It’s All About ME

8 02 2010

Paul RobertsonPaul Robertson is the Youth Culture Specialist and Director of Church and Family Resources for Youth Unlimited. His newsletter, “Understanding Today’s Youth”, provides articles that share his research and insights on this current generation of youth. We’ve posted the cover article of the recent issue here. To download full PDF’s of back issues or to be on the mailing list, go to paulrobertson.ca and click on “Culture Newsletters” on the side menu.


In a culture as obsessed as ours is with celebrity and appearance, it is hard to believe there actually was a time when famous actos and singers hid their flaws for fear of being ostracized by Hollywood.

Those were the days when everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Rock Hudson kept their dirty little secrets under wraps. Today your notoriety is enhanced and contracts sweetened when all your worst behaviours hit the news.

The Mirror Effect, Dr. Drew PinskyStarting with this significant shift in celebrity ethics, Dr. Drew Pinsky sets the framework for The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America. After drawing on an almost too long a list of celebrities gone wrong, Pinsky does a good job of developing the genesis of narcissism as we understand it today. It is interesting to see his contrast between egotism, the preoccupation with oneself and narcissism marked by a disconnection with self exhibited in chronic feelings of loneliness, emptiness and self-loathing. The true narcissist tries to cover up these traits by fueling their own sense of self-importance in a variety of public ways.

All of this has significant implications for our young people. As Dr. Drew points out, “Teens, tweens, and young adults are biologically, environmentally, and culturally predisposed to desire what celebrity promises: wealth, special privilege, and unlimited attention.” The danger comes when young people who are already prone to imitation engage in often dangerous and risky behaviors put on display by their media heroes.

What we need to realize is that celebrity isn’t necessarily associated with talent or performance. Today, being famous seems like a game anyone can play, especially the younger generation. Parents don’t understand that while youthful experimentation can be normal, it can quickly spill into more problematic behaviors such as Internet addictions which lead to meeting strangers (who adore you, of course) in person. Signs of problems can be expressed through obsession with body, sexual acting out, volatile anger, or excessive drinking or drug use. Pinsky points out, “Unfortunately, it is precisely those behaviors that were highly valued by parents in the sixties and seventies and now glamorized by TV and magazines today.”

The book also includes a great chapter on parenting to prevent narcissism. Today’s parents, themselves bombarded with messages encouraging attention seeking, must take constructive steps to arrest narcissistic tendencies in their kids. It’s nice to see a book which is full of unsettling facts and issues on this cultural extreme, end with some hope and direction.

In this issue of Understanding Today’s Youth, Youth Unlimited will take you into today’s youth culture to show how such narcissistic messages are affecting our young people even the youngest are not spared. From print media to radio to television to Twitter, the message is always the same, “It’s all about ME”.

* Other articles in this same issue:

Understanding Todays Youth- “A Generation Who Adore Themselves”: International speaker and apologist Ravi Zacharias recently told Youth Unlimited that young people and media can no longer be separated from each other. In essence, they and the media have become one. Screen time has become the new past time. Every young person in Canada will be touched in some way by media today. Some are addicted to Facebook, Twitter, and TV. Teenagers in Canada spend almost 49 hours per week using various forms of media.

- “Responding to Generation Me”: All of us were born with an innate self-interest that wants to take priority over the welfare of others. Parents, teachers, youth workers, pastors, and professional are all finding it challenging to deal with a generation preoccupied with its own existence. Previous generations have always felt important but this is the first to have its ego massaged and manipulated by the media. The sense of entitlement has reached an all-time high.





Winning With People

3 02 2010

by William Raposo, LAUNCHee Coordinator

William Raposo, LAUNCHee CoordinatorI’ve never forgotten a saying that I heard from a preacher once: “It is impossible to serve God unless it is through people.” This is one of my life goals – to develop and cultivate meaningful relationships with those around me to have the opportunity to serve them. John Maxwell, in his book Winning with People encourages us never to lose our focus of why we run our programs and ministries; it is to build strong, lasting, healthy relationships with those we work with. Relationships and our attitude towards them will dramatically impact how we lead and the success we will experience.

