Tag Archives: opinion

“It’s Just Not For Me”- Youth Quiting the Church

For any of you that are in your youth years or already past it, do you find yourself not attending church anymore? What I mean to this is that I found out that many people either have stopped or started attending church in their youth years. Not sure if there’s a name for this type of situation, but I’ll just call it the make or break point for church members. Why do I say this? It’s because many that I’ve seen at this point of age either stop attending church, wonder off with bad influencing people, get into heavy drug usage and years later come back to testify they were wrong about their doings and try not repeating the process. On the other hand there are also other people who as a child never grew up attending church, but as they grow into their youth, they become so intrigued with the things of God they start getting involved in church activities. So the question is what is it that made some youth stop attending church?

I’ve mentioned that most quit church and end up with the wrong crowd ending in bad consequences, but you’d have to excuse that if that isn’t you, it’s just how I’ve seen it before and there are different reasons why you or other youth quit attending church.

I have several friends I grew up with and most of them have attended church as a child, however, as soon as a vast majority of them grew into their youth, they all decided to quit attending. During the time we would all gather up and discuss through drinks and coffee, we would bring up memories of the good times as kids we had, especially when we were at church. So the question would pop up, why did you stop?

Some of the reasons I jotted down were:

  • They felt demotivated
  • Too much drama
  • Being relevant
  • Lack of reverence

I didn’t number these because these are all very good reasons, but one that really stood out to me is that it’s true, too much drama in the organization even wanted me to stop attending. When we all discussed about what sort of drama they were referring to, they would bring up issues such as the love relationships exploding and getting everyone involved in it, or how one of the church member’s kid was involved with gangs but she goes up to the alter describing how God uses her kid in tough times. It all looks hypocritical in their eyes and it’s one of the main reasons why they all decided to not attend church any longer.

Are there any other reasons you may have stopped attending church after your youth? If you know of any other people that stopped attending, what do you think are some of their reasons why they decided to quit church? To avoid having the youth quit church, what can be done? Any steps your church or you have made?

Great Job: Giving Compliments

Remember the times when you were young playing some sort of sports activity? Basketball, soccer, football, just about anything. You would turn to the stands to find out that your dad or parents are watching you closely to see if you can do something dramatic.
I remember playing soccer in school back in the day, and it motivated me enough to play better every time I saw my dad make it to the game. I would play much better, concentrated and do something for a change. There were times when I just couldn’t do anything. Following the game returning home, I would be upset walking straight to the dinner table and discussed what happened during the game while having dinner with my parents.
We would talk what strategies might have been better. What could I do for my team to improve. I have it my all but coach was always upset at us for not doing what we thought was enough. Further more at the end of our discussion I felt unmotivated. I didn’t want to do anything anymore. Something however struck me, my father would always compliment me on how great I played out there. He didn’t make it sound as if he just threw it out there, but it felt like he said I was still looked well playing out there (what I think). These compliments he would say felt great. A vast majority of these are part of the reason why I was still motivated to work on my gameplay the following day.
If we apply this to our personal lives and in the work place, we build great bonds with the people we work with. We become a team! What I noticed was that in the work environment, often we never receive a compliment. A co-worker I once worked with said to me he never received a compliment for his work in four years. I was speechless. Great man, seems very loyal to his work and great to talk to. But I wanted to know why hasn’t he received any compliments. Was the manager that selfish being not able to compliment people around him? It’s interesting I was reading an article that most people haven’t been applauded to or received compliments since graduation. But they say “you don’t understand, I don’t have time for that.” No, you do have time for that. It doesn’t take that much time of your day to go out and compliment someone. Complimenting someone not only will make them feel better at what they’re doing, but also it will motivate them to be even better. They are confident, they have a clear understanding and they will get motivated at what they do. It’s not that difficult. When we compliment we build our relationship even better.
When was the last time you complimented someone at your workplace. Maybe your team never heard you compliment them since they were first hired and upon hearing great job the first three days on the job, they never heard of it again. Giving compliments makes us feel better about ourselves. We build stronger trust and a leader needs trust. It’s part of the process. Compliments are key. How do you compliment people? Your staff and personally people you meet. Any given thoughts you have or questions regarding the post.

What is it: Stuck starting a business

Throughout the day I go through podcast listening to speakers of great knowledge in the business and financial field, giving words of wisdom and what is needed to do to succeed in growing your business. So I ask? What is needed to start a business and why does it seem to take so long?

I always have that mentality of starting a business, but one of the reasons I feel that I can’t is because of fear. This state of mind which corrupts my entire body and mind from starting. I can’t go anywhere without putting aside fear and start bringing in that confidence I have. The thought of already starting a business, but soon after; the fear of my services not going anywhere or not having the interest from the public. Being Christian, I believe daily prayers to set aside the spirit of fear will make me feel better about myself not only knowing that fear is out of my mind, but that I get closer with God each and everyday.

So although this fear of starting a business may come and go. What is needed to start a business? One thing is ideas.

I’ve struggled so much with this because there’s so many ideas I have in my mind, I don’t know how I could put it in real life to better serve people. It’s such a task, sitting down at your local Barnes and Noble, sipping on some Starbucks coffee, and just think. What can I sell? What can I do to better serve the public and make their lives much better? How can I help them feel better about themselves? How can I make life much easier for them? Thinking about these ideas can be frustrating at times, because some days I’ll have great ideas; while other days I’ll have stupid to no ideas.

Just a thought I wanted to share with everyone. Of course I will be writing more, and hope responses come that will not only help me, but everyone else with the same thoughts and struggles to better improve themselves.