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Question of the Day

New Series!

Next week we're starting a new series from Dare 2 Share called "Reach Out, Don't Freak Out".  I'm super-excited about this, and I'm hoping it will be a catalyst for our students to share their faith with their friends.

Check out the promo video above, and then click right here to learn more about the series!

The Story of the Thirsty

An organization that is very close to my heart is Living Water International.  They seek to provide clean water (among other water-related assistance/services) to people around the world who do not have access to it.  I cannot imagine lacking access to this most basic of needs.  Would you do me a favor and visit Living Water's website, and also visit their Facebook page and "like" it?  Awareness is the first step towards action, and sharing LWI and the work they are doing with people on your friends list is a great way to start!

Thanks!

Question of the Day

VIDEO: This is My Story

I made this video a few years ago to go along with a series on sharing our stories with others.  I thought you could use it as inspiration to make a similar one for your group, or have a student make one like this, or whatever!  All you need is a digital video camera, a pad of paper, a sharpie, and video editing software that can speed up a video.

Have fun!

Incarnational Youth Ministry

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

The Gospel is built around the core theological idea of incarnation.  The fact that God became a man and made our home his own is full of mystery and wonder.  The very idea that Jesus traded all the glories of Heaven for the mundane has provided inspiration for artists, musicians, and ministers for over two thousand years now.  Somehow, knowing that we were worth this incredible sacrifice, this confounding trading of places, captures our hearts in ways that nothing else can.

God became a man.  The Word became flesh.  For a moment God was physically present here on the earth, and now He has sent the Holy Spirit to be a constant presence in the lives of those who believe in Him.

In youth ministry, we can never underestimate the power of presence in young people’s lives.  Our relationship with God is centered on the incarnation – the presence of God in a place He didn’t have to be.  You also can choose to be present in a place you don’t have to be.  No one is forced into youth ministry.  No one is pressured into getting to know and care for a teenager.  But when we choose to practice presence in the lives of students, we are embodying the very heart of Jesus for His children.  We become incarnate – the love of God made manifest in their lives through acts and words of encouragement, consistent reaffirming love, or simple smiles and unprovoked kindness.

The Word became flesh.  May our love for Jesus, our love for students, and our passion for youth ministry take on tangibility in the lives of the teenagers we are so blessed to know.

GAME: I and Y

I found a great little game over at YouthLeaderStash.com called I and Y that I tried out with my students last night, and it was super fun! Here's a copy from their site (by the way, their website is AWESOME and you should check it out by clicking right here!!):

"To play this game, you will need a room or space that has boundaries and is open and uncluttered. You can use all your students to play this game.

Select one person to be “it.” The person who is “it” is the “I” and everyone else are the “Y’s.” The tagger raises his or her arms straight above their head to make his or her self into an “I” and everyone else puts their arms above their heads in the shape of a “Y.” The goal is to be one of the “Y’s” at the end of the game. The goal of the “I” is to tag someone else so that they are no longer the “I” but one of the “Y’s.” The “I” has to collide with the “Y’s” and bump them with something other than his or her hands so that someone else is “it” and becomes the “I.” In this easy-to-learn game of tag, the “I” has to bump a “Y” (“bump” not tackle, kick, whack or smash) to no longer be “it.” The game can be played for as long as you can allow. Fix a set time and put on a timer so that everyone knows how long they have to try to be a “Y” and not the “I”."

I made a few little tweaks to the game:

- Players - ALL players - can only take little shuffle baby steps.

- While a player is moving, they must say what they are in addition to keeping their hands up.  So, I's say "i-i-i-i-i-i" and Y's says "why-why-why-why-why."  This, combined with the baby-steps, makes for some HILARIOUS looking kids!

- The "bump" of another player is only a sideways hip bump.  NOTHING ELSE.  It seemed like it could turn inappropriate really quick, so I made this a rule.

All in all, it turned out really fun.  Try it and let me know how it goes!

Our Summer Mission Trip

I'm super-excited today because I received my group leader packet for our summer mission trip!

