The Wage of Sin is $3.95

Sin is a lot like coffee.

There are many different kinds, but its all the same.
It's exotic and entoxicating.
Everybody else seems to be partaking in it.
It is dark, essily accessable, and can keep you up all night.
It targets worn down people, and they believe they can't live without it.
We have dedicated places to its worship.
It's the first thing on some peoples minds when they wake up in the moring.
But when it comes down to it, its just plain horrible.

Illustration Abomination

Last week our pastor started off the service with an illustration about his oldest daughter and said, "I can do this because she now lives over a thousand miles away". It got a laugh, but I thought it was pretty indicative of how often pastors' families get put in our weekly talks, especially without their consent.

A few years ago someone showed me the parody music video "Before He Speaks" (a spoof of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats"), and it proves that for some nothing is sacred when it comes to finding a personal example to drop into your presentation.

Well in case you didn't know: Your family is NOT meant to be your exegetical punching bag!

Before I posted my blog last week about "The Look", I had my wife approve it. The month before I wanted to entertain some youth with the story or how my seven year old colored her hair with nail polish, but at the time knew it would have been embarrassing for her so I didn't. I am constantly fighting the urge to throw around some stories about my mother-in-law...

Actually that last part is made up, but the truth is that I draw boundaries with my family and illustrations. They don't need to feel ashamed, or awkward at the fact that people have been privied to their extra-personal information. They need to feel secure and respected, knowing that my relationship with them isn't just another tool for ministry. If you feel like there is a story that is just too valuable to not use, talk with them first and get their permission. If they turn you down, respect it. In the end everyone will be happier.

With that said I need to go finish a lesson about how getting gum stuck in your hair is like being caught up in sin...

More Youth Ministry Memes

 

 



Here are a few more funnys for your Wednesday. Tell your friends...



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I think I am going to scream!"

So the other night at youth group we played a little Bible Jeopardy, where many questions were based off what we have studied in the last year. When someone chose "Past Lessons" for 300 and I asked for someone to recite the story of the Prodigal Son I was shocked when I got a room full of blank faces in return. This story had been talked about multiple times in my own Sunday School class, and probably a dozen other times in their childhood, but it wasn't ringing a bell.

Earlier that day in my high school class I had a freshman girl admit to me that she could only remember the story of Radshack, Meshack, and Abednego from VeggieTales.

Later that night I asked if anybody could tell me three key points from last month's series of lessons and nobody was able to get it right.

Have you ever had a moment like this? Have you ever wanted to cry (or at least reach for a bottle of aspirin) because you where so distraught by the fact that you work so hard to teach teens and at the end of the day it seems like you are just wasting oxygen? Sometimes working with teens is discouraging, and it's not uncommon to wonder if they are retaining anything.

The good news is your not alone. Even Jesus had problems with people not "getting it" (his own disciples particularly). Take some time and read through Matthew 16. You will see Jesus addressing religious leaders because they are smart enough to make advanced observations about the weather but not intelligent enough to see the big picture. You will see the disciples get confused about a lesson because they are too worried about snack time. You will even see Jesus calling Peter "Satan" because he is missing the point about Jesus' impending death. That's a lot of disappointment in one chapter, but there are also glimmers of hope. Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13), and Simeon Peter nailed it on the head by identifying Jesus as the Messiah.

I would encourage you today to remember that people will forget what you told them, get the wrong idea, or maybe not even hear what you said at all (It's easy for us to not "get it" when we are distracted by doubt, agenda, or our own failure), but there are many glorious times when we get the privilege of seeing students connect the dots and get the big picture of what God's up to.

I may have heard some disappointing answers last week, but I also saw some amazing kids repeat other truths from God's word that they wouldn't have been able to do if we hadn't been there to teach them.

Keep it up and you will see kids grow!

Moses Bring's the Monday Give Away

Here is a FREE in depth Power Point lesson (verses, notes, and pictures) on the Ten Plagues of Egypt. It's quite informational, and will open your students eyes to an aspect of this classic story that is often not discussed in childrens Sunday School. Did I mention it's FREE!

To get the font I originally made this file with here (otherwise it won't look it's best).

