Go check this link out. It is a definite must read for those working with youth ministry. I would try to summarize but I don’t think I could do his thinking justice.

Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

“What are your thoughts on a biblical youth ministry?”

His posts are almost always insightful and challenging.

In light of the cold spell we’ve been having lately I’ve been starting to anticipate our first real snow. You know, the kind of snow you can go out and play in. The kind where sledding is really fun. Maybe you’re looking forward to it like me. Or maybe, once you get a taste you’ll probably hope that it goes away as quickly as it came. You could be the person who’s not looking forward to it at all.

Or maybe you’re facing snowstorms of a figurative kind…

How are you weathering those?

A few years ago we had a snowstorm that gave me some good time to think, to shovel, to play, and to shovel some more. During that shoveling, one question came to mind. How is youth ministry like a snowstorm? I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to answer that question but the more I pondered it the clearer it became.

Think about a snowstorm. Snow gets poured in from above covering everything and creating a beautiful and often messy landscape. Once the snow is done we begin the process of removal only to have it drift back again, sometimes even higher than before. The irony is that we can’t really stop it. We just lace up our boots, don our gloves, and start all over again.

Youth ministry, and particularly discipleship, is often the same way. Snow flurries are dumped in from all sides re-creating a beautiful yet messy landscape we call life. And the more I think about it the more I realize that it happens to all of us, not just youth. So we lace up our boots, don our gloves, and “dig in.” We shovel through life together. Then the wind comes and it drifts back in again.

I am reminded of Jesus and his disciples in Mark 8:13-21. Jesus and his disciples had been traveling and reaching out to large numbers of people and were likely very tired. They were in a boat, they were hungry, and they had forgotten to bring food with them. The disciples were talking amongst themselves trying to figure out what to do. The “winds” of hunger and frustration began to set in. At this point Jesus found it necessary to remind them of all that they had just been through, in particular Mark 6:30 through Mark chapter 8, and he rebukes them with a simple yet profound phrase, “How is it that you do not understand?”

Aren’t we often just like that? Buried under another drift and digging out again, we need to be reminded and maybe even rebuked. Don’t be surprised, the snowdrifts will come. Sometimes we cause them and sometimes we don’t. Each time, however, we “dig in” and “dig out.” This is the essence of discipleship. This is learning to love God, to read the Word, to love each other, and do it all over again when we fail. This is living life together.

Who are you weathering the storms with?

How do you care for the people around you?

In youth ministry, I believe it is very important to care for the youth workers who spend so much time with the youth. I’m convinced it is absolutely necessary if you are going to have longevity and impact. Show your youth leaders that they are a priority. I usually try to put them in roles where they have a desire to serve. I don’t have them try to fill every role. I try to spend time with them, train them, figure out their needs and fears and try to help. Give the leaders a clear and biblical vision of what this is all about and give them the resources to put it into practice.

What else can you do?

1. Pray for the right people.

2. Play! Hang out together and build relationships with your leaders.

3. Pursue! Get people who have a commitment to what is happening. Have your current youth leaders find people who have the same desire too.

4. Peace. Relax, it is in God’s hands.

Here’s one final thought. It might be a little controversial but I believe it holds true. I am all about equipping and reaching the youth, but they will rotate through every 6-8 years or so. Your youth leaders won’t – hopefully.

Respond accordingly!

Why is this happening?

That’s where we left it with part 1 of the post. On to part 2…

Our culture has changed and many of our methods have not. We have to take responsibility as educators and youth workers for what we need to do differently and what we need to do better. We have to take responsibility for becoming better teachers and better students.

In what areas have we become stagnant?

In what areas have we always done it that way?

In what ways are we allowing current culture to distract us from what is best for our audience?

In our changing culture everyone seems to be busier. One of the most damaging effects of busyness that I’ve seen is in the parent involvement. At such a crucial time we are seeing less and less positive modeling for our youth. Maybe some of the parents don’t know any better. Maybe some of them don’t care. Maybe some of them are doing the best they can. Maybe some of them don’t think it’s their job. Isn’t that why they pay teachers and clergy?

I am a strong advocate for families being the primary influence in the lives of their children. With that being said, when you take into account the scrutiny that schools and churches are coming under, how do you respond? It’s my belief that schools and churches will increasingly have to take on the burden and responsibility of “parenting” if we are to achieve the goals we desire. I realize this is a dangerous statement. Because it is such a dangerous statement let me reiterate – I do not think it is the responsibility of churches and schools. However, something must be done to make up the ground that is being given away.

