Youth Ministry

The most important issue for youth today

Two weeks ago I tried an interactive question on this blog I asked a question and for your feedback.  I was busy last week though and forgot to post my response.  So with an apology I offer my answer. The question I asked you to respond to is What is the most important issue that our teenagers are facing today?

The way I laid out this question was in the context of a church youth minister search committee.  If they asked you this question, how would you respond?  With apologies to Chap Clark, I do not believe that there is a fundamental change in teenagers over the years.  Technology has brought about many changes in culture and to our society, but essentially here are no new sins, only new ways to get involved with them.

When I asked this question my answer is that the problem for teenagers is the same as for every other person; not knowing Christ.  The biggest problem any person can have is being lost and having to deal with judgment and eternity.  I know, however, that this not really the answer a committee is looking for.  They want to know what unique problem is there today that teenagers deal with that was formerly not a problem.

To that question my answer is that there is such a proliferation of media that it can be impossible to hear the voice of God over all the other screaming voices.  A Twitter stream, and a Facebook feed, and dealing with text messages from 9 people all at once, while wearing earbuds makes it very hard to have quiet time.  In fact, this constant stream can make it hard to hear any voice.  And eventually it can rob teenagers of the ability to be around the people they are around.  I believe that this is the greatest problem facing our students today because it hinders the ability to have real relationships.  Or maybe it just changes what the word "relationship" means.

On another note: I really enjoyed the feedback I got on this one.  Everyone wrote well-thought-out answers and I can’t disagree with anyone.  I am inspired to do this on a regular basis.  Ask a youth ministry question on a Wednesday give my reply the following week.  Would you be willing to keep participating if I did that?

A Question for my Readers

I'd like to try an experiment.  I realize that this blog is not the most interactive place on the internet, but I am going to ask a question and ask for your input.  I think the more answers I get, the better, so let's try this out.  Here goes. It is no secret that I have been looking for a full-time youth ministry position for quite a long time.  In this period I have spoken to a host of search committees.  You can get a feel for what a committee is looking for by the questions they ask, but there is one question they all ask.

What is the most important issue that our teenagers are facing today?

I know I have a few youth minsters who read this blog regularly, please give an opinion.  This question is not limited to youth minsters though.  How would you answer this question?  If you were on a committee, what would you be looking for. I look forward to reading your responses, then next Wednesday I'll post my answer

Our Christmas Party Project

My Church had our youth Christmas party Saturday night.  I knew going in that I was going to have a pretty small group there so my regular Christmas-themed games wouldn't be successful. Then I saw this video on Richard Wiseman's blog last week

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_f3SkxTWxc]

The post suggested these as party science stunts to try.  I decided that trying to recreate the video shot by shot would be a fun project.  So it took us about an hour and a half but it was a fun project for my small group of students.  I tried to edit our video to match the original.  I used music supplied by youtube because I was afraid the Christmas music I used originally was not legal.  Also our video doesn't have the narration because I don't have the cool accent.  So you'll need to watch the original to get what the experiments are.

Without further ado I present to you the video from the LPBC youth Christmas party:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-AgMbE7sSE]

Pretty good, huh?

I even had time left to tell Mitch's Christmas story like I have every Christmas since I've been in ministry.

Book Review: ApParent Privilege

ApParent Privilege is written by Steve Wright and Chris Graves and is the Companion book to reThink. (which I reviewed here) The thesis of ApParent Privilege is that the privilege of discipling children in the faith falls to Christian parents. It is not the job of the church, youth minister, or school. Those entities are supplementary.

To build the case of the book the authors begin by citing multiple studies, both religious and secular that all agree.  There is no more powerful influence in the life of a child than his or her family. The Bible agrees with this position as well which the authors establish thoroughly.  They then follow up with their own study which said that students wish their parents would be more proactive in their lives spiritually.

After establishing the thesis, ApParent Privilege moves into the reasons why biblical parenting is more important than ever.  The world is changing but not the true job of parents.

“Biblical parenting is more than keeping our kids from having sex, using drugs, or going to jail.  It is about fostering an awe of God in our children.  It is about showing our children their need for a Savior and introducing them to Jesus who alone can rescue their lives from sin and give life that lasts forever.”

This quote, my favorite from the book, echoes the thesis of the greatest Christian parenting book ever, Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.

The book continues with a more how-to approach to Christian parenting.  This includes a word directly to fathers, practical ideas for developing and discipling children, and ways for the church to supplement rather than supersede parents.

It would be difficult for me to give higher praise to a book than to this one.  It is well-written, easy to read, simple and straightforward.  The authors make their case thoroughly and offer practical advice on how to become biblical parents.  My only criticism of the book is that it is entirely too expensive for such a small book.  This is not a problem particular to this book, it plagues the entire publishing industry.

I strongly recommend ApParent Privilege to any parent of a school-aged child.