How (NOT) to Prepare a Lesson

Oops, you did it again. You waited until Wednesday to prepare your lesson and you ended up spending the whole morning on Facebook and all afternoon playing with iOS 6, now group is a couple of hours away and you have bupkis to share. What do you do?

Here are a few easy steps to quickly get yourself out of this mess:

Step 1 - Start looking through podcasts you have listened to recently for a message that you can copy.

Step 2 - Realize that you don't have time to re-listen to them and pick out all the main points and scriptures references (besides it would probably go over your students heads anyways).

Step 3 - Google "free youth ministry devos".

Step 4 - Quit searching because all the websites lessons are either twenty pages long or require you to submit a bunch of personal information, and you just don't have time for that either.

Step 5 - Think about talking to the kids about that mission trip to Honduras you took in college.

Step 6 - Remember that you have already used that one three times already.

Step 7 - Start to panic because you still don't have a lesson and you need to leave soon if you are going to pick up some Taco Bell for dinner before youth group.

Step 8 - Frantically thumb through that old Youth Specialties book the last youth pastor left behind of one hundred easy object lessons.

Step 9 - Kill the lesson you thought you could do because the Children's Ministry started locking their supply cabinet since they found out you where "borrowing" stuff from them.

Step 10 - Pick a random NOOMA video off of your bookshelf.

And there you have it, a quick fix to your devotional dilemma. Tune in next time where we will teach you how to get through planning your Sunday School lesson after spending your entire Saturday evening playing X-Box Live!

The Battle For Home

A couple of weeks ago I got "the look".

You know that look. It is that spine shuddering gaze that's somewhere in between "I'm so aggravated with you" and "I'm going to be disappointed in you until you are disappointed with yourself". The one your wife gives you when you do something stupid, but that's not funny. Yeah, that one.

What had happened was that it was Wednesday (one of the most hectic days of our week) and we were trying to eat a quick dinner before we took our daughter to her gymnastics class which would be followed by my high school small group. I told my wife that I had just gotten word of a funeral for a family member of one of our youth, that (I'm not making this up) started at 7:30 that night. What was more absurd than the time of the service was that I had told me wife I wanted to go...

And cue "the look"...

Now before I go on I will say that my wife was in no way a nag or in any way acting selfish, in fact she calmly gave me the option to do whatever I wanted. After weighing things though I decided it was best to come straight home after such a long day and help my wife put the kids to bed.

Of course this situation isn't unique to me, we all have been there...not spousal trouble, but over-commitment issues. It is easy to feel pressured (either by overbearing members of your congregation or your own desire to succeed) into adding one more thing to your "to do" list. The problem we find ourselves in is that we can't do everything and then we have to sacrifice our rest, time with family, even time with God in order to accommodate to the overcommitment monster.

It reminds me of a story from Doug Fields' book "What Matters Most (When NO is Better Than YES)" (which I highly recommend picking up) where he admitted in his younger days to being continually late to dinner for the sake of ministry. It took some choice words from his wife and some flying cutlery, but he realized that sometimes you have to turn down some "good" things to keep a healthy life.

For me, last Friday was packed to the seams and I had the opportunity to take a beautiful little girl to a Daddy Daughter Dance. I looked at all the "good" things that I could fill my time with and said to myself, "You can miss today's blog. There is always time for that tomorrow, but not this."

My encouragement to you today is to fight for those in your home instead of fighting to impress others. It's bad enough they have to share your attention with so many people, at least respect the time when it should be solely on them. Unless you like getting that look, which if you do I have news for you, "Your spouse is more likely to kill you than the stress of full time ministry".

Youth Ministry Memes

 

Hope these bring a smile to your hump day!

 

 

My Big Mouth (Part 3)

So to go back and quote part of that Simon and Garfunkel song, "People talking without speaking" was definitely what I was seeing. It was all too common for people to open their mouths just to have nothing of value actually come out, and I knew I had been just as guilty. What came next for me to learn was the truth behind "People hearing without listening."
When the disciples asked Jesus why he taught in parables he quoted to them some prophetic words...

