Yesterday the Woodland Hills staff went out and had a great time on our monthly Visionary Day – we ended up spending some time in the bowling alley. We had a lot of fun watching each other attempt to bowl, but the most laughs was easily when we played an entire game with our weaker hand.

If you saw our scores, you would know we didn’t do so great. It was very difficult to get the stepping correct, relearning how to bowl all over again. Mandy and Paul seemed to adapt well and was getting better. I by far did the worse at relearning to bowl.

Unfortunately, this is very similar to the church. Whether we like it or now, the world changes. Culture is ever changing, and not that we change our Truth and Gospel message, the way we present that truth and message needs to change with the culture. And it is sad to see that many churches and ministries look like they are bowling left handed when it comes to our culture. We can get so stuck onto doing things the way we always have, that when something changes, we are unable to adapt. We need to constantly look at our ministries and ask ourselves if we are changing with the culture, or are we stuck into what we always used to do.

May we learn to adapt ourselves to our world around us, and may we be able to bowl left-handed.

Thomas Paukovitz is a Youth Minister at Woodland Hills Christian Church. You can track him down here: http://hodbog.posterous.com

I am back from the Simply Youth Ministry Conference 2010 in Chicago! It took me a few days to recover from a packed weekend. I learned a lot of tips and youth ministry ideas, but the biggest thing I learned was this: Every involved youth worker should go to a conference like this. Here are 3 reasons why.

A time of learning – I learned a lot. There were so many opportunities to take a class on a subject that will help me to stay in ministry for the long haul. SYMC offered classes on marriage, volunteer training, games, counseling, conflict resolution, preaching, & teaching. I chose the Helping Hurting Kids track and I benefited from probably one of the least discussed topics but one of the most influential problems all teens face – teen depression and addiction. I believe we all need to learn more if we are going to help teens through their adolescence.

A time of encouragement – The worship and camaraderie I was able to participate in was very therapeutic. I met many people I have had the honor of speaking to online through the SYM Podcast. Getting to meet Doug, Josh, Matt, and Jana in person was awesome. It felt like seeing old friends for the first time in a long time. I also got to meet Andy B in person after so many emails for products. I also met new people like D.C., Matt K., Rick Lawrence, Tom, and many others. Tim Timmons really encouraged me through his worship leading and a few of his songs are STILL stuck in my head.

A time of rest – Youth Ministry is T. O. U. G. H. with a capital STRESSFUL. Dealing with tough kids, tough parents, boards, elders, pastors & ministers can take a lot out of you. We don’t tend to take time for ourselves because we are so committed to getting it right as often as possible. We overwork ourselves to the point we lose much of our drive and passion. Taking a weekend to listen to others who are doing what you do and understand your faith, love, passion, hurts, and struggles can only benefit. I felt loved on. It had been 7 years since I had been to a large convention like this. I forgot how much I needed it. Now that I am back, I feel stronger. There isn’t a huge list of things to tell people about the conference itself other than the encouragement I received. I did come back with this though: the passion and desire to help hurting kids. I think that was worth the admission alone.

Mike Lewis is the Youth Minister for the Westside Church of Christ in Beaverton, Oregon. He writes a blog that might be worth reading at www.bigmikelewis.blogspot.com and will gladly be your friend on Facebook, too.

Part of the reason I came back to about 1,000 items in my email inbox post-Kenya was because I Twittered about my out of office reply – people wrote me just to see it – ha! If you’re waiting for an answer about something – it’s gonna take me a week to get back up to speed. Sorry! And if you missed the email while I was gone – enjoy:

(a)_____________ is currently away from his desk because he is (b)_______________ in (c)_____________. He will be gone from (d)________________ to (e)_________________ and your email will be (f)_______________________ when he (g)___________. If you need help right away, please contact (h)___________________ at (i)_________________. Thanks and (j)_______________.

Mar 4-18
(a) JG
(b) hanging with 27 amazing students
(c) Kitale, Kenya
(d) March 4
(e) March 18
(f) Replied to immediately
(g) regains consciousness from the travel coma he will be recovering from.
(h) The High School Ministry (HSM) team
(i) (949) 609-8000
(j) always be on the lookout for mosquitoes that carry Yellow Fever. You have been warned.