A couple of good videos

First up is this video that all youth ministers should enjoy.  Some of it is so accurate and hilarious.  I very much enjoyed this video [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKI63tWSFyg]

Secondly, this video from this morning's minister's meeting at my association. Be sure and watch the songs at the beginning.  The guy on guitar is amazing.  He pretty much tears the guitar up.  The audio is pretty bad, but I think you'll get the idea.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.856761&w=425&h=350&fv=loc%3D%252F%26autoplay%3Dfalse%26vid%3D1919790]

Best Web Junk (July 17)

Here's a good link for youth minsters This graph is brilliant and funny

People are obnoxious.  But seriously, I "admire" whoever "wrote" on this "sign"

I'm actually surprised this story made it into the news.  The famous gay penguins are not gay

This is very clever

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUawhjxLS2I]

Hugo and the Platypus: A Mad-Lib

On Wednesday nights in youth I am teaching on the minor prophets.  Tonight I was in the book of Jonah.  Since every student knows the story of Jonah so well, I decided to make it into a mad-lib.  I cheated a bit for the purpose of having it make sense.  (Instead of just a noun I would ask for a mode of transportation for example.)    It turned out very fun.  Feel free to use this for your own youth group, all I ask is if you do, post it in the comments so we can all enjoy.  Without further ado, here is how mine turned out: 1. Name: ___Hugo____________

2. Place: ___Tokyo_____________

3. Verb: ____Eat_____________

4. Mode of Transport:___wheelchair____________

5. Adjective: _____unique_____________

6. Place: _____Wal-mart______________

7. Adjective: __Fluffy_______________

8. Disaster: ____Ice Age_____________

9. Noun: _____Ramen_____________

10. Animal: ___Platypus______________

11. P T verb: ___Picked______________

12. Noun: ____Fleas________________

13. Adverb: ____Extremely________________

14. Verb: _____Drive________________

15. Verb: _____Roll________________

This is the story of a man named (1)___Hugo__.   (1)____Hugo___ was very close to God, in fact, he could (3)___Eat____ to God directly.  One day God said, "(1)___Hugo_, go to (2)__Tokyo__."  But he was (5)___unique__ and didn't want to go to (2) ___Tokyo__.  So instead, he got on board a (4)___wheelchair_ bound for (6)___Wal-mart__.

Once (1)__Hugo__ began his journey, he became even more (7)__Fluffy__ because God caused a (8)__Ice Age___.  The (8)__Ice Age___ was so bad that those around him were frightened and decided to kick him off his (4)____wheelchair__ and into a (9)__Ramen____.  Once in the (9)__Ramen___ God caused a(n) (10)__Platypus__ to attack him.  After a bit of a struggle, the (10)___Platypus___ swallowed (1)___Hugo__.

From inside the belly of the (10)___Platypus____. He (11)___Picked__ and asked God to show him (12)___Fleas____.

God made the (10)___Platypus__ vomit (1)___Hugo____ up.  He landed on the ground (13)__Extremely__, and went directly to (2)___Tokyo___.  To preach this message, "(14)____Drive____ or you will (15)____Roll___."

Book Review: reThink

I recently read reThink by Steve Wright and Chris Graves.  It is a book that has been recommended to me more than once by friends.  In fact, I even attended the reThink conference in Raleigh last year and was very familiar with the concept of the book even though I had never read it.  After having read it, I would say that it is one of the best books I have ever read on the topic of youth ministry. The author, Steve Wright is the founder of InQuest Ministries and the pastor of student ministries at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh NC.

The thesis of reThink is that student ministry, as it is currently done, is broken.  This is not an attack on youth ministry, but an honest evaluation.  And, by the way, the statistics on 20somethings in church alone are enough to convince me this is the case.  The book then examines the biblical model for youth ministry and suggests ways to implement this model in your church

The authors argue, quite successfully, that the biblical model of ministry puts the job of discipleship on the family.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 probably illustrates this model best.  The family is to make the law of God so central to the life of the family that the children cannot help but absorb it.

The balance of the book is about how student ministries can partner with parents and transition into a biblical model and away from a "separate and entertain" model of ministry.

The only weak point of the book is that it only addresses methods of ministry to students whose parents are either non-believers, or who are unwilling to step up and take their role as primary disciplers in a fleeting way.  This is a substantial problem in modern youth ministry.  Even though it is largely the fault of a couple of generations of broken ministry, it should have been dealt with more fully.

I am fully in agreement with reThink, I would recommend it to anyone interested in youth ministry.  I hope it becomes part of the curriculum in youth ministry classes in Bible colleges everywhere.  I look forward to reading the follow up book, ApParent Privilege, soon.

Help me help you

This weekend is our annual Senior Adult banquet. For the past few years we have played "Battle of the Generations" Here's how it works: We ask our youth questions that the senior adults would find easy and we ask our senior adults questions that the youth would find easy and see which group wins. (It's always the seniors)

This year I am officially out of creativity.  So I would like your help.  Here's how we will do this -  You submit questions that fit the above description to the comments.  If I use your question in my game, I will email you the finished product. You supply the creativity, I'll supply my powerpoint skillz.

Here are some sample questions from the past few years to give you an idea what I'm looking for:

Questions for seniors -

Master Chief is the main character in... a. A popular TV show b. A popular video game c. A popular movie

Identify Master Chief

Which of these people is not the star of their own reality show?