John’s approach is to lead the reader to introspectively consider where they are and focus on the adjustments one must make to grow as a leader. I found Winning with People very challenging as I took personal inventory of where I am as a leader and where I need to grow. This book has strengthened my vision regarding how significant relationships are and to be more aware of the investment we must make to cultivate healthy ones. As leaders, our relationships are the greatest context God gives us to be able to minister to individuals.

Winning with People, by John MaxwellOne of Maxwell’s most intriguing points for me was what he called “the Bob Principle” which states: “When Bob has a problem with everyone, Bob is usually the problem.” I found this very informative and also as a caution because it is so easy to focus on the problems and frustrations that occur in relationships instead of the solutions that can make them stronger.

People want others to make them feel comfortable and this opens the door for us to be able to minister to their lives. It is our responsibility as leaders to do everything in our power to make those we are called to serve to feel that they are significant. Many of the principles that Maxwell teaches will become extremely valuable with LAUNCH’s interaction with LAUNCHees and the youth that they seek to build relationships with.

My favorite quote of the book is Maxwell’s belief that we have something to learn from everyone we are in relationship with.

The people who learn the most aren’t necessarily the ones who spend time with the smartest people. They are the ones with a teachable attitude. Every person has something to share- a lesson learned, an observation, a life experience. We just need to be willing to listen. In fact, often people teach us things when they don’t intend to do so.

People have the potential to teach us something if we give them the opportunity to do so. LAUNCH believes that not only do we have sometime valuable and important to invest in our LAUNCHees to help them accomplish the dream that God has put in their hearts, but that we can learn from our LAUNCHees and their experiences. I recommend Winning with People for everyone who desires to be in ministry as a full-time worker or volunteer. The better equipped we are to create healthy relationships, the more fruit we will reap from them.





Here Comes that Dreamer

14 01 2010

by William Raposo (LAUNCHee Coordinator)

How wonderful it is to look at our young Christian leaders (LAUNCHees) and be able to say “here come those dreamers” (Genesis 37:19). I was taken back when I read this in Scripture. What a powerful statement! I love to say this about our LAUNCHee and their ideas.

In Genesis 37, Joseph has a dream, shares it with his brothers and it doesn’t go over very well. They find it hard to believe that God would use the youngest of their family to accomplish such great things. Instead of encouraging him, they become jealous of what the future will bring and begin to plot his death. A few days later Joseph’s brothers are grazing their fathers flocks and they see Joseph coming towards them and they say, “here comes that dreamer”. I’m wondering how different things might have been if they had a positive response! In the end God uses Joseph’s circumstances to accomplish what He desired.

At LAUNCH, we seek to have this positive response and different attitude when we hear about the dreams of young people. We are thrilled to see youth and young adults share their dreams with us. As the LAUNCHee Coordinator, I have the privilege of meeting with youth that apply to our program who will potentially become LAUNCHees. I have come to realize that my attitude can significantly impact the realization of their ideas.

I acknowledge firstly that God is speaking to them and challenging them through their life experiences. The needs they are being made aware of are important and they are part of the solution to share God’s love. I know that many times dreams and ideas are vague and hard to articulate. That’s why we partner LAUNCHees with coaches, in order to help them clarify and articulate their dream in a way that others will understand.

Second, I’m excited that they are willing to listen and take God seriously. Becoming aware of a need is only the beginning and not enough, in itself, taking the challenge to tangibly do something that will address the need and bring change is the desired outcome.It’s one thing to see a homeless person on the street and acknowledge their problem, but a completely different one to offer them a meal. To move from thought to action will not only remarkably benefit those that are being served, but the dreamer will benefit greatly. God uses the proces of planning and of implementing the dream to work in the young Christian leader’s character and leadership development.