Feb 22-Mar 1
(a) Joshua Griffin
(b) Hanging out with youth workers at #symc2010
(c) Chicago, IL
(d) February 22
(e) March 1
(f) probably skimmed over
(g) is home for 2 days between trips.
(h) The High School Ministry (HSM) team
(i) (949) 609-8000
(j) have a great day. Seriously, please do.

Feb 9-12
(a) Josh Griffin
(b) Hanging out with Rick Warren backstage at #rad10
(c) Lake Forest, CA
(d) February 9
(e) February 12
(f) completely ignored
(g) (waves hand) “it can wait until March 18th” (you repeat) “it can wait a few weeks”
(h) The High School Ministry (HSM) team
(i) (949) 609-8000
(j) Have a great day.

JG

Cool video from Jeff McGuire. Saw it over on McGill’s Abnormalize and thought I would repost – thought for a while I’ve been thinking I like both not either.

JG

Very excited to read about a new resource on starting/developing a girls’ ministry from Simply Youth Ministry. We actually don’t have a specific girls-ministry in HSM, so I’m pumped to put this into one of our leader’s hands and see what happens. Check it out, too, if you’re interested!

JG

Over the course of our lives we will make tons of mistakes.  Some of them will be very minor to very major.  Some mistakes are made because we take risks and we aren’t sure of the outcome.  Other mistakes are made because we become arrogant and think we know more than we do.

Mistakes are going to happen but how we deal with them is going to define the type of person we are.  In ministry we make all kids of mistakes like:

• Sending out an incomplete email or one that isn’t worded right
• Not giving out all the details to an event
• Blaming the wrong student for setting the garbage can on fire
• Forgetting to talk to the parents of the student you sent home early from an event

In ministry, everyone in the church is your boss, so you are trying to please a whole lot of people with a whole lot of ideas of what you should be doing.  We serve the entire church, not just those in our ministries.  This makes for a lot of fun some times.  We need to learn to read the signs and do everything we can to make the matter worse, rather than being arrogant and “taking a stand” for our beliefs.  If people don’t like us or our ministry, we won’t be as effective as we need to be.

So how can we handle the mistakes we know we are going to make?

1. Be Humble.  You might have to eat some crow but understand you are working toward the kingdom of God not ourselves.
2. Listen Closely. Do your best to hear what someone might be telling you and do what needs to be done to resolve the issue.  We need to hear the other person and their perspective in order to understand where they are coming from.
3. Learn and Grow.  Take any issues that come up as opportunity to grow as a Christian and a minister.  We are put into situations by God in order to better ourselves.
4. Be Open and Honest.  The more transparent you are in your ministry the better but know how to discern.  The more good information you put out there, the less material there is to attack you with.

Last year, I read Mark Oestreichers ‘manifesto’, Youth Ministry 3.0, and I loved the concept of Youth Ministry 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 as a way to understand the history of youth ministry. It was like this book was an answer to Mark Senter’s book, “The Coming Revolution in Youth Ministry” (that’s for all you old youth ministry guys). And I think the book is timely – it seems like many in youth ministry are unsatisfied with where we are and are looking for a way forward.

Charting the Course

Something that I found very helpful was that in each section of the book, Marko (as he is known throughout the youth ministry world) builds a chart that lists and compares/contrasts various characteristics of the three different youth ministry eras (pages 49, 61, 78) including youth culture fixation, cultural influence on youth ministry, key themes, driver, and theme verse. By the time I got to the end of the book, I found myself wanting to add another characteristic to his chart, namely the ‘relationship of youth ministry to the church’.

A. Youth Ministry Outside the Local Church

Marko does talk about youth ministry’s relationship to the local church in Youth Ministry 1.0 and 2.0. On page 46, Marko says “So those early youth ministry pioneers who knew they had to be true to their calling found – in large measure – that they had to do youth ministry outside the context of the local church.” In other words, the primary context of youth ministry 1.0 was outside of local churches. Although this doesn’t appear in Marko’s chart, I think it’s an important enough observation that it could. As Marko points out, Youth Ministry 1.0 was the birth of groups like YFC, Young Life, FCA, etc. (parachurch youth ministries), but a shift happens in Youth Ministry 2.0.