“How do you motivate the unmotivated?” I don’t know where this comes from originally, but it is something I hear frequently at school. And that question also isolates the core issue we deal with in youth ministry.

How do we equip, inspire, or motivate students to live the truth? Admittedly, this presupposes that we are actually teaching the Truth in a way that is meaningful to our youth. My personal opinion is that we’ve done a great job with “meaningful” but we have a ways to go with “Truth.”

But anyway…

Can one “make” youth have the right heart attitude?

Can one “make” youth live out the truth they know?

Can one “make” youth care enough about church to make it a priority?

What can I do? I can only be responsible for them to the extent allowed by God. It sounds a lot like parenting, doesn’t it? It breaks my heart that I have to see them struggle to make it their own (or not).

Pray for our youth and their families like life and death depended on it – it does.

Create opportunities for meaningful relationships. Treat it like it’s important – it is.

Teach the Bible like as the ultimate source of authority – there is no other way.

Be at peace and trust that God knows what He’s doing – He does.

There has been a lot of talk in different places lately about the idea that youth ministry isn’t working as well as it should anymore. For the most part, this idea has been promoted because so many youth are leaving the church when they leave high school.

Some people suggest that people are leaving the church because of a lack of relationship within the church.

I just plain don’t care.

And no one really knows the answer…

Is it that way with adults and what some people mockingly call “big church?” Is anyone looking to see if there is any correlating information about adults coming and going out of churches? Are they asking the same questions and making the same comments?

Let’s take it a step further. For some time the public schools have struggled with rising expectations and trying to equip students to meet those standards. Ask people why the schools are failing and you are likely to see a list of things similar to the list above. This has become such a major issue that the government has started to step in, replace teachers, and close down schools. Admittedly, there are a lot of arguable issues here such as funding, how scores are created, how students are measured, and “No Child Left Behind,” to name a few. In theory, however, these are all issues related to helping the students.

Few of these things seem to be working. Why?

Why is this happening?

To be continued…

From time to time I will talk to different people and we will discuss why we do what we do. It is in those conversations that I always begin to think about the youth ministry that I work with at Grace Evangelical Church.

Our youth ministry is named 3-D, after our philosophy.

We value the process of :
Drawing (outreach)
Discipling (growth)
Daring (influence)

In my mind this sums up what we are to be about. We should be reaching youth, training them, and equipping them to do the same.

One of the acronyms that we use is B.A.R.B. This is has a multi-pronged meaning (excuse the pun).

We are committed to being:
B.iblical
A.uthentic
R.elational
B.alanced

In addition to the acronym I see the picture of barbed wire. Its design accomplishes a specific purpose. It is a picture of protection and safety. It is sharp and cuts, just like the Word (Hebrews 4:12). It is also a picture of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore.

Sometimes it helps to have a bigger picture of what you are all about.

Personally, I am committed to four things. First, that God’s Word be taught accurately. Second, authentic loving relationships. Third, the lost and found drawn to and transformed by Jesus. Fourth and finally, a passion to reach out and impact our community and world.

What about you? Have you ever taken the time to think through that yourself?

What are you committed to? What are your non-negotiables?

As you are asking yourself these questions consider these verses.

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel (Ezra 7:10, ESV).

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27, ESV).”

How does God’s Word shape who you are?

I think these are good questions that we should all be asking.

Do you?

1. Tennis, youth ministry, and teaching school should not be done at the same time. I absolutely love doing what I do but it is so draining! It also takes its toll on me and my family.

2. Certain kinds of plastics leach harmful chemicals. I guess I knew that but I haven’t started paying attention to that until recently.

3. Chlorine and flouride could also be dangerous to the body.

Disclaimer: there is a lot of information and “research” out there and I am not a scientist. I do not attest to the accuracy of these claims. It has given me something to think about though.

4. The Sermon on the Mount passage in Matthew 5-7 is an amazing passage! We started studying it this summer with our youth group (3-D) and it is powerful. At the heart is the “heart.”

5. Impatience shows a lack of humility. This one has been really difficult for me to learn. It first got my attention as I was listening to a message by C.J. Mahaney. Here is the main idea – I get impatient when things don’t go my way. Selfishness is when I want things my way. Impatience, therefore, is a form of selfishness. When I am being selfish I do not have a proper view of myself. When I have an improper view of myself I do not look at God properly either. In the end it shows that I lack humility and need to re-orient my focus back towards God. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).”

6. Life is short. A friend of ours, approximately the same age, is going through the final stages of cancer. It makes you reconsider a lot of things.

7. My thinking goes all over the place and that’s okay!