Lastly, our desire as a program is to empower young Christian leaders to accomplish what God has laid on their hearts. Instead of standing in disbelief and or remaining indifferent, we take pleasure in tearing down barriers that hinder their growth and give them the tools and resources they need to help them accomplish their dream. we are aware that there will be challenges and detours along the way but as they walk with a coach who will invest in them, they will learn from these situations and be motivated to see their dream become a reality.

I hope we would be able to say this more frequently, “Look, here comes another dreamer, a young Christian leader witha  great idea to bring life to the Kingdom of God”.





The Dream Manager

12 01 2010

Review by Jan, D’Angelo, Coach Coordinator

Recently I read a book called The Dream Manager which creatively promotes the importance of identifying our dreams and setting into motion plans for realizing those dreams. The author, Matthew Kelly, suggests that without dreams we will never be the best version of ourselves that we can be. Wow! What a challenging concept! He says that “although dreams are invisible, they are powerful. You cannot see them but they keep everything else going”.

He tells a wonderful fictional story (based on facts) about a company that encourages their employees to identify their dreams and share them with a manger who cares enough to help make those dreams become a reality. That manager’s title is the Dream Manager. The impact of being encouraged to begin to dream, along with the support to focus on that dream, meant not only a healthier working environment but also skyrocketing profits! The theory is that if you can get an employee passionate about their own dreams, then that passion will spill over into all areas of their lives, including their workplace.

As LAUNCH coaches, one of our roles is to help the LAUNCHees get intimately acquainted with the dream they believe the Lord has given. And so, we too, are dream managers. A LAUNCH coach helps the LAUNCHees “discover their unique abilities, identify their hopes and dreams and encourage them to pursue these dreams in a way that makes a contributino to society and humanity” and the Kingdom of God.

The book says that society “seems to be in a great hurry to rush young people into a career without having taken the time to help them determine what they are best suited for. We seem too eager to clutter their minds with all types of facts and figures but don’t instill in them a real sense of self. The result is the very discontentment that leads to disengagement in the workforce and life”.

Kelly asks this:

Imagine how your life may have been different if someone had taken the time, when you were young, to help you understand your dreams in the following twelve areas: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, psychological, material, professional, financial, creative, adventure, legacy and character? Imagine if someone had walked you through specific exercises in each of these areas helping you discover your strengths and weaknesses; your interests and passions; and the people, places and things that energize you?

How might your life have been different if you had a dream manager in high school or college?

By helping young people discover these things about themselves, we will produce a new breed of worker for the future… [and for the Kingdom of God...] a workforce that is super-engaged, highly effective, immensely responsible, self-aware, intuitive and motivated! Every young person should have a dream manager.

LAUNCH provides each of the LAUNCHees with a dream manager, in their coach. We have tools available to us like the 360  Leadership Assessment and DreamLAUNCH that can enhance the self-discovery and God-discovery that is needed in order to assist the LAUNCHees in going deeper than they otherwise might, in discovering the person He has created them to be. In turn, we have the privilege of assisting them as they journey toward that vision the Lord has placed in their heart.

Kelly says, “our dreams are the visions that shape our lives. At different parts of our journey, both professionally and personally, it is easy to get caught up in surviving and stop dreaming. When we stop dreaming, we slowly begin to disengage from our work, from our relationships and from life itself”.

One of the coaches recently shared how walking with his LAUNCHee has spurred him on in his own business. We not only influence the LAUNCHees but they influence us! As the LAUNCHees have modelled for us their willingness to step out in faith as the Lord is leading them, may we, as LAUNCH coaches, continue to offer our dreams back to the Lord and see what He has in mind for us too!





2010… new blog design!

