10. Karen Lodrick had a great post for parents to read, “Teaching children media competence is key to safe social networking“

9. A good theological post by Scot McKnight asking the question, “Does God still speak?“

8. Seth Godin is the man and this post is concise yet thick in meaning, “Solving problems (vs identifying them)“

7. Morf Morford uses the Parable of the Good Samaritan to ask, “Who is my neighbor?“

6. Matthew Morine has an article I never thought I would see come from a preacher. Hats off to you Matthew: “Scholarly Journals and Usage“

5. Benjamin Kerns hits it out of the park again and reminds us youth ministers, “Safety: The most important value of student ministry“

4. Ever had a dream for doing something better or what you really want to do? Jon Acuff blogs about, “The most dangerous thing you can say to your dream.“

3. Every youth minister, parent, teen and church-goer should read this just for the information: “CDC: Many Teen Moms Didn’t Believe They Could Get Pregnant“

2. Rarely do I tear up from a post and get enraged at the same time. That’s what happened when Jim Martin wrote this post: “You Can’t Make These Stories Up (Race, Jesus, and Our Identity)“

1. David Naugle writes an amazing post of something that I have been longing to feel affirmation about.  You’ll understand why, “A Serious Theology of Play“

Those are mine for the week. What would you add? Youth Ministry 360 always has great posts of the week. Check them out!

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

I absolutely loved Missional Youth Ministry by Brian Kirk and Jacob Thorne. Brian and Jacob are mega-bloggers for the amazing blog, Rethinking Youth Ministry. The book was well-needed for my ministry context and I gained a lot of principles to think, chew and meditate on as I continue ministry here in Springfield. I must say, the book is so much a “model” for youth ministers to place into their programs as it is a discernment tool to ask questions to see if we are leading our teens to be disciples. The book is not a textbook on what it means to be missional as it is more of a practical guide to share ideas and to ask (stated above) difficult questions. I appreciate how relational and ecclesial the book was in its primary focus. Love God, love others and love the church might be a good motto for the thrust of this book. My favorite chapter was “the end of educational ministry” where they dissected a teenager’s brain (metaphorically of course ) to show how they learn, connect and lead others. The book is worth the purchase just for all of the ministry ideas related to programming, worship and discipleship. I also loved how they implemented their blog posts throughout the book. I wish they would have cited the url for the post but we could always look it up. I could see this being used among youth ministry teams, youth minister retreats and even among parent-minister meetings. I loved it!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

• Chapter 1 – “The challenge for those of us in youth ministry is to get beyond our fears and anxieties and trust that God is already working in the lives of young people” (p. 20).
• Chapter 2 – “Helping teenagers grow stronger in the Christian faith goes far beyond having them memorize Scripture or learn bible stories or creeds” (27).
• Chapter 3 – “I find that too often our youth ministries offer a Jesus who is safe, a Jesus who asks little of us beyond giving intellectual assent to a list of religious beliefs” (p. 45). “If you’re playing it safe to keep your job, or to make sure your teens like you, or to make parents happy, then it’s time to flip everything you’re doing upside down” (p. 46).
• Chapter 4 – “Thinking intentionally about the boundaries in adult-teen relationships isn’t optional” (p. 64).
• Chapter 5 – “We live in a results-and-success-oriented culture. Even the church has bought into the lie that its identity comes from its programs” (p. 75).
• Chapter 6 – “We can teach all of the bible studies we want, but ultimately the parents have the most important and lasting influence on a young person’s faith–for good or ill” (p. 97).
• Chapter 7 – “…it’s easier to tell teens what to think (and what not to think) than to walk with them through the long and sometimes difficult process of discovery–especially if we believe we’ve already found the right answers” (p. 108-09). Speaking of emotionally-charged camps and forced spiritual decisions: “Some of those same youth who made tearful committments tp Christ on the last night of camp were the first ones to ditch church and youth group a week later in order to go to a friend;s home to play video games” (117).
• Chapter 8 – “Teenagers want to know and worship a God who spends time with them beyond the confines of stained glass and organ music” (p. 128).
• Chapter 9 – “A truly missional youth ministry can only grow out of the unique gifts and needs of the young people in your group” (p. 145).

God slapped me across the face this morning in my reading. Read through all of the allotments the tribes received from capturing the land in Joshua 16-20. Something I read and made a note on in my bible years ago was the allotment given to Joshua only after most of the tribes received theirs (Jos. 19:49-51). My note was simple, “Delayed Gratification.” Nothing fancy but very intentional. So often I minister with the immediate results in mind. Are results even important? How does one objectively quantify results anyways? I think we sow seed now to see the plan later. Now the plant may encounter weeds in the process but the plant still grows. Joshua made sure (maybe this was custom?) that his allotment came after everybody else. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, identifies Level 5 executives (Those leaders who are able to lead the company to the next level) as those who, “builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will” (p. 20). For Joshua, it was about confronting the brutal facts (conquering the land, delegating the land) but it was also about working hard behind the scenes. A unique blend of humility with an insatiable desire to do what he was called to do. Powerful!

What if we approached youth ministry like this? Perhaps we would look like Joshua! Perhaps we would like Jesus.

• RESOURCES: No longer do you have to wait for the latest YS or GROUP book to come in the mail but we have blogs, online resources and other ways to improve our ministries at the tip of our fingers. This is due to technology but also the vast number of youth ministers who have come bearing God’s gifts to network and spread what God has done with their ministries.
• CAMARADERIE: It’s good to have fellow travelers on the road in ministry. I can share my victories and struggles with so many other men and women who have worked longer than I have and can be a source of encouragement for me.
• KINGDOM ADVANCEMENT: I love what other guys are doing and I an so glad youth groups are in their care. Look, God’s kingdom is going to advance whether I am in or not but it is with the help of so many men and women who are dedicated in what God has called them to do.
• LIVES ARE CHANGED: I have been able to be a part of a few students whose lives have been changed but little do they know how my life has changed because of them. I don’t mean “changed” in a warm fuzzy way but in a serious, never-be-the-same kind of way.
• IT KEEPS ME ON TOP OF MY GAME: YM is not a game but knowing that I am replaceable (easily, I might add) keeps me on my toes. When I interviewed for this job in 2004 I was told there were 20 or so resumes that were submitted. That number would probably quadruple now if the position were to come open. I am not so prideful to think I am the only one who can do youth ministry here but I also understand that this is a good thing. For whatever reason, if I were to leave, God would bring the next guy in and his kingdom would advance. That’s not a bad thing at all!

I hope these posts have helped as it has been a journey for me to blog on this series.

10.  Christopher Heuertz had an excellent post “I Don’t Want to be a Punk, but Please Don’t Start Another Non-Profit :: Five Reasons to Reconsider“

9.  Perry Noble will probably be on this weekly but adds, “10 Things Fear Causes“

8.  The folks at Youth Leaders Academy have a great post “5 messages teens need to hear“

7.  Richard Beck, at Experimental Theology, pricks our misconceptions, hatred and anymosity with a clever post called, “The Fence of Matthew Shepard“

6.  Josh Griffin writes a great post called, “The Key to Longevity (Josh)“

5.  Brian Kirk at Rethinking Youth Ministry asks, “What is the future of Youth Ministry?“

4.  Scot McKnight asks, “What about a prophetic word?“

3.  Chris Wesley writes, “How to Help Parents Catch a Vision for Their Teens“

2.  Greg Stier has an amazing article every Youth Minister should read, “Why You Should Focus on Teenagers“

1.  I came across Michael Hyatt’s blog a week ago and everything I have read has been amazing.  This blog is important for all people in every sphere of life.  He writes, “The Power of Asking the Right Question“

Each post of the week will go into the final drawing this December for post of the year!  Keep blogging folks.

Below are some memorable quotes from the book that I wish to share and let me challenge you to read the book and then put your faith to action.

• I watched an old man take a slow, thankful sip of coffee and put his cup back on the table, careful not to spill a drop. “Come all you who are weary …,” said Jesus. It was moving to watch the weary man come, even more to see his desperation give way to peace, if only for a little while. (p. 24).
• If we are the body of Christ—and Christ came not for the healthy but the sick—we need to be fully present in the places where people are most broken. And it has to be more than just a financial presence. That helps, of course. But too often money is insulation—it conveniently keeps us from ever having to come face-to-face with a man or woman whose life is in tatters. (pp. 36-37)
• I felt my frustration rising until I realized how unentitled I really was. No one deserves mercy. And no one walking by owed us a dime. Mercy is, by definition, undeserved, or else it isn’t mercy. Every coin in the case looked different after that. (p. 52).
• While kids might pretend people who don’t exist do, it’s the parents who pretend that unwanted people who do exist don’t. (p. 55)
• Praying “Thy will be done” means you don’t believe in chance (p. 79)
• What’s worse? To do dope or to not love your brother? Why do we kick drug users out of the church while quietly overlooking those who are ignoring their own different but equally destructive sins? Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing drug addict but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer? Which one do you suppose Jesus would rather share a burrito with under a bridge? (pp. 96-97)
• “Oh, my gosh!” I exclaimed, stopping. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “What?” said Sam. Then he saw what I was looking at. “Oh,” he murmured. A large gray church rose up behind a wrought iron fence in front of us. The building was old and weathered. Above the mahogany double doors hung a sign in red letters: “No Trespassing. Church Business Only.” A new chain and two huge padlocks secured the gate at the sidewalk. “It would take bolt cutters and a battering ram to get into that church,” I said, suddenly angry. “ ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden’? Yeah, and what, die on my front steps?” (p. 104)
• “Then again, I guess we aren’t supposed to expect circumstances to be easy or safe just because we’ve prayed about them. We’re supposed to go into them knowing that we’ll be given what we need, when we need it.” (p. 139)
• The words “Jesus loves you” take on a whole different meaning when you’re down and out. You hear them differently. You need them more. Just saying them to the next desperate person you meet could change his day. Wrap those words in friendship, a home-cooked meal, bus fare, and you could change his life. (p. 148)
• We don’t go to church, we are the church. So many problems that show up on the church steps, or in the pews, or between congregations seem to start with misunderstandings about that. The church isn’t a physical building or a doctrinal statement or a perfectly produced program. It is us—we are the living expression of Christ’s presence in the world, His body. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we’ll be able to be the healing body of Christ to our sin-sick world. (p. 155-56)
• I had discovered that I pulled better tips playing the guitar outside the liquor shop than across the street outside the family restaurant. Drunk people are more generous than sober people. (p. 181)
• As we talked, the four of us agreed on one thing: Yes, God is alive and well on the streets of America, but so is Satan … He is busy stealing talents from promising lives. He is breaking bodies and smashing dreams. He is locking up good minds behind the bars of addiction. He is trading in the music of God for the sound of a crazy man yelling his head off in the middle of the street, destruction barreling straight at him. (p. 189)
• The bottom line is that real love always shows itself in action. Nothing happens or changes in this world unless, by faith, we actually do something. (213-14)
• I doubt those risks will have much to do with putting on a Christian acronym bracelet or a cross T-shirt. More likely, your journey will lead you toward utter dependence on the King of kings and a resolution to follow Him wherever He may ask you to go. (216)

