Josh GriffinMore PostsGUEST POST: Rejoicing Under Pressure

I’ve seen some people who coast through life, never changing and who continue to live the exact same quality of life as they have for years. As God’s children, we are not meant to live this way. We are meant to be challenged and pushed to newer heights. We should be excelling in ways unimaginable.

At the sign of pressure

Romans 5:8 says “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.” You should not be crushed when pressure comes but rejoice because newer heights are about to be released in your life! As a mother who loves her child, when you see your child struggling with something, you do not immediately jump in and do it for them. You allow them to feel the pressure and try a little harder and a little harder…until they finally get it right. You know that feeling the pressure is necessary to becoming a part of society. Same for our loving Father in heaven, he allows the pressure in order for us to become more Christ-like.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” No matter how tight the pressure, God works all things together for our good so next time you are feeling overwhelmed with pressure; choose to trust God and know that He loves you. Know that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and YOU are in His hands

Next week: Pushing Through the Pressure

Ashley Fordinal is the Children’s Church volunteer at Family Life Church in Sulphur Springs, TX.

TagsComments Add Comment January 20, 2013

Geoff StewartMore PostsBeing A Youth Ministry Renaissance Man / Woman

I don’t know what is harder about working in ministry, staying informed on what is going on in the lives of our students or keeping up with the expertise in the many field required to keep the ministry going. For any youth group in any size church you are by all intents and purposes running your own small church and for most of us, that means that we have to fill the roles of each person on a regular staff of a church and that can be daunting. Being good at a few things is easy, but being good at dozens of important jobs can be overwhelming and off the top of my head here is a list of regular parts of many youth workers jobs:

  • Pastor
  • Cousellor
  • Mentor
  • Coach
  • Photographer
  • Logistics coordinator
  • Videographer / Video Editor
  • Sound tech
  • Musician
  • Graphic Designer
  • Accountant
  • Handyman
  • Bus Driver
  • Activity Coordinator
  • Public Speaker
  • Camp Director
  • Web Designer
  • Carpenter
  • Chef
  • Janitor
  • Theologin
  • Secretary
  • Marketing Director
  • Any many more…….

My brain hurts thinking about it, but for each of us we are faced with the reality of needing to wear many hats and be talented or at least competent in each of them. When you look at your ministry area are there any that we missed, any other jobs that you do? 

-Geoff @geoffcstewart

TagsComments 4 View Comments January 9, 2013

Josh GriffinMore PostsPOLL: Youth Ministry Lifer


Last week’s short post about being a youth ministry “lifer” (Read it here: Who Cares If You Are a Youth Ministry Lifer?) – filled my inbox with comments and obviously struck a chord (both positively and negatively) with many people. Thought I would ask a follow-up post this week and see where you stand. Pick the phrase above that best describes you – vote now!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment January 7, 2013

Josh GriffinMore PostsWho Cares if You Are a “Youth Ministry Lifer” or Not?

For a long time in our shared calling we’ve made a big deal about being a “youth ministry lifer” – someone who does youth ministry until they’re super old. There certainly was good reason for that when the average stay of a youth worker in a church was less than a year and people recklessly used the position as a stepping stone to become a real pastor.

But here’s what I started thinking this morning: we need more youth workers in other parts of the church, too. We need more youth workers to become senior pastors. We need more leaders of businesses, organizations and non-profits to think like and care like youth workers. Why do we guilt people into staying when God is calling them on? Maybe it is a good thing that many don’t stay in youth ministry their whole life – I just want them to still think, serve and love like a youth pastor when they move on.

I’m not planning on going anywhere – so you’re hearing this from the heart of a youth ministry lifer: if you’re dropping out of youth ministry, always be a youth pastor, even if you’re title changes a little bit.

JG

TagsComments 8 View Comments January 1, 2013

Josh GriffinMore PostsWhen You Start to Think This, You Are in Trouble

Here are some warning signs about your heart, your ministry, your life – when you start to think this, you are in trouble:

  • My church is lucky to have me
  • I’m going to leave this church as soon as I can
  • My senior pastor is an idiot
  • No one will care about this receipt
  • If I was in charge I would never do it that way
  • This little sin isn’t a big deal
  • I wish I had what that megachurch down the road has
  • I don’t need to be in a small group myself
  • I wonder if they need help … oh well, they’ll figure it out
  • That church must be shallow since they are growing
  • Hmmm … red flag with that volunteer, but I’m not going to say anything
  • This is just a tough week, or a tough season, or a rough quarter
  • I just don’t have time for my own personal spiritual growth
  • Volunteers aren’t worth the trouble
  • I’ll just copy what every other church is doing
  • Sermon prep counts as a walk with Jesus, right?
  • Camp will just have to count as a vacation this year
  • I kinda like this little silo I’m in
  • Our church website makes it look SO much better than it actually is
  • I have to sacrifice my marriage for the kingdom
  • I might as just well do it, I will in the end anyhow
  • This kind of seems like a legitimate expense
  • No wonder the last youth pastor left in less than a year
  • If I only made 10K more
  • I don’t need relationships with the rest of the staff
  • 65 hours is a good typical week
  • I think I can justify this to the finance committee
  • Our church values the youth ministry right above the cleaning crew

Others?

JG

TagsComments 3 View Comments December 21, 2012

Josh GriffinMore PostsA Van Full of Memories

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Our family minivan passed away this past week. It wouldn’t be too long before it crossed literally a jillion miles and after a long battle with various illnesses …  it finally gave up the ghost. We were way beyond that “good money after a bad vehicle” point and it was time for a new family vehicle.