B. Youth Ministry Inside the Local Church

On page 53, Marko says “Churches [in the late 70’s and 80’s] were finally waking up to the need for youth ministry and moving beyond offering only a ‘young persons’ Sunday School class. Youth groups sprang onto the church scene, and churches started hiring youth pastors left and right.” So the primary context of Youth Ministry 2.0 was inside local churches.

C. Youth Ministry Connecting Local Churches

When he gets to Youth Ministry 3.0, the context continues to be youth ministry inside local churches, but I found myself wondering – couldn’t the primary context of youth ministry (relationship to the local church) also be changing just as it had between YM 1.0 and 2.0? And Marko’s descriptions of Youth Ministry 3.0 actually hint at what I believe could be the next primary context of youth ministry – youth ministry connecting local churches.

On page 93, he says “But what might this look like, to have a youth ministry of the various youth subcultures in your church and community, acknowledging the uniqueness and value of each-including the styles and preferences of each-but moving toward a supra-cultural taste of the kingdom of God?” (emphasis mine).

Could we be heading into a time when youth ministry needs to break out from the four walls of the local church and spill over into the whole community including other local churches? To be more about the Kingdom of God than buildings, denominations or theological distinctives? I believe that this is the case, and I believe that Marko’s description of Youth Ministry 3.0’s characteristics support that.

1) To reach multiple cultures

For example, he says that in Youth Ministry 3.0, there should be multiple youth ministries to multiple subcultures – that could be done in a single church, but what if all the churches in a community recognized this need and different churches were strategically focusing on reaching those different subcultures. What if we had an attitude that we need other youth ministries in our community to reach the entire youth population of our community?

2) To be true to our context

Another characteristic is contextualized youth ministry – the context of the students in your community is important, but doesn’t that context include other churches and youth ministries? What affect do other churches have on each other and what effect should they have. Could some good come of acknowledging that ‘our church is not the only church in this town’?

3) To be free from being overwhelmed

Doing less and getting small is another characteristic of Youth Ministry 3.0 – imagine the freedom in realizing ‘Hey, I’m not the only person trying to reach teenagers in my community. There are others out there doing the same thing. I’m not alone.” I think that realization could take some of the pressure off of youth leaders and we could feel free to not feel bad about being small knowing that there are many groups out there doing the same thing. A whole lot of smalls make for something big!

4) To be communal and missional

The two key words that Marko gives for Youth Ministry 3.0 are communal and missional. I love that – what fresh ways of looking at what we do. But again, wouldn’t communal youth ministry also mean that the youth pastor needs a community of like-minded people? His community needs to be bigger than the students he/she ministers to – he or she needs a community of people who understand their passion, struggles, goals, etc. And nothing is quite as encouraging as knowing that the mission you are passionate about is shared by others.

In the early chapter of Youth Ministry 3.0, Marko describe the tasks of adolescence as identity, autonomy, and affinity. I think that church history has played itself out in this way, especially since the protestant reformation (the church’s rebellious years?). At first, the church struggled with a sense of identity: What is the church? What are we supposed to be about? And then for several centuries, the church has been all about autonomy — How are we unique and different from other churches? I think it’s about time the church started moving more toward affinity – What [...]

Continue Reading “GUEST POST: My Take on Youth Ministry 3.0″

Made it back safe from our mission trip – here’s a picture of the team after we landed in Kitale, Kenya 11 days ago. Loooong flights, great memories, lots of landmark decisions. Love it.

JG

Finished up two books on the plane back from Kenya this past week – the first of which was Matthew Paul Turner’s Hear No Evil. He’s the guy behind the genius “growing up Fundamental Baptist” book Churched, which I read last year based on a recommendation from a good friend. This book is honestly more of the same – and I loved it – this time he takes the perspective of growing up with fundamental music. The author has got to be about my same age and our upbringing’s led to quite a few similar events that I could relate to in every chapter. If you are in your 20-30’s and grow up ultra-conservative (aka Amy Grant may or may not be in Heaven someday), you should totally read this book. If you’re not, it is still well written and has lots of humor in it – but I’m sorry it just won’t be the same. My only wish was that Turner would have gone deeper into the whole conservative Bible college arena he dabbles in one part of the book. Maybe that’ll be his next – I’d read it for sure!