This year we're going to PowerPlant, a church planting mission camp, in Cleveland, Ohio.  I've never worked with PowerPlant before, but I love trying new experiences.  Our Youth Ministry Team selected PowerPlant because it sounded like an exciting and unique opportunity to expose our students to church planting.  You can learn more about PowerPlant by clicking right here.

What are you doing with your students this summer?

ARTICLE - "Fertilizer"

This is a repost of an article I wrote YEARS ago called "Fertilizer".  Enjoy!
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“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven…” - Luke 6:20-23

“… the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” – Romans 8:26

Frustration.  Burn-out.  Depression.  Loneliness.

If you are in youth ministry, it’s not a matter of if these happen to you:  it’s when.  Anyone who has been in ministry (or in faith, for that matter) for a reasonable amount of time realizes that we spend far more time in valleys and deserts than we do on mountains and meadows.

The source of our pain is always different – a difficult senior pastor, an angry parent, volunteers that hurt more than help, a crushing critic – but the results are always the same.  We, who were so passionate and so ready to plunge into this generation of students with the good news of the Kingdom find ourselves sitting alone in our offices feeling defeated, angry, and alone.

How did it come to this?  Didn’t God promise us it would be easy?  Didn’t He promise us success and growth, parents that love us and students that want to learn from us?  Didn’t He give us His cross so that we could hook black lights and speakers up to it and wave it around on a Wednesday night so that we could teach students to do the same?

Sometimes I catch a glimpse of how far we’ve come from what the Kingdom looks like.  Blessed are the poor.  Blessed are the hungry.  The weeping.  The hated, excluded, insulted.  Theirs is the Kingdom, and they are rejoicing.

How do I do that?  How do I rejoice in my frustration?  How do I leap for joy in my bitterness?  How do I dance when there is no one to dance with?

I’ve discovered that I’m not praying right.  I’m asking for ways out of my struggles.  I’m seeking spiritual backdoors to escape conflict and confusion.  The Spirit in me is groaning that to be a citizen in God’s Kingdom I’m going to have to become like those who are already there – the poor, the oppressed, the hurt, and the dying.  I’ve got to stop asking God to take away what I struggle with and instead teach me to rejoice in it.  The solutions to my problems are not really solutions at all – they are changes in mind.  Changes in heart.  Changes in soul.

As I’m learning that the Kingdom is a seed in me, desperate to grow up and out, I’m also realizing that my life is the soil.  Every piece of broken heart and every drop of wounded ego that falls to the ground makes this soil richer, fuller, and more able to sustain life.  In ground like this is where the Kingdom is taking root and growing, where its branches are reaching out, and where its blossoms are bringing beauty – all because the soil was rich with my pain.

So I am trying.  Trying to stop praying for an end to my weaknesses.  Trying to understand that God is made stronger in them.

And maybe, just maybe, I’m beginning to understand what it means to rejoice.

Series: I Heart You

I'm currently going through a 3-week series with our students called "i <3 u" (I Heart You).  Through the series, which I created, we're dealing with love, sex, and dating.

Here's a quick overview:

Week 1 - Love.
The focus this night is asking the age-old question, "What is love?"  Ultimately we will learn that God is love (1 John 4:16) and His love is most clearly seen in the life and death of Jesus (1 John 3:16).  Making God your reference point for what love is will impact every relationship in your life as you seek to live and love like Jesus did!

Week 2 - Sex.
This night we'll be splitting the guys and the girls up after worship to tackle the tough topic of sex.  The girls have a special guest speaker (our local FCA area director, Rebecca Pierce) and will talk about purity, while I'll be taking the guys and looking at what the Bible has to say about sex (is sex really bad?).

Week 3 - Dating.
We'll talk about what dating is, what it isn't, and what it should be.  Ultimately, however you define the word "dating" and whatever your dating life looks like, it should bring glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31).  We'll also talk about establishing boundaries and making sure that you don't give away too much of yourself in dating so that one day you can give your best to your spouse.

That's it - I'm super-excited about this series and LOVE talking to students about these issues.

Do you talk about love, sex, and dating with your students?  How often?