We did a ton of research online and finally landed on a 2008 Silver Honda Odyssey (59K miles), used, but in good shape and with the features my wife really wanted. Most importantly it was within striking distance of our youth pastor salary budget. Sounded perfect. So we rolled down to the dealer to check it out, worked out a deal, and at 9pm drove away from the dealer with a van we loved. We cleaned it out, the kids moved their car seats over no problem and we drove away.

Then on the drive home, one of the kids started crying … then all 4 did, then my wife and I did, too. We talked about a ton of great memories we shared in that vehicle:

  • This is the only car the kids remember in their whole lives
  • Taking the kids to school every morning the past 5 years
  • It brought our baby girl home from the hospital
  • Taking the kids to sports practices and games
  • Took us on a 7,000 mile summer road trip
  • Took them on countless field trips
  • It brought home our baby boy from the hospital
  • Picked up grandparents from the airport when they visited
  • … and so much more

We had a van full of memories. And it was hard to say goodbye. We all shared through the tears and we even prayed over our new van. Made me feel silly at first, then really happy.

Because this isn’t really about the van … but about what it represents. It represents, family, love and a new life stage for us. I’m excited to drive this newer vehicle around – so much safer and better than our last one. But beyond that I’m excited to fill it with memories as our kids head into the next stage. Teenagers, dating, sports and more road trips. Let’s load up the van kids, here we go!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 18, 2012

Josh GriffinMore PostsGUEST POST: What’s your Rhythm?

7am: Wake up, read the paper, drive to work
9am: Start work
12pm: Lunch break with lunchtime workout
1pm: Back to work
3:15: Coffee Break
5pm: Home time
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Kids to bed and TV Watching
10pm: Bedtime

Is this what your routine looks like? Mine neither. As youth workers we often have some weird schedules. We are up late so we start in the office later. Some days are 12 hrs long while others wrap up in a just a few, because we just came in for a meeting.

No matter what your day looks like to be effective you need to find a rhythm. Music sucks without it and so will you. What does having a Rhythm look like?

I don’t believe that every day has to look the same, in fact if it did that would be rather boring. However, I strongly believe in finding what times of day I am productive in and when am I least productive.

About a year ago I sat in on a seminar Doug Fields was leading at a conference and he was challenging people about living a balanced life. One of the things he talked about was finding your productive times and using them well. For some people that time is morning, for me it’s mid afternoon. So that’s when I focus on getting things done. I would strongly encourage you to do the same find this time yourself.

In order to figure out our productive times and how to fill them we need to look at two things:

  • Priorities: For me this looks like the time I spend with God for personal time and for work it is writing talks and strategizing. If it’s the most important thing to me shouldn’t it be what I am giving the best of my time and brain power
  • When do I have maximum brain capacity: This took some searching and messing around with the order I did things during the day. I tried writing at the beginning of my day, the middle and the end. I’ve tried starting off my day with God and ending my day with God.

Through this investigation I figured out how to make my life at home and work more effective. While my day looks nothing like what I wrote above it does have some consistency. I slot my Bible reading and message writing for mid-afternoon. I often have a snack and drink before I do this. When others are hitting that wall or slowing down, I find I can break away and really focus on God.

Now some people may be wondering what I am going to do in my less productive times, and for them I answer the things that take less brain power. I find looking for graphics, updating Facebook or twitter to require less from me so I do them during this time.

So what is your Rhythm? If you have found it, have you put your priorities in place? Are you honoring God with your time and your efforts? I want to challenge you to mix up your day and see if there is a way to make better use of it. We are never perfect but we can strive to be better.

Kyle Corbin has been serving youth as a volunteer or pastor for over 10 years. He is currently the youth pastor at the Bridge Church in North Vancouver B.C. You can follow his blog at: kylecorbin.blogspot.com or Twitter: @CorbinKyle

TagsComments Add Comment December 16, 2012

Josh GriffinMore PostsGreat Leaders Are Great Followers: Part 2

This week we’re focusing on leadership—specifically, the upside-down concept that to be a great leader you have to be a great follower. Yesterday we looked at Follow-Up and Following the Leader—here are two more.

Follow Jesus
We didn’t start with this one yesterday because it may have felt cliché to lead with this one—but it is the most important “following” out of all of them…hands down. Following Jesus can be easily faked, but the person who genuinely follows Jesus shines with an authenticity that is easily recognized. Be that person! If you want to be a truly great leader, make sure you follow the Leader.

Practical ways to get better at following Jesus: Find a resource that will help you spend time with Jesus every day. Download the YouVersion Bible app and pick a reading plan—be sure to set a reminder each day to give you a nudge in you haven’t marked it completed by noon.

Block out a little time for prayer before your lunch hour each day. Spend a month and only read the red letters in the gospels. Being more familiar with the ways of Jesus might actually help you follow him more closely!

Follow a mentor
Don’t risk doing youth ministry alone. You need a person who has been there before who can share wisdom with you from the journey. It doesn’t need to be someone in the exact same profession, but someone who can relate to your calling and shares some of the same passions. All great leaders have great mentors, if you want to be great be humble enough to learn from someone else today.

Practical ways to get better at following a mentor: Find a network in your area where you can gather and talk shop. Search online for a veteran youth minister in your area to help coach you. Find blogs, books, and resources that will help mentor you and push your development. Identify somebody in your congregation, from any profession, that you respect and ask them if they’d join you for coffee once in a while.

This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.

TagsComments 1 View Comments December 3, 2012
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