JG

While I was in Kenya the past few days, the kids managed to push our Xbox 360’s Gamerscore over 33,000. They’ve been loving Madagascar Kartz (C+) and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (A-). Fun!

JG

Father, today as our small group meets
I pray that each person will feel your heartbeat
May they know they are special, they’re cared for, they’re loved
Your kingdom come, on earth as above

Our time together, though not long only short
May it seed true communion with You in our hearts
Help us see Your image inside of each other
Teach us what it means to truly love one another

Away from the big, the loud, the flash
Just a few of us here to share and to laugh
To discuss Your Word, to share and go deeper
To talk real life and be our brother’s keeper

Praying for one another as we journey through life
May we encourage each other to reflect Your light
Let us always be inclusive, welcoming, and warm
A safe place for all in the midst of life’s storms

Lord we all come from a myriad of places
Give us wisdom and kindness and grace and patience
Thank you for unity in the midst of diversity
Make us one in Christ, true Christian community

Bless those abundantly who have opened their home
Upon their house, God we pray Your Shalom
May it be filled with laughter, with joy, and with vision
In return for their giving, God we pray Your provision

And let us, O Lord, never ever forget
That there’s someone else out there who has yet to connect
Your eyes and your mouth to see and invite
That not one, O Lord, would be alone in the fight

It’s a mystery to me why they seem to be Your preference
But amazingly in the end small groups make a great big difference
Life on life, Jesus you modeled it back then
So I’ll do the same, in Jesus name, Amen.

Kevin Mahaffy, Jr. is a poet and blog writer. Check out more of his stuff here: http://revkevjr.blogspot.com

I’m often asked, “What is your process for discipleship?” How can my son or daughter grow deeper in their faith?” “What are the essentials that students need to know before they graduate to ensure they do not lose their faith in college?” I love these questions because it reflects the desire that Peter had for all believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18)

As we have carefully formed the structure of discipleship in our ministry, we have four pillars that are important to a strong discipleship program:

Pillar #1: Discipleship is a PROCESS:
The Greek word for disciple means “learner”. Eugene Peterson, theologian and author of “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” explains that the biblical image of discipleship is an image of forward motion. It is a journey, a pilgrimage, a long-distance marathon. It is not simply an arrival. For students, this means that discipleship is an ongoing, daily process during their school years and beyond.

Pillar #2: Discipleship is a balance between INFORMATION and TRANSFORMATION:
A disciple is not just an expert of information, but someone who is continually learning about what it means to know and live like Christ. As we disciple students, we want them to have a rich understanding of God’s word. We want students to know the faith stories of our forefathers, and to have a grasp of theological doctrine. However, we don’t want to simply transfer information to students; we want it to transform their life. The end goal of the study of the scriptures is not to master the text, but to let the text master us. Jesus spoke about a confluent faith in the Great Commandment when he said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Jesus wanted those who followed Him to not just to know about God, He wanted what they knew to be put into practice.

Pillar #3: Effective Discipleship consists of a variety of METHODS:
Most of Jesus’ formal education of his disciples was done in with a variety of methods. He used overstatements, parables, riddles, irony, and the use of questions and paradox, which caused his listeners to think, process and to ask questions. Jesus was creative in his teaching methods by using story, object lessons, experiences, illustrations, case-studies and real life scenarios to teach his disciples.

Pillar #4: Discipleship is most effective in the context of RELATIONSHIPS:
To know God is to learn about a vibrant relationship with Him. To be in fellowship with other believers means to learn to live together. To grow deeper in faith means to live in Obedience to God’s will. The apostle Paul said, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put into practice.” (Philippians 4:9) Paul was very relational in his method of discipleship.

Todd Szymczak is a youth worker who blogs at http://livelearnlead.net/ and http://twitter.com/toddszymczak.

