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

I’m thinking about leaving my church.

I’m 22 years old. And I work with students at the church that I grew up in.

Now, when I say “grew up in”…I didn’t know Christ until I was a junior in high school, and this was where I met him. When I graduated high school, I didn’t go to college, and since I was staying at home, I decided to give back to the youth ministry that had given so much to me, and started working with 6^th graders on Sunday mornings, and helping out with our mid-week youth worship service.

I’ve been doing this since for 3 years and I love it. Students are a fantastic bunch of people to work with, and Youth Workers might be the greatest group of people you’ll ever get to do ministry with. So. I love what I get to do at my church. But I don’t feel fed. I don’t feel the sense of community that my soul longs for. I am struggling and praying through whether or not I should leave this church, and start attending one here in town that I know offers those things. I am hurting over whether or not the students that I know and love at my current church are worth not getting what I feel like I need spiritually.

I know that I can work with students wherever I end up, but I’m talking about going from a 200+ student ministry to a ministry of about 30-40 students. Which honestly has some cons for me, as well as pros. But a big part of it is that I love these kids that I work with now. I’ve invested in them for the past four years. They’ve been a big part of my life, and I hope I’ve made an impact on them.

I’ve wondered if it’s just me. If I need a spiritual attitude adjustment. But the more I think and pray about it, I see that the things that God has put on my heart, are not necessarily what He has put on the hearts of church leadership here. And that’s ok. We don’t have to be going after the same things, because as long as we agree that salvation is through Christ on the cross, and only that. The rest is neither here nor there, honestly.

So am I being selfish? I don’t know. I know that I am not growing spiritually like I have in the past, and I know this is part of the reason why.  I don’t know if it’s reason enough to seek out a new community of believers.

Here’s the thing. I want your thoughts. And honestly, I’m sure I’m not the only guy (or girl) out there who is dealing with something like this. So, have you ever had to leave a church or ministry because you were giving a ton, but not getting much out of it for yourself? Is that a valid reason, or that that a line of selfishness to give yourself an out?

Anonymous would love to read your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

No leader enjoys the notion of failure.   In the split categories of good and evil, failure is considered evil, success is considered good.   Just thinking about certain failures in my own life brings back emotions that stir the depths of my being.  Why? Because failure in front of those we live, play, and work with is embarrassing.  It just plain hurts.

But we all fail.  And some of us are persistent failures.  It happens, it is how humans learn, and how we deal with it makes all the difference.

A while back I was not a Youth Director, but rather, I was a Youth Ministry Assistant.  In gradations of youth ministry scales, that is just above an intern, and just below a director.  You’re supposed to know a few things about youth ministry because you’ve already been an intern and now you are set loose to discover freedom with a few oodles of responsibility.

Upon being hired and oriented, I was given the reigns to a very important ministry in the youth group: the Friday night outreach program.  The youth director told me that I had the freedom to brainstorm, propose, and implement the program with hopes that I would be successful in creating a space that community youth would like to come.  The guidelines were that it would involve food, music, fun, and some form of evangelism.

Given freedom, I was terrified.  When someone is in charge of you and gives you orders, you can always blame the orders or the one giving the orders for failure.  Freedom changes that.  I had to take responsibility for what would be implemented and I would be making a culture all by myself.  In charge of the programs destiny, I began to worry.  What if my ideas were not received well?

I tossed and turned during the nights, and wrote up drafts and proposals for the program and presented what I had come up with.  It was very practical.  We had been moving into a new building with a gym,  a game room with pool tables and ping pong, and we had a stage in a gathering area with a nice sound board.  So I decided that each week I would bring in a local band.  We would start the night off with a big game in the gym that would bring everyone together, and those who didn’t want to listen to the band could hang out in the game room.  It seemed simple, and so I presented the whole shebang with schedule from band load in to sound check to a quick devotion and the night would end.  The presentation was well received and I was given the go.

And I was terrified.