11 01 2010

It’s a new year, new decade… why not a new blog design? We want to make this site easy for our readers to more easily find articles, find inspiration, find resources. As we continue to grow as a program, with more LAUNCHees, coaches and staff, we’ll do our best to post articles on leadership, book reviews, inspirational stories and of course updates on young leaders in various communities starting up new projects! The category cloud of tags in the right sidebar should help you find articles topically. And as we keep posting, the cloud will keep growing! So keep checking our blog often for new updates. Or, if you haven’t already joined our facebook group, add us and get new blog updates right in your news feed.

Thanks for all your support, especially in this new year! LAUNCH is growing, and it’s because of you!





Pearls Before Breakfast

19 10 2009

by Carl Nash
(LAUNCH Pad Article)

carlnashSnopes.com is bookmarked on my browser.

Like me, I’m sure you get plenty of emails forwarded to you from the best friend of your great aunt’s neighbour – who can personally vouch for the authenticity of an attached spectacular story. I’m a dreamer. I wish that virtually all of these emails were accurate and true. Sadly, they are not. Usually I don’t need to investigate the matter to come to that conclusion. When I do, Snopes comes through big time, investigating rumours and urban legends on my behalf to help sort out fact from fiction in this information-crazy world. More often than not, Snopes denies my wish, proving that the story was exaggerated or altogether false.

So, I turned to Snopes a couple weeks ago when a good friend (who also happens to be my boss) sent me an email with the subject line “Something to Ponder.” The message told the story of a cold January morning during the midst of the rush hour commute in a Washington subway. A street musician in jeans and a ball cap was playing a violin for about 45 minutes that morning and collected $32 from over 1000 commuters who hustled by. A grand total of six individuals paid him any attention. Nothing too compelling about that, right?

joshbellWell, except for some minor details. The violinist (Joshua Bell) was one of the greatest musicians in the world, playing six of the most intricate pieces every written on a 1713 Stradivarius worth 3.5 million dollars. Three days earlier, Bell had filled the Symphony Hall in Boston with an average ticket price of $100. A couple months later, he was awarded the Avery Fisher prize as the best classical musician in America. The email ended with the explanation that the above event was designed and implemented by the Washington Post as an experiment to see if people would see the extraordinary when it was packaged in a most ordinary way. You have no idea how much I wanted this email to be accurate, but I had my doubts. It seemed too perfect, too contrived. What did Snopes have to say about it? One word. “True.” An article entitled “Pearls Before Breakfast” in the Post on April 8, 2007 went into great detail about the events in Washington on that cold January morning. (The writer Gene Weingarten won a Pulitzer Prize for the feature). The conclusion of the article? If people didn’t recognize something as exceptional as this… how many other things are we missing?

Wow. What a question. People gave all sorts of reasons as to why they passed right on by Joshua Bell that morning. Too busy. Too focused. Too late. Makes me wonder what extraordinary opportunities are right in front of me each day, that I pass by unaware for the exact same reasons. Even more, it begs the question about how many extraordinary people are around me every day, packaged in very ordinary ways. Far too often I miss them, and I imagine you do as well.

One of the beautiful things about my role with LAUNCH is that I am forced to pause, to linger and enjoy time with young Christian leaders and to get caught up in their story. As I do, the ordinary gives way to the extraordinary and a curtain is pulled back on remarkable God-given potential.

This week, may you and I be like the six people who actually stopped to enjoy the subway virtuoso. May God give us His eyes and ears to see and to hear the unlimited potential in the lives of young leaders we encounter.

* The original article “Pearls before Breakfast” by Gene Weingarten was posted in the Washington Post on Sunday, April 8, 2007 (Page W10). (Link to article also includes video clips.)





We Called It Bouldering

17 10 2009

by William Raposo, LAUNCHee Coordinator
[A post-event report]

WilliamLAUNCH held its first LAUNCHee retreat day on Saturday September 26 at a small cottage in Bowanville, Ontario. We had five LAUNCHees attend. The day was all planned out to the tee with a gentle flow and with meals being provided that would have encouraged all. But as most of you know, things hardly happen the way we expect. As the rumors of rain mounted we decided to change our schedule and made our “bouldering” adventure the first part of our day. You might be asking: “What is bouldering?”