I’m sure many of us use Facebook & Twitter to stay connected, reach out, engage, inform and maybe even “spy” on what are students are up to outside of church. Even so, it’s equally important to learn and understand the culture our students are engaging in–e.g., music, movies, etc. It’s sometimes not enough to check the Top Ten on iTunes and most of us, especially volunteers don’t have the time to rent every movie and download every Top Ten song. What if there was a way that you could find what specific songs and specific movies really connect with specific student? Good news, you can!

My observations have been that most students (I’m speaking specifically about High School & Middle School) don’t use Facebook or Twitter in the same way those of us in our 20’s, 30’s and older. We tend to play games like Farmville, share photos and videos, share web links we find interesting or in some cases stalk our old school friends–ok, maybe not a good idea. Students tend to use Facebook to express themselves through influences of music and movies just like we did when we were younger–except we used different outlets.

I’ve found that many students simply quote songs and movies lines in their status updates, which I’ll admit, I don’t even know what some of the songs are from just reading the lyrics or movies quotes. All I know is that it’s a random status update in the form of a lyric. Students will also post lyrics and quotes on their friends profiles almost like having a conversation. Have you experienced this? It’s very easy to see where the lyric came from by copying the status update and pasting it into Google search. Instantly you can see who the artist or movie is they are quoting. Most students don’t give the artist credit, partly I think, because it’s unimportant to them who sang it but what the students meaning behind the lyric. It’s a great window into what’s popular out there among your specific students as well as get a better understanding of some of the issues they might be expressing through lyrics via their status updates. Here’s some examples I’ve found from students in the past week:

“Do you think I’m special? Do you think I’m nice? Am I bright enough to shine in your spaces? Between the noise you hear And the sound you like Are we just sinking in an ocean of faces?” -One Republic

“Some moments bring us together and some moments tear us apart. Some moments change us forever” – Remember Me

“There’s a field near the dream I watched it grow with brightest eyes I watched us all reach out and leave For the strength as we touched the sky” – Angels and Airwaves

What have been your experiences?

Kevin Cooper is a youth worker and media junkie from Dublin, Ohio. He mini-blogs and Twitters right here.

Was in Kenya with the newest member of the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast team (Katie Edwards, to replace Jana who is sadly moving away) so Doug Fields, Matt McGill and Jake Rutenbar did the show last week. Enjoy!

JG

1. Present an unbalanced message. Only let them see the heart-warming part of God’s character. Preach God’s love but leave out His holiness and justice. That way they’ll think He’ll let them into Heaven no matter what.
2. Don’t mention repentance until they’re repeating a “sinner’s prayer.” Just get them to say, “I repent of all my sins” while they’re echoing you. They won’t know what they’re saying and they won’t count the cost.
3. Above all else, be dignified. Don’t get heart to heart with the people. They would get something out of what you said.
4. Skim over the gospel and push the prayer. Pretend the lost naturally understand what Christ has done for them.
5. Preach Jesus as a life enhancer not a life rescuer. Tell them how Jesus can improve their life but don’t show them Jesus as the only One who can save them from Hell. People will think if they reject Him they’re only losing out on a spiritual high.
6. Try to please the people instead of convert them. Tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
7. Compromise the message to speed up the process. The Christians who have heard it a hundred times before will be pleased with that. The quicker they get out the quicker they can get to the restaurant.
8. Give them the impression that God is so good He won’t send anyone to Hell. Don’t present the whole counsel of God or they might realize He is so good that He’ll see to it that justice is served and that all unrepentant sinners will be punished in the fire that is not quenched.
9. Speak to sinners as though they were saints. They’ll think they’re God’s children instead of the enemies of God they’ve made themselves into because of their sin. You’ll give them false assurance and mislead them.
10. Don’t mention sin or man’s guilt. Resist the urge to explain what Christ came to deliver us from. Don’t show them their need for the Savior. Otherwise it may all make sense.
11. Don’t look to the Bible for the substance of your altar call. Only mimic other preachers with large congregations.
12. Tell the lost not to feel bad about their sins. That way you will work against the Holy Spirit who’s convicting them
13. Whatever you do, never mention Judgment Day. Your audience might take spiritual matters seriously.
14. Tell them Jesus is the only way to Heaven but don’t explain why. They may think it’s nothing more than fear tactics and leave offended instead of enlightened.
15. Confuse the call. This is a great way to botch up an altar call. Don’t let people know you’re asking them to commit their life to Christ. Be vague and general in what you’re saying. Neglect to mention following Christ in your evangelistic altar calls and say things like, “If you don’t feel you’re as close to God as possible raise your hand,” “If you feel lonely come to the front for prayer,” “If you want more of God this is your time,” and, “If you have struggles and need the answer come down.” Just get them to raise a hand. That way no one will be able to count the cost and you’ll even get saints to respond to salvation altar calls, making the results look more successful.
16. Only give them half the story. Tell them Jesus died to forgive everyone but overlook the fact that they must personally receive Him to partake of that forgiveness.
17. Present the truth as though it isn’t. Be so funny when you share Christ that you belittle the seriousness of the matter.
18. Preach forgiveness without repentance. That way no one will know how to be forgiven.
19. Be unbiblical. Present repentance and faith as an offer instead of how God does as a command (Acts 17:30).
20. Let them think next Sunday is the day of salvation. Don’t make them feel it’s urgent to respond today.
21. Never warn of Hell. Dangle Heaven in front of their nose but rarely mention Hell, certainly not as much as Jesus did.
22. Only do altar calls inside the church. Never take the gospel where sinners congregate. The lost might get saved.
23. Use churchy terms. Use words like, “saved,” “repent,” and “born again,” without any explanation. That way your hearers won’t comprehend what you’re saying. If they can’t understand it, it’s probable they won’t be changed by it.
24. Give false assurance of salvation to unsaved Christians. Assure church folk that they are saved even if they bear no fruit. So that you don’t offend the unsaved pew warmers never quote 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves as to whether you [...]