As I thought through my simple plan I realized that there were many moving parts.  (1) I had to bring a team of volunteers along to get used to a new building and a new program culture.  (2) I would have to email and call and MySpace about 15 bands in order to fill in every Friday night for a season.  (3) I would need a sound tech to work with several servant oriented people to help get the bands in and ready.  (4) Amidst the hubbub, I would be giving a short devotion, a reflection, or a scripture verse.  And (5) I would have to build relationships as the host to all the students coming through the doors and ensure that they were connected to each other and to leaders in a positive way.  Lastly (6) I would have to get the gym game up and running.  Oh, and I forgot to mention (7) I would be self conscious of my evaluation from my director.

Thinking through all the moving parts made me more nervous than ever, and as the first date got closer I became somewhat paralyzed.  There was a point while I was searching for bands, in which I did not know if I wanted to move forward.  I knew I would, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to.  But I thought about how I felt and the notion of failure continued to weigh on me.

In passing with my director I decided to let him know how I felt.  I told him that there was a lot to get going and I wasn’t sure of the excellence of everything that needed to come together.  Time was going by and not all the t’s were crossed, nor all the i’s dotted.

I’ll always remember how he responded.  He said, “Don’t be afraid to fail.” It was simple.  He told me that I was allowed to try, and if it failed, then it failed.  What was I going to do?  Permission to fail!  I couldn’t believe it.  Suddenly I felt much better.  Being a perfectionist that often falls short of my own expectations, I realized that the possibility of failure should not stop someone from doing something that needs to be done.   So I went ahead and booted up the program.

After four years with spits and spurts of growth pains, and with the perspective and help of a new Youth Pastor to work with midstream, I would say that the program got to where I wanted it to be.  But it took many failures and people still believing in me to get it right.  In the end, students were getting connected, leaders were doing relationship evangelism, student leaders had developed, I scrapped the band every night idea (allowing it to be special when a band did come) and added video games and music from an iPod set list, and the gym games continued to be popular.  The program grew, and new elements added either failed or succeeded.  Even after leaving, that program continues to minister to students.

If only I had listened to Christ’s words on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  -Matthew 6:25-27

All ministries are a risky venture.  Many of us will fail, but the weight is not squarely on our shoulders.  The spirit of God is looking out for us when we are trying to do good for Him.  Trusting, obeying, and in that, not worrying too much about failure is a part of serving God.  He is greater than us and takes us to places and builds things we cannot imagine.    Fear and trembling at anything other than God will paralyze you and you cannot do the work you are called to do in a state of paralysis.  Just start doing what God is calling you to do.  Persevere, and you will find something valuable at the end of the road.

Daniel Griswold is the Director of Youth at St. Andrew By-The-Sea UMC in Hilton Head Island, SC. Check out his blog at http://danielgriswold.wordpress.com or on Twitter.

Visited an elder one time who was confined to their home because of health issues. They were so active in our church before their sickness, that I know this period of being shut-in was killing them (not literally).

But what stuck out too me was some of the the comments they were making about the various ministries in our church. “Surely there’s a retired person in our church who could come by and clean the snow off of my car”, “our youth is only interested in having fun”, “we need to do follow up visit’s more”, “I’ve paid tithes for years, I think I deserve some benefits now”, etc…

I steered clear of that conversation and led the shut-in to talk about their family. It very quickly, became evident that this person had two sons that lived relatively close by. When I asked if their sons helped them out at all they had all kinds of excuses as too why they were too busy. Many of the same reasons they used for their sons, if they would have been honest, are some of the reasons the other people they were complaining about couldn’t be there everyday.

Why do we have a propensity to hold other people (and their children) to such a high level, while we have all the patience and understanding in the world, for ourselves and our children?

To answer my own question I would say human nature. This kind of thing has been happening since the world began.

In the Old Testament David casts judgment on a certain man before he realizes that he is the man:
And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. 2 Sam 12:5-75

The Lord has really been using this experience this work my flesh over. I caught myself doing this while I was driving, while I was talking to my wife, while I was working.

Lord, help me to be as patient with others as I am with myself…
Lord, help me to be as patient with others as you are with me…

Jeremy Pinson is a youth worker. Not sure much else about him, but I’m thankful he wrote this post for us to think about this week.

