Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Youth Stock Market opened September 06 to worries about congregation confidence. You see with a building addition half way up and the American economy in a recession, many youth stock market experts were voicing concern.

But fear not youth and your parents. The early estimates from the first months returns are in and the Youth Stock Market is half way to its goal of $2000!

With three months remaining in the market, many analysts close to the market predict just enough to send youth to the National Youth Gathering!

Well, 18 Faith Lutheran Youth are heading out of Big Ten college town Bloomington to serve others in and around Milwaukee.

Follow what we’re doing on Peter’s twitter account. He’ll be updating regularly throughout the week to give you the latest. The posts will also appear on his Facebook page.

FLY kicked off the 2009 Servant Event tonight by grilling out, swimming, playing ultimate and keeping an annual tradition.

Last year, John got creamed by chocolate during the much loved marshmallow drop game. This year, Leah concocted a take on bobbing for apples that includes oven mitts and stockings. As you can see from the photo the game came to a hilarious end when Peter got picked up and dropped into the kiddie pool.

The kiddie pool is now the proud possesion of the Faith Lutheran youth!

We leave in a week. It’s gonna be a ton of fun, and we’ll try and post from Milwaukee about what we are doing.

As Faith Lutheran expands, the youth stand to gain the most.

No, not the youth room, although that is certainly a blessing.

As youth, they quietly look on,  learning today’s lessons for tomorrow’s church. And in big undertakings like building expansion, the youth have the most to learn.

That means that as we move forward with the build, the youth will be watching to see how this is done, and the lessons they learn will be applied in the congregations of tomorrow.

Lutherans make a difference everyday. Whether you exude the grace given to you in the hallways of school or supplies distributed in Sri Lanka.

Lutheran World Relief has been instrumental in supplying relief to civilians caught in the crossfire of Sri Lanka’s civil war, which has sadly cost 6,500 lives in the last three months. Distributing food, fuel and other essential items Lutherans have been making a difference in war torn areas of Sri Lanka.

For more on Lutheran World Relief visit their website at: www.lwr.org/

For more on the Sri Lankan civil war visit the BBC’s website.

Image by jamesdale10 via Flickr

In Kirkuk Iraq, reports are coming in that three Christians have died in two separate attacks. Others have been injured.

Encouragingly, the local archbishop is quoted as saying, “We only hope that the blood of the martyrs will one day bring us peace and stability.”

As we move beyond the Easter season, we recognize that that’s exactly what Christ did for each of us, personally. He took the pain and anguish of eternal suffering and gave salvation to us and the entire world.

If you are interested in the persecuted church, you can find more at www.persecution.com.

Meet Alex and Bret.

They’ve begun a Rebelution. That’s right a revolution with rebels, Christian rebels.

Their theme verse is I Timothy 4:12 which Paul writes, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

They interperet this passage to mean that not only should youth not be looked down on, but youth are called to set examples.

Unfortunately society has been very good at telling teens that they’re slackers and that’s the role they should play.

Clearly, God has something special in store for all of us which he planned before time. We’ll be talking more about this idea, but in the meantime consider the calling to which He has called you.

A church in Sweden constructed a likeness of Christ with legos. In fact, he’s right there to the right.

Tell us what you think:

Image by Capt. Tim via Flickr

7 in every 10 girls in the United States have low self-esteem. Jim Liebelt calls it a national crisis.

Think about that next time you’re in a crowded cafeteria, gym or mall. It’s really shocking.

What’s dangerous is that low self-esteem can lead to destructive behavior like cutting, eating disorders and substance abuse. That’s physical.

What about the spiritual? God created each and every one of us in His own image and has created us for good work that He has already planned.

If you have a friend that’s having a hard time, share God’s good news with her, and if it’s getting dangerous, tell someone you trust.

Did you know that in days gone by, there were sometimes two Lutheran churches in the same town? A black Lutheran church and a white Lutheran church.

That’s not something we like to admit, however there were people that stood up and fought racism in that system. We too can stand up and fight that which we find contrary to the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This movie (it’s 55 min. long but well worth it) documents the amazing courage members of one congregation took to fight racism and bring Jesus to the fore. Hopefully this leaves you with more questions than answers.

By the way, take note of the important role that youth played in this nonfiction story.

Watch “A Time for Burning” here!
We originally found this movie on Mark Daniel’s blog . We’d like to second his recommendation to share this documentary with those you love.