.

Fun is ok!
Remember going in the back yard and make believing you lived in a different world?
Remember writing stories in class and you let your imagination flow?
What happened to the days when we could walk down the street free from fear and ingrained in every child was the ability to create their own story?

For 15 years I've been involved with teenager, parents, and the family relationships going on around the country.  I'm convinced more than ever, to create a personal story we've got to usher up opportunities for our kids to make sure they know how.  

They need to know how to go outside and be creative.
They need to know what it means to get into relationships, outside of social media.
They need to experience success of overcoming something hard, and the laughter of being in the middle of something fun.
Creating a story has to be learned through experience, not through just busy-ness. 

We've created a place in Colorado where teenagers can be teenagers.  At KIVU we help kids explore personal relationships, mountain top adventures, and we invite them to a faith experience unlike any I've seen.  (and I've traveled around the world quite a bit.)

I'd would like to invite you, over 75K Journey readers, to consider spreading the word about a little slice of heaven outside Durango Colorado, where we're trying to help encourage Teenage Stories.  

Check this out.

If you have friends or family interested in helping teenagers create their own story, feel free to visit us at www.campkivu.com.  Hit the Camp Dates button, and you'll be well on your way to exploring a Unique Colorado Adventure this summer.  

We can't wait to see you!!

When we stop the charades, and ask teenagers honest questions about faith; they respond.  So many of my colleagues are concerned with the latest X-Box/Light/Sound gimmicks, they've forgotten to just be real people of faith showing students what it really looks like.  For example, I just got back from a wonderful retreat and one of the students wrote this to me on my Facebook:

I'm a junior  (we talked earlier today about apologetics and stuff), and I just wanted to let you know how much I have appreciated this week. I've spent the last several months doubting God and not caring if He is real because I figured I wanted to run my own life. I was cynical and I got caught up in lust (porn), hatred and resentment. I never wanted to commit to God again because church made it all about the religious stuff and the "warm fuzzies" you talked about. Anyway, running my life hasn't really worked, so this week, I decided to go all in, not to be religious, just to make my own decision and see how it went. I've been reading my Bible and just trying to be what I'm called to be. And you know what, I found something way better than the "warm-fuzzies." I got fulfillment. It's no longer about reading my Bible and going to church and doing my good deed of the week. It's about God, and living for Him, no matter what that might entail. I just wanted to let you know that I've recommitted to living for Him, and you were a huge factor in that. Thanks for coming to our school.

I promise, if we have the chance to present God as the Creator of All Things, (Gen.1) Interested in providing an Abundant Life (John 10:10) it works.  When we're known more for what God is FOR rather than all He's against, teenagers see it clearly.  We don't have to focus on the depravity of mankind; we all know that.

Drugs don't lead to joy.
Sex doesn't lead to joy.
Living for yourself doesn't lead to joy.

Honest Joy comes when we recognize where we came from, and how to interact with others in a humble way.  (Matthew 22:37-40) 

And it's not just for teens.  The incredible thing is, it's for us all!!!  Isn't that AWESOME! 

Loving God and Loving Others continues to be our mantra here at KIVU.  Come join us and experience REAL LIFE, Colorado Style. 

Last night, I had a chance to to talk to a football player down here in West Texas.  If you know anything about Texas, Football is a different deal.  In other words, they grow em big down here in Texas.

In any event, this 6ft 3, 230 lb high school student came up to me after I finished a talk on understanding what Christians believe and why.  He looked me in the eye and started, "Andy, I have a lot of doubts about God.  I'm not sure if He's really out there.  i mean, I've grown up in a Christian home, gone to church all my life, but I just don't feel God is around."

He talked about his struggle with Armenians.
He argued the Cosmos and Evolution thought.
He even wanted to talk about different denominations.

But when he said, "I went to my church retreat, and the speaker gets everyone all riled up and crying, I feel strange.  Everyone starts confessing their sins, committing their lives to God, but after a week; it fades, and they go right back to where they were before the retreat.

It's almost like they just want to see a bunch of kids cry to validate God's movement in the meeting.  I ask them about my doubts, and they just tell me to read the Bible more.

I ask them about how to feel God, and they tell me just to pray more.

I ask them how I can know God, and they say, Go to church.

Well, I've done all that, and it's not working."

I looked him square in the eye and said, "I stand before you in the name of God and apologize.  I apologize for the FRAUD you've experienced in youth ministry.  We've tried to quantify the response of our meetings, and sometimes it turns out to be really manipulative.  That's why I committed 10 years ago, to stop drumming up emotional responses.  If emotions come, great.  But as a theater guy, I've been trained to get people to emote.  I can manipulate an environment to make you feel a certain way, and I promise you I WILL NEVER DO THAT IN THE NAME OF GOD."

It was another reminder of the responsibility we have to be honest with teenagers.  Their doubts are real, and they're looking for something they can count on.

We've got to stop trying to make God a formula, and let kids know the truth.
We've got to stop trying to create more programs where people can just get into emotional mosh pits, and start helping people understand what it means to live a lifestyle consistant with the values and principles God set up for us. 

The Modern Day Christian Fraud of manipulation is doing more damage than it is doing any good, and all for what? So we can pat our backs and congratulate ourselves on how many people make temporary deals with God?  SILLY!

If God is the creator of the Universe, we can be confident in His power to help bring people to Himself.  We can rest in the fact He is "before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 

I'm excited to continue my conversation with my new football friend. 

I'm confident he's going to find truth, and he's going to be a powerhouse where it really counts...in the lives of others!

I drove from Amarillo last night to Panhandle Texas?  Ever heard of it?  I certainly wasn't aware of this little town out in the middle of West Texas.  The wind was whipping at 50 MPH, and the cold...WHEW...Cold!

Anyway, some of our KIVU families invited me to come up at the last minute and speak to their local youth groups on Wednesday night. 

I drove into town, and it reminded me of an old Texas Western Movie.

Wind Blowing.
Trucks pulling trailers full of cattle.
I even saw a tumbleweed roll across the highway.  A TUMBLEWEED?

I showed up to the church, and it was incredible.  Within 24 hours of finding out I was coming to town, 3 different churches came together and we had 100-150 teenagers there.  Worshipping God.  Learning about Scripture.  Talking about how we can know there is a God.  It was awesome!

Thanks to my friends in Panhandle. 
It was a great evening in the small corner of your universe!! 

God bless. 

Things are still rolling in Amarillo.  I'm working with a school down here, and the reception has been great.  Lots of great conversations taking place, and I sure would appreciate your prayers.  

More to come!