I remember when I got my first mobile phone. I was told it was really important to charge it all the way up to the maximum, and then run it down until it was completely flat, and then charge it all the way up again. If you didn’t, your battery wouldn’t have its upper and lower limits properly established. It would learn that it’s ok to only give 80%, and that it’s ok to give up early. It would never operate at its full potential.

I wonder if the same thing applies to youth ministry?

Filling up to the max – Are your young people confronted with the rich, deep, passionate prayer lives of people who walk intimately with Jesus? Are they thrown in to environments of extended, humbling worship? Are they exposed to others who flow in the supernatural and who can testify to real-life miracles?

Running completely flat – Have your young people actually witnessed injustice (as opposed to just hearing about it)? Do they regularly find themselves in situations where they are completely out of their depth and need to rely fully on the Holy Spirit? Do they know what it feels like to sit with someone in need and feel powerless to do anything to help?

The consequences for getting this wrong with a mobile phone are reduced potential and decreased effectiveness. Are they any different for a young Christian?

(My fear is this: We get this wrong, and the result is Christian adults who are cynical of the supernatural, apathetic for justice, and lazy in their relationship with Jesus.)

Jarrod Newton is a regular contributor at The Salvation Army’s Youth Leadership Blog.

We are a culture built to produce results. It’s why we spend thousands of dollars and hours educating ourselves. It’s why companies spend 2 million dollars for ads on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s why kids are in daycare for 10 hours a day. We expect results from each other, and demand it from ourselves. And too often, Christians think that the world’s method of getting results is how it’s supposed to be.

Jesus did say in John 15:5 that we will produce results, but it won’t be because of anything that we do:

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

What do branches need to do in order to produce fruit? Stay connected to the vine. Does the branch need to work, prepare, or plan for it? Nope. If, and only if a branch is connected to its vine, it will produce fruit.

Tired of working, agonizing, and stressing-out? Is this really the way we should be living? 4 hours of sleep. Marriages ending in divorce. Children being neglected. The homeless live their lives starving and the employed are starved from living. And all for what result, exactly?

What if Jesus’ way is better, and all the only thing we have to do is remain in Him? How would that change… the way we live?

Josh blogs at http://joshherndon.com and twitters at joshua_herndon

“David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.” 1 Samuel 30.6

I have a few friends and fellow ministers that swear TWITTER is a complete waste of their time and monthly text message budget. I’ve tried to argue otherwise with little to no success. Some have created a twitter account just to shut me up but still not a tweet from them. Some have yet to maximize its full networking power and have limited their occasional tweets to a very select group of friends and colleagues. Still some have focused on the negatives and have resolved to never explore the positive side of twitter.

I don’t know what your opinion of twitter is but if you have yet to find yourself consumed with the tweets of world leaders, global missionaries, engaging authors, revolutionary leaders, and inspiring messengers of the Good News like I have; I hope this will change your mind. I appreciate the technology of twitter because of the opportunities and platform it offers me to receive and share words of wisdom, encouragement, and humor.

Yesterday, as I sat in Wendy’s enjoying my lunch; killing time while my car was getting an oil change at the adjacent mechanic shop, I received one of these encouraging tweets. This is what the tweet said:

@rickwarren: To last in ministry learn what David did: “He ENCOURAGED HIMSELF in the Lord” (1 Sam 30.6) Don’t expect others to do it for you.

Just as soon as I read this tweet from Dr. Rick Warren, founding pastor of Sabbleback Church, leader of the Purpose Driven Network of churches, and best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life, I had to know the context of the verse he was referring to.

In this passage King David and his men of approximately 600 had just returned home from a battle that apparently no one really wanted them around for. Upon arriving at their town of Zilag they found that an opposing army had raided it and burned it to the ground. This raiding party had also carried off their women, children, and everyone else. Already returning home with their spirits deflated and now devastated from this tragic situation the Bible says these men “wept until they could weep no more.”

Their weeping soon turned to rage toward their leader, King David, whom they wanted to hold responsible for their loss. These men began contemplating stoning him. It was David’s response to this life-threatening plot that brought @rickwarren to send his tweet. The Bible says that David, “found strength in the Lord his God.”

