Resistance is NOT futile!

I've been a junkie for brain development studies for about 4-5 years now. It all started with Barbara Strauch's book "The Primal Teen" and has evolved into a slight obsession with related articles and blog posts. Not exactly the light, fun reading one finds in "Boy's Life," "Brio," or "Obscure Sports Quarterly" but still really cool and only slightly dorky!

As youthworkers, it's our responsibility to stay on top of the latest findings concerning teenagers' brains. If we're going to help them learn to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, it's vital that we tune into what neurologists are discovering.

Adolescent Brain Development Tied to Resisting Peer Pressure

The article linked above talks about teens' ability to resist peer pressure. We tend to get discouraged by the increasing amount of peer pressure students face beginning when they enter middle school. However, we can also be encouraged that even as peer pressure increases, so does teens' ability to resist that very same pressure!

Pretty cool of God to wire teens with a biological advantage for the mental/spiritual battles they're going to face, huh? Let me know your thoughts after you've read this article!

The Other 3:16's (A Resource)

This year our middle school youth group (The ROCK) is gearing up for Easter by doing a series that we are calling 'The Other 3:16's'.

Just thought that I would post the graphics and the concept here for you to use if you are looking for a series to do in the next few weeks.

The Other 3:16's

John 3:16
Easter is coming, and so we want to start with the most basis of the 3:16's.
This is the one that it seems as if everyone knows, but one that we desperately need to understand and own deep in our hearts.
John 3:16 tells us of a God who loves us to much to let us die.

Revelation 3:16
While John 3:16 tells us how Jesus acted towards us, Revelation 3:16 speaks to how we are to respond back to Him. He wants us to live a life that is full and all out for Him instead of settling for lives of mediocrity.

Philippians 3:16
Jesus has given His all for us, and we are to respond back in worship to Him.
Now what?
Paul tells us that every day we need to be pressing forward into Him and into who He wants us to become.

Sword Drills, Hired Guns, 5 G's, and Your Ministry

If I told you I could have you meet with Doug Fields for one day and he would lay out the plans for your youth ministry, how much would you pay?  Or maybe Steven Furtick?  Or Mark Driscoll?  Rob Bell?  Marko? How about Jon Duey?

Yeah, I know, if push came to shove, and the offer was legit, we would try to scrape together whatever money we could from our undersized budgets and make it happen.  All of us want to see our ministries improve and do a better job of building the kingdom.  That's why we do youth ministry.  I mean, it's not for the overload of pizza we are exposed to.  It's because we love God, we love kids, and we want to see the Kingdom explode with students and families loving their King. 

That's why when Jesus gives us some commands, we try to take it seriously.  One of the more memorized and quoted ones is Matthew 28:19,20.  You know it.  We call it the Great Commission.  You've got it down.  Go into all the world and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do everything I've commanded.  We work on that everyday of our lives as student leaders and pastors.  It's what we are all about. 

Have you stopped recently to evaluate how that is going?  No, no, not in a guilt trip kind of way.  Just in a "hey, how are we doing?" kind of way.  If we don't stop and inspect where we are, we can get way off track.  On this pyramid we use, Level 3 is Beginning Discipleship.  This is the stuff that helps all of us move forward in our faith.  It's the foundational disciplines that we need to grow. 

We look at things like prayer, memorizing verses, reading the Bible, giving, living in some type of community where we can know others and be known.  It's the foundational stuff.  If you've been around Willow Creek, it's the Five G's.  If you've been around Saddleback, it's the Purposes.  We talk a ton about these things.  But how intentional are you about them?

As we help students understand these ideas, we are trying to build a self-sustaining foundation in them that will last way past their days in youth group.  I don't want students to memorize verses because they "have to".  I want to help them understand why storing God's truth away helps them live today.  I want to foster a love affair with the Bible in student's hearts.  I want them to learn to give because it sets them free to live the life He has called them to.  All of this takes a plan, which changes over time.  If you wrote your plan four years ago, it's past time to review it and revise it.  Your students have changed, your culture has changed, you have changed.  Has your plan changed?

As we put down these foundational building blocks, we allow students the resources and reserves to serve from.  These disciplines are not an end to themselves.  Someone following Jesus doesn't grow simply from quoting Scripture.  The Scripture is the sword and armor that allows them to wade out in the world and serve. 

We'll talk about that part next, when we discuss Level 4.

Let me know your thoughts.  What has been your experience with discipleship?  What's important in your ministry?  What is missing?

Daily Experiential Lent Calendar

At our high school ministry we are doing a series that we are calling Leave Behind.
Essentially we are intentionally walking through this season of Lent with the goal of living differently so that we can know, love and experience Jesus more and in a new and vibrant way.
As a tool to help our students we created a daily experiential Lent calendar.
If you're interested (or want to join in) here you go!

Experiential Lent Calendar

My Best Evangelistic Student Can Kick Your Best Student's Rear End!