 

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts"
(Matthew 13:14-15)

 

To break that down, he was saying that we are all too stupid to just sit and use the body parts that the good Lord has given us to perceive with, we get distracted by our own selves and so it became necessary for him to use the hook of a good story to get a point across. And I think that the fellows who wrote this song got that, they knew that it has become the norm to sit at a table while somebody else talks and not ever really open our hearts up to truly hear somebody because we are often checked out, thinking about the next thing we have to do or when it will be our turn to talk.

That was the big thing for me right there, and it finally hit me after a one sided conversation in the middle of my vow of silence.

At the time I was volunteering as one of the key leaders for a local youth ministry that was without an on staff person. In my own little world I was thinking that the timing couldn't be more perfect that I could graduate, do my internship, and then come back and have them hire me. to work full time for this ministry. Of course what we think and what is reality are often two completely different things. I'll just say that "reality" was starting to set in, and I didn't want to come to grips with it, so I went to go have a "talk" with an on campus minister who had actually filled the same position some years back. After writing him a short note he started to share with me, occasionally throwing out a "Yes" or "No" question I could nod in response to, and it wasn't long before it started hitting something that was resonating deep in me. In fact it was drawing at something in my heart so hard that I began to cry.

To be honest I can't even remember what advice he had given me but I knew that once I had stopped thinking about the next thing I wanted to say I was so much more free to listen to the one sharing with me. It was like the consistent running of my mouth had not just become a snare to my soul but an impenetrable cage that kept God's knowledge from coming to me. It's no wonder that God came to Elijah as the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12) and that it is written "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). There is a great need for us to close our mouths so we can open our ears.

And so two things have been learned so far...
1.) A closed mouth gathers no foot.
2.) It also allows you to be something better, something more open.

All of this can be accomplished by just thinking before I talk. I know it sounds so elementary, but honestly those are often the lessons that come back to haunt us because we never learned them quite right. For you it may be just counting to ten before you respond to something to someone said, or maybe in group settings limiting yourself to only sharing so many times. Either way it will keep you thinking "Are these words worth saying?"

The benefits go on and on (from keeping you from dominating a conversation to not saying something you didn't mean), but you have to be willing to be to monitor yourself in order to keep you from sabotage yourself.

It's a me, Monday Give Away!

In honor of Mario Bros. celebrating his 27th Aniversery this month I thought I would give you guys this fun Power Point Trivia Game. Enjoy!

My Big Mouth (Part 2)

Apologies to those expecting a post yesterday. I had intended to continue this story, but something came up, which I plan to mention sometime next week, so keep looking to this blog Monday through Friday. Until then enjoy…

Have you ever seen a movie that had monks in it that have taken vows of silence, and you think, “Hmmm, wonder what that would be like? Probably hard I bet, but then again, what do you have to talk about when you are in a monastery?”

Maybe you think like me, maybe you don’t, but I had thought on more than one occasion that, “If I ever get a chance to go a significant time without talking it would surely prove to be an interesting experience.” Of course how does one in the adult world, full of jobs and responsibility pull off something like that? How much longer would it be before that idea would be permanently filed away as just that, an “idea”? I would soon graduate, start a summer internship, interview for real jobs, before I know it the opportunity to do such an intense exercise may not come up again for years. I quickly realized that there truly was no time better than the present to do this, so I made a vow for the next week, printed up a letter to carry around with me, and prepared myself to learn.

Well, it didn’t take long before the learning kicked in. Sunday passed and Monday morning came, along with another opportunity to honor our senior class. This time it was a ministry students club that met once a month in our cafeteria. This month’s meeting was designed to let our graduates share memories and advice, and for the class to lay hands in prayer on us in an act of commission. Despite some goading by fellow students and a professor I had kept my mouth shut and stuck to my commitment not to speak, but it was apparent that not everyone else had the same conviction over the weekend as me. Just about every student that spoke said something that was less than appropriate or affirming, and if anything made me want to lay some hands on them in aggravation. These were ministry students, our next batch of leaders in the world, and they were embarrassing themselves in front of classmates and teachers.

The great American writer Mark Twain once said, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” While this quote is quite humorous I feel it best describes how I felt that day towards myself and my fellow students. While I was still getting flack from people about my discipline practice (my roommates had started calling me the “Wordless Wonder”), I was resting in the fact that my integrity still stood where others had fallen. I shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that conviction and self control gets mocked by fools in our world, after all Jesus did coin that “pearls before swine” thing, but it was awful to see it coming from aspiring Christian leaders.