Youth Questions -

Marshall Matt Dillon is the main character in... a. A popular movie b. A popular television show c. A popular comic book

Identify Marshall Matt Dillon

Which of these did not have a sidekick?

Ramblings about Youth Ministry and Other Stuff

363 days ago I wrote my first ever "blog post" it was on MySpace and not really meant fully for public consumption.  Now I have a real blog, several regular readers (literally tens of people every day) and the same motivation for posting.  First I present to you that old post

Youth ministry

I have been in youth ministry for almost 10 years now and there is no other job I could be happy doing.

Sometimes it is incredibly frustrating.  Students won't listen or they don't seem to care what you are teaching, or they refuse to do something very simple like bring their Bibles to church with them.

But other times are truly rewarding.  Today was one of those times.  This was youth Sunday at our church and that means that our youth lead in every part of the service.  They taught adult Sunday school classes, they filled the choir, they took up offering and prayed every public prayer.  Also today we watched a video of Brandon's [who has moved to Texas] Baptism, and Derrick  gave his testimony.

It was a wonderful experience and I am proud of all of them

Thank you to my youth group.

Yesterday was again youth Sunday but yesterday had a different feel than previous years.  Our students taught all the adult SS classes, filled the choir and, led the music, etc.  Normally our main speakers are the graduating seniors, but we had no graduating seniors, so I, as the youth minister, decided to be the main speaker.  My message was very simple.  I simply explained the gospel clearly and thoroughly.  In the past, youth Sunday has always, been about the students.  But as I shook hands with people as they were leaving I could not help but feel like it was different.  I felt that I somehow took away from the emphasis on the youth.  I am proud of them, they did an excellent job and deserve whatever credit they get.

Regarding my message, I have listened to it, and I am still convinced that I am not a preacher, nor am I likely to be one.  It was my first time ever in the pulpit since I began in the ministry, and it was not terrible.  I was clear, and people seemed interested.  (Only like 4 people had their eyes closed.)  Essentially I went slow and repeated myself often.  I have way too many uhmms and okays, to be a good public speaker.  I have included the message in this post if you want to listen to it, or you can download it here.  It's long, so carve yourself out a good chunk of time.

[audio=http://lagrangeparkbc.org/audio/08.17.08.mp3]

My Life So Far

Today is my 33rd birthday. Birthdays have a way of making me take stock of my life, and even though I'm not freaking out today, I still like to look back. (BTW I really freaked out over turning 29.) I figure that, even with wishful thinking, at least a third of my life has passed. So, just for fun, I’ll break down my life so far into thirds and share some highlights.

Age birth – 11: I really accomplished a lot, relatively speaking. Mostly, like other kids, it’s learning stuff. Here’s a partial list that is in no particular order.

  • Successfully navigated the birth canalMe like 1 yo
  • Learned to walk
  • Learned to talk (possibly learned this one a little too well)
  • Inherited my brother and promptly, through regular beat-downs, established my dominance
  • Survived a bout with a life-threatening illness.
  • Learned how to use the toilet and clean up after myself (very important skill)
  • Learned to tie my shoes even though in the early 80s we all thought velcro would replace laces
  • Learned to ride a bike (this one took me a while)
  • Learned to read and write
  • Successfully passed Kindergarten through 5th grade (I turned 12 during the 6th grade)
  • Moved 10 times or so through 4 different cities (Franklin KY, Somerset KY, Bristol VA, Hopkinsville KY, Cerulean KY)
  • Became a Christian
  • Participated in a school play
  • Got pretty fat
  • Made it to the dice and bowtie (I can’t remember which is better) levels of Megamania

Age 12-22: Not so much about learning stuff, as accomplishing stuff or failing to accomplish stuff. This is obviously what I would refer to as my formative years. I am who I am mostly because of these 11 years. Again, here’s a list.

  • Managed to get through 6th-12th grade in one try (I won’t be saying that later on)
  • Survived the divorce of my parents
  • Saved the princess in Super Mario BrothersMy Sr. Picture
  • Saw my Dad become a Christian
  • Inherited a step family (which included 2 more brothers and a sister. Again I had to establish my dominance through regular beat-downs)
  • Actually went on a few dates
  • Played trombone in High School band
  • Totally graduated high school (again, it only took one try)
  • Lost a bunch of weight then got fat again
  • Moved away from home for college at UK
  • Spent a summer in Washington & Oregon as a NAMB summer missionary (This was life changing. If you are in college and want to be used by God, apply at apply.namb.net)
  • Spent a summer as youth director at the church I grew up in
  • Went to the 1997 final 4 and had great seats (Sadly, Kentucky lost)
  • Served as youth minister at Durbin Memorial Baptist Church
  • Flunked out of UK
  • Moved about 6 more times during this period
  • Worked for Universal Property & Casualty insurance company (I didn't live in Florida. It was operated by Kentucky National.)

Age 23-33: I realize that I'm just beginning my 33rd year, but I can talk about the previous 10.

Making that list was kinda fun. Hope you enjoyed it