New study from the Barna Group about the aspirations of teenagers makes a connection between two widely held aspirations, relationship with God and engaging the world outside their own country:

Having a connection with God and international travel emerged as second-level priorities. Nearly three-quarters of teenagers felt they would have a close, personal relationship with God (72%) in the next decade or so. About seven out of 10 youths (71%) said they will definitely or probably have traveled to other countries by their mid-twenties.

You can read the rest of the results of the study here.

So, do these two things have a connection? Recent scholarship (like this one) have show that for young adults a vibrant faith is one that engages internationally. How do you see this playing out in your life, in your congregation?

I have been watching a lot of NBA playoffs basketball over the past week, which means I have seen tons of commercials for KFC’s Double Down sandwich. Not familiar with the Double Down? It’s the new sandwich made of bacon, cheese, and two pieces of chicken…no bread. (An idea that was prophesied on the show 30 Rock, “Meat, it’s the new bread”). I think the calorie intake from the Double Down is about half of the recommended yearly intake for any human being.

For the past few days I had been trying in vain to think of a way to mention the Double Down on the TEY blog, so I was happy to see this morning that the folks over at RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY solved this riddle. Here’s an excerpt from the post, which is funny and true all leading to a great line that delivers a really good punch to the gut:

How often is this the same approach we are encouraged to take in ministry with youth? Double up on the entertainment value, double up on the marketing hype, double up on the “cool” factor and the customers youth will surely come. Of course, the truth of it is: KFC knows exactly what it’s doing. And youth ministries which pile on the cheese, bacon and special sauce games, entertainment, trips to exotic locations likely do attract a great number of young people. The trouble is, the consumers of our double-down youth ministries will eventually want more. Then we’re forced to do the ministry equivalent of a “Luther Double Down” which consists of KFC’s new item sandwiched in between two Krispy Kreme donuts (No Kidding. See it for yourself here). Where does it stop?

Perhaps more importantly, we have to wonder if we are setting our youth up for their eventual departure from the Church itself.

Read the rest of the post here, and check back with them for the follow-up post. On a side note, the “Luther Double Down” mentioned above has nothing to do with either Dr. Martin, but to the third most famous Luther, Luther “One Shining Moment” Vandross.

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