When facing adversity or opposition we can learn from David how God would want us to respond. Notice I said ‘when’ not ‘if’ because we can be sure that with leadership comes adversity. In those moments it would be easy to raise the white flag but in leadership we have to realize that we are working to please God and not those we are called to lead. We can’t give up and we can’t give in; we must, like David, ask God to give us strength to keep moving forward. Because David chose to seek God for strength to move forward he was able recover all that was taken from him and his men with interest.

So when you find yourself facing what you feel is the death of God’s plan for your life, your ministry, and your future don’t give up! Seek God and you too will find “strength in the Lord” your God!

What does all this have to do with twitter? Well, nothing really, accept for the fact that without having an active twitter account I would have never received this encouraging word that I feel God had for me and for you.

So, DON’T GIVE UP and sign-up for twitter!

Shon Bradford is a Student Ministry Pastor and blogs right here.

No red flags were waved, no sirens were sounded, and no one pulled me aside to sit me down and warn me. The day I answered God’s call to full time youth ministry I really had no clue what I was getting myself into. I’ll admit…if someone had warned me about the struggles of youth ministry I probably would have run the other direction. It’s been over ten years and I love what I do, but it’s come with many lessons not taught in any seminary class or youth ministry seminar.

I remember the first big lessons I learned in youth ministry. I had been serving as a volunteer Youth Director for a church in North Jersey for three years when everything came crashing down. I had turned ministry into a business and soon found myself stepping down from my position. Not because I wanted to, but because I was asked to stepped down.

During my three years as their youth director I accomplished some amazing things. Notice the key word; “I.” I was able to organize and prepare winter retreats, summer camps, and many other events. I was able to stand before a group of students and speak. I was able to lead my adult volunteer staff and persuade them to follow me. But what I wasn’t doing was allowing God to lead the team of adult volunteers or plan the right events. I wasn’t allowing God to speak to the students by allowing Him to speak through me. I wasn’t allowing God to train and teach me what I needed to know about youth ministry by deepening my own faith. Everything I did was centered on what I wanted to see happen. My view of youth ministry was based on what I saw in magazines, websites and the occasional youth ministry conference where entertainment was the focal point of the weekend. Bottom-line…I ran the youth ministry like a business. I operated the same way in ministry as I did in my secular job (I was customer business rep for a nation wide copy center).

It was spring and I was neck deep in planning the 30Hour Famine. A few days went by and I continued with my agenda, planning the upcoming 30Hour Famine. Then one night my roommate and youth leader at the time knocked on my door. “Can I talk to you?,” he asked. “We need to talk about this coming weekend and the 30Hour Famine.” Once again my all business attitude took over as I assumed he wanted to discuss the details of the weekend. So I went into self-centered mode and began to share my thoughts and ideas as well as how awesome (fun) the weekend will be with the many things “I” had planned. In the nicest way he could, he cut me off with these words; “Brian, the Pastor and the leadership has decided you won’t be involved in the 30Hour Famine. Pastor will be stopping by to speak with you. I’m just here to get any information you have about the event so the leadership team can make a decision whether to cancel or postpone the event.”

I was so wrapped up with my own agenda and my own way because I was a “big shot youth director” I totally missed what I had done. As a result of my pride and self-centeredness the pastor asked me to step down as the youth director for an undetermined amount of time. “Ministry is about your relationship with Christ. I’m afraid you haven’t grasped what that truly means. Ministry is not meant to be run like a business,” pastor stated.

My heart was broken as I realized what I had done. That night after meeting with Pastor I spent what seemed like hours on my bedroom floor crying out to God asking for forgiveness, asking for restoration, and seeking the Holy Spirit for answers. That night I realized the truth, but I had put planning and organizing ahead of relationships; relationships with people and my relationship with Jesus.

There’s more to this story, but for the sake of editing and size I’ve shortened it. The point is nothing you do in ministry will ever be more important than your relationship with Jesus. Focus on growing deep in your own faith, not running a business. Youth ministry is not about you.

Brian Ford is the TIMS Program Director at The Christian Retreat Center. Follow his blog right over here.

As a youth minister, I usually have one or two activities each month. I am usually good at planning great events. I make sure that each event has a purpose (evangelism, equipping, encouraging). I work hard at doing good things for the right reason.