    Continue Reading “GUEST POST: How to Botch an Altar Call”

A funny thing happened to me on Friday. I needed a grey shirt to wear under my sweater. I was running a tad late so I just grabbed the first grey shirt I could find. I was one that had been sitting on the top shelf of my closet for probably a year- in the back corner ignored by me. I spotted it took it and threw it on before hastily putting on my sweater and running out the door. It didn’t take me too long to realize something was terribly arye. Apparently as my grey shirt sat sadly in the top corner of my super sweet 9×9 walk-in closet, it rested atop my Glad Fresh air freshener, Mountain Breeze scent, if I’m not mistaken. Needless to say, my lowly gray shirt had become a conduit of the odorous fragrance. At first it was kind of pleasant. I smelled a little girly, but certainly not horrific. It is better to smell of a female than to smell of a trash heap, that’s what I always say (that’s a lie, I’ve never said that in my life…). But before long my eyes were a bit watery, my nose kinda stuffed, and a litany of sneezes welled up from my very bowels. Within an hour I was drunk with Mountain Breeze, and sickened by it’s essence. All day people around me commented on my aromaiffic nature. Some sentiments were positive. Things like, “ooh you smell like my grandma’s bathroom” or “is that a new perfume?” Others were less than desirable. Like, “Who’s wearing a dryer sheet?” or “Why does it smell like a 98 year old woman in here?” Needless to say, I wasn’t the only one sickened by my smell.

The whole thing got me thinking, though. The wisest man I know, Norb, used to tell me that it was his goal for people to sniff Jesus on him. That everything he did and said would have the scent of our Savior attached to it. I always thought that was a really cool idea, and something I’ve tried to emulate (but miserably fail, truth be told). And then I thought of my overwhelming aroma on Friday. What kind of smell are we giving off to the world around us? What is the scent that we irradiate to our peers and co-workers? Is it sweet? Is it bitter? Is it kind and compassionate? Or, how often is it a smell that even we are sickened by? Certainly or goal shouldn’t be to merely satisfy the noses of the people around us. Just walk through a store- or a high school hall way- and you’ll catch wiffs of every perfume and flavor of Axe body spray ever made. Some are appealing, others are not. To the person wearing them, however, they must be appealing, lest they hopefully would not have shelled out the $49.95 a bottle of fragrance costs. Just because it smells good to the wearer, does not mean it smells good to the smeller.