And here is where I truly learned my first leadership lesson from this experience…

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." – Plato

…I know this phrase has had various renditions over the years, and I’m not sure if Plato is the originator, but boy is it ever true. It really is a litmus test for deriving whether someone is a real leader or just a loud mouth. That morning gave me a wake up, a reason to keep pursuing this life free of ensnarement by my words, but it wasn’t until later that I discovered exactly how I could be successful in doing so.

And that’s where I am going to leave you all until next week. Have a great weekend, and be on the lookout for Monday’s free ministry tool give away!

My Big Mouth (Part 1)

My last semester of college I was wanting to do a cover of Mrs. Robinson by the folk duo Simon and Garfunkel. I decided to Youtube a video of them and see exactly how they played it. Among related searches for the song I was looking for was multiple videos for The Sound of Silence. I had never even heard of the song before, so I clicked play, and then I clicked it again three or four times in a row. There was just something about it that was mesmerizing and provoking, yet depressing at the same time. Its like that song was the grandfather of emo music. A lone acoustic guitar and two harmonized voices singing, “People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening… Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you…And the signs said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls…And whispered in the sounds of silence.” I didn’t get it, and too be honest I still don’t entirely, but it was about to be an anthem for a valuable learning experience in my life.

At the time I was three weeks from receiving my diploma, and I was sitting at a nicely set table, with nicely dressed people, eating nicely prepared food, awaiting to see which of our graduating seniors will be awarded nice little plastic trophies. A pair of presenters came up to announce the nominees for our classes most outgoing male and female. Now, I had people tell me that they nominated me, but I didn’t believe I would really make the ballot, so I joked about how I knew I was a shoe in for the award since I had done several things to draw people’s attention to myself in the previous years (from the time I took my shirt off at a baseball game to get on the jumbo-tron, to all the times I stood up in the cafeteria and sang “Happy Birthday” to someone).

I was surprised when the announcers said my name as one of the three contestants. I wasn’t so surprised when I won, and to be honest I wasn’t very excited either. I didn’t have a lot of fun that night. In fact there were multiple moments I felt like I stuck a Payless shoe store in my mouth. Thoughts and things I said prior to the awards ceremony ranged from argumentative to immature, and winning only made me more aware of my foolishness. The award should have just been called “The Diarrhea of the Mouth Award”.

I lay in bed that night more angry at myself than tired (and I had been going nonstop that day since six in the morning). Why did I say so many stupid things? Things that got me in trouble with long standing relationships, and things that hindered the growth of new ones. And all I could remember (besides the idiot I had been) was that Proverbs sure did say a lot about watching your mouth. I felt the pain that Solomon meant when he wrote, “A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul” (Proverbs 18:7). More than ever did I realize the truth that “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise” (Proverbs 10:19). It was time for me to practice being wise.

Now I hope that many of you can glean something from just this single evening’s narrative and these few scriptures, but it is not the end of the story. In fact it was only the beginning of something that I learned, and I wish to share with you over the next few posts, so please stay tuned. In the mean time take a moment to think what is happening when your words are many, and perhaps give some Simon and Garfunkel a spin.

Belated 9/11 Post

I wrote this over a year ago, and thought about re-posting it yesterday for the anniversary of 9/11 and didn't, but after being way behind on things today I thought it is worth sharing again, despite the date...

I remember 9/11...I remember sitting in my first hour class and watching live as the second plane came out of nowhere and crashed right into the tower. I remember how emotional everyone got and how Osama bin Ladin became the most wanted criminal in the world.

What some of you may know is that Osama bin Ladin was responsible for other terrorist acts including the 1998 bombing of a U.S. Embassy in Africa. What I would dare to bet not many of you are aware of is that on Christmas Eve 1979 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The United States, and other groups, wanted to support Afghanis in defending themselves so they provided local militias with money, guns, and military training. One of the leaders of that group was Osama bin Ladin.

What makes atrocities like 9/11 worse is that they were organized by someone we once tried to help. It's like we've been betrayed.

