Work – Another Passer By

I mentioned in my previous group about one of my lovely youth groups. Its reasonably small and all the young people come from a church orientated background or have been going to church for a while. We started back in January and as a leader theres that post Christmas panic when you realise you havent planned a session let alone the rest of the term. So I used a cop out, I used my first session back to help get the young people to plan the sessions – brilliant, right!

Over the last five months in post here in Conwy, theres been a real theme emerging from my work and my visits and my volunteering/volunteered(ness) at things like Faith and Order and 3Gen. This is the idea of questions and having a safe space to ask questions discuss them and not necessarily come out with a definitive answer, but having explored deeply the topic at hand. At Uni I hated the big questions discussed late at night, when one should have been writing assignments because then it felt like work. Now I really want to delve into the big questions and the little questions, not because I have the answers but because its a great way to start discussions (note not massive arguments that rely on not just scratching the surface but that involve real meaning and a deep sense of authenticity…

So, back to my youth group (bless them)…. I gave them paper squares and a writing implement and asked them to write down any question they ever wanted to ask, there was no limiting wether it was a church based question (I’m very lucky the minister who hosts the group has a degree in Chemistry – plus theres always google) and gave them the evening to write down these questions. They were however not allowed to share these questions on the night. I collected them in, and was surprised by the amount of questions (I’m not sure why) but even more surprised at the range of questions. Tonight I want to share them with you:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write any comments, suggestions, ideas, knowledge on any of the questions (they are numbered). You as a reader here can add depth to my youth group discussions. Give me pointers or help.

The Questions:

1. Should we suffer as Christians?

2. Why didn’t God just kill us off and start again? Or why didn’t he just get rid of the devil?

3. How would you just casualty talk about God to an atheist?

4. How do I show I’m a Christian in school?

5. Can you be religious and scientific?

6. How do we know we’re right? Are all other faiths wrong?

7. Relationships?

8. What are pastafarians?

9. Does God hate people?

10.Why did people think the world was flat?

11.How fast can a cheetah run?

12.How many people are there in the UK and the world?

13.How big is the sun?

14.What is the speed of light?

15.Is the ark of the covenant in Ethiopia?

16.Why does God always appear as a cloud?

17.Is it good to have different denominations in Christianity?

18.Why did God kill Uzzah?

19.What is the strangest thing in the bible?

20.What is the longest chapter in the bible and what is it on?

21.What is the shortest chapter in the bible and what is it on?

22.Whose is the most important women in the bible? (excluding Mary)

23.How do fizzy drinks have bubbles?

24.What is fire?

25.What is the meaning of life?

26.What is gravity?

27.What happens when you die?

28.How does the brain learn about the brain?

29.How did language start?

30.What happens to the disciples after Jesus went to heaven?

31.Will there be a new bible one a day if Jesus returns?

32.Are there pagan religions left?

33.Why don’t some people believe in God? As in how do some singing sciency things, suddenly prove that God’s non-existent?

34.Do animals have a religion?

35.Why do so many religions originate from Israel and Asia?

36.How many wise men were there really?

37.Why did God choose Israel of all people to start a new religion?

38.When will Jesus return?

39.What is epiphany?

40.How much of the Da Vinci code is true?

41.What happens when we die?

42.If there are overly-extreme Muslims, are there overly extreme Christians too?

43.Why did the disciples becomes disciples? Why did Jesus choose those particular people?

44.Why didn’t God make one world for animals and one world for humans?

45.How old should we be when we marry?

46.Why did God make the world?

47.Should we remain virgins until we marry?

48.Am I worthy?