I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for a Baptists for Life youth event. Each year, they have a high school lock-in for some of the baptist churches in the area. In the early part of the evening, I was on this panel; then for 5 hours I played games at Magic Mountain!

Here is Panel Question #2:

You are in a relationship with a very nice young woman that you met in your youth group. The two of you have been dating for about 1 year and you really like each other, you have even talked about getting married someday. One evening while your parents are out with friends the two of you are home alone. After several minutes of “making out” your girlfriend says that she thinks that the two of you are ready to “take the next step in your relationship and sleep together”. You do believe that this is the person that God will have you marry so it would be okay right? What should you do?

This WOULD have been my answer (but we ran out of time):

Can I have a show of hands… How many of you have heard of Song of Songs or Song of Solomon? How many have read some or all of it? What’s the book about?

Love, marriage, sex…

I remember reading this book when I was about your age and thought, “Whoa, who put this in the Bible!?” In Chapter 4, I would read the passages that talk about all the female body parts and wonder, “Your eyes are like doves?” “Your hair is like a flock of goats?” “Your teeth are like a flock of sheep?” “Your neck is like a tower?” How many of you have complemented your girlfriend by saying, “Sweety, your hair is so nice; it’s like a flock of goats.” Not so much.

Then I’d read passages like, “Your lips drop sweetness like a honeycomb” and I’d be like, “Yeah, now we’re getting to the good stuff!”

But, this book isn’t just about the physical features we admire in the opposite sex. The underlying themes in this book are courtship, marriage, and the intimacy found within the marriage relationship.

Throughout their courtship in chapters 1 through 3, they modeled a healthy relationship that was filled with love, excitement, and anticipation for the future. Then in chapter 4 after their wedding, the newly married couple begins to consummate their union. The husband says to his bride, “You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.”

What do you think the man meant when he said: Private garden, secluded spring, and hidden fountain? There were some parts of their relationship that were still a mystery and had yet to be explored and enjoyed. I want you to remember that your girlfriend is treasure from God. Certain parts of that treasure are to remain unexplored until you are joined together in marriage.

Paul Bradshaw, our middle school pastor, asked me to think of a scavenger hunt idea that would work well with a blended middle/high school group. I began brainstorming with Tanya and the Servant Evangelism Scavenger Hunt was born!! This event is currently being planned for the Vineyard Family Reunion in July. But, I just found out it’s only going to be for the middle school (I suppose the high school group has something else in mind). That’s a bummer because I was a high school youth leader last year and I was hoping we could get back together for this FUN activity!

Servant Evangelism Scavenger Hunt

SUMMARY
We’re going to unleash dozens of students all over Grove City to spread the love of Jesus Christ in a practical way. Students will be doing different servant evangelism activities that will give them exposure to sharing Jesus with strangers in an exciting way.

OBJECTIVE
This is not your typical scavenger hunt where you get through the stations as quickly as possible at any cost. The students are representing our church and our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though the goal is to complete the entire course in the least possible time, there will be time penalties and time bonuses given at the discretion of a youth leader or driver (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”).

RULES
1. RESPECT Jesus.
2. RESPECT all people you serve.
3. RESPECT your leaders.
4. RESPECT your drivers.
5. RESPECT your peers/friends.
6. RESPECT all property.

Here is an example of breaking the rules with a person you are serving… Let’s say it’s a pop giveaway and the person says they don’t want a pop, but you toss one through their open window so that way you can meet the quantitative objective of that station. You’ve just disrespected a person you’re serving and disrespected Jesus. There’s a qualitative objective that must always be kept! If any rules are broken, a team is subject to the penalty (See “PENALTY”).

SETUP
Drivers, vehicles, and youth leaders will need to be recruited to proportionally fill the spots needed based on the number of students participating and the number of stations we setup. We will setup a minimum of 7 stations all over Grove City. Stations will be run by a least one youth leader and possibly two if the station requires more supervision or assistance. Drivers will be either a responsible parent or an adult.

Stations may need to be setup in advance. If a station requires advanced permission from a business to use their premise, permission will be secured at least a week before the scavenger hunt.

Station routes will need to be designed in advance because we want to avoid sending more than one team to the same place at the same time. We will design unique routes for each participating team. (See “ROUTES”)

Station clues will need to be creatively written so a team will have to work together to figure out where the station is located.

ROUTES
An entire route will not be known to a team in advance. The only way they will get the clue to the next station on their route is by successfully completing each Servant Evangelism activity in the correct order. Shortcuts will not be permitted because they will need to show proof they completed the previous activity before starting the next activity. If a Youth Leader has determined a team is taking a shortcut, they will not be permitted to do that activity until they meet all route prerequisites.

YOUTH LEADER
Youth Leaders must be experienced with Servant Evangelism so they can demonstrate how to complete the task. Youth Leaders must inspire and encourage the students as they may be new to Servant Evangelism. Youth Leaders will also be responsible for issuing penalties and bonuses. (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”)

DRIVERS
All drivers must be responsible adults or parents over the age of 21. They have authority to issue penalties and bonuses. (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”)

GAMEPLAY
The students will select their own teams with a total of 4 people per team. If there are one, two, or three leftover players, they will be moved to another team so it totals 5 people. Those 5-player teams will be transported in a minivan.