Josh was a student who loved Jesus with all of his heart.  He prayed like crazy for his campus, and spent almost all of his time trying to find ways to open conversations with his friends about Jesus.  His freshman year, he prayed every day before school, alone, for his friends and campus.  That year, he personally lead 12 friends to Christ.  His sophomore year, he continued to focus his energy and love on his friends, and saw 25 of them come to faith.  His junior year, 37 more of his friends decided to follow Jesus.  Finally, his senior year saw 53 of his friends accept Jesus, totaling 127 of his friends coming to Jesus through his one on one evangelism in four years! 

When I talk about evangelism, this is not what I'm talking about.  Josh has never existed, as far as I know.  I just made him up.  Often, when we talk about evangelism in our youth ministries, we have some picture of a student like Josh as our goal, and most of the time, we fail at reaching that goal.  But is that the Biblical goal?  Is that what God has for us?

Evangelism is the idea of sharing the good news of Jesus with others in a way that they might meet Jesus and know Him better.  I'm not completely sure how we can measure that in specific numbers.  Think about it.  We all hear stories of people coming to Jesus, because someone in their life showed them love, and years later, God worked that in their hearts and they trusted Him.  If that happens, only measuring what is right in front of us is short sighted.  Remember, it's Paul who says that he planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but that Jesus harvested what grew there. 

For us, when we discuss evangelism, it comes from multiple places, in multiple methods, at multiple times.  We believe students are the best evangelists, and are constantly encouraging them to speak to their friends, and live a life with their friends, that impacts them.  We teach the good news of Jesus life, death, and resurrection almost weekly to our groups.  We do events where students can invited their friends to come and be loved and experience what life with Jesus looks like.  We carry out short, mid, and long range mission trips to cover the great commission.

But it is our job to speak with our lives and words the beautiful, powerful, amazingly good news of Jesus to others in a way that they can hear and experience.  It is clearly, Biblically, His job to change lives.  I am simply not in charge of that. 

I'm not in charge of when, how, or who He changes.

So, I don't measure those things.  I measure how often I am loving to people who need loved.  How often I pray with people and point them to Jesus.  How often I ask God to use me, that day, for His plans.  How often I pray for the lives and hearts of students, parents, and friends who don't yet know Jesus.  I measure the things He has given me to do. 

But I do NOT measure the things He has not given me.

What is your ministry's understanding of evangelism?

Support Students During Grief

Thanks for watching...here are some resources that might help.

http://www.youthministry.com/articles/families/caring-grieving-students

Nooma DVD - 012 - Matthew:

Watch - http://vimeo.com/13853379

Purchase (which I highly suggest, I show it to students all the time, plus it is on sale for only $5 right now) - http://store.flannel.org/012.html

This article is a school perspective on students in grief. It has some good reminders: http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/1927-how-to-help-your-students-deal-with-grief-and-loss

Level 1 - Relationships in Ministry

Relationships are the easiest, primary level of a youth ministry.  Almost everyone who is interested in youth ministry enjoys the relational side of ministry.  Not all, but most.  Here's what it means for us:


* Relationships are the first steps for students to meet Jesus
        Students want to be known.  Relational trust has to come first, for students to ever care what you say or believe.  Why should they believe something from someone they don't like, or who doesn't like them?  Do NOT fall into the build relationships as a means to an end.  The relationships must exist as their own end.  You need to love students because they are God's kids, not because you want to move them to some other place in their life.  Think of it like this; would you have a relationship with a student who told you they would never, ever go to church or love Jesus?  Do they have value to you simply because they "are"?


* Relationships are the biggest group of students.
         You will always have more students in this phase of your ministry than any other.  Jesus tells us that the number of people who follow Him is small.  In His own ministry, you see a movement from large crowds, to a few, to one or two of those closest to Him.  Ministry is the same paradigm.  This entry point of being known and knowing others is the easiest to be a part of, requires the least of students, and is very attractive to a lot of kids.  As you evaluate your group, you should consistently have more students at this level than any other.  If you don't, either you aren't being generous enough with your love as a group, or you have watered down the upper tiers of the pyramid too much.


* Some students will never leave this level.
        While we hope to see every student advance up to a deeper love and relationship with Jesus, it won't always happen.  Some students who you genuinely love will stay at level 1.  They just will.  It's God's job to draw them, to move them, to change them.  It is not our job.  It IS our job to love them faithfully, and speak His truth to them consistently.  But simply doing these things doesn't mean a student must move up the levels.  You are not failing if they stay at level 1.  Pray for them, do what is right, and patiently wait for God to work.  Don't force students to be what they actually are not.


* No one completely leaves this level
       You will have students grow, follow Jesus, and become amazing levels.  They will always need the relational piece of ministry, and it will always be the foundation you build on.  When you forget this, you turn ministry and mentoring into business meetings, and it stops.  Love your core kids, spend time with them laughing and being silly.  They are amazing teenagers, but they are still teenagers.  Relationships always matter.  You don't move from one level to the next, you simply build one on the other.  Never forget that.


Next up, we'll discuss level 2; Evangelism.