Latest Entries »

There have been few times that I can remember as a youth an adult standing next to me during worship who wasn’t my immediate family.

But I can remember every time with a fair amount of clarity.

I would always observe whoever it was standing by me. I know I should have been focused on the song but I was just curious.

Are they raising their hands? Are their eyes closed? Are they singing the song? Are they standing there with their arms crossed, not signing at all?

Every time an adult was beside me who was lost in worship, I was always thinking about how cool it was to have them there worshiping with the students.

Every time there was an adult with arms crossed, I didn’t think much of it because that’s what I half expected.

The next time you get the chance, come into the worship room and spend some time worshiping with students. Show them that the songs we sing are important to you as well. Show them that you give God praise just like they do.

Set an example to them. Praise God alongside them.

It could make a huge difference in their lives!

Today we’re talking about Family and Student Ministry. How do you balance? How do you minister to both effectively?

In ministry, it’s all too easy to look back over the year and think:

“What have we actually accomplished?”

I struggle with this. I pour over numbers, fret over attendance, second-guess teaching series, and try to stop looking at what the “church down the street” is doing with their (seemingly much more successful) youth ministry.

After you review you’re ministry year (and for us its from July-June so it’s quickly approaching), you have two options:

Be discouraged, or be discontent.

After talking with my wife (who’s words are always wise and kind in my direction), she helped me see that one comes from God and the other from

If you feel like being discouraged, you’re probably:

  • A little too concerned with the numbers of kids who WEREN’T at your midweek service.
  • Focused on the new mission trip idea the other church had, while your group goes to summer camp (with fewer kids than last year no less).
  • Listening to much to the student’s parents who say all they ever hear about is that the youth ministry is boring and isn’t doing enough.
  • Tweaking your resume and casually checking the youth minister job descriptions of other churches (who look more and more enticing every time you check their website).
  • Being attacked spiritually by the Devil, who is doing his best to keep you from doing your best.

If you feel discontent, you’re probably:

  • Glad for the students who gave their life to Jesus last year, and want more to know Jesus this next year.
  • Happy about the opportunity you get to invest in students’ and parents’ lives but want to know how you can improve.
  • Rejoicing over your graduating class of Seniors and a little curious about how the group will look next year with those upcoming 6th graders (how do they get so SHORT?).
  • Being challenged by God to improve the ministry He’s given to you so that you can ultimately give Him the credit for it.

I fight being discouraged. See if there is a way you can changed your discouragement into a holy discontentment and focus on the things that really matter during your next year in ministry!

I can’t remember a lot about Charlie. I can’t remember he had red hair and that he was my Sunday School teacher. I can remember that he would have us guys over to his house once a year for an all night long “play video games and eat junk food” fest. There was NO sleeping.

He must have taught me something too. I spent two years under him as my teacher for Sunday School. We opened the Bible and read it together. I’m sure he gave me some great advice about how to apply what we learned to our real life. I’m sure he prayed a lot and prayed for the guys he taught and for me specifically.

But I don’t remember any of that. The only words I can remember him ever saying were “Just because I’ve ordered off the menu, doesn’t mean I can’t look at the other options.” View full article »

Part One:

Part Two:

How do you plan out your talks? The week before? The day of?

Today we talk about how we plan out what we talk on.

A Dad and his phone

I had a friend in college who was a year younger than I was. His little sister was about 4 or 5 and once drew a picture of their family.

In it, she included their mom, dad, older brother in college, and his Macbook.

Apparently he was on it so often that she considered it a part of their family.

It’s fun to laugh at a college student so enamored with his computer that his little sister draws it into the family.

It’s sad that most little kids would probably draw a picture of their parents with cell phones in their hands.

View full article »

Confession time: I like to talk to people who are like me. You probably do the same thing as well. You naturally gravitate to someone in a room who you feel you have a connection with.

On Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, the people I’m around that I have the most in common with are the adults in the room. They have kids. They have jobs. They have bills and schedules and other “adult” things going on.

The students in the room? They have homework. And soccer practice. And girlfriends. And video games.

OK, so I at least have video games in common with students.

The next time you’re in a room with adults and students, make an effort to have conversation with multiple students before you seek out your adult friends. As a volunteer, you came for the students. They are the ones you’re ministering to.

If it helps, decide to have three conversations with students before talking with an adult about their week. The conversations don’t have to end in a Gospel presentation (though you never know!), but should be longer than “Hey! How was your week?”

Ask them how their extra curricular programs are going. Ask them what their plans are for the next holiday. Ask them about their jobs, their boyfriends, their school, their home, their math test, even their video games.

Show students that you came for them by engaging them as they walk into the room. It can make a huge difference later on as they reflect on their experience in the youth group.

Seek out students first, you never know what you’ll find!

Today we’re talking about blogging and how to use it to help your ministry!

Words on a Screen

BIoF62NCYAEFLAU (2)

Very few people write just to put words on a page. High school students may do that just to get a paper done. But that’s not why I write. I don’t write just for the sake of saying that I’m a “writer.” I want to do more than just press keys and watch words fly across my screen.

I got this text the other day and I can’t express how encouraging it was. I love writing, but what I love more is knowing that others are being challenged and changed through what I write.

The whole purpose is to bring people closer to Jesus. That’s what I pray Faker does for people who read it.

If you want to take your group through Faker, you can find it here.

The guys of Youth Ministry +

Image

So I’ve been hanging out with some pretty awesome guys on Wednesday mornings, talking about youth ministry issues. We call it “Youth Ministry +” because it’s on google+ and we’re creative like that.

All of us are in youth ministry somewhere, but I wanted you to be able to connect with them and their blogs. Go check them out:

Image

Josh Robinson lives in Ocala, Florida and is the Student Pastor at The Church @ The Springs. You can read his blog here. I had the pleasure of working a summer of camp with Josh. He’s a great guy and great student pastor who loves to share ideas and resources. Follow his twitter here.

Image

Matt Sawyer (he’s the one on the right) is the youth minister at Southside Baptist Church in Dothan, AL. He’s new at the job, but not in youth ministry. He’s been at that for five years now. Glad I’m getting to know him! Check him out on twitter.

Image

Blake Appleby has the coolest “I’m at the black and white beach photo” ever. He’s also the Youth Pastor at FBC Umatilla in Florida. Just met him this week and looking forward to getting to know him better, he had some great words about Vision in our last episode. Have twitter? Follow Blake.

Image

Brandon Phillips is the only one with a picture of his iPad on his blog. He’s also the one who has to get up the earliest to hang out with us. He’s the Youth AND Worship guy at FBC Ruidoso in New Mexico. You’ll have to watch the episodes to find out how to pronounce that. Say a prayer for him, he got up super early and wears two hats at his church. Follow his tweets here.

Image

Tripp Battle is the student minister at FBC Albertville, AL. He’s also got a manly beard. Tripp will be the one with good advice and the one who plays with the sound effects during the episodes. He’s a good guy and I’m glad I got connected with him through this little adventure. Follow him on twitter.

Are you in youth ministry? Check out Youth Ministry + and these guys’ blogs for encourage, resources, and ideas.

We’re all in this together for His glory! (You thought I was going High School Musical on you. But you were wrong. And now, the song is stuck in your head. You’re welcome.)

Blessings on you guys as you prepare to minister to students tonight and every day!

%d bloggers like this: