DASMTT

This weekend I have the privilege of participating in the first Dallas Area Student Ministry Think Tank. One of my closest friends Brian Rayburn has gathered 12 youth pastors from the state of Texas (plus South Carolina and California) to participate in a panel that examines multiple facets of student ministry, and looks at how these things will need to be addressed in the next decade of student ministry. My paper/presentation examines how student ministries need focus on building a culture driven by spiritual transformation and discipleship instead of attractional events and behavior modification. I'm definitely the young nobody on the panel, but that excites me because I am going to hear from some extremely bright, experienced student pastors. I don't know what topics the other guys were assigned, but I know we will be examining leveraging new technological mediums through SM, gender and sexuality, parent and family ministry and education. Fellowship Dallas is hosting our Think Tank, and I can't wait to get there.

Something New Next Week

We are doing something different this week at Connect on Wednesday Night-I have no idea how it's going to go. Throughout lent, our Wednesday Night High School Program has been focusing on living our lives the way Jesus did in a few key ways. (sacrifice, love, prayer) This week we are looking at worshiping God the way Jesus did. The main avenue of instruction on Wednesday Night for us has been small group discussions led by ministry leaders, and that's going to stay the same, but we are going to add 30 minutes at the end to allow the students to Worship God intentionally for 30 minutes. We are going to provide different avenues to do this, musically led worship from one of our talented college students, a large piece of butcher paper for them to do art on, some journals, and maybe a few other creative options. I've never done anything like this before, even though the experiential model has been the hot way to go in ministry for awhile now. Teaching and preaching will always be the primary means our ministry communicates the truth of the Gospel, but I'm excited to see how this week plays itself out in the hearts of our students.

Stewardship

Money has always been a scary issue for me. That's probably because I'm bad at math and spend too much of it. Jesus talks about money consistently in the Gospels because it's importance and ability to own us. Money is spiritual, and because we have been called to lead people in how they manage their money, it's important that we manage it well ourselves. Last month, we made our last credit card payment and are 100% out of debt. We don't have car payments, student loans, we rent, and have zero credit card debt. I'm not going back! The freedom we walk in financially now has been like a burden lifted off of me. There is still a strong tug for stuff I feel that got me into credit card trouble in the first place, and a strong desire within me to push back on that. I'm thankful for the many blessings God has given us to allow my family some financial freedom, and I pray that we will obey God in how he calls us to use what he has blessed us with.

Xbox and Boxers

I was able to hang out at North Greenville University this morning with one of our ministry leaders, Dr. Robert Boggs (he teaches there). Aside from spending some time talking to Dr. Johnson, the head of their theology department, I was in the chapel service where Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary preached the message. Dr. Johnson and I walked in a few minutes into the sermon, but the section I heard was unbelievably convicting. Dr. Akin was teaching on the subject of the Christian life as one of consecration and sacrifice, and he went into detail about the importance of world missions. What really hit home was his take on the current state of world missions in the IMB. After using two specific examples, he made the point that IMB teams in the most difficult missions fields on earth (western africa and the middle east) are made up of 80% women. Where are the men? He went on to lovingly scold the men, telling them to stop sitting in their boxer shorts playing xbox. We can all agree that college guys waste time and generally act like morons right? But here is where he convicted me-the median age of video game players is now 34. It's not just college guys that are wasting their lives on trivial pursuits. The adult men in the church have a stake in this as well. Maybe it's not video games, but the majority of men I know (including myself) have hobbies that take up a fairly big chunk of our time, energy and passion that hold very little real value. Whether it's mastering HALO or being a scratch golfer (neither of which is inherently bad) we as men are so caught up in periferal pursuits that we are not living lives centered around the mission of the church. We (me included) have to repent and reprioritize our time, passion and energy to be kingdom focused.

Farming

I've struggled maintaining this blog with any consistency, sometimes because I'm busy and sometimes because I just don't have any thing meaningful to say, and there is enough of that out there without my contribution. The picture of ministry painted for aspiring American ministers (at least in my experience) through books, some teachers, and some pastors is a good one. We will live lives of fulfillment, enact change, are admired, make good money, and do all of this in a comfortable setting. The picture painted by scripture (as well as generations of Church history) looks different. For me, growing up as the evangelical church kid who was in a pew any time the doors were open, the idea of ministry was incredibly attractive. I dress stylishly (my wife might disagree with me), I'm fairly outgoing, can be funny (again, my wife might have a different take on that), know my bible relatively well, can play messy games, and make cool fliers. When I felt called into the ministry and began to read books by guys that were a little ahead of me in their journey of service to the kingdom, I liked the picture some of them painted. Given my above listed qualifications, I could jump in, work hard, and wait for the numbers to blow up. (because that's how it works in this particular painting) Quick growth can and does happen, but that's not the norm. The New Testament consistently uses farming metaphors in relation to ministry. This has proven to be a much more accurate, frustrating picture of ministry in my life. It's been frustrating because I am not a patient person. I grew up in the 90's, and don't have to wait for anything. My generation gets what we want when we want it, so when I teach, I want instant conversions! When small groups start, I want Instant Sanctification, not progressive. The problems that arise in that attitude are obvious, and 100% part of my maturing process. As I embrace the long, hard work that ministry is, I'm beginning to experience how God uses my ministry for my sanctification along with the sanctification of others.

Men Leading Out

God is very clear that Men were built to lead.  We were made to lead our families and God's church toward Jesus.  Unfortunately, we have neglected both of these divine Mandates in a major way.  This is not to say that women are not amazing, capable and talented because they are all of those things.  This is aimed specifically at men.  Why aren't we leading and what are the consequences of our sin?  I've read the books and the studies that tell of the "man vacum" in the church, but it hit home in a major way last thursday.  We had the quarterly diocesan youth ministry meeting where all of the youth pastors in upper South Carolina get together and meet.  There were eleven of us there.  Out of the 11 there, only four were men and one of those guys is gay. (another post for another time)  Where are all the men?  I'm not saying that the only way men can be spiritual leaders is to be on staff on a church, but I am saying that for the most part, men in our country have abdicated our role as spiritual leaders within our families and within our local churches.  Most men either aren't leading any where, or they are pouring their leadership energy into their job.  Being faithful at work is Godly, but when work overtakes your family on your priority list, then you've fallen into the sin of idolatry.  A lot of men don't plug in to lead at church because they put in 80 hour work weeks to keep their families in a sweet lifestyle.  When did getting our families stuff become spiritual leadership?  We've (men) almost completely abandoned leading ministries, writing it off as "something for the women to do".  There are many men who do faithfully lead at church, but the numbers speak loudly to us.  The majority of men are not being spiritual leaders within their families and communities.  Anytime we forsake mandates God places on us, the consequences are horrible, both for us and those we are responsible for.  Men, let's step up and lead. 

what a week

This last week has been trying.  I don't write this to somehow make my minute problems important, even on my worst week, I understand I'm better off than 90% of the world simply because of where I live, I write this only to entertain the reader with my inconviences.  I got a nasty case of bronchitis this past week.  It hit me hard on Sunday.  I had a fever, congestion, ear, throat, it was nasty.  Just as I was feeling better saturday, I woke up at 4 Sunday morning with severe nasea and went to the bathroom and proceeded to vomit for 4 hours on and off.  I was vomiting 100% pure snot that had drained into my stomach.  I thought about snapping a picture with my dash to post on the blog, but didn't have the energy to pull my convulsing body off the floor to get it.  I finally passed out after my stomach blew it's nose through my mouth, only to be awakened by my wife calling me from church (I didn't go, vomitsnot in the communion chalice is looked down upon) to tell me that I was not the only member of our family who was not functioning correctly.  Her volvo wouldn't start and she was stranded at Church.  So, a Dr.'s visit, perscription medicine and a new battery/rebuilt altrenator later we've seen our bank account mirror the stock market and crash.  Fourtunanlty we've been smart and saved and we aren't in trouble. (I also have a grandfather who is always there to help us financially when we need it) Then upon walking into work this morning for the first time since thurday, I was greeted by about 20 rapidly fraying loose ends and a man with a ponytail named leslie who was cutting a huge hole in the back wall of my office. (they are adding another door to it)  It's been a crazy few days.  

fear

Two months into my time @ christ church, a fear has begun to creep into my mind. That fear is birthed out of some early success. In the short time I've been here, I've built some good relationships with students, parents and volunteers. We've seen a marked increase in attendance, wednesday nights are entertaining, and there has been nothing but positive feedback about the changes in the ministry. The fear in me is rooted in the way we could grow. There is a part of me that worries that we will be a group that comes together and has fun, without ever knowing the treasure that is the kingdom of god. My soul is wrestling the with the fact that I have to completely rely on the presence of god in regards to everything, but specifically in the growth od our students. I pray that the Holy Spirit moves powerfully to impact lives through the Gospel of Jesus. I pray that we grow deeply and profoundly into Christ.

Communication

I learn more about Jesus and Scripture through listening to a good sermon than through any other form of communication.  But I'm the exception.  I grew up in a church tradition that placed a very high value on the sermon.  I work with students who grew up in a tradition that places the highest value on the communion and prayer.  Neither is bad or wrong, but they are different.  This presents a challenge for me, who is used to communicating the truth of God's word in a very traditional sermoneqsque format.  The question is, how can I communicate the truth of the gospel to our students in innovative, relevant ways?  I'm not advocating ending preaching, I'm just seeking to maximize the effects of the time we have with our students.  Maybe we move to a small group, discussion driven wednesday night?  Maybe something else?  What are some innovative ways to communicate the gospel to young people? 

Treasure

I'm still excited and feeling energetic about what is happening at Christ Church on Wednesday Nights.  We are in week 4 of entourage, and are going to be looking at why we follow Jesus.  The disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 18 who will be the greatest, not understanding the ultimate goal of following Jesus.  We don't follow Jesus because of what we get from him, we follow Jesus because Jesus is what we get.  My prayer for our student ministry has and is that God opens our students eyes to the truth of the Gospel, and that irresistible grace inflames their souls with a passion to know and love God through the propitiation of Christ on the Cross.  I hope they begin to want more than to check church off and live life for themselves.  I want badly for the treasure that a relationship with Christ is becomes the focus of their lives and they glorify God.  This week we will be exploring what Jesus means when he says that the disciples need to have faith like a child.  We will talk about what it looks like to love God as a teenager in a culture that makes it so difficult to seek holiness and the person of Christ.  Continue to pray for the souls of our students with me, that they would see God as loving King, and not angry cosmic killjoy.  I pray God will make us excited about him.  

The Scriptures

I've got to teach the most difficult lesson I've ever taught on Sunday.  I'm teaching our confirmation class this week, and the topic is "Why the Bible is the Source of Ultimate Truth".  I'm a little intimidated to teach this because of what a weighty, complex issue that is to teach at all, but by the task of taking that and packaging it in a way that 15 and 16 year olds grasp it.  I've been studying all week, and found some incredibly helpful stuff.  The Resurgence website has a teaching by John Piper on Why he trusts the scriptures and that was amazing.  Anyways, my hope for this teaching is that God uses it to inflame our students hearts to have a trust and a passion for his word.  I pray that God draws them into an understanding of his word that excites them, and spurs them to viewing and using scripture as the foundation of their life, and not a boring obligation they have to listen to twice a Eucharist on Sunday.  I'm excited to present the word of God to a group of students, but I have a great deal of trepidation about doing so accurately and clearly.  God's word is not something I want to speak on erroneously.  Pray God draws our students towards him, using his word in their lives, as a catalyst sending them into a relationship with him.  And pray for my teaching to be concise, clear and relevant.  

Who Do you Say that I am?

We are in the full swing of entourage on wednesday nights.  Tonight is 80's night complete with costume contest and music video karaoke.  More importantly, we are in matthew 16:13-19, Peter's Confession.  There was a lot of confusion about the identity of Christ during his earthly ministry.  Nothing has changed.  We live in a culture that is just as confused about the identity of Christ as the culture Jesus walked in.  Who do people say that I am?  That is the question Jesus asks his disciples in the text, and that is the question we will answer tonight.  Who does culture say the Jesus is?  Great teacher?  Hippie?  Rebel? More importantly we are going to answer the second question Christ poses to the disciples.  Who do you say that I am?  Our view of Christ has a direct correlation to how we follow him.  Are we following a teacher?  Are we following a philosopher?  Are we following the living God who defeated sin and died to serve as a substituionary atonement for us? How does who you think Jesus is effect how you relate to him?  

Home

I love living in Greenville.  I love our church, our home and our friends, but I still miss Dallas.  Mainly, I miss my friends.  While I was doing Seminary on Campus, I was blessed to have a group of about 8 friends who were very close with each other.  We all had similar interests, goals and passions.  I was able to connect with one of those guys on Sunday.  He got married about a month before me, and has a very similar outlook on church, ministry, etc. as I do.  After talking to him for about 20 minutes I realized how much I had left behind in Texas.  I miss the camaraderie and accountability with guys like him. By the way, if you are reading this and you are in any type of leadership position in a church, this particular guy NEEDS to be on your radar.  His name is Brian Rayburn, and he is on staff with the college ministry at Lakepointe after being a youth pastor at a very successful church in Asia.  Listen to him teach via their podcast.  Brian is the most gifted communicator I've ever known.  If you are smart, you will find him and give him a position.  Anyways, I'm excited to have friends like Brian.  Guys who I'm going to do ministry with for the next 40 years.  We're going to struggle with ministry, family and life together for a long time.  Thank God for relationships. 

Paradigm RE-Shift

In the 70's/80's youth ministry began to really professionalize. The church saw a need to reach students for Christ, and knew they had to reach students differently than they would reach adults. Specifically, as the church's awareness of the need to reach unchurched people began to shift, the paradigm of youth ministry began to shift as well. Because the typical teenager that did not know Christ would never go to church on Sunday morning, we started Wednesday night programs that were innovative, creative and effective. Students who would never come to church to hear about Christ were now entering into a relationship with Jesus and becoming followers of him. After they were plugged into a Wednesday night ministry, as their faith grew, so did their tendency to go to church. The formerly unchurched student now loves Jesus and wants to grow his or her faith. Sunday School (if the church offered it) was the next step in his/her development. That model continues to be very effective, especially in non denominational churches that do such a great job of reaching the unchurched for Christ. A mid week program is a great way to reach unchurched students. I currently serve at a large, traditional, mainline denominational church, and we kicked off our mid week program called entourage two weeks ago, and it's been interesting to watch. Because of the vision and demographics of the bible churches I've been at, the question was always how do we reach the unchurched for Christ? The question that has arisen at Christ Church Greenville has been different, it's "How do we reach Churched Students for Christ?" A lot of students at our church (like any in the bible belt) go to church sunday because their parents make them. It's what is done in the south on sunday before football comes on television. Simply attending church no longer means some one follows Christ. The majority of our unreached students show up on sunday morning, not wednesday night. The wednesday nighters are serious enough about their faith to make the extra time at church a priority. This is a completely different paradigm than that seen in the "typical" American youth program. If we make Wednesday night the outreach level program, (which we have been doing) then the kids who are at the outreach level faith wise aren't going to come. The outreach level students are there on Sunday Morning. How do we eschew the traditional Sunday Morning Model in a way that we reach the students when they come? I feel like in the coming years here, we are going to explore changing the wednesday night paradigm. If we want to connect with the students who aren't committed followers of Christ, we are going to have to do it when they are going to come, which is Sunday morning. What does that look like? How can we re-invent Sunday Morning to connect our fringe students? What do you think?

Getting on the Same Page

We had our annual parents meeting for this year's confirmation class. We confirm in the 10th grade @ Christ Church, and we are expecting a class of around 50 sophomores this year, and the crowd at the meeting last night reflected that. The crowd also reflected an oft overlooked challenge in youth ministry-Some parents (even church members) do not always hold to distinctly Christian beliefs. This is a problem for two reasons. The first is that if the parents themselves are not experiencing the truth of the Gospel, then they are missing the vitality and freedom found in living as a child of God. The second reason this is a problem is that despite what some misguided youth ministers would tell you, we (youth pastors) will never be the biggest influence on the students we serve, their parents will be. So no matter how well we teach, 20 minutes of good, orthodox teaching can be washed away with the dismissal of a parent. If we want our students to know Christ and walk with him, we have to work with the parents, and make sure we are on the same page theologically. The last thing we want is a Holy war being waged between parents and youth staff. Do your students parents think that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Do they believe that scripture is the inerrant, authoritative word of God? Do they place a higher emphasis on the prayer book or the bible? (I'll be honest, I'm a little afraid to ask this question) The hurdle of working on the same page with parents theologically speaking is raised a few notches higher for those of us in student ministry in my life stage. I'm very, very young for my job, and I realize the challenges that go along with that. Mainly, it is very difficult for parents in their 30's to 60's (and in our church VERY educated, successful 30 to 60 year olds) to ascribe ANY authority to the teaching of a 24 year old who some see as merely a babysitter who gives their kids a safe place to play twice a week. As we attempt to preach and teach to our parents, we have to keep in mind how we can appear to them, and we have to keep in mind that they DO have a TON of life experience we don't. We've got to approach them with respect and humility, and pray that the Holy Spirit moves them in the same direction we are leading their children. We don't have to let anyone look down on us because we are young, but we also have the responsibility to act in a way that does not GIVE people a reason to look down on us because of our youth.

Entourage Part 2

We are pushing closer to launching our entourage series for the fall. As I dig deeper into the text we are using for the first week, more things about the disciples calling have surfaced. I love that Matthew Henry (what's up bibleworks) writes that before they were called by Christ, they were working at the calling they already had. Peter, Andrew, John and James were (at least the text seems to paint them as such) diligent workers, busting their rears in a hard job. They were about the business that had been appointed to them. They weren't sulking because they had a crappy job in the tatooine of the Middle East. They weren't lazy. They were working. Henry goes on to ask his readers "are you working in your calling?" Are we diligent working where we are? Do we display the characteristics of hard laborers, sweating and striving to do the difficult work of following Christ? The portrait our culture paints of vocational ministry often seems to mirror the picture it paints of corporate executives. And we like that. Who really dreams of hard manual labor for low pay? However, the men who Jesus called had the mindset of blue collar laborers. They understood what hard work was. It has caused me to ask, how can I LABOR for the kingdom? Where do I need to sweat more? Where have I gotten lazy?

What Happens?

One of the things I've noticed about youth ministry the longer I've done it has little to do with my experience as a youth worker, but alot to do with my friends and I as we've gotten older. I went to a high school with a strong FCA program and a bunch of kids who went to church every sunday. They were pretty serious about God. Now, we're all done with college and are young professionals in some capacity. Over 40% of the kids that I knew from North that were church kids have walked away. They still retain that oh so american Deism, but the worship of Jesus Christ has gone the way of the rest of their juvenile mis-conceptions about the world. So, the challenge lies in how we fix the problem. It is a little scary to know that all the labor, prayer and time I put into even our most committed students could stop in four short years. Are we presenting Christianity in an in accurate way? Are they just into church because it's a place their parents let them hang out with their friends? Do they just love God because of his stuff? I'm not sure what happens in between graduation from 12th grade and graduation from college. Maybe the lack of connection with other Christians in college? Maybe they get a little freedom from home, and find that sin is fun. (I know I did) I know that every single Christian will struggle and stray from Christ, but what can we do when they are young to make sure they come back?

Entourage

Our Wednesday night theme for the fall is "Entourage". We're going to examine the lives of Jesus' disciples and talk about what discipleship looks like for us. I started studying today for the first passage we're going to examine on September 10th. When Jesus called the disciples, he called men who were at the time completely and utterly unqualified. They had none of the abilities that the religous establishment of the time thought neccesary to do ministry. They very likely couldn't read. Also, this is just some conjecture from me, but I wonder how closely they "walked with God" before they met Jesus. Were they seekers? Were they serious Church guys? Where were they? My point is, Jesus didn't wait for them to be qualified before he called them. He didn't wait until they were spiritually mature (see Peter), he called them to ministry where they were knowing HE would be the one to mature and grow them, as they were incapable of doing it themselves. In the same vein, it's very easy for me to get discouraged in ministry. God has placed me in places of ministry where I've been surrounded my a lot of extremely talented mature men. There is still a lot I have to work on, and it's easy to get caught up in the feeling of "I'm not as good as ____, so I'm not going to be effective in my ministry" I find encouragement in the calling of the disciples, and I'm reminded that Jesus didn't call some future, perfect version of me to ministry. He called me as I am knowing HE would be there to grow and mature me as I obediently (most of the time) follow him. When I look at the people in scripture God chooses to use, I see a lot of murders, adulterers, a prostitute, illiterate blue collar guys, a terrorist and a traitor to his people. God uses screwed up people to do his work as he heals their spiritual wounds and grows them in maturity and wisdom. Thank God I don't have to do it myself. (because I couldn't)

Connect=Communication

This Sunday is connect Sunday at Christ Church. I'm very excited. This Sunday all of the respective ministries will set up tables with information on every program they will roll out this fall, and advertise volunteer opportunities. For me, that means that we will have the monthly parent newsletter, 3x5's of the new Wednesday Night series advertising the kick off party on September 3rd, 3x5's with a summary of what is happening the rest of the year, two calenders and an informational packet on the ski trip we are taking in JANUARY. This has been a great process for me. Having to advertise this stuff in August means that it has to be planned a few months in advance. If we don't plan this stuff in advance, we can't communicate it in advance. How do you kill a youth ministries effectiveness? Don't tell people what you're doing until the last minute. To connect people to our ministry, we've got to communicate what is happening in the youth ministry to them. Parents want their kids involved, they just got to know what's going on. This second great thing about getting stuff planned to roll out in August is that you have more time to put it together. I want all of our programs to have a level of exellence to them. The better they are, the more effective they are. So, now we have the entire fall/winter on paper, to put in the hands of our parents and students, and now all we have left is to execute it.

Watching God

I've been very blessed to be a part of some very succesful ministries as an intern. But, I came into those ministries long after they had built a strong momentum. Now, I am working in a ministry that is only a few years into things. I've been on the job about a month, and I'm getting to watch God work in huge ways right in front of my eyes. I'm amazed that as we move in the direction that we feel God leading us we have people come forward completely unsolicited asking to start things moving in the very direction we feel we are being led. Things are happening right in front of me and I get to see what a great, powerful, wonderfully perfect God I serve.