Here are the links for you:

Crazy Love

Erasing Hell

Forgotten God

Have a Fantastic Easter!

Phil <><

Some might call her an overachiever.  Others might say she simply has no boundaries.  All I know is I am watching a 16 year old who seems to be  on the verge of burnout.   I am not certain there has been one non- planned out moment in her life.   I am concerned she doesn’t remember what she likes to do for “fun” anymore.  Everything she does is wedged into her schedule…

…A typical week for Becca includes sports practice almost everyday,  plus games several times a week.  Did I mention she is the team captain of both a fall and spring sport?  No joke.   On top of that she worked hard to get voted class President this year.  There was no wishy washy speech full of empty  promises.  She has actually been working hard on behalf of her class for change.  She is a powerhouse in leading the way in fundraisers.  Her class will be the first to take the most awesome senior trip ever.   At the same time she wants everyone in High School to understand the power of volunteering,  so somehow she is leading a campaign that gets her classmates out in the community.  They have worked together on a Christmas toy drive for kids in the hospital,  a community garden,  and a graffiti clean up campaign.  So in case you missed it she now has sports,  volunteering, student council and did I mention she  is on track to be her class Valedictorian? On the “off seasons” for sports she goes out for the winter musical.

What can be frustrating for me is that due to everything she is involved in,  it feels like youth group is at the bottom of the pile.   I think I may have convinced her that the Missions Trip we are taking over Spring Break is a worthwhile investment of her time.  It is only October and she is already talking about what she will be doing next summer and how it will “help her future.”

I wonder many times if it is Jesus that has taken a back seat to all there is to do…

…Then it hit me.  I don’t think it’s that Becca doesn’t love Christ.   I think she is being pushed.  Part of it is that she is incredibly driven to be “successful.”  Another part is that in a world full of a failing economy that we like to call, “The Great Recession,”  her parents just want her to not fail.  They are trying to ensure her future.  At the same time Becca is attempting to escape the fighting that is constant in her own home due to financial stressors.  In everything,  the question for Becca really becomes,  where and how does the Lord fit into it all?  I don’t think she doesn’t want him to be first,  just with all there is to “do”  how does  she make him take this place in reality.  Even when she attempts to fit a quiet time into her day,  she just feels like even that is one more thing on her plate.

What you really want to help Becca know is that Jesus isn’t just one more thing to “get done” in the course of a day.  He really is the one that wants to guide her life.   I know she believes that, however,  I just don’t think she has any idea how to make him the center of everything in a real way.

Understanding what drives Becca and helping her to see the unhealthy patterns in her life is the first key to helping her.  It is then we can encourage her to allow God to direct her steps and be a part of her decisions (and schedule).

What would you tell Becca?

Leneita

Ted was actually pretty new to our group.  Thinking about it, how could I expect him to understand himself in Christ.  I didn’t know if he had ever honestly made a commitment to him.  He was acting like the world,  because he was still attached to it.  His “stuff”  was the center of his world and he had never been asked to see beyond it.   Roy on the other hand I knew was trying to follow the Lord.  I had to gently remind him  what we’re “owed”  is eternal separation from my God.  I had to show him that the Lord would indeed take care of his every need,  physical,  emotional and spiritual.  He had to learn to live in that.  When a sinless God chose to leave his throne to be born in a dung infested stable, live a detested life and die as a common criminal for the sake of a restored relationship?  We are the ones who “owes” everything, no matter what we do or don’t have on earth.

Both Tony and Roy need to remember the truth of  1 John 2: 15 & 16

 “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”

•  Show them Jesus.  Start with a study for your students discussing who Christ was as God and what he gave up for us.  If appropriate watch the “Jesus Movie,”  or “Passion of the Christ,”  to give them a visual.

•  Give them opportunities to serve, inside and outside youth group:  Sometimes we get stuck inside ourselves because we have forgotten about the view beyond the end of our nose.  Take them to nursing homes, service days, clean the church on a Saturday. If you make money,  give it away to an organization or a missionary your church supports.  Teach them to serve, just to serve.

• Remember at the end of the day you CANNOT change their heart.  You CANNOT MAKE them see the bigger picture.  Simply set it up and let the Lord break their hearts.

• Avoid feeding the “victim.”  This type of student always feels like it is a “right”  to get something.  It doesn’t mean we give everything they ask for.  You may be the first one that stands up and says,  ”I will be with you,  but I am not going to give you everything you ask for.”  In the words of Peter, “Silver and gold I do not have but what I have I give to you…”  What we have to give is the love of Christ.  That is what we show.  Sometimes all we can do is pray for these hearts.  All we can do is just be different.

• Have a “Random Acts of Kindness” Race.  On a Saturday put one adult with small groups of students.  Brain storm ahead of time what you will do that day.  See how many “random acts”  you can accomplish in one day. (i.e. pay the bill of the person behind you in line for  lunch,  hand out water on a hot day,  feed meters on busy street,  bake cookies and drop them off at nursing home.)  The goal is that people cannot know it is you.  Discuss at the end of the day what it was like to serve and how this can become a lifestyle.

• Take your students on a missions trip,  locally or internationally.

• Read the autobiography of a missionary together.  Who is someone that truly live for others that you could study. (Some examples would be Hudson Taylor,  or Mother Theresa, or Mama Maggie).

Thanks for taking time to read. What would you add to this list?

Tomorrow we look at how to help the over-extended students in our ministries…

Leneita

Darren

Continuing Youth Ministry Throughout The Summer. By Mike Hammer.

Summer.  It’s possibly the youth ministry season with the least stability.  Reality check:  the summer season will affect how ministry is achieved, regardless of setting.  School is out.  Families are traveling.  Summer jobs are landed.  A lot of voices and experiences are vying for the attention of teenagers.  For that reason, it’s important to consider having ministry continue throughout the summer.

When students are going every different direction, two of their primary needs are relationships and stability.  They need people that will continue to show them the love of Christ on a regular basis.  The simple truth is that, because of the nature of summer, students will absolutely miss some weeks of youth group programming.  But staying connected with them and helping them to know someone is still available for them, still going, and still loving them is important.  It gives them a foundation, a reminder that even though school is seasonal, the importance of faith is not.  Summer provides students more freedom, which means there’s probably an increased need for accountability as well.  If teens aren’t connecting because the student ministry is hibernating, they’re missing out on the vital support they need from others.

The start of the school year is a natural ‘do-over’ for most teenagers.  They’ll use the beginning of a school year to help determine who they are going to be for that year.  Whether it’s the attitude or personality they display, the style of clothes they wear, or the activities they choose– it’s an opportunity for teens to “reintroduce” themselves to their peers.  Staying connected to the youth ministry and people who care about them may help them keep a healthier perspective of themselves and who God made them to be.  The positive interaction and influence they have throughout the summer can be foundational in friendships, connections, and decisions they make when school begins.

I have a student who is difficult to ‘pin down’ during the school year.  He plays nearly every sport known to man.  He’s getting ready for college.  He takes advanced classes and is involved in several campus groups.  He’s able to completely unplug from that life in the summer and engage with our ministry and Jesus in a way he never does during the school year.

All ministries usually see a decline in attendance during the summer.  That can be deflating for any youth worker.  But the teens who do come – they are coming for a reason.  They want the interaction.  They need the relationships.  They want to grow.  Summer can be the perfect time to take the students who ARE involved a little deeper – in faith, in connection, and in friendship.

What you should consider is: will I have the leadership necessary to continue through the summer?

If we continue through the summer, are there any changes we need to make?

What do we hope to accomplish?

Is this the best move for our ministry?

 

Let me know what ‘side’ you land on?

Darren

I’ll never forget the first time our lead pastor said to us “Let’s consider shutting down programming for one month of the summer, just to give people a break.”  Seriously, no other words had I longed to hear more, except maybe ‘Darren, you’ve just won Publisher’s Clearing House!’

We live in a sub-tropical climate – and while most people are dying to get some beach time, those of us who live here are trying to find a way to stay indoors, hunker down, and wait for the Hades object lesson to pass.  I had been lobbying for a summer shut down for years.

Here’s the logic.  We expect a lot of our volunteer team.  And they deliver on every count.  They are faithful to be at our regularly scheduled programming – they show up at football games and choir concerts – they invite students into their homes on a regular basis…all for ministry’s sake.  Taking a break during the summer months gives them some much deserved and needed respite.  They’re able to attend their own Bible studies, go on vacation without missing much, and enjoy meals beyond pizza and burgers.  And in my experience, giving my workers the summer off virtually insures their return in the fall and all but eliminates burnout.

Summers are notoriously sporadic in attendance anyway…at least for us.  People are on extended hiatus – vacation, sports camps, swimming lessons, you name it.  They’re out of church anyway.  Students are trying to balance summer homework, summer jobs, and summer love….while students are around, they aren’t very consistent.

For me, personally, taking the summer off from regular activity gives me time to focus on major projects (like mission trips, summer camp, fall retreats, even ‘spring’ cleaning….yes, I know it’s July!)  It provides the chance for me to build up to an annual ‘kick-off’ for back-to-school.  It releases me from the ‘privilege’ of regular planning and allows me to be more spontaneous in taking kids out to lunch, hanging out in the game room at church, etc.  Summers off even – gasp – gives me some summer time to enjoy vacation and respite with my own family!

And let’s face it – summers ‘off’ in youth ministry are like ‘working’ from home….it sounds great, but it rarely happens.  Although regular programming might be on pause, there are ninety things to take its place.  All summers off really accomplish in lightening the work load for youth ministers is the elimination of pulling all-nighters trying to prep for youth camp or vacation bible school.

