The Sophia Network exists to connect women in youth work and ministry, to access training, develop skills and share wisdom.

We focus our energy in four areas:

• partnership – through everything we do we encourage women and men to work together in ways that reflect the heart of God.
• relationships – facilitating enhanced working relationships between youth workers; creating environments in which female youth workers can build relationships with each other; emphasising the importance of mentoring for youth workers and young people.
• voice – advocacy on behalf of women in youth work; raising awareness of how gender affects youth work and ministry.
• training – providing excellent training to develop confidence, skills and professional expertise.

Our ultimate aim is to encourage women and men to work together more closely in a way that reflects the heart of God, but we recognize that sometimes issues need to be addressed before women can contribute on a level playing field.

check it out.

this is my summary/paraphrase and what my check list is going to be:
- time for reflecting and healing: i’ve never met anyone who hasn’t been hurt or attacked by someone (be it a colleague or other) and whether or not we care to admit it, it affect us. and sometimes, our head gets bigger than it really should – yes, even mine. we need time to allow Father to purify our hearts so that we can effectively be witnesses for Him. [psalm 39:2-4]
- dig into the word: we all know one of the first things to fall to the side, is daily getting into the word. for over a year now, i’ve had to take some pills everyday…and my heart reminds me when i’ve forgotten. we need some spiritual vitamins and nurtients to stay healthy in our walk. there is no shame in starting over…we all slip and fall, admit it, deal it and pick yourself back up. [matthew 4:4]
- rest: this is probably my biggest area of weakness, which i have realized over these two weeks on holidays – take rest! the world will not fall to pieces because we take a day to rest, be still and regroup. i’m not the center of the universe and i get cranky…so do you – deal with it and rest! and not once a year. [mark 6:31]
- reconnect: we’re not all married…but we’ve all got people in our lives who we like to spend time with – be it family, friends, etc… relationships need to be nurtured and we cannot have a relationship with our job!
- jot your thot: anyone who follows my blog, knows that i have random thoughts. sometimes it is the random thoughts or reminders after ministry events that serve as the encouragement we need and the reminder why we ‘do what we do’. [acts 9:19]
- catch up with the experienced: when i get an idea, i’m like a dog with a bone and sometimes i don’t realize that it might be the wrong bone for the moment. even though i/we might not like it, the experienced have experience for a reason and sometimes they are right. [mark 6:30]
- accountability: its interesting the amount of people who are in ministry, who get upset when someone suggests they need to have accountability. i’ve seen and heard many people who start shooting verbal bullets when the thought is mentioned. get over it! you’re not perfect and we need help! we need people we can be completely open and honest with…we screw up but there is no point in sitting in the puddle we’ve made. [james 5:16]
- talk to Father: corporate prayer does not cut it alone. jesus spent time with Father, alone. we need to as well – we cannot be spiritually healthy without it. [matthew 14:23]
- loving the Father: worship was never intended to be work. sadly, about a year ago, i was in a place where going to corporate worship was work for me – i wasn’t connecting. that was my crap that i needed to deal with and sort out. we need to connect with the Father’s heart – whether we need modern worship music or traditional chants or prayers, just do it and make sure that you heart is beating with His. [psalm 146:6]

its time for a tune up and a check up!

this is my summary/paraphrase and what my check list is going to be:
- time for reflecting and healing: i’ve never met anyone who hasn’t been hurt or attacked by someone (be it a colleague or other) and whether or not we care to admit it, it affect us. and sometimes, our head gets bigger than it really should – yes, even mine. we need time to allow Father to purify our hearts so that we can effectively be witnesses for Him. [psalm 39:2-4]
- dig into the word: we all know one of the first things to fall to the side, is daily getting into the word. for over a year now, i’ve had to take some pills everyday…and my heart reminds me when i’ve forgotten. we need some spiritual vitamins and nurtients to stay healthy in our walk. there is no shame in starting over…we all slip and fall, admit it, deal it and pick yourself back up. [matthew 4:4]
- rest: this is probably my biggest area of weakness, which i have realized over these two weeks on holidays – take rest! the world will not fall to pieces because we take a day to rest, be still and regroup. i’m not the center of the universe and i get cranky…so do you – deal with it and rest! and not once a year. [mark 6:31]
- reconnect: we’re not all married…but we’ve all got people in our lives who we like to spend time with – be it family, friends, etc… relationships need to be nurtured and we cannot have a relationship with our job!
- jot your thot: anyone who follows my blog, knows that i have random thoughts. sometimes it is the random thoughts or reminders after ministry events that serve as the encouragement we need and the reminder why we ‘do what we do’. [acts 9:19]
- catch up with the experienced: when i get an idea, i’m like a dog with a bone and sometimes i don’t realize that it might be the wrong bone for the moment. even though i/we might not like it, the experienced have experience for a reason and sometimes they are right. [mark 6:30]
- accountability: its interesting the amount of people who are in ministry, who get upset when someone suggests they need to have accountability. i’ve seen and heard many people who start shooting verbal bullets when the thought is mentioned. get over it! you’re not perfect and we need help! we need people we can be completely open and honest with…we screw up but there is no point in sitting in the puddle we’ve made. [james 5:16]
- talk to Father: corporate prayer does not cut it alone. jesus spent time with Father, alone. we need to as well – we cannot be spiritually healthy without it. [matthew 14:23]
- loving the Father: worship was never intended to be work. sadly, about a year ago, i was in a place where going to corporate worship was work for me – i wasn’t connecting. that was my crap that i needed to deal with and sort out. we need to connect with the Father’s heart – whether we need modern worship music or traditional chants or prayers, just do it and make sure that you heart is beating with His. [psalm 146:6]

its time for a tune up and a check up!

click here to download the surveys

"The End of Religion" by Bruxy Cavey was an easy read (I read it on the plane between Toronto and Saskatoon on my way back).  I really enjoyed reading it because Cavey outlines that the purpose of Christianity is not be a dull/boring religious institution.  He reminds and calls us back to a personal relationship with Jesus.

