Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, ?Feed My sheep,? but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people?s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely? to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
BREATHE at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference…DISCOUNTS Still Available!
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of [...]
Posted By Kurt Johnston
I apologize for the distance between my last post and this one…been a bit crazy.
A sixth contributing factor to my longevity is to simply choose to lead differently. Here are a few ways I have tried (I don’t always get it right) to lead over the years: Here?s a new idea: SERVANT LEADERSHIP! I‘m shocked at how many Christian leaders preach and teach about servant leadership, yet fail to actually practice the concept. Here’s my hunch: Everybody starts as a servant leader because we have to in order to gain the trust and respect of our fellow leaders, to earn the trust of people we lead and, frankly, because we are low man on the totem pole….servant leadership isn’t an option early in a ministry career. But as we move up the ranks, gain influence and responsibility, it becomes very easy to slip into a leadership mindset that is just about everything except servant oriented (dare I say “Jesus oriented”?). Don?t ask others to do something you?re not willing to do (everybody says this, but few mean it) Again, I hear it all the time, but don’t see it in action. I think most leaders used to do the stuff they now ask others to do, but many are simply unwilling to re-engage at that level. Obviously, you can’t always do the stuff you used to do, but a healthy leader gets his/her hands dirty…a lot!
Empower, Empower, Empower Leadership gets [...]
We’re very excited about our newest ministry – The Big Day of Serving. The Big Day of Serving is a one-day service event designed to be easy for a youth leader to get their youth group involved in service. The goal of Bid Day is to transform a neighborhood in a single day. It’s only 29 per person and includes lunch, a t-shirt, an opening Kick-Off Rally, all major materials and supplies for projects, devotional content during the day, and Block Party to end the afternoon.
Check out the 2012 Spring Locations:
April 21: St. Louis, MO | Medina, OH
April 28: Denver, CO | West Palm Beach, FL | Lynchburg, VA
May 5: Chicago, IL | Minneapolis, MN | Manassas, VA | Dubuque, IA
May 12: Nashville, TN
May 19: Nashua, NH
You are right, there are far more dangerous jobs than youth ministry. I am extremely thankful that my husband does not stare down the barrel of a gun. I cannot imagine the kind of strength a wife would need for that. No matter what the job each one of us, including myself, has and will face great tragedies. Just in each day there are so many ups and downs. Our lives are sprinkled with many different feelings and emotions from happiness to thankfulness, to frustration to sorrow. My hope is that not one of us would deny ourselves the right to feel validated in each and every feeling that we have that gets mixed up inside of us. I hope that in some small way this blog may be a place for someone in ministry to feel heard, connected, and uplifted through a comment, a funny story, or a serious post. And what I love so much about this community of women is the honesty shared about their lives, and the tone that we all take loving God and our husbands seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously.
I write this in no way with a defensive voice, but with so much concern that many pastor’s wives are told that their feelings are silly or not important. Whether from someone at church or their own inner dialogue. Our “perspective” should be to accept and embrace our feelings whatever they may be and then with God [...]
I love this video!! The story behind it is that the New York Giants coach watched it and later showed it to his team to teach them determination and commitment!
That spirit of commitment is in every girl…our job is to help them discover what in life is worth fighting for and to never give up!!
#4 – Let Ephesians 4:29 be the measuring stick for our posts, tweets, emails, etc.
I’m up early. The reason? I was really disturbed by the number of negative comments made by people in ministry about yesterday’s half-time show. I am hurt and discouraged.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve never been a purchaser of Madonna’s CDs. But the comments about her age, relevancy, past-her-prime…were hurtful. To whom, you may wonder?
To the Youth Watching With Us: If the same negative comments on Facebook and Twitter were made out loud to the students gathered around us watching the half-time show, then our students will think its OK to be mean because “well, she’s not one of us.”
To Madonna: She and so many others are watching us for the love we show. They know our motto is “Love Jesus – Love each other.” I don’t think yesterday was collectively our best example of that.
To Me: I am the same age as Madonna. The many comments about her age from ministry people made me wonder: Are you also saying I’m too old, too? Am I irrelevant? Have I crossed an unseen finished youth ministry line where my gifts are no longer valid, needed, necessary? Let me know because I’ll learn to knit or start playing Bingo if that’s the case.
Don’t worry; I know I’m among the chief of sinners in having a quick tongue. I’m examining myself, too. One thing I do know: no one is built up when we criticize and post with negativity.
Is this [...]
q Jeremiah 1:4 ?The Word of God came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.?
q God had a vision a plan for you. Do you have one for the assignment He has given you?
q Vision: The picture of God?s potential, purpose, and possibilities for your life.
q Show me a person without vision, and I will show you a person who is at a standstill in life.
q Proverbs 29:18 ?Where there is no vision the people perish.?
q Life Point: The key element to getting out of my present state is the vision that I have for myself.
q Jeremiah 29:11 ?For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope,
Vision Truthsq True vision goes beyond what I can accomplish on my own.
q True vision adds value to others.
q True vision attracts vision.
q True vision must have God in it.
q Acts 2:17 ?And it shall come to pass in the last days says God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.?
5 Road Blocks to Vision Failure
I try to plan our High School Ministry’s teaching calendar about 6 months in advance. Keep in mind there aren’t a lot of details, the series titles and maybe a little arc of where it is headed and what we’re hoping to convey. As we get closer to the series, more details come into place and then the week of, the final outline is done. How about you?
JG
More Than DodgeBall – Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin – Saddleback Church's High School Youth Ministry (HSM) A blog about youth ministry and youth worker life from the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church.
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Josh, Just curious … Back in 08 you posted on how you are working on a 4 year plan yet in this latest post you mention only planning 6 months in advance. Why the change? We work off a 4 year teaching plan, the topics are broad in scope… but they are the same 4 topics every year and we make thm relevant to the season we are in. By planning 6 months out are you not just falling under the influence of just teaching hot topics? Just curious?
If I’m not mistaken, the 4-year plan refers to small groups, this refers to the weekend/entry-level program. Great question! JG
[...] try to sit down and carve out the next 5-6 months (poll results on the subject) of the weekend entry-level teaching at a time. Here’s the next batch of where HSM is headed [...]