That’s why our scent is for the scent Maker. Incense was used heavily in the Bible. In fact, God made His own blend and set it apart as holy- Ex 30: 34 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people.”

After Noah make his post-flood sacrifice, “The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done” (Gen 8:21). We, of course, don’t offer up burnt sacrifices anymore, but Romans 12 tells us, ” Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” It is our great honor that our lives would be the sweet smell of the Lord- to God and to those around us. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15a, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ.”

Such a powerful picture! Just as I want my scent to be appealing to the people sitting next to me, how much more do I want the sacrifice that is my life to be appealing to my God? And thanks be to Him that through Jesus I smell sweet! It was through the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God that I have a God-pleasing aroma. And now I have the wonderful task of being sweet incense in a foul-smelling world! May I reek of Jesus in all I think, say, and do.

Kory Henkel is the Director of Youth Ministries in Bloomington-Shakopee, MN. Check out Deep Thoughts blog right here: htttp://deepthoughts-simplemind.blogspot.com/

I’m in no way a youth ministry “guru” or veteran by any means.  I’ve only been in full-time Youth Ministry for 5 years, but there is one piece of advice I’d like to offer for Youth Workers all over the world.  STICK IT OUT!  In my short time up here in Anchorage AK I’ve seen youth workers from come and go followed quickly by the mass exodus students that they were over!  It breaks my heart to see a student connect with a guy or gal and get involved in church then within a couple of months the Youth Leaders up and leaves.  The students often feel cheated out of a relationship and get a bad taste in their mouth about “church”.

In my 5 years I’ve wanted to leave my job multiple times but after much thought and consideration I would find that my reasoning for wanting to leave was selfish.  Going into my fifth season at this church I feel like I am just now hitting my stride with building relationships with the students and parents of our Church.

Now I understand that there are reasons to leave a church but all I’m asking is that you examine your reasoning before leaving your students in the dust.  Often we just need to stick it out and work through our own issues!

Darryl Nelson is the Jr High Youth Pastor at Anchorage Baptist Temple in Anchorage, AK. He blogs and Twitters, like any good youth pastor should. Check him out!

While at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference I heard a couple people in different situations mention something that I’ve been wrestling with. And I know that this isn’t a typical venue for discussion. Typically this is more of a “here’s some info”, “here’s something to think about”, or “here’s a resource” and then you just do with it whatever you want. But this post isn’t so much a declaration of some kind of truth or some kind of ground breaking idea. It’s more of sharing my heart on an issue and hoping that there are others out there struggling with the same thing and ones that could share in this discussion.

The issue is not feeling like you can do ministry at a church building. I know this train of thought has been around for a while but I’ve encountered it more lately. If you haven’t come across this or don’t know what I’m talking about, the basic idea is that you can’t do effective ministry at a church building because teenagers (and some adults) feel uncomfortable at church. They say that when people who aren’t Christians are at a church they feel uneasy. They feel like they can’t be themselves. They feel like they have to be “good” or “fake”.

In some ways I can understand why a person would worry about this. Many church buildings are old buildings with a lot of ornate fixtures and there are even some “off-limits” rooms. This causes some to feel more like they’re at a library or a museum than at God’s house. (maybe they feel like they’re at their grandma’s house minus the plastic covered furniture)

But is this a true perception? Is this just something that those of us on the “inside” think that non-Christians feel? If this perception is true, do we just accept it and do our best to get away from the building?

Now, let me say that in my ministry, we do have groups that meet in homes on Sunday nights. We do that for a number of reasons but one of the biggest reasons is to create a comfortable, open feeling. So, in that way I understand this idea of feeling more comfortable elsewhere. But what are we saying to people and specifically to our teens when we say that we can’t do effective ministry at the church building. When we feel like we have to go to Starbucks or to the mall or someone’s house…what are we saying about the church building? Are we hurting the effectiveness of our programs that are at our buildings? I mean, more than likely, you have at least one program, and it’s probably your big, crowd program that is at your church building. And if you feel like you can’t effectively minister and connect with teenagers at that place, then your program is going to suffer.