Rewind things almost 2,000 years to the time of a man named Jesus. He lived during a time when his home country was occupied by a foreign military. Romans oppressed his people. It was these same soldiers that nailed him to the cross. If Jesus had an enemy it would have been the Romans.

Or even better yet, the follower Judas who betrayed him, turning him over to the guards when they were looking for him.

Jesus knows how it feels to have someone do terrible and unspeakable things to you. God in the flesh knows what it's like to come try to make things better for the whole world, His children, and end up being betrayed by them.

But here is the thing...When Judas committed suicide because he couldn't live with the guilt of what he did, God didn't celebrate yelling, "Justice has been served". And when the Roman empire fell, Jesus wasn't up in Heaven saying, "Serves them right".

You may ask, "How do you know this?"

- I know because on the cross Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

- I know because when Jesus taught he told people to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44)

- I know because Ezekiel 33:11 says 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."

- And I know because the Bible teaches us, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them." (Proverbs 24:17-18).

I believe that people can be really hurt by a catastrophic event. It can scar them, change their lives, and cause them to carry around a lot of baggage. I also believe that often people don't know what to do with their hurt and so they jump on the bandwagon of hatred, trying to find solace in all the wrong places.

There are a lot of similarities between 9/11 and the crucifixion, but the major difference is where the people put their trust. I ask you, do you wait on and live for revenge or do you do as Jesus did and "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." (1Peter 3:23)

Only one of these routes will lead to true justice being fulfilled, and its not the one with hatred, slurs, and ignorant Facebook statuses.

 

The Delicate Art of Affirmation

 

So a few years ago I had this youth at our church who wanted to be in a leadership position. Not so much that they had been called to be a minister to others, but they just want to be in charge. One summer they came before the Board of Christian Education when they heard that we wouldn’t be organizing a VBS, and proposed that if they got all the needed supplies donated they could organize one. The board approved the venture, and the teen began what I will only describe as a tyrannical dictade. The last night of VBS the president of the Board of Christian Education closed up shop by sharing a few words to visiting parents and volunteers and then said that she wanted to give a special thanks to the teen that had helped get things moving for VBS. It was at this moment that the student came up on stage, walked up to the microphone, and started giving an inappropriate impromptu on par with Kanye West’s charade at the VMAs a few years back. Despite drawing mass amounts of attention to themselves they managed to make a few backhanded comments about other volunteers in the process. The whole thing was terrible.

The event brings to mind a verse from the book of Proverbs which says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives” (Proverbs 27:21 NIV). For those who don’t know, precious metals are tested and formed with high heat in instruments like a furnace. The comparison the writer is making is that just as you can find what quality minerals a piece of gold or silver is made of when you heat it up you can also see what quality character a person has if they get the praise of others and how they receive it. Now there are many people who deserve a round of applause for the work they do and never even get a pat on the back, and not everyone who gets a little public recognition is going to respond with a dramatic acceptance speech worthy of the Oscars, but this is generally a pretty honest indicator.

If you ever tell a kid that you think they are pretty talented at guitar and they precede to brag or break down a sick riff for you right there then they probably aren’t ready to lead the worship team, and if you compliment a students on a good decision they made and they respond with a comment such as, “I know, not like so and so did” then you may want to reconsider asking them to participate in that student-lead devotion next month. Of course this doesn’t go just for teens; I would strongly suggest the same when dealing with adult leaders, if they have done something to make you question the compliments you have given them it may be time to examine why. Talk to this person about your concerns. It may seem tough, even awkward; to do this at first, but remember that in the long run you are helping them by not affirming their ego and possibly saving yourself some future ministry headaches.

Free Social Media Game

Everybody knows that kids are masters of the internet and apps, but which kid in your group is the most knowledgable? Try out this FREE printable game (includes the test page, word bank, and answer key) that is great for a small group discussion opener, or a great contest for your whole group!

Print your PDF here: http://bit.ly/P5TxgP

It's a meme meme world...

So about a year ago I was sharing a story with a teenager regarding something that had recently happened to me and it seemed like he was intently listening because afterwards he said, "Cool story bro", which lead me to believe that he was actually giving said story validation.