If you're married, watch this!

No matter what you think about Mark Driscoll, this is GOOD stuff!

Question of the Day

LINK: Youth Leader Stash

My good friend Greg pointed me to a fantastic website today.  I had never heard of Youth Leader Stash, but it is awesome!  They have a growing collection of games, talks, and other ideas for you to use RIGHT NOW in your group.

What are you waiting for - check out YLS by clicking right here!

GAME: Group Hug

Group Hug is a great no prep, no prop game that's super fun to play with your group!  The only thing you need is a medium-to-large-sized group.  (Works best with 20+ people.)

Set-Up:  Have everyone stand up and start "milling" around.  Just tell them they have to keep moving.  If they aren't actually doing this, make a rule that they have to walk from one side or corner of the room to the other.  Sometimes it helps to play music during the "milling" phase to get them moving around.

Play:  As they are moving around, call out a random number (usually 2-6, depending on how many you have playing).  Everyone must rush to get into a group hug of that number of people.  If anyone finds themselves alone or in a group of the wrong number after the mad rush, they are out (have them sit down or stand against the wall).  Keep playing until there are just a few kids left.  You can paper-rock-scissors if you want a winner, but I usually just get everyone back in when it gets down to 5-6 people.  Do a few rounds, and then call it before it gets boring!

Tips:  There's not much to this game really.  It's really simple!  Make sure to keep kids moving so they don't just clump up together and keep getting into the same hug, and also make sure you do different numbers each round, otherwise it will get repetitive (and pointless!).

Have fun!

VIDEO: Sit Ski Flip

I got this video in my e-mail today from the awesome people over at The Youth Cartel.  Watching a story like this is so amazing, and reminds me to encourage my students that no matter what they think their limitations are, God is so much bigger and can use them to do ANYTHING!


So rad!

Question of the Day

Share your thoughts in the comments!

GAME: Celebrity Spotlight

Here's a no-prep, no-props, quick and easy game you can pull out of your back pocket anytime at youth group.

SET-UP:  None really.  You just need a group of people and a room/area where you can send someone off where they can't hear you.

PLAY:  At the beginning of each round, you send someone out of the room.  After they are out of earshot, you decide as a group what famous person/character the person outside the room will be (let's use Shrek as an example).  You then call the person back in the room.  They stand up front, and then everyone else in the room begins to raise their hands, and as they are called on by the person up front, asks them questions that hint (SUBTLY) to who the character is.  For example - "Is it easy being green?", "Do you really have layers like an onion?", "How's the princess doing?", or "Why are you so mean to that donkey?"  Keep playing until the person up front guesses who they are or makes it clear that they are not going to get it (at that point, have a funny way to tell them time's up, like a loud sound effect or something).

TIPS:  Make sure to make it VERY CLEAR to the big group - the question askers - to keep their questions subtle, and only hint towards the celebrity/character.  In the above example, you don't want someone to ask, "Did you know your name rhymes with Shmek?"  Sort of defeats the fun... Also, when you're choosing the celebrity/character, keep them fairly well-known.  If you pull out some obscure person/character, the game isn't fun because no one will know what questions to ask and the up-front person won't know who they are.

Have fun!

Published! (sort of...)

I had a few little blurbs published in the January/February issue of Group Magazine (an awesome resource for youth workers!) as part of an article called "The Secret Dreams of Teenagers".  I love Group and the ministry they have going - I've made a lot of connections with some brilliant youth workers through the organization and I know that they LOVE those of us in the trenches in youth ministry.  I would definitely recommend you check out their website and subscribe to the magazine!

You can check out the article I'm quoted in online by clicking right here.

Let me know what you think!

ARTICLE: Congregations Gone Wild

I stumbled on a great article from the New York Times called "Congregations Gone Wild" about emerging expectations churches place on their pastors (and subsequently, I believe, their youth pastors).  It's super-relevant to those of us in YM.  Check out this excerpt:

"The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the local people."

Click right here to check out the whole article, and see if you, like me, resonate with the environment we so often find ourselves in in YM.