Unfortunately, I sometimes miss the most important aspect – inviting God into the planning, action, and follow up of my event planning. Sure, I’ll pray that events go well, I’ll pray during them (especially lockins! You need prayer during lockins!) And occasionally I pray afterwards, usually when things go wrong and I am mad at God for letting all MY great planning  go to waste.

From talking with youth ministers that I know, this is a common problem. Its nothing malicious or devious, its just that we…forget. We get so caught up in our great plans, our great devices, that we forget to check if this is on God’s agenda. So when things go right, we did a great job. When things go wrong, God messed up. Really? I don’t think so…

Here is how I believe we should approach praying for our events and activities -

1. Preplanning – Event planning often goes back 6 months to a year. Before you even sit down to plan your calendar, you should kneel down and ask God for guidance on what He wants HIS youth ministry to be doing in the next year. As you pray, reflect on the students you have, pray for them and ask that God gives you the wisdom on how to minister to that student. Think about the students in your community, and pray that what you do will reach them this year. As you think through the calendar, pray about each individual event, asking God to bless it and do more than you can even imagine. Finally, when you’re done, pray again over the whole year (or six months or three months) and ask God to work throughout this year in you, your ministry, and your students.

2. Preparation – Sometimes events are quick to get ready for. Sometimes they take hours and hours of time and energy. As we get ready for events, the first action we should do is pray for the event. Pray over the steps of preparation. Gather together with your leaders (students and/or adults) and pray for it. Some events like a trip to Kings Island or Laser Tag won’t require tons of prayer. But don’t neglect the power of the “fun event” because those times of relationship building are often more valuable than a big evangelistic outreach. Ask God that your students will be open to talk with and that your words will reach them in some way.

3. During an event – If you don’t have a prayer team, I encourage you to recruit 3 or 4 adults (or more if you have them!) to pray for your teens. Give them a list of stuff to pray for during an event. BE SPECIFIC! Don’t just say, “Pray for life change”. If you know a student is struggling, say, “Pray that Bobby will give up his drug habit” or “Pray that Suzie will overcome her eating disorder.” I would be careful of giving out names in certain situations, for obvious reasons. After all, God knows who those students are. But we need to be praying for specifics, not just generalities.

4. Following an event – Do you pray after an event? Its sometimes weeks or months later that something might hit a student, so we need to be following up in prayer that what went on will positively affect a teen.

I wish I could say I was faithful in doing all these things all the time. I am striving to do all these, but its hard moving from self-reliance to God-reliance, even in ministry. Yet I know that if you do these things your ministry will be blessed, as will you.

What do you do to invite God into your ministry events?

Bill Nance blogs at http://billnance.org.

We like safety.  We do things to make our life easy. We like easy. Church looks nice when it is easy. Smiling faces. Shallow conversation. Sports. Weather. News. Kids. Everyone is great. We work hard not to go too far. We don’t want to give up too much, other people might think we’re strange. People we feel safe around.

I have really been convicted in the last couple weeks about the church’s desire for safety. I am tired of safe, easy church. One of my greatest fears and convictions about the modern church in North America is that Christ would be so sickened by our actions and lack of action that he would spit, spew, vomit us out of his mouth (Revelation 3:20). Francis Chan reminds us that this passage is written to believers, to the church.

The church of Laodicea was a safe church. They had everything they needed. God had blessed their area with prosperity through banking, fashion, and a medical training school.  They had become dependent on the things God had blessed them with instead of God Himself! Christ called this church poor, blind, and naked! The language of the passage paints a picture of the church making God physically ill. I do not want that for the church I’m a part of or the North American church as a whole.

We talk a good game about what God is doing in persecuted churches, and that we desire for God to grow our churches, but are we truly prepared for what that might mean? I am not sure that the majority of the churches in America could survive if driven underground. I don’t know how many could even survive a major disaster such as what has happened in Haiti.

The other day, I heard Tim Schmoyer from studentministry.org tell about his trip to Haiti. In the midst of this unspeakable disaster, they are experiencing true revival in Haiti. One of the native pastors they met with told Tim that they have been praying that God would do whatever He needed to do to bring the people back to Him. Are we prepared to make that declaration in America? Honestly, the uncertainty of the outcome of that prayer scares me more than a little.