The next week I was surfing the web in my continual efforts to be "relevant" and I was lambasted when this phrase came up as word of the day on Urban Dictionary...

cool story bro

An appropriate response to a story that went nowhere and/or was completely uninteresting.
Example:

Person 1: "This one time me and my brother were eating sandwiches and he was like 'dude, I hate mustard' and I was like 'yeah.'"
Person 2: "Cool story bro."

 

I was a little shocked, and then I laughed, and then I was amazed that I had been punk'd by one of my own students because of my lack of meme knowledge.

 

Now some of you may be asking yourself, "What is a meme?"

 

According to Wikipedia it is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

To sum that up in layman's terms, "just about any popular catch phrase or joke from the Internet".

With that said you can break things down into all sorts of sub-categories of memes.

There is the "Spoof on Pop Culture" family of memes. One of the best examples of this right now is Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe", which plenty of people have ad-libbed on. Here is an example that I had made up before...

 

 

 

Another class is what I refer to as the "Constant" meme. There are lots of memes that people create off of a theme/character that have a constant feeling about them. Some of the most popular (including Socially Awkward Penguin, Bad Luck Brian, and First World Problems) can be found at http://www.quickmeme.com. What is great about this site is that it does not only let you see the latest renditions of these classic memes, but it also lets you create them, which can be a powerful tool in the online realm for youth ministry. Take a look at a couple of examples I have made...

 

 

 

 

There is one more grouping of memes that I can't really describe other than "Dumb". They are stupid, they don't try to make a point, and often they don't even make sense, but they circle around the Internet like a turd around the toilet bowl. Most of these are phenomenon on YouTube, but they don't necessarily have to be videos. A good example would be the video "Nyan Cat" which took up such popularity that it has spawned variations and remix videos that last anywhere from 10 to 100 hours. I would say that these almost have no purpose in using as ministry tool unless you are trying to keep middle schoolers with A.D.D. occupied while you are getting ready to start an event.

 

So there you have it! An introduction to the worlds of memes! It is by no means a comprehensive education, but its enough to get you started from no longer being left out of the joke to using them as stepping stones in your ministry. If you want to learn more about the nature of memes or the backgrounds of individual ones try visiting http://knowyourmeme.com/. 





 

The Touching Side of Youth Ministry

Sorry for a late post today, had a kid have to go home from school and to the doctors office, but praise God everything is alright!

 
So yesterday I posted a top ten list of humorous "You Might Be a Youth Pastor" refferences, but the truth is that sometimes it's not all fun and games. Sometimes its hard, but many times it is worth it.

If you've ever taken a call after midnight...

If your hearing has been shot by constant loud music and screaming, but you are still a good listener...

If you have ever gone to a game for a kid that sat on the bench most of the time...

If you have ever seen a kid come to school instead of making up excuses because they were excited for an on campus ministry...

If you have ever gone to a funeral where you didn't know the deceased, but you did know their kid...

If you have drove an hour to go visit a kid in a hospital...

If you have sat with a family during a time of crisis...

If you have realized a students capacity to change the world...

If you've stopped a runaway, suicide, or abortion...

If when a kid says they want to tell you something you put down what your doing and make them feel like someone actually cares because you listened...

You might be a youth pastor, and if you have ever made a difference in a kids life and someone hasn't told you yet....

Thank you!

Where It All Started...

Youth ministers have the most unique job in the world. I mean what other occupation can you make 800 water balloons and talk to a kid about their parent’s divorce in the same day? That uniqueness brought about a Twitter project (https://twitter.com/YMBAYP) a couple of years ago, which is now giving birth to this blog. Today I thought I would let you see some of my favorite “You Might Be a Youth Pastor” jokes, and give you the opportunity to share some of your own.

Just to give credit where it is due, all of my jokes where ignited by a friend of mine (Chad Carter), who made up this gem one day…

“If you don't carry anointing oil because the foreheads of those you pray for have their own supply, you might be a youth pastor.”

Maybe it’s not as funny to you, but it had me laughing, and pretty soon it had me inspired to bring smiles to other youth workers faces via a little observational humor. Over the course of a couple of years I feel like I’ve had some good ones, some bad ones, and some indifferent ones. I’m not going to say the following list is the hit parade, but they are some of my personal favorites. So enjoy!