Jesus called us into a rule-free spirituality, which is very difficult for religious people to fathom.  Certainly, rule-less spirituality is only a constructive way to live if love is the guiding dynamic of our lives, and that is key to Jesus’ message.  Simply remove rules and you are left with anarchy (see 1 John 3:4).  Transcend rules with love, and you are beginning to live like Jesus. (Cavey, pg 48)

I love that last line.  I know that I’ve mentioned this before, that I often struggle with the church’s appearance to the outside world.  I am convinced that we often get so caught up in rules, regulations and legalities that we forget our true purpose and calling; and this has caused many people to reject and turn away from the church and most importantly, Jesus.  To those who don’t think the Christian faith has become an irrelevant system, and want to join a Christian community, many don’t because they believe that they must meet a certain criteria before they can.  They need to have their lives in order; a successful career to give money to the church; and be of a prominent stature in the community.  This simply isn’t not true.  And none of those things make us Christian either.

We’re screwed up!  We have faults!  We have issues and problems in our lives that we are struggling through all the time.  "The Church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet its members." (Archbishop William Temple)

A Christ-follower acknowledges that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than walking in the woods makes you a tree.  And once that is understood and embraced, a church community can become more of a "come-as-you-are party" than a religious obligation; a celebration of the life we’re given, not a religious attempt to attain that life.  (Cavey, pg 111)

Pick up the book…its a great refresher!  "The End of Religion" is published by AGORAimprints, click here to order a copy.  Bruxy Cavey is the Teaching Pastor at The Meeting House in Toronto.

Smells like teen…body spray!  A smelly report on the growing phenomenon of teen deodorizers.
Have iPod will travel  The growth of the iPod Generation
Tech creates a bubble for kids  They dress down, talk loose and reveal their innermost thoughts online
Porn Generation  ‘Live and let live’ model of society is a recipe for disaster

Youth Culture Facts:
- over 70% of teen magazine content deals with beauty
- number of obese children has doubled in the last 20 years
- 15% of grade 6 students each eat french fries, daily
- children as young as 2 are able to recognize brand names
                                                 (PaulRobertson.ca)

A friend of mine encouraged me to watch Oprah today (they knew I wouldn’t normally be watching it).  I watched with horror as this young man shared his story about being lured into Internet pornography while in the comfort of his own home (I admire and appreciate his courage for speaking out on this).  He was 13 years old when he purchased his first web-cam, with innocent intentions to connect with friends online.  Within minutes of connecting and entering an instant messaging site, he had people wanting to meet him.  These people pretended to be his age, and started building a friendship with him and before long he was doing things that I cannot even begin to imagine, nor do I want to.

He quickly began making thousands of dollars each week, performing live shows, receiving gifts and being flown around the US to meet up with the pedophiles.  This went on for a few years, without his parents knowing, until a New York Times reporter (Kurt Eichenwald) was doing research on a story and came across the young child’s site.  Immediately he wanted to help this young man escape the life he was living.  Today, the young man is out of the "business" and wanting to help other teens and alert parents about the dangers.  click here to read the New York Times article

PARENTS: Please do not think "this won’t happen to my child", because it can!  Unfortunately no amount of Parental Software you install on your computer will fully protect your child, they know too much about the computers.  Be aware of what your kids are looking at on the Internet, check in on them!  Install software, don’t let them have a web-cam in their bedroom…have the family computer setup in high traffic areas of the home.  Find out who they are talking to online.  And most importantly parents, TALK to your kids!

Here are a few download-able resources for you:
- X3Watch
- Oprah’s Child Predator Watch List
- Bsafe Online Internet Filters

** I don’t claim that any of these will keep you or your child 100% safe.  If you know of any others, drop me a note and I’ll add them.

Here’s what he had to say:

"FBI statistics say your child has a 100% chance of meeting a predator in a chat room. Predators are smart, they will get information from your children, even without them knowing it."

In doing some research on pornography and the internet (not looking at it, but checking stats on young people and how easy it is for children to find it and also pursue relationships online with predators), I found some pretty interesting information. Did you know that statistacally you are only 2 clicks away from porn when you visit any website?

The internet is by far, one of the most amazing inventions man has made. But with 60% of websites being of a porongraphic nature, it becomes very hard to "surf the web" and stay safe. Even creating your own site like blogger, and adding cool links to your site is difficult, because who knows exactley what is on the entirity of the site you are linking to, and what links are on that site is a question we don’t often ask ourselves. You can link to a website that itself is safe but but maybe links to another site that is not? How many clicks are you away from pornography at any time? The answer is down right disgusting – Two!

Click here to some of your own reading.  Stay safe "surfing" out there!