prayer | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Summer Camp Planning

If you are like me you may be asking the question “Why are you talking about summer camp in the middle of winter?” That is a great question and something that I want to answer. I am about chest deep in winter camp right now and our students are leaving in less than a month for High School Winter Camp. We have been working on winter camp for the last six months and most everything is set in motion. The planning is pretty much complete. The leaders who will attend are set (almost). The conversations with our speaker and the direction he will go have already happened.

This means that I need to start thinking about, and preparing for, summer camp.

I’m not suggesting that you focus all your attention onto summer camp right now. I am hoping that you close Facebook so that your brain can start thinking ahead to summer camp. Now for us, summer camp is the biggest event we do outside of our regular Wednesday night program. Summer camp is a place where we see huge life change happen and I want to make sure we are ready!

This year we had our location slotted, reserved our spots and booked buses about ten months prior to our departure date. Now this is not my natural bend in life. What I am saying is that I naturally have the tendency to not be extremely planned ahead. I have trained myself to think ahead for situations that require intense planning and require others to be involved.

Here are just a few things you may want to think about as summer is approaching:

1) Know the location
Do you already know the location you are heading to? (You may want to avoid Las Vegas, where I live, cause its really hot!) This is going to be your first priority in planning the camp. Find the location you want your students to attend. Learn about the camp:

Add Comment December 27, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Foundational and Attractional

While I was watching Food Inc. a few weeks ago I had a very peculiar thought… And no it wasn’t I can’t believe I’ve been eating that food… But that one of the farmers they were interviewing, made a comment that as farmers began looking to grow (the size of their farm, make more money, etc.) they stopped looking at the product they were making and the people who were to be the end consumers. Then I realized that as Youth Pastors we are more often than not tempted to try and accomplish this same thing… At so many churches there is either explicit (hopefully not) or implicit expectation of growth. And there becomes this stigma that if your youth group isn’t growing exponentially then you are not a “good” youth pastor. This in turn adds an added pressure or stress to grow… So growth becomes silently more important than the spiritual health of your students. And to get more students coming each week we slowly start teaching “softer” topics and not pushing buttons, and as a result we give students what they want instead of what they need. To the detriment of their spiritual development.

This needs to change CNN recently had an article posted on their homepage about the rise of moralistic therapeutic deism (the idea that God basically wants you to feel good about yourself by being a good person). The thought behind the article was that more and more teenagers are practicing this unauthentic Christianity. Yes part of this trend is based on parents and their lack of living the authentic Christian life in front of their children, but I believe part of the blame should rest heavily upon the shoulders of Youth Pastors. I believe wholeheartedly that there needs to be attractional elements to our ministries. But at the core we as Youth Pastors need to make sure we are being just as foundational as we are attractional. Because the bottom line is this entertaining Youth Pastors beget students who want to be entertained, but praying Youth Pastors beget praying students. If we as pastors began to pastor our students instead of trying to grow our group what would happen? Would we see a drop in attendance? Maybe? Or would we see a rise in fervency?

Maybe we would actually see our group grow because we are training them how to lead their friends and their schools to Christ… But then again what do I know? I’m just a twenty-seven year old youth pastor…

Nathan Derenski is the Youth Pastor Church on Fire Ministries. He Tumblers: www.natederenski.tumblr.com and Twitters: @natederenski

2 View Comments November 14, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts The Lord’s Prayer Video from Willow Creek

The Lord’s Prayer video from the gang over at Willow Creek. Super cool.

JG

1 View Comments October 18, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: See You At the Poll

Did you students participate in this year’s See You At The Pole? We did … pushed kids toward it during our weekend service. Vote now in this week’s poll!

JG

1 View Comments October 10, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts Caring for the Needs of Your Students

Journaled a little bit last week about pastoral care – how we’re called to care for the wounds of the students that have been entrusted to us as youth workers. In the setup we’re launching soon, we’ll have a 3-pronged approach to helping students with the hurts in their lives. Here’s the breakdown:

Small group leaders
One of the most effective groups of pastoral care volunteers in our ministry are the small group leaders. Students that have taken a step beyond the entry-level program of the weekend service come to experience being known, loved and cared for. When they have a problem (or a celebration, for that matter) they most often turn to “their pastor” – a title we’ve quick to award these amazing leaders. The majority (that part isn’t represented well in my Moleskin drawing above, sorry) of struggles and issues are addressed personally and directly here.