Each team will be given a map of Grove City and a clue to find their first station. Teams will not be sent to the same station in their first clue because each team will have a unique route. (See “ROUTES”) In order to do a station, the team must show proof they completed the previous station on their unique route. The goal is to complete all stations, in the correct order, in the least amount of time. If a student does not follow the rules, a Youth Leader or driver has the authority to issue a penalty (See “PENALTY”).

After all teams have crossed the finish line, bonuses will be totaled and applied to each team’s total time. (See “BONUS”) The team with the lowest adjusted time is the winner.

STATIONS
Almost any Servant Evangelism activity could be used in this scavenger hunt. Here are some ideas worth discussing:
Pop Giveaway – A team would need to pass out 8 cans of pop at a busy intersection. Estimated cost per team: $4.00

Laundromat Quarter Giveaway – A team would need to give away 2 half-rolls of quarters at a Laundromat. Estimated cost per team: $10.00

Ice Cream Coupons – A team would need to give away 2 free ice cream coupons in a public place. Estimated cost per team: $6.00

Doggie Treats – A team would need to give away 2 doggie treat care packages in a public park where people are walking their dogs. Estimated cost per team: $5.00

Business Blast – A team would need to go into a business and give away 4 bags of assorted candy to at least 4 workers in that business. Estimated cost per team: $3.00

Trash Cleanup – A team would need to fill 1 plastic grocery bag with trash they find in a designated area. Estimated cost per team: Free

Starbucks – Approach one person at Starbucks while they are purchasing their drink and pay for it. Estimated cost per team: $4.00

Drive Thru – At a fast food joint, buy your driver a drink and while you’re in the drive thru, pay for the meals in the car immediately behind you. Estimated cost per team: $9.00

Gas Station – Buy your driver $8.00 in gas, clean your driver’s windows, and the windows of at least 2 cars. Estimated cost per team: $8.00.

Shopping Cart Return – Go to the Wal-mart parking lot and offer to return the customer’s shopping cart. Return 4 shopping carts. Estimated cost per team: Free.

Helium balloon giveaway – Go to a place where there will be a lot of children to giveaway balloons. Approach the parents first! Give away 4 balloons. Estimate cost per team: $4.00

PENALTY
Breaking the rules will not be tolerated! If a rule is disrespectfully broken, a team will be penalized with an immediate 4 minute time penalty. The team will be informed why they are being penalized and they will not be able to move to the next station until they have completely served the 4 minute penalty.

BONUS
The concept of a bonus is to balance the rush of a race with the heart of being a good servant. One of the risks of creating a race out of Servant Evangelism is the highly competitive students could loose sight of the heart of Servant Evangelism. Ultimately, is not about rushing or ignoring what God is doing; it’s about being a good servant.

Youth Leaders and drivers are given authority to issue secret time bonuses in situations where a bonus is warranted. The bonus time will essentially counter balance a serving situation that could have possibly eliminated them from the competition.

For example, a situation that would warrant a bonus is if an entire team is delayed because of a “God Moment” with a stranger. At times, Servant Evangelism will have such a positive impact that the person who was touched by the love of God will sometimes need extra special attention or even prayer. These interactions are highly encouraged and we will fully compensate a team for the time they spend ministering to that person plus a little extra!

Here is an example of how a bonus could affect the final results. Let’s say the total times for the teams were: Team A… 85 minutes, Team B… 88 minutes, and Team C… 90 minutes. Team C, however, had accumulated 7 minutes of bonus time. Team C would become the winner with an adjusted total of 83 minutes. It’s entirely possible that a team crossing the finish line last could end up being number one. Truly the motto for the winning team will be Mark 9:35 “…Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’”

I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for a Baptists for Life youth event. Each year, they have a high school lock-in for some of the baptist churches in the area. In the early part of the evening, I was on this panel; then for 5 hours I played games at Magic Mountain!

Here is Panel Question #1:

My 16 year old friend who recently broke up with her boyfriend just found out that she is 8 weeks pregnant. She has not yet told her parents, who are going to be very upset, and her ex-boyfriend tells her that “it’s not even really a baby yet, just have an abortion”. What should I tell her? Is a baby alive at 8 weeks of age?

Here was my response:

I’d like to read a Psalm to you. This is a song of David.

Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Did you notice a recurring theme in this song? Seven times the word YOU was used as he sings this song to God. David is intentionally pointing upward and gives God the credit for three things:

1) He is created by God
David didn’t give credit to his parents for his existence; it was God who knit him together. At times we’ll say a pregnancy is unintentional or accidental, but God doesn’t make mistakes.

2) God’s creation is wonderful.
David unleashes his praise to God saying, “Your works are wonderful, I know that full well!” Does he sound unsure about that? Anything that God creates is wonderful.

3) God has an intimate relationship with his creation.
Even before David understood that he had a relationship with God, God already had an intimate relationship with David. This relationship started even before he took his first breath! God knew everything about David’s body, his personality, his character, and his inmost being. But it didn’t stop there; God knew everything about David’s future before any of it happened.

Psalm 139 isn’t so much about David as it is about the sovereignty of God. When we are faced with difficult circumstances in life, it’s easy to focus on ourselves and make a decision that will make things easier on us. But, before you make up your mind about what do you with a pregnancy, I challenge you to enlarge your perspective to take into consideration God’s sovereign plan. God doesn’t make mistakes.