10.) If you have ever dubbed a car wash fundraiser as an "Auto Baptism"…

9.) If you have ever told a van full of kids to get out and push…

8.) If you have trained your brain to automatically execute the side hug…

7.) If the word "progressive" makes you think of dinners instead of ideas…

6.) If you use only one club when you take clients out to golf…

5.) If you have ever told a 6th grader that jumping in the lake doesn't constitute as a shower…

4.) If you have ever started a lesson by saying, "Does everyone know what a eunuch is?"…

3.) If you go to Starbucks with your boss and he orders coffee while you get a chai tea latte..

2.) If you grow facial hair to impress those who can't…

1.) If you stylishly spike your hair despite your receding hairline…#YouMightBeAYouthPastor

 

The Future of Youth Ministry

I wrote this a while back and just came across it yesterday. After re-reading it I was quite impressed with myself because I realized I wasn't just blowing smoke. It has given me a couple things to think about with the ministry position I have been filling for the last year, and I hope it's of some service to you as well...

Someone recently asked me, "What does the future of youth ministry look like?"

It’s hard to say where youth ministry is “going” It would be impossible to tell you exactly what the next fads are going to be and what programs everyone will be running. What I can say however is what is going to be necessary for youth ministry to have a future.

Long ago youth ministry left the realm of hay rack rides and singing “Kumbaya”. Kids needed something more lively and in the 1990s we saw an explosion of Christian rock bands, crazy clipart filled newsletters, and wild games. Yet again youth culture has shifted and now Facebook reigns supreme while high school students could care less about watching their classmates eat baby food blindfolded. We are finding that students are entertained less and less by simple and more and more by flashy. The good old wholesome fun has died and hype is the new king.

How do we combat this? What should be our response? Should we make flashy programs that depend on an over the top budget? Should we compromise our own character to be “relevant”? Do we need a really cool youth building?

No, the answer is in authenticity.

Youth ministry has come to the state where the only thing that is really going to successfully reach kids for Christ is real people advertising a real Christ and offering a real gospel.

This means leaders not trying to entertain kids by being characters or trying to catch their eye by dressing and talking any younger than we really are. We need to stop trying to be interesting and just be interested in kids. There are enough posers in the world, but not enough people that genuinely love these kids on a daily basis.

This means teaching students who Christ really is, (not timid Jesus “meek and mild” that they learned about in Children’s Ministry). Ask any teenager at your local high school what they think about God and they will say things like, “boring”, “outdated”, and “for old people”. Kids need to know that Jesus is a brave and brilliant person worth studying, a rally point for change in their world, and a radical model to live by.

This means offering teens a real message of good news, not just feel good candy. Today’s youth need to hear how the Bible can actually be applied to their lives rather than another rendition of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Our kids need to desperately know about a faith that can help them instead off how Jesus is like a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Kids can smell fake from a mile off , but when they see people being real, something that makes real sense, or a catalyst making a real difference, they will realize it is something that the really want to be a part of. If that’s what our ministries were like we would see far less kids getting bored and walking away from them.

The point I am trying to get at is that authentic is infectious, and if we are entering into an age where we are fighting against hype, the only choice I see is to identify our ministries in one of those two fields. If you choose to go with hype you will run the risk of loosing kids because the allure has worn off and you can’t keep up with what’s “in”. But if you go the route of authenticity you will live to see the future of ministry, and by that I mean kids taking ownership of their faith and sharing it for generations.

Monday Freebies are Here!

 

Here we are with the Blog's first official "Monday Give Away"! In order to help you overcome the blahs of beginning a new work week I thought I would give away cool resources that would bring a smile to your face and to your youth ministry. (If you missed last weeks "Spotify/Name That Tune" game that I posted from Twitter make sure that you check it out here: http://bit.ly/Pjsdte).

 

What we have today is 5 weeks worth of outlines for your Small Group/Sunday School all surrounded around the show SpongeBob SquarePants (which is readily available on Netflix and iTunes). Each of these lessons contains details on the episode, scriptures, and group questions. My kids really enjoyed this series, and I think yours will as well. http://bit.ly/NJ0cRy

 

Check back through out the week to see if I post any other random, interesting, or insightful stuff. Otherwise see you next Monday!

 

 

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