So embrace the summer off.  Do some burn-out prevention with your leaders, some personal ministry with your students, some prep work for the perennial fall kick-off, and take a few days off with the family.  Your work during the school year has earned that for you!

The chapters are broken into the 7 practices and each include compelling reasons for the practice itself, along with super practical applications that anyone could put into to action immediately. Beginning with foundational practices, Blanks takes us on a journey from start to finish in the essentials of highly effective Bible teaching.

For me, the best practice (and the most challenging one for me personally), was the practice to Embrace Unpredictability. This practice challenged me to consider how ‘unpredictable’ my teaching style is. Or as Blanks says it:

To teach the Bible in a dynamic and transformative way, we must embrace unpredictability in our teaching methods and styles…

You see, it’s far to easy to resort to a familiar way of teaching that works for us, while students begin to tune-out the familiar and ordinary. We must search for creative and unfamiliar ways to teach the Bible and challenge students!

Here’s a snapshot of all  7 practices: 

1. Engaging With God
2. Prepare Well, Teach Well
3. Context Is Key
4. Embrace Unpredictability
5. Plan For Interaction
6. Teach For Application
7. Know Your Role

Whether you are a volunteer or a full-time youth worker, this book is a must read if you are looking to effectively communicate God’s truth to teenagers. This book helps remove all the obstacles of ineffective teaching and replace them with easy to implement practices that will take your Bible teaching to a whole new level. Pick up a copy today!

If you want to pick up a copy of No Teenager Left Behind or download a copy, click here. 

Have you guys wandered those ‘gray’ areas of youth ministry?  You know –  “How involved should I let my own kids be in the student ministry?”  “What do I do over the summer – program or respite?”  “Should I combine or separate my junior high and senior high kids?”

I gathered ten of my youth ministry friends and we created a guide to navigating some of the more common gray areas of youth ministry.  Each one of us ‘took a side’ – talked about why we prescribe to that particular philosophy – and then gave you some ‘food for thought’ questions as a landing pad for developing your own philosophy.

This resource is written by ‘in-the-trenches-living-youth-ministry-day-to-day’ people.  So it’s practical – and it’s time-tested.  And the great thing is – GRAY NO LONGER!  Regardless of where you land, 2 Sides to Youth Ministry can serve as the runway lights as you touch down somewhere.

So pick up a copy for an easy, practical read– hand copies out to people on your youth ministry team and wrestle through some of the questions together – provide one for your pastor to help explain where you’re going and why you’re going there!  It’s an inexpensive answer  to some of those nagging questions you’ve always grappled with in youth ministry – and you get to customize it for your context using wisdom of seasoned youth workers.

(Click here to buy)

Darren

No one ever said ministering to teenagers was easy. (Actually, one person did say that—but he didn’t last long.) But working with certain teenagers seems especially challenging, difficult, stressful.

How can you best connect with defiant, clingy, or complacent students? How do you build bridges to unchurched, hurting, or socially awkward teenagers? Drawing on two decades of youth ministry experience, Leneita Fix offers practical insights and strategies on effectively connecting with 10 groups of teenagers that we can overlook, ignore, or avoid all too easily.

In No Teenager Left Behind, Fix paints a picture of students who can fall through the cracks of our youth ministries, a picture rooted in her own teenage struggle with insecurities and doubt and low self-esteem. These are the students that we pretend we are too busy for.  They’re the ones that are lost and we feel totally unqualified to reach.

But what they need is to be loved. Instead of avoiding these teenagers, we can see them as Jesus sees each of them—and each of us.  And we can commit to the vision of leaving no teenager behind as we minister to this generation.

(Click here to purchase)

Leneita

For now, here’s a snapshot of Answers to Teenagers’ 50 Toughest Questions 

Teenagers are hungry for solid answers to the relentless questions gnawing at their hearts and minds.  They’re yearning for help, hope, and healing that are founded in truth—and youth workers are the ideal people for delivering those answers!

If you’ve ever felt unprepared when students want to talk about tough topics, then this is the book for you. Answers to Teenagers’ 50 Toughest Questions will equip you with biblical, practical, specific responses to the thorniest questions students may toss your way.

Written collaboratively by a diverse team of youth workers, this book examines tough questions from six different areas:

• Faith Basics

• Faith Struggles

• Discipleship and Evangelism

• Life Choices

• Family and Friends

• Dating and Sex

For each question, you’ll find a biblically based response, along with next-step ideas that will engage students in conversation and exploration.  And for most of the topics, we’ve provided a list of recommended readings and resources to aid their investigation.

This is a perfect equipping resource for any youth worker—whether you’re a youth pastor, a small group leader, or simply an adult who loves teenagers and wants to see them pursue Jesus-centered lives.

Click here to purchase a copy. 

Phil <><