In communicating with LAUNCHees and alumni about this retreat day I advised them that we would be going rock climbing in the afternoon. Yet upon our arrival to our cottage location, I was quickly reminded by Carl Nash (our “climbing” expert) that climbing would imply going vertical up rocks and we would actually be crossing big boulders horizontally. And so the great debate started regarding the proper term we would us. The wittiest of the group, Anne, suggested that the appropriate word to describe what we would doing was called “bouldering”. And so we headed to the lake on our bouldering adventure.

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Confessions of a Camp Girl

17 10 2009

by Diana Skinner, Regional Coach Manager

DianaOkay, I admit it. I’m a camp girl. For those of you out there who have been a part of a camp environment for the majority of your life, can understand the allegiance that develops between yourself and “your” camp.  For me, the ways in which God has used that camp environment to grow, challenge and change me are almost immeasurable.  So you can’t help but grow an attachment to such a place in your life, and though you acknowledge there are other Christian camps out there, you’re heart can’t be swayed.  You are loyal.  Your camp is “the” camp.

But sometimes, you grow up a little.  This summer I had the opportunity to observe two “other” Christian camp programs and God had a way of opening my eyes.  And through the opening of my eyes, I was thoroughly encouraged, but most of all humbled by the realization that God is in the midst and working powerfully at a variety of summer programs where He is at the centre.

It reminded me that God is at work all around me, in ways that I don’t stop to notice and in ways that I may never realize.  God’s awesome creativity and wisdom guides tons of unique followers to use their gifts and experience to create programs and initiatives that will reach out to people.  Who knows which one will plant the seed in the searching heart?  I believe God uses each of us, who are obediently serving Him to shine His light to those around us- we just need to be willing.

I’ve also been reflecting lately on how unique each human being is.  As it says in one of my favourite verses: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139: 13-15.  We have each been made so uniquely and with purpose.  God can use each of us in significant ways to bring glory to Him.

campgirlAs I remember each of the young leaders God has brought to LAUNCH, I know this to be true more and more.  Truly no two LAUNCHees are alike or two dreams alike- God’s variety is reflected so clearly through them.  And once again, I’m encouraged and humbled to know that God is working in and through each of them- affecting lives that could only be affected as each of them pursue their dream.

So what does all this mean for my camp girl status?  Well, I would say I realized two things.  One, God used my camp history and experience to shape the person He has made me today.  I believe He knew all along that being at this particular camp would plant the seeds necessary for Him to work and ultimately change my life.  I am thankful.  Two, my allegiance is to God, not camp and this summer He forever changed my perspective on “other” camp ministries.  While many would argue that camp rivalries are “all in fun”, I would argue that putting that same energy toward building each other up would serve a much better purpose.  God is at work through many camps and ministries out there.  So in essence, while I will always love “my” camp, instead of a “camp-girl” maybe I should simply refer to myself as “God’s girl”.

Diana Skinner is a Regional Coach Manager with LAUNCH. She is a high school English and Drama supply teacher and loves mentoring young people, seeing how God works in their lives.






International Rescue Project

24 09 2009

AnneFAnne is a current LAUNCHee and has been meeting with her LAUNCH coach Janet for the past year. This November, Anne’s vision to hold a benefit concert for International Justice Mission unfolds.

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

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Meet Mike

22 09 2009

MikeMMy name is Mike and I am the President of a gospel apparel business called Wear Da Word.

Wear Da Word was established in November 30, 2006. God gave me a vision to spread the Gospel not only just through speaking but through clothing as well – an effective way to take God’s Word and reach people by making His Word stand out. By wearing His Word, we are not only making a bold statement but we are also ministering to people with whom we come in contact and even those who just walk right by us. This all came about when I was fasting and seeking God’s face, finding out how I can be more effective for the kingdom of God, and He gave me a vision.
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