Pastoral care volunteers
This is the area where we have a great opportunity to build, we don’t have this yet so I’m talking in more ideal than real. What if there was a team of adults who pray for, counsel, guide and respond to students in need? If a student doesn’t have a small group leader, or needs more than what that leader can provide, we have a response. When a student is looking for prayer on the weekend, there’s a place for them to go. When they finally get up the nerve to call or Facebook, someone is quick to respond back.

The Landing (check out this program in detail here)
On the other end of the spectrum there are kids dealing with major life issues perhaps considered to be “above the pay grade” of the care team or their small group leader. And while we hope leaders know they can take on anything, we want to offer a program with specifically trained and called volunteers who’ve “seen it all” and can help coach and love these students through recovery. That’s where The Landing comes into play – a Celebrate Recovery for students that is available every Friday night of the year.

How do you care for students? Just thinking out loud today – hoping it triggers and idea to care for your students, too!

JG

1 View Comments August 17, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Are You Coasting?

In Mark DeVries book, “Sustainable Youth Ministry”, he writes “If, instead of coasting in contentment, the youth ministry reengages in bold dreaming and engaging innovation, the seeds of fresh, new life can be planted in the ministry.” (p. 72) I believe that Mark is right on and this can be a big problem area in ministry and our personal lives. When we coast, we stop creating and looking for ways to tweak and improve good things that are already happening. It is when we stop creating and innovating that we ultimately lose the edge we have at reaching teens for Christ in ministry and going deeper in experiencing Christ personally.

But creating and innovating is not necessarily the norm and easy to do. It is something we have to fight for as, in all things, it can be very easy to coast. For example, life is going well, just keep on doing what you are doing and coast. Your friendships are going well, so just keep on doing what you are doing and coast. Or ministry may be going well, so again, just keep on what you have been doing and coast. It is when we get in these mindsets that we start becoming ineffective in our personal and professional lives.

For example, some ways that coasting can negatively affect our personal and ministry lives are:

You have been friends with someone for a long time and fairly recently they took up an unhealthy habit (i.e., over drinking, over eating, smoking, etc). Instead of saying the hard word, you coast by not saying anything and watch your friend deteriorate in a self-destructive habit.
You are in a good place right now with finances and a solid working environment so you coast and do not seek to improve who you are at all. Because you coast, when a change in working environment (i.e., new Senior Pastor) or a financial struggle comes up out of no-where (i.e., car accident), you find yourself stuck in a situation where you are not able to get out of easily.
Your ministry is going well and have students coming to know Christ and are being spurred to love him more. So, you coast and continue to do what you are doing with no improvements to programs, strategy or leadership. Because you coast and do not seek to improve what you are doing when leaders stop helping or when numbers decline a bit, you are not prepared to deal with changes.

So, we have to fight to innovate and improve who we are and what are ministries are. For example, some things you could do to not coast are to:

Educate yourself with a seminary class, seminar, or other masters level course to help you be more effective youth minister
Have an outside parent or youth minister come and evaluate your program so that you can seek ways to improve what you are currently doing
Be on the lookout for new leaders. Come up with a potential leader list and start planting the seeds to others that you are interested in them being leaders for you.
Set goals in ministry and your personal life so that you can continue to strive towards excellence in Christ.

As I said, these are just a few examples. Many more are out there. One of my goals for 2010 is to never miss a quiet time with the Lord. This time would not be something that I can just check off the box, but it would be a time where I spend time in prayer, listening, reading scripture, and meditation. As I have experienced a spiritual battle this past year, I know that if I am going to survive and thrive, I need that daily time with the Lord.