Here’s the bottom line for me: we all don’t have nice, new buildings and we don’t all need them. But we should all recognize the privilege and the blessing that it is to have a place to call home for our ministries. If you feel like you can’t minister effectively there, then either you’ve got issues you need to work on and get past or you need to find a way to better utilize this ministry tool that God has blessed you with.

Joe Thompson is the Youth Minister at Fairmount Christian Church. I know him better as http://bethshusband.wordpress.com.

One of my good friends and co-workers announced that he is leaving his job the other day.
The good news is that it was no big deal to the volunteers who he announced it to!  Though, it probably would have been good for the ol’ ego for there to be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the truth is,  this response is an indicator that he did a great job!
One of my biggest pet peeves in youth ministry is to see a young leader get a promotion and then watch that young leader’s program die.
It has nothing to do with the fact that I think the leader shouldn’t have taken the promotion.  It’s not that I think the only commitment you should ever have is to youth.  Let’s face it.

Number one…this is tough work and there are few who can do it for years at a time.

Secondly….Youth Pastors are often thought of as the minor leagues for “The Big Show.”  This is the way the system has developed.  Student pastors are the future leadership of the church.  But this is a topic for another time.
So…back to my issue.  Why do we see this pattern across the country? A new person coming in, a youth group growing, that person leaving, and the youth group dying…waiting for the next big personality?  Come to think of it…why is that the pattern we see in the church in general?
I think the problem is us!
We can be pretty cool. We are relational, so people are attracted to us.  We have vision, so people are inspired by us.  We are creative and do a bunch of interesting and new stuff, so people like to come see what we do.  People dig us. And therein lies the problem…right there in front of our eyes.  It’s us.

In my world at North Point Xtreme, our anchor is the small group leader.  The only thing consistent every week is the same small group leader with the same group of kids.  When my friend, with an identical program, announced he was leaving today, it was not a big deal.  When I leave, the show will go on the same way.  (I’m not saying it will be easy on my ego.)

Great speakers (the hooks) come inside our student ministry and then go on to do great things on bigger stages. Great bands (also hooks) minister to our kids, are developed, and head on to “Big Church.”  They go to the “Show!”  I love it when that happens…and the ministry keeps growing and doesn’t miss a beat!

So…I hope you are incredibly talented, passionate, and an amazing vision caster…but the truth is, You may be a great hook…but…it’s not about you…it can’t be about you.

Is your ministry built around a hook or an anchor?  What are you doing to make sure your ministry outlives you?

Tom Shefchunas is the Multi-Campus Director of Middle School @ North Point Community Church. Hit up his blog in your Google Reader for sure!

Do you know that God wants to know you personally?

As someone who has spent a large portion of their adult life serving in full-time ministry, I am surprised by how much I told other people that and how inconsistent I was about applying that to my own life.

I talked the talk without always walking the walk.

Since August I have been looking for what’s next for me in ministry.  It’s been exciting and very refreshing for me.  One of the things I have learned during this transition time is that I have made a lot of rookie mistakes in ministry!

• I began to realize how often I would read the Bible and look to ONLY apply it to the people I was given the opportunity to lead.
• I realized that I spent much more time praying for others and very little praying and talking to God about myself.
• I discovered that when I would read books I would look to find ways to apply the information to others and rarely to myself.
• I found that on Sunday mornings I was much more concerned with processing the service than I was with my own personal development.

If you were to ask me now what’s been the best part of this time away from ministry for myself I could honestly say it’s been getting my relationship with God back on track.

God wants to know me. He wants to have a relationship with me.  Through that relationship, He wants to work through me to encourage and impact the lives of others. I know for the 2-3 people that read my blog that this is something that you already knew. Nothing mind blowing for you hear.

Or is it? Do you spend consistent time talking to God about what’s going on with you? Are you allowing God to work on you before He works through you? If you serve in any position of leadership in a church I would say that before you are given an opportunity to tell THEM anything, let God tell YOU something.

[Update: I am now on staff at LifeChurch East Valley in the Gilbert, Arizona.  My season away from ministry was very refreshing and I am excited to learn from the mistakes I made in my past.  I am a follower first and a leader second.]

Sam Frederick is the Associate Pastor at LifeChurchEV, you can read his blog right here: www.samfrederick.com