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Wednesday, March 15, 2006, Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Unloading my feelings.
A friend once told me; when you talk and counsel people, when you hear their problems, don't let it be your problem. Instead lift it up to Jesus and He will do the rest.
Met my student up for lunch today at Tampines Central and we had a rather fruitful talk. In fact, its the first time i am using the 1 hour break to ask someone out and have a talk. Well, what did i gather then? Loads of problems & issues to deal with. However, its only during today; during the brief 15-30 mins of sharing, that i realised how important is it to know Christ and have your own mind renewed. No wonder Jesus used the parable of wineskins to illustrate to us; the importance of having a renewed mindset. To sum it all up, we ALL need to have a renewed mindset everyday because with each passing day, we will have new problems/issues in life. An old wineskin will burst because its seams are already worn and tattered.
Likewise, our minds if not renewed is already dirty and corrupted. Selfish and Self-Centered.
Back to the problems mentioned. It all boils down to a 'A' word; Acceptance. Seeking acceptance amongst peers; love amongst classmates. The first question that came to my mind was "Why aren't they getting these at home?" What are their parents doing? You see, this is clearly a vicious cycle. One generation with a wrong mentality leading to another generation with a worse off mentality. They are simply seeking acceptance in all the wrong places. Ever heard of boys putting on mascara and wearing coloured contact lens?..maybe its ok when you are 24 yrs old but its simply unheard of back then when i was a 14 yr old boy?. I would be simply dismissed as sissy or gay if i were to don mascara and contact lens back then.
Now, the problem is identified and causes clearly stated. What should i do next? I feel that actions need to be taken, albeit not the conventional way of telling whats right and wrong. I always believe that teenagers nowadays are smarter intellectually on the whole but at the same time, their personal conscience meter isn't functioning as well as it used to function. Hence, i am going to pray during my daily QT and ask Him, my Jehovah Jireh what is the next step to do.
Right now, i am truly appreciating what the leaders in church are sowing into teenager's lives. Because when you put a 14 yr old teenager from church and someone who isn't a christian, you can sometimes see the distinct difference! Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that all non-christians are bad because there are genuiue good people around/ good students who never fail to smile and give their best in their work with excellent attitude.
Its just that some teenagers are just mis-interpreting being cool and funky to be the following:
- Smoking is cool! Puffing smoke from your mouth is way cool! Its like magic!
- Donning Mascara and Coloured Contact lens is cool! (not when you are younger than 20 yrs)
- Hurling vulgarities at one another and sometimes teachers
- Using the middle finger abundantly
- Finding a stead to show off to their friends
- Join a gang, throwing chairs and using blades to hurt people
And the list simply goes on and on and on. I have no problem whatsoever with people dying hair during holidays, working part time or listening to hip hop music. I personally feel that its quite cool! I mean every individual has his/her own taste. But there is got to be a limit as to how far can you venture into intepreting "coolness and funkyness".
You got to set and decide for yourself; what are the things you can do and things you cannot do. Everything must always be either black or white. As long as there is a GREY area in your life, there will always be room for mistakes because you simply cannot determine if its right or not. Pastor shared this message once during service. Gotta go and see if i can get the mp3 sermon.
Any takers?
Education is not imparting knowledge; its changing lives, transforming generations of people.
me