Because everyone benefits when we don’t coast, TAKE A MINUTE and…

Examine your life and your ministry. Look what you are currently doing and set 3 goals so that you can do to stay on top of your relationship with Christ and ministry. Then, strive towards them. It would be best if you had someone to hold you accountable to them to keep you focused and on course.

If you have some ways to create and innovate in ministry and your relationship with Christ, post them so that we can all benefit.

Tom Pounder blogs very often at www.notamegachurch.com and has been featured in several guest posts when Josh is on vacation or is just plain lazy.

2 View Comments July 19, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts How to Pray for Your Small Group

Here are a few ways to encourage volunteers to pray for their small groups:

Pray for your students to feel loved and accepted by God. The teenage years aren’t kind to self-esteem. Pray that your students find it in Christ and not someone or something else.

Pray for wisdom in how to demonstrate and model love to each student in your group. Every student is unique and needs you to speak their love language. Pray that God will make your love for each one of them evident.

Pray for your students to make Christ-like choices and to make purity a way of life. Of all the challenges in high school, peer pressure is still at the top after all of these years. Pray God will keep them strong.

Pray for their issues–that God will walk with them through their family struggles, that God will guide them in making significant personal decisions, that God will free them of trapping addictions. Pray that God will open hearts to his Word.

JG

2 View Comments June 3, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: A Prayer for Small Groups

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

2 View Comments March 15, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Praying for your events

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.

1 View Comments March 9, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Kenya Prayer Guide 2010

Day ONE & TWO: (3/4/10 & 3/5/10) Travel to Nairobi then on to Kitale
Pray for safe travel to Kenya. Pray for rest and the preparation of our hearts for ministry. Pray that all goes smoothly with the logistics.

Day THREE: (3/6/10) Travel to Kitale and ministry at the PRISON
Pray for our team as we minister to the prisoners of the Kitale prison. Pray that these prisoners would hear and accept the message of Jesus Christ.

Day FOUR: (3/7/10) Church and Orphanage
Please pray for our team as we experience “Kenyan Church.” Pray that we are an encouragement to those ministering each week to the people of Kenya. Pray that we find new ways to partner with these churches. Pray for our team as we minister to the prisoners of the Kitale prison. Pray that these prisoners would hear and accept the message of Jesus Christ. Also, pray for our ministry to the boys in the orphanage.

Day FIVE: (3/8/10) First Day of Camp
Please pray for our team as we prepare camp for kids and teenagers. Pray for good connections, good conversation, and for camp to go according to God’s plan. Pray for our partnership with Oasis of Hope. Pray for the kids at camp to have open hearts to the message of Jesus Christ. Pray for the students on our team who are teaching, singing, leading and counseling the kids. Pray that we would be open to ministering outside of our comfort zone. Pray for another student on the team today.

Day SIX: (3/9/10) Camp
Pray that God would give opportunities to our students to share their personal faith with a camper. Pray that we wouldn’t miss any opportunities to share Jesus. Pray that God would make an impact on lives through our team. Pray for your student today.

Day SEVEN: (3/10/10) Camp
Pray for protection from exhaustion and the enemy as we wrap up our last day of camp. Pray that our team would have courage and be bold in sharing their faith with the kids of Oasis of Hope. Pray for the team leaders today. Pray for the teachers of Oasis of Hope that they would continue the mission of bringing kids to Jesus Christ.

Day EIGHT: (3/11/10) Ministry at Discover to Recover
Pray for the strength and the spirit of our team. Pray that God would help us to be bold in our conversations with the kids affected or infected with HIV Aids.

Day NINE: (3/12/10) Work Projects at Oasis of Hope
Pray for our last day of ministry. Pray that we would stay focused as team and that fatigue would not set in. Pray that we would make the most of our last day at Oasis of Hope.

Day TEN & ELEVEN: (3/13/10 & 3/14/10)
Pray for safe travel back to Nairobi and then back to the US. Pray that we adjust well spiritually emotionally, and physically. Pray that God would continue to work in our hearts after we return. Pray that we would continue to remember and reflect our journey in Kenya. Pray for protection from sickness and fatigue.