Where is radical thinking among churches? Are we truly working to bring in a revolution that builds and encourages God’s people into falling face-down in awe and reverence to the God that created us and loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us? What are we doing that is so different that people cannot help but notice? I fear that well-intentioned youth pastors and pastors have perpetuated the condition of comfort in our churches (myself included). We have done it with shallow, slick, easy, messages that fail to call people into the dangerous unknown. Do we even know where that is ourselves? We cannot lead students where we have not been, nor where we fear to go. Do we still believe that God can truly bring revival into the context of what we’ve made church today? Are we willing as a church to make whatever changes out of a compelling fear and love for Christ to keep from being spit out, separated, removed from God’s plan. Are you in? It will not be a safe choice.

Brent Lacy is the Youth Pastor at FBC Rockville, IN and the tech guy behind http://MinistryPlace.Net.

Teens these days are inundated with messages about sex, our culture is saturated with commercials that have sexual innuendoes.  You can barely turn the television on during prime time and not see scantily clad girls and guys targeting the high school and middle school students.  Culture is screaming sexuality!

But on the other side of the coin I think the church in also not addressing the issue.  What does the church say in response – Don’t have sex!  And that is it – we don’t explain why, we don’t talk about the gift of sex or that having sex is an act of worship when in a marriage relationship.  Because the church has avoided talking about the topic, our students are turning to the media to get their answers.

I am currently working part time for an organization called Expectations Women’s Center.  I also with another woman are currently writing a curriculum to be used in Public Schools and in churches to educate the students on “The Sexy Truth” – the truth that sex is an amazingly wonderful thing – created with boundaries to protect us not to wreck our fun!

One thing we do is talk about the idea that the condom only protects the physical consequences of sex – however what is protecting the social, emotional, spiritual, and psycological aspects of sex.  Our program is geared towards talking about the whole person and how sex effects each of those aspects.

Another thing that we spend a lot of time talking about is the idea of Bonding…did you know that the frontal cortex of your brain is not fully developed until someone is 25 years old.  All the decisions that they make as a teenager are actually molding and shaping their brain to be patterned to hook up, then break up – check out the book “Hooked” it is a great resource to understand the brain chemistry!

I share this all, to let you know that we want our students to know that Sex is actually a wonderful thing – God made it, calls it an act of worship, it is meant to create intimacy with your spouse but also with God.  It is not a horrible thing that we portray to our students in hopes that we will scare them away from sex until they are married.

As the church – we should be talking about healthy sex, we should be talking about the celebration of a marriage relationship, so we can attract people to a positive message, not a message of Don’t do this, don’t do that – our faith in God is about a relationship, not about the list of Don’t do this, Don’t do that – and that is what we want to promote in “The Sexy Truth” – sexy means attractive and we want to attract people to the Truth about Sex!

Jana Snyder wants you to check out www.thesexytruth.org or her blog  www.tarajaministries.com.

Success, I’m always attempting to put the the puzzle together – to find what it means to be successful. What does it look like to be a successful husband, father, friend, ministry partner, employee, follower of Jesus?

There are times where success lines up and I know it. Then there are times where it feels more like “Suck-cess”.

“Suck-cess” is when you’re running hard. You’re working. You’re putting in time and effort. And in the end, you feel more like you’ve failed then you’ve succeeded. I’ve experienced this a lot in the areas above – especially in the areas as a husband, follower of Jesus and parent.

But, I’ve also experienced this a lot in student ministry. In fact, I’m feeling that way right now.

But I also know, that even though I’m feeling this way now, I need to push through – remaining confident in God’s calling. Because, in the arena of student ministry, I may never know which kid will hear something I say, or remember something we do which changes their life. Working with students is tough. If you’re in the “Suck-cess” period of ministry or life, push through. Don’t give up. Stay with it and the puzzle that is success will work itself together.

Just remain faithful.

Todd Ruth blogs are Live a Revolution.

It’s just another day in America.  Another teen, along with many, are trying on a new identity, testing the boundaries and becoming a unique individual.  Shedding their parents faith they go off to make that faith their own…. or not.  It’s the latter reason that breaks my heart.  Sometimes like today, I’m even brought to the point of tears.

A great sadness fills my heart and an oppressive cloud seems to take over my mind.  Why does it matter so much?  It’s just one teen, just one more friend that I’ve made in this gig called teaching that wants to throw his life to the wolves… I’m sorry let me be “PC” He’s “testing the waters”, “exploring this new freedoms”, “expressing his individuality”.  and you know what?  Even the repackaged version wants to make me cry.  wants to tear my clothes and wear some sack cloths in mourning…

Why? It’s because I care.  I care so much for this kid.  For his future and for the future of all the other kids that at this same moment are making these same choices.  And you know what? It’s just not chic to care, it’s probably not even “PC”.

• Caring is Dangerous.
• Caring is Messy.
• Caring can get you hurt.

… But I still do it.  This is for all who dare to care… to care enough to help.  To hurt enough from you own caring to motivate you to do something about it.

So… start to care.  And start to help.

Mark Schreiber is the youth worker behind www.playinwithfire.org. Check it out!

Youth ministry is more than just showing up once or twice a week during a service. Youth ministry is about investing into the lives of tweens and teens, assuring them you’re there for them and love them. It’s about texting them just to say hi or posting on their wall on Facebook. It’s about walking alongside them as they muddle through the trials and experiences of being a teenager. When you show up on Sunday and Wednesday, yeah, they know you care but it’s when you’re there for the OTHER stuff that really lets them know you’re serious about what you do. It’s being there for the lock-ins, spaghetti fundraisers, mission trips, movie nights, camp, overnight trips and everything else that comprises youth ministry. For me, it’s been at these events that I’ve been able to make the most connections. It’s when you get away from the four walls of the church that you’re able to push beyond the “hi, how are you” and really get to know the them. Seeing them outside the church environment and letting them see you as well – that’s a big part of what youth ministry is about.

And what I’ve learned is that even when they don’t tell you on a regular basis (or ever) “thank you” – it’s not because they don’t think it. In our middle school ministry, we had a message on “5 Thank You’s” and who you would give them to. Two girls handed me a piece of paper, thanking me for being their leader at camp (they had drawn a picture of the remnant of our flag we lovingly named “Nemo” but that’s another story) and another girl thanked me for giving up my time to be with her and my other small group girls. A boy had written a thank you to all of the leaders, thanking us for helping him through “life’s storms” – we all were a little teary eyed at that one. Youth ministry is full of late nights, loud music, crazy events but also kids finding Jesus, knowing they have a safe place to retreat to and leaders who love them. Youth ministry is not for the faint of heart but for those willing to put in the time and effort and you know what? It’s worth every second.

Amber French is a youth worker and blogger – check out her stuff at Food For Thought with a Side of Laughter.

In youth ministry, one of the hardest things I’ve had to experience is leading students into a growing relationship with Jesus, while their parents are doing the opposite.  In a lot of cases, the parent wants the best for his/her teenager.  It’s just that their definition of “best” might not match up with mine.  There are some hard-and-fast rules to engage if you don’t want your teenager to care about God.  The following are just a few.

1. Make sure their extra-curricular activities are priority over church. You should always make sure that their scholarships are intact, and that they don’t get kicked off the team.  That’s definitely more important than their relationship with Christ and eternity, for that matter.

2. When your teenager screws up, ground them from church. Of course! If they don’t care that you take away their TV, cell phone, or friend time, hit them where it hurts.  Take away church.  Yeah – that oughta do it.

3. Don’t call them out when they need guidance. Always let them make their own mistakes.  And if they’re about to do something super-destructive, it’s probably best that they learn on their own.  Because learning it the hard way is always the necessary path, right?

4. Talk negatively about your church staff around your teenager. If your pastor messes up, make sure that you call a family meeting to roast him.  You should definitely let your teenager know that people can’t be trusted, especially incompetent church leaders.  Your teenager needs to know that trusting church leaders isn’t smart!  If they don’t trust church leaders, there’s a small chance they’ll ever accept God’s direction in their life.  And that’s the safer way to live.

5. Don’t model real faith. At the end of the day, the last thing you want to do, if you want your teenager to ignore God’s voice, is to follow it yourself.

Please know my heart on this issue.  We parents need to be leading our families to Jesus every chance we get.  Maybe it’s time to take inventory of who or what we’re actually leading our families to.

After all, actions speak louder than words.

Mark Cox is the Student Pastor at Indian Springs Baptist Church. Stalk him at his blog www.thinknextnow.com or on Twitter @markhcox.

I recently read an article in which a Sociologist wrote that youth pastors “need the kind of job description that allows them to spend all of their time with teenagers-there is absolutely no substitute for spending time with youth and sticking to it for a long time.” I agree and disagree with this notion and would like to further explain what I believe after 17 years of full time youth ministry.

I BELIEVE:

·     Youth leaders need job descriptions that give them direction and help them understand the expectations of their position. I don’t believe they need more “free-time” to spend time with students, but intentionally planned and scheduled time.

·     There are better uses of a youth leaders job than just spending time with students, keep reading before you jump to conclusions. I believe in ministry through multiplication… investing in adult leaders, which multiplies our ability to connect, multiplies our effectiveness, multiplies our gifts and multiplies our Kingdom building efforts. Spending quality time developing, training and encouraging leaders is one of the best investments we can make.

·     Spending time with students and families is one of the greatest benefits of being a Youth leader. However, we shouldn’t just spend time with students and families to meet a quota. We need to be students of students, asking questions that give us insight into their world and life. Through these interactions we will better understand how to plan, equip and communicate to students and families.

·     That youth leaders need “personal and family” times built into their job descriptions. Not to mandate a time of day to spend with their family or on personal development, but to have high accountability in this area. Many youth leaders ignore their own soul and family for the sake of the ministry. Most do this with the best intentions of trying to build the Kingdom; some do it because their job may be at stake if they don’t produce the right numbers or office hours. BOTH are wrong and lead to burnout and in many situations the departure of good leaders. Family and personal time are imperative to longevity and health.

I BELIEVE in youth ministry and the local church. I believe that students can lead… now. I believe that Jesus provides all we need. I believe!

Todd Perkins is the Middle School Pastor at Discovery Church in Orlando, Florida. Hit up his blog at www.realstudentministry.blogspot.com

Lately, I have really been wrestling with the reality that most youth ministries in most areas of the country operate almost entirely in silos.  If we are honest, most of us have no idea of the “goings on” of our fellow youth pastors and their churches in our respected neighborhoods.  We all seem to share in the common goal of “loving God and loving others”, but only as it pertains to our individual student ministries.  Now this might sound negative, but trust me when I say that I am pointing the biggest finger at myself.  Over the last five years I have been as guilty as anyone of buying into the silo mentality that student ministry seems to perpetuate. It is easy to buy into the numbers game.  Trust me!

With that said, I believe that God is desperately trying to communicate something to student pastors, leaders, and even students around the world.  WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER THAN WE ARE APART.  Do you believe this?  This is the question that I have really been wrestling with.  What can student ministries do in partnership that they could never do on their own?  In reality, we are all united in the same cause.  We want to partner with God in making disciples who will make disciples.  Jesus was head and shoulders above anyone else who has ever tried to live out this notion.  Did he go at it alone?  Absolutely not!  He surrounded himself with a team of people who were united for the same cause.

Where does this start?  I believe that this type of movement or whatever you want to call it begins at the leadership level.  What would it look like for area student ministry leaders to “love God and love others” side by side?  How powerful would it be for our students if they could see their leaders on the front lines serving together?  What if student ministry was described as a cooperation instead of a competition?

How does this start?  It starts with you and me.  I believe that this process begins and ends with humility.  Are we willing to humble ourselves and our individual ministries?  Are we willing to stop listening to the lies of the enemy whose goal is to keep student ministries from uniting?  If so, pick up the phone and start calling your student ministry neighbors.  Set up a lunch. Set up a service opportunity. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER THAN WE ARE APART.

Kyle Morris is the Pastor of Student Ministries at warehouse 180 in Arvada, Colorado.  www.warehouse180.com