Want to settle for the status quo and feel good about all the money, clothes and stuff you have?  Want to feel good about the middle-class church you attend where you have your nicely structured worship, comforting singing, warm pew and cordial hand shakes?  Don’t read this book.  Why?  It will change the way you think about Jesus, the church and your calling.  But if you want to change, read this book.  “There’s only this left to do: Walk off the edge with Him” (p. 218).

I don’t think Youth Ministry (YM for now on) as sexy is necessarily a bad thing but bad things have risen from it.  I like to call it the American Idol Effect or simply, AIE.  AIE can be defined as the belief that someone actually has talent and can sing because of so many participants flocking towards American Idol.  Each year there are hundreds of people who just do not have the talent, skills and drive to have what it takes to be a singer.  For some reason no mentor ever sat down with them to talk about their gifts and abilities and that singing is not where they were needed.  It’s like when you go to a high-school football game and hear a student talk about how they are going to work hard to get a D-I scholarship.  You want to believe that they can do it but you know their talent, skill-set and drive is not what it takes to compete at that level.

The AIE is seen in YM in all over the country.  I have discussions with would-be youth ministers who are at college or seminary studying to be a youth minister and they want to do the job because of their experience of youth ministry in high-school.  At first, this seems completely harmless and is actually a good reason to go into youth ministry but the response to their experience is criticial.  On a number of occasions I have heard this statement: “I want to do youth ministry because it looks like a fun job and I get to hang out and go to some pretty cool places.” When I hear that I cringe a little. OK…a lot!!! Their experience in youth group is completely tied to external activities and they have yet to be exposed to the internal ups, downs, heartaches, disappointments, victories, planning, scheduling, praying, discerning, listening, confessing and forgiving aspects of YM.

People think, “Anyone can do YM” and the result is harm to youth programs, parents, students and churches all over.  I wish YM majors had some sort of discernment process to see if YM is where God needs them.  Sometimes all the cards point to YM and then for one reason or another it just does not work out.  I get that.  Yet, because the popularity of YM is at a high right now, there are more people getting YM gigs who should not be getting them.

Questions:

• Do you know of a discernment process to help would-be YM majors distinguish if God is calling them into YM or not?
• Do you think I am off in my assessment about the attractiveness of YM garnering, at times, people who have no business working with youth?
• How can mentoring, interning, and other shadowing help in discernment of a YM calling?
• What would you add to this discussion?

Tomorrow we will look at some good things that have come about because of the attractiveness of YM.

sex·y (sek-see] – interesting, exciting or trendy: a sexy project; a sexy new car (Dictionary.com).

When insourcing be cautious of:

• People who will make you feel guilty about using their services.  Use discernment in this because on one hand using someone in the congregation should be first on our mind but people in the church are still people.  Sometimes they do not have the best interests of the church in mind rather they are concerned about the dollar.  I once visited a church and a guy came up to me and gave me a business card and told me to call him.  That’s a red flag.  If they get mad at you because you used someone outside of the church then there are reasons to your concern.  Be careful.
• Conflict of interest.  This is not a “thus sayeth” but sometimes doing things inside the church can create a conflict of interest.  There are many situations where this could apply but please use caution when there are ties to your eldership, deacons or board.

When outsourcing be cautious of:

• Branding.  Sometimes the “brand” may offend some people in your church (right or wrong) and so you may need to be cautious about this.  One year we used some material form a particular company and I had a “concerned individual” who contact my elders because I was using material from another denomination.  I disagreed with his assessment but if I had consulted the elders first it would have helped.
• Marketing Ploys.  Not everyone is interested in stewardship as sometime the bottom-line is what “rules the roost.”  Sometimes companies who use the umbrella of “Christianity” do not have Christian principles.  They just know they can sell their product to churches because Jesus sells.  Be cautious of these people and use discernment.

I hope this mini-